Chapter 11:

The small side door of the warehouse opened with a creak.

So many years already and still no one bothered to oil it.

Seungyoon followed the man inside, the almost painful familiarness of his surroundings was too overwhelming.

The smell of sweat and blood lingered in the air. Seungyoon took in the sight of brown specks of dried blood on the grey asphalt floor and some old blue mats laying dispersed around the space. He spotted the huge black poster hanging on the wall, high enough to be spotted from every corner of the room.

A barking dog’s head was drawn in white, accompanied by a white slogan beneath it.

Get bitten by DOG.

Despite his inner conflict, Seungyoon couldn’t help but feel strangely at ease when he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

A chuckle escaped the mouth of the man next to him. His observing eyes didn’t miss the younger’s relaxing composure.

“Nostalgia?” The man dressed in black leather pants and a simple tight black T-shirt grinned.

Seungyoon just brushed past him which earned him a cheerful laugh.

They both went to another door at the end of the room which turned out to be some kind of office.

Seungyoon didn’t need to look around; he knew this place like the back of his hand.

The dark brown spot on the wooden table which resulted from a small burn, the overfilled drawer at the wall which looked like it’ll explode any moment, the spot on polished black fridge which had a silver tray with a carafe of whisky and its matching glasses on it, the small tear at the bottom corner of the purple wallpaper... Seungyoon knew them all.

The man who was slightly older than Seungyoon stopped in front of the fridge as Seungyoon sat down on the chair in front of the desk.

“Drink?”

It wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t supposed to happen again.

Yet, Seungyoon couldn’t help but break into a grin. The wall he tried so hard to build up and maintained all this time, crumbled down in just mere seconds.

It all felt so familiar, so happy, so like home.

“The usual, why’ you still asking?”

“Courtesy!” The other replied with a laugh as he turned around, two bottles of coke in his hands. He opened them at his desk and both boys toasted each other before taking a sip.

“Sooo... How have you been?” The other gave Seungyoon his trademark grin.

This familiarity... How much he missed it.

“Good, better than before...” Seungyoon looked at the other’s attentive looking face.

“... I think.” He added in a whisper.

The other raised his eyebrows slightly. Seungyoon knew he was waiting for him to continue but he didn’t want to, not right now anyways.

“How have you been? It certainly has been a while?”

“It certainly has. I’m good, as always.” The boy tousled his short blonde hair. “The others have been asking about you a lot. You disappeared so suddenly, Jinnie cried because you didn’t say goodbye to him.”

Seungyoon smiled at the thought of the said boy. He’s always been a very sentimental one.

“Many people were disappointed, if I could call it like that. You were the best after all. It got boring without you, that was what a lot of them said. Some even left, you know.” The blonde one laughed while eyeing Seungyoon thoughtfully. “Some stayed because they were sure of your return, Hoon is one of them.”

“Hugeboy.” Seungyoon warned while returning his stare. “I said it the last time and I’ll say it now again, I’m not doing this anymore.”

“Woah! I just wanted to fill you in on what happened during your absence. Aren’t you curious as well on what happened?” He defended himself, a surprised expression on his face.

Seungyoon sighed and nodded.

They knew each other too well.

“It’s really good to see you again after so long... Even thought you looked better in my memory, aesthetically I mean.” Hugeboy snorted, a smug grin on his lips as he eyed Seungyoon’s still recovering beaten-up face.

Seungyoon in return only huffed while facing the wall on his left.

It was still there.

A picture of four young teenage boys was hung in the centre of the huge pin board which held many other papers and flyers.

Seungyoon smiled until his eyes fell on another picture which was pinned just next to the other.

Again, there were four boys on it but there was a slight change.

For one, the three boys from the first picture looked slightly older in the second one and even more handsome with their mature features. Another change was the different fourth person. While in the first one, Seungyoon was squished between Hoon and Jinnie, he was replaced by another boy in the second, more recent photograph.

Seungyoon had no idea who that boy was. Standing at the side of the three familiar boys, he flashed a peace sign to the camera while his hoodie covered his face.

Who was this boy?

“Who is...” Seungyoon turned back to face Hugeboy when the words were stuck in his throat. His eyes widened in surprise.

Hugeboy was staring intensely at him. A serious and dangerous look was on his face.

“Tell me, how deep are you in this ?”

“W-What?” Seungyoon was caught off guard by this unusual question. “What are you talking about?”

“Answer me. How much are you involved?”

Seungyoon could only frown at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“This. Your face. This evening. Everything.” He nodded at him.

“Nothing, really. I got jumped by some thugs some days ago and this evening... I thought I saw someone I knew.” Seungyoon shrugged his shoulders.

“Tell me the truth.” He fixated him, his voice was a growl. “I saw you. You followed that guy upstairs... What did you want from them?”

“Nothing, for real now!” Seungyoon fidgeted with his hands on his lap, his voice was slowly fading. “I was searching for someone-“

“WHO?!” Hugeboy yelled.

“No one, it was a mistake of my part.” Seungyoon stared back, more confidence in his voice as he sensed the tensed atmosphere. “I acted too impulsive, alright?”

“You know you can count on my help even after you left, right?” Hugeboy asked with almost pleading eyes.

Too confused by everything, Seungyoon just nodded as silence fell on the room again.

Until it was broken by Hugeboy’s chuckle. “I really believed your words, you know? Back then, you sounded so serious.”

Seungyoon didn’t like the mocking tone at all. “What do you mean?”

“Are you serious?” He stared at him unbelievably. “Your leave one year ago! That’s what I’m talking about! You said you’ll leave for good.”

“I left for good!” Seungyoon retorted angrily. He was slowly losing his patience for this encrypted non-sense.

“Dude, you’re in deeper than before!” Hugeboy could only laugh incredulously at the messy situation.

“You really didn’t change at all.”

“He what? Where is he now? Who? Hugeboy? That er!”

The line fell silent.

“Are they still there?”

“I think they’ll leave soon. The waiters just cleared their table.”

“Alright, I’ll take care of everything. Thanks.”

The man hung up, tossed his phone on the desk and leaned back on his chair. He sighed, massaging his temples while thinking of a solution.

That boy’s quite troublesome.

Eventually, he grabbed his phone again and scrolled down his contacts. Picking the needed number, he put his phone on his ear again.

“Huh?” A boyish voice answered.

“It’s me.”

“Woah, sorry! I meant of course hello!” The playfulness was gone in an instant. “ ...Sir!”

“Calm down, cucumber.” He continued. “I need a favour of you, please.”

The other who pouted at the unwanted nickname, composed himself quickly when the word ‘please’ was used. “Of course, what do you need?”

“Free someone for me. Alone, for the best.”

“A mission? All alone?” A faint gasp was heard through the phone.

The man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“How long have you been doing this to be such a scare-cat now? And no, it’s not a mission. Get your over to the dog kennel.”

“Kennel? Not the house?” A confused reply came back.

“No, the main house is closed for a while.” The man ran his hand through his hair with a sigh. Shouldn’t you be informed about these things?

“What should I do there?”

“Free that Seungyoon boy from Hugeboy’s chokehold.”