“Youngjae! Look out!!!”

                The younger spun around only to have a blunt object strike against his head. Youngjae felt the pain but couldn’t shout because he had already fallen unconscious. Daehyun’s cries of anguish soon faded away like smoke. Everything turned black. Youngjae’s time spent with Daehyun was all the time he needed to lose him all over again.

----

                Youngjae fluttered his eyes awake.

                The singer sluggishly looked around him. Ambient colors slowly became more distinct as his body registered into consciousness. He was in the train station, sitting on the bench. There were people around him, busily making their way back to their apartments or waiting to meet up with their friends for a night outing. The street noises were gradually drawing him back into reality. Everything seemed normal. Youngjae was in disbelief.

                What?

                Was that....a dream??

                Youngjae recalled the events he remembered so vaguely yet vividly at the same time; events so outrageous there was no way they could have possibly happened.

                But...why am I shaking like this? Why did it all feel so real?

                He clutched his chest and then his head. His entire body throbbed with pain. Most of the pain was out of confusion. How the hell did I get here, he thought. He began inspecting himself. He had his wallet and his phone. His phone was dead. He glanced around the station for the time. In big red lights on the counter behind him it flashed repeatedly: 10:00 PM. Youngjae stared at the numbers, mortified.

                How long was I here?

                He forced himself up, pain shooting from his head to his toe. What was he going to do? He had no recollection of arriving at the station. He had no idea where everyone else was. Youngjae’s throat was beginning to run dry from worry. Nothing was adding up to him. All that he remembered was Daehyun being kidnapped and the lengths he had to go through to save him. And now he was back at the train station. Am I losing my mind? The singer clutched his head painstakingly as the thoughts piled up on top one another.

                Suddenly, he remembered Himchan’s words.  

                We’ll all meet up back here ok?

                The green clock in the city. He needed to find it. He didn’t have anything else left to go on. With a heavy heart, Youngjae began running. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but his motivation urged him forward. All he could think about was getting back to the others. The singer managed to exit the train station and backtracked into the city. Eyes gazed upon the frantic singer as he dashed past stores and kiosks. The blurred scenery became more familiar as he trekked onward.

                With a last ounce of hope, he finally arrived at the clock. The gleam on its face came in from the moonlight. It was already dark out and Youngjae wasn’t sure if he made a smart decision. Out of breath, he dropped to his knees and rested his head against the metal pole, waiting on the cold cement ground in confused silence. The night air felt unfriendly and Youngjae just wished over and over again for things to revert back the way they were that same morning. He closed his eyes slowly, wondering if that would do the trick.

                “Youngjae?”

                That voice again.

                “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

                The singer turned around to see none other than Daehyun in the flesh. He wasn’t in any danger. He didn’t look like he was beat up by a bunch of masked businessmen. In fact he looked perfectly chipper. Youngjae looked at him with incredible disbelief. Same clothes. Same face. Same Daehyun. There was no way this was the Daehyun that he had to rescue over a perilous journey with his own life at stake. But that didn’t matter. He was here. He was safe. Youngjae ran to the older singer and took him into a tight hug. Daehyun almost tumbled over from the embrace, surprised at the younger’s uncharacteristic action.  

                “A...are you crying?” Daehyun inquired, trying to get a better look at the other’s face for validation. Youngjae responded with a mild punch against the other’s chest.

                “You idiot,” He mumbled in hitched breaths. “You stupid idiot. You have no idea what I’ve been through today because of you.” He hung his head low, embarrassed from the tears suddenly falling from his reddened eyes. All of the pent up emotion that he was building up throughout the day finally exploded out and he wasn’t sure how to respond to it. Daehyun wasn’t sure how to respond either. Instead, the older singer opted to cupping the other’s head, wiping away the lingering drops with his thumbs. Their eyes met intimately in the process. Youngjae hated that Daehyun cared. He hated the way he had to look at him. He hated how he felt shivers whenever Daehyun touched his skin. He hated that he liked it.

                “You told me that you were going to check up on something by yourself and you’d come back here. I knew you’d be fine so I waited. Did something happen?” Youngjae feebly pushed the others’ hands off his face.

                “No, nothing,” He shook his head trying to take in the words that sounded so foreign to him.

                “Then stop crying! I can’t believe you missed me that much,” Daehyun chuckled out loud.

                “Hey, don’t flatter yourself!” The younger pushed him out of his personal bubble, finally feeling like himself. “I was more worried for me than you.” Daehyun scoffed at the statement.

                “Come on, let’s head back to the hotel. There’s a convenience store close by, we can stop for ice cream on the way.”

                “Wait, it’s super late! What about the others? Aren’t they worried we’re still out?”

                “Don’t worry, I already told them that we’d be busy shopping for some last minute things. As long as we make it to time for rehearsal tomorrow, we’ll be fine.” Youngjae was still skeptical. Daehyun took ahold of the worried singer’s hand, making him tense up again.

                “Come on!”

                Much to Youngjae’s disapproval, the two arrived at the store, a different one from whatever nightmare Youngjae remembered earlier that day. He was afraid to step in for obvious reasons, but not wanting to leave Daehyun alone, he followed along, keeping his eyes warily on him. But nothing scary happened. They stepped out of the store intact, both clinging onto a small plastic bag of their picks. Seeing as the street was deserted, they decided to sit down on the store entrance steps. By the time they did, Daehyun had already unwrapped one of his taiyaki shaped dessert; the insatiable sounds he made as he munched on the ice cream sandwich made the desolate alley lively.   

                Youngjae wasn’t sure why, but seeing Daehyun eat so calmly brought him at ease. The older singer looked just like a squirrel with his cheeks puffed out with food. He bit back a laugh at the sight. I missed this. Realizing he had been staring at him for too long, Youngjae turned his head to take a bite on his own sweet snack, his face smiling as his teeth sank into the waffles and vanilla ice cream. By the time he was finished, Daehyun was pulling onto his forearm, aiming to get his attention.

                “I have something for you,” the older said, already starting on his second sandwich. Youngjae turned to the other, curious as to what it was. Daehyun quickly placed something warm into the younger’s hand, beaming like a little imp. Youngjae unfurled his fingers and found a small metal can in his palms. It was the coffee he wanted that very morning.

                “It took me a while but I found one for you.”

                 Youngjae looked at it for some time before replying a quiet, “Thank you.” Although he was happy, he felt extremely guilty. If he hadn’t been so irritable that morning he wouldn’t have felt so bad. And maybe karma would have played out a different day for him.

                “You ok? Are you sure something didn’t happen while you were by yourself?” The younger singer glanced up at the other, questioning whether he should confess the truth or not.

                “I just..I took a nap at the train station...and had a really bad dream that’s all.”  

                “Oh...?” Daehyun’s concerned tone of voice made the other’s heart skip a beat but Youngjae hid his fear with a meager laugh.

                “It’s ok, I’m fine now, don’t worry.” Daehyun nodded and patted his friend on the back warmly.  

                “We should head back. Let’s go!” Youngjae agreed and waited for the other to scarf down the rest of his food before getting up from the stairs. The two made their way out of the alley and back into the veins of Tokyo. As they walked, the younger quietly contemplated over everything that happened that day. 

                He decided it would be best to never tell Daehyun what he remembered (or anyone for that matter). No one would believe such a ridiculous story anyway. Feeling somewhat subdued, he walked with a bit more perk, relieved that everything was at least back to normal. Daehyun caught sight of it and imitated the other’s peppy steps. Youngjae smiled and waked a bit faster. This was how things were supposed to be. Just two idiot friends always caring, yet never admitting defeat to the other. And that’s the way Youngjae wanted it to be, as he tried to outdo Daehyun’s brisk pace. But of course the night wasn’t over just yet, and Youngjae wasn’t going to be let out of his adventure that easily.

                Before they turned at the curb, Daehyun suddenly took ahold of the younger, clasping their bodies tightly against one another. The move, which came out of nowhere, caused Youngjae to go into suspended animation. It was a good thing it was dark out or he’d see the flustered color on his cheeks. Daehyun drew his face to the young singer’s ear and whispered a single question.

                “Were you able to save me from the bodyguard, Youngjae?”   

                   Youngjae’s heart stopped.

                What.

                The older singer drew his head back, flashing a smile so pleased, almost sinister, that Youngjae’s body turned limp. The smile soon turned into a hearty laugh and Daehyun released their hold to run off into the street. He shouted nonsensical names at the stunned singer with every step he took. Youngjae was completely baffled, but he wasn’t willing to let the other win, not yet.

                “Yah!!!! Come back here!” Youngjae sprinted after the other maniacally. Off into the dark and under broken streetlights, the two raced like 6 year olds to their hotel. And even though Daehyun’s question remained fixated into Youngjae’s brain, they never spoke of that night again.

Today a major arrest was made in Roppongi district jut hours ago. 8 men were taken in after confrontation between customers at the bar, Zeus, escalated. It has been revealed that the men were responsible for the recent kidnappings of young people in the city. The organized crime group known simply as “Mask” has been operating illegal activity all throughout Tokyo for 3 years, according to authorities. The man responsible for their bust was prominent detective, Mr. Yamada, working as a double agent inside their bar headquarters for the past year. He says he wouldn’t have been able to accomplish the bust without the help of two celebrities. He has decided to keep their names anonymous for their protection. Mr. Yamada and authorities will continue to pursue the rest of the group in hopes of collapsing their empire and preventing future kidnappings.

                “Junhong?”

“Mm?”

“Do you know what that lady is saying?”

“No,” the sleepy maknae replied. He took the remote from Jongup and increased the volume on the TV.

“I think that cop busted those bad guys.”

                  “Cool,” Jongup replied casually as the other began surfing through the channels, hoping to find some late night anime airing for their amusement.

 “Why can’t the hyungs be that cool?” Zelo mumbled.

“If Daehyun hyung was that cool, we’d be doing chores for the next week instead of him.”

                  “Good thing we’re not!” Zelo laughed, holding up the light-up figurines they bought earlier that day. The two filled the room with humorous noise, knowing that they were in cahoots with each other since the very beginning of the bet.

“Wouldn’t it be funny if Daehyun hyung and Youngjae hyung were at that crime scene?” Jongup replied.

                  “Those two? Now that’s worth 3 weeks of chores.” The older kid snickered at the comment.

                “That’ll never happen though.”

                “Yep, not in amillion years.”

                Despite their curfew, they continued to watch TV late into the night. Both were eager to see Daehyun’s face in the morning when they planned to tell him that he lost the game.

A/N: And it's finito~ I know the ending is weird but the story was never sane in the first place xD
Also, there is a sort of secret chapter that I had in mind that would explain the in  between the last 2 parts. But I'll only post it if there's requests for it. Otherwise, this is the ending. Thank you guys for reading! I still can't believe I posted this LOL.