This is so rushed. I'm sooorrryyyy T.T so basically for those who are not familiar with iris 2 (like me because i only watched it for doojoon's sake and cos lee dahae is so pweettyy and i kinda like janghyuk too...) Yoogun was shot in the head and was taken away by IRIS (the antagonist in this series) because Yoogun had information and because he was cool and stuff lols. and so Sooyeon was devastated because he thought Yoogun was dead and Hyunwoo was there for her because Yoogun was not there. And the Hyunwoo/Sooyeon convo was taken directly from the series.  hope you guys are not too confused. 

I took liberty as to play around with the period and timing so i dont follow closely to the original IRIS 2 timing because it was too confusing OTL

There were gunshots.

“Oppa!!”

Yoogun was down on the concrete, dying with blood oozing from every pore of his skin. A van of masked and armed men arrived.

More gunshots.

“Oppa!!”

More screaming.

More cries.

And then Yoogun was gone and Sooyeon crumpled on the ground.

Hyunwoo jerked awake from his nightmare. He was panting hard, breaths coming out in harsh gasps as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. The nightmare was so real, too real, and it kept coming back to haunt him. Hyunwoo shook his head a little to clear his mind and immediately looked at the digital clock on his wooden bedside table. It was only 3.24 am, the green numbers glowing in the darkness, informing Hyunwoo that it was still too early.

It had been weeks since the frightening incident, yet it felt like it happened only yesterday, the memories fresh in Hyunwoo’s mind, plaguing his consciousness. He could see the smoke, could hear the ringing of bullets tearing through the air, could smell the fear; it was so palpable he could almost taste it. But the worst of it all was Sooyeon. He could feel her struggling in his arms, could hear her devastated screams, could see the shell of a Sooyeon on the concrete road. It was all too horrible.

Hyunwoo sat up and rested his back against the black metal railings of his bed’s headboards, the cold sensation when it came in contact with the man’s clammy skin was comforting. A contrast that he gladly welcomed. Slowly, he tried to regulate his breathing as he pulled his comforter higher to cover his stomach. Hyunwoo combed a hand through his cropped hair and closed his eyes, searching for any trace of peace inside his mind.

His hand fumbled on the bedside table to find his phone. He slid over the screen to unlock it and found he had new messages from Yoseob.

12.19 am

From: Stubborn Kid

To: Old Ahjussi

Ahjussi,dun forget our date 2mr! \O/ Dress comfortably!

12.20 am

From: Stubborn Kid

To: Old Ahjussi

I mean later.its alrdy past midnite. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

1.37 am

From: Stubborn Kid

To: Old Ahjussi

Ahjussi!kikwang is coming with us 2 our date.r u sleeping alrdy?

Hyunwoo frowned at the messages. It was not a date, why did Yoseob call it a date? It was definitely not a date because Hyunwoo knew it was just one of the younger man’s ways to cheer him up. Yoseob had come to the boxing gym in his usual happy self and innocently asked for Team Leader Jung. The whole place was suddenly quiet – Hyuwoon was thanking everything that was good and holy when Sooyeon was not there, who knew what a mess she could be at the mere mention of Yoogun’s name – and Hyunwoo sighed, because he had to be the one who lied to Yoseob, again.

Hyunwoo pulled Yoseob to a corner and told him that there was a problem and Team Leader Jung was suspended – a lie that was not totally a lie, Yoogun was indeed suspended before… things happened – and he would not be coming around for a while. Yoseob absently nodded his head, mortified at his insensitivity. He asked, “Is that why Sooyeon Noona is not here? Is she suspended too?”

Yoseob face was a mixture of sincere worry and concern, and Hyunwoo could not help notice how young the idol looked at that moment, his small and sharp face barren, hair falling on his forehead naturally without any hair product, eyes dark and deep. Hyunwoo noticed that Yoseob had lost a lot of weight and build up his body muscles since he started boxing with them. The older man finally answered, “No.” He shook his head, “She is fine. She just needs time to take things in.”

“Okay, I hope she is not taking things too hard.” Yoseob replied sadly. And the next thing Hyunwoo realized was him agreeing to hang out with Yoseob. It was hanging out. Why did it turn into a date now? A date. Really? Hyunwoo shook his head in amusement and laughed softly, his voice a direct contrast to the silence of his apartment. He replied back, just because it seemed absolutely rude to not reply.

3.53 am

From: Old Ahjussi

To: Stubborn Kid

It is not a date. You said it was hanging out. I won’t forget. Okay, Kikwang can hang out with us too. Yes, I am sleeping already.

Hyunwoo touched his phone’s screen to send the message and put it back to the low bedside table. His phone vibrated unexpectedly, signaling a new message was received.  

3.54 am

From: Stubborn Kid

To: Old Ahjussi

U r sleeping now?my hal-abeoji sleeps later than u.haha u r an old man.scoffs.dun forget our date!

Hyunwoo frowned. It was extremely late and Yoseob was replying to his messages. Did the kid even sleep at all?

3.56 am

From: Old Ahjussi

To: Stubborn Kid

Do you even sleep at all? This is so late.

3.57 am

From: Stubborn Kid

To: Old Ahjussi

Im having my last schedule T.T will finish in 15 mins.aft tat I can sleep.yay! \O/

4.00 am

From: Old Ahjussi

To: Stubborn Kid

There it is the capital T’s and dot in between. What kind of schedule are you having at this hour? That is crazy. You need to rest.

4.01 am

From: Stubborn Kid

To: Old Ahjussi

Aww,u r worried abt me <3 anw,go 2 sleep.u need 2 prepare 4 d date later.nighty nites!sweet dreams.smooches.oh!dun reply to this and pls sleep.

Hyunwoo raised his eyebrows. Again with the strange signs for emoticons – Hyunwoo was pretty sure it was a sideway heart or something similar – but the affectionate message never failed to bring a gentle smile to Hyunwoo’s face. He snorted, in pure amusement more than anything else, as he placed his phone back on the bedside table.

Hyunwoo slid back down under the covers, closing his eyes, willing himself to sleep. Right now, his nightmares seemed so far away as he slipped away into oblivion.  

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So they arrived at this place… market… something… Hyunwoo had never been here before and he was sure there was no way he would reach this place without Yoseob and Kikwang’s direction. When he picked Yoseob and Kikwang up from the younger man’s building, he suspected something was amiss. Yoseob was not wearing his signature mask and low cap – the cap was still there but the mask was not there – instead both of them wore black sleeveless tops, with a strange white towel thing wrapped around Yoseob’s throat – he said it was to protect his throat and his voice. Hyunwoo himself was dressed comfortably – as ordered – with khaki shorts and baggy tee shirt.

They were too chipper during the trip as Yoseob sat on the passenger seat giving driving directions and setting up Hyunwoo’s GPS machine. Almost an hour later, after endless highways and alleyways and turns, they finally arrived to a small town with little shop houses and a busy market. Hyunwoo could not even remember the name of this town, and he was too busy looking around to even notice where they were.

The market reminded him of a place he used to visit with his parents when he was young, long before he went to Seoul and joined the elite force. Long before the accident that took both of his parents’ lives occurred. Long before he was a little sad boy who grew up into a big sad man.

“Ahjussi! Ahjussi!”

A voice pulled him back into reality as he turned quickly to look at a worried Yoseob. “Ahjussi, are you okay?”

Hyunwoo nodded sheepishly, “Yes, I’m fine. Where are we?”

Yoseob smiled brightly, “I’m not telling you. Every time you want to come back to this place, you have to bring me along.” The young man said cheekily, earning a frown from the older man. “At least bring Kikwang or Dongwoon along. They know this place. Come on, let’s go inside.”

The idol turned his cap around so that the visor was at the back, as he jumped out of Hyunwoo’s car. Kikwang followed quickly. Hyunwoo killed his car engine and hurriedly went after the excited duo.

“Aren’t you wearing your mask?” Hyunwoo asked after he caught up with Yoseob and Kikwang.

The younger man looked at Hyunwoo like he was stupid. “Why would I wear a mask?”

“To conceal who you are. Don’t you have people recognizing you and stuff?”

Yoseob laughed, “Everybody here knows me all right. But not as the idol. My family and I used to stay here when I was young. Together with Kikwang and Dongwoon. So everything is comfortable here.”

“Where is Dongwoonie?”

Kikwang replied, “He has school today. So he cannot come with us.”

“Don’t you guys have school too?” Hyunwoo asked, curious.

Yoseob and Kikwang looked at each other and shrugged nonchalantly, “We do go to school… just not today.”

Hyunwoo scoffed at that, knowing exactly it meant that none of them went to school. “You guys need to go to school.” When both of the young men nodded softly, Hyunwoo continued, “I’m serious. Go to school, learn when you are young.”

Both men nodded again, turning to the right, greeting some Ahjummas who seemed thoroughly excited and familiar with Yoseob and Kikwang. Hyunwoo sighed, the talk about education would need to resume another time.

The market was confusing, traditional and crowded but the stall that they went to eat at was heavenly. It was one of the best meals Hyunwoo had ever had in his life. It seemed that the Ahjumma knew Yoseob and Kikwang personally and she kept adding servings upon servings to their table for free. Not that Hyunwoo complained, but he felt kind of bad for the Ahjumma. Yet, she refused adamantly to receive any extra charges from them, insisting that Yoseob and Kikwang – and now Hyunwoo – were his sons. That dredged up an awkward laugh from Hyunwoo.

Hyunwoo was still marveling over the existence of this traditional and exhilarating market when Kikwang squealed excitedly, “Yoseobah, look! They have photo boxes now!”

“Where, where?”

Kikwang pointed to a small store with two photo boxes inside and both of them ran happily towards it before Hyunwoo even had any idea of what was going on.

“Ahjussi!! Let’s take some pictures together.” Yoseob’s voice was high with enthusiasm. The lunch provided him with too much energy to burn.

“Yes, Hyung-nim! Let’s take some pictures with us!” Kikwang shouted animatedly and then proceeded to mumble to himself, “Oh man, this is so fun…”

Hyunwoo winced, he was so not used to doing fun things like this with little boys. He took out his wallet and handed some money politely to the cashier girl for a round of pictures. “You two go at it, I’m not great with pictures. Go ahead.”

Yoseob pouted, “Ahjussi you are no fun! Take pictures with us.”

Kikwang added, “Yeah, Hyung-nim. You can just stand there and do nothing and let us pose for it! Come on.”

Hyunwoo laughed at the silly boys in front of him, but none of that could talk him into taking cute pictures in photo boxes. He shook his head and took a seat at the outside of the store, waiting for the boys to be done.

While the boys were busy posing for cute photographs, Hyunwoo felt his phone vibrated and a message came in. He opened it to find it was from Sooyeon. Wanna drink together? I’m gonna be at the usual place in another hour.

Hyunwoo looked back inside the store and saw lights flashing from the inside of the photo box. He smiled inwardly and typed back. Save a seat for me.

When Yoseob and Kikwang went out of the store, they both giggled and laughed merrily before blabbering to Hyunwoo and showing him a set of pictures. Hyunwoo shook his head and thank every god he knows that he was not in the picture. Both of the boys were in ridiculous poses and Hyunwoo was sure he would die of mortification even if he was just on the frame without doing anything. He did laugh though, because both of them were just too hilarious.  

“Yoseobah, are you both done? I kind of need to go back.” Hyunwoo said apologetically. He hated breaking the happiness from the beaming young man.

“Yes, let’s go back. I’m sorry I dragged you out here. You have things to do?” Yoseob asked attentively.

“Yeah…” Hyunwoo nodded.

“Okay, let’s go back. Kikwangah, let’s go back?”

Kikwang nodded. A big smile still plastered on his face.

The trip home was quiet. Kikwang was absolutely exhausted as he slept on the back seat the moment his head touched Hyunwoo’s leather-covered seat, while Yoseob was looking out of the window on the passenger seat. Hyunwoo could faintly sense something was wrong, but said nothing about it, dismissing it as Yoseob being exhausted from the trip.

As they arrived at Yoseob’s building, the younger man quietly stepped out and opened the back seat door, gently patting Kikwang awake. When Kikwang was awake, bleary eyed and all, Yoseob asked him to go on upstairs and continue sleeping as he walked back to talk to Hyunwoo at the driver side.

Kikwang bowed politely and thank the older man for the day, Hyunwoo smiled sincerely at him.

“Thank you very much for today. I’m sorry for being an over excited brat in the market.” Yoseob said softly.

“I’m glad you are happy.”

“Are you happy today, Ahjussi?” Yoseob asked, hopeful.

Hyunwoo smiled, “Yes, I am. It’s fun going out with you two.”

Yoseob nodded, but his smile was sad and Hyunwoo wondered why.

“Send my regards to Sooyeon Noona then, tell her I’m sorry that you are late meeting her.”

Hyunwoo’s eyes widened, “How did you – “

Yoseob shoved the set of pictures to a shocked Hyunwoo. “Take it.”

“Wh – wha –“

“Good night, Ahjussi. Rest well and don’t drink too much.” Yoseob bowed politely and ran to his apartment building before Hyunwoo even had the chance to say anything at all.

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Hyunwoo walked into the small restaurant and found Sooyeon drinking alone. He quickly went to her table and took the soju bottle out of her hand before she could pour another glass for herself.

“Can you give me another glass?” Hyunwoo asked the shopkeeper politely as he filled Sooyeon’s glass.

Sooyeon smirked, “You are en expert at finding me.”

“Yah, how can you celebrate all alone at your own party?” Hyunwoo teased at her.

Sooyeon scoffed, “I’m celebrating all alone because it’s my own party.”

Hyunwoo asked playfully, “Are you picking the tab today?”

“Sure. Drink up.” And they both smiled at each other.

Hyunwoo drank up his glass and observed that Sooyeon cut up her lips, “Aigoo, what kind of woman has bloody lips?”

“Why?” Sooyeaon asked, “Do you think they are y?”

Hyunwoo frowned a little seriously, “Maybe a little.”

Sooyeon cracked up at his comment, I was an easy banter between them. Hyunwoo continued, “It was red pepper paste, wasn’t it?”

Sooyeon laughed again, and they drank into the night.

It was a cold summer night when Hyunwoo walked Sooyeon to her apartment building, his car was parked somewhere nearby the restaurant. A slightly drowsy Sooyeon suddenly told him, “That day… after the transfer mission when we got together in the evening… I was going to propose to him first.”

Hyunwoo felt a slice in his heart, “Aigoo, what’s that about… being a woman and all…”

Sooyeon glared at him, “Yah, listen to yourself. You are so ancient. Nowadays who cares whether women or men propose first. If you like someone, you just do it.”

Suddenly he was struck with images of Yoseob. The big bright smile, the whiny complaints, the sparkling puppy eyes… the sad face, the defeated eyes, the frowning eyebrows. Why Yang Yoseob? He did not know.

Hyunwoo continued, “That day, when Team Leader wanted to talk to you over the two-way radio, didn’t he tell you anything?”

Sooyeon’s face was blank as she shook her head no, but then it morphed into a quick realization as she apologized quickly to Hyunwoo and ran up to her apartments in a hurry.

Hyunwoo watched as Sooyeon left. He forgot to send Yoseob’s regards to her.

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Hyunwoo sat against the metal railings of the bed’s headboard. It was past midnight and he checked his phone one more time. No new message, no missed call.

He had hoped for an irritating whiny message from Yoseob because he just wanted to do it. Or maybe a missed call because Yoseob could not sleep and insisted Hyunwoo should talk to him until he was sleepy enough. Or anything at all.

But none of that, so Hyunwoo sent Yoseob as message instead.

12.04 am

From: Old Ahjussi

To: Stubborn Kid

Are you asleep yet?

He placed his phone on his blanket-covered thigh, waiting for a speedy reply, just like how it always was. But after a few minutes his phone stayed silent. He checked on his phone again, thinking probably he accidentally set it on silent mode. It was on normal mode and there was no new message. Yoseob had not replied.

Hyunwoo took the sheet of pictures and the lamp for a better view. He chuckled to himself, seeing how silly these young men were. They were just boys trying to have fun and he wondered when the last time he had so much fun with a friend was.

Hyunwoo’s smile got wider as the poses got cuter and more absurd. When Hyunwoo had finished observing every single picture in detail, he turned the sheet over and found scribbles at the back of it.

Ahjussi, you are wondering what my emoticons mean, right?

Okay, this is the most important one T.T

T.T = this is like a man crying. Eyes and button nose and tear streaks. Get it? Come on, you have to get it…

>:( = this is an angry face. Rawr!

\O/ = this is a YAY! I hope you can see a head with two hand doing some manseh movements.

<3 = this is a heart. I love you, Ahjussi!

Try to read the emoticons sideways okay… You are too old for emoticons OTL

Oh and this OTL, OTL = this is like someone falling down on his knees in desperation or disappointment.

Haha! Aren’t they cute? Oh, and Ahjussi, you look really cool today with normal clothes. Wink.

 Hyunwoo could not help but chuckle again, he reread the note one more time and kept the set of pictures inside the top drawer safely. He put his phone away and slid back into the covers, closing his eyes as he slept peacefully.

The nightmares did not come back that night.