There were only five crews that were still out dancing in The Hole as the abandoned parking garage was so affectionately called. It was a late Wednesday night and the place was never crowded during the weekdays. Youngbae liked being there when there were less people around. He and Jin Han could find a secluded corner to themselves and have a little bit of privacy as they went over their routine. He could faintly hear the soft synth sounds of an elctro song coming from somewhere near the entrance, but it was quiet enough to not be much of a bother. Less sound also made it easier for Youngbae to focus on his timing because when the place is too crowded, it was hard for him to sync his dance movements with the music when everyone else were blasting their stereos. Because he couldn’t see Jin Han, it’s always difficult to make sure that they were in sync. Youngbae relied heavily on his and Jin Han’s ability to dance in time to the beat. He listened for stray thuds and squeaks of their sneakers as they danced because any stray sounds would mean one of them was off beat. It has taken them years to learn how to dance together, to make their movements as one.

His shirt was drenched in sweat after an intense run through of their routine. Between sounds of heavy breathing from both himself and Jin Han, Youngbae asked for the time.

After a moment of silence that dragged on for too long without Jin Han giving him any sort of response, Youngbae tapped Jin Han’s arm.

“Jin Han, the time?”  

“One-thirty,” Jin Han answered begrudgingly.

Youngbae turned to the right where he knew Jin Han was and steeled his eyes to glare at him, however the intimidation effect was lost because while Youngbae himself was sitting on the ground, Jin Han was sitting on a chair, and so it looked like Youngbae was glaring intently at Jin Han’s legs.

Jin Han burst into laughter and Youngbae would have laughed along with him if he wasn’t extremely pissed off at the moment.

“I told you midnight at the latest,” Youngbae said angrily as he started patting the floor blindly in search of his jacket. He remembers tossing it onto the floor somewhere by Jin Han, but he was far too angry to ask for any help.

Jin Han took a gulp of water and nudged the jacket, which was under his chair, in Youngbae’s direction with his foot. The blind man caught hold of a leather sleeve, stood up, and started fumbling to put the jacket on.

“Chill, man,” Jin Han replied as he went over to help Youngbae with his jacket. It felt almost criminal to watch Youngbae struggle with it so much. The shorter man had one arm in a sleeve and was desperately trying to find the other sleeve hole to put his other arm in, but he wasn’t aware that the other sleeve was turned inside out and that the jacket was twisted around him like a boa constrictor.

It wasn’t everyday that one could see Youngbae making a fool of himself, but the late hour had really taken a toll on him.

“I can walk you back to your place, no problem,” Jin Han said as he fixed Youngbae’s jacket and helped him put it on properly. He ordered Youngbae to stay still as he put the jacket on him and Youngbae felt like a child being dressed by his mother. Youngbae hated being taken care of like this but stood still anyways. The sooner the jacket gets on, the sooner he could leave.

“I don’t care about going back alone, I care about being back before hyung is home.”

The look on Youngbae’s face made Jin Han want to kick himself.

“Mianhae, Taekwon,” Jin Han said in apology. Even though the place was mostly empty, they were always cautious about using their real names when they come out to practice. Dong Youngbae becomes Taekwon and Han Yoo Jin becomes Jin Han and that’s how it is. The rule was made so that there was no chance for this to leak out into the "real" world, no chance of Seunghyun hyung catching wind of it and putting a stop to everything. Both Youngbae and Yoo Jin went through great lengths to keep it a secret for three years now and neither would want to be the one to compromise the secret. They were friends, but they also needed each other.

Youngbae wanted to dance and Yoo Jin needed a partner.

That, amongst many reasons, is why they won't leave each other. Other crews that have known about The Hole have lost and gained members over that five month period when the whispers of a competition started going around and rumors of talent scouts from various companies being there had spread like wildfire. Many wanted to build the strongest team, to be the ones to impress the scouts and hopefully start a career as a popular idol or dance crew. Only a few has kept to their original members and Youngbae and Yoojin were amongst the few that did.

Youngbae started mentally calculating the time it would take Seunghyun to come back from a photoshoot, the last one he would have to do in awhile, meaning that Youngbae would have to be even more careful about meeting up with Jin Han. Considering that it was probably a late shoot, Youngbae figured Seunghyun would be there by two, which meant he only had half an hour to get back to his place. 

"Let's go," Yoo Jin said as he walked to the exit, checking only once to make sure that Youngbae was going the right direction before exiting The Hole without him. 

Just another precaution ever since their little mishap with Park Bom, which lead to Youngbae revealing that Yoo Jin was his friend in order to prevent a scene.

Waiting ten seconds after the the heavy door closed shut, Youngbae took out his collapsible cane and followed behind his friend.

Youngbae could tell it was late by the chill of the night air and the lack of traffic noise. Even at this late hour the smells of street stall foods still lingered in the air, calling out to anyone who wanted a late night snack. The night air still buzzed with the same energy you would feel in the morning, albeit a little subdued.

The shortest way from The Hole to his apartment involved passing by the company building Seunghyun worked at. He would have taken a longer, less direct route on a normal day, but considering he was late enough at it is, he would rather chance the fact that he might encounter one of Seunghyun's coworkers or the man himself than to arrive at home to find his hyung waiting for an explanation. If he met him in front of his workplace, he could just say he was lingering around the area, waiting for him to be done. At least it was plausible since Seunghyun would have seen him with his own two eyes. It would have been more difficult to explain him arriving home later than his hyung if he was already at home waiting for him. He knew somewhere behind him, Yoojin was following along to make sure he arrived home safely. After exiting the alleyway, he purposefully slowed his pace to allow Youngbae to be in front of him as he walked.

When he walked past the intersection, Youngbae could tell he was nearing the company building. It was highly unlikely anyone would see him, but he crossed over to the other side of the street anyways, to put some distance between him and the building.



"Calling it a night, Jiyong?"

"Yes, sir," Jiyong replied to the senior employee who gave him a light pat on the back. Jiyong and Daesung had managed to almost make it through one whole filing cabinet together before Daesung was called away to perform some menial task by a director from the advertising department. 

Daesung had profusely apologized of course, but Jiyong just shooed him away with a smile, reassuring him that he would get everything done by himself before he went home. After sending Seungri a text, Jiyong finished organizing the files in a few hours and a look at the clock confirmed that it was 1:46, almost two in the morning. He could feel the tiredness in his back muscles as he stood up to put his jacket on. His knees ached from being in the same position for too long and there was an audible crack as he stood up.

"I'm a grandfather now," he muttered as he made his way down to the lobby area to leave. He was absentmindedly wondering how hard it would be for him to catch a taxi or a bus this late in the night when he stopped in his tracks as he reached the entrance. Through the glass doors, he saw a familiar figure walking on the opposite side of the street. The cane made it impossible to mistake him for anyone else.

"Youngbae!" His name was out of his lips before he could even stop himself.

The figure stopped.

Pulling his jacket on quickly, Jiyong hurriedly scanned the streets for cars and after finding none, he scurried across the road to where Youngbae was.

"Youngbae, it's Jiyongie," Jiyong stated, a little breathless from running that short distance. His face flushed a little because agreeing to speak casually with Youngbae brought a weird sense of happiness to him that made him embarassed. It's been a few days since he was last with the blind man at Park Bom's restaurant. Youngbae has been increasingly gone ever since that day. He always came to see Seunghyun, but Seunghyun would tell him that he'd meet him at home and Youngbae would leave. Usually, he would be wandering the place chatting to employees, but lately he has been gone before Jiyong even had a chance to see him.

"Jiyong?" Youngbae parroted, surprise evident in his voice. In most normal situations, the next thing that should be said would be something along the lines of "where have you been?" Or "Why are you out this late?" and Youngbae had his carefully thought out reply on the tip of his tongue.

But Jiyong did no such thing. 

Even though he knew full well where Youngbae had been, he feigned ignorance. In fact, he didn't even question him at all. 

"Are you going home?"

"Y-yeah," Youngbae's reply came out as a stutter because Jiyong's question threw him off. 

With more bravery than he thought he had, Jiyong stated boldly, "I'll walk you home."

Youngbae had given him a dubious smile before letting out a small laugh of relief that caught Jiyong off guard again. He didn't comment on the odd timing of the laugh because, like always, his own face was displaying a gummy smile that couldn't be avoided when he was with Younbae. Youngbae nodded his head in agreement a second later the two started on their way.

It didn't really occur to Jiyong that he had no idea where Youngbae lived, how long it would take to get to his house, or how far away it was from where he lived. He wasn't even sure if he could make the long trek there without passing out if it was far away, the fatigue making it hard to keep his eyes open already. He was going to ask Youngbae where exactly he lived, but he never had the chance to voice his question.

He was abruptly interrupted by a blaring car horn.

A pressure on his back propelled him forward and his face painfully connected with the concrete sidewalk in front of him. His brain was jarred from the impact and for a moment Jiyong couldn't lift his head up due to pain and dizziness. 

Through bleary eyes he saw the wreckage of a car accident in front of him: the airbags were deployed, the alarm was sounding, and the windshield was shattered. The driver was nowhere to be seen.

He went through...the windshield...

His mind slowly pieced together the information. 

He heard a scream from the other side of the car that was abruptly cut off. The sound quickly cleared his mind of the haze it was in and clarity brought fear into his heart.

"Youngbae?" he whispered and once the name left his lips, he was upright. "Youngbae?!"

Blood gushed out of his nose, most likely broken from the impact of falling face first into the pavement. With unsteady steps and leaning against the car for support, Jiyong maneuvered his way to the other side of the the vehicle with difficulty.

If only Jiyong had stayed at work a little longer or left a little earlier;

if only he didn't see Youngbae passing by;

if only he restrained himself;

if only he had just stopped himself from crossing that street, none of this would have happened.

But it was far too late.

He staggered to the other side of the car and looked down.

There, he found not one body, but two.

I had a schedule. I had a routine and I broke it. I was suppose to update Until The End before I updated this one, but I finished this chapter earlier and it has been months since I updated either of them so I figured posting a chapter is more important than following an order, right? 

Right...

I didn't even reread the chapter; I wanted it out of my head and out for you guys to read ASAP (though truthfully it was half written on my phone already for a long, long time). I didn't intend for it to end so suddenly like that, but it happened. Many more chapters to come. Thank you for all of the patient readers & subscribers who have waited for so long.