~=-*-=~ Enjoy~ <3 And thank you for subscribing to my fic ^^ It's not my first but it really feels that way...

       Jongup was 22 years old this year. He has been through many bumps in life, met many friends, parted with many friends. The people he had treasured the most had all left him, except for his best friend, Junhong. They lived together and have been living together ever since they graduated 4 years ago from the same school. Jongup liked Junhong a lot and worried about his well being all the time. From what Jongup understood from Junhong, Junhong had a 'dark spirit' inside him, someone who was bent on avenging the death of their leader.
 

       That's right, Jongup told himself for the umpteenth, Yongguk was gone. And he was the reason their group fell apart.

~=-*-=~

      "Junnie! I'm going to bring the new kid to go shopping, so don't let Zelo bully you!" Jongup announced as he turned to a child of about 4 years. "Let's go get you something to decorate your new room, okay?"
       The child nodded eagerly.
       "Kaja!" He cheered, grabbing the little girl by the waist and lifting her into the car. He fastened the seat belt for her and took his place behind the wheel.
      First stop would be most of the kid's favourite shop, the interior decoration shop.
    
      "Would you like to wait here or choose your own bed and wallpaper?" Jongup asked, stopping in front of the kids playground and turning to the little girl. She didn't answer him at all, but ran straight onto the playground, making friends friends with a few other kids in a flash as she joined their game of hopscotch.
      Jongup smiled at the three kids. A sweet smile that reflected his happiness for that carefree child. Almost at once, his childhood came back to him.
    
       He was only 13, his first year of highschool. He couldn't believe it was gone so fast. Of course, spending it with Junhong and the rest of his music group made it seem much faster than it actually was. His group, the little group where he was accepted.

      They first met on the first day, when Junhong lent his money to an older kid called Daehyun so he wouldn't starve. Usually it was Daehyun's friend who would lend him money, the rich kid Youngjae, but he was absent that day and Daehyun was about to go without eating. Then he saw Junhong's money and on a whim, asked to borrow it. He returned the amount the next day (it was actually Youngjae's money) and ever since that day, Daehyun would borrow from Junhong when Youngjae was unexpectedly absent.

      And that was considerably often.
 

      Their second meeting was at the school field, when Yongguk, a 17 year old who was friends with Youngjae and Daehyun, kicked the ball and it hit Jongup's face by accident. As apology, Yongguk's friend Himchan forced him to make sure they had no problems in school for half a month. Of course, Junhong had noticed Daehyun and Youngjae, the laughing pair watching in the background and realized they were friends.    

       It was the best thing that happened that year. Jongup used to be bullied by the whole year for being hazy and blur at times. It was only Junhong who still wanted to be friends with him, but sometimes, Junhong wasn't strong enough to defend them both. When the rumour about Yongguk being the older brother of the two started spreading, it immediately halted all forms of teasing, bullying and exclusion the two used to receive.
 

       Soon after the second week, they officially joined the group run by Yongguk and was forced to dye their hair blonde. Forced might be a bit of an overstatement, Jongup and Junhong were willing. Apparently, no one else was allowed to dye their hair that shade of blonde except Yongguk's group, mainly because the entire student body was afraid of him and his death glares, and because the leader said so himself. There was a large about of pink, blue and purple heads to be found in school though, as school was quite lenient on hairstyles.
    
       Jongup found himself somewhere in the lamp section, and spotted a cute lamp with bunnies all over it. Not the kind of bunnies he and his friends used to draw when they were younger, but fluffy white ones. He wondered if the little girl would like it. He knew Yongguk definitely wouldn't, and Daehyun would prefer the one with food all over it. Youngjae would probably like all lights, seeing as they all contained electrical charges and Himchan might have gone for the cute pink one or the one which gave off a calm yellow glow instead of white.
 

     He wandered into the bed section and picked out some light curtains with flowery patterns at the edge and a double bunk bed with matching sheets to go with it. According to Jongup's previous observations, the little girl made friends easily, so he was sure she wouldn't mind sharing a room with another.
 

       Later, he picked up the girl from the playground before ordering the furniture and leaving for their next destination, the blanket store. He had been there many times thanks to the kids at the orphanage and was a friend of the owner.

~=-*-=~

      "Welcom- Oh, it's you again!" The blonde haired man behind the counter greeted enthusiastically. "Long time no see! Who's this?" He asked, bending down to get on eye level with the little girl.

      "She just came today. We went out shopping for her new room already." Jongup answered with a bright smile.

     "Ah, the orpha-" The man stopped mid sentence. "The Rainbows and Unicorn House has a new member?" He asked, turning back to the girl.

      "Where's Yoochun-hyung?" Jongup asked, looking around the store.

       The man shrugged. "His friend came by just now, they're probably talking upstairs. I can help you since he's busy."

       "Okay. Thank you very much hyung. Could I talk to Yoochun-hyung for awhile?" Jongup didn't want to walk around because the store was actually quite spacious. Jongup found himself lost quite a number of times and was not eager to introduce the girl to every crook and cranny the shop had. 

       "No problem. I'll just take this little girl on a tour of our shop." Jaejoong laughed. "Would you like that?" He asked the girl. "What's your name? My name is Jaejoong." He added, pointing to himself.

       "I'm Jooyeon."

       "Let's go Jooyeon!"

      They laughed and headed to the inside of the store and Jongup went around the counter and upstairs, to Yoochun's apartment.
        

      "-don't want to hyung! You can't force... me..."
 

      Jongup turned the corner and the happy smile on his face slowly turned into one of confusion as he found both Yoochun and a stranger staring at him. Jongup stared back at the man next to Yoochun. He thought he looked like a shadow, totally black, except for his slightly tanned skin, the brown hair on his head and the slightly gray jeans he had on.
 

         They were both observing each other for awhile, neither recognizing each other though they were constantly on each others mind. People do change with time.

~=-*Rikku A/N-=~
How was it? .w. 

Well, if you put it in a 'supernatural' way, Zelo can be considered as Junhong's 'dark side'. Usually people's 'dark sides' are only considered as a feeling or emotion, whereas in this, you have sort of turned it into a character itself which makes it more interesting~' (Says BubbleMTea, my awesome co-author~)
Zelo is like Junhong's darker side who lives in him. They like, share the same bodeh~

Do you think I'm introducing too many characters at the start...?

~=-*BBLT A/N-=~

Chapter has been proof-read by me :D