"No!"

The loud pleads of Doyoung echoed through the quiet atmosphere inside the empty cafeteria. It has been closed for around half an hour already and all the customers had already left except for one. Irene had also left Taehyung and Doyoung, giggling about a date with a guy she met on a dating app. The two wished her luck earlier as she went out with full makeup and a fancy yellow dress and hazel brown leather jacket with grey fur at the collar and at the end of its sleeves. Before going, she eyed Taehyung questioningly as she took a quick glance of Yuta who was immobile from his seat. V mouthed "tomorrow" to their boss right before she went out to brighten up the dark night with her fancy colorful dress and blinding beauty.

Taehyung was wiping tables and fixing chairs as Doyoung and Yuta continued talking, the former's eyes were tearing up while the latter looked outside through the glass walls of the cafe, the streetlights and stars produced such fascinating scenery of a dance of light. Yuta was not showing any trace of emotions on his face - most notably in his eyes - as Doyoung continued his endless pleading.

"I know I'm not in the right position to tell you this, but Jaehyun is already trying to move forward in his life. It was not easy for him as well, you know that." Doyoung wiped the tears away from his cheeks. His heart was bursting not because of fear or rage - but because of guilt. What he was asking the man in front of him is not an easy thing to do. To top it all off, he's not at the center of the situation; however, for Jaehyun's sake, he knew that he needs to do what he can for him, and at that moment, he believed he was doing the right thing. 

"It was not easy, but it was easier for him." Yuta said in a calm tone. He lit up a cigarette and blew smoke above their heads, leaning back on his chair. His eyes were looking nowhere than the bokeh of lights outside. 

"What do you plan to do? Showing yourself to him at a time like this won't do any of you any better." Doyoung firmly said. The moment Yuta told him that he wanted to talk to Jaehyun about Mina's death, he quickly yelled at him in disapproval. He knew that Jae was - at the very least - trying to lift himself from the tragedy and Doyoung assured him of his help. 

The Japanese turned his gaze towards Doyoung and they met eye-to-eye. As if a butterfly tearing the flesh of its cocoon, Yuta's face grew mad with gritting teeth and bulging eyes. Large, worm-like veins emerged from his temples. Doyoung gasped for air as he behold the transformation of Yuta from a calm man to someone who looked like a person who could kill.

He felt fear rose up in him - not for himself - but for Jaehyun.

"What do you propose anyway, huh!? For me to be completely clueless after all this time!?" For the first time since they started the tete-a-tete, Yuta looked at Doyoung with glaring eyes and clenched fists. His face was red from anger and his body was trembling as if a massive amount of heat is about to explode out of him. In his mind Doyoung thought 'you're not a mountain after all, but a volcano waiting to explode.'

The sudden shift of Yuta's demeanor took Doyoung in surprise. Sweat beads started forming on his forehead as he stared wide-eyed at the obviously upset Yuta.

"How about me!? I was waiting for her the whole time that night! But Nothing! SHE NEVER CAME AND I DIDN'T HAVE ANY ING SLIGHTEST IDEA WHY!" The Japanese rose from his seat and smack the table several times with his fists as he spoke. Taehyung who was acting busy wiping a particular table a lot of times already, took notice of Yuta's actions and quickly got to where the two were. 

V quickly signalled Yuta to back off and calm down as he looked at Doyoung, shaking his head. "Hey, calm down mister takoyaki. You'll pay for that table if you break it." Yuta lit up another cigarette as he shakingly composed himself on his seat, his eyes resumed being glued on the colored lights outside. "Also, please stop smoking. You are actually not allowed to smoke here." Taehyung said but Yuta didn't seem to care. Taehyung scratched the back of his head and turned to his orange haired friend. "Doyoungie, settle this in five minutes or else I'll drag him outside and then I'll be dragging you back home understand?"

Taehyung has never spoken to Doyoung like an actual older brother. He always seemed to be someone of the same age to him. Despite this though, his respect for Taehyung never failed to exist but the comfortability they established together, both as co-workers and friends (not to mention housemates), left him appaled by the older's sudden show of authority.

"Yes hyung, I promise." That was what all Doyoung could muster up to answer to Taehyung.  

Taehyung left the two, giving the Japanese a death glare before going back to the staff room to fix his things. There was brief silence between the two people sitting opposite each other. Doyoung was about to speak when Yuta suddenly spoke in between his puffs of smoke.

"Why are you doing this for him?" Yuta asked.

The harsh scent of the smoke filled Doyoung's lungs as he searched for an answer in his head. He had his own mental debate about Yuta's question. He grew silent, eyes wandering from corner to corner as if the answer was hidden on the floors of NCT Blends.

His mind went black.

Why? he asked himself. Why Kim Doyoung? Why are you doing things like this for Jung Jaehyun?

He remembered an old teacher back in grade school. The teacher was known to have a king's appetite and it surely does show in the way the buttons of his shirt seem to burst because of his huge tummy. Doyoung even remembered how the teacher laughed at him when he asked: 'How many kids are in there teacher?' In the midst of thinking about Yuta's question, he suddenly thought about this teacher whose name he cannot clearly remember. He actually found it funny to be reminiscing instead of giving a quick response to Yuta but he dwelled deeper into his few memories with the teacher. He remembered during one of his classes, the teacher was teaching them about the scientific method. It was the first time Doyoung heard about it and as he read his textbook while his teacher was busily introducing the concept to the class, he took notice of the first step.

'Ask a Question.'

He quickly raised his hand, interrupting his teacher.

'________ seonsaengnim! I have a question.' The teacher's name was still unclear even in his daydream. 

'Yes Doyoung, what is it?'

'How do we know if we're asking a good question?'

'It's not about asking a good question or not, Mr. Kim. It's about asking the right question. A question might sound good but sometimes, it won't really lead you to what you really want to know. You have to firmly grasp in your head, what do you seek? What are you trying to find out? If you clearly know your goal, you will know the right question to ask.'

The teacher's voice in Doyoung's head endlessly played.

 'What do you seek?' '...you will know the right question to ask' 'What are you trying to find out?' 'It's about asking the right question.' 'What do you' 'right question' 'seek...' '...in your head' 'what do you.. ' head...' '...right question...'

Doyoung's thoughts snapped. 

'I'm not asking the right question am I?' he thought. 

Yuta drew his gaze towads the quiet person in front of him. 

"Were you listening to me?" Yuta's voice was filled with annoyance. He put the cigarette in his mouth and blew out a huge mass of smoke in front of the absent-minded Doyoung.

"Who is Mina to you?" Doyoung asked with such innocent eyes which caught Yuta off-guard. The Japanese wanted to demand Doyoung to answer his question first but he noticed the sudden shift of emotion on the other's face. As Yuta stared at Doyoung's face, he thought about how he looked like someone who's lost, someone who knows nothing, someone who needs answers - someone like him.

Yuta crushed the cigarette from his mouth on the ashtray in front of him. He watched the tiny red flame transformed into dark grey smoke. He let out a huge sigh, leaning against his seat, crossing his arms together. "Mina is more than someone I love. Mina is a part of me."

Yuta grabbed the glass of water beside the ashtray and took several gulps. He exhaled loudly as he brought back the glass on the table.

"You see, I have this problem. As you have observed earlier, sometimes I get, I-I-I get really m-mad at people." Yuta said. He sounded like a criminal who was forced to admit his crimes. It was a bit painful to see for Doyoung who stayed quiet, as if allowing room for Yuta to say something more. "But when Mina is around, I never act that way.  This side of me..." Yuta clutched at his chest and closed his eyes as if he was having a heart attack. "...this side that I want to kill!!!" 

'here comes the volcano once again' 

Doyoung leaned forward and put a hand on Yuta's left shoulder.