“A-Are you sure we should be doing this, Kev?” Eli whispered, zipping up his windbreaker.

Rolling his eyes, Kevin pulled his combat boots on, tucking the hem of his jeans inside and fastening the thick shoelaces tightly. “Are you in this or not? You promised you would.”

“I am, I just… Whatever, let’s just go.” Eli sighed, yanking a woolen cap over his thick curls until it covered his ears. “Come on, let’s hurry.”

Kevin nodded, scooping up his backpack and heading to the window stealthily, swinging a leg out and flashing a bright smile to Eli before jumping onto the ground. Eli’s heart raced, but then he remembered the ground was literally only three feet below the window sill, so Kevin hadn’t fallen far at all. He climbed out the window, too, meeting Kevin by the side of his house.

Kevin put a finger to his lips, signaling to Eli to remain quiet since it was not yet dark enough to camouflage their movements and Eli’s parents could spot them if they simply brushed the drapes in the master bedroom aside. Jerking his chin to the hedges bordering Eli’s front yard, Kevin motioned for Eli to run to them.

Once they were safely stowed away inside the leafy bushes, Kevin finally spoke. “My parents left an hour ago, my sister just texted me. You told your father you were staying at my house tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah. Now let’s hurry, we don’t want to miss the subway.” Eli said. They sprinted to the station a few blocks down, swiping their cards and squeezing through the busy crowds just in time to make the first train.

The ride was peaceful; the cart they had managed to climb into was empty other than a sleeping old lady and her middle aged son and a rather touchy teenage couple around their age that was making out in the corner. They almost missed their stop, but luckily they got out at the right time without any problems.

“Well, let’s hurry and get in line. I worked so hard to be able to buy these tickets, I’m sure as hell going to be first in the ing line.” Kevin said, sprinting down the sidewalk. Groaning, Eli took off after him, relieved to find that the doors to the concert venue were not too far away from where they had been dropped off.

Kevin was indeed the first one in line, Eli noted, glancing around the barren streets. Kevin promptly sat down, crossing his legs and patting the ground beside him with a smile too charming to have Eli refuse.

The wind grew colder as the night grew later, and Eli regretted not dressing warmer. It wasn’t the first time he had gone to concerts with Kevin; they had been to four others together so far: Girls’ Generation, f(x), Big Bang, and SHINee.

Sighing, Kevin leaned against Eli’s side, producing a blanket from his pack and draping it over them. Eli slung an arm around Kevin’s waist, preoccupied with the warmth seeping from his body.

“Thanks for coming with me,” Kevin said softly. “I know you’re not really a fan because you don’t even understand why I like them so much but it really means a lot.”

Eli bumped his shoulder against Kevin’s playfully. “Of course, Kev. That’s what best friends are for.”

Kevin hummed, and Eli could tell he was about to fall asleep.

The Girls’ Generation concert had been their first.

It was definitely a night he would never forget- they had gotten lost on the way to the venue and ended up being one of the last people in line to enter. Kevin had been overly excited, claiming he would do anything in his power to convey his love of Tiffany in a way to woo her off her feet, only to fall silent in awe when he saw her beauty in person.

 Their tickets had not been the best, but not the worst; they were in the back of the ground level, and with Kevin’s short height, it had been nearly impossible for him to see until Eli allowed him to rest against his back as he stood on the seat. It had certainly worked, because Tiffany had smiled to Kevin directly and Kevin couldn’t shut up about it for weeks.

For the f(x) concert, Kevin had insisted in being more prepared.

They had left the house earlier to leave plenty of leeway for any directional mishaps that had occurred in the past, since the location of the concert was in a part of Seoul that neither had visited before. That time, they were equipped with the proper light sticks and fan signs (courtesy of Kevin’s creativity) that were so well done that several other fans had come up to Kevin to compliment them.

They were slightly closer that time; they were in the center of the theater, ten rows away from the stage. Eli was actually able to see the sweat piling on the girls’ foreheads and although he thought it was nasty apparently Kevin didn’t because he screamed himself hoarse. When Amber, Kevin’s chosen bias, had blown kisses, Kevin shrieked so loud that Amber had actually given him a thumb’s up.

The Big Bang concert was the first time a conflict had arisen since Kevin’s newly found love of live performances.

They had never had any issue with attending the shows because the times were always corresponding to self- study sessions their parents had assumed they were attending, but the Big Bang concert started at eight- just after the self-study transitioned into private lessons- and Kevin’s parents noticed.  It had taken a lot of screaming and a few fake tears had to be shed but ultimately they were on the familiar subway route to Seoul only an hour behind schedule.

When they had arrived, there were two big girls standing in their seats, and when Kevin tried to get them to move, a fight nearly broke out. It took thirty minutes of Eli pleading before he finally allowed Kevin to get the security to them back to their own seats in the back of the left balcony and Kevin was snickering at their spiteful glares so loudly that Eli found himself chiming in almost instinctively, Kevin’s laughter much more infectious than it should have been.

The SHINee concert had been the most fun out of all of them for Eli.

Girls’ Generation, f(x), Big Bang- he hadn’t really been interested at all. They were great performers and they were by no means bad but SHINee was a band he actually admired and he had looked forward to seeing as soon as Kevin announced that he had bought the tickets.

Eli really respected their talents, because not only could they dance and sing simultaneously, they could do it well. He was particularly drawn to Kibum, one of the members typically overlooked for being labeled as a