The car drive to the airport was both lingering and boring, something that Hyukjae had expected.

However, there was one last promise that the blonde male had made to Donghae that he hadn't exactly followed suit in, making him do something drastic and impulsive,

"Stop the car right there!" Hyukjae nearly screamed, causing his father to pull up on the curve of a sidewalk shopping street and slam down on the breaks.

Never had Hyukjae and Donghae seen someone parallel park so fast.

"What's the emergency?!" Mr. Lee screeched, barely having time to press out his blinker and notify the drivers behind him which direction his car was going, which could've very well landed the four of them in the van into a terrible accident.

"Sorry dad! Bye mom! I have to do something really fast, don't bother waiting! I'll just call a taxi!" Hyukjae hollered, entwining his and Donghae's fingers together before opening the door and dragging themselves both out.

Hyukjae walked the long edge of the street with Donghae right beside him, hands held together so as to not get lost in the bustling crowd.

Mid-afternoon Seoul shopping districts had the aura of a metropolitian city with horrendously bad air.

In fact, that's what they were.

Cars and taxis sped through the main road, pedestrians running away with grocery bags in their hands looking like they were being car-chased by a madman. Traffic lights barely worked and had almost no use, the drivers obviously being the kings and queens of the highway.

How could Hyukjae have forgotten? He promised that he would take Donghae shopping with him back when they were still in the airplane a few days ago.

Promises weren't meant to be broken, especially not for Donghae.

Not when he liked Donghae this much already.

Stupid Hyukjae, the blonde male thought, growing all the more annoyed with himself, how do you expect to be a good boyfrie-

Donghae stopped in his tracks and held onto Hyukjae's hand in a vice grip. The blonde didn't even realize this until he felt the brunette tug on his fingers, motioning for him to halt whatever he was doing and wherever he was headed.

"What is it Donghae?" Hyukjae asked curiously, eyes following where Donghae's stare landed which only lead to the concrete ground they stood on.

Donghae was visibly shaking, apparent fear and worry lacing its way through his bright chocolate orbs, crystal clear tears threatening to spill out from the corners of them.

He turned his neck to the side, motioning for Hyukjae to look directly behind themselves.

"Donghae? Hae? What's wrong?" the blonde male asked apprehensively, stepping closer to a now trembling Donghae and looking straight at his face.

Just then, Hyukjae caught the sight of a very suspicious looking old male that was standing in the corner of an antique shop, eyeing both the brunette and the blonde down in a very distrustful and leery manner.

It wasn't the fact that he was just standing there, looking as though he had nothing to do.

It wasn't the fact that he was dressed in an overhang black coat with his hands pressed deeply beneath those bottomless pockets and his whole body rarely moving even an inch.

It was that stare. He was clearly eyeing both of the young males warily, keeping an even closer observation on the younger brunette. His eyes and mouth were twitched up in a sadistic smile, the kind of smile that sent shivers down Hyukjae's body which had somehow gotten cold within the past minute or so.

Tightening his grip on Donghae's hand, Hyukjae walked the both of them through an intricate maze of shops and back doors, all leading to somewhere new and hopefully unseen from the man who obviously had very wrong intentions.

Hyukjae's hoped to get a little further away from the stranger while also confirming his thoughts that the other was somehow...following them.

Somewhere in between their brisk walk, Hyukjae looked behind himself and checked if the creeper was still following them, only to have his suspicions correct as he saw the old male trail about half a mile behind them.

Winding through corridors and almost running through clothing racks to keep concealed, Hyukjae and Donghae ran, feet stumbling over one another as they tried to gain as much distance as they could from the stranger.

Hyukjae could practically feel Donghae's heartbeat, how erratic and unbalanced it sounded as he heard the younger's breath turn from normal to deranged in just a few minutes. Holding onto the brunette's hand, Hyukjae coiled his way through the stores and stands even faster, all but dragging Donghae exactly behind him.

Who the hell is that? Hyukjae thought wildly, grip tightening over Donghae's hand, what does he want from Hae?

No matter how hard he ran though and how fast they went, they were bound to get caught by this man. There was simply nothing they could do to fasten up their speed, not with two people.

Looking behind him, Hyukjae saw the stranger's never ending stare graze upon him and Donghae once more as he gained closer proximity within each and every step. The man never looked anywhere but in front of him, dark eyes forming a twinge of savagery on both of the younger brunette and blonde's forms.

The old man wouldn't let Donghae slip away. Not this time.

Hyukjae ran impossibly faster, tailing an exhausted Donghae right behind him who was now on the verge of vomiting.

Seeing this man again in a time and place like this, when he was supposed to be happy with Hyukjae was both terrifying and absolutely disgusting.

Upon the masses of clothing racks and jewelry stands they edged and jumped away from, Donghae tripped on a metal bar base used to hold up clothes, his face slamming right down onto the carpet flooring as his legs gave up in a twist. He tried to move but couldn't, something unbareably painful had happened to his ankle.

Hyukjae panicked, bending down and thanking God that this open-door store was surrounded by curtains and the clerks were probably somewhere in the back or on break judging by the fact that there was no one manning the business right now. He reached out and cupped Donghae's face in his hand before whispering almost inaudibly,

"Hae listen..." he started, carassing his thumb gently against the younger's bleeding cheek in an attempt to calm him down, "we're going way too slow for two people, I need you to take this-"

Hyukjae said hastily before ripping off one of the display curtains inside the room,

"and run somewhere outside. Anywhere. It'll lead him way off of you. Hide your face as best as you can and when it's over I'll meet you where dad parked to drop us off. Okay?"

Donghae nodded feverently, feeling Hyukjae's fingers wind the cloth over his face and twist it into a fashion-statement of some sorts, almost like an over-sized bandana.

The brunette wasted no time as he dashed outside of the curtain store and limped right, heading towards nowhere in particular. Hyukjae waited until the coast was clear before he made a move of his own, heading left and running straight through the crowd with his hands in his pockets.

He dashed around, hoping to find the creepy man, just when he saw the freak turn left at the next street across from the stop sign. The stalker turned and disappeared through the array of people in a haze.

Hyukjae followed suit, weaving his way through the human traffic. He stopped and scanned his surroundings, hoping he wouldn't lose him after all this effort. He found the man again heading forward through a dark alley, a place where no passersby seemed to turn in general.

As fast as Hyukjae ran, he was never fast enough. He ran straight through the highway barely having time to react as cars honked at him on the street, nearly colliding with his own body. One car nearly hit the sides of his thigh if not for the driver finally coming into his senses and realizing someone was running in the middle of the road.

When he reached the sidewalk and turned to enter the alley, the man had simply vanished.

He couldn't have.

That was impossibly fast. Unless he happened to go in the opposite direction;

No... Hyukjae thought, Donghae!

Quickly, he ran straight through the dark brickwork, adrenaline carrying him through exhaustion as he finally landed at an empty dead-end.

Hyukjae spun around, confused. He saw the guy turn this way, he was sure of it.

Maybe he didn't turn this direction after all.

But just as he was about to turn around, another man attacked him from behind, sending the blonde crashing down onto the ground with two arms held securely around his waist. He was about to panic and kick around in defense, when he turned around and saw his beautiful crying brunette, head still wrapped up in that disguise of a curtain.

"Hae!" Hyukjae screamed, pulling himself up and enveloping the smaller male in his arms, leaning the younger's head against his own chest, "What happened? Where did he go? Are you okay?"

Donghae replied almost nothing before he pointed toward the exit of the alley and at the black sedan that was pulling away from the shopping district. Hyukjae caught the sight of his evil smirk and that sadistic glint in his eyes as he faced forward and thankfully never looked right.

Just as fast as he came, he was gone. Within the blink of an eye the stalker who had been eyeing and following them both since they got out of the van had left.

But God knows for just how long he had been following them.

Hyukjae could feel Donghae's erratic breathing against his chest as the brunette hugged the older male impossibly tighter, causing the blonde to look down at him in worry.

"Donghae who was that? What did he want?" Hyukjae asked, gaining nothing but a head shake from Donghae's bawling form. Wrapping his arms around the brunette's back, Hyukjae leaned against the brick wall and simply held the younger for a few minutes in hopes of getting him to finally calm down.

As Donghae's sobs began to quiet, Hyukjae tried asking again, "Donghae, did you know that man?"

Once again, nothing but a shake of the head and more tears aroused from the brunette as he buried his face deeper into Hyukjae's chest, soaking his shirt in warm tears. Donghae cried even harder this time around, sobs racking his body uncontrollably as he fisted the cloth of Hyukjae's shirt.

That was nothing though.

Nothing compared to how scared Donghae was and how Hyukjae realized something;

Donghae definitely knew who he was.

Standing up and placing his arms underneath the brunette's knees and against his upper back, Hyukjae carried Donghae out and away from the alley in silence, now having to stop somewhere in order to fix the younger's ankle before they caught the flight back to Busan this afternoon.

It would take awhile for them to get through airport security and finally board hours later.

Hyukjae decided to just let it go for the moment, choosing not to shake up his frightened little Donghae even more.

Donghae would answer whenever he wants to, Hyukjae thought before carrying the shaking brunette away in search for a taxi.

Questions flooded the blonde's mind in a never ending frenzy. If Donghae knew who he was, it could be a clue to his past.

Although, Hyukjae just wasn't sure what he'd find hidden beneath those empty and forgotten jars of Donghae's life.