Word Count:  3,387

"KIM KIBUM!  YOU CONTINUE WALKING OUT LIKE THIS AND I WON'T LET YOU IN THIS HOUSE FOR A WEEK!"  A middle aged woman yelled after a young man who was stomping out of a mansion in fury, wearing a black vest over a white printed shirt and black skinny jeans with a golden key belt chain hanging on his side.  He only had a watch and a few earrings around his earlobes as accessories, plus a light gray fedora hat to top it off on his light blonde hair.  He slung his backpack on his shoulder lazily and turned around to glare at his mother, who glared back and slammed the door shut.

"FINE!  SEE IF I CARE, YOU OLD HAG!"  He shouted at her before sprinting away on the sidewalk, chuckling a bit when he heard his mother yell from inside the mansion.  He knew he had to book it and run far where his father won't be able to find him.  Knowing his family, his father would freak when his only son would leave the house, and in about 10 minutes, a black Sedan vehicle full of a security team will search all over town for him.

This young man is Kim Kibum, who goes by the name of Key with his friends.  He comes from a rich family of hard-working business in a variety of field areas. Each person from his father's side had a successful life and a promising future.  Key's father owned a fashion label company, his uncle was an architect, and his grandmother was even an English novelist.  He never liked his spoiled mother, who always shopped around and never worked hard in her life, because he found out she only married his father because of an arranged marriage.

Ten minutes had passed and Key quickly hid in an abandoned building, jumping into the open window and ducking down.  He checked the time on his watch - 10:15p.m. on a Monday.  He rolled his eyes, imagining the lecture from his father about "staying up on a school night".  If his mother didn't care, why should he?  Besides, she's thrown him out before loads of times, and each time his father was the only one kind enough to send him back.

Key continued to hide while changing into disguise.  He now had a black cap on with a straight visor and a white pattern.  He had on a long-sleeved black shirt that was baggy for him with a white design, along with white faded skinny jeans.  The only thing he didn't change were the black converse sneakers he had on, because he knew no one would pay attention to the ground and that included people's feet.

He snuck out of the abandoned building and checked to see if the coast was clear.  He grinned when he saw the car pass by and walked a different direction from his current destination to Itaewon.  If he were to choose any location to live for the rest of his life, he'd stay in South Korea, because that was his comfortable zone.

By the time Key arrived in Itaewon, it was nearly nightfall.  He spotted a certain tall man and grinned, walking towards him nonchalantly and wasn't fazed with the small group of people surrounding Choi Minho and another guy, who looked so awkwardly bulky with his muscles that he looked like he had small legs and a small head.  Minho had short brown, slightly wavy hair and wore a light blue denim blazer over his dark blue hoodie sweatshirt, also with straight black denim jeans and blue & yellow high tops.

Choi Minho comes from an average income family, as his father used to be a sportsman coach and his mother took care of farming in Incheon.  Minho came to Seoul on a scholarship, but it was only enough for his own expenses to stay at Konkuk University.  He & Key met every summer in Seoul since they were young because their fathers were good friends with each other.

Going back to reality, Minho cracked his knuckles and smirked at the grown man in front of him.  "You asked for the challenge, so I merely accept it."  he said.  The guy simply growled and rolled the sleeves of his shirt up.  "Bring it!"

Key smirked inwardly and turned to a random person beside him.  "Yah, $100KRW for the tall one that looks like an alien!  You willing to bet?"  The man scoffed and rolled his eyes.  "Tsh, the guy is so young!  I bet $200KRW for the built-up man beside him."  A few other guys in the crowd nodded and even raised the stakes with Key.  "$400KRW for the bulky man!"

"That tall boy doesn't stand a chance!"

"$1,000KRW!"

Key grinned in excitement and watched the fight that was about to happen.  He and the rest of the men backed away at once as both strong men got ready and hopped into their vehicles.

"Dear Lord, whose stupid idea was it to streetrace on the streets anyway?  My God, these people are stupid!  And - "

"Shut up, Key.  At least you have your money."

"Our money, Minho.  Ours."  Key corrected him as he counted the wad of cash in his hands.  Minho nodded in agreement, remembering the situation with Key at his house.  He decided to be silent again and continued to drive towards their 'secret home'.

"So anyways, with this money, we can actually pay for this month's rent!  Taemin would hate to have the dance studio be evacuated, and I certainly would not want it being evacuated, otherwise I'd have nothing to do while ditching class - hey, is that Jjong?"  Key rambled on as he stared out the window, pointing at a familiar person.

Minho turned to the curb and slowed down the engine, scoffing as he saw short, dark brown hair on a short man, whose muscles were hidden underneath a white wifebeater and a translucent, black striped, long-sleeved sweater.  He also wore dark jeans and boots with heels, and both Minho & Key couldn't help but wonder if Jjong needed bigger insoles, considering his height at the moment compared to the women in heels around him.

"Okay, ladies~ thanks for hanging out with me today~"  Jjong sang and felt nervous, because one of the ladies were driving her hand down on his back, causing him to shiver slightly.  Damn, I only wanted cash from them and I got it!  Where is that tall alien frog - oh!  I see him!

Jjong inwardly sighed in relief upon seeing the familiar green 2010 Kia Forte Koup vehicle driving beside the sidewalk.  He backed away from the ladies.  "Well!  It's time for me to go!  Thanks for a lovely chat and a lovely lunch!"  He said his goodbyes quickly and opened the backseat of the car, diving in right before the ladies could try to pull him back.  "Drive, Minho!  Drive!"  Jjong yelled.  Minho drove past the speed limit and all 3 of them sighed audibly once the girls were out of sight.

Jjong, whose name is really Kim Jonghyun, grew up in a poor orphanage.  The only life he knew ever since he was young was how to survive by stealing and persuading others to do stuff for him.  The best skill he likes to use is skinship, because close intimacy lets him get what he wants without having to spend anything.

Key turned around in his seat once Minho drove at a normal speed.  He whacked Jonghyun on the head with his hat, then putting it back on his head.  "Yah, Jjong, how much did you get from those s?"  He asked, narrowing his eyes at him.  Jonghyun noticed and frowned.  "First of all, I'm your hyung!  Second of all, I know that look - for the last time, I'm not sleeping with women for money."  he explained.

"Exactly, hyung,"  Minho spoke for the first time in 30 minutes; since he last spoke.  "Key, notice how he said he's not sleeping with women for money."

Jonghyun pouted at Minho and tried giving him his best glare as Key laughed so hard, he clutched his stomach and gasped several times.  "That was a one time thing, Minho!  One time!"  He whined, stomping his feet on the floor of the car.

"Still!  You tried to - and that guy - OMG!"  Key shrieked with laughter.  Jonghyun sighed irritably and laid back on the backseat of the car.  "Yeah, yeah.  Laugh it up.  I got $6,000KRW from their purses without them realizing it.  All we did was chat, flirt, and eat.  Here."  He tossed the wad of cash to Key.  The latter caught it and counted it, frowning.  "Damn, we have to pay $600,000KRW for our 'home'.  We need $594,000KRW!"  Key complained and stuffed the money in his wallet, then stuffed the wallet in the front pocket of his jeans.

Minho parked along the brick white wall and everyone got out of the car, walking across the street to the building of many brick apartments.  They headed to their flat, where they called it their 'home', which was on the 1st floor.  Right before Jonghyun could find the key to the flat, a ringtone melody of Beast's Fiction in a music box version rang out.  Key took out his pink cellular phone and answered the call.  "Hello?"

"Need backup here.  Tae's acting up again."

"Aish!"  Key cursed loudly, causing Jonghyun to retreat from looking for his keys and Minho to stare at the blonde man.  "Where are you, Onew hyung?"

"Why does Onew hyung get to be called that but I'm just Jjong?"

"Shut up."  Jonghyun bit his lip and looked down at the ground.  "Sorry, hyung, but what did you say?"

"I'm at Lime Light Dance & Night Club.  Hurry, before Tae gets beaten up, and if I interfere....well, there's only one of me and 5 of them."

"Meet you there."  Key hung up the phone and turned to his friends.  "Lime Light Dance & Night Club.  Tae's picking a fight again."  He simply said, and altogether they ran towards the nearby club.  It took them a block and a hlf, then 2 curbs to the right later to find the place.

Once they got there, they found a rocker-looking fellow holding a slightly taller yet younger man in a red & black club outfit.  The rocker fellow had medium brown short hair while the young red & black man had blonde hair.  The two are the Lee brothers, dubbed as Onew & Tae, even though their real names are specifically Jinki & Taemin.  The two brothers have been in an orphanage as well, with Onew remembering at a young age how he and Taemin ended up in the orphanage.

Right now, Onew was holding Taemin back from a group of dark, shady looking men outside of the club.  Jonghyun checked the time on his watch, which read 9:16p.m.  He turned to Minho, who looked determined yet reluctant to fight.  "Relax, Minho,"  Jonghyun quietly spoke to him, patting his lower back softly, mostly because he can reach there without trying to get on his tip toes to pat his upper back.  "It's a school night, but if we have about 15 minutes with them the least, we can get back home and you can go to your beloved studies."  Minho was the only one in their circle of friends to care about studying, seeing as he has a scholarship he can't just ditch.  Everyone else was enlisted in the same school as him, but chose to ditch classes frequently.

One of the shady men laughed at Taemin and walked up to him, flicking the spikes on Taemin's black vest.  "This kid looks too innocent to actually want to fight me, let alone beat me!"  He pushed Taemin's chest, but the latter remained standing and glared at him.  Instead, Onew, the one who held Taemin, fell down out of nowhere.  That gave Minho the cue as he headed towards the laughing group.

"Oh wow, what a stupid drunk!  Tripping over nothing!"  There was a tap on the man's shoulder.  He turned around in curiosity and was met with Minho's fist directly.  Next thing the group knew, all 5 young men started beating them up in front of the club.

By the time the police came in alert of the brawl, all 5 shady men were down, defeated on the ground.  The young men were gone in a flash.

"Lee Taemin, you are grounded from ever setting foot at a club or a bar ever again, got it?!"

"But umma - "

"No buts!  Unless you want me to take away your banana milk!"

Taemin pouted and gazed at the ground on the group's way back home.  Minho tapped him on the shoulder for attention and snuck him a straw and a small bottle of banana milk.  Taemin smiled happily and took them, silently thanking Minho, and drank the milk to his heart's content.  

Onew walked ahead of the group and already had his key ready for their flat.  Jonghyun walked beside Key, and Minho & Taemin walked behind them.  In the 'home', everyone lived there officially except for Key.  Key had his mansion to go to and a father to watch over (just in case if his mother did something to him - he really doesn't trust her) while Minho stayed at the flat due to saving expenses upon staying at the dorms of Konkuk University.  The rest were orphans and basically had nowhere else to go.

Onew was the first to speak in their quiet walk.  "So, how much money do we have?  We only have one week left to pay up for the rent of our dance studio and 'home'."

"$6,000KRW from Jjong and $15,000KRW from me & Minho.  Our earnings is enough for the dance studio, but for the 'home', we need more, hyung." Key explained as he gave him his wallet.  Onew counted the cash and nodded in content.  "Okay, so all we need to do is work for the next week.  We'll pay on the last day." he decided audibly.

Taemin smiled and sauntered up to his hyungs.  "So we can keep the studio?!" he chirped up.  Onew chuckled and nodded, ruffling his brother's hair.  "Yeah, of course.  It was my birthday gift for you last year, remember?  The big 19!  You're a legal adult, technically."

Jonghyun slowed down in his walk as he began to ponder aloud his thoughts.  "Hey, this year, Tae turns 20, I would turn 23, Minho & Key would turn 22, and Onew hyung would turn 24...."  Key rolled his eyes.  "You're stating the obvious, Jjong."  he flatly stated.

Jonghyun shook his head.  "You don't get it.  I mean, we've worked all our lives together as a team and came up with money in different ways, yeah?"  Everyone slowed in their walk and turned to stare at him, nodding in agreement.  "Well, we're all men of South Korea.  Wouldn't we all eventually enlist in the army or something?" he asked curiously.  Everyone was quiet.

Finally, Onew spoke with a shrug.  "There's a reason why we call our 'home' a secret, remember?  The landlord who gave us the place was anonymous as we are, and we even do payments in hidden subways and such.  We're not listed as legal residence, and no one knows we live there.  Why would we need to go to the army?"

Key nodded in agreement.  "And even if we do need to go to the army, we can all just go together!"  Everyone nodded in agreement and decided to go home, all except for one person.

"Ummm......guys...."

Everyone else stopped and turned to Minho, who pointed at a narrow street beside him.  "Do you see her as well?"

It was rare for Minho to speak, so every time he says something they're all at immediate attention.  All 4 young men rush over to Minho and turn to the narrow street.  They gasped except for Minho upon seeing a young girl leaning against the brick wall.  She was sitting down, her legs aligned together and closed, as she simply stared at the ground.  She was only wearing a simple little summer dress, which was torn and dirty.  Her long black hair was slightly messy and her skin was so pale.  She had no shoes, so her feet was slightly dirty.  It was as if she lost her shoes somewhere and had to walk a short while without them.

Taemin let out a sigh of relief when he noticed one thing.  "Omo, there's no blood, so she's not dead..... or worse...."  he shivered at the thought and decided not to continue the sentence.

Key continued to stare at the young girl.  Something about her made him feel like he knew her, but he has never met anyone who looked like her.

Minho noticed the lack of response from Key and turned to look at him.  Usually whether a person is a stranger or not, Key would always comment about anyone's appearance with no mercy.  He blinked and decided to turn to the girl again, only to narrow his eyes at Jonghyun.  "Jjong hyung, what are you doing?" he quietly spoke, yet there was a hint of malice in his tone of voice.

Jonghyun ignored the hissing from his friends for him to step away from the girl (but surprisingly, Key hadn't said a word still), and slowly squatted down to her level.  Onew glared daggers at him when he reached the girl's legs and started spreading them apart.  "I swear to God, Jjong, if you look underneath her dress, I'll beat you up and leave you dying on the streets!"  he growled at him.

Jonghyun looked up at him innocently.  "But we need to see if she was actually - "  Minho interrupted him by kicking him away and squatted down to her level, or at least tried to, considering his height.  "May I?" he asked the girl.  The girl simply stared at him.  "We want to help you, and it's hard for us to ask these kinds of things, so...."  She tilted her head a bit, looking confused.  Minho sighed.  "Trust me, okay?  I won't do anything to you."

The little girl nodded, making Jonghyun gape at Minho.  "Yah, why does he get to see?"  Everyone else, especially Key, glared at him in response.  He meekly backed away further in the street and looked around if there was anyone else.  There was no one around the narrow street of Itaewon.

Minho took a quick peek underneath the dress for 2 seconds and sighed in relief, turning to his friends.  "She's not hurt at all.  At least she's wearing underwear, and it doesn't look as dirty as her dress."  Minho reported.  Everyone else went into a sigh of relief as well.

The little girl put her legs together again and tried leaning away from the guys.  Key decided to speak after a moment of silence.  "What's your name?"

She kept silent and stared at Key, tilting her head and gazing at Key with her almond shaped eyes, her pupils having a hazel brown color, as Key noticed.

Taemin smiled at her and waved.  "How old are you?"

He was met with silence.

Minho stood up and backed away with the others.  "Do you know where your parents are?"

He, too, was met with silence.  At least he got a shake of head from her, indicating a 'no'.

"Guys, I think she's mute,"  Onew voiced out as the girl simply stared at all of them from where she was sitting.  Key personally felt that the little girl shouldn't sit on such dirty ground.

Then again, they were all outdoors, and the girl probably didn't mind, considering how her short white dress is dirty and torn.

Jonghyun was the first one to bravely come closer and carefully lifted her in his arms.  The dirty girl looked like she was really sleepy, then a few moments later her eyes closed and her head rested against Jonghyun's chest.  He looked up at his friends with a smile on his face.  "Can we keep her?"

The rest of the guys gaped at him.  Key was the first to react and pursed his lips in a frown.

"Kim Jonghyun, she is a not a puppy you can just keep out of the blue!"

Jonghyun pouted and gave him a puppy look.  "Please, Key?"

"NO."