Somehow, he ended up following Youngbae back into the building and he was about ready to descend the steps when he realized that he already lost Youngbae.

"Youngbae-ssi?" he called out, straining his eyes to look further down the stairwell while subconsciously wondering how the blind man managed to walk down the steps so fast. It didn't help that the area was only sparsely lit up by a few ceiling lights, probably because it was used so infrequently.

A soft ding brought his attention towards a hallway to the left of the exit door that he didn't notice before, not to say that he noticed much of anything on his anger-fueled walk up to the rooftop of the building.

Light illuminated the end of the hallway with a soft glow where Youngbae stood waiting patiently inside an elevator, hands holding the door open for him.

"I think riding the elevator would be a little easier than taking the stairs," Youngbae remarked. "Unless you would rather walk down all eight fleights."

Suddenly feeling the soreness in his legs, coupled with the thought that the stairs would have been a little difficult on the sightless Youngbae, Jiyong quickly nodded his agreement before vocally saying it again. It was easy to forget that with Youngbae, he needed to vocalize everything instead of giving out head gestures.

The elevator ride was surprisingly not awkward as Youngbae exchanged small talk with him the entire time. When they finally reached the ground floor and started walking towards the front desk, Jiyong has learned many things. Youngbae was the same age as him, as they were born on the eighteenth of the same year, though a few months apart. With that knowledge, they both agreed to talk informally with each other. He also learned that aside from Seunghyun, Youngbae had a real older brother named Hyunbae who was busy working overseas at the moment. He could sense a hint of sadness as they talked about Youngbae's family, and so Jiyong decided not to prod him any further on that subject.

"So where are we going?" Jiyong asked as they stepped out of the building and started walking along the sidewalk.

"To a great place nearby," Youngbae answered simply.

They walked passed stalls and stalls of food. Deokkboki, tweegim, spicy seafood, and soju greeted his nostrils and made his mouth water. His mom made him Korean dishes every once and awhile, but living in China made it hard to avoid the local cuisine. He grew up on Cantonese food; chow mein, lo mein, winter melon soup, and the entrails of animals that most people wouldn't eat were regular, everyday meals. It wasn't until he came to Korea that he learned more about the food of his native country which he has quickly grown to love.

Patbingsu was quickly becoming his favorite dessert, kimbap his favorite snack, and samgyupsal his favorite meal. He had yet to taste any alcohol because he didn't want to slip into the clubbing scene quite yet and besides; drinking by himself would be boring. Daesung worked nights on the weekends while he worked mornings (the only time they were ever really seperated on their work schedule) and Seungri was far too busy working for K1 under his father's orders to spare him any leisure time.

It took Jiyong a moment to realize the bitterness in that last thought, but it was there.

Yeah, it definitely hurts to see his father find a replacement son in his absence. It hurts even more to know that his replacement is Seungri, of all people. 

 "Are you okay?" Youngbae asked suddenly, jarring him from his thoughts. Jiyong cleared his throat before answering.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because you suddenly went quiet and we've been standing in front of our destination for a few minutes now."

Ignoring the heat on his cheeks, Jiyong mumbled a lame excuses about being tired and followed Youngbae into the building. Right away Jiyong was struck by the homey feel of the place. It was far from the sleek, neat, organized, and luxurious places he was used to. He followed Youngbae to a corner table and he sat down on a chair with a bright, neon orange cushion while Youngbae seated himself in the chair directly across from him, which had an alternating red and black striped pattern. Instantly, Jiyong could tell that the table was uneven. It leaned more towards the window on his right than it should have and his chair squeaked with every little movement he made.

Jiyong was reminded of little children playing house, pulling a box across the room and calling it a "table" and putting cushions on the ground to be "chairs". His sister often made him play with her as a kid and he was always the baby. Twenty some years later and she still thinks of him as a baby.

Jiyong wasn't sure what to think of the place, but he liked the eccentricity of it. The fact that no one else was in there was only slightly worrisome.

He looked at Youngbae who was facing him with a curious smile etched on his face. 

"What do you think?" Youngbae asked in a tenative sort of voice. For some reason it felt like the sightless man was asking something more than a regular question. It felt like a test  and Jiyong paused for a moment to think.

He looked at the ten little tables and their mismatched chairs, the flickering light hanging above them, and the white walls full of little messages and doodles from previous customers all written in various colors of permanent markers. 

"It's different...," Jiyong murmured as he ran his fingertips across the faded surface of their table. He pressed his fingers into the groove of names people etched into the old wooden table. He started thinking about the age of this little restaurant, about the number of customers that have sat in his rickety, old chair, and how many people have written messages on those marker colored walls. "...it has history, character. I like it."

Jiyong watched the look of pleasant surprise and awe flash on Youngbae's face before he broke into the smile that Jiyong couldn't help but reflect back at him.

"Aiyoo~!" Their little moment was interrupted by a beautiful woman that appeared out of nowhere, approaching Youngbae from behind. Youngbae was quickly engulfed in a hug, disappearing behind a waterfall of brown tresses. "Youngbae, you came!"

"Nuna," the sightless man mumbled through her curtain of hair. 

The girl smiled and fondly patted Youngbae's head before making eye contact with Jiyong.

"Um...hi- ooof!"

He barely got the words out before he too was pulled into a hug.

"And you! You are so nice and adorable! Thanks for saying such nice things about the restauran!" After pulling away from a bewildered Jiyong, the girl shot a serious look at Youngbae and declared, "Youngbae, I like this guy. Nuna approves!"

"Approve?" Jiyong stammered. I need approval to be his friend? "Who are you, Choi Seunghyun?"

He didn't mean to say anything so insulting to a person he just met, but he was all of a sudden reminded of that bastard hyung of Youngbae's and the way he's so controlling over Youngbae, not to mention the fact that he's a -

A peal of laughter split the air and interrupted his inner monologue/rant and the woman wiped the tears from her eyes as she patted Youngbae's shoulder.

"I like this one a lot," she giggled as she wiped the last of her laughter induced tears. 

"Jiyong, this is Park Bom nuna. Nuna, my new friend, Kwon Jiyong. He's Seunghyun hyung's new co-worker, and they didn't get off to a very good start...," Youngbae explained.

"I know. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said what he said, right?" 

Bom grinned as Jiyong looked away out of embarrassment.

"Nuna! Don't give him the wrong impression," Youngbae said as he furrowed his eye brows. "A lot of people misunderstand him. He's a good guy." Jiyong bristled a bit when Youngbae turned to face him. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Jiyong questioned, surprised from the apology that came out of nowhere. 

Youngbae's sheepish expression made his heart beat fast. 

Calm the down, Jiyong he told himself. 

"For hyung," Youngbae explained, fighting the embarressment. "I know he can be a real sometimes."

Youngbae was on the rooftop getting some fresh air as he waited for hyung at the time. He had heard the sound of angry footsteps coming up the stairs before the door that lead to the rooftop bursted open and he felt a rush of air fly pass him. Angry grumblings and the sound of a lighter being lit soon followed and he started walking towards the sounds

"Crazy bastard," the person had said and Youngbae instantly recognized it as the voice of Daesung's parter, Jiyong.  It didn't take a genius to figure out who he was talking about and what they were fighting about, and it made him uneasy knowing that he was causing Jiyong a lot of trouble.

So he approached Jiyong and somehow, they ended up here.

The fact that Jiyong, who was practically a stranger to him, was willing to stick up for his independence made Youngbae happy inside. How many times had he tried to convince Seunghyun to no avail? 

He found himself instantly liking Jiyong, and wanting to know more about him, but he never seems comfortable talking about his personal life, his family especially. Sensing that it was a sensitive topic to him, Youngbae decided to go on talking about himself. At first, he did so because he thought he owed Jiyong at least that much, but he soon found it surprisingly easy to talk to him. That was why he invited Jiyong to Bom's restaurant, to apologize but to also spend some time with him. 

"No, it's not your fault! I mean, I shouldn't have said that about your hyung anyway. He is kind of like my boss, and a sunbae too...." 

Youngbae laughed at Jiyong's panicked outburst. He finds himself laughing and smiling a lot more when Jiyong was around. 

"Aiyoo, he's waay cuter than that other friend you brought here, Youngbae," Bom exclaimed. "Nicer, too. Hold on for just a minute while I get you guys some drinks." 

Youngbae frowned a bit, but didn't say much to his nuna, who quickly scurried away. He knew who she was reffering to, and he was quick to pick up on the slightly negative tone she used as she mentioned his friend indirectly. 

To be honest, I'm glad I'm not with Jin Han today, Youngbae thought to himself. His good friend and dance partner has been getting on his nerves lately, as he always does when a competition date draws near. He could still feel the aches and pains of a late night practice he snuck off to a few days ago. Youngbae loves to dance, and he knows Jin Han does as well, but there are times when he is frustrated with his friend for stressing so much over a competition. He likes spending time with Jin Han, especially since they both share a love of dancing, but Youngbae couldn't help but feel disgruntled when all that is on his friend's mind is winning.

Winning isn't everything, he thought, though when they do win, he wasn't one to complain. Youngbae cared about his friend, he really does, but even he needed a break from him every once in awhile. 

"Youngbae."

A gentle caress of his arm brought him back to reality, and he could feel his face flushing from the embaressment of being caught lost in his thoughts. Jiyong's voice was laced with worriy as he asked if he was okay.

"I'm fine. Thanks," Youngbae replied and he could feel the relief in the air as Jiyong let out a breath.

"Good. I'm pretty sure your hyung would find some way to blame me if you suddenly went brain dead under my watch," Jiyong joked and Youngbae couldn't help but share a laugh with him. 

For some inexplicable reason, Youngbae had a feeling that he and Jiyong were going to see a lot more of each other from that day onwards. He didn't know why, but he felt that they were going to become great friends. It might be because of how at ease he felt around the other man, or the way Jiyong's answer to his question about Bom nuna's restaurant seemed to echo his own thoughts about the place. Regardless of the reason, Youngbae felt the ripples of change distorting his future, and he thinks that Jiyong might be the one causing them.

Whether the changes turn out to be good or bad, he will have to wait and see. 

Ah, it took so long for this update, but I had to rewrite this chapter a lot because I didn't like it the first few times I wrote it. 

I think Jiyong is finding it harder and harder to make excuses as to why Youngbae is making him feel and act so strangely and Youngbae's sixth sense is telling him that Jiyong's presence is going to bring about change.