The constant ringing of the phone was something Taecyeon was accustomed to, yet today it seemed as irritating as the chatter of his secretary as she scheduled appointments and answered the incredibly stupid questions of his many clients.

He took off his glasses, taking a deep breath as he set them down and rested his eyes. The thought of just closing up early and calling it day taunting him. The week had been long and tedious, and he still had 3 more hours and two appointments before he could call it day.

The last weekend seemed like years ago and life had kept him busy enough to not have time to think let along worry. He reached for his phone now, scrolling down the list of contacts until he came across the name he had been looking for. His fingers hesitating as he considered all the pros and cons of making the call.

He had pushed all thoughts of that encounter aside. Had convinced himself that that man could in no way, be the person Taecyeon wanted him to be. He thought he had it under control. Thought he had gotten over those feelings of regret and self-loathing long ago, yet a single glance at that familiar face and it all came crashing down. All at once and twice as heavy.

"Taecyeon?" His secretary called as she opened the door and Taec forced himself to focus. Putting his phone away he turned his attention to Min and the man that stood behind her.

"Is my next appointment here?" He questioned and Min nodded giving him a wary look as she stepped aside and a man in his mid-forties walked into the room. Taecyeon forced his mind to focus. Taking Min's look as a warning that he was drifting. He didn't have that luxury in his line of work. Pushing all thoughts aside he set his eyes on the man in front of him. The file he had previously studied fresh in his mind. Somewhere in the background he heard the soft buzz of his phone vibrating, but he ignored that too. Whomever it was it could wait.  

The time on the dashboard of his car read 8:05 by the time he pulled up into his complex. He shoved everything into his briefcase, knowing that at one point or another he needed to go over the files he brought home with him. It was normal for his work to follow him home. For weekends to be spent studying documents and new cases. Researching bank accounts and been mind-boggled by the amount of debt some of his clients managed to get into.

When he picked Law as a career choice he had pictured himself in a court room, working low profile cases as a public defender. Nothing fancy, all he wanted was a stable job and a paycheck every week, but life had a way of never turning out the way you pictured it would. A lucky shot at an internship in the legal department of an investment firm, and the seed of actually making good money out of his career was planted.

He had always considered himself lucky. Lucky enough to find good people that helped put him through school. Lucky enough to land a job right after the end of his internship. Lucky enough to find a partner willing to invest in one hell of a crazy idea. He had always had luck on his side and the drive and ambition required to make the best of each opportunity.

Sure, a financial advisor was world's away from his original life goal, but it helped when you were good at what you did and the money he made out of every successful case was enough to help him live a comfortable life. Enough to allow him to give just a little bit of it back to kids, that just like him, simply needed a little bit of luck on their side.

He stepped into his apartment, locking the door behind him and setting his briefcase on the coffee table. He laid on the couch, knowing he only had seconds before Eddie sensed his presence and the insufferable barking for attention began. He had not looked at his phone since that afternoon, and he did so now. A few voice mails and 4 text messages from Chansung that he didn't bother to read. He scrolled through his missed calls, disappointment settling in when the name he had been unconsciously hoping for did not showed.

He wanted to laugh at himself for even hoping, but the energy just wasn't there and instead he closed his eyes, the phone still in his hands and Eddie's barking adding to the background noise he wanted so badly to shut out.

You offered to take him out. So logically it should be you that calls first. Chansung had told him earlier that week over a few drinks after work. At the time Taecyeon had regretted his moment of weakness and oversharing. Yet deep down he knew Chansung had a point. As much as it pained him to admitted.

He was the type to shut people out. To lead them on out of a momentary excitement, then quickly blow them off. Always coming up with a million excuses as to why it wouldn't work. Why it was a bad idea. MinJun had been the worse idea as of yet, still he couldn't help but want to see where his stupidity will lead.

" it" Without giving himself much time to think he quickly typed the first thing that came to mind. Quickly hitting the send button before his brain had a chance to react. He stared at the phone screen, reading over his own words. One. Two. Three. Each second that went by without a response felt like ages, and not a whole minute had gone by before regret settled in. Heavy and with a bitter aftertaste.

MinJun stared at his own reflection in the bathroom mirror, at the tired, bloodshot eyes that stared back at him. Eyes he didn't truly recognize, yet somewhere deep down he knew they belong to him.

Life felt a lot like that to him lately. Foreign. He was living someone else's life. Watching from the sidelines as the hole he was burry waist deep in got bigger and bigger with every stupid decision made. Something needed to be done. Of that he was fully aware off. He just simply didn't have the energy to be the one to do it.

"Are you done in there?" A loud knock and a familiar voice came from behind the door and MinJun straighten up. The person looking back at him from the mirror taking on a completely different persona. Confident. Fearless. He had been playing the part for so long he couldn't honestly say when he has started to believe his own lie.

"Missed me that much?" He teased as he opened the door. Wooyoung was everything but amused if the scowl on his face was any indication.

"You know I can't deal with this people"

"I know" MinJun placed an arm around the younger's shoulder. Leading him back in the direction of the main room. "But you volunteer for this remember?"

Somewhere deep down the irritating feeling of guilt threatened to come up and choke him, but he pushed it back down. Telling himself that Wooyoung would've found his way into this life one way or another. It was a sad truth, but there were not many options for kids like them. Growing up, and doing it fast was your only way out.

"So have you talked to him?"

"Whom?" MinJun questioned. They were getting closer to their destination. He removed the arm from Wooyoung's shoulder, and straighten his tie. Unlike Khun who could walk in wearing jeans and a Disney tee-shirt and not give a about what anyone thought, MinJun was of the believe that you should dress according to the occasion. And much like his suit and tie, nothing about this situation made him feel comfortable.

"That guy from the other night. With the feisty teenagers?" Wooyoung went on, momentarily distracting MinJun from fidgeting with his clothes.

"Ah" He hesitated for a second, the thought of the tall muscular built and those piercing eyes brought a bitter smile to his face. Just another one of the many things in life that had not gone exactly like he had hoped it would. With time he had learned not to dwell on them too much. To not drown on the what ifs and just focus on the right now.

"We should've bet" The smallest hint of disappointment leak through. Truth be told he had been hoping.  "You would've won"

"Really? I thought that was a done deal.”

"So did I" MinJun admitted, a fake smile plastered on his lips as they reached their destination. The routine was the same as always, and he nodded at the man standing guard by the door.

Introductions were not necessary, and they walked right in. MinJun leading the way, Wooyoung following reluctantly behind. He let his entire body relax. His walk confident and lax, and he tailored the look on his face to match his demeanor.

All the while fully conscious of the scare little lamb following behind him.

“Well that was anticlimactic.” Wooyoung joked a while later and MinJun noted that the color had return to his face. The pale, silent boy that had been sitting quietly beside him a few hours ago nowhere to be found.

“What were you expecting?” MinJun asked taking a bite of the slice of pizza he had order for dinner. They picked a place not far from the meeting location. A corner store with the best oven brick pizza he had ever had the pleasure of biting into. It was a routine of his. Just a bit of goodness to watch out the foul after taste those meetings tended to leave behind.  

“I don’t know… Definitely not that.” Wooyoung confessed, biting into his own slice. “So what now?”

“Now we go about our business as per usual.” MinJun reached over, using his thumb to wipe a bit of sauce off of Wooyoung’s chin. When he first met the kid, he had been nothing but that. A kid. A child with too much world in his little brain. Too much wit and a mouth that got him into a lot more trouble than he could handle. He had been hustling men twice his age at a pool hall when MinJun first laid eyes on him. It had been amusing at the time. Even more amusing when MinJun had given him a taste of his own medicine.

 “So how often do you have to see them?”

“Once a quarter.” MinJun answered the question knowing it would probably not be the last. He had been like that once. Curious. A naive mind blind sighted by the possibility of an easy life. With one too many questions, yet none of which were the right ones to ask.

“Khunnie sees them more often, they are more interested in the one keeping the books then in what I do” He went on, pushing the last slice of pizza towards Wooyoung.

The diner was slowly coming to life. Students welcoming the weekend. Office workers happy to be free of the confinement of their cubicle for a few days. A pair of girls in their twenties caught his eyes, and he glanced in their direction. Meeting glances with a brunette who quickly looked down embarrassed at been caught staring. He couldn't say for sure when he had started seeing the world around him as a hunting ground. Classifying people by how easy it would be to lure them in.

“But without you there would be no books to keep?" Wooyoung added, finishing the remaining of his pizza, and MinJun smiled at the question. It was one of the things he like about the boy. His perceptiveness. How he was quick to listen to what wasn't been said. MinJun kept his eyes on the girls a while longer, his lips curving into a smile as he saw them glancing their way again. The one whose face MinJun couldn't see saying something that caused the brunette to smile and cast down her eyes once more. That wouldn't take long.

“And that my boy, is how you survive in this world." MinJun added. Pushing his empty plate aside and bringing their conversation to an end. His elbows rested on the table as he leaned even closer to Wooyoung. "You make yourself indispensable."

Friday night and the world around him came to live. MinJun watched it all from the sidelines. Felt the repetitive tempo of the music in every fiber of his body. He enjoyed forgetting the world for a moment, losing himself in the music and just feeling it come to live around him.

Tonight's DJ was one of his favorite. He handpicked anyone that play at the lounge, but he had yet to find anyone like Yugyeom. He was a child, barely over age, and he had to fight Nichkhun until the end to get him in, but damn was it worth it. He figured they had enough shadiness going own around them, what harm would employing an barely off age kid  will do?

Tonight's set was a mixture of oldies and remixed house music, and the crowd seemed to enjoy every switch of the beat. Screaming and hollering whenever an old classic would come on. They were drinking. Partying. Letting go of the stress of their daily lives and just having a good time. MinJun enjoyed this the must. Simply standing to the side, soaking in the energy that polluted the air.

"Good turn out tonight"

The soft, gentle voice of his business partner broke through his trance and he fixed his eyes on the tall, lean man that walked into MinJun’s private booth.

"So how did it go?" Nichkhun went straight to the point. Taking a seat next to MinJun and helping himself to MinJun's poison of choice. An aged bottle of whiskey he liked to save for special occasions.

"Why do you ask me a question to which you already know the answer?"

The seat next to MinJun trembled with Nichkhun's silent laugher, and MinJun glared at the man for two whole seconds before his own face broke into a smile.

"How did the kid do?" Nichkhun questioned and MinJun made a face in response.

"As well as you would expect" MinJun's thoughts went to Wooyoung. He was lost somewhere in the dance floor, the brunette MinJun had picked up from the dinner serving as his entertainment for the night. He thought of their previous conversation and the questions Wooyoung had continued to ask during the car ride and even after as they were getting ready for the night.

"He's got the sense to see this for what it is"

"You wouldn't have brought him in if he didn't" Nichkhun leaned back on his seat, taking a sip of his drink and MinJun allowed himself a good look at the man. He was handsome, that was a fact, but MinJun always thought his looks when a little deeper than his features. There was an easiness about him. Mischievousness disguise under an innocent childlike facade that MinJun often found intriguing.

"You know, it is a waste that you're straight" He added almost accent minded and Nichkhun laughed.

"Still not over your crush on me Kim?" He teased and MinJun fought the urge to kick him. "I thought you were going to make quick work of your apprentice?"

"Wooyoung's another waste."

"Why am I a waste?" Wooyoung's head pop up into the room, hair disheveled and the stench of some sweet perfume following him as he let his body dropped in between the two men. Nichkhun's laugh only intensified and MinJun took that chance to get up. Sometimes he just couldn't deal with Nichkhun.

"Am out" He said to no one in particular, ignoring Wooyoung's questioning glance and Nichkhun's annoying chuckle as he made his way out, stealing a glance at his phone as he did. Any other night he would've stay a little longer. Maybe find himself a little something to pass the time with, but tonight his mind was otherwise preoccupied.

He walked by a man whose face he recognized, and tried his best to ignore the knot in his stomach as said man slipped a small blue bag to a few kids’ way too young to be getting themselves into that nasty . It's started that way. A free sample. Just a taste. Enough to get them hook. It was part of the job. To see and ignore. He ing hated it.

His phone buzzed in his hands and he focus his attention on that. A smile curving the corner of his lips at the response he received. A quick reply. A location and a time. And he was on his way out. The possibility of a second chance at that handsome man from a few nights back helping him forget about the many things he rather not think about.

Cheer's turned out to be a quaint little bar with high stools and wooden counters, dusty pool tables and a set of targets placed some ways away from the entrance. It all fit into a square room no bigger than his living room and kitchen combined into one, and Taecyeon felt overly dressed the second he set foot in the place.

Only a few people bothered to glanced his way as he entered, majority losing interested soon after. He felt like an idiot for over thinking it. He had spent a good hour over analyzing MinJun’s response, and another 30 minutes deciding on what to wear. A black long sleeve and black slacks had seemed like a good idea at the time. Now he rolled up his sleeves and undid a few of his buttons, glancing around the bar once more until he spotted who he was looking for sitting alone in the furthest side of the bar.

He took a deep breath, taking in the wide shoulders and the sharp profile of the man. He seemed out of place in a place like this, too neat, to polish, to fit in with the rustiness of the bar, yet somehow he was right at home. A cigarette between his fingers and a beer in the other hand. The bartender he was chatting with said something that had him laughing out loud. A carefree, open mouth laugh that carried to where to Taecyeon stood still fidgeting with his clothes. His fingers trembling slyly as he finished rolling up his sleeve.

He glanced in Taecyeon's direction at that moment, eyes taking on a predatory look, he was the man from a few nights back all over again. Confident. Intimidating. He tilled his head slyly, encouraging Taecyeon to move closer, and he did. The million reasons why he shouldn't seem like lousy, unfounded excuses at that moment.

The bartender, a boy with impossibly small eyes and a sunny smile nodded in his direction as he took the seat next to MinJun.

 "I didn't think you'll make it"

"I wasn't sure I would either"

 MinJun looked at him apprehensively, and Taecyeon hushed the rational voice inside his head in favor of the one that convinced him coming out tonight was a good idea. It wasn’t hard. MinJun was a sight, and Taecyeon didn't realize just how much of the man he had failed to see until that very moment. It was much more than the perfectly asymmetrical shape of his jaw and the good looks the man had been blessed with. There was something about him that intrigued the curious side of Taecyeon. Something different. Exciting.

"Friend of yours?" The bartender asked. He had an almost feline look to him. Crescent moon eyes that fixated on Taecyeon as he casually leaned over the counter, Taecyeon's personal space all but forgotten. "He's hot"

"Back off you fiend" MinJun hid a smile as Taecyeon shifted uncomfortably on his seat.

“Selfish bastard. Would it hurt you to share once in a while?” The bartender continued, disregarding MinJun’s warning glance as he focused his inquisitive eyes on Taecyeon once more.

“So what can I do you for sweetheart?”

“He means what do you want to drink?” MinJun shined in, and Taecyeon couldn’t help himself as he offered a disarming smile to the cheeky bartender.

“Crown on ice. Please"

"Don't mind him" MinJun reached out and rested his fingers on Taecyeon's arm, the warmth of the touch something Taecyeon had not been expecting. It burned where their skin touch and Taecyeon flinched. Embarrassment quickly coloring his cheeks. Taecyeon hoped MinJun had not noticed the involuntary action. Yet the smile at the corner of MinJun’s lip as he pulled his hand away and settled it on his drink instead, told Taecyeon otherwise.

"How about a game?" MinJun extinguished the cigarette still in his other hand, finishing the last of his drink as he motioned the bartender for another. There was something about the easiness of the man that unnerved Taecyeon. Trouble. He saw it now, as clear as he did that night.

"You coming?" MinJun was already on his way. A silent challenge. Daring Taecyeon to follow.

"Yeah. I am"

He had already made it this far. What was the worst that could happen?