The 28th of October, 2008, Tuesday 14:10, Seongdong-gu

Her phone was ringing again, seventh time that day. It rang in the other room, but she could still hear it well. Not that her apartment was that big - a small kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom and a hall - if you are generous enough to call that hole an apartment, really. Not even 42 m2 the whole thing. Yet, she didn’t know where the ringing came from exactly. She sat on a chair next to her window, legs on the windowsill, hanging in the air, a can of beer in hand. She just woke up recently and went to get a drink. Not that she had anything else in the house to consume. Shopping was troublesome. Cooking takes so much time and it makes the apartment even more warm.

The stupid 8bit sound of Swan Lake halted. It was even shorter this time, the caller started to give up, Ji Hyo assumed.

She took another sip of her beer, the light touch of the cold beverage calming her hot and anxious body. Summer was a . She hated sweating. She hated the sleepless nights due to the unbearable heat that just multiplied in that rat hole she now called home. Sleeping was her only remedy. Being deprived of it just made her grumpy.

Well, she was grumpy in general.

The phone went off again. Cursing loudly she took her legs off of the windowsill, tossed the beer can to the table not minding the fact that a bit of foam splashed onto the surface. It was quite dirty already anyway.

She went to her bedroom and searched for her handbag. It must be in there. Quickly flipping the phone up, she took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves so she won’t just scream into the device.

"Unnie, finally!" Came the voice from the other end of the line.

"Yeo Jin-ah" Ji Hyo breath out, touching her sweaty forehead with her free hand. That girl gave her literally no peace.

"I called you like hundreds of times" told her the younger woman. Yes, she knew. She really didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. Let alone to Yeo Jin. Ji Hyo loved her dongsaeng very much, but her offers grew unbearably frequent recently. She needed time to think it through. Yeo Jin didn’t seem to understand how hard was it for her. Or she did understand and was afraid of her denial and wanted to pressure Ji Hyo into accepting the offer. Neither of them seemed likable to the woman. "Where were you?"

She just sighed. Where would she be, really. She had no job, social life or good relationship with her family. They lived in the countryside anyway. And her friends? She never spoke to anyone from her past several years ago. Only Yeo Jin stayed by her side from the people still in Seoul, although Ji Hyo was honestly surprised why would she. She could offer nothing in return for her kindness. She had no one to turn to and nowhere to go. And now Yeo Jin wants her to throw away her pride and worries and look back on her past. The past she is so desperate to forget and leave behind.

"I just woke up" She lied after a long silence as she already got it a few times that her drinking habits aren’t helping her withdrawal problems. Or so the younger woman thinks. Yeo Jin was patient and waited for her to speak up.

"That is so you" chuckled the younger of the two. "Sorry to call you so much, but they are waiting for your answer."

"I know" Ji Hyo bit down on her trembling lower lip. The pressure started to build up again and she felt a lump forming in . It was harder to breath.

"Unnie, it’s okay if you don’t want to come back. But we are waiting for you with open arms if you do." Yeo Jin sounded so calming and kind. Ji Hyo instantly felt guilty for avoiding her so much and screaming at her so often. She was her only friend left and she behaved so mean towards her sometimes. "I think…" continued the younger woman, her voice sounding cautious. "I think it would be good for you. You know how I mean."

She knew. Of course it would be good for her, but Ji Hyo felt that some things just can’t be cured. Some people are just deemed to live a life she lived.

"You still have time though" Yeo Jin said. "Just… just think about, unnie. Call me, okay?"

Ji Hyo didn’t answer. She couldn’t. The lump in didn’t let her to form any words, not that she could think of anything at that moment.

"Bye then." Yeo Jin blurted and the line died. Ji Hyo humped down on her mattress on the ground, leaning on her knees. She let her phone fell on the ground with a small thud.

Drinking on an empty stomach made its effect as she felt the drunkenness slowly building up in her system, numbing her feelings even more.

What should I do…

~*~

The 20th of march 2009, Friday, 21:23 Anyang.

"Oi, Hyung!"

He turned his head around in the bar searching for the source of the voice. Many people filled the little place, but he was still able to spot his dongsaeng in the far corner in the room at a small table, a bottle of beer in hand. A glass of water sat on the other side of the table.

Smiling, he made his way through the crowd and stopped when Gary stood up to give him a half-hug. Patting the younger man’s shoulder, he sat down and grabbed the water ordered for him.

"You remembered" Jong Kook said, taking a sip.

"You made sure, though" chuckled Gary. "I can’t even count the times you declined alcohol and told a long story why you don’t drink and why we shouldn’t either. I have grey hairs just by listening to you."

Jong Kook just smiled. He didn’t want to argue back this time. More important things are waiting to be discussed.

"It’s been awhile, man" sighed the older one of the two. "How is everything? Congratulation for your success again. It’s quite an accomplishment."

"Thanks" grinned Gary. "I’m the star in our gym I would say." He chuckled wholeheartedly then sighed, smiling at the man. "I’m doing well."

"I’m glad to hear that" It was genuine happiness on his part, no jealousy at all. He wanted to be so young and in the game again just like his friend, but life had other plans for him. Letting his dreams go didn’t hurt, or not that much anymore. He was able to accept it. C'est la vie.

"How about you?" asked the younger man and drank three big gulps of his beer. A small burp left his lips, smelling of alcohol.

"The same old things. Nothing new." chuckled Jong Kook as if it was the most natural thing in the world, though to some extent both of them knew it was anything but. Jong Kook rarely had boring or uneventful days when he lived his previous life as a fighter. "I’m helping out my mother at the church now. After her injury she still can’t do much. If she recovers I will look for a job."

"How about training?" Gary’s question was cautious, low. There was a mischievous look in his eyes, but Jong Kook didn’t want to see things into it.

"Often" Came the brief answer. "While taking care of mom I really didn’t have the chance to head out that much, but nowadays I go to the gym as much as I can."

"Why not came to us, hyung?"

There it is. Finally, hearing him saying that calmed the muscular man down. He saw it coming and now he wasn’t anxious about having to wait for that topic to show up. He loves his dongsaeng a lot, but his call about wanting to meet up urgently was just beyond suspicious for obvious reasons. He told him already, months, maybe years ago that he can’t come back, not to that world even if he really wants to. Things changed. He changed as well during those years.

"Don’t even start, pal" he huffed and drank a bit of his water, a stern look resting on his face.

"Just consider it for once!" Gary was getting really desperate. Without even noticing, he clenched his bottle so strong his knuckles turned white, while his face flushed even more, and not just due to the amount of alcohol he consumed. He hated seeing his hyung all these years looking so lost, so unhappy. He planned to give his freedom back by getting him in the ring again, one way or another.

"Hee Gun-ah, you know that I don’t fight anymore."

Jong Kook glanced away from him, not daring to meet his friend’s eyes. What he went through was his personal failure. It was hard enough to face it alone. To look into the mirror every day and see someone who ran away, who turned his back on his own dreams, who gave up. It was a hard task. But he was someone who had to gave up – he reminded himself. He didn’t really have much of a choice, although it’s hard not to forget that. He didn’t have anybody to blame, but him, himself was always there.

And looking into Gary’s eyes, a talented and hard-working guy with bright present and even brighter future ahead of himself just made his heart ache a teeny-tiny bit. He reminded the muscular man of his past-self, before everything turned upside down.

"Not that all we do is fight" added Gary with a sigh. He reached up with his right hand to rub his eyes. Opening his lids he met a pair of puzzled orbs. "You won’t even believe this. I didn’t dare to say this on the phone honestly, because it’s ridiculous." The muscular man frowned at that.

"The thing is" the younger man continued hesitantly. "Our coach wanted to build up our stamina and make our moves more precise. And he read that article, you know, about the soldiers learning ballet as a form of stress relief at the DMZ, you know…"

A small smile crept onto Jong Kook’s lips. "You are joking, right?" He asked, barely able to stop himself from laughing out loud. Gary really looked like someone who is genuinely struggling because of this.

"I wish" he said with another heavy sigh. "We just had our first dance lesson last week at this academy or something. It’s not that bad, but I honestly can’t bend any part of my body well."

Jong Kook could hold on only this long. A hearty lough escaped his mouth, and a lone tear appeared at the corner of his eye. Brushing it off lightly he glanced at his friend amused.

"I can’t picture you in a tutu"

"Hyung, stop" he asked him, annoyed. "Don’t make this worse."

"Can this be any worse, though?"

"No, not really, but it’s not all bad." He bit down on his lower lip while thinking about how to word this appropriately enough for his hyung’s liking. "It’s not just us, guys. Part of our training we have to do this couple dance with the chicks at the academy. Picture them in the damn tutus. Man, they look hot!"

The other man smiled at that, but decided not to comment on this part. He never liked talking about women in a disrespective way. His mother taught him not to.

"Really hyung" Gary leaned forward, looking him in the eyes deeply. "Think about it. You don’t have to compete. Just come down to the gym and hit the bag a few times, or you can spare with the boys if you want to. They want to meet you, too. The younger ones, I mean. You are a hero in their eyes, you know that."

"Gary-yah" he started to shook his head with a sad grimace on his face. "I really don’t…"

"Or! Come to the ballet class with my team, if you dare." The younger man folded his arms on his chest with a satisfied look on his face. "You were always so proud of your ability to pick up every damn skill so fast. Now, do this if you can! Even you would have a hard time, I’m sure of that."

"I know what game you are playing with me" Jong Kook shook his head and took a few moments to continue. "I will really not fall for that. Besides, I’m not interested in ballet. And who cares if you at it. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t ace it. I mean. It’s just dance."

"Hyung" Gary took another sip of his beer and looked around as if to make sure nobody was listening to them. "It’s not like b-boying or house or anything we did back then, really. Not that simple. I’m actually ashamed how bad I am at this. The girls just have that look on their face during the sessions. They ing pity us, hyung."

"That’s nice and all, but still not falling for it" Jong Kook grinned at him. "Sorry, Gary. I’m not build for ballet."

"Neither am I and I’m still down there on every Monday and Thursday. But it’s fun, okay? We could spend some time together. Just promise me you will think about it, okay?"

Jong Kook looked him in the eyes with a serious face, his lips turning into a thin line. "You are just trying to make sparing in the gym more desirable with this ballet , don’t you? If I don’t dance, I will have to agree to the fight."

"No" the younger answered honestly. "I really don’t. I just… it’s been so long since we really did anything together… And this thing is so ridiculous even I don’t believe that I am there and doing it sometimes. I would like to share this experience with you. About the gym, well… you decide if you are up to it. No pressure. But I hope you will come back. At least sometimes. Everybody misses you."

Jong Kook searched for lies in is eyes, but what he found was just raw sincerity. Afterall, Gary wasn’t known as someone to lie. He at it, anyway. The guy couldn’ lie to save his life.

"Okay" he nodded. "I promise I will think about it."

"Cool" Gary grinned at him. "How about a celebratory drink?"

Upon seeing Jong Kook’s sharp eyes, he just chuckled and went for his own drink. "I know, hyung, I know…"

The older man couldn’t help but smile at his dongsaengs antics. He did miss him and the other guys. All the sparings they did for fun, and all the matches that were deadly and bloody serious by all means. All the bruises and all the smiles. He missed everything and everybody.

Above anything he missed his old self.

Hey guys, I'm back with another SpartAce story. I already have another ongoing one, called DRAWN, check it out if you didn't see it yet.

There are a few things that I want to discuss. As you have seen in the foreword (or prologue as I intended it to be), this fanfiction will be many things. An AU (Alternative Universe) for one. It is settled in our world, but the Running Man members (and some of their friends) have different jobs and lives here. It is also on the heavier side, regarding drama and angst. If you are more into humor or fluff, I advise you against to read it. It won't be only suffering or anything, but I do have a thing to write things that are my harder to process for some people. That is my style I guess. This is my third fanfic here on AFF and there wasn't anything really happy that I have published yet. Anyway, I don't really know what are the things that people can't take, so I will put warnings at the beginning of the chapters if something new pops up in the story and I may think that it could trigger people in any way.

Aside from that I do hope that you will enjoy this AU and find the story an interesting one. I have been working on it a lot and tried to come up with an interesting concept. In my head it worked out well, I hope it will be good enough when I write it down as well. Have a nice time and comment your opinion down below! :) Everything is appreciated. 

Author: Hyo-Lyn (my user name will change soon, don't get too surprised)
Title: No rest for the Wicked
Rating: T (13+), later on I may change it to M ()
Genres: Drama, Angst, Romance, Slice of Life, Sport
Pairings: SpartAce, implied Monday Couple
POV: mainly Ji Hyo and Jong Kook, the pov will change within/between the chapter(s)