Sunggyu didn’t expect to run into his boyfriend at nearly five in the morning. He and his men were just making their final rounds of the city before turning in for the day. But not once did he expect that the rule-breaker he was about to shoot was his boyfriend. He had already shot some hooligans earlier without hesitation but he froze upon seeing Woohyun.

It was like a sudden weight had been lifted off his chest. He and Woohyun were in a relationship of three years without any regrets. But because Sunggyu was captain of the guard, he wasn’t allowed to meet with Woohyun regularly. Many times Sunggyu bended the rules just a little bit and secretly met with him at night. Their time together had started to become briefer with their own respective time constraints, but he didn’t expect to see Woohyun tonight of all nights.

“What are you doing here?” Sunggyu asked in surprise. “I thought you weren’t coming today,” he said, his eyes wide and confused as Woohyun took grasp of his hand.

“I was,” Woohyun insisted, his eyes earnest. “I was off to find you.” Then he paused, his eyes filled with concern. “But… I heard gunshots, you know. And I-”

Sunggyu lifted a hand to his cheek and it gently. “Were you scared?”

Biting back his tongue, Woohyun nodded. “It was a little frightening,” he admitted. “I was more surprised than anything.”

“Oh, I see,” Sunggyu mused, taking Woohyun’s hand into his hand and beginning to walk down the alley. “It was a little scary for me too. I haven’t fired a gun in a long time.”

“What were you firing for?” Woohyun asked as he was lead deeper into the dark alleyway.

“Dumb people breaking the rules,” Sunggyu scoffed. “Who do they think they are? Curfew is at sunset. They either respect the rule or they get hurt.”

Woohyun frowned. “I thought you only arrested them and then beat them up in the city square. Isn’t that the protocol?”

“Not anymore,” Sunggyu replied. “There seem to be more of them breaking the rules so clearly, we have to be stricter.”

“Oh.”

“These rebels think they’re getting stronger by breaking rules.” Sunggyu let out a scoff. “It only makes us more pissed off.” He led Woohyun by his hand and said, “Here, sit. It’s pretty comfortable.”

Woohyun took a look at the old tree standing in front of him and sat down cautiously on a thick root protruding from the broken cement. “But,” he said, continuing the conversation, “aren’t the rebels getting stronger?”

Sunggyu sat down cross-legged in front of him, placing his gun and mask to the side. “After that failed rebellion last year? No. Absolutely not. They’ve practically disappeared.”

“They’re not a threat?” Woohyun asked.

“No. And they’d be fools to think they are. They’re just pests.”

Woohyun bit the inside of his cheek. “Well… I think they’re pretty brave. They’re putting their lives on the line to try and make a difference.”

Sunggyu shrugged. “Well, if you put it that way then of course it sounds good. But when it comes to the city’s well being then they’re just being nuisances.”

Woohyun frowned. “Come on, hyung – they can’t be that bad for the city.”

“Woohyun, please stop,” Sunggyu said suddenly, his sharp stare cutting the younger off. “We haven’t seen each other in a while and I don’t feel like arguing.”

Woohyun bit his lip and nodded, looking away. “Sorry,” he muttered. He tried to shake that gnawing feeling from his chest but it still stayed there persistently.

“It’s fine,” Sunggyu murmured. “Just avoid the subject from now on. Those little rebels are lucky they haven’t tried anything.”

Woohyun could only bite his lip as he gave a half-hearted nod. “It doesn’t matter.” He looked up with a crooked smile. “What matters right now is us. This moment is just for the two of us.”

Sunggyu nodded at him. “We’re the only thing that matters right now. We’ll be together soon, I promise. Just wait until I get a promotion! Then I can move off the streets and bring you and my mom into the capital building. I’ll make sure that our apartment is on the most Eastern side and we’ll have a great view of the outskirts and everything.” He grasped Woohyun’s frail hands in his own. “We won’t need to worry about a thing.”

Woohyun smiled but there was some sort of dam – wall – that kept his genuine happiness from reaching his smile. “No worries at all,” he repeated.

But there were too many worries. There were a billion worries floating through Woohyun’s head and he knew that he couldn’t voice over half of them to Sunggyu. They continued talking like that for a while – Sunggyu rambling quietly about his aspirations and plans for their future while Woohyun sat there and worried. Even the things that made Sunggyu’s eyes light up worried him to an extent.

Like the future – no, their future.

It was a concept that Woohyun was unsure of every second and wondered with every living breath if they would even have a future together. But he pushed the thought away and smiled back at Sunggyu and reassured himself that everything would be okay as long as they were together. As wishful and naïve as that was, it kept him going.

Sunggyu’s smile faded once he saw the sun peaking over the city walls. He stood up and helped Woohyun up afterwards, giving him a warm hug and a bid goodbye with a promise to meet him in two days. Woohyun watched him go with a smile that faded with the darkness as he slunk back into the shadows to escape.

Sungyeol and Myungsoo were about to leave the compound when a shriek and a breaking of glass alerted their attention.

“What was that?” Myungsoo asked, his gaze focused above them. “That sounded like upstairs.”

“, that’s Seungho’s room,” Sungyeol spat. He broke into a run before Myungsoo could ask anything more and could only hope that his boyfriend had been following him up the stairs.

“Sungyeol, wait!” the younger cried. “What’s going on?!”

“I don’t know!” he shouted back. There seemed to be more and more people bustling in the same direction they were. “And not knowing in this place is a big problem.”

Myungsoo was breathless but he kept going. It took more than this to deter him, especially when he had to keep up with the burst of energy called his boyfriend. But when Sungyeol skidded to a stop in front of an open doorway with the most aghast look of terror on his face, Myungsoo was actually worried.

“Baby,” he said as he caught up. His hands caught on Sungyeol’s shirt and tugged for his attention. “Baby, what is it?”

But Sungyeol’s voice caught in his throat as he croaked out something incoherent. He kept shaking his head and then he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block everything out. Burying his face in Myungsoo’s neck he whimpered.

“God damn I wish it hadn’t come to this.”

Myungsoo rubbed jagged lines on his back as soothingly as he could when he finally took the time to look at the scene before him. Sungjong was there, holding a bloody lip while facing one of their men. It was Mir – obvious by his chopped, blonde hair – but Mir was aggressive. He was never this aggressive. Myungsoo couldn’t pick a single reason as to why Mir would ever be angry until he saw who was in the bed. It was Seungho from earlier, his wounds patched and his bullets removed but even from here Myungsoo knew. Seungho was dead.

“Holy …” he cursed under his breath. He held Sungyeol closer, lacing his fingers into the other’s hair for some sense of comfort.

“You said he’d make it!” Mir screeched, his glare accusatory and hard. “You looked me in the eyes and said he would live!”

“I said probably!” Sungjong yelled back, cradling his bleeding face. “I said he would probably live! It wasn’t my choice whether he survived or not!”

Mir let out a strangled yell of agony as he picked up Sungjong’s tray of medical instruments and flung them to the ground with a clang! The harsh sound echoed against the cement walls and for a moment, Myungsoo was worried for Sungjong’s safety.

Mir rushed up and grabbed Sungjong by the collar, not wincing when Sungjong spit his blood on him. “But you told me he would live,” he seethed. “Probably or not – you said he would live.”

“Well, he’s dead now, Mir!” Sungjong spat. “Wrap your head around it our you won’t be able to move on. We knew the risk when joining this rebellion – Seungho knew those risks too! Don’t blame his death on me when he knew what he was getting himself into.”

Mir would have look liked a rage driven bull if it were not for crystal tears in his eyes giving away his grief. “I joined this because of Seungho,” he said, his voice cracking low. “And Seungho was one of the best guys here. Now bring him back.”

Sungjong let out a bitter chuckle void of any lightness. “We both know that it takes more than a medic to bring the dead back to life.”

Pushing him back onto the wall with a violent shove, Mir turned around and fell to his knees in anguish. Even Sungjong felt the pity creeping up his throat as he watched the man cry and cry and cry. Seungho lay on the bed lifeless, his patched wounds and bandages looking meaningless and futile.

“See – this is why we need a plan of action.”

All of their heads turned to look at Hoya, who had appeared in the doorway. His forehead was creased with stress but there was pity and genuine sorrow in his eyes. Myungsoo had been hearing rumors about their vice leader, but with those eyes, how could those rumors be true?

“This is why we need to hit the system where it hurts,” Hoya said firmly, his fisted hand at his side. “It’s because of these deaths – these deaths that those guards sneer at – that we have to fight back! Those pinheads that run the city look at this like it’s some sort of collateral damage like we don’t matter. But that’s what we’re here for!”

Even in the thick, dark atmosphere, Hoya’s words cut through like a knife – like a beacon for them to follow. His small speech was already turning heads. There was something in the way he talked that lighted something in everyone’s eyes. His words were matches coming to strike at the slow burning kindle in every person’s soul, ready to light them on fire and lead the way with flames.

“Isn’t this why we rallied in the first place?!” Hoya continued, his arm movements brash. “We’re here to fix what was wronged and we were wronged! That’s why we need to strike back and strike hard. There can be no result without action and we need to take action!”

“Where’s Dongwoo?” Sungyeol whispered. His voice fluttered next to Myungsoo’s ear softly.

“I don’t know,” Myungsoo replied. “I think that he’ll probably come up soon though, with all the commotion. Why?”

“I don’t like this,” the older heaved, his breaths starting to pick up in panic. “Dongwoo won’t like it either. Hoya is exploiting Seungho’s death.”

“What? No he’s not, he’s… he’s just trying to rally us together.”

“Behind Seungho’s death? I don’t like it Myungsoo, I really don’t. Let’s just leave.”

Myungsoo kissed his forehead and started walking back through the small crowd in the hallway with his boyfriend in his arms. “Okay,” he said. “We can leave.”

On the way out they passed Dongwoo, and Sungyeol was right – he looked pretty upset.

“There you are! You had me worried sick!”

The minute Sungyeol stepped foot into his home, his siblings bombarded him. Daeyeol had tackled him in a flying hug and carried a look of betrayal on his face.

“You told me you would help me with my video project! I had to make Yeoreum dress as a guy instead!”

Sungyeol laughed loudly at the thought of his younger sister dressed as a male. “I’m sorry, kiddo,” he apologized halfheartedly. “I just got a little… caught up.”

Daeyeol sent a judgmental glance up towards Myungsoo who had been standing there with nothing but a smile. “You mean your boyfriend kept you too busy to come home? Tch – what a jerk.”

Myungsoo laughed and kicked the younger playfully. “Hey, didn’t we agree that I was cooler than your brother like a week ago?”

“Nope, doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Jeez – Lee Daeyeol! You’re nearly as bad as your brother.”

The boy stuck out his tongue. “I’m better by millions and we all know it.”

“I was wrong – you’re definitely worse than your brother. For sure.”

“Myungsoo oppa!” a small high-pitched voice cried. The voice was accompanied by the pitter-patter of little feet running across the tiled floors. A small bundle of blue zipped up to Myungsoo and jumped into his arms. Myungsoo caught her with a laugh and spun her around whimsically.

“How’s my little princess?” he asked.

Six-year-old Yerin smiled her charming smile as she giggled. “I’m good! How are you, oppa?”

“Much better now that your older brother is safe inside his home,” he said, giving a playful glare directed at Sungyeol. Sungyeol stuck out his tongue and rolled his eyes before giving a laugh. “Are your parents home?”

Yeoreum came walking out of the kitchen, her messy hair unsuccessfully held back in a ponytail. “They’re at some city council crap,” she said. “They won’t be back until later, but they’ll be happy to know that a certain son of theirs returned home.”

Sungyeol only scoffed. “Please, they knew I was fine. I was just hanging out with Myungsoo, after all.”

“All night long? That’s a bit suspicious,” she teased.

“Well, it was our anniversary.”

“Okay, gross.”

Sungyeol laughed at her and pulled the beanie off of his head. He placed it over Yerin’s head and covered her eyes. “Okay, big girl, time to go do your homework.”

“Aw, but oppa–”

“No buts, you big baby. Get off Myungsoo and go do your schoolwork.”

She harrumphed but hopped down from the other’s arms unceremoniously. She sped off again in a blur of blue and was chased by Daeyeol, exclaiming that she was wearing his beanie that he had so graciously let his older brother borrow.

Sungyeol chuckled as he watched them disappear. “Kids,” he laughed breathily. Nudging Myungsoo, he tilted his head towards the small staircase. “To my room,” he said.

Myungsoo followed without a word, and instead, with a dimpled grin. Once they arrived in his shoebox-sized room, Myungsoo locked the door and tackled him down onto his bed. Planting kisses all over Sungyeol’s neck, he laughed at the other’s ticklish reaction.

“You know, you did fall asleep on our anniversary yesterday. We didn’t get to do much,” he said with a pout. He kissed Sungyeol’s collarbone teasingly.

“As much as I would love to,” the older giggled, “I don’t think doing the… frick-frack one thin floor above my siblings is a good idea.”

Myungsoo frowned in a childish pout as he rested his chin on Sungyeol’s throat. “Guess I’ll just have to save my lips for another day.”

With another light laugh, Sungyeol sat up and left a delicate kiss on his boyfriend’s lips. “I never said those lips had to go to waste.”

Myungsoo took that as an invitation to kiss him again. And so he did.

Again and again and again and again.

“Have you ever thought of leaving?”

Sungyeol looked up from his calculations of his family’s restaurant’s income briefly. “What do you mean?”

Myungsoo looked at him from his bed as he hugged his boyfriend’s pillow close to his body. “I mean there must be some kind of place outside the city walls. Some place where we can live on our own.”

“Isn’t that a little… dangerous?”

“Dangerous, yeah – but wouldn’t it be worth it? Run away to just live on the outskirts? I’d rather do that than barely scrape by in this dump we call a city.”

Sungyeol shrugged. “I don’t know, Myungsoo. That’s not really something I’ve thought about.”

“You should think about then,” Myungsoo responded. “Because I want to do it.”

Sungyeol’s eyes widened in surprise and shock. “You want to run?! Is that even legal?!”

“Of course it’s not legal. But… if we did it together… maybe…?”

Sungyeol held his gaze for a few moments before he broke it and looked down again. “It’s a lovely thought, but I don’t think I have the ability to right now.”

“That’s not a problem,” Myungsoo whispered out. “Take all the time you need. We’re going to get out of here together someday, I know it.”

There was only a halfhearted grin left on Sungyeol’s face as he leaned over to kiss Myungsoo briefly. “Someday is pretty far away. Let’s put that idea away for now, okay? We can talk about it tomorrow.”

But in that moment, neither of them realized that they weren’t prepared for what tomorrow brought. And they didn’t realize that after that, they wouldn’t have as many chances to talk about running away again.

a/n ; 

omfg guiseee

it's going to start picking up from here 8] from now on it's going to be a little more... idk angsty? idk if that's the word but.

expect some more coming your way! lots of things are going to start happening so i hope you stay tuned and keep reading :))) even though this chapter was certainly not as eventful as the other two i hope you enjoyed what i put forth!  a little insight on the woogyu (which has much more to come) and the myungyeol X]]] hope you drop a comment <3 

and get ready for the rest of this guys! its going to be a fun ride! ^^ (im trying a thing where i don't slow burn for once so this story's pace is going to be real fun)

love you lots and welcome to all new readers :DD pls subscribe and upvote! ^^ only if it pleases you ofc haha

- quinnie - 

ask.fm | tumblr | twitter