Two hours of uneasy quiet and Jongin still hadn't moved to get out of bed. He'd called in sick to work. There was no way he'd be able to handle an eight hour shift even if he did manage to get up.

He had been awake for two hours now and texted Sehun countless times. There had been no text to indicate that Sehun had gotten home safely the night before.

Are you busy?

Can you come over?

Can I please call you right now?

Sehun I don't know what the hell is happening.

In the two hours he had been awake, Jongin hadn't been able to make heads or tails of what had happened the night before. His father was an avid hunter, so he knew exactly what he had heard. Guns with silencers screwed onto them aren't quiet like they are in the movies where you can only hear a faint whistling sounds. They're still fairly loud. They just don't sound like guns. He understood that he was living in the heart of a major crowded city and crime was a given, but this wasn't just any random shooting—this had happened next door, he was sure of it, and his own breath had failed him as if he was the one shot.

Sehun not replying didn't help his mind collect itself either. Now he was worried about the safety of two people.

Had Kyungsoo been shot last night? Twice? If he had, it would be far too late now. Or maybe somebody else had heard and stepped in. It was impossible not to have heard. There weren't many people living on the fourth floor but all the flats were in close proximity and the walls were thin.

He should go check. Knock on Kyungsoo's door. See if there's an answer. Or maybe go talk to Minseok and Jongdae and ask them what happened. He should… if only he had the will to move.

His limbs were concrete, even just as he picked up his phone again, knowing there was no message from Sehun as it hadn't buzzed since he last put it down.

Instead of sending another text, he pressed ‘call’ and then ‘speaker’ and rest the phone on his chest. He didn't have to wait long.

“Hey this is Sehun. I can't get to the phone right now obviously so just leave a message and I'll probably never get back to you.”

Jongin swallowed thickly as he a beep indicated for him to start talking.

“Sehun… I think something really bad happened. Please call me back as soon as you hear this so I know that at least you're okay. Please.”

The call had gone straight to voicemail. Sehun's phone was either off or he was somewhere he didn't have reception. Jongin didn't like the thought of either of those possibilities.

A sharp sound rang through his apartment to his ears. Someone was knocking on his door.

Must be Sehun, he thought with relief. Who else could it be?

It took him a couple of minutes, but he forced his aching joints to pull him out of the bed. His entire body, every fiber of muscle, every nerve ending, was on fire. He felt like he had performed the most rigorous work out right before falling asleep and now he was sore all the way to his soul. But that hadn't been the case.

Moving felt like hell, and the knocking continued throughout the time it took him to get to the door. But it wasn't Sehun.

He took in a deep breath when he saw Kyungsoo standing in front of his doorway, not meeting his eyes until he let the breath out in a shaky sigh. Kyungsoo's gaze seemed to be searching Jongin's face for something, he could never guess what.

“Did I wake you?” Kyungsoo's voice was steady, slightly timid as usual, but gave no indication of the events that Jongin suspected took place the night before. After all, until this point he had been sure Kyungsoo had been shot, but now it seemed he had hallucinated the whole thing.

He had been drinking but he didn't think he was more than a little tipsy when he had crawled into bed, and alcohol wasn't known for causing hallucinations.

“No, you didn't.”

“May I come in?”

Jongin frowned.

“I… I know what I said,” Kyungsoo said looking away from Jongin's face again and down at his feet. “That we shouldn’t do this, but I really need to just not be alone right now.”

Jongin nodded, only half understanding, because truthfully he didn't want to be alone either, though he wasn’t sure Kyungsoo was the right person to be not alone with, since he was the reason for Jongin not knowing what the hell was happening around him anymore. He could only assume he was going insane. Either the gunshots he heard weren't real, or the man standing in front of him this very moment wasn't real. Neither was comforting.

He stepped aside to let Kyungsoo in, receiving a cute little smile in return, that had him frantically looking everywhere except Kyungsoo's face.

His heart was beating out his chest as he prepared his questions in his head, but Kyungsoo began talking first.

“I assume you're not planning on taking my advice.”

“If you mean your suggestion that I find somewhere else to live, then no. I don't plan on it.”

Kyungsoo sighed deeply. He was already lounging on one if Jongin's chairs, sitting like it was a comfortable sofa instead of thrift store trash. Jongin hesitated slightly before sitting on the other chair.

“I'm not sure how much you know—how much you've heard—but, my… boyfriend I guess… I, uh, found out that he's married. He's married and he has a kid even, and apparently, I've just been his mistress,” he spits the word, scowling down at his intertwined fingers, “this whole ing time. I don't know if I'm the only one but I must be the only one he deems it necessary to keep haunting. Even after his wife found out about me.”

Jongin listened quietly.

“She knows. He knows that she knows. He knows that I know. But he's a greedy bastard. He knows he can do what he wants and he won't get into any trouble for it because every cop in the city is up his . Telling someone that he's harassing me even after I told him to leave me alone would only make it worse. Then the cops would just start harassing me too. That's just how the ing justice system works.”

Jongin didn't find himself surprised at the vulgar manner Kyungsoo was speaking in, because for some reason he knew the small man had it in him to be vicious when he wanted. He felt he was staring at Kyungsoo's trembling lower lip for a little too long.

“Do you understand now?”

Jongin lifted his gaze to Kyungsoo's eyes. They were slightly hooded, as if exhausted. Jongin nodded slowly, not sure if he should say something or if Kyungsoo was going to continue.

“I did what I could, to make it better, to make it bearable. It won't get any better than how it is right now. I just have to deal with the consequences of the decisions I made to get myself here, into this.” The way Kyungsoo phrased his words sent bells ringing inside Jongin's brain.

I did what I could.

What did he do? Jongin felt like Kyungsoo might have been telling him about decisions much more recent than whatever led him to get stuck in a relationship with an abusive married man.

He realized he hadn't yet asked about the gunshots.

“Just listen to me and move before you get yourself involved in something much more than what you could ever bargain for. Please tell me you're understanding this?”

Jongin reluctantly nodded.

“Good.”

He hadn't said a word since he sat down. Kyungsoo had done all the talking while realization sunk into him. Suddenly, he was sure of what had happened, but he wasn't sure he could have spoken if he tried. His brain was settling into shock as he followed Kyungsoo to the door.

He tried not to flinch when Kyungsoo leaned up and placed a soft kiss on Jongin's cheek. Despite what he knew now, his heart still fluttered and his mouth went dry.

He closed the door behind Kyungsoo and leaned against it, slipping down onto the floor.

Kyungsoo had killed his boyfriend.

----

Sorry for not replying before or answering the phone. Is everything okay?

Jongin ignored his question, partially because, no, nothing was okay, and partially because he was immensely relieved to finally hear from Sehun.

What happened???

He stared intently at the screen, tapping it every time it dimmed, hoping Sehun would reply as soon as possible. But his phone grew hot in his hands and he sighed before locking it and putting it down. He got a reply half an hour later.

Don't worry about it right now. What was happening with you earlier?

Jongin chewed harshly on his bottom lip, thinking of what to say.

Got drunk, bad dream, sorry for worrying you. Please tell me what happened. Was it something to do with your uncle?

Thankfully, the reply was much faster this time.

Seriously don't worry. We’ll talk face to face monday, okay?

He didn't want to stop worrying, but he reluctantly sent back a text of agreement. He also didn't want to wait till tomorrow to see Sehun. He wanted to see him right away.

Btw… send me your landlords number? I think I'll be needing it now.

Jongin was surprised. Sehun seemed like he really wanted to work it out with his uncle, so something must have upset him enough to make him want to move. On the other hand, Sehun moving into his building meant he could see him more often.

He had been just about to head out when he'd gotten Sehun's first text, but gotten delayed when waiting for replies. He quickly sent Sehun the number and pulled on his shoes. He didn't have to go far—literally just down the corridor. He wasn't even sure if anyone would be home, but it was early Sunday evening, so it might be his best chance. He knocked softly on the door, not really sure about what he was going to accomplish. He was even ready to abandon his mission altogether, having half turned to leave, when the door swung open and revealed an annoyed looking Jongdae.

He regarded Jongin, who knew he probably looked like , with an eyebrow raised.

“Can I help you?” His tone of voice, to Jongin's relief, didn't sound as annoyed as his face looked.

“Um, can we talk?”

“About?”

“Kyungsoo.”

Jongdae, eyebrow still raised, crossed his arms over his chest. “You have to be quiet. Minseok is sleeping.”

Jongin nodded and Jongdae dropped his pissed off expression as he opened the door wider and let Jongin in.

The apartment was extremely homey. It was tidy and looked lived in, unlike Jongin's barely furnished one. While his cold white walls were bare, with paint peeling off in a few odd places, Jongdae and Minseoks were a creamy colour, with the yellow incandescent lights giving the place a warm glow and decorated with frames—some with pictures and some with varying, official looking certificates. He spotted Minseoks medical school degree and was impressed—it was one thing to know that he was a doctor and another to see something that officialized it. Then he saw something else.

“You're a computer engineer?” He looked to where he thought Jongdae was last—right in front of him—but the man had disappeared.

His head appeared from behind the partition that Jongin assumed separated the kitchen and the living room.

“What? Did you think I was just a gold digger? That Minnie is my sugar daddy?”

“Um… no…” If he was being honest, it had been a passing thought. Doctors make a lot of money, right?

Jongdae motioned for him to sit. He obliged.

Less than a minute later, Jongdae set down a cup of coffee in front of him. Jongin thanked him as he rubbed his clammy palms together. What am I doing here?

“If you're wondering why a doctor and an engineer live in such a tiny, cheap place, wonder no more, because I'm about to tell you.” Is he avoiding the topic of Kyungsoo? From their limited past conversations, Jongin would have guessed that Minseok might do that, but Jongdae had seemed to want to question him about it before.

“So, firstly, a resident doctor doesn't make as much as you would think. It's still technically educational training you know, but Minseok works hard. It won't be long until he's rolling in the big bucks,” Jongdae rambled quietly, being mindful of his boyfriend sleeping nearby. “Secondly, the job market for engineering is bull these days. Don't become an engineer kid. You'll end up homeless, or worse, working a dead end job at some tech store. Of course that won't happen to me, because I'm really good. Got a low level position at a big company now, but I'm just starting out. Just you wait and see, I have this idea—this winning lottery ticket kind of idea—and if I can just get approval from the higher ups—”

“No offense,” as much as he would have liked to hear ambitious ramblings from Jongdae any other day—however he wasn't so sure he would have any other day either—he really just wanted to talk about Kyungsoo, “can you please just tell me what's going on instead of trying to distract me?”

Jongdae sighed. He took a few heavy gulps of his piping hot coffee before setting the mug down on the coffee table. “It's complicated.”

No . “I get that. But I'm gonna need to know a little more.”

“You don't need to know anything.”

“He used to be your friend right?”

“Honestly, you should just move. Forget about Kyungsoo, everything you've heard, seen, whatever. Save yourself the trouble.”

“He used to be your friend,” Jongin repeated, “right?”

Jongdae’s expression was guarded, but his lips were slightly pursed, giving away his thoughts. He was obviously reluctant to talk about this with Jongin. But he eventually nodded. “We were friends, yes.”

“What happened? What made you abandon him?”

Jongdae scoffed. “What makes you think we abandoned him?!”

Jongin felt heat rising to his cheeks “I-I’m sorry. That was poor wording on my part. I didn't mean it like that.”

“Damn right you didn't.” Jongdae picked up his coffee and leaned back in his seat.

“He pushed you away, didn't he?”

Jongdae reluctantly nodded again. “Not by choice. It wasn't his fault. He did what he could. He did what he had to do.”

Again, the wording struck Jongin.

Kyungsoo did what he could.

He did what he had to do.

Only this time, Jongin had already figured out what Kyungsoo had done. Now, he was wondering if Jondgae knew too. He'd be wondering if Yixing knew as well.

Is that why there haven't been any cops around? Are they somehow protecting him?

Jongin knew, especially from reading he had to do for his studies, that it wasn't easy to hide things from the cops, and Kyungsoo had told him himself that his boyfriend knew cops somehow so wouldn't they be wondering where he was? Wouldn't his family be, at least, in the process of filing a missing persons report? The only logical explanation, according to what Jongin was slowly trying to piece together, is that Kyungsoo had help.

He suddenly wished that Sehun was there with him. He regretted lying to him earlier.

Jongin wasn't sure he wanted to sit there with Jongdae anymore, not if he was an accomplice to a murder. Strangely enough however, his want to be with Sehun was overlapping with his intense need to be in Kyungsoo's presence right now, despite him being the alleged murderer.

He wanted to go confront him. Yell at him. Tell him that when he said that there were options, this wasn't what he had meant at all. He also wanted to comfort him, he couldn't begin to imagine what Kyungsoo must be feeling, what he had to go through to be driven to such extremes. He wanted Kyungsoo to be okay, and most surprising of all, especially considering his aversion to crime like this, he didn't want to see Kyungsoo face any consequences.

Softly muttering that he had to go now, Jongin stood up. Jongdae only shrugged his shoulders, continuing to sip from his coffee. As Jongin turned to go to the door, his eyes were met with the sight of Minseoks bare, flexed chest and abdomen and low hanging sweatpants, as he stretched, coming out of what Jongin could only assume was the bedroom. Jongin averted his eyes, he would not have guessed that someone with cheeks like Minseoks that would have a body like that.

Minseok scratched his head sleepily. “Oh, Jongin. I had no clue you were here. Sorry about my state right now. Night shifts at the hospital take a toll on a person after a while.”

Jongin gave him a shy smile. “I'm sorry for disturbing you. I hope I wasn't the one to wake you up.”

“No don't worry about.” Minseok glanced at his boyfriend, still sitting with a sour expression. “May I ask what's going on?”

“Jongin was just wondering if you were my sugar daddy and if so, how he could get in on the deal.” Jongdae said, smiling sweetly now. “Of course I told him there was plenty of you to go around.”

Minseok grinned. “Don't tease the poor boy. He already looks like the ground is going to swallow him up.”

Jongin wished it would, so he would no longer have to experience this moment. 

He was about to reply to Minseoks earlier question with the proper answer, but Jongdae got to his feet quickly, setting the mug down next to Jongin's untouched one. “I'll walk you out.”

"See you around, Jongin," Minseok said as Jongdae pushed him, to be fair, gently towards the door.

He opened the door for Jongin and spoke in a lowered voice as Jongin crossed the doorway. “Minseok doesn't like talking about Kyungsoo too much. He isn't very happy about what happened, and truthfully, he'd just like to forget about it. We all would.”

So he knows about it too? Jongin internally groaned at how complicated things were getting.

"Stay out of trouble," Jongdae told him and then closed the door.

The short walk back to his own flat was despairingly bleak.

So, as promised, a much more serious and plot directed chapter than the last few which were focusing on establishing Sekai's relationship and Kaisoo's complications. Now that I feel like I've set the characters up fairly well (at least I hope so) and the dynamics between them aren't as vague as the beginning of the story I can move on to the main plot I had planned for the story in the first place!

Almost all the important characters have been introduced  (I say almost because I'm sure you've noticed Luhan is still missing) and their roles will become clearer in the next few chapters. There will be a couple of chapters that will be primarily from Kyungsoo's perspective and one chapter from Sehun's perspective as well in the near future so look forward to those! 

Let me know your theories and whether you'd like to know if they're correct or not.... and if you are correct I could.... idk maybe write a one shot with a pairing and prompt of your choice? Or like virtually pat you on the back haha

Lastly, it might take me up to a week to post the next update. Hopefully not that long but a lot of stuff is happening that I need to deal with before I can write without distraction. Thank you for reading! And enjoy the comeback :D