Sungjong taps the small silver bell on the front counter of his favorite Beauty Salon out of boredom and leans against the pointy edge. He sighs and checks himself out in a small mirror propped up by two metal legs on the counter beside the bell. He runs his hand through his dyed light brown hair.

"It's been forever since I got a haircut." He mumbled, tilting his head multiple directions. He heard footsteps approaching from behind him then felt fingers tugging on the short hairs on the back of his head. He looked at Woohyun through the mirror and greeted him with a warm smile.

Woohyun wore his casual outfit unlike the rest of the workers there who wore specific pinkish-purple uniforms. Woohyun seemed super tired, it was noticeable because there were bags forming underneath his once shiny eyes.

"You look tired. Did you sleep last night?" Sungjong asked, turning around to face his favorite hair stylist. Woohyun shook his head and took Sungjong by the arm. 
 

"No. I was studying." Woohyun answered, seating his customer on a soft adjustable chair. 
 

"Again? What are you trying to master in?" Sungjong asked his friend. Woohyun slowly pushed Sungjong's head down and into the sink with a strong hand supporting the back of his neck.
 

"I'm going to get a master's degree in Architecture." Woohyun said as he switched the faucet on with one swift motion, warm water gushing out. 
 

"Oh. Really? My dad's an-"
 

"Architect. And he designed this whole building. We've gone through this conversation tons of times, Sungjong." Woohyun pointed out, trying to keep himself awake as he wet Sungjong's hair. 

"Oh, really? Sorry." Sungjong apologized. Woohyun grabbed a small bright green bottle from the side table and squeezed a reasonable amount in his palm. He then massaged it softly into Sungjong's hair and onto his healthy scalp. 

"How was your day?" Woohyun asked. His mother, the owner of the Nam Salon, had always lectured him about carrying on conversations with the clients and Woohyun kept that locked in his mind. Not just because he listened to his parents but also because their female employees were loudmouths. 
 

"It was fine but..." Sungjong's voice trailed off as Woohyun softly tugged at his hair. With a long, deep sigh, Sungjong continued. "I lost my job." He confessed, putting a hand over his pretty face. 
 

"How?" Woohyun pushed, starting to rinse Sungjong's hair. 
 

"I had a fight with my boss. It wasn't my fault though. He was the one who started it." Sungjong started.
 

"What'd he do?" Woohyun asked, turning the water off. 
 

"He lowered my salary by 25% because I was slacking." He made quotation marks with his fingers. 
 

"Were you slacking?" Woohyun questions, drying Sungjong's hair and motioning for him to sit up. Sungjong groaned and sat slumped over with Woohyun trying to catch his wet hair so it wouldn't get water all over the floor. 
 

"I wasn't...ok-fine. Sorta." Sungjong answered, a little unsure of himself. Just as they were about to get up to the hair cutting station, Myungsoo shows up. He taps Woohyun's shoulder with a straight face. Woohyun doesn't turn around and just stays stationary, looking to Sungjong's hair as Myungsoo spoke.
 

"My shift's over. I'll be going now." He says. Woohyun nods and sends Myungsoo away. They soon finish up the appointment and Sungjong leaves with a wave and "thanks". Woohyun waves in return but quickly rubs his eye as something flew into it. It was a fairly windy day in Summer of Seoul and everyone was eating ice cream from a popular ice cream shop a couple blocks away, across the intersection. Woohyun sighs, wanting some and turns around to see his mother. She's carrying a thin scarlet cloth and had a smile plastered on her face. 
 

"You can go see Sunggyu now." She said, giving him permission to leave. Woohyun had just remembered that he made a promise to meet up with his best friend, Sunggyu that day.

He was so tired though. He rubbed his eyes again, this time because of lack of sleep and nodded. He decided not to call off the hang out and go to the Cafe.

Once he entered the small but elegant Cafe, he scanned the place for Sunggyu. It didn't take long for him to spot his friend waving both arms to tell him where he was. He makes his way over to Sunggyu and takes the seat opposite of him. 
 

"You took a while." Sunggyu said before a man came up to their table. He was tall and handsome with sharp eyes. 
 

"Hello. I will be your waiter today. My name is Myungsoo but you can call me L." Myungsoo greeted as he handed a menu out to each of them. 
 

"You work here too, Myungsoo?" Woohyun asked, recieving a simple nod. The two friends ordered and Myungsoo left. Sunggyu immediately started whispering in a hushed voice.
 

"He's so cool. He went to our school a couple years back. Does he work for you? How come you talked to him so casually earlier? Are you two friends-?" Woohyun covered his talkative friend's mouth. 
 

"Too many questions. And he just works for my parents. Not me." Woohyun corrected. Sunggyu slapped his hand away and sat back in his seat. 
 

"I'm jealous. I wish my parents had a huge business."
 

"It's not huge-"
 

"I meant famously huge. Like your mom-key's . Monkey's ." Sunggyu said nervously, averting his eyes from the cold glaring ones he was receiving. 
 

"Don't talk about my mom like that. It's really weird." Woohyun said, looking to the ceiling to try get his head off. Sunggyu sighed.
 

"Yeah.Yeah. I got it...but you know it's true-"
 

"Shut up!" Woohyun snapped, almost forgetting that he was super tired. Sunggyu put his hands up next to his head with open palms and wide eyes.
 

"Sorry." He apologized as Myungsoo appeared at the table again. He carried two Cappuccinos, one in each big hand. 
 

"Here are your drinks." He pointed out the obvious as he placed each hot cup in front of his customers. "Would you like anything else?" He asked, a little too monotone. 
 

"Myunggie!" A man in his late twenties linked an arm around Myungsoo's shoulders. 
 

"Hey, Sungyeol. How may I help you." Myungsoo asked, still expressionless. Sungyeol pouted and turned Myungsoo to face him with one hand.
 

"You're doing that thing where you have no expression again, Myunggie. Smile." He urged, using the pads of his thumbs to pull the corners Myungsoo's lips up. Myungsoo attempted to smile just for his best friend and received a bear hug from him. "Ah. Your customers." Sungyeol said once he noticed Woohyun and Sunggyu watching silently behind him.

Woohyun smiled and waved so did Sunggyu. "I'll leave you to your work then-and oh!" Sungyeol snapped his fingers at Myungsoo as he stopped in his tracks. "My brother's finally coming home from the states." He took in a deep breath. "Be there." He ended as he finally left the small restaurant. Myungsoo turned back to the two.

"Sorry about that. Would you like anything else?" He asked for the tenth time since he started his shift. The two shook their heads and Myungsoo left. Sunggyu looked at his friend for the first real time that day and noticed something different. 
 

"How come you don't look so happy?" He asked in an awkward way. Woohyun sighed and rubbed his forming headache with one hand. 
 

"I stayed up all night and studied." He said. Sunggyu suddenly smacked him in the forehead with his palm. 
 

"I thought I told you not to study too hard. We won't be able to hang out~" He complained, receiving a blank stare from Woohyun. He gave a sigh. "Okay. Go home and get some rest then we can hang out again." Sunggyu said, grabbing his cup of coffee and standing up. Woohyun grabbed his wrist as he was about to leave. 
 

"Can you drive me home? I don't think I can stay awake long enough to get home." He pointed out. Sunggyu groaned slightly then tugged his hand from his best friend. 
 

"I'll drive. Let's go." He said, dragging Woohyun behind him by the shirt.
 

Once Sunggyu saw the famous salon, he found a parking spot half a mile away because there were so many cars.

"We're here." Sunggyu stretched with a yawn, getting drowsy himself. Woohyun was already asleep in the passenger seat and didn't even twitch when Sunggyu called his name. "Woohyun! Get up!" Sunggyu was practically shouting at the younger now but he still wouldn't wake up. With a heavy heart, Sunggyu let Woohyun have his peace and got out of the car.

He needed a new haircut anyway.
 

.....

Sungyeol paced back and forth at the airport, waiting for his half-brother.

He hadn't seen his half-brother for six years and was nervous. He hoped that Howon or Hoya, would remember him. He was told by his mother that Howon had lost his hearing and was returning to Korea to get some medical help. Sungyeol was in a bit of a shock for a whole week after that but he was fine now. He didn't care as long as he got to see his beloved half-brother again. They were the same age so they played a lot back in the days but Howon left at age 17 to go live with his father and Sungyeol never saw him again.

He looked at his watch intently and then back up then down. 
 

Tick-Tock
 

Tick-Tock
 

"Hey." Sungyeol jumped and turned around to see his best friend Myungsoo dressed in airport attire. And by attire, I meant the uniforms. He had a badge and everything. Sungyeol put a hand on his heart to see if he was still alive and felt relieved when he was. 
 

"You scared the acorns out of me and why are you wearing that?" He asked, receiving a raised eyebrow.
 

"I work here. And I came to see you and your...cousin?" Myungsoo guessed. Sungyeol blew a breath and crossed his arms. 
 

"He's my half-broth...er..." He saw past Myungsoo's calm face and at his half-brother.

His brother looked the same. He had a brown mop of hair, the same eyes, chubby cheeks, and the same smile. Howon was smiling and talking to a younger person.

Sungyeol pushed past Myungsoo and slowly made his way over to his brother because of all the people blocking his once open paths. He could make out words like "I had fun." and "I'm so excited!" from Howon's lips.

Once he finally came into arms distance of the unaware Howon, he jumped on him. He squeezed his surprised brother with all the strength he had, not letting Howon breathe. Howon was surprised and stood idle until Sungyeol pulled back and both of them inspected one another. Howon's hair was almost down to his shoulders and he had grown so much taller overtime. 

"You've grown so much!" Sungyeol exclaimed as Howon finally recognized him. 
 

"Yeollie!" He cried and gave the other another long hug as Myungsoo tripped over someone's bag and fell to the ground beside them. He got up and dusted himself, waving to Howon's aider. "You've grown so much!" Howon exclaimed.
 

"That's what I just said..." Sungyeol then remembers that Howon was deaf and didn't hear him.

Couldn't hear him.

Sungyeol just holds on tighter and squeezes his eyes shut, darkening his sight.
 

.....

Woohyun jumps a little as he awakes from his short nap. He looks at his surroundings and remembers that his friend drove him home. He opened the door
 

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
 

The blaring alarm was continuous and Woohyun groans at the stupidity of his own best friend. The alarm soon grabbed the attention of pedestrians walking by eating ice cream. He leans on the car and waits a couple more seconds for his friend to come running out with wet hair. He grins when his friend did exactly that and came running out with water all over his clothes.

Sunggyu pushes the red button on the small controller then sighs. 
 

"Aren't you smart." Woohyun teases before walking by Sunggyu and giving him a high-five.
 

"W-what?" Sunggyu said, confused at the other's actions. Woohyun laughs and just waves it off.
 

"You want to go buy us some ice-cream?" He asks. Sunggyu doesn't get the chance to answer when he gets slapped on the back. "Okay, thank you. You know which one I like, right?" Sunggyu simply nodded hesitantly and turned to his car.

He started pulling out of the driveway when Woohyun entered his Salon.

Sunggyu drove down and waited at the intersection.

Woohyun prepared for the appointment Sungjong had already scheduled for the following week. He heard a loud screech then the heart-stopping sound that always followed after.

He turned his head to the door and took a step toward it, curiosity taking over him.

He reached for the door. 
 

"Woohyun-ah." He heard his mother call from the back room. Woohyun left the glass doors and hurriedly went to help his mother carry TRESemmé product bottles. 
 

.....

Howon held onto his tall aid's arm with one hand as they toured the house, Sungyeol leading. 
 

"And this is your bedroom again." He said, opening a freshly painted door. 
 

"It looks almost the same since I left. But way cooler." Howon said in awe. They walked to the center of the room. 
 

"Tell me where everything is located so I can resort to them when necessary." Howon's aid said. Sungyeol nodded and started pointing things out. The drawer with prepared clothing, the attached bathroom with a new white toothbrush, and many other things. 
 

"I'm sorry but I never had the chance to learn your name." Sungyeol said as the young aid helped Howon sit on the huge bed. 
 

"Oh. You can simply call me Zelo." He said. 
 

"How old are you?" Sungyeol asked. Zelo nervously chuckled before answering. 
 

"I have nineteen years of age here in Korea but eighteen in the states." 
 

"Wow! Really!? You're so young! You must call me Hyung then. I'm four years older than you." Sungyeol carried on the conversation about their lives as Howon wondered off.

He walked around the room and slid his digits across the top of all the books, marble tables, windowsills, and drawers. His fingers stopped before a small metallic box on the work table. He picked it up and observed it.

The metal looked familiar like something he used to own when he lived here six years ago. He lifted the top up and something in it started to wind up. But nothing happened, or so he thought. 
 

Sungyeol heard a familiar tune and turned to its source of origin. He saw Howon tilting his head from side to side to take in the mysterious metal box and made his way to him. 
 

"I'll be located right outside, Hyung." Zelo said before exiting the door. Sungyeol gave him a nod.
 

"What is this? It looks familiar." Howon asked as Sungyeol took the music box from him.

Sungyeol didn't bother to answer, for his brother couldn't hear him anyway. So he closed the box and placed it on the table. Howon watched in anticipation as Sungyeol looked him in the eye.

Howon traced Sungyeol's eyes down to his nose then stopped at his lips.

The pink lips moved. 
 

"..."
 

Howon couldn't make out what he was saying at all.
 

Sungyeol ended with a smile then patted the other's left shoulder blade, urging him to sit on the bed with him. 

"Howon-ah. I missed you but did you miss me? I'm sorry I never visited you when you were in the states. I had the perfect thing for you too." Sungyeol said, leaning on his brother's shoulder and lying his head there.

Howon looked off into the distance, unaware of his brother's words. 
 

.....

They rushed him to the hospital.

He was in severe condition and he might not make it.