"Woohyun, you haven't eaten your food."

Woohyun leaned against his fist at the dinner table Monday night. Bad posture, slouched in his seat. He used his chopsticks with his other hand to play with his fried tofu, stacking pieces on top of each other and slicing them in half.

"Woohyun, your food is going to get cold. We're all done now."

I'm not hungry mom. Please leave me alone.

"Sorry." Woohyun picked up a fourth of tofu with his chopsticks, shoving it into his mouth and exaggerating his chews to satisfy everyone at the dinner table.

Woohyun's parents and Boohyun stared at him worriedly, glancing at each other and mouthing off words to talk about Woohyun. 

"Talk to your brother," Woohyun's mom demanded, poking at her son's side and motioning for their father to get up. Woohyun's mom and dad took their plates at the table and walked away, leaving Boohyun and Woohyun alone together.

Woohyun continued to mope at the table, bothered by everything that happened between him and Sunggyu last Friday night. It carried on into over the weekend and into school the following Monday. Woohyun had no guts to speak to Sunggyu, wary of his movements around school and ignoring his every path to avoid making eye contact with him. He wanted no word with him, and when they shared homeroom together Woohyun chose the seat right at the front corner of class so he would never have anyone in front of him to look at.

Woohyun was heartbroken.

"Woohyun." Boohyun used a chopstick to poke Woohyun on the cheek. "Are you ok?"

Woohyun shrugged his shoulders, continuing to poke at his food without any disregard of what his brother said.

Boohyun knew something was wrong, and he related it to the past conversation he had with Woohyun about liking someone. He suspected things ended up going sour with whatever Woohyun was dealing with, but he had no idea how to approach it with him. "Hey, you can tell me anything. Mom and dad left. Of course, you don't have to talk now because I understand if you simply don't want to think about it. I'm going to go to my room, ok? Just knock whenever you want." Boohyun bowed in front of his younger brother, getting up with his plate and leaving Woohyun alone at the dinner table. He understood that sometimes, people needed to be by themselves to really think their issues through. Boohyun did not want to be a burden for him, walking towards the sink to wash his dishes.

"Hyung." Woohyun spoke to his brother for the first time that night, solemnly looking down at his barely touched meal. Boohyun stopped right before he left the room. "Can I ask you a question?"

Boohyun held onto his plate close to his chest, his back turned against his brother as his voice rang in his ears. "Yeah?"

"Did you." Woohyun stopped his words, almost crying at the thought of it. "Did you know that Sunggyu was quitting Guk Pan?"

Sunggyu? This is about Sunggyu? Did Sunggyu even tell him? Boohyun had expected Sunggyu to take care of the heartache coming from leaving Guk Pan as Sunggyu said he would, telling Woohyun he was quitting. Boohyun had no idea that this was all about him, thinking that maybe his younger brother took it harder than he initially expected. "I did. I knew he was leaving."

Woohyun stayed quiet, nodding his head. "That's all I wanted to know."

The disappointment in Woohyun's voice was one that was painful for an older brother to hear. It was the sound of knowing that nothing was under your control, and no matter how much you wanted to help there was no word that could help heal. Boohyun knew that hitting Woohyun over the head with it would only prolong his sadness. "Feel better, Woohyun." Boohyun took his plate into the kitchen.

(((())))

"So let's summarize the tasks. I'll be taking care of the rides in the parking lot, Hayoung is going to be take care of the games booths, and Woohyun is taking care of the food booths. Is this all correct?" Bomi signed off the task list for the school fair at Wednesday's student council meeting, making sure that something was assigned to every member of the council. 

"Yes," everyone chimed in unison.

"Great. This meeting is done." Woohyun closed his notebook of notes, adjourning their final meeting before the big day. Everyone got up from their seats to leave for the day, leaving five minutes to spare before the bell would ring. 

"Hey Woohyun," Hayoung called out, tapping Woohyun on the shoulder.

"What's up?" Woohyun asked. 

"You're going to be late for setting up because of work, correct?" Hayoung tried to confirm.

"Yeah. I'm leaving work early though. I got permission from my brother. As usual, Sungyeol volunteered to help out and he will definitely be there if you need help," Woohyun winked, zipping up his backpack and strapping it on. "I can't believe this is happening," Woohyun smiled, opening the door for Hayoung to leave.

"I know, after all the planning it finally paid off." Woohyun and Hayoung left the room and spotted Sungyeol standing right across the hallway to meet up with them after the meeting ended. Standing with him was Myungsoo, the both of them looking like they were bickering over something.

"Myungsoo, stop touching my hair," Sungyeol demanded.

"It's just so soft though. Teach me the ways of your hair, oppa." Myungsoo flicked Sungyeol's hair around. Since Sungyeol had no choice but to have a bodyguard with him at all times, Myungsoo always used this time to annoy Sungyeol in every possible way he could, taking pleasure in seeing him squirm without doing a single thing about it.

"We're here," Woohyun grinned, breaking up Sungyeol and Myungsoo's banter. "Ready to head out?"

"Yeah. Let's go." Sungyeol slapped Myungsoo's hand away from him, moving sides to walk with Hayoung as they headed to their lockers for the next class. Sungyeol, Myungsoo, and Hayoung shared history together while Woohyun prepared for physical education.

"Did you finish your homework, Sungyeol?" Hayoung asked.

"I did. Those questions were a lot harder than I expected though," Sungyeol complained.

"Can I copy your homework?" Myungsoo asked.

"No," Sungyeol mumbled. "Do your own work."

At that moment, the person Woohyun despised the most in that moment would walk right past him and make direct eye contact with him. It was no other than Sunggyu, who froze up when he saw Woohyun. He meekly greeted them, lowering his head to avoid looking at Woohyun for much longer. 

Woohyun was forcing himself to get over Sunggyu by busying himself with his academics, work, baseball, and school fair. Balancing everything at once, there would be moments where he completely forgotten about Sunggyu's existence. Of course, there would be moments like these where they would meet for seconds before walking in the opposite direction and only remind Woohyun of the scar in his heart that Sunggyu had planted. He shook his head, trying to shake everything off. It already hurt enough that he knew Sunggyu was quitting, but to be reminded of it every day at school and at work was too much to handle. 

Still, no matter how distressed Woohyun was life had to go on whether he liked it or not.

"Come on, let me copy your homework Yeollie-boo," Myungsoo charmed, reaching his hand behind Hayoung's back to twirl his finger in his hair.

"Myungsoo, you didn't do your homework so deal with it." Sungyeol was quite frustrated dealing with Myungsoo every single day for the past couple of weeks and he was close to reaching his breaking point.

"Yeah Myungsoo, it's your fault you weren't prepared," Woohyun agreed.

"Come on, do it this one time or else," Myungsoo threatened, flicking the back of Sungyeol's head.

"No!" Sungyeol yelled. "Stop it."

"You ing loser! Just give me your homework." Myungsoo pulled on a strand of Sungyeol's hair.

"Myungsoo, STOP ING TOUCHING ME! And if you ing touch me one more time, I will beat you upside your head!"

Sungyeol stopped in the middle of the hallway with his fists flenched, his face fuming in anger as he swore for the first time in his life. 

Everyone around him stopped in their tracks to hear this momentous occasion of the good gentle giant Lee Sungyeol saying his words to Myungsoo. Things like this never happened before, let alone no one thought it could ever occur. Woohyun and Hayoung hung onto each other's arms, shocked that their closest friend could have something like that spill out of his mouth. Myungsoo was surprised himself, his hand out as he tried to touch Sungyeol's hair and frozen from being told off by the school square. No one knew how to react, and quite frankly neither did Sungyeol.

Sungyeol was almost ashamed he had to resort to saying such a slander to get Myungsoo to leave him alone. With such a bold statement, bursting out in such an unprofessional manner, he thought his whole body was going to implode. It almost felt as if Sungyeol was officially baptized into a religion of Bad Boyism, a world that Sungyeol never wanted to be a part of. "Ugh!" Sungyeol grunted, stomping away from the three of them as he treaded down the hallway and to his class. 

"Sungyeol," Hayoung weeped, biting her thumb after painfully watching Sungyeol speak in such a nasty tone.

"Sungyeol just swore. At me!" Myungsoo said in disbelief.

"I know," Woohyun muttered. "And it was the greatest thing that has ever happened."

(((())))

Sunggyu went straight to his locker after school on Friday. The whole hallways were a mess with people scrambling to get their things ready to either leave school or get ready for their fair. After weeks of planning it, everything was becoming a reality for the students. Sunggyu rolled his eyes at the chatter around him, everyone making a big deal with the fair when he had to go straight to work. He clicked his lock open, swinging the door to exchange school books with his Guk Pan uniform.

"Hey Sunggyu." Sunggyu turned his head slightly to find Dongwoo walking right up to him with his backpack on and his workout clothes dangling from a dufflebag around his shoulders.

"Dongwoo." He threw a book viciously into his locker. "Today is your last day, huh?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. I wanted to say goodbye to everyone around here. Where's Woohyun?" Dongwoo asked.

Funny. I have to say goodbye to him too. Except it's not funny. It ing . "Woohyun already headed to Guk Pan. I don't know when, but he's going to be back on campus a couple hours to help prepare for the fair," Sunggyu answered. "."

"What?"

Sunggyu tiptoed to check the depths of the top of his locker, searching in every corner to find something with no such luck. "You've got to be kidding me. I forgot my uniform at Guk Pan."

"Wait, you forgot your uniform?" Dongwoo questioned.

Sunggyu slammed his locker closed, throwing the lock on as fast as possible. He zipped up his backpack and ran his fingers through his hair. "I have work in about two hours and I have to go home and my uniform. , why am I so stupid!" For his last shift at Guk Pan, Sunggyu had to suffer through taking the subway home on such short notice as well as taking the subway again to go back to work. It was a hassle for him.

"Well you better go run!" Dongwoo pushed Sunggyu to get going so he could make it to work on time.

Sunggyu turned around to get straight to it, and just when him and Dongwoo least expected it Hak Yeon appeared right in front of them. Hak Yeon was standing around with Taek Woon as well as Lee Jae Hwan. Around school, he was known as the quiet enforcer. He did not display much muscle or physical ability, but he was known to be slick with weapons. The rumors had it that he combatted a mugger who pulled a knife with him unharmed. Jae Hwan was silent but deadly.

" Hak Yeon, what do you want?" Sunggyu groaned. "I'm going to be late for work."

"Oh boo hoo, Sunggyu is going to be late? How terrible!" Hak Yeon his lips, nodding his head at Sunggyu. "You give me the money today?"

"After 9 o' clock tonight," Sunggyu confirmed. He was anxious to leave and get his uniform before he could be late. "Can I go now."

"Sure. That was all I wanted to know," Hak Yeon shrugged.

Wait, seriously? "Oh." Sunggyu had expected much more in their conversation, but he was blinded by the idea of his last day at Guk Pan he did not think thoroughly about it. Without formally saying goodbye to Hak Yeon, he sprinted down the hallways to catch the subway to his apartment.

Dongwoo saw Sunggyu leaving as his on cue that it was time to go. He took a step forward to leave.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hak Yeon smirked, poking at Dongwoo's chest.

"I'm going too," Dongwoo stated, stepping to the side to pass them. Jae Hwan and Taek Woon also took a step to stay in front of him, blocking Dongwoo from any type of exit.

"No, you're not going anywhere right now," Hak Yeon smiled evilly. "You're hanging out with me for a while."

(((())))

Sunggyu arrived at his penthouse apartment on Friday afternoon with his keys dangling at the tips of his fingers. He had an hour to get to his last shift at Guk Pan, and he needed to drop by his home to get his uniform polo. He jammed the key into open the door, but right before he pushed it open he heard the muffled sounds of people behind the door. Sunggyu pressed his ear against the door, listening in on who could possibly be inside of his house. Curious to find out, Sunggyu pushed the door open with his shoulder to walk in to his parents conversing on their living room couch. "Mom? Dad?" Sunggyu said with a shocking face. This rare occurrence of seeing his two parents at home happened once in a full moon.

His parents stopped talking, turning their heads to see their son at the doorstep. "Sunggyu, he were talking about you," his father stated with a serious tone.

Sunggyu continued to stand at the doorway helplessly, scanning the room and wondering what exactly his parents were talking about. "Dad, I don't really like coming home and hearing 'we were talking about you'," he laughed nervously.

"Well we have some new things we wanted to tell you," his mom declared.

New things? Sunggyu shivered from the anxiousness, nerves sending down his spine as he awaited what his parets would say. Anytime he saw his parents at home, it was always meant he was punished for something. Sunggyu was expecting a scolding, but he had no idea what to go off of. Don't tell me they know about Hak Yeon. "Yes mom?"

"We made a donation to your school today, and we were informed of your most recent performance at school," his mom started. "Your father and I have never been so proud of you."

"Look I can explain-" Sunggyu thought he misheard. "You're what?"

"Son, you turned around your academic performance and attendance for the past two months. There are some things to still be improved on, but you have been excellent lately. I think that taking away your allowance was a good decision to change up your attitude, and now it's like we're seeing a new son. We'll be starting up your allowance once again," his dad smiled.

My money allowance? Sunggyu choked on his spit, flabbergasted at the remark. "I thought that I wouldn't be getting allowance for half a year?"

"With all of your improvements we feel that grounding you from it is no longer necessary," his mom answered.

I get my allowance back tomorrow. I get money to pay Hak Yeon and a paycheck. "Wow, I don't know what to say." Sunggyu stared straight into his mother's eyes, a glimmer of hope shining from knowing that her own son had been successful with school and elsewhere. Sunggyu never saw that moment where his mother and father were proud of everything he accomplished. Since the beginning, Sunggyu committed to decisions that harmed him. He surrounded himself with the wrong crowd, and because of that his parents were less than pleased. For the first time in his life, he was not a disappointment. His parents were proud of him.

Yet, it was not as satisfying as he expected. 

"I don't want my allowance back," Sunggyu affirmed.

"What?" His mom scrunched her face in confusion. "We said that after tomorrow we're going to-"

"No, I heard you mom. I don't want it. I don't want the allowance," Sunggyu raised his voice.

"Son, do not speak to your mother in that tone of voice," his dad scolded.

"No dad, both of you need to listen to me!" Sunggyu clenched his fists, taking a deep breath before he could say these words he had been waiting his whole lifetime to speak. "Taking that allowance away was the best thing that ever happened to me because it made me realize something. Ever since I could remember all I had been doing was trying to impress you. Being the good son you always wanted to be, but then I couldn't help myself being around the bad crowd. How could I try and be a good son if you two weren't even around to notice me? For my whole life you two have only been around at my worst. When I made mistakes. When I got in trouble, sometimes for things I didn't even do. Don't tell me that you're proud of me now, because I've done so many things my whole life for people to be proud of. And when my proudest accomplishment was taken away from me because of a lie that my teammates put on me, you know what you did dad? You didn't even believe me. You have never seen a baseball game of mine in my life, and I'm captain. And the first time you come to see me, you called me a disappointment. Well not today. I don't want your compliments or your funding. If you want to be good parents, come find me at my best. Not when it's convenient for your schedule or when I'm in trouble."

Sunggyu was exhilarated, a heavy weight finally lifted off his shoulders after years of holding it all in. Do not be fooled, because Sunggyu loved his parents with all of his heart. He only wished that their love reciprocated in the process. Today was a new day, and Sunggyu stormed to his room to get his uniform before coming back into the living room to leave for work.

"Sunggyu, wait! Do not leave this household," his dad ordered, putting his hand out frantically to catch his son before leaving.

Sunggyu opened the handle of the front door, turning his head slightly to catch his parents at the corner of his eye. "Mom, dad. I'm sorry I'm a bad boy." He opened the door and slammed his way out.

(((())))

Sungyeol held up a clipboard in front of the school gates as different people rolled by his presence to set up for the school fair with different kinds of machinery for booths and rides. As people came in, he was in charge of signing off the equipment as arrived. With his back straight and head high, he greeted everyone who came in to help. The fair would start in three hours.

"Sungyeol!" Hayoung came by with a clipboard in her own hands and smiled sweetly at Sungyeol. "I just wanted to say thank you for helping out with the setup, at least until Woohyun finishes work. When did you say he was going to come by?" 

It was always a pleasure for Sungyeol to see Hayoung, and after dealing with an immense amount of stress it was nice to be around her. "Woohyun should be coming by within the next 30 minutes. He said he was getting out of his closing shift early since they need him here."

"Great, because Woohyun is the only person who knows the layout of the food booths and we need to get that covered soon."

Sungyeol nodded his head. "He'll be here."

That ended their long lived banter. The two of them were capable of talking for long periods of time, but for the past two weeks their topics of conversation dwindled. Sungyeol and Hayoung have both noticed this equally, and it was putting a damper on their previous friendship.

"You seem distant with a lot of things recently, Sungyeol," Hayoung brought up.

Sungyeol gripped onto his clipboard hard, his face freezing up from hearing that from Hayoung. "Why do you say that, Hayoung?" he stammered.

Hayoung took her place right next to Sungyeol, leaning against the gate with him. "It's just that we haven't had much in common recently, and you don't talk as much anymore." 

Sungyeol could not help but agree. It was all true, and he could not lie to Hayoung. "I've been stressed with a lot of things lately, and I'm sorry if it seems like I'm tense with you. It's not only you. I'm tense with everyone," he admitted.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Hayoung looked down at her clipboard, hearing the ache in Sungyeol's voice almost broke her heart. 

Sungyeol further explained. "I kind of got myself caught up with something, and I can see myself changing because of it. I'm starting to open up to new things that I didn't really associate myself with in the past. It's just a little weird now."

"Mind if I ask who it's about?" Hayoung wondered.

"It's about Dongwoo. And Sunggyu. And that whole group." A team of people carried in the assemblement of a ride, distracting Sungyeol to sign them in. It was exactly what he needed, especially since talking about all of this in front of Hayoung stressed him out. He had never addressed these issues to anyone before, talking about his feelings like this to anyone. He never expected to have this conversation with Hayoung, the one person he thought he would fall for. The infatuation faded away after some time being around Dongwoo, but he still enjoyed her presence. "I feel like I'm changing because of all of them. Woohyun became friends with Sunggyu recently so now I'm around them more often. And Dongwoo? Well, you know Dongwoo."

"Yeah, I know," Hayoung nodded her head. 

"It's like the Dongwoo I met for the first time isn't the same Dongwoo I intially put my trust in. And hanging out with him, going over to his place with Woohyun to watch baseball, the long conversations with him. I've done some things I told myself I would never do because of him. Well, now I don't even know who Dongwoo is anymore."

"I can only imagine what he's going through right now," Hayoung hummed. "I miss talking to him. He's been avoiding me."

"He's been avoiding everyone. I mean, I don't know what else I would do if I was in his position. The whole school hates him."

"Well, he doesn't have a reason to avoid anyone. I don't hate him," Hayoung stated. "What he did was in the past anyways, so who am I to judge who he is now?"

"That's exactly what Woohyun said last week," Sungyeol sighed. "It's just harder for me, because, well, I don't even-"

"Because you like him, huh?" Hayoung interrupted.

"What?!" Sungyeol could feel the back of his neck sweating, the accusation almost causing him to faint. "I mean, well..."

"Because Dongwoo likes you." Hayoung was bashful telling him, her cheeks flushed in red. She leaned into Dongwoo's ear for a whisper, the breath of her voice sending chills down Sungyeol's spine. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Dongwoo wanted me to keep it a secret."

"Really? He likes me?" Sungyeol did not know how to react. He acted humbly, taking a step away from Hayoung after hearing such a thing. "He really likes me?"

"Dongwoo confessed it to me one time... after he told me about the one time you drank and threw up after the baseball game."

"YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?!" After all this time trying to keep this side of him a secret from Hayoung, she knew the entire time. Sungyeol's mind was flustered, stumbling to almost faint before Hayoung caught him.

"I didn't tell anyone though. He was asking for advice from me when you were mad at him for telling Hoya and Myungsoo. It was something that spilled out. In fact, he apologized for liking Dongwoo because he knew that you and I were... dating."

"So everything comes out now," Sungyeol laughed nervously, gazing into Hayoung's eyes as she still held onto him from his previous trip. He took a deep laugh, giggling like an idiot in front of her. "Things kind of ended on a strange note between us, huh?"

"Sometimes nature takes its course, and people aren't as compatible as you initially thought. It doesn't mean you can't be friends with them though."

Sungyeol gave out a goofy smile, his lips as he heard what was dragged out for some time. It was not like any romance resulted between the two of them, but any inkling or potential for it died slowly without any real closure of what was happening. Sungyeol and Hayoung never talked about formally ending their dating stage until now. "We gave it a shot, but I like being your friend too. No hard feelings right?"

"Nope, not at all." Hayong helped pick Sungyeol back on his feet, brushing his uniform blazer wrinkled up from the fall. "You know, you're doing exactly what Dongwoo didn't want to happen."

"What do you mean?" Sungyeol raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, Dongwoo came to Korea to start a new life where he could leave his past behind. He wanted to change, and he had to keep everything secret so that the people he met wouldn't judge him." Hayoung pointed at Sungyeol's chest with her clipboard. "And you're doing that right now. I get what you mean though. It's a different feeling when you're head over heels about a person and you find something out about them that wasn't exactly what you expected. You feel lied to after investing so much time in them and letting your walls down. The thing you have to know is, if you like someone that much then you will accept them for who they are and the hardships that had to go through to get to where they are now. No matter how scary it is, you just have to trust them."

Sungyeol did not expect in a million years to be receiving his relationship advice from an old flame, who turns out was also Dongwoo's go-to for help. It was strange how things form together, and Hayoung was right in every way. Sungyeol started to relax a little more about the perceptions he had about Dongwoo. One could blame it on Sungyeol's naivete that brought him and Dongwoo apart in the first place, that his close string of friends could ever be capable of doing things like Hak Yeon had done on a regular basis. Sungyeol's eyes were opened to things he had been sheltered with his whole life, and this experience made him discover that the world is pretty terrifying. But if you meet the right person, it doesn't have to be. "How do I even talk to him about it?. When I try to talk to him, he's defensive and leaves. I don't really know how to approach him about it."

Hayoung bit her lip, tapping her clipboard on her thigh hoping to think up a solution. Hayoung was also on the receiving end of Dongwoo's current stint of ignoring everyone.

That was when the problem solved itself.

"You can try talking to him about it now," Hayoung smirked. 

Hayoung watched beyond Sungyeol's shoulder, prompting him to turn around. Dongwoo was walking straight towards them, his hands in his pocket and hurrying towards the two of them with a sense of urgency flashing on his face. 

"Dongwoo." Sungyeol's jaw dropped from seeing him after so long.

"Hayoung, can I talk to Sungyeol for a moment?" Dongwoo asked, breathing heavily as if something was bothering him.

Hayoung slyly slicked the clipboard out of Sungyeol's hold, smirking as she gently elbowed Sungyeol in the waist before walking away from them. 

"Dongwoo, what's going on?" After an endearing conversation with Hayoung, Sungyeol gained the confidence needed to talk to Dongwoo and explain to him fully how his past did not matter to him and how he should not let it affect him. "I need to talk to you too."

Dongwoo continued taking deep breaths, placing his hands on Sungyeol's shoulders and looking at him straight into his eyes. "Where is Woohyun?"

What? "Wait, Woohyun?" Sungyeol was caught off guard with that question, not what he was hoping they would talk about. "He's at Guk Pan right now, but he'll be coming to school soon for the fair. Why?"

Dongwoo dug his fingers into Sungyeol's shoulders, a tensity in his body causing him to shake. "Woohyun's not answering my calls, and I tried texting him too, and I don't know what to do right now."

"Dongwoo!" Sungyeol did the same and put his hands on his shoulders, pinching them to help him get a grip. "What is going on?"

Dongwoo took a deep breath. "Hak Yeon and his gang are trying to rob Guk Pan during the school fair, and they're going to do something to Woohyun today. They tried to get me involved, they even tried to..."

"What Dongwoo?! What did they try to do to you?" Sungyeol wailed.

Dongwoo turned to his side, lifting up his shirt to reveal several cuts on his waist marked with a knife. They were horrifying, the blood trickling down and staining his black jeans.

"DONGWOO!" Sungyeol covered his mouth, frightened by what he just saw.

"They tried to get me involved. They got to me, and I said I would help them. But I snuck out when they weren't paying attention. Don't mind me because I'm fine; it's Woohyun I'm scared of. He still has his broken wrist, and after this I know what Hak Yeon and his crew are capable of. Woohyun is in trouble, and we need to find him now and make sure he never leaves our sight!"

Sungyeol stuttered his words, hyperventilating as he heard what would happen. "Woohyun is working with Sunggyu right now!"

Dongwoo stressed the next words. "Woohyun can't be alone tonight."

"Guk Pan is not that far. We have to go make sure Woohyun is still there!" Sungyeol cried.

Dongwoo grabbed onto Sungyeol's hand as the two of them ran away from school.

(((())))

Sunggyu wiped down the tables at Guk Pan to a spotless shine, getting every single smudge and dried puddle of broth that rested on it. The restaurant was surprisingly empty on a Friday afternoon, but with the school fair taking place in the evening it was almost a ghost town in the restaurant. Sunggyu had no problem with it, in fact for him the emptier the less people had to deal with. He was a little happier working, never feeling so liberated after speaking out to his parents. But today also brought sadness to Sunggyu's heart. It was a pivotal day for Sunggyu, because today would be the last day working at Guk Pan.

Woohyun was busy with the soda dispensor, refilling the different cartridges as he finished the last couple of minutes of his shift. Woohyun had to head back to school to finish setup for the school fair while Sunggyu would stay at Guk Pan until closing. Their shared shift was silent for the most part, both of them harboring melancholy feelings about what this day would mean. It was nothing but the background music, the nostalgia of Busker Busker filling the room with different memories the two of them shared together. That would all end here for their final shift together as coworkers.

"I'm done," Woohyun declared, closing the door of the soda dispensor shut. He took an empty cup from the counter and pressed it against the machine, testing it out until orange soda flowed perfectly into the cup. He slammed the cup on top of the counter, sliding it in Sunggyu's direction. "Drink it. I'm heading out."

"I don't suppose this has poison in it, does it?" Sunggyu walked over to the counter and threw his rag at the sink. He took the cup and sipped a little of the soda, puckering his lips to taste. "It's fine."

Woohyun had his apron taken off with his shirt ed. He was bitter about Sunggyu quitting, wanting to take off and leave back to school without saying a single word to him. It hurt him on a level that he knew Sunggyu would never understand. "I'm going to go back to school. You have work covered?" he asked, keeping their last conversation as platonic as possible as if he was forcing an acquaintance level onto him. He headed towards the door.

"Woohyun, wait." Sunggyu grabbed onto Woohyun's shoulder, the both of them looking at the entrance to Guk Pan. Once Woohyun walked through those doors, that would be the end of an era that neither of them wanted to let go of. Sunggyu's hand trembled. "Can't we, talk a little more before you go? It's my last shift here."

Woohyun wanted that more than anything. He wanted to hold onto that small thread of hope that Sunggyu was not quitting. That he was staying with him. But Sunggyu was leaving Guk Pan, and Woohyun did not want to grasp onto a false security. He shrugged Sunggyu's shoulder off and knew he had to, no matter how much it hurt. Sunggyu, the longer I stay here to say goodbye the more it will hurt. I've been avoiding this all week, and I can't stay here much longer. We can't talk anymore. "I really have to go Sunggyu. Have a good rest of your shift." Woohyun walked towards the door, a single tear falling down his face as he pushed the doors open and left the restaurant.

Woohyun, damnit. Why did it end like this? Sunggyu hit his forehead, his heart dropping to the pits of his stomach from watching Woohyun leave the restaurant without saying anything else to him. It pained him more than anything, but he also understood what Woohyun was going through. Sunggyu kicked the floor with his shoes, letting out a frustrating scream in the empty restaurant.

At that moment, Hoya, Myungsoo, and Sungjong made their entrance at Guk Pan for a typical afternoon of hanging out and milking Sunggyu's last day. "Sunggyu!" Hoya called out.

Sunggyu was relieved to see his friends come in, needing people to be around to forget about everything that had just happened with Woohyun. He walked up to his friends and gave all of them handshakes, greeting them and leading them to a table in the middle of the restaurant. "Do you guys want menus or should I enter your orders in for the usuals?"

"Usuals," the three of them said in unison.

Sunggyu smirked, walking over to the counter to get a notepad and write down his friend's orders. He tried to push any thoughts of Woohyun out of his head, making the best out of his last shift in Guk Pan by doing the best he can by waiting his friends. "one potato soup, one cabbage and spinach soup with extra noodles, and one hot and spicy pork soup with two cracked eggs," he spoke as he wrote everything down, crossing the last letter to hand to the kitchen. "Are you guys going over to the fair later?"

"After this meal," Sungjong commented. He placed his backpack on his lap, carefully ping the bag to reveal two bottles of soju hiding within his books.

"Woah." Sunggyu saw the alcohol and sat down with his friends, figuring that while Boohyun took care of orders in the back he could relax since no one else was in the restaurant. "Daebak."

"You're going to get there late though," Hoya frowned. "By the time you finish work, the alcohol will be gone. And there will be only an hour left."

"Hey, I have to make my money to pay Hak Yeon off for this last time," Sunggyu assured. "I need to work every last hour I have to my full capabilities."

"Does full capabilities mean sitting down all shift?" Myungsoo snided.

"What?" Sunggyu looked down at his lap, his comfortably placed on a chair and relaxing. "Shut up."

Hoya snickered, punching Sunggyu in the shoulder. "So where are you going to work now?"

Sunggyu had thought about what his next source of income would be, especially after he pridefully rejected his parents' money. Now he really needed something. "I'm considering applying to some korean barbecue restaurants sometime next week. Or you know, I could still be an accountant! I bet you they're still hiring."

"Sunggyu, we've been over this before. You need a college education to be an accountant," Myungsoo rolled his eyes.

"Says who," Sunggyu scoffed.

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound banged on the entrance of Guk Pan. The four of them jumped in their seats startled by the sound, enough to cause little vibrations throughout the restaurant. To their surprise, it was Dongwoo and Sungyeol fighting with each other to open the doors. The both of them held onto the handle, pushing and shoving to get inside first. Dongwoo pushed the door while Sungyeol pulled the door, and together the idiots fought outside until they finally managed to open the door and fall inside toppling over each other.

Sunggyu stood up from his seat, running over to Dongwoo and Sungyeol who were tangled on the floor. Everyone else followed after. "What the hell is going on right now?" Sunggyu asked, pulling Sungyeol off of Dongwoo's body.

As the last leg climbed off his back, Dongwoo pushed himself up. He was out of breath, his arms flailing and his expression as if he was desperate. 

"Dongwoo! Sungyeol, what is going on?" Sunggyu asked once more, shaking Sungyeol's arm to try and get a word out of him.

"It's Woohyun!" Sungyeol cried.

"Woohyun?" Myungsoo yelled.

"Woohyun?" Sunggyu squinted his eyes, grabbing onto Sungyeol's collar to pull him close and glare at him with anticipation. "Woohyun? What happened to Woohyun?"

"Woohyun is in trouble, Sunggyu!" Dongwoo finally spoke under his breath. He clutched his chest, slowly catching his breath. "Hak Yeon is going to rob Guk Pan today and do something to Woohyun. We have to call the police now and keep Woohyun inside the restaurant, we can't leave him alone Sunggyu! I don't know what Hak Yeon is up to, but it's beyond our control. We need to call the cops."

"Keep Woohyun inside?!"

"Yes! And we need to call for help now. They're going to do something bad to him and we need to do keep him here until Hak Yeon and his friends get arrested."

"WOOHYUN JUST LEFT!" Sunggyu wailed, letting go of Sungyeol and pulling out his hair. "Woohyun, aish WOOHYUN!" Nothing even mattered to him anymore. Leaving Guk Pan, seeing Woohyun walk out that door. All of that was set aside, because now Sunggyu had bigger things to worry about. The decision he made to leave Guk Pan backfired, and when he least expected it and let his guard down this all happened.

"Sunggyu, please take deep breaths right now," Sungjong tried. "You're going to be ok."

"Be ok? Be ok when Hak Yeon is out there and Woohyun is gone! Oh my god, guys. We need to save Woohyun!"

"Save what?"

Everyone turned around and held onto each other nervously as their eyes behold the horror of Boohyun holding onto a tray of three freshly prepared soups.

"Oh..." everyone mumbled together.

"Boohyun seonsangnim!" Sunggyu cracked.

"Sunggyu, what do you mean by we need to save Woohyun? My brother said he left work to go back to school early." Boohyun dropped his tray of soup on the counter, suspect of something terrible happening.

"Well, where do I begin..." Sunggyu panicked, his heart racing fast as everyone was singlehandedly caught by Boohyun in a mess that he would have never expected to escalate.

"Sunggyu," Boohyun said sternly. "Answer me now. Where is my brother?"

You know it's a serious occasion when Boohyun gets involved. What could possibly even happen next? And Sunggyu's parents? Sungyeol and Hayoung's talk? Let me know what you thought of this chapter :D

Fanfiction Soundtrack:

Bigbang - Bad Boy