“I don’t care what Minghao says, that was Jeon Wonwoo in that photo.”

Soonyoung readjusted his camera to focus on the new panda in the exhibit. It was early in the morning, but he had to remember that she was why they came to Shanghai. He was trying to give her their full attention, but Jihoon was making that more difficult. “Jihoon, I seriously want to believe you but we have no evidence.”

“Then we’ll just have to get evidence!” Jihoon insisted as he typed on his laptop. Sitting on the dirt floor of the zoo, he looked up at his friend. “That was Wonwoo in that picture.”

“He looked a lot like Wonwoo.”

“His name was even Wonwoo!”

“That’s a fairly common name!”

Jihoon scoffed and rolled his eyes. “You know it’s not that common!”

“Fine, but we don’t have anything,” Soonyoung tried to reason with him. “Look, you know I want to find more stuff about him as much as you do, but we can’t get distracted by what’s not fact.”

“But this is fact!” Jihoon argued, jumping to his feet. Staring intensely, he said, “Minghao is somehow connected to Jeon Wonwoo.”

Soonyoung squinted through the camera hole. “Minghao is related to Hong Wonwoo.”

“Or so he says,” Jihoon threw out there. “We can’t trust him, Soonyoung. I’m surprised you’re not more suspicious.”

“Obviously, I’m curious,” Soonyoung argued back, “but I don’t think he’s hiding anything. We’ve been after Wonwoo’s secret for a long time. Don’t go crazy on me now.”

“I’m not going crazy.”

“If Jun trusts Minghao, then I can trust Minghao,” Soonyoung reaffirmed. “I don’t think that was our Wonwoo in that picture. Nothing connects the two of them at all.”

Dropping his shoulders, Jihoon tried to think of better points. “Look at the facts that we know then! Wonwoo just disappears at night. He doesn’t have many friends. He travels according to Mingyu.”

“Dude, that’s still not a link to these guys all the way in Shanghai.”

Jihoon sighed and leaned against the railing. It was so early that no one was in the zoo yet, but that didn’t matter too much. No one would know what they were talking about. “Fine, trust him, but I’m telling you there’s something going on here, Soonyoung.”

Putting his camera down and letting it rest around his neck, Soonyoung finally looked to his disgruntled friend. “Okay, fine. You can be suspicious, go ahead, but don’t just go around crying wolf until we get some solid evidence. Ask Minghao whatever you want when we go to lunch today. He’ll answer.”

Jihoon shook his head and shut his computer. “He’s hiding something. And I bet it has to do with Wonwoo.”

“You have to prove it before I can fully help you. I’m not gonna get Junhui upset for no reason.”

With all the confidence in the world, Jihoon said, “I bet you anything in this world Minghao’s involved with Wonwoo.”

“Alright, sure,” Soonyoung said not so confidently.

“He’s gonna try and avoid us, I’m telling you.”

“Okay, Jihoon.”

Jihoon crossed his arms and tried to think some more. “Minghao’s not gonna hang out with us today, I can just feel it.”

Soonyoung rolled his eyes and went back to work. “Ya know what, if that happens, I’ll be on your side.”

Jihoon smiled, finally getting some support from his working counterpart. “Then get ready to help me out,” he replied, determination coursing through his veins, “cause we only have one more day to find out what’s really going on.”

— — —

“Sweetie, I left my key at home,” Minghao’s mom told him over the phone. “Can you open the door for me in a little bit?”

Chewing his apple with the phone between his ear and shoulder, he replied, “Sure thing, mom.”

“Thanks, sweetie. I’ll be home soon.”

“Okay.”

“I love you.”

He smiled. “I love you, too.”

“Bye, love.”

“Bye.”

Hanging up the phone and shoving it in his back pocket, Minghao was about to leave the kitchen and head for his room. It was a little past 9am and he was going to get ready to spend the day with Junhui, Soonyoung, and Jihoon. He’d been trying his hardest not to show his discomfort and so far it was working. It was all still horrible though. Just as he was leaving, there was a knock at the door.

Knock. Knock.

He furrowed his eyebrows and went to open it. Wow, that was fast. But when he swung the door open, he was shocked to find someone who wasn’t his mom. A familiar wave of panic washed over him.

“TADA!” Joshua exclaimed as he jumped into the apartment, his guitar properly strapped to his back. With a big ol’ smile and his arms spread out, he announced, in English, “Joshua Hong has arrived!”

Unable to register what was truly happening, Minghao quickly shut the door. “Oh my god,” he mumbled. “Oh my god. Oh my god.”

Joshua, laughing in the background, tried to get a good look at his friend’s face. “Dude, I’m here! This is awesome! Don’t just freak out!”

Minghao flipped around. “You shouldn’t be here,” he said frantically.

Confused, Joshua continued to take it as a joke. “Well, none of us should be anywhere, yeah. Technically, I should be at home, but we know how that works.”

Minghao couldn’t handle it. Covering his face, he said into his hands, “Out of all the freakin’ times you could come here.”

“Wow, Minghao,” Joshua said through a weak chuckle, trying to remain playful. “You’re kind of starting to hurt my feelings.”

Groaning and rubbing his hair away, Minghao went to put his apple down. He really didn’t have much of an appetite. Hunched over the counter, he replied, “No, Josh, it’s not you.”

“Then what’s wrong?” he asked, noticing how strange his friend was acting. It had been a year since Joshua was in Shanghai. He was thrilled when he jumped just a block away from Minghao’s apartment. It was like the universe finally understood where he needed to be.

He looked up to find his friend’s concerned face. Little did he know something much more concerning was about to come his way. “Jihoon and Soonyoung are here.”

None of that registered with him. “Who?” Joshua asked, coming to the counter with his eyebrows furrowed.

“Jihoon and Soonyoung,” Minghao said again. “As in the reporters from Korea who’ve been following Wonwoo for years. They’re here.”

As much sense as that made, Joshua was still confused. He waved his hands in the air and shook his head. “Wait, wait. What’re you talking about? How’re they here?”

Minghao scratched his head. “Junhui has a friend he’s been talking to for years online who lives in Korea and he came over here for some work stuff. Turns out he’s Soonyoung and he brought Jihoon cause they’re here for some report.”

It was slowly starting to make sense with Joshua, but it was almost too much of a stretch. “Minghao, are you sure these are the same people?” he asked. “This seems like too much of a coincidence. Like, what are the odds of those two people meeting up with your best friend?” He scoffed at how ridiculous it sounded. “Like, what are the odds?”

Minghao groaned and realized how crazy this sounded, but unfortunately it was all true. “Joshua, this isn’t about the odds. This is about the damn universe! It clearly just wants to give all of us a hard time, so much so that it even brought you here! Josh, out of all of the days of EVER, it decides to throw you here when the people who are trying to find out about Wonwoo come to town!” He was clearly furious just at the idea of it all. “This is insane!”

Now understanding the severity of the circumstances, Joshua went over to control the hysterical Minghao. “Okay! Okay!” he said calmingly, placing his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “I get it! So they’re here?!”

“Yes!”

“And you’re for sure it’s them?”

Minghao nodded his head rapidly. “Their names are Kwon Soonyoung and Lee Jihoon. They’re reporters. They’re from Korea. Jihoon has pink hair.” Sliding out of Joshua’s grip, he went over to the picture in the living room above the couch. Pointing to the boy in it, he told him, “They knew this was Wonwoo.” With a huge sigh, he looked at Joshua in defeat and dropped his arm. “It’s them, dude.”

The fear and panic that Minghao was feeling was finally getting to Joshua. Sweat started to build under his skin before it came crawling to the surface. “Oh my god,” he said in a breath.

With another sigh, Minghao slumped his shoulders and fell into the couch. “Yeah.”

Joshua took off his belongings, resting them against the kitchen counter. Covering his mouth with his hand, he walked towards the couch and stared at the picture of their friend. “Why didn’t you tell any of us they were here?”

Minghao rubbed his face. “I didn’t want to worry Wonwoo. It wasn’t gonna help him to know that they were here,” he explained. “They got here yesterday morning. I’m lucky they already had plans for dinner, otherwise they might’ve noticed I couldn’t be there.”

“They even recognized Wonwoo in the picture?”

Minghao nodded. “It’s terrible. I told him his name was Hong though.”

“Did they buy it?”

Groaning and falling over his knees, Minghao answered, “I really don’t know. Jihoon seems more suspicious.”

“God,” Joshua grumbled. Standing back up and pacing around the room, he gripped his hair out of his face. “How the hell did this happen?”

“I have no idea.”

Utterly worried and defeated, the two of them felt like they’d been backed into a corner. What could they do?

“What can we do?” Joshua asked as he stood before him.

Minghao loosened his arms and tried to relax. “Well, we definitely can’t hang out with them today,” he said. “Not just them, but Junhui’s gonna notice if you just disappear tomorrow.”

Nodding in agreement, Joshua put his hands on his hips as he kept walking in circles. “Right, right.” Thinking it over, he asked, “When do they leave?”

“Tomorrow afternoon,” he replied. “They’re not here for that long, but I’m already scared they know too much.”

“Yeah, no I get you,” Joshua reassured him of his paranoia. “They’re terrible. So we’ll just hide out here all day?”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Minghao affirmed. “I was supposed to have lunch with them later, but I’ll cancel. Say my mom needs me or something.”

“Good idea.”

Minghao was about to say more when…

Knock. Knock.

He stood up and went to answer it. “Speaking of my mom.” Without a second thought, he opened the door so she could come in. His eyes wide, a cold sweat broke out as he realized he should’ve given it a second thought.

“JUNHUI! SOONYOUNG!”

Joshua was frozen in the center of the room as these two smiling people entered. “Hey!” Junhui said with a grin, not noticing Joshua at first. He was just looking at Minghao.

“Hey guys!” Minghao exclaimed out of panic. “Wah—What’re you doing here? We were gonna meet later.”

“Yeah, but Jihoon and I finished early so we decided maybe we could hang out now,” Soonyoung explained. “Sorry for just stopping by like this.”

“Uhhhhh.” Minghao could hardly handle himself. “No! It’s fine!” he frantically said, trying to play it cool.

But Joshua could tell it was not working, not that he was doing any better. Joshua was just thanking the lord that he hadn’t been acknowledged yet. Maybe they won’t even see that I’m here, he unrealistically hoped.

But that was shattered instantly. Junhui turned his head and was startled to see him standing there. “Oh! Minghao, why didn’t you say you had guests over?”

Soonyoung and Minghao directed their attention to the boy who had no reason to be in the room. Unable to think clearly, Minghao spit out, “Uhh, sorry! I—um—this—”

But Joshua came to his rescue. Leaning forward with an incredibly polite smile, he reached out to shake Junhui’s hand. “Hi,” he said in English. “I’m Joshua. I—I’m visiting my aunt and I’m lost,” he stammered. It wasn’t the best excuse, but it’s what he could come up with. And for some reason he decided to speak in English, even though his Mandarin was quite impressive. Obviously, his Korean was even better.

Junhui smiled back and shook his hand. His English wasn’t very good, so he looked to his friend. “What did he just say?”

Minghao looked back and forth between the two of them. “Umm, he’s lost,” he explained, trying to stick to this new story. “Yeah, his aunt gave him the building number…but the wrong apartment number and he came here. He’s from America.”

“Ahh, I see,” Junhui agreed with a smile. In his not-so-great English, he politely replied, “Nice to meet you.”

Joshua nodded and acknowledged Soonyoung, who did the same. “Nice to meet you, too,” Soonyoung said, interested in meeting someone from even further away than he was.

Joshua tried to pull of a small smile, but it was hard with all the history behind this person he held for just a brief moment. Minghao, keeping as calm as he possibly could, continued, “Yeah, all his stuff is here so we’re just gonna wait for his aunt.”

Junhui and Soonyoung looked at the backpack and guitar resting along the kitchen island. “Cool, we can just wait with you guys,” Junhui said.

Not saying anything, Joshua felt his heart stop. Minghao choked. “What? Why?”

“We’ll wait with you and then we can hang out,” Soonyoung said.

“What about Jihoon?”

“He’s taking a nap at the hotel right now,” Soonyoung explained. “He’s always tired.”

Trying very hard to keep it under control, Minghao sighed. “Oh, ummm, actually...I can’t hang out today,” Minghao lied, rubbing the back of his neck with his sweaty hand.

Shocked and disappointed, Junhui reacted, “Aww! Why not?”

“My mom...needs me today,” he explained. “I’m sorry guys. I’ll hang out before you go tomorrow, though. I promise.”

Junhui sighed and accepted defeat, trusting his friend to prioritize whatever it was that he needed to bail for. Soonyoung, on the other hand, couldn’t breathe all too well. He was starting to feel what Jihoon described before.

“He’s hiding something. And I bet it has to do with Wonwoo.”

“He’s gonna try and avoid us, I’m telling you.”

“Minghao’s not gonna hang out with us today, I can just feel it.”

Damn, Jihoon was right.

If he was right about this, what else was he right about? Standing there, Soonyoung was starting to believe what his story-hungry partner was trying to tell him.

“Okay then,” Junhui softly said, starting to lead him and Soonyoung back out the door. “I hope everything’s okay.”

“I’ll see you guys later,” Minghao replied, still feeling bad for having to do this to his best friend.

“Bye guys,” Junhui said to the two remaining in the apartment.

“Bye,” they both responded.

Soonyoung weakly waved and smiled as the door shut behind them. He became tense all of a sudden as they walked towards the elevator.

With another sigh, Junhui tossed his arm over his friend’s shoulder. “Well, I guess it’s just the three of us.”

“Yeah,” Soonyoung replied, so many things racing through his head. “I guess so.”

On the other side of the door, Minghao collapsed against it, sliding to sit on the ground. “This is a mess.”

Joshua came over and joined him. Gripping his hair to reveal his sweating forehead, he sighed. “Now what do we do?”

Minghao closed his eyes and smooshed his fists into his cheeks, squishing his lips so his words barely made sense. Still, Joshua knew what their only option was. “Beg the universe for a miracle.”

— — —

“So Seungkwan works at the bakery with Seokmin now?”

Mingyu nodded and let Berry jump off his lap. He preferred the hard railing of the balcony than the soft surface of Mingyu. “Yeah, he got a job there the other day.”

“Wah,” Wonwoo said in disbelief, petting their grey friend as he sat beside the only other human out there. “That should be a lot of fun.”

“I think they’ll get along,” Mingyu laughed.

Wonwoo smiled. “I’m sure they will. But that place is gonna get freakin’ loud.”

Mingyu gently smiled back. The two of them were enjoying the afternoon on Mingyu’s balcony with some snacks and their good friends, all of whom were still clean and happily living indoors. Mr. No Name in particular was having a great time being coddled by Wonwoo. The others were roaming all around and soaking up the fresh air. From anyone’s outside perspective, it would’ve looked like they were having the perfect day.

But Mingyu was feeling a little less than perfect at the moment. He was being helplessly bombarded with all sorts of concerns. How he and Wonwoo left off yesterday was still bothering him. What he and Chan talked about was definitely still on his mind. It never left his mind, actually.

But Wonwoo came over and acted as if it were just like any other day. So Mingyu did the same. They’d been sitting outside for hours, just talking and enjoying each other’s company. It was all too nice. It was close to perfect.

Mingyu glanced over at Wonwoo, who wasn’t paying attention. He seemed to be staring off into space. With all that was happening with them, he was curious to know…

“What’s on your mind?”

Wonwoo turned to face the asker. Letting some air out of his nose, he tilted his head and grinned. “You.”

In that very moment, Mingyu gave him his signature glare. Standing up, he pointed to the balcony door. “Get out.”

With his normal, playful laugh, Wonwoo pulled Mingyu’s wrist down and held onto it. “I’m just messing.” Staring up at the boy, he answered, “I’m wondering where Joshua is right now. Haven’t heard from him yet, so it’s always a guessing game.”

Mingyu rolled his eyes and sat back down. “That’s all you’re thinking about?”

“Well, the mind wanders,” Wonwoo replied. “I can’t really control it. I’m also thinking about how Jeonghan’s doing.”

“The friend you shipped over to Joshua?”

Nodding, Wonwoo reached over for the bag of chips. “Yeah, I want to know how he’s doing. I’ll probably text him later.”

Mingyu pursed his lips and leaned back in his chair. “Anything else?”

“Mmmm.” Wonwoo ventured his own brain for a second. “I’m wondering where Jihoon and Soonyoung are.”

Surprised, Mingyu stared at him. “What the hell? Why?”

Wonwoo shrugged. “Like I said, I don’t know where my mind goes. I haven’t seen them in a few days. I wonder if they’re up to something.”

“That must be annoying to have to think about.”

“Yeah, it is,” he sighed. He smiled though and told Mingyu, “But you help distract from them.”

Mingyu got the chills and couldn’t decide whether or not it would be a good idea to get annoyed again. He looked over at Wonwoo and was about to say something when their eyes met. And for some reason that froze him.

All of a sudden, Mingyu got washed away in his own thoughts.

That’s what’s on his mind.

You aren’t concerning him.

You don’t need to bring up what happened yesterday.

You don’t need to talk every little thing to death.

Maybe we can just forget it even happened.

We’ll...ignore it for today.

Move on.

He’s not thinking about…

...what’s holding me back.

So why am I thinking about it?

Why am I thinking about him being so sad?

Why do I want to ask him why he was so sad?

Why do I want to ruin this completely non-cringeworthy day with asking him why he was so sad?

We’ll talk another time.

I don’t want to ruin this.

He may leave me if I do.

But while Mingyu contemplated whether or not Wonwoo’s thinkings validated if they should talk about their problems, Wonwoo was actually worrying about some things he graciously left out.

I don’t think I can do this.

He is just too much for me to not tell him I love him.

He just needs to see that I love him.

Maybe that’s what’s holding him back.

He doesn’t fully believe me when I say I love him.

I was too upset yesterday to really show him I’m being honest.

Actually…

Does he even know I was upset yesterday?

He hasn’t asked about it so…

...maybe he didn’t notice?

Or he just doesn’t care.

Forget it, Wonwoo. You need to stop.

We’ll talk another time.

I need to not ruin this day with...whatever’s going on inside of me.

I can’t let him know I was so sad.

He may never stay with me if I do.

While their thoughts raced on and they both simultaneously decided to relinquish what was so tightly wound underneath, Mingyu blinked a few times and looked away. Clearing his throat, he replied, “I’m glad I can help distract you.”

That was a weirdly pleasant thing for Wonwoo to hear. “Yeah,” he said through his breath. “You do a really good job.”

There was another fit of silence as they fell into their thoughts. Finally, Wonwoo caught himself and stood up. “Do you have any speakers?”

Shaken back, Mingyu replied, “Uhh, no. But Seungcheol has some. I can just borrow them.”

“Yeah, could you?” Wonwoo smiled and pulled out his phone. “I wanna play some music.”

Mingyu’s heart picked up for a second. It was oddly nice to have Wonwoo share his music again. It felt like it had been a while since he did. He smiled and quickly went inside to get Seungcheol’s speakers. He came back out and handed them to Wonwoo. “What song are you gonna play?” he asked.

Hooking up to the bluetooth, he couldn’t decide. “We’ll just shuffle.” He glanced up and grinned at Mingyu. “I’m feeling lucky today.”

Mingyu sat back down and watched Wonwoo put his phone and the speakers on the little table outside. A pretty, piano melody started playing followed by a strong build up. The voice that followed was even more beautiful than the instrumentals.

Oneurui majimak…i gire seo itda…

…maeireun iroghe ooh…

Really moved from the get-go, Mingyu asked, “This is really good. What song is this?”

...deuneolpeun sesangen...nan meonjimando mothan geol jal algo itjiman…

Wonwoo grinned back and sat down, pleased with his best friend’s reaction. “Simple,” he answered. “By SEVENTEEN.”

“Ahh, no wonder I like it.”

Chuckling, Wonwoo nodded. “It’s a Woozi solo.”

...chulgu eopsneun miroindeunthan...

“He’s the vocal team leader, right?” Mingyu asked for clarification. “The one who writes all their songs?”

Glad that he remembered the facts he randomly told him, Wonwoo replied, “Yeah, that’s him.”

...sesang…

Mingyu felt his body relax as his eyes fell shut. The song was so captivating.

And Wonwoo was being captured too. They sat and just listened before one of them said something else.

“Do you think he’s right?”

Wonwoo turned to face Mingyu, who was curiously staring back. “What do you mean?”

“Woozi,” Mingyu said. He sighed and relaxed his shoulders. The lyrics got him thinking about questions he definitely didn’t have answers for. But maybe Wonwoo did. “Do you think he’s right when he says ‘I want it simple?’ That...love and happiness should be...simple?”

Wonwoo didn’t have an answer right away.

...I call you baby yeah…

...baby’s called my happiness yeah…

...yeah I just want it simple, simple…

“I want it simple,” Wonwoo said, more to himself than to Mingyu. Hearing himself say that phrase made him laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Mingyu asked.

Smiling, he said, “I think he’s right. I want it simple, too.” Meeting Mingyu’s gaze, he continued, “But I think he knows that it’s not supposed to be.”

Reminded of their own complicated story, Mingyu wanted to know more. “What do you mean?”

Wonwoo sighed and turned to look up at the clear sky. There wasn’t a cloud in sight. There was a cat, however, in his peripheral trying to get his attention. He carefully picked up the one with no name and sat with him. “I don’t think anything we go through is meant to be simple. It’s all a mess and complicated. It’s…” He paused to just the cat’s head. “...just what the universe wants. And that’s never simple.”

Mingyu nodded and kept listening to the music. But in the midst of the second verse, Wonwoo added, “But I don’t think that means it’ll never be simple, or that some things aren’t simple already.”

Mingyu waited for what else his friend was going to say. He was waiting for the elaboration, the explanation. But it never came. Wonwoo decided to leave it at just that.

Things are definitely...not simple right now, Mingyu thought, knowing that everything that was bottled up and unsaid would eventually get said. His worries would surface and he would risk losing his best friend.

...I want it simple…

But that doesn’t mean some things aren’t simple already.

Taking in a deep breath, he looked over at the deflated Wonwoo, the same Wonwoo who was obviously not as head-over-heels these days but more crushed-and-defeated. He may have acted as if everything was the same, but Mingyu could just tell. Still…

I want it simple, too.

“You’ve never really talked about Melbourne.”

Wonwoo twisted around, a little surprised. “What?”

Mingyu grinned softly at him, putting everything between them somewhere else for now. “You jumped there last night, right? Well, in the span that I’ve known you, you’ve jumped there twice.” Shrugging a bit, he playfully said, “Looks like the universe really wants you to be there.”

All the strain on Wonwoo’s heart seemed to loosen with Mingyu’s help. “I guess.”

Reaching into his pocket, Mingyu added, “And…” Pulling out his set of keys, he showed off the one souvenir he’d ever received from the person who loved him almost too much. The koala on the side was just as cute as the boy holding onto him. “...I think about Melbourne a lot thanks to you. Yet I still know nothing about the city.”

“What do you want to know?” Wonwoo asked, leaning back in his chair and getting comfortable.

Mingyu did the same. Helping Boba sit on his lap, he replied, “Everything.”

And just like that, they felt like themselves again. Wonwoo didn’t even realize what Mingyu had done until they’d been talking nonstop for half an hour. He brought them back to what made them who they were. He reminded both of them of what made them click. All that other, painful stuff could be dealt with later. It wasn’t about them right now. In that moment, in that point in time…

Wonwoo knew it before it even popped into his head.

He made it simple.

— — —

5:05pm.

“Pizza should be here soon.”

“Thank god,” Minghao groaned from the empty kitchen counter. He and Joshua hadn’t had a proper meal all day. The only thing they ate was the fruit his mom eventually came home with.

“Being on house arrest ,” Joshua complained. Sitting next to his friend, the two of them had been spinning pennies to see which one of theirs would last the longest. Minghao was up 9 to 5. Joshua flicked another one to get it going.

Minghao spun his at the same time. “Yeah, this . Stupid Soonyoung and Jihoon.”

“So stupid.”

As they watched the American currency rotate over and over again, their boredom was interrupted by what they’d been waiting for.

Knock. Knock.

Startled, Joshua slammed the countertop, accidentally forcing his coin to come to a halt. “Damnit!”

Minghao laughed and stood up. “10 to 5.”

Grunting, Joshua got up as well. “I’m switching pennies.”

Enjoying his win, he waved his friend off. “Go wait in my room.”

“I know the drill,” Joshua said as he headed for Minghao’s room. Hiding away in the apartment still meant that Joshua had to be out of sight if anyone came to the door. It was just safer that way while random bad guys could show up.

Minghao waited until his friend was out of sight to open the front door for the pizza guy. But he should’ve known better by now. It wasn’t the pizza guy.

“TADA!” Chan exclaimed as he jumped into the apartment, his backpack properly strapped to his back. With a big ol’ smile and his arms spread out, he announced, in Korean, “Lee Chan has arrived!”

In complete and utter disbelief, Minghao didn’t even think to close the door yet. He just stood there, staring with his left eye twitching. After a few seconds, he tilted his head back, rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, and yelled, “I asked for a MIRACLE! NOT CHAN!”

Chan laughed and walked into the living room. “Good to see you too, hyung!”

His face in his hand, Minghao shut the door and slumped against it. “Oh my god.”

“I know. I was pretty shocked too,” Chan said, his face just glowing. “You were just with us! If only Wonwoo was here.”

Before Minghao could even express more of his insane level of done-ness, Joshua made his way out. In just as much defeat, he slowly said, “No freakin way.”

Chan’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “JOSHUA! YOU’RE HERE TOO?!” he shrieked with glee.

But the other two were just dead. “I cannot…,” Minghao said under his breath as he walked to the couch. “I—seriously…”

Joshua scratched his head and tried to figure out what this meant for all of them. He was too filled with fear and discomfort that he forgot to really welcome Chan with open arms.

“Guys!” Chan said over their silence. “This is crazy! Almost all of us are here!”

“We better hope that Wonwoo isn’t here,” Minghao said, hunched over his knees.

Confused, Chan was finally starting to see the less-than-enthusiastic atmosphere around him. “What? What do you mean?”

“Chan, Wonwoo cannot be here with us right now,” Joshua said. He stepped over and gripped the younger boy’s shoulder. With a weak smile, Joshua felt like they lost a battle they hadn’t even fought yet. “But it is good to see you, buddy.”

Chan smiled back at him, but was starting to get concerned. Eyebrows crinkled, his expression fell. “What’s wrong with you guys?” He looked back and forth between their distraught faces. Something was clearly not okay. “What’s going on?”

It didn’t take too long for Minghao and Joshua to fully explain how awful the situation really was. They hit all the bullet points:

• Jihoon and Soonyoung were there

• Soonyoung was friends with Junhui

• They recognized Wonwoo right away

• Minghao told him his name was Hong Wonwoo

• Jihoon was getting suspicious

• Soonyoung saw Joshua that day

• They were learning things too fast

• Wonwoo didn’t know any of this

• Joshua and Minghao had to stay in the apartment

• It was bad

Chan’s jaw would not snap shut. After they were done explaining, Minghao waved his hand in front of the boy’s blank stare. “Chan,” he said. “Are you with us, Chan?”

“I think we killed him,” Joshua said. He was sitting criss cross on the ground in front of him. “It was too much for him to take.”

Minghao sighed and joined him on the floor. They stared up at Chan on the couch and just waited for his response. It was understandable that he wasn’t fully there yet.

After a minute, Minghao leaned over to Joshua. “Do you think he even heard us?” Minghao whispered. “He started looking like that after we mentioned Jihoon was suspicious.”

“Chan’s a smart boy,” Joshua whispered back. “I’m sure he’s there.”

A few more minutes passed by. None of them could think about the situation properly. It was too scary. Minghao was worried the pizza guy would come before Chan came too. Joshua was thinking about how his pennies kept falling. Chan couldn’t think of anything.

Finally, he let out a longer breath. His friends flinched and stared at him. Focusing his gaze, he looked at them both. He was in so much shock; the panic wouldn’t come until later. Feeling his chest sink further, he said, “This is really bad.”

Joshua and Minghao let out huge sighs of relief. It must’ve been the insane level of ridiculousness at this point, but Minghao laughed. “Yeah. It is.”

— — —

“I don’t think I’ve walked that much in my life,” Soonyoung announced as he collapsed into the booth.

Jihoon smacked his so he’d make room. “Thanks for taking us everywhere, Junhui,” he said with a smile. “Honestly, I never thought I’d get to see so much of Shanghai.”

Junhui laughed and sat across from them as the host put their menus down. “You guys only had today left! We needed to see as much as possible. Who knows when you’ll be back.”

“Hopefully soon,” Soonyoung remarked, sitting up straight. “Or you can come to Korea.”

“You know I really want to. It’s just never happened yet.”

They started scanning over what to eat when Jihoon casually asked, “Has Minghao ever been to Korea?”

Soonyoung quickly jabbed him in the ribs, causing Jihoon to collapse a bit. Even though he realized his friend was probably right, he asked Jihoon to keep it away from Junhui if he could. He didn’t want to spoil their time together. But Jihoon had a lead. He was following it to the grave.

Luckily, Junhui didn’t think it was a strange question. “He’s been a few times actually. I don’t think he’s been back in a while though.”

“Yeah, both of you should come visit,” Soonyoung said. “We’ll show you all over Seoul.”

Nodding, Junhui chuckled, “Maybe we’ll even get to meet up with Minghao’s cousin.”

Jihoon and Soonyoung laughed with him. “That’d be cool,” Jihoon commented. Still keeping his promise to his friend, Jihoon wanted to fish out as much information as he could.

“Sorry Minghao couldn’t be with us today,” Junhui said sympathetically. “He’ll be there before you guys leave though.”

“Yeah, it would’ve been so much fun if he could’ve been with us,” Soonyoung said back.

Junhui smiled. “He’s always loved the touristy stuff. This would’ve been right up his alley.”

“Why doesn’t he join us for dinner?” Jihoon asked. “Is he still busy?”

Shaking his head, Junhui explained, “No, I’m sure he’s done with whatever it was. Still though, he wouldn’t have been able to go out with us.” Not thinking anything of it, he checked his watch. “Yeah, it’s 7. He can’t come.”

Jihoon and Soonyoung paused. They stole quick glances at each other. The same thing was running through their heads. “What do you mean?” Soonyoung asked, not sure if he heard that right. It seemed too good to be true.

Flipping through the pages, Junhui had never been to this restaurant before. He was focused on picking something that seemed really good. “Minghao doesn’t go out after 6 o’clock.”

Now it was Jihoon’s turn to elbow the other boy. The wind knocked out of him for a moment, Soonyoung didn’t know how to react. Jesus ing christ, was all that ran through his head.

But Jihoon’s mind was going a hundred miles an hour. Every possible scenario or explanation was flashing before his eyes, but he needed to narrow it as much as possible. He couldn’t get ahead of himself. This was good. He couldn’t mess it up. “He can’t go out?”

Junhui wasn’t looking up, so he didn’t notice anything different about his guests’ behavior. “The dumplings actually sound really good right now,” he said, not fully in the conversation.

The other two were the complete opposite. “Jun,” Soonyoung said, trying to get him to focus.

He flicked his head up and met his gaze. “Yeah?”

“Minghao can’t go out at this time?”

Looking between the two of them, Junhui noticed a difference in their stares, though he didn’t think much of it. “He doesn’t go out in the evening.”

“Do you know why?” Jihoon asked, trying his hardest not to just pounce on this boy with inquiries.

Thankfully for them, Junhui was the easiest person to interview. He trusted them. “It’s cause of his dad,” he said lowly. “He passed away a while ago and it was in some pretty bad circumstances. He stays in after 6 mostly cause of what happened to his dad. He just doesn’t feel comfortable seeing anybody after that time.”

Slowly nodding along, Jihoon wrote that all down in his mental notepad. Soonyoung saved mental snapshots of what was happening before them. They needed to remember this.

As overwhelmed with new evidence as they were, they were smart enough to control themselves. Soonyoung reflected Junhui’s more somber tone. “I’m really sorry to hear that. It must’ve been hard on him.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t talk about it too much,” Junhui explained. Going back to the menu, he asked them, “Do you guys know what you want yet?”

Soonyoung was getting nervous with everything they were learning. He didn’t know what their next move would be.

But Jihoon was already ahead of him. A pleased smile sneaking out of his lips, he replied, “Yeah, I know exactly what I want.”

— — —

“So you think Wonwoo would freak out if he heard?”

Laying on Minghao’s bed, Chan tossed the ball up and caught it over and over again. Joshua was sitting just beside him, strumming his guitar. Minghao jumped already and the two only had another hour left with each other until Joshua jumped home.

Joshua answered him, “I don’t know how he would react, honestly.”

“You should tell him,” Chan advised, gradually throwing the ball higher and higher. “I bet he’d be happy for you.”

Breathing out of his nose, Joshua could imagine that being right, but he wasn’t one hundred percent. “It’s Jeonghan, Chan. He’s Wonwoo’s closest friend even before he met us. I don’t wanna tell him about my feelings and then screw it up. Wonwoo definitely wouldn’t be happy about that.”

“Who says you’re gonna screw it up?” Chan laughed.

Joshua scoffed and reached over to catch the ball before he could.

“Hey!”

Joshua lowered his head and looked his friend in the eyes. “I don’t wanna screw it up. So I gotta make sure I don’t before Wonwoo sees that I do.”

Chan reached out and got his toy back. “You won’t, hyung. I’ve met Jeonghan. He’s a good person. And so are you. You should tell Wonwoo.”

“Wonwoo’s got his own love problems to deal with,” Joshua commented.

“Tell me about it. If anything, Wonwoo feels like he’s screwed up real bad.”

“Has he?”

Chan sighed. “I don’t know. I mean, Mingyu’s still with him all the time, but I’m worried that’s gonna change cause of...the universe.”

Joshua opened his mouth and was about to ask more when…

Knock. Knock.

The two of them froze. No one was supposed to come by. Eyes wide, they both stared at each other. Waiting, they hoped it was just in their imagination.

Knock. Knock.

Chan clutched Joshua’s arm. His heart was racing. “Hyung, what do we do?” he whispered.

Just as scared, Joshua tried to give his younger friend some reassurance. “Let’s just see who it is. I’m sure it’s just a neighbor who needs something.”

Chan agreed. The two of them timidly got up and headed for the living room. With Chan right behind him, Joshua cautiously went for the peephole. Unlike Minghao all day, he knew the best option was to check it. Right when he saw who was on the other side, his breath caught in his throat and he jumped back, pulling Chan away with him.

“What?!” Chan frantically whispered, sweat already starting to form on his face. “Who was it?!”

“Shhh!” Joshua shushed him, trying his hardest not to die from a panic attack.

“Who was it?!”

Joshua just stared at the door for a moment. He’d only seen one of them before, but all of his friends were right. The pink hair was very distinctive.

“It’s Soonyoung and Jihoon.”

Chan thought he was going to pass out. He gasped, but Joshua quickly covered his mouth before he could be heard. Chan struggled just because he was freaking out too hard.

It would’ve been so much easier if one of them could just open the door. But Soonyoung already knew Joshua as someone else from earlier that day, and both of them had already seen Chan with Wonwoo in Korea. It was all a mess.

Holding the boy’s head between his arms, Joshua whispered, “We have to stay quiet! No one’s gonna answer the door and they’ll leave!”

Nearly hyperventilating, Chan held onto his friend tightly. Nodding rapidly, he tried to take deep breaths. The two of them stood there together, scared out of their wits. All they could do was wait.

“Knock one more time,” Soonyoung insisted on the other side of the door.

Jihoon obliged.

Knock. Knock.

The two of them waited, nervous out of their wits. Jihoon was doing a better job at keeping his cool though. After a minute, there was still no answer.

“No one’s home,” Jihoon concluded.

Soonyoung knew his heart rate was going up. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

“Did you hear what I just said?” Jihoon whispered excitedly. “No one’s home! That means…”

“Minghao’s not home,” Soonyoung concluded. It was hard for him to wrap his head around, so he just shook his head. “No, Jun says he doesn’t see people after 6. Maybe he’s sleeping or something.”

“Why do I have such a hard time believing that?” Jihoon replied, resting his ear against the door. He couldn’t hear anything. “I think it’s clear.”

“I cannot believe we’re doing this.”

Jihoon looked over at him as he bent down. Squatting right in front of the doorknob, he reached into his back pocket for what he bought on the way over. A lockpick. “You wanna stop now?”

Soonyoung had thought about it even when they were agreeing to this plan. He knew Jihoon was right. They had to find out as much as they could while they were still in Shanghai. “No, we have to do this.”

“They’re hiding something,” Jihoon said as he inserted the pick. “We just have to figure out what.”

“We’re criminals,” Soonyoung said, some shame in the back of his throat.

“We’re reporters,” Jihoon corrected him, jiggling the lock. “We’re just doing what we vowed to do: uncover the truth.”

As wrong as it felt to go behind his friend’s best friend’s back, he was on Jihoon’s side in this. He had to remember that they weren’t the bad guys. They were just doing their job. “Right.”

On the other side, Chan and Joshua could hear the rattling. Freaking out even more, Chan started smacking Joshua’s chest. “They’re breaking in!”

Grabbing his own head, Joshua looked all around the room. He wanted to pull out his hair, but there was no time for that. “We have to hide!”

Now when you walked into Minghao’s apartment from the front door, you entered into the center of the whole place. To your slight left was the kitchen and right in front of you was the whole living room. If you went further left, you’d get to Minghao’s bedroom. His bathroom was directly across the hall. If you went right when you first walked in, you’d get to the hallway with Minghao’s mom’s room and bathroom.

Instinctively, Chan and Joshua made a mad dash for Minghao’s room. Shutting the door behind them, they didn’t know what to do. “Oh my god, Joshua!” Chan shrieked while keeping it down.

They were both panicking pretty hard now. “I know!”

“They’re coming in here!”

“I know!”

Chan was pacing back and forth. “What do we do?”

Joshua was right up against the door. He was trying to listen to see if they’d broken in. “I don’t know.”

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.”

“I cannot believe this is happening.”

“We’re so dead. We’re so dead.”

“They’re not gonna kill us, Chan!”

“Yeah, but they’ll be that much closer to finding out what happens to us!” Chan whispered in his hysteria. He was talking at 100 miles per hour. “Then they’ll report about us! Then some government-science department’s gonna find us and take us! Then they’re gonna experiment on us! AND THEN WE’LL BE DEAD!”

Joshua was feeling the sheer terror just as much as Chan, but he needed to stay calm to hear them. The clanging of the light metals seemed to echo throughout the apartment. Please god, do not let them in, Joshua prayed. Jesus ing christ do not let them into this apartment. He was speaking to the universe and whatever other godly being was out there. He needed all the help they could get.

He listened and listened until finally the clattering stopped. He couldn’t breathe.

Jihoon slowly creaked the door open and scanned the empty living room. He found that the kitchen was empty too. “Looks like the coast is clear,” he told Soonyoung.

But Joshua heard it too. It felt like he was going to faint. Sweat was getting in his eyes, but he turned to look at Chan. “They’re in,” he said, his voice like that of a doctor telling a patient’s family that they didn’t make it.

This time Chan covered his own mouth. The air from his nose kept hitting his hand. He couldn’t say it, but Joshua knew what he was thinking. We’re so dead.

Joshua closed his eyes and tried not to think of the worst case scenario. He and Chan needed to stay hidden. No matter what happened, no matter what those two found, they could not find him and Chan. Which meant they were in the worst place possible. Without a doubt, they would check Minghao’s bedroom. Thinking of them standing in the living room, Joshua begged the universe for something else. Please go right. Please go right. Please go right.

Soonyoung closed the door behind them. “I swear to god if someone’s home…”

“Stop,” Jihoon said, also very nervous. He was a lot of talk most of the times. They’d never actually gone this far when it came to a scoop. But simultaneously, they’d never had anything this big. “Nobody’s home. We’re fine.”

“Okay,” Soonyoung said through a huge breath. He looked all around them. Scanning around, his eyes caught sight of that photo again. Walking up close to it, Soonyoung was almost shocked by how he could’ve believed anyone who said that wasn’t the right Wonwoo. “That’s definitely him.”

Jihoon looked from over his shoulder. “We have to find anything we can that links Minghao to Wonwoo.”

Soonyoung nodded. He left his professional camera at the hotel, but he took out his phone to get a shot of Jeon Wonwoo in Tianzifang. “They’re seriously hiding something.”

“Search the place,” Jihoon said, already starting. Looking under the couch, he didn’t find anything. He quickly made his way to the kitchen.

“What if someone comes home?”

“Then search fast.”

Soonyoung went to help his friend. They opened all the cabinets and drawers, looking for anything obvious.

From the bedroom, Joshua and Chan could hear the doors banging. Neither of them had ever been so afraid in their lives. “Hyung,” Chan said, his throat drowning in worry.

Joshua tried to comfort him, but that was hard to do when he was just as terrified. Every cabinet shutting sounded like a gunshot. “I cannot believe this is happening.”

After checking the area under the sink, Soonyoung stood up. “Nothing here.”

Jihoon agreed. His arms spread out across the counter, he looked out at the living room.

Soonyoung saw his focus. He was too nervous to continue on his own. “Where next?”

Taking some deep breaths, Jihoon looked back and forth from the two hallways. He could see two shut doors. Left? Or right? Normally he would just follow his gut, but something was blocking his instincts. Not having a solid feeling about either, he just spit one out.

“Right.”

Nodding, Soonyoung led the way. The two of them walked down the hall and went into Minghao’s mom’s room.

Joshua’s body bent over as he let out a huge sigh of relief, but he knew it was only momentary. They had to act.

“Come on, Chan,” he whispered.

But Chan had no idea what he meant. “What?! We can’t go out there!”

Joshua reached over and grabbed the boy’s wrist. “Well, we sure as hell can’t stay in here! They’re gonna figure out this is Minghao’s room and search the whole ing place!”

Chan was about to argue some more. “Hyu—”

But it was too late. Joshua had already opened the door.

Chan thought he was going to explode, but he let himself be dragged out of their sanctuary and into the hallway. Neither of them could say anything now, but Chan had to just trust that Joshua knew what he was doing. Shutting the door behind them, Joshua immediately ran into the bathroom just across.

Unfortunately for them, that door was left open, which meant Soonyoung and Jihoon had already seen it open, which meant…

“We can’t close the door,” Joshua whispered as quietly as physically possible to Chan.

Chan knew his friend was right. They couldn’t turn on the lights either. The bathroom was small, so they didn’t have many options when it came to hiding spots. It seemed like they’d been put into an even worse situation than before.

Stopping to listen for anything else, Joshua kept pulling Chan once it was clear. Both of them stepping into the bathtub, they pressed their bodies against the back wall. The only thing shielding them was the shower curtain.

Completely silent, they were both scared to move. Their arms were cold against the tile. Joshua’s socks were getting wet since the floor was still damp. But they couldn’t pay attention to that. They had to stay hidden.

“Hyung.”

Joshua was startled, but glanced over at him. The light from the hallway was enough so they could see each other. He looked at Chan and somehow managed to smile. This was by far the worst situation he had gotten himself into on one of his jumps, but at least he wasn’t alone.

Chan grinned back. Still nervous, he said, “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“I know,” Joshua sighed.

“They’re literally right here.”

“I know.”

“It’s a freakin mouse chase.”

Joshua even chuckled. Shaking his head and staring down at his chest, he knew he was in shock. “I know.”

Just as their nerves were starting to ease up, they heard footsteps.

“So that was his mom’s room,” Soonyoung declared.

“We don’t need to check there,” Jihoon said. “We just need Minghao’s.”

Soonyoung cocked his head towards the other hallway and started making his way over. Jihoon swiftly followed. Taking in his surroundings, he wanted to make sure they weren’t missing anything. Opening the bedroom door, Soonyoung went in first. Lagging behind, Jihoon looked the other way and saw the open bathroom. It felt like his gut instinct was coming back. Something was telling him to check there.

Feeling someone get closer, Chan reached for Joshua’s hand. Clutching the other, neither of them were ready to be found.

But just as Jihoon was about to turn on the lights…

“JIHOON!”

Jihoon jumped and turned around. “Yeah!” he shouted back as he came into Minghao’s room.

Chan and Joshua wanted to let out their held breaths, but they couldn’t risk being heard.

“Jihoon, look at this,” the Jumpers heard Soonyoung say.

“What?” Jihoon replied. “What is that?” All Jihoon could see was Soonyoung holding up a guitar. “Is that Minghao’s guitar?”

“No,” Soonyoung answered, inspecting the outside. “I saw it earlier today when I stopped by with Junhui. It belongs to some American who was lost in the building.”

Joshua’s eyes grew wide and he squeezed Chan’s hand even tighter. . . . He’d forgotten all about his stuff.

“So?”

“So,” Soonyoung started to explain, “what’s it still doing here? Minghao supposedly didn’t know the guy and was just helping him out.”

Jihoon was starting to understand. “What time did you come here?”

“Around 9, I think.”

He made a note of that. Jihoon started going over the rest of the room as Soonyoung continued to carefully looked at the guitar. Once he finally got to the strap, he read something. Not able to believe his eyes, he shouted again, “JIHOON!”

Easily startled in the moment, Jihoon clutched his heart. “Dude, you gotta stop doing that!”

Soonyoung waited for him to come back over. “Sorry, but look.” Putting the guitar strap into his view, Jihoon read the words engraved on the back. Like his friend, he couldn’t believe it. He read it outloud.

“Hong Joshua.”

Still frozen just across the hall, Chan and Joshua felt like they were being strangled. It was all too awful.

“That is definitely not Hong Wonwoo out there,” Soonyoung said.

“But I guess there is a Hong in the bunch,” Jihoon added.

Soonyoung nodded. “So we have Wonwoo, Minghao, and this Joshua person all linked together.”

“Korean, Chinese, and American.”

“Why would Minghao lie about them?” Soonyoung tried to figure out. “That’s twice he lied about these exact people.”

“It’s because he’s hiding something too,” Jihoon proposed. He kept turning over the strap. He felt like he was holding the key to their mystery. “They all have something in common.”

“We just have to figure out what.” He took another picture with his phone.

The two of them continued to search the rest of the room as Joshua was thinking about how horrible this was. They ing found my name. My ing name. Minghao told them Wonwoo’s name was HONG Wonwoo. Jesus Christ this could not be worse. Then he thought of how it could be worse. What if they find Chan’s name?

“Chan—”

But he didn’t even let him finish. “Don’t worry,” the boy replied. “I don’t put my name on anything.”

Joshua nodded. At least they won’t be able to connect all of us.

But before he could breathe any better, Chan reminded him, “Hyung, we have to move. They’re gonna check the bathroom.”

His nerves rattling inside of him, Joshua knew he was right. “Yeah.”

“We gotta do it now.”

“Right.”

He said it but Joshua couldn’t move. It was Chan’s turn to take the lead. Gripping his friend’s hand, they cautiously stepped out of the bathtub. They had a terrifyingly clear view of the two in front of them. Chan’s knees got weak. This was the first time he’d seen them while being there. Shaking away the fear, he gestured for Joshua to come forward. On their tippytoes, they snuck out of the bathroom without making any noise. Jihoon and Soonyoung were facing the other direction so they didn’t notice the scampering behind them.

Out of the hallway, they moved as quickly and as silently as they could before they made it to Minghao’s mom’s room, where they knew Soonyoung and Jihoon wouldn’t come back. Shutting the door behind them, they collapsed on top of her bed. They were finally safe.

After a few minutes, Soonyoung and Jihoon concluded they had all that they needed. “Let’s get out of here,” Soonyoung said, still worried that someone was going to find them. He finished putting everything back where it was.

“Wait one second.” He left the room and went straight into the bathroom. Turning on the lights, he looked all around. Squinting, he felt confused.

“What is it?” Soonyoung asked as he closed Minghao’s door.

Stepping inside, Jihoon went and pulled the shower curtain back. There was nothing there. “Nothing,” he said, slightly annoyed that his instincts were off. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Going through the living room, they made it to the door. “So after 6pm, Minghao doesn’t see people,” Jihoon said, “but he’s definitely not at home.”

From the room, Chan and Joshua stared at each other. It felt like they were choking. They weren’t supposed to know that. If anything, they most certainly were not supposed to know that crucial piece of evidence. “How do they know that?!” Chan frantically whispered.

Joshua certainly couldn’t answer. He had no idea.

“I wonder if Junhui knows that,” Soonyoung thought aloud. All of a sudden, he felt guilty for betraying his friend. But it was for the bigger picture.

“If he does, then he’s covering for him too,” the he replied. “Past 6pm…” Jihoon finally opened the door and let Soonyoung out first. He took one last good look around before leaving himself.

Joshua and Chan waited a moment before they knew that they were gone. Chan opened the door and ran to lock the front. Slouching against the door, he gave a huge sigh. It felt like ages since he properly breathed. “Oh my god!”

Joshua came out with him and fell on the floor. He felt like he’d just run a marathon. “That...was...the...worse.”

Sitting with back to the door, Chan couldn’t believe what they had just went through. “They found your guitar, hyung.”

“They know way too much,” he replied into the floor. A puddle of his sweat was starting to form around his head.

“They know Minghao isn’t around after 6.”

“They know way too much.”

“What are we gonna do?”

Joshua rolled over and looked at him. “I still don’t know.”

Pursing his lips, Chan understood that feeling. “What are we gonna tell the other two?”

“We’ll definitely tell Minghao, but I don’t know how we’re gonna explain this whole mess to Wonwoo.”

“Right, he doesn’t even know we jumped here.”

Joshua sat up and sighed between his knees. It felt like this huge weight had been lifted but an even heavier one just fell on top of him. “How did this even happen?”

Chan closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “The universe, my friend. That’s how.”

From outside the apartment, Jihoon and Soonyoung were already at the elevator. Soonyoung was clicking the down button repeatedly, but Jihoon was just staring blankly in front of him.

“Good call, Jihoon,” Soonyoung commented. Now that they were out, his nerves were gone and he was satisfied. “We never would’ve figured this out if we didn’t come here.”

But Jihoon couldn’t hear the compliment. Something inside of him was just saying…

“We have to go back.”

Soonyoung turned to him and scoffed. “What?”

Even before his friend could respond, Jihoon was heading back down the hall. “We have to go back!”

Soonyoung had no idea what just happened. “What?” All he saw was Jihoon running away. “Wait, Jihoon!” he called out. Without a choice, he ran after him. “What’re you doing?”

Jihoon was listening to that feeling that told him to check the bathroom. It was telling him to go back. It was telling him they missed something. “I think we missed something,” he called over his shoulder. He didn’t want to be too loud and draw attention from the other residents.

It was a little way from the elevator back to Minghao’s place, but it didn’t take them long to get there. Jihoon waited until Soonyoung was beside him. Hunching over and trying to catch his breath, he exhaled, “What the hell, man.”

“Sorry,” Jihoon said, staring at the door. “I just had this feeling…”

He reached out and turned the doorknob. He froze when he pushed against it.

“It’s locked.”

Soonyoung furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

Jihoon tried shaking the knob to see if it was just stuck. But it wouldn’t give.

On the other side, Chan felt the rocking against his back. He flew to his feet and Joshua was up as well. They stared at each other before that same fear came over them again.

“What do you mean it’s locked?” Soonyoung asked, reaching over and trying himself.

Jihoon’s heart was beating in his ears. “We didn’t lock it, did we?” he asked just to make sure. This rush of adrenaline was taking over.

“No, how would we even be able to do that?”

“Someone locked it,” Jihoon concluded.

Soonyoung looked at him, unable to believe what was clearly in front of them. “That means…”

Jihoon nodded and confirmed, “Someone’s home.”

Joshua and Chan couldn’t believe that the night got even worse. When the shaking finally stopped and they checked the peephole to make sure no one was there, they knew it was bad. Even if they hid who it was…

“Hyung.”

“I know.”

“They know,” Chan said lowly.

Joshua wiped the sweat off his face. “They know that someone’s home.”