“Can I borrow some of your clothes?” Seungyoon was zipping around the apartment, looking for gods know what. Restless energy emanated from him in waves, his fingers twitching and eyes darting. Jinwoo was laying on Seungyoon’s bed, their bed, his laptop on a pillow, trying to get this story out of his head and onto paper instead.

“Sure,” Jinwoo hummed. Seungyoon and him weren’t exactly the same size but Seungyoon wears ill-fitting clothes so often it’s hardly noticeable.

“Okay, good.” Seungyoon, said breathlessly. “That’s good.” He continued zipping around the apartment and Jinwoo finally looked up from his screen, tired of all the pacing.

“Is everything okay?” Jinwoo didn’t get annoyed often but this story was proving to be a bother and Seungyoon’s manic energy was not helping. Seungyoon looked up abruptly, he was sensitive enough to Jinwoo’s voice to know when something was up.

“No,” Seungyoon eyed Jinwoo warily. It’s been a while since he looked at Jinwoo like that. Jinwoo thought they had been together long enough for Seungyoon to trust him completely but it looks like Seungyoon was still holding back.

“What is it?” Jinwoo slid of the bed, his laptop and story abandoned.

“Nothing, it’s nothing, just a job. I need some of your clothes and I will be back late tonight. Work on your story, you won’t even know I am gone.” Seungyoon spoke deliberately, trying to maintain some semblance of calm but he wouldn’t meet Jinwoo’s eyes.

“Seungyoon.”

The younger boy sighed, running a hand through his choppy hair.

“It’s a job. A big job. I haven’t had one of those in while because … “ Seungyoon trailed off, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “I just haven’t had a job like this in a while. And I am nervous, okay?”

“I could come with you, if you’d like,” Jinwoo offered, a slight smile on his face. He had tagged along with Seunyoon on some of his ‘adventures’ as he dubbed them. Nothing major, pickpocketing and passing a package, the contents of which Seungyoon refused to tell him.

“No,” Seungyoon whirled around, finally looking at Jinwoo. His eyes were wild, unfocussed and Jinwoo felt an uneasiness rise up in his chest.

“Okay,” he raised his hands, like someone on the nature channel trying to calm a wild animal. Seungyoon relaxed a little at his easy agreement.

“I’m going to the Windsor. There’s an assignment. A big one. Just … don’t worry, okay?” Seungyoon had shrugged on one of Jinwoo’s dinner jackets. That explained the need to borrow Jinwoo’s clothes. Seungyoon’s usual get up of clothes had more holes than fabric would not have gotten him past the door.

“I won’t.” Seungyoon gave him a shaky smile and left. Immediately, the room seemed emptier, hollow even.

Jinwoo sat back down on the bed and sighed. There goes any hope he had of completing the story today. He leaned against a pillow, trying to push his worry for Seungyoon out of his head.

The younger boy had seem more antsy that usual lately. Jinwoo thought they were doing well, after the whole furniture thing and Seungyoon willingly taking him out at night. Then, things started to change.

***

It happened after Jinwoo brought Seungyoon back to his house. Well, he called it a house. Seungyoon called it a ‘mother-ing mansion’. He just wanted to grab some things, his notes and writing journals. The house was pristine, kept clean by the service he employed but it also felt deserted. It was easy to feel that no one had lived there in a while. Jinwoo didn’t even think of it as home anymore.

Seungyoon had been quiet the whole time they were there.

“You okay?” Jinwoo threw him a smile as he dug through a mountain of papers stuck precariously over his desk.  

“Yeah,” Seungyoon replied automatically. “Just … remind me why we live in my tiny apartment again?”

Jinwoo laughed. “This place is in the middle of nowhere. What would you do if we lived here?”

Seungyoon nodded thoughtfully, his eyes raking over the oak furniture and ornate decoration. “Right … but you do have an apartment in the city…”

“You know I hate that place.” Jinwoo had stopped digging and was just looking at Seungyoon now. He was smiling but worry creased his forehead. “What is it, what are you thinking about?”

Seungyoon met his eyes, letting out a breath in a nervous chuckle. “No, nothing. It’s just… I knew you were well-off, obviously … I just didn’t know how well-off you were.”

Jinwoo snorted. “This is the family’s house Seungyoon. I didn’t buy all this stuff, I just inherited it.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Seungyoon wasn’t meeting his eyes anymore. Suddenly, Jinwoo felt like they were back at the beginning of their relationship, when Seungyoon had a million walls built around him that Jinwoo had to work to get through.

“Seungyoon?”

“Hmmm?”

Jinwoo opened his mouth, wanting to put words to the feeling constricting his chest. But all that came out was, “Are you ready to go?”