“I dare you to say that again, Yang Yoseob!” Hyorin shouts, not caring if her parents in the neighboring bedroom can hear her.

“What? All I said was “Gosh you look pretty today”… Is that really so bad?” a rather confused Yoseob nearly whines at his girlfriend.

“ yes it is! What happened to the Yoseob I fell in love with?! You used to tell me I’m the most beautiful girl in the universe and now all I get is a “Gosh, you’re pretty”??? What kind of relationship is this?!”

Yoseob sighs loudly and looks at her with a sort of kicked puppy expression on his face.

“Listen, I’m sorry. I’ve just been really over-worked lately and I can’t seem to squeeze ideas for new songs out of my head right now…” he replies sadly, his eyes already filling with tears.

This isn’t the first time the pair of them have argued this week, or even today for that matter. She’d torn into him when he showed up five minutes late and they'd have had to take a later train into the heart of Seoul. But he’d bought the ticket for her and everything. He’d had the most beautiful date planned out to make up for the lack of time he’d been able to devote to her lately. Too bad she started screaming at him in the train station, earning many sympathetic glances in his direction from most everyone nearby. The concert tickets had been torn up in her raging fury and she’d even told him how useless he is. Had it not been for the crowds of people shuffling around them, he might’ve even cried. It wasn’t about how he’d stayed up till 3am to get the first tickets as they went on sale to go see a solo performance by BoA or how he’d spent a good chunk of this week’s salary on the whole day and had planned to spend nearly a month’s worth on her over the course of the next couple days. It was about how broken he felt and how underappreciated he truly was. She’d stormed away at that point, in tears because of how little her boyfriend really cared about her (which was complete bull) and he quickly got up to follow after her, afraid to get too close but also genuinely worried she might do something drastic.

And so here they are in her parents’ small apartment, locked in her bedroom as she starts another tantrum. All Yoseob can do to keep himself from actually crying is let the memories of their first few dates rush back into his head. She’d been so much happier back then. Her dazzling smile never left her face as he dorkily admitted how nervous he’d been about asking her out. The golden sunshine had added a gorgeous shine to her long, chocolate-colored hair as they walked around the park hand-in-hand. Back then no one could’ve convinced him that things would go so wrong… but that was a mere three months ago. The changing colors on the leaves was the only thing he’d noticed aside from Hyorin during the first part of the fall season.

________      

Back in the BEAST dorm all five of the other boys were waiting, wondering why Yoseob wasn’t back yet when it was nearly midnight now. He’d never stayed out this late, not even when he’d taken Hyorin on a date.

“Maybe he got lucky and is giving her his V-card as we speak,” Hyunseung suggests nonchalantly.

“That’s ridiculous. You know how much of a gentleman he is. He’s probably not planning on going that far until they’ve been dating for like two years,” Doojoon interjects.

Dongwoon simply nods silently from the corner, agreeing whole-heartedly with Doojoon’s words.

An awkward silence fills the dark living room.

“… Guys. I think something’s wrong,” Gikwang says a bit weakly, glancing over at the entirely silent and unresponsive Junhyung.

“Hyung… has something been happening with those two lately? I mean.. I know Yoseob’s been super busy with his mini album and all that… but do you think Hyo will understand?” Dongwoon asks, only being so familiar with Hyorin because she’d been in his class many times as they’d grown up.

Junhyung simply shrugs and glances at Dongwoon for a moment before turning his gaze back to the front window.

A collective sigh fills the room for a moment before Doojoon finally stands up.

“Well guys… As worried as I am, I’ve got to try to get at least some sleep. Schedules are starting super early tomorrow. Come wake me if he’s still not back by 3, okay?” he asks softly, resting a hand on Junhyung’s shoulder as he walks past his dongsaeng.

In the other corner, Hyunseung lets out a loud yawn and groans as he slowly gets himself up off the couch.

“I’m turning in too. My schedules may start at five, but with the way I was moving this morning I should probably get up at least an hour early if I wanna make it on time. Good night. And don’t worry so much. I’m sure he’ll be just fine,” he says softly, looking around at his team mates one more time before he disappears into the bedroom.

After another half hour, Gikwang silently gets up and shuffles into the bedroom as well, leaving Dongwoon and Junhyung alone in the main room. As much as he tries, Dongwoon can’t stifle a yawn as he sprawls himself out on the couch, holding a pillow under his arms, and quickly drifts off to sleep. Junhyung watches him for a few minutes, waiting until he hears the maknae’s soft snoring before he quietly stands up and tugs a blanket off the back of the couch, draping it over the younger almost affectionately. As tired as he is, he refuses to let himself sleep until he at least hears something, anything, from Yoseob. He slowly makes his way back to his chair and settles down, listening to the soft sounds of a slight argument brewing in the other room between Gikwang and Hyunseung about who has to set the alarm. Junhyung simply sighs and does his best to ignore them.

Endless tears stream down Yoseob’s face as he races down the familiar route to the BEAST dorm. Little does he know it’s already 2:30 and Junhyung is dozing slightly as he waits for the younger boy to return. He doesn’t even remember how he managed to get out of Hyorin’s room or how his coat hadn’t been left behind as he’d hurried out. All he remembers is an apologetic look on her umma’s face right before he left the small apartment. His lungs burn as he has to inhale gulps of frigid morning air and his entire body feels heavy to him, especially his heart. His mind blurs as memories, both good and bad, come flooding back to him. He doesn’t even notice as his feet automatically carry him up the stairs. He only becomes aware of his location when he reaches out for the door knob and tries to turn it, finding it locked. He snaps back into reality and fumbles through his pockets to find his dorm key as he takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm down.

‘I’ll just sneak in quietly and hopefully no one will notice I was even gone,’ he wishes mentally as he slides the key into the lock and slowly turns the knob.

Just inside, the light snoring of Dongwoon couldn’t keep Junhyung awake and he was just about to drift off into a deep sleep right there in his chair. The clicking of the lock wakes him up, however. He springs out of his chair, nearly knocking it over in the process and grabs it clumsily, scraping it against the wood floor a bit. Yoseob hesitates when he hears the noise, but doesn’t quite register what it was until he steps inside the dorm.

“Yoseob-ah… Where have you be-… What happened?” Junhyung asks in barely a whisper, his first question cutting short when he notices the waning moonlight bouncing off the tear tracks on the shorter boy’s face.

“H-Hyung…” is all Yoseob manages to stammer out before he almost throws himself into the older boy’s arms and starts sobbing again.

Junhyung looks down worriedly and gently rubs Yoseob’s back, trying to help him calm down. He slowly wraps his arms around the younger and silently holds him.

“I-I think she hit me…” Yoseob makes out weakly after a few minutes.

A look of utter shock crosses Junhyung’s face.

“But why? What happened..?” the elder asks, forgetting for a moment that Dongwoon is still asleep on the couch.

“I don’t know… I-I had everything planned out… I was gonna make it all up to her, hyung… But she made a huge scene in the train station ‘cuz I was like f-five minutes late….. She tore up the concert tickets I bought for her a-and… and she t-tore up my heart…” Yoseob finally manages to say between sobs before he buries his face in Junhyung’s shoulder.

Junhyung sighs softly and hugs Yoseob a little tighter. “Women are difficult… but if anything like this happens again, I think you need to call this off,” is all he says.

Yoseob simply shakes his head and whines, “I can’t… I love her too much,".

Hey guys! Sorry this chapter is so long and sad... But I had to get through this.

Anyway, comments are greatly appreciated and much loved. I hope you enjoy this once things start taking a turn away from the pain in poor Seobbie's heart.