“He sounds like a good kid,” Dongho commented as he and Key walked down the sidewalk in town. It was getting late and the streetlights were already flickering on as the sun descended beyond the horizon, taking what little bit of warmth it provided. Despite the temperature dropping, neither of them were quite ready to part ways and go home.

“He really is,” Key said with a nod as they rounded a corner. “I mean, I’ve barely known him for six months but Mir’s a really good guy. I mean, all of them are but I guess I’m just lucky that Heechul wanted me to be part of their family.”

Dongho nodded slowly as he processed everything that Key was telling him. They had been for hours walking through town and visiting all the shops while having a long heart-to-heart with each other. He’d learned about Key’s home situation and how it came to be.

“It must hurt knowing that your parents are so neglectful. I can’t imagine my life if my mother was life that,” He said, frowning to himself. Key looked at him curiously, vaguely recalling that Dongho had told him that his father had passed away not too long ago.

“Well, I always had somewhere to go when my parents didn’t want me home. My friend Minho’s parents kind of raised me for most of my life,” Key explained with a shrug.

Dongho looked at him curiously and asked, “How come you don’t live with them?”

Key paused before coming up with an answer. That question had been lingering in the air for quite a while now. Heechul had tried asking him the same thing a few months ago but Key had made it quite clear that he had no intentions of talking about his friends or the Choi’s. Since then the topic had been steered clear and not brought up again. However, Dongho was a distance from the situation and Key decided it wouldn’t hurt to finally lift the weight off his chest.

Kicking a pebble as they walked, Key stared at the ground with a hard expression. He breathed in deeply before nodding slightly.

“I had a falling out with Minho at the end of the summer. Not just with him, but all of my friends. I have never asked them for anything in the entire time we’d been friends, but that night I really needed help and none of them did anything.”

All of a sudden he felt the intense urge to start bawling right then and there. Anger surged through his mind and he breathed heavily as he recounted that fateful night six months ago.

“I was hurt really badly and they all just brushed me off!”

They had stopped walking right outside the gates to the park and Key balled up his fists, turning away angrily and embarrassedly when he started crying. He felt like a fool losing it like this in front of Dongho, but he couldn’t help it. This had been weighing down on him for months and even though he was really good at not thinking about it, the barriers were finally breaking down.

Dongho stood there silently, hesitant and unsure of how to comfort his friend. After a minute or two had passed, he took a step closer to Key and gently placed his hand on Key’s shoulder.

“I’m really sorry that happened to you,” He said softly. The sun had completely disappeared and the only light came from the streetlamp beside them, the shadow of it showing that it had started to snow around them.

Key shrugged but said nothing and Dongho took initiative to wrap his arms around him and hold him tightly, resting his head on Key’s shoulder. He didn’t know what it was, but there was something inside of him that just wanted to take away all of Key’s pain and to just hold him forever. He didn’t like seeing him like this when he was normally always smiling and laughing at something. It just didn’t feel right, like all the happiness in the world has been away.

After a few minutes, Key broke the moment and pulled away, smiling sheepishly and wiping away his tears before it got awkward.

“Heh, sorry about that. I just haven’t talk about that and it all sort of just boiled over,” He explained meekly.

“Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to explain yourself,” Dongho said good-naturedly. He smiled at Key and