I was following Key’s lead, knowing very little of where we were going, other than to meet the guy Key kept referring to as “Bling”. I of course didn’t think that could be his real name, but Key’s real name wasn’t Key, so I figured a lot of people around here must have different names. 

What Key referred to as the street, wasn’t just one street. It was a network of about seven blocks, all lined with black buildings, some boarded up, some with balconies. All of the buildings whether they were apartments or stores, buzzed with an odd energy. People here were alive and I could feel it. I wasn’t sure though, at this point in time, how they lived. When I assumed that others would be peculiar like Key, I was right, however Key, seemed to be the most eccentric of the people I was passing. 

I followed in silence, not sure if Key was going to give me a tour or not. Key seemed quite busy with talking to almost everyone he passed on the street. Key yelled to two teenagers smoking on a stoop of yet another black apartment building to stay out of trouble. The boys just laughed and told Key not to be a hypocrite. Key greeted a multitude of people and everything just seemed so strange to me. 

Key, the mind reader, picked up on my bewilderment. “We look out for each other. Even the bad ones.” Key said, nudging me. I didn’t know what he meant, hell, I had no idea what Key meant about anything he had said since I woke up. I didn’t know what Key meant by measurement of significance in my life. I would figure it out eventually, but at the time of meeting him and eventually others, I couldn’t tell you. For an educated person, familiar and comfortable with my seemingly successful life, I really had no idea about anything outside of the sphere that I came from. 

“Don’t be fooled by all the black around here. There’s a lot of color.” Key said, gesturing towards the buildings, black edifice after black edifice, and then back to his flamboyant suit for comparison. I nodded my head and smiled, not sure what else to do. 

“Uh. So tell me about this friend of yours...since you said I would be staying with him?” It began as a statement, a request if you will, but it ended as a nervous question as I saw his now un-dilated eyes narrow. 

“You wanna know about Bling?” Key asked in a tone that seemed challenging. 

“Yeah.” I said, dumbly, not able to think of a better response. 

“I wanna be friends with you.” Key said to me, slinging a long arm over my shoulders. I didn’t know how to respond without sounding awkward. I just let the statement hang there instead. With his arm over my shoulder, I now got a close look of his cuff links. One was a silver key, which was very fitting, and the other, which belonged to the cuff on the arm swaying at his side, was a mushroom. I didn’t get it, but then again, I seemed to lack the ability to get anything that was going on. 

“Bling is short. He’s a hybrid of a bunch of animals, really. Less human looking than an average water sack. He’s very loud and welcoming. Easy on the eyes too. He’s been one of my best friends for a long time. He’s twenty seven and owns the record store, which is really a great place to get lost in music and smoke. He’ll be there most likely. I must inform you however, that he is an adrenaline junkie, so don’t be surprised if you go somewhere and he lands on the ground in front of you, appearing to have fallen from the sky. He loves like that. Lives off of it really. Besides ripping people off at the 45 RPM, his passion lies in roof hopping and vine swinging and whatever else animals do in the urban jungle.” Key said. Although Key seemed back down to earth now, his speech was still a bit slow and emphasized on certain syllables. He was saying the most casual things, but in what seemed like the most poetic, compelling, convincing way. 

Key continued talking about Bling, when suddenly, he stopped. I wondered what was going on that made him stop dead in his tracks. I followed his line of eyesight and found what he was staring at. At the sidewalk corner across from us, was a long legged boy with blacker hair than Key. He set down a large, very old looking boom box, the kind that I had wanted in middle school. He had legs that never stopped and thin hips. The thing that really caught my attention was that the willowy thin boy was wearing all white. His white skinny jeans molded to his thin legs and his loose fitting white jumper with artistically placed rips in the shoulders made him look fluffy and angelic, but at the same time provocative. Besides Key, he had to be the brightest thing around. The boy rifled through a basket that was next to the boom box and laid out a small carpet. He bent over, went through the basket again, found a tape, popped it into the boom box and pressed play. He composed himself while standing in the middle of the carpet. He then began dancing. 

If air were to ever manifest itself in human form, it would look and move like the boy that I was watching. The sharpness of his moves seemed like they should have slicing sound effects to go with them, but he was so graceful at the same time. At the speed of a spider snatching a fly from its web and the gentleness of leaves blown by the breeze he moved and turned and popped. He seemed so delicate from his facial features: wide set almond eyes, plump lips, a round nose. He looked like a child in a expert’s body. I was enchanted by the dancing, and so was Key. 

I nudged him, not knowing what exactly made me feel comfortable to nudge Key out of his thoughts. I immediately regretted it as he narrowed his eyes at me. Again. 

“Do you know him?” I asked Key. Key looked down at his outlandish shoes, his laid back confidence vanishing before my eyes.

“That’s Tae....um...Taemin. You’ll meet him later.” Key said, quickly. That was probably the fastest and quietest I had ever heard him talk. I didn’t think much of it at the time. 

Evidently I was going to meet this “Taemin” later. I was getting nervous I seemed to have more meetings today than on a normal day at work. 

We finally reached the record store. The 45 RPM. I thought it was quite a clever name. The inside of the store was quite striking. The floor was black wood and rather than the usual cases of organized music you would usually find in a music store, this one sported long clear plastic tables. The tables had thousands of stacks of records and CD’s and all styles of music players and turn tables lined the perimeter of the store. I looked up and saw that the ceiling was entirely covered in graffiti. It was artistic and insane at the same time. 

On the far left wall of the store was a bar with stools tucked underneath it. I assumed that was where people did their smoking. The whole place smelled of smoke and cologne, surprisingly. 

As if reading my mind again, Key leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Bling’s cologne is very strong. I think he bathes himself and washes all of these surfaces in it.” 

It was strong, but not unpleasant. It was weird that I knew what Bling did, his personality, his obsession with doing dangerous things, and what he smelled like even before I had met him. 

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud painful sounding groan coming from what a door that was behind the checkout counter. Key, took the liberty of gracefully hopping over the checkout counter and motioned to me to do the same. I opted for a safer route to the other side by lifting the wood panel that normal people were supposed to use to go behind the counter. Key rolled his eyes at my lame way of doing things. 

No one seemed to care that Key and I weren’t where normal customers were supposed to be. I shrugged it off as Key opened the wood paneled door that revealed a curtain of dream catchers strung together and draped to be like another barrier. I thought it was an interesting choice, but completely in character of the store. 

We walked through the curtain and down a small hallway. The store was much bigger than I had thought. We then came into an opening which revealed piles and shelves of more music, more players, a fridge, and a comfy looking white couch that had been spray painted similarly to the ceiling of the store. The whole room smelled like cologne. In the middle of the room were two figures. One had their back was to me and was sitting on a stool. The figure was long and lean and was seated awkwardly on the stool due to long legs connected to the long torso. His hair was a mix of red an brown and was a bit long. The back of his neck, that could be seen due to the simple black shirt he was wearing, sported a large angry gash that was purpling around the edges. It looked more than painful. The other figure was tending to something regarding the man sitting down. This one had blonde, almost white hair and large eyes that were lined in a lot of liner as well. He was pretty short and was wearing a lot of tribal wear. Slim jeans, a long cape like knitted sweater, layers of shirts, all patterned and clashing, but in the most thought out way. His ears like Key’s, were pierced and when he looked up in surprise, I could see he had an eyebrow piercing as well. He looked like an excited animal when he caught sight of us. The other guy didn’t turn around. 

“I told you thousands of times, Key. Don’t come back here unless you are invited.” The platinum haired guy said to us while smirking. I assumed this was “Bling.” because he matched what I gleaned from Key’s description of him. 

“Calm down, Bling.” Key said while I celebrated in my head for getting it right. 

 “We heard someone yelp. Figured it was as good an invitation as one could ever receive. Right Min?” Key asked, addressing the other guy. 

The other guy, who was “Min” turned around and my system was shocked. Bright red lips, enormous glowing eyes, tussled red hair. He was wearing black harem pants that had pattered pockets and black lace up boots. His shirt showed off his prominent collar bones. The more I stared at the astounding figure in front of me, the more I realized how battered he looked. Red scars, a healing black eye, dark circles, and some dry blood marked his face. His knuckles that were clenched and placed on his thighs were raw and red, also caked with blood. The front of his neck was stippled with scars and bruises as well. He still looked beautiful. Really, the only word I could use to describe him. He was staring at me and I was staring at him. 

“Sorry for the scare. I was just cleaning him up a bit.” Bling explained. “Oh! We have a guest! Oh oh! The lovely I rescued from the Castle!” He said loudly. I snapped back into reality and smiled awkwardly. 

“I’m Lee Jinki...I don’t know what I’m doing...thanks for saving me.” I said, bowing. 

“Does anyone ever know what they are doing? You are in good company! There are so many who don’t know what they’re doing.” Bling said to me, staring off into space. “Like me. I don’t know. And Min here. He doesn’t know. And Key! Key really doesn’t know!” Bling laughed. “No problem. Joon is as low as you could get, better to hand you over to Key.” Bling replied. 

I didn’t know what to make of him. 

“How much did you make this time?” Key asked the bruised one, changing the subject. 

“Like I’m gonna tell you how much I made, you con.” The red haired guy finally spoke. His voice was lower than Key’s but less raspy. He also spoke a bit faster than Key, probably because he wasn’t flying high as a kite at the moment. His voice lulled me into a state of calm. I had never heard a voice like that before. 

“Made enough to pay Tae’s part of the rent and then some. Must’ve been one hell of a fight, Min” Bling said, sounding excited, but I noticed his voice hid concern and care. 

“Uh...yeah. Jjong, here was just disinfecting me before I went home. I don’t need Tae freaking out, again.” “Min” explained. Key nodded and tried to put on a happy face, but like Bling or...Jjong, he was having a hard time covering up his concern. 

“I’m not gonna take your money. And Tae...he’s...” Key began, a look of sadness washing over his usually smirking face. 

“He’s been better. He’ll be around soon. Talk to him later.” Bling said to Key. 

“Anyway, this is Lee Jinki, he is my new gorgeous lawyer friend and he will be staying with us for a while. He got picked up by Joon, but he’s not the usual type. Make him feel welcome.” Key said, patting me on the head, Bling already was acquainted with the unconscious me, so this introduction was geared towards Min. 

“And where will you be staying?” Bling asked me, blinking like a mad man. 

“Uhm...” I began, not really sure how to notify him that I was moving in. 

“With the handsome music store owner with the lovely apartment!” Key said, batting his eye lashes, trying to sweet talk Bling into letting me stay with him. 

“Free of charge as long as you cook!” Bling said, beaming at me. How could these people be so trusting of me. I could run away at any moment, expose this part of the city as a problem and a threat. How could they just take me in? I wondered what pushed Bling to letting me stay with him. 

“I can grill meat. Does that count?” I asked, sheepishly while scratching the back of my head. “Free of charge?” I asked, perplexed as to why he was allowing me to stay there free of charge. I didn’t know how long I would be there, but still. 

“Works for me! I love me some short ribs.” Bling said happily. “Also, don’t call me Bling. Call me Jonghyun...and the land lord died and I made myself in charge and I’m not gonna pay me for my apartment, now am I.” He added. 

I nodded. So his name was really Jonghyun. It seemed to suit him more. 

“Thank you Bling for disregarding my nickname and telling a perfect stranger about your long time love affair with short ribs. Anyway, this is Minho. You can call him whatever you would like. Prick, frog face, sulking giraffe, whichever.” Key said causally. I looked to the newly introduced Minho. The name even sounded like silk in my mind. 

“I think I’ll settle on Minho. Nice to meet you...hyung?” I said unsurely. He looked older to me, but I wasn’t exactly sure. 

“Jinks, Min here is twenty four. I give you permission to make him your personal servant.” Key said laughing along with Jonghyun. 

Jinks was not a nickname I wanted to keep, but I was afraid to say otherwise. Minho smiled for the first time, a half smile without showing teeth, but a smile none the less. It made him look younger. It took my breath away and I’ll never forget it. 

“So, about clothing and possessions...” I began. I knew full well I could have just hopped a bus back, but something made me want to stay. The urge to stay was much stronger now that I met Jonghyun and Minho. These people were interesting and their way of dress and life was so new. I had to know more. 

“I’ll take you shopping, there’s good food if you know where to look for it, there’s an electronic store where you can buy a phone charger, and Jonghyun will have extra stuff for the bathroom. You’re in good hands.” Key reassured me. After a few more minutes of conversation, Minho got up revealing is true height. I almost gasped. 

“I’m going back to shower up. Are we having dinner tonight?” Minho asked Jonghyun and Key. 

“Yeah, bring Tae. Please. I need to talk to him.” Key pleaded. God did I want to know what was up between Key and this “Tae.” 

“Yeah yeah. It’s nice to meet you hyung.” Minho said casually, holding eye contact with me for what felt like ten minutes. 

He then turned and walked out of the back room, the light from the store streaming in. 

“What does Minho do that he is hurt like that?” I asked. I wanted to punch myself. It seemed like a question far too personal for me to be asking at the time. 

“He street fights for money. It’s all he’s got, ya know?” Jonghyun answered. I must have looked like a frozen fool because I stopped breathing and probably looked shell shocked. No I didn’t know. I really didn’t know anything. 

A/N: One of the longest chapters I have ever written! Sorry for the wait! Hope you enjoy! COmment~ We have now met Jjong and Minho!!^^