Woohyun stood by his brother's door at home, coming home late from work Monday night after closing. He took his time coming home, soaking in the solemnity of the night by himself to ponder the musings in his mind.

What does this note mean? What does he mean by "I like you too much"? And I can't forget the fact he kissed me. I don't understand anything about that crazy bastard.

Woohyun raised his hand to knock on Boohyun's door, his fist only centimeters away from reaching it. He took a deep breath, banging on his door three times. 

"Open" a muffled voice came from inside.

Woohyun pryed the door open, peaking his head in to find Boohyun at his table working on a spreadsheet for Guk Pan supplies to order. "Are you busy hyung?"

Boohyun noticed his brother standing shyly, a different disposition than he normally dealt with. It was the same behavior he exuded at work today, reserved and not the outspoken person he knew. He figured something was up. "What's going on?"

"Can I ask you a question about something?" Woohyun walked into his room, closing the door gently behind him and leaning on the knob. With his hands still grasping the handle, his stance was like a deer caught in the headlights. 

"You can ask me anything."

Woohyun took a deep breath, bringing his wrist forward to look at his green cast and every single note on it. He brushed each handwritten message with his other hand, the fingers tracing each heartwarming message until he reached Sunggyu's. His message would bring butterflies fluttering in his stomach, trying to escape but instead pounding his insides with anxiety and nervousness. "How do you know if you like someone," he muttered.

"What?" Boohyun scratched his head, not expecting a question like that to come out of his mouth. The two of them have never talked about crushes or relationships in this way. "Like someone as in?"

"How do you know if you like someone?" Woohyun repeated, looking up at his brother. There was no other way to say it.

Boohyun frazzled in his seat, twisting his chair to push himself off and stand. He paced himself in circles, searching for the right words to say. "Didn't you have a girlfriend before?"

"I've been several dates before and experimented, but I can't say I've really liked someone in this way until now. Well, I don't know if I do. Let alone, I don't know if I should."

"Well, why can't you like them?"

Because Sunggyu is a crazy bastard who insults you one second, steals money the next second, has his enemy break your wrist the third, then kisses you the last!

"It might not be in my best interest," Woohyun mumbled.

"Your best interest in what way?"

Oh, you have no idea. "Well, I don't want to be hurt again."

"You were rejected before?"

"In a different way. I did not like this person before like that, and we were friends. But something happened in the past, too. New feelings are resurfacing now." Woohyun tried his best to speak openly about this without mentioning Sunggyu's name.

Boohyun nodded his head. "You can't control the way you feel, Woohyun. You'll hurt yourself more if you hold back."

Woohyun bit his lip, his brother making a decent point. "So what do I do?"

"Give yourself tomorrow to think about it. Maybe you should avoid this person for a day or so, to see if these thoughts continue. Infatuation is a tough subject, and sometimes all you need is time. You can't figure out your feelings in a day. You can't escape the way you feel about a person, and if you like them the answer is clear."

I don't have work with Sunggyu Tuesday night. It will be a nice break. Woohyun smiled, a lot more comfortable than he was earlier about everything. "Thanks hyung."

Boohyun smiled back. "Anytime."

(((())))

The week passed onto Wednesday, and with half of the week almost over it was another day of walking on egg shells in the school halls. It was never confirmed for anyone that the coast was clear in regards to Hak Yeon's revenge, and even though he said nothing would happen they had to keep caution of everyone. 

Sunggyu followed Sungyeol to his locker in the middle of lunch, keeping an eye out for the threat. 

"Is Woohyun ok? I haven't seen him at all yesterday or today except for homeroom," Sungyeol wondered.

Sunggyu was wondering the same exact thing. Woohyun kept to himself both times in homeroom this week, running out almost immediately after their time together ended. Neither of them had no clue he was purposefully ignoring Sunggyu to think about his potential crush, but it was very worrisome in the situation they were all in. 

I hope you're ok, Woohyun. I haven't had a single second to check up on you, but I need you to be ok.

"I know that he has a student council meeting now. I haven't talked to him much, and yesterday we didn't have work. I think he's ok. Myungsoo and Sungjong should be with him," Sunggyu answered.

"Good." Sungyeol traded books in his bag to, pausing momentarily to think about how Dongwoo was doing.

That was another issue Sungyeol was bothered about. Sungyeol had been wanting to talk to Dongwoo about last week, but he never got the right opportunity to do so. Well, it was more like Sungyeol avoided the subject. He did not want to know why Dongwoo was a fighter. He did not want to know why Hak Yeon specifically asked about him and only him. He did not want to know the truth. He questioned the Dongwoo he had been learning about since he met him, and there are different holes that were in need of being filled. Sungyeol shook his head. "Sunggyu, how is Dongwoo?"

"Dongwoo? Hoya has him covered." Sunggyu himself questioned the extent of how much Hak Yeon wanted to know about Dongwoo. He had no knowledge of the guy himself, only knowing he was a new student who hang out with Woohyun and Sungyeol and sported pink hair. Sunggyu somehow invested himself into people he could care less about, needing to protect them and keep them safe. There was something different about Dongwoo, and Sunggyu suspected that there was more than meets the eye. He did not express these thoughts with Sungyeol, though, who he believed still had his innocent eyes.

Hoya has him covered, but it's not like he needs it.

"I'm just worried about him. I don't know if you can tell, but this life is all new to me," Sungyeol confessed, tightening his lock and leaning against his locker. This life was exhausting, always on the run from the unknown and no warning for him. "I can be a square, like what everyone says."

Don't be stupid. Sunggyu laughed, putting his hand on Sungyeol's shoulder to comfort him. It was strange for him to instinctively warm Sungyeol up. He was definitely not the type of person Sunggyu tried to hang out with, but there was an outright honesty with Sungyeol that he appreciated. "You're going to be fine, Sungyeol. And you're not a square."

Hearing those words from Sunggyu was surprisingly reassuring, even if it came from the school's delinquent. Sungyeol beamed.

Suddenly, Taek Woon walked up to Sunggyu and Sungyeol to interrupt their moment. He was alone without Hak Yeon or anyone else of his friends around, holding something behind his back. His hovering figure alarmed the both of them, Sunggyu stepping in front of Sungyeol and pushing him against the lockers with his to keep him safe. 

"Taek Woon, why are you here?" Sunggyu barked.

"Tell me where Dongwoo's locker is," Taek Woon ordered.

Dongwoo? Sungyeol's forehead was wet with sweat, his motor skills immobilizing him to answer that question. "I... I don't know where it is." He knew where his locker was, but he stayed quiet to protect him.

"You're not going to get out alive by lying," Taek Woon threatened.

"Look, we really don't know where Dongwoo's locker is. This is a big school, so how would we know?" Sunggyu clenched his fist, getting ready to lay a punch if he tried to hurt Sungyeol in any way.

Taek Woon grunted, punching the locker right next to Sunggyu and Sungyeol before he stormed off. Sungyeol jumped on Sunggyu's back in fear, hugging him tightly in despair of what could happen next.

"Sungyeol, you know where Dongwoo's locker is?" By feeling his heartbeat against his back, Sunggyu could tell Sungyeol knew.

"I do," Sungyeol stammered.

"We have to find him right now," Sunggyu declared.

(((())))

Dongwoo and Hoya walked out of the breakdance club as lunch was winding down to an end, Hoya leading the way to their lockers as Dongwoo followed closely from behind. Especially after Hak Yeon's interest in getting to know Dongwoo more, he stayed close to Hoya just in case something would arise.

"Hey Dongwoo!" A pair of twins walked by the two of them, only acknowledging Dongwoo and waving to him.

Dongwoo let out a faint smile. "Daeryong! Soryong! Nice seeing you guys," he called out as they passed him in that split second in time.

"You're so popular," Hoya snided.

Dongwoo shrugged his shoulders. "I do what I can."

They arrived to their lockers, throwing their stuff on the floor to proceed. Dongwoo and Hoya were quiet, not speaking a single word to each other.

Walking down the hallway was Sunggyu and Sungyeol, who caught the two of them at their lockers. Dongwoo is there. They sprinted towards them, frantic to warn them of impending trouble. "Dongwoo!" 

Dongwoo and Hoya turned their heads to see Sunggyu and Sungyeol running towards them in a frenzy, both of them halting their momentum and slamming into the lockers desparate to pull them away. "Sunggyu, what's going on," Hoya called out.

"Sungyeol!" Sungyeol was out of breath, leaning against his locker and clutching his chest for some energy. Dongwoo dropped everything to hold onto him and pick him up. Wednesday was the first time Dongwoo and Sungyeol had seen each other since the incident, the both of them purposefully avoiding each other because there were many unanswered questions neither of them wanted to deal with. Dongwoo pulled Sungyeol close, his hands on his shoulders and gazing worriedly into Sungyeol's eyes. "Sungyeol, are you ok?"

"Guys, we have to go right now. I don't know where, but we have to go," Sunggyu declared, his cheeks red from running after them. "Taek Woon."

"Taek Woon?" Dongwoo had no idea who this person was.

Hoya knew exactly what he was talking about, and last Friday was finally coming full circle. A beat down was coming. "Ok, let's go."

"Boys! It looks like we have a reunion here!" Just as the four of them were close to leaving, Hak Yeon arrived to the scene with Taek Woon on his side. Taek Woon stood with his hands behind his back, continuing to hold something from when he last saw Sunggyu and Sungyeol. With ugly smiles and nefarious intentions ahead of them. The mood was ominous, and in a cheerful hallway time stopped for everyone in the area. Students stayed to the side grasping onto each other for company, wondering what was going on. If it was any indication that something strange was going on, it was the fact that seemingly good students Dongwoo and Sungyeol were standing right in the scene. Sunggyu, Dongwoo, Hoya, and Sungyeol crowded together as Hak Yeon and Taek Woon stepped closer to them.

"I can't believe you guys lied to me. You knew where Dongwoo's locker was," Taek Woon warned.

"Do you really want to do this right now? On school grounds Hak Yeon?" Sunggyu crossed his arms, stepping forward to defend his friends.

Taek Woon shoved what he was holding up his armpit, still hidden from everyone around him. He glanced at his fists, cracking the knuckles and pounding them into his hand. He his lips, a disgusting grin on his face.

"Hold Taek Woon. Let's see if they can give us what we want before we take care of business." Hak Yeon took a step forward, his attention focused on Dongwoo in the view of Sunggyu's shoulder. "Dongwoo."

Dongwoo again. Why do these guys want Dongwoo? Sungyeol gritted his teeth, instinctively grabbing onto Dongwoo's arm for support.

"Dongwoo. Does the number 7 mean anything to you?" Hak Yeon started.

Sunggyu turned his head to see Dongwoo, pale in complexion and mute after he asked that question. The number 7?

"You're asking me about the number 7?" Dongwoo let out a nervous laugh, his mouth dry in nervousness. 

"Yeah. It's the tattoo on your collarbone," Hak Yeon brought up.

Everyone around them talked with each other, unaware that the new kid had a tattoo. It was a very taboo thing for people at their school to have, especially because they were all still young.

Dongwoo clenched his fist, his whole body imploding on him. "What tattoo?" he lied.

"Heh. Maybe you can answer this question." Hak Yeon was pulling Dongwoo into a trap.  "Have you heard this phrase before: 'Once a 7, always a 7'."

Dongwoo's lower lip wavered, and everyone's eyes averted to him. He had no idea how to respond to that question. "I've never heard of that before."

"I'm not shocked you haven't heard that before, Dongwoo," Hak Yeon persisted. "But I'm sure Jang Daniel has heard it before."

Daniel? That name sounds English. Sungyeol let go of Dongwoo's arm, his own hands shaking from listening to the confrontation at hand. 

Everyone around the hallways murmured to each other, discussing the number 7 and who Daniel was. Sunggyu suspected something different with Dongwoo the second he saw him fight last Friday, but he rejected the thought. "Stop it," Sunggyu demanded.

"Yeah Hak Yeon, where are you going with this?" Hoya asked.

"Hey! Don't try to ruin my fun. I'm just trying to get to know a little more about this person named Jang Daniel. He was a completely different kid from the Jang Dongwoo standing right before me. Jang Daniel was arrested on several accounts of burglary and abuse." Hak Yeon tapped on Taek Woon's shoulder, in which Taek Woon revealed his hands to show a folder in his hand with a picture of Dongwoo paper clipped to a file, labeled "Jang, Daniel (Dongwoo)". The file was branded in stamp with a name:

Crossroads Juvenile Detention Center.

"Unless you know, they're both the same person." Hak Yeon's zinger.

Students in the hallways discussed what all of this meant. While the file was in English, the context clues were showing that Daniel was Dongwoo's name back in America, and this file was that showed Dongwoo used to be a delinquent in New York. 

"Dongwoo, what are they saying?" Sungyeol asked, his hand covering his mouth in shock at what was revealed before them.

Sunggyu and Hoya looked at each other, their solemn expressions sympathetic towards Dongwoo. The two of them stayed silent, history revealing itself and they were unsure how to respond or react to everything.

Dongwoo shoved his hands down his pockets, staring at his shoes and avoiding any eye contact with Hak Yeon or Taek Woon. His ears turned red, ashamed of what they exposed in front of everyone. In front of his friends. In front of Sungyeol. He looked over his shoulder to find Sungyeol's eyes watery from hearing the truth. Dongwoo cleared his throat, as if he expected something to come out. Anything.

But nothing came out.

"I think the damage here was done." A smirk of satisfaction flashed on his face as he took the file away from Taek Woon and hugged it, walking by the four of them with Taek Woon coming as his trusty lackey. Everyone in the hallways watched their exit, their destructive aura in making everyone's lives on campus a living hell. 

Sungyeol bit his thumb, almost feeling betrayed by Dongwoo's past. Fooled by his demeanor. He was not the person Sungyeol thought he was, and to associate himself with someone like him from the beginning was very offputting. Sungyeol was in the web of lies and deceit from the most infamous boys on campus, pulled in with no escape. "Dongwoo, they're lying right?" was all he could muster.

Dongwoo stood there staring blankly, his heart falling into pieces at the reveal of his past. His reputation singlehandedly ruined at the hands of Hak Yeon, Dongwoo felt the wrath deep inside of him where all he wanted to do was let it out into a fury. No matter who was around. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down and ran away before he committed to something regretful.

(((())))

Dongwoo skipped his next class to hang outside the school gates, sitting on the curb to watch the fleeting cars and spend the rest of his day. This was something Dongwoo expected to happen eventually, the details of his previous life divulged to everyone at school. He just did not foresee it happening now, not in the remainder of his high school career. Dongwoo played with his belt buckle, adjusting it looser and tighter to reflect on how foolish they made him. How Hak Yeon ruined him on campus. The wind blew Dongwoo's bangs in his eyes, but with no single feeling in his body he let it go.

Sunggyu followed Dongwoo out of the school, careful with his footsteps so that he would not startle him. Skipping class was nothing to him at this point, and even though his school performance had improved it was no big deal to skip one time. Sunggyu sighed, observing the downcast Dongwoo looking like he had given up on life. Sunggyu took a seat next to Dongwoo on the curb, stretching his leg to retrieve a cigarette from his pocket. He lit it up and allowed a puff of smoke to fill the air. He silently passed the cigarette to him.

Dongwoo continued to look ahead at the road, the road of possibilities that he could go down any path that would take him away from his past. It never happened, and he was stuck again where he was in America. Without turning to look at Sunggyu, he took the cigarette between his fingers and raised it to his face. Almost immediately after puffing Dongwoo coughed profusely, passing the cigarette back to Sunggyu and trying to catch his breath.

"Sorry," Sunggyu snickered, taking the cigarette back for himself.

"I haven't smoked for a really long time," Dongwoo admitted.

Sunggyu nodded his head. "You haven't done a lot of things in a long time, huh?" He referred to his past in America, and how his life in Korea now is completely different.

Dongwoo's cough subsided, taking deep breaths before continuing talking. "Is it a crime to change my life? Is it a crime that I wanted to be a different person here?"

"And you are a different person. Clearly. Before last Friday, I would have never thought you were capable of your record."

"Can I tell you some things in confidence?"

Sunggyu would have never thought Dongwoo would tell him anything of such a personal matter. "Go for it."

"7s were a gang in New York. I was the leader."

"I could have guessed that," Sunggyu nodded. "You fought like a champ last week. Better than anyone I've ever seen before."

"I've done a lot of crazy things in that file. Robbed some liquor stores, stole my parents' money, Sunggyu I deafened a kid in the ear before with one punch."

", Dongwoo. That's way more to what I've amounted to." Sunggyu shook his head in disbelief, taking another puff.

"And after all the trouble I've been in, I still didn't listen to anything. Well, that was until I fell for someone at my school."

Fell for someone? "Like, love?"

"She was a sweetheart. She made me realize that I could live a simple life. She made me realize that my free spirit wasn't all it was cracked up to be. She was kind of like..." Dongwoo paused, reminding himself of the person he hurt the most.

"Like Sungyeol?" Sunggyu answered.

Dongwoo was speechless. "How did... how did you..."

Because I think I'm going through the same thing with an idiot bastard named Nam Woohyun.

"I can tell you view him in a different light. I went through the same thing back in middle school. I didn't have much support growing up from my parents. They own Kim Computers Inc, so I was left alone majority of the time. I met a lot of bad people during that time, and I had my own reputation as the undesirable kid. But then I joined something, and I made a really good friend there. I didn't love him or anything like that at all, but he showed me that I had a good talent that could keep me going and get me out of my current situation. That kind of all went to , because the rest of the team hated me. Because I had a past, they framed me for something I didn't do. So my dad pulled me out, my only shot at becoming a normal kid."

"A team?"

"Can you believe it? I was actually on a team. I did a couple of other things too, like singing, but the team was what got me through. It was what I really loved. I almost had an out."

"But the past."

"Exactly."

It was a sad reality for the both of them to accept. The laws of fate binding them to something insignificant, yet defining who they are as people.

Sunggyu tossed his cigarette into the street, watching it burn away and the tires of a car run it over. "I'm going through the same thing now. In fact, with the same person again."

Dongwoo nodded. "Mind if I guess who it is?"

"If it isn't obvious already," Sunggyu snided.

"Woohyun used to speak poorly of you when I first came to this school, but now he has nothing but compliments and hope for you. Well, often times there comes to witty comment about how terrible you are as a waiter."

"I'm a good waiter! What the hell is he talking about?"

"Kidding!" Dongwoo laughed, easing some tension between them. "So if I had to guess, you were on the baseball team before?"

"I was team captain," Sunggyu clarified.

"Wow Sungyeol, you were that good? I would have never guessed."

"No one would." Sunggyu stretched his legs out into the street, far enough to lean forward and touch his toes without risk of getting ran over. "That's a thing of the past now. And no matter how hard I try to escape, something else pulls me in. Or the people I care about get pulled in with me."

"I understand. You can't just leave something like a gang, and with this stupid tattoo I'm branded for life. Sometimes I get these urges to do something terrible, to fight, to have something at my fingertips. But there are people I'm fighting for now. There was no way for me to escape everything, and so my mom made the best decision she could. She moved me back to Korea, where they would never come to find me. But I left my girlfriend, and even though I regret it it was necessary for me to move on. I had to make that sacrifice to live a new life. Well, it's all coming back to follow me. The news is probably spreading as we speak, and I'm not the same person that people thought I was anymore. No one will think of me the same way again. Woohyun, Hayoung, Sungyeol..."

"I don't know you very well, but I see that you're a good person. We're all good people. At least, I try to tell myself that. But then like this keeps coming back to me."

"Maybe we're not meant to have happy endings. Maybe we're supposed to be like this for the rest of our lives. Maybe fate already chose our path. Maybe we're better off leaving the people we love before it all gets worse."

Sunggyu agreed regretfully, and no matter how much he wanted to change for himself and for Woohyun he concluded that it was all an impossible feat.

I'm sorry Woohyun. I'm sorry I got myself into this, and I'm sorry you're here with me now. I can get you out, though. I promise I'll get you out.

Sunggyu sighed. "You can't escape your fate."

One of the comments asked me how much longer this fanfic will be. My original aim for this chapter was for everything to be 18 chapters ;___;, but I'm currently trying to figure some things out and there is a very big potential that this will go to 20 chapters. 

And to answer the question, "only 20 chapters???" I really love writing so much and you have no idea, I could easily make things so many chapters. For me, I don't want a story to drag on if it doesn't have to, I don't want to bore the reader, and I don't want to bore myself. Whenever I write a chapter, I really do my best to make sure the chapter has a point and it's there for a reason. So I hope that even though this will only go to 20 chapters max, all of you have truly enjoyed this story as much as I wrote it.

I've been dealing with a lot of family emergencies and also personal issues with my writing recently, and just to know that I have all of your support makes me want to continue being on this site. I'm dealing with a lot of ignorant and mind I say envious people on tumblr, and some people don't want to see you succeed. I don't ever care if my story is "popular", but if I can impact at least one reader then my job is done. I say this in almost every chapter, but I kid you not all of you are truly awesome. Subscribers, commenters, anyone who is reading this right now and supporting this. After chapter 12, I felt so sorry that I had to put all of you in anticipation of waht would happen next! There are so many comments to reply to, but I will get to everyone soon I promise! I love you all so much! <333

Next chapter is going to be interesting, because it will be a flashback chapter. Flashbacks of what? I think you can easily guess now it will be of Sunggyu, Woohyu, and Dongwoo's collective past, but what exactly? Everything will be cleared very soon.

I wonder if anyone has noticed that I've been doing this. In all of my current fanfics, this, The Distance, and Shut Up and Love Me!, whenever there is some sort of side character I name them after the Korean names of other idols that I like. Someone guessed this in Shut Up and Love Me!, but the names I was using there were from SHINee. There are several names in this fanfic that I've been using, and can you guess who they are?

Can you predict what will happen next? Let me know ;D