Chapter Thirteen

His Voice

"My best friend is depressed and he won't tell me why." Himchan complained into the phone that was pressed against his ear. He layed on his bed, staring up at the ceiling above him. He hated to admit it, but he had been feeling lonely the past few months. Working all day barely gave him enough free time to do things he wanted.

"I'm sorry," The male on the other end of the line expressed his sympathy for the older male, "I'm kind of in a similar situation over here." The guy chuckled, and Himchan smiled, he had grown fond of the teen's laugh.

A few weeks prior, Himchan met a man online. It was by chance, when he was doing some research in a small PC room.  He stumbled across a chat room and decided to try it out, he soon befriended this guy. Everyday after work he would call him, and complain to him, ranting to the poor kid about all the day's problems. However, the one on the receiving end of the line, never seemed to mind.

"Hey. When are you going to tell me your name?" Hmchan suddenly asked, he just now realized that the person who he had been talking to always avoided the question. 

"Why are you so curious all of a sudden?" The man nervously asked, Himchan could hear him shuffling around on the other end of the line. He smirked and sat up on his bed, leaning his back against the pillows piled up in the corner.

"Because I like you, that's why." Himchan bluntly stated, he tried to contain his laugh as he heard the kid suddenly turn quiet.

"I'm just being careful Himchan, you know that." The teen whined, and Himchan rolled his eyes at that. It was the same excuse every time.

"I know, but I told you my name already so..." Himchan tried to convince the man to hand over his name. He honestly did enjoy talking to him, and Himchan was 90% sure the feelings were mutual.

"I'm more at risk here than you are, I'm only 17!" The teen incredulously stated.

"Yeah..well- wait! Did you just call me old?" Himchan scoffed into the phone and self consciously fixed his hair. It was safe to say that Himchan had a fear of growing old, if only because of the wrinkles he knew he was going to get.

"Well, you are way older than me..." The teen's voice trailed off and Himchan rolled his eyes for the second time.

"I'm not that old..." Himchan muttered, he sighed and played with a stuffed toy Youngjae left on his bed.

"You're 22," the kid deadpanned and Himchan gasped at hearing his own age.

"You're lucky that an older man still wants to talk to you!" He mumbled and the male laughed at that, immediately making Himchan lighten up.

"That's illegal hyung." He said in between his laughing and Himchan shook his head lightly.

"Shut up. I'm not a creep, I swear!" Himchan whined and kicked his legs about.

"How do I know that?" The guy asked skeptically. Himchan shrugged to himself and finally agreed with something the other male said.

"Fine! I see your point." Himchan sighed and pouted.

"Well," The man hesitated and cleared his throat, "I guess it's time I should tell you anyways." He reluctantly said and Himchan perked up where he was sitting, holding his breath, "My name is Moon Jongup." Himchan gasped in excitement.

"Really?" He grinned and sat up in his bed once again whispering the name to himself once, "Can I call you Jonguppie?" 

"Yeah, sure as long as you don't stalk me," Jongup chuckled softly.

"Of course I won't. I told you, I'm not a creep!" Himchan laughed and Jongup joined him. Suddenly the door opened to Himchan and Youngjae's room, Youngjae poked his head in.

"Hyung? Who are you talking to?" He asked curiously, he kept his voice low so he wouldn't disturb the conversation between the two of them.

"My friend." Himchan spoke softly and he heard Jongup laughing a little on the other end.

"Oh, well I have to talk to you about something important." Youngjae nervously bit his lip, and Himchan tilted his head in confusion and worry. Himchan searched Youngjae's face for any clues before nodding.

"Okay, Jongup I have to go now." Himchan told him, he tried not to make his voice sound so sad, "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay Himchan hyung, bye!" The teen called and Himchan smiled fondly for a second longer before he hung up and stood, facing Youngjae.

"What is it?" Himchan asked. Youngjae closed the door behind him and sat down on Himchan's bed, moving the scattered pillows aside. 

"Well, I have some good news and some bad news..." Youngjae anxiously bit his lip and tried not to look Himchan directly in the eyes.

"What's the bad news?" Himchan worriedly asked, sitting next to Youngjae and slinging an arm over his small frame.

"Well," he paused and collected himself, "I may have miscalculated the amount of money that we owe." Youngjae lowered his voice guiltily, Himchan's eyes widened in fear and he let his arm slip from Youngjae's shoulders.

"What? But we've been keeping track for years! How can you miscount it?" Himchan yelled angrily, Youngjae hurriedly covered Himchan's mouth.

"Shh! Yongguk might hear you!" Once he was sure Himchan was quiet, he continued."I must have forgot to add the amount that we borrowed last year too." Youngjae shook his head in disbelief of himself and Himchan was about to start panicking again, hoping they wouldn't spiral into an endless pit of despair and helplessness again, "But, I have some good news too. Right now, we have enough to pay them back. But not enough for ourselves."

"You mean, we have enough to get them off our backs, but not enough to live?" Himchan asked and Youngjae nodded sadly."What are we going to do? We don't have enough money to move into another apartment in Seoul."

"I know Himchan. I'm sorry." Youngjae apologized, tears of frustration beginning to form in his eyes. He felt the same as Himchan did, they didn't want to be stuck again like they once were.

"We can't continue working at our jobs for much longer, and even if we do, it still wont be enough to pay the rent." Himchan buried his face in his hands.Youngjae watched Himchan sadly as he took a deep breath."I'll think of something Youngjae." Himchan patted Youngjae's head. "Keep quiet about it, and don't tell Yongguk." Youngjae nodded. Himchan stood up and left the room, walking past Yongguk's sleeping body on the living room couch, and to the front door. He slung on a jacket and slipped his shoes on before walking out the door and into the night.

Himchan buried his hands in his pocket, being cautious, just in case those guys were out looking for him. He walked past a water fountain and across the street to the park. Leaning against a tree, he pulled out his phone and watched the blank screen for a while. The 22 year old didn't think about what he was about to do, instead he scrolled through the few contacts he had to the one phone number that he had memorized by heart. Himchan took a deep breath and pressed on Jongup's contact information, making a mental note to change the label to 'Jonguppie.' Jongup picked up almost immediately after a few rings and Himchan held his breath nervously.

"Himchan Hyung?" The voice asked hesitantly, the teen probably thought he had called him by accident. After all, he only said goodbye to him 15 minutes ago. Himchan's voice caught in his throat, all his worries were starting to surface."Is everything alright?"

"Jongup, I need to ask a favor." The older male's voice came out more tired than he had thought. Himchan figured that he had nothing to be ashamed of, and if he didn't take a chance then he would lose everything. 

"What is it?" Jongup's voice turned worried and Himchan's chest constricted at the sound of it. He gulped and gathered his courage together.

"It's really stupid, but just trust me okay?" At the back of Himchan's mind he knew that he only learned Jongup's name just today, but he needed the teen to have faith in him. If Jongup refused then Himchan didn't know what he would do, he was at his rope's end.

"Okay Hyung." 

"My friends and I need a place to stay."

 

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A/N- Another Update~ :)

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T-a-ori
#1
Man i'm sad this never finished. i always looked forward to updates OTL. I always think about this fic every once in a while. More than most. I'm sad this seems that it will never have an ending. </3
xpetri
#2
i miss this story its one of my fav
BANGgwanja
#3
I always think about how much I love this story. Even now being on the page I just remembered a song I hadn't heard in years because I was listening to it while reading this story :'D
bornbigbang1 #4
Chapter 22: I check this story 1st when I log in, I so hope you feel better so that I no longer have to be on the edge of my seat! I have re-read this story at least 20 times! Lol
sleepybunny
#5
I want to start this but i dont want to suffer and i see that it's been soooo long since the last update so i'll just save it for when i'm in the mood to suffer
Baekstarr #6
Chapter 22: Please update soon!! This story is really good and I wanna know what happens