Over the next couple days Jiyong thought long and hard about what happened that day. He thought back to all the conversations he had had with Vick and what the older man had told him about his past. He wanted to go over everything and then make a final decision on whether or not his assumption was correct.

His name is not really Vick. He said that he moved around a lot when he was a kid. He also said that he was heavy set when he was young and that he had lost weight and became fit toward the end of high school. When they were at the gallery Vick said something about having a childhood friend who drew.

When he really thought about their conversations and Vick talking about the past, there wasn’t much. All of those descriptions could be any kid really. And besides, Vick really only talked about his parents the day of the shoot and all their other conversations have been about them and their interests in the present.

But what kept on bugging Jiyong was what he did when they were outside the café. Vick had ruffled his hair. No one has ever done that except an old childhood friend, his only childhood friend to be exact.

Seunghyun was the only person Jiyong felt comfortable with growing up. He had had a hard time moving from America to Korea, but in the last year of being in Korea before he moved back, Seunghyun made him feel at home.

He remembered that they were inseparable; they were always playing and hanging out after school and on the weekends. And one thing that Seunghyun would always do before they said goodbye to each other was ruffle and mess up his hair. The first couple times Seunghyun did it, Jiyong would scrunch down because he wasn’t used to the contact, but after awhile it just became ritual and it didn’t bother him.

So when Vick touched his head that day, Jiyongs’ mind went spinning. He remembered feeling like he was 12 years old again. Also he remembered that he looked at Vick, trying to see any sign of familiarity in the man’s face. He must have seen something because he remembered freaking out for a minute and basically running away from Vick.

He felt bad for leaving Vick like that, but he was just in shock from the memories and the very rare chance that Vick could possibly be Seunghyun.

Eventually later that night Jiyong texted Vick and apologized some more and things went back to normal, at least a little bit.

They decided to meet up and hang out every once in a while when neither of them had schedules. They would go out to eat or grab coffee together and after a couple of weeks they created a very close friendship. Jiyong always kept the theory of Vick/Seunghyun in the back of his mind whenever they were together, but over time something more started to make itself known to him.

The more time he spent with Vick, the more he found out how captivated he had truly become.

Their first encounter was a horrible first impression. But since then, Jiyong could tell that the Vick from back then was not the Vick he knew now. And the one he knew now was becoming more kind and funny and just fun to be around.

And yes there was also the factor he started noticing just how attractive Vick was. When they did the photo shoot he saw right away that he was a good looking guy. But now that they had become closer, he was starting to develop feelings for him.

He knew it was dangerous and that it would never work out, but sometimes he would catch Vick looking at him and it would give him the slightest bit of hope. He never tried to make his feelings known because he didn’t want to spoil the friendship they already had.

Sometimes Vick would stop by the studio and watch Jiyong work.  Seungri and all the other assistants were shocked the first time he walked in when they were doing a shoot for a jewelry line, but after a few more visits they got used to him being around.

 When they were little Vick was always fascinated whenever Jiyong drew, and he was still fascinated by him now. He noticed that Jiyong turned into a different person whenever he held a camera. Whenever he was in the photographer state of mind he had this aura about him. It was like he was in charge, he knows what he wants, and works until he gets it. And honestly for Vick, demanding Jiyong was kind of a turn on, but he would never tell him that.

One week they were trying to think of a good day to meet up for coffee but both of them had really busy schedules. They decided that a Friday afternoon would be best but when Thursday night came around, Jiyong got call from Vick saying that his meeting on Saturday morning had been moved to Friday afternoon.

“Since we can’t meet Friday, how about Saturday?” Vick asked the Jiyong.

“But I have a meeting Saturday afternoon.”

“Well what about Saturday morning?”

“Saturday morning…” Jiyong paused and thought for a second. “Ok. But only if you feel like getting up early.”

“Early for what?”

“I have this thing I like to do on Saturday mornings where I go out to a random part of the city and just start taking pictures. Its how I got most of my photo’s from the exhibition a few weeks back. Usually I like to go alone cause it’s really the only time I get time to myself, but if that’s the only time we can meet…”

“Are you sure you’d want me to come with you?”

“Why not?”

“Well like you said, you like to do that by yourself.”

“I don’t mind if you come along, I mean it's gonna be the only time we can see each other for a while…”

“That’s true… So when and where do you want to meet.”

“Umm… There's this park that I like going to sometimes.”

Jiyong proceeded to give Vick directions to the park and they agreed on meeting at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning. Vick was actually kind of nervous the night before, he kept over thinking things. He was just excited to get to spend more time with Jiyong and to get closer to him. Really, Jiyong was his saving grace for his crazy life. Whenever he had a long day or something happened, he was the one Vick was turning to more and more. Jiyong was always there to listen and just be someone he could talk to.

Vick woke up extra early Saturday so he would have time to grab them some coffee, and then started making his way towards the park. It was a cold morning in January and no matter how many layers he had on he was still cold. He was thankful for the two hot drinks he was carrying and took a sip of his own as he turned the corner into the park.

Jiyong said to meet him by the playground just because it was a good landmark that was easy to find. As he was walking, he noticed that the park was fairly populated, despite the temperature. Mostly it was people out for their morning exercise but he saw a few business people probably taking the more scenic route on their way to work.

It took him a little longer than he planned to find the right path to the play ground but eventually he saw it in the distance, but that wasn’t all he saw. As he got a little closer he could tell that there were two men standing next to the playground, and getting even closer he realized that one of them was Jiyong. His first thought was that the other man would be Seungri but when he was a few yards away he saw that the other person was defiantly not Jiyongs assistant, and whoever the man was, he was arguing with Jiyong.

At first Vick wanted to run over and protect Jiyong from whomever this person was but as he started hearing bits of the argument he thought it best to hang back for a bit.

“I’ve called you at least a dozen times since then,” the other man yelled at Jiyong. Vick noticed that he was taller and slightly more built in comparison to Jiyong.

“And as you know, I ignored all of your calls. I told you back then and I’ll tell you again now, it was all a mistake. How did you even know I would be here today?”

The man smirked and sarcastically said “Please Jiyong,  you’re a creature of habit. You always come here the first Saturday of every month.”

“Even so, you shouldn’t have come. I’m meeting someone.” Jiyong started to walk away from the man in the opposite direction that Vick was standing.

“Well they’re not here yet so you have time to talk to me,” the man yelled after him.

“But I don’t want to talk to you,” Jiyong turned around and yelled at the man trying to get his point across. “I said what I wanted to back then. My friend will be here any minute and I don’t want him to see you anywhere near here. So for the last time Jae, we are over, so leave me alone!”

If Vick thought he was cold before, he was wrong. After he heard those words from Jiyong his heart froze in an instant and sent a chill down his spine. This Jae guy was an ex of Jiyongs? Was that what he was hearing? His mind was spinning with questions but he was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard Jae yell something back at Jiyong.

“Oh a ‘friend’,” he made air quotes and moved toward Jiyong getting angrier. “Is that what you call the people you use for a couple weeks and throw them away. Like me.”

“I never used you Jae. It-“ Jae cut him off and got right in Jiyongs face.

“Bull! You were the one who would always called me and ask me to come over.”

“It was because I was in a new country and you were the first one to pay any attention to me! Is that what you want me to say? Is that what you really think our relationship was? Just hook ups? If you thought I just wanted attention from a good looking guy then you must not have known me at all. And the only reason I can think of that you want me back, is just to have someone in your bed. So no Jae, no matter how much you act like you cared for me, if that’s what you thought of me, then the only thing I want from you is to get out of my life for good.”

Jiyong his heel and was about to walk off when Jae caught his arm and turn him back around. When Jae turned Jiyong around, his other hand came up as if was about to hit the younger man. As soon as Vick saw what was about to happen he ran towards them and stood in front of Jiyong. He moved so fast Vick didn’t realize that he had until he was in between Jiyong and Jae, staring the other man down.

 “Vick, what are you doing here?” Vick could tell that Jiyong was panicked from his sudden appearance but he just kept glaring at Jae.

“Who the hell are you?” Jae snarled at Vick.

Vick didn’t answer right away, instead he lifted his hand that held Jiyongs drink and with a straight face said, “Got you some coffee, white mocha with an extra shot, right Jiyong?”

It took a Jiyong a second to realize that Vick was handing him a drink but he grabbed it nonetheless. Once the drink was out of his hand, Vick brought his up to his lips and took a sip, still looking at Jae. The other man was getting more aggravated and he said, “I don’t care who the hell you are, but you better get the out of my face before-“

“Before what? You hit me? Like you were just about to hit Jiyong? I don’t think so. See here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to walk away, right now, out of this park and never speak or try to contact Jiyong, ever again. And if hear that you do, I will make it my personal goal that you never step foot in this city again.”

“What? Who the hell are you?”

Vick took off his sunglasses and hat so Jae could see him, and from his reaction, he knew exactly who he was. Jae tried to hide his shock and play it off. He ignored what Vick said by looking to Jiyong and saying, “So you’re ing you’re models now? If I had known how much you sleep around I would have never been with you.” Jae looked at Vick and then looked back at Jiyong and continued with, “Have fun with your famous boy toy.” And left without another word.

Vick watched Jae until he couldn’t see him any longer and then he turned to face Jiyong.  The younger man was looking in the same direction Vick just was, standing in shock at what had happened. Vick brought his free hand up to Jiyongs shoulder and ever so slightly shook the younger man to get his attention.

“Hey, Jiyong. It’s ok, he left don’t worry about it anymore.”

Jiyong had so many things going through his head at that moment that he didn’t even know where to start. All he wanted to do today was spend some time with Vick and have a nice morning, but Jae popped out of know where and started bringing up their past. The worst thing about it all was that apparently Vick had heard everything or at least most of their conversation.

Out of all his past relationships, Jiyong never wanted to talk about Jae with anyone, let alone with the man he was currently falling for. And now Vick heard what Jae thought about him, about "sleeping around"… he was at a total loss on what to do.

Vick shook Jiyong harder trying to snap him out of shock and it finally worked. Jiyong slowly looked up at Vick with a pained expression on his face. Vick leaned down so he could be eye level with him and said, “Hey listen to me, don’t let what that said get to you. We may have only met a few weeks ago, but if you’re like me, I feel like we have showed each other who we really are. And from what I know, you’re nothing like what he said.”

All Jiyong could respond with was nodding his head. Vick continued with, “Here, let’s forget about taking pictures, how about we go somewhere and get breakfast. You look like you could use some food.” Again Jiyong nodded.

“Ok come on, it’s cold out here,” Vick said as he moved his hand from Jiyongs’ shoulder to the middle of his back and guided him out of the park.