A/N: So I guess I can’t really say anything other than sorry for not updating in such a long time, so I’m sorry. I promise I am finishing this fic; it won’t be abandoned. Also, on a different note, I don’t at all share Nam Soon’s opinion of a certain idol :P

~*~

Nam Soon yawned, though bored more than tired, and checked the time on his phone for the nth time in the past five minutes. Work today was going really slow.

He picked up another case of wine in the storage room and brought it out front, placing it on the floor so he could open it up and restock the shelves.

“I haven’t ed a hot chick in months,” Hyun Shik’s complaint drifted over, and Nam Soon cast a look over his shoulder to where his manager and colleague were stood talking at the till.

“I hear you,” Kyu Cheol agreed as Nam Soon turned back to the wine. “I’ll die from blue balls if I don’t get my wet soon.”

“We should go out after work,” Hyun Shik said. “There’s this place my cousin told me about, loads of desperate girls.”

“Awesome!” Kyu Cheol grinned. “Nam Soon-ah, you should come to. I’ve never once seen you with a girl!”

“I can’t,” Nam Soon replied. , how does he get out of this one? He placed the last bottle on the shelf and turned to them. “I… have something I’ve gotta do later.” Yeah, okay, that was the lamest excuse he possibly could have come up with.

Kyu Cheol narrowed his eyes and looked him over suspiciously. “Could it be that…” He trailed off and Nam Soon panicked. , , , does he know? Has he guessed it? Then Kyu Cheol’s eyes widened in amusement and he laughed. “Are you a ?!”

Nam Soon’s immediate thought was to deny it, but what if that led to more questions? What if they wanted to know who he’s slept with? What ‘she’ was like? But then, if he lies and says he is they might not let it go. They might decide they had to be helpful and get him laid. Should he tell them he’s in a relationship? Once again, more questions, they might even ask to meet ‘her’.

“I… I just don’t like one night stands. I’d only sleep with someone I’m in a relationship with.” There, that worked. Sure, it was pretty ing pathetic words to come out of a teenage boy’s mouth, but to Hell with it.

Hyun Shik snorted. “I never took you for being such a ing pansy bastard,” he laughed, and Nam Soon grimaced. “But whatever, more girls for me and Kyu Cheol-ah, right dongsaeng?”

“Too right!” Kyu Cheol enthusiastically agreed.

Nam Soon just went back to the store room for another crate, but their voices still floated in after him.

“If Nam Soon’s too much of a whipped to come, we should bring that guy – what’s his name? You know, he once jumped off a building onto a thin mattress, the crazy er. He’s a laugh,” the store manager said.

“Yah, that guy’s gay,” Kyu Cheol was quick to reply, and Nam Soon unconsciously paused while walking back into the main shop. He quickly regained his senses however and hurried back to the shelf. “Seriously, hyung, my sister used to date his brother, and she told me. Apparently his mum caught him to some gay magazine.”

Nam Soon kept his back to them, continuing to stack shelves, but he listened to every word, unable to help the tension in his back.

“Aish, that’s gross,” Hyun Shik snorted. “Yah, two hot girls getting it on I can understand, that’s ing y as anything, but what sort of man likes taking up his arse? Does he have any pride?”

“Eww, hyung, don’t say and arse in the same sentence,” Kyu Cheol whined with a laugh and made fake gagging noises.

Nam Soon continued stacking the shelves, not looking at either of them, because he’d most likely knock them out if he did, then he’d have no chance of keeping his uality secret. Or of keeping his job.

“Yah, Nam Soon-ah,” Hyun Shik called, and Nam Soon tensed even more. Don’t turn around, don’t turn around, don’t turn around, he repeated in his head. “What do you think?”

I think you should go yourself, you bastard. “I don’t care what other people do,” he replied, forcing his voice even. “It’s got nothing to do with me.”

Hyun Shik tsked and threw a casual ‘whatever’ Nam Soon’s way , then continued talking to Kyu Cheol, but Nam Soon tuned them out. Whatever else they had to say he wasn’t interested. He’d heard enough.

He placed the last bottle on a shelf and checked his watch again. He sighed in relief. Thank for small mercies.

“I’m off,” he said, taking off his nametag and pocketing it. “See you later.”

They both raised their hands in a half-hearted bye, still involved in their own conversation, but Nam Soon didn’t care for correct social etiquette and got out of there as fast as he could. He was anxious to see Heung Soo.

Soo Min had ended up more ill than either Nam Soon or Heung Soo had expected, and as a result they’d barely seen each other. After his mother’s death, Heung Soo seemed to fret too much when the people he cared about got sick, and so he’d spent most of the last few days with his sister. Nam Soon had only been able to call and text him, and he missed him so much it was almost ridiculous.

Given that she was ill, Nam Soon hated to admit he was jealous, but, well, he was. He wanted to see Heung Soo, have him sleep over again. So when Heung Soo sent him a text saying he’d landed a job (the need for money was more so now that his sister had been missing work) along with the location, Nam Soon was quick to jump on the chance of seeing him.

It wasn’t a fancy job; mostly washing dishes and wiping down tables at some restaurant, but he seemed pleased to have one if the long rambling text about Soo Min going to college he’d sent Nam Soon was anything to go by. Heung Soo could be a frustratingly good brother – frustrating because it kept him away from Nam Soon.

Still, now was Nam Soon’s chance to see him. It was a short walk to Heung Soo’s place of work, and it was at a time when all the shops were closing for the night. Nam Soon picked the time specifically, hoping Heung Soo would be ending his shift soon. Even if Heung Soo wanted to get back to his sister, Nam Soon would snag some time with him by walking back to his house with him.

The restaurant came into view, and he pushed the door open, stepping inside to a welcoming smell of various foods sold thoughout the day. A woman who looked to be in her early, maybe mid thirties clearing a table looked over to him. “Sorry, but we’re closing now.”

“I’m not here to eat,” he said, trying to sound as polite as possible so he wouldn’t be thrown out. “Do you know if Park Heung Soo is here?”

“You’re a friend of his?” The woman asked, and Nam Soon nodded. “He’s in the back, should be out in about ten minutes. You can wait here if you’d like.”

“Thank you,” he replied, pulling out the nearest chair and sitting down. Then he thought better of it. He planned to turn up here every day Heung Soo worked for as long as his sister was sick, so it was probably better to make nice so they’d actually let him. And, well, she did seem nice enough. “Do… er, do you want any help?”

“Not aiming for a job are you?” The woman laughed. “We’re all fully staffed I’m afraid.”

“No,” Nam Soon shook his head, “It’s not that. I just figured since you were nice enough to not throw me out I should offer my help.”

“Thrown out of a lot of places, are you?” She grinned, piling up empty glasses onto a tray.

Nam Soon cracked a smile. “You’d be surprised.” He’d probably been kicked out of at least half the shops in all of Gyeonggi-do back in the day.

“I’m sure I would,” she said, and in an amazing feat of balance she held a tray stock full of glasses in one hand, a pile of plates in another, and even more plates resting on each arm. Nam Soon thought about making a comment that she should join the circus, but decided maybe not. People could be weirdly sensitive to circus comments. “I’ll let Heung Soo know you’re here.”

She disappeared through a ‘staff only’ door, so Nam Soon settled back into his chair to wait.

He didn’t have to wait the full ten minutes. Soon the door opened again, and Nam Soon looked over, half expecting the same woman, but he smiled when his eyes landed on Heung Soo.

“Come to get me fired, bastard?” Heung Soo grinned, heading over.

“Now how could I possibly do that?” Nam Soon asked playfully, running a teasing finger over his lips.

“Quit it,” Heung Soo laughed, batting Nam Soon’s hand away once he was close enough.

“Spoil sport,” Nam Soon replied with a grin. “Did you miss me?”

“Nope,” Heung Soo shrugged, and Nam Soon hit his shoulder.

“Of course you did, how could you not miss this face?” He said, circling his face for emphasis. “It’s just so handsome.”

“That’s not the word that comes to my mind,” Heung Soo counted. “Now, my face on the other hand...”

“Makes children cry,” Nam Soon finished. “I know. I’ve seen it.”

“Yah, dumb bastard,” Heung Soo laughed, and Nam Soon dodged a playful punch to the stomach. “Come here and let me hit you, bastard.”

“Can’t hit me,” Nam Soon sing-songed, backing up when Heung Soo took a step closer. “Too slow, grandpa.”

Heung Soo reached out again, and Nam Soon laughed when a hand snagged his t-shirt and yanked. He tumbled into Heung Soo’s side and unsuccessfully tried to duck away when a hand went straight to his hair, messing it up bad.

“Bastard,” he laughed after Heung Soo let go. He reached up to run his fingers through it a few times, and grinned back at Heung Soo. “Yah, seriously though, I’ve missed you.”

“Me too,” Heung Soo smiled and pulled him into a proper hug. Nam Soon was all too happy to let himself be manhandled and hugged back with extra enthusiasm.  “I didn’t expect to see you today.”

“Yeah well, you don’t turn up to school or my place, so I had to improvise,” he shrugged.

“Sorry,” Heung Soo said, and Nam Soon smiled when a small kiss was placed on his forehead before Heung Soo quickly pulled away. “I didn’t mean to ignore you so much.”

“It’s fine,” Nam Soon promised. “So long as I get at least half an hour with you today, hmm?”

“Actually,” Heung Soo said, “I was gonna call you later. Noona’s still ill but she’s feeling better and demands that I get out of the house. Apparently I’ve been too much of a hermit for her liking.”

“You’re just playing nursemaid,” Nam Soon grinned. “Did you wear the skimpy y nurse costume?”

“Yes,” Heung Soo replied sarcastically. “I dressed up in a outfit to take care of my sister. Because that’s not in the least bit -y.”

“Yeah, when you add Soo Min to the picture it is kinda creepy,” Nam Soon conceded. “Maybe when I’m the patient, huh?”

He got a smack around the head for that. “No way, your legs would look way better in a dress.”

Nam Soon proudly stuck out a leg for them to see. “I really have got great legs, haven’t I?” He agreed.

“Retarded bastard,” Heung Soo laughed, shoving his leg down.

“Retarded bastard with great legs,” Nam Soon corrected.

Heung Soo rolled his eyes, “Sure, whatever you say, Na-” He cut off suddenly with a blink, looking past Nam Soon to the window. “Yah, is that Oh Jung Ho?”

Nam Soon spun around, and sure enough, there was Jung Ho walking by, looking rather dejected and angry.

Nam Soon and Heung So glanced at each other.

“Do you think we should…” Nam Soon trailed off.

“Follow him?” Heung Soo finished the thought. “Yeah.”

Simultaneously they moved for the door, though when they stepped out onto the street they couldn’t spot him amidst the evening rush.

“There!” Heung Soo suddenly said.

Nam Soon looked to where he was pointing, raising onto his tiptoes to get a better look. Sure enough, he spotted Jung Ho ducking into a side street.

“Come on,” he said, and they headed off in that direction. “Do you see him?” He asked once they were on the second street. This one was significantly less crowed, but there was no sign of him.

“No,” Heung Soo shook his head, but he headed off down the street anyway, and Nam Soon was quick to follow.

They peered down each ally they passed, and the shaded spaces between buildings, but had no luck.

“Wait, hang on,” Nam Soon said, coming to a sudden stop. He pointed to a path he’d almost missed. Although it was still fairly light out, the path was narrow and well shaded with building each side, and a tall one opposite. “Let’s try down here.”

Heung Soo nodded so they headed off, though it was narrow enough that they had to walk single file and Nam Soon took the lead, listening to Heung Soo’s footfalls behind him as the path got dark enough that he struggled to see. However, it didn’t take long until a light came into view and his eyes quickly adjusted.

They seemed to have stumbled upon some old warehouses. The path opened into a wide space, and Nam Soon stepped aside so Heung Soo could move up next to him as he looked over the buildings. Although obviously abandoned they seemed in pretty good nick, and there were clearly people inside as the light was coming from a window.

The couple glanced to each other, then moved closer to the lit window, trying to keep quite. They ducked down when they got close since it was the ground floor with a light on and they didn’t want to be spotted, as it was unlikely that Jung Ho was here alone.

They raised their heads to peer inside and quickly spotted Jung Ho along with three others. Nam Soon’s mood dropped when he recognised the oldest of the bunch as one of Jung Ho’s new gangster buddies. But then one of the others caught his eye. “, is that Lee Shin Dae?” He asked, although he really didn’t need to; he’d recognise that rat face anywhere. He’d healed well since the incident in the park, Nam Soon was sad to see.

“Yeah, it is,” Heung Soo said. “Though I see he’s finally gotten a haircut. Mind you, that was a bad choice, now you can see more of his face.”

Nam Soon agreed, but his attention was caught again.

“Yah, why does that other guy look familiar…” Nam Soon asked, eyes locked on the youngest of the group.

“I don’t recognise him,” Heung Soo shrugged, keeping his voice down. “Does he go to our school? He looks a little younger than us.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Nam Soon shook his head. “But I know I’ve seen him. I just can’t – oh!”

It came to him suddenly, and his mood soured further. Honestly, what were the chances of all these in one room together? Nam Soon cursed his luck.

“What?” Heung Soo asked, noticing the change in his demeanour. “Where do you know him from?”

“It’s that little yangachi ,” Nam Soon hissed, eyes on the little arsehole. “The bastard who told me that ing rumour about us dating and me beating you back in Gyeonggi-do.”

Heung Soo frowned, looking at the kid. “What the is he doing with them gangsters? I thought he was some little wannabe punk.”

“Guess he got tired of being a tard and decided to play with the big boys,” Nam Soon scoffed. “Here’s betting he pisses the bed in fright every night since throwing his lot in with these losers.”

“Jung Ho doesn’t seem to like him very much…” Heung Soo observed. Nam Soon looked to their ex-classmate, and he did indeed look unimpressed with the kid.

“Lee Shin Dae doesn’t look too pleased either,” Nam Soon said. “Dunno why, the two are the perfect match; two rats.”

“Yah, look,” Heung Soo elbowed him in the ribs, and Nam Soon looked to the door where some gangsters entered; he vaguely recognised a few of them from past encounters. He was pretty sure one was the er who threatened to ruin Heung Soo’s leg further. Nam Soon itched to teach that motherer a lesson. But he held still, and the two of them watched as they headed over to the teens and began speaking to them.

“Aish, if only we could hear,” Nam Soon grumbled. “Do you think we could get any closer?”

“I think we should leave,” Heung Soo said. “It’s not safe to hang around. We know where Jung Ho is now; we can come back to find him when there’s not so many people around.”

Nam Soon knew he was right, Heung Soo tended to be less hot headed and more sensible in these sorts of situations, but he was itching to do something. Walking away didn’t seem right.

“Nam Soon-ah,” Heung Soo warned, easily picking up on his mood. “Don’t be dumb. You don’t know how many more are in there.”

“We could take them,” Nam Soon said, but he didn’t move. It would be stupid.

A hand wrapped around his wrist and tugged at him. “Come on,” Heung Soo urged, and Nam Soon let himself he pulled to his feet. “We’re leaving. We’ll phone Ji Hoon and Yi Kyung and let them know we found that idiot Jung Ho.”

Nam Soon cast another look at the gang, but he didn’t resist Heung Soo’s pull and they quietly snuck away.

Once they were out back onto the streets, Heung Soo was the one to call the two younger boys, though he refused to tell them were exactly Jung Ho was, just that they found him. He didn’t want them going running off into enemy territory with no plan and getting themselves beaten – or worse.

After Heung Soo had hung up on the two yelling profanities and demanding to know their lost friends location, they made their way back to Nam Soon’s. They decided to walk; it was pretty far, but neither minded. It was dark now, and the night breeze was refreshing.

“Kang Joo knows about us,” Nam Soon told Heung Soo idly, kicking a drink can from his path out onto the road. “But she’s cool with it; she won’t tell anyone.”

If Heung Soo was upset, he didn’t show it; he just looked mildly surprised. “What happened?”

“Walked over to her, Ha Kyung and Min Ki talking about gay ,” Nam Soon snorted at the memory; it seemed funnier now than it did at the time. “Or more specifically, she was teaching them about how two guys do it.”

Heung Soo’s eyebrows rose. “Why am I not surprised she knows that?” He shook his head, looking vaguely amused. “Did she say how she knows?”

“Apparently she likes to write GTOP – is that what it’s called? – stories in her leisure time. Odd girl, that one.”

“Big Bang?” Heung Soo asked, and he seemed to consider that for a moment. And then, much to Nam Soon’s bemusement, he nodded in some sort of approval. “G Dragon is hot.”

Suddenly, Nam Soon had the insane urge to find G Dragon and punch him is his stupid, hideous face. “He’s short and scrawny,” he sniffed irritably.

“You’re lanky and scrawny,” Heung Soo said. “G Dragon’s rich and successful. And hot. Defiantly hot. And rich, did I mention rich?”

“He’s grotesque,” Nam Soon argued firmly. “His mother probably cried in despair when he was born and asked the doctor if he could shove it back up. And anyway, what sort of name is G Dragon? It’s utterly stupid! He’s stupid. And ugly. Stupid and ugly; that’s G Dragon.”

Heung Soo just grinned and patted his cheek. “It’s cute when you’re jealous.”

“I’m not jealous!” Nam Soon defended heatedly. “There’s nothing to be jealous of! Why would I be jealous of him?”

“If you say so,” Heung Soo smiled pleasantly. “But just so you know, if I ever had a chance with him you’d be out the door before you could say ‘Heung Soo’s Big Banging GD’.”

Nam Soon was not amused, and he made sure Heung Soo knew it with a smack around the head. “Shut up, bastard. You wouldn’t leave me.”

“Yeah, okay, I wouldn’t,” Heung Soo agreed with a dramatic put upon sigh. Then, he gave a cheeky grin. “But could we at least have a ?”

“NO!”