Not anticipating Daehyun to open the door so quickly, you tilted over onto your side and sprawled half of your body into the welcoming darkness, the feeling coming back to your legs as Zelo stood up slowly, coming over and helping you up. As you wiggled out your fingers and toes, getting your circulation back in good graces, you stood in the hallway of Daehyun's apartment, looking around for the owner himself.

There were a few candles lit on what appeared to be the outline of the coffee table in an archway ahead of you, and then a little bit further down the hall to your right there were more doors, which you assumed to be the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, but you weren't thinking about that now-

-you called out as you stood awkwardly with Zelo, "..........Daehyun?"

There was some shuffling from a shadow behind you and to your left, and as the door shut behind you, on its own, Daehyun's disembodied voice came floating around you,"............Come into the living room,please, so I can look you over."

Pulling off your gloves first, you and the maknae quickly began shedding off layers of outerwear as the pleasant hum of a heater in the background let you know your body could be at peace, and Zelo spoke as he shimmied out of his sweater,revealing a gray hoodie underneath, "Hyung, what's with the setup? Have you been taking lessons from Yonggukkie-hyung or something?"

Indeed, other than the hum of the heater and the handful of candles spread on the table, there was nothing else on in the room except for a screensaver of a desktop nearby.

Daehyun spoke again, and this time you jumped, as this time it was noticeably closer than before,"You seem well enough to give me sass, Junhong-ah; have you been taking lessons from Youngjae then?"

Although his voice was tired, there was a small,tiny undercurrent of playfulness in in that made you want to physically reach out and latch onto it with all the hope you had in your body, "Trust me, we need to sit down-and place all of this food somewhere," One of Zelo's arms brushed your shoulders as you felt him patting the wall nearby, looking for a switch-

-and when he finally clicked it on for the living room, you gasped.

Before you was the coffee table, with candles, what looked to be half-eaten bowls of ramen and rice, some newspapers, a phone, and a Teddy bear. Behind the table was a sofa, designed for 3 people to sit on, and on either side of that sofa was a lamp and a small lamp stand. The desk was to the far right of the room, and a TV was on its own table, adjacent to where the two of you stood. But, the interior design was clearly not the thing that had your mouth going dry and Zelo's voice hitching in his chest-

-between the coffee table and the sofa was a nest of blankets, and from that nest of blankets a pair of hauntingly dark eyes peered out at the two newcomers, "Welcome." A bit of manuevering happened, and then the rest of Daehyun's lovely face appeared-

-but there was something off about his face, as suddenly the singer looked as though he had aged 15 years in the course of 48 hours, when the malicious commenters started their attack, and it clicked on you as you said quietly, "You've been smoking again, haven't you?"

Zelo's nose wrinkled as he spotted the ashtray on the floor near Daehyun's makeshift nest, filled to the brim with old and new cigarette butts, but before he could take a step in its direction the ashtray itself vibrated dangerously, and the dark circles underneath Daehyun's eyes became pronounced, "Don't even think about taking it away from me."

His voice was harsh and ragged, and it further clicked in your head that the vocalist probably hadn't had a good night's sleep in the past 72 hours, not to mention a decent meal. His cheeks were gaunt and his hair was spectacular-

-even as you drank in the sight of Daehyun's face, it swtiched colors from the blonde hair he had for the comeback to a feathery gray, and then back again, as Junhong took the food from your hands and set them down on the table before Daehyun, like an offering to a shrine, "Hyung.............Daehyun-hyung, it will be alright." The vocalist looked up with tired eyes, "I.......I know that....it's just-"

Suddenly the walls began to shake, and a few of the candles blew out as Daehyun spoke in sudden emotion,his almond eyes now flashing silver, "How could they-how could they accuse me-ME-of betraying B.A.P?!ME? When-when you guys are my life-my everything...?!"

The table began to shake as well as Daehyun's voice took on an unearthly tone, until it sounded like there were two people speaking at the same time when he opened his mouth, "Me-ME?!After what I've done, the things I've been through,everything?!" 

Zelo scrunched up his face in pain as his skin turned blue, and you wobbled forward-

-launching yourself at Daehyun in not quite a tackle, you threw your arms around him, pulling his head deep into your chest as even the ceiling shook above your head, "Daehyun, Daehyun listen to me, Daehyun.....!!!!"-

And you screamed as the lightbulb blew out over your head, casting the room back into its gothic atmosphere as you couldn't even see 3 feet in front of you-

-but the shaking had stopped, the vibrating items had stopped, and as you realized something, the shoulders you were clinging on began to tremble, and your shirt got moist as you realized, "Oh no, Daehyun, please........please don't..."

Daehyun shook as he began to cry, "N-n-noona, I've been doing this f-f-for so long now, that I'm tired, noona. I-I-I just want to go home, back to Busan, and d-d-do me, and I love you guys I do, b-but when things like this happen," here his voice hitched in his chest and he choked, "I just wanna run away, where no one can find me, ever again. No one will miss me when I'm gone."

He paused for a second to wipe his face on one of the sheets around his waist, "They don't know what w-w-we go through to work like this noona;our privacy, our r-r-real lives, our real u-u-us....they don't know!!!"By this time, his regular voice came back, and all he could do was lean into you and cry softly into your arms, pressing his cheeks into your collarbone and letting the tears run down.

Junhong said nothing; you felt rather than heard him get up, and feel around for the kitchen, heard his footsteps fade out, and then he returned with a new lightbulb, replacing the one overhead quietly and then beginning to clear off the leftover junk food on the table as you rocked the powerhouse in your arms slowly.

Eventually, his breathing evened out, and as he pulled away from you slowly his cheeks were now pink with embarassment,"...........You probably think I'm weak right?"

You took his hands into yours and squeezed,"Jung Daehyun, I think you are one of the bravest, most talented people I have ever met. You are kind, caring,chivalrous and loving all the way down to your bones. Your voice is powerful and carries the majority of B.A.P's songs to new heights, and you set an example for how people should exist in this word-by sending out good vibes and just being a positive person."

Your own voice choking up with emotion, you kept going, "If you want to quit, then do it-I'll support you no matter what, and I'm sure that your members would do the same-back you up no matter what you choose to do," Zelo's voice hitched as you quickly glanced over to his face(now that the light was back on, you could see unshed tears in the maknae's eyes), "but Busan man Jung Daehyun, if you quit for a bull reason then  I reserve the right to punch you in the balls."

Both men looked at you in surprise as you let go of his hands, "If you want to quite because you are properly tired of being a celebrity and want to pursue something else, like finishing your high school degree and whatnot,even starting a family, then I will sponsor you myself. If you want to knit sweaters for a living, I'll buy you the yarn and take knitting classes with you. If you even want to become a hitman hell-I'll happily buy you your first gun and I'm sure you've got a list of people you've been meaning to get rid of," you smiled as a strangled laugh came from Daehyun's mouth, "But if you are quitting because of what some jackass said online, then we are no longer friends-because that Jung Daehyun is not my friend, not the Jung Daehyun I know and love.

"The Daehyun I know would follow his heart, and think about what he has to to. The man I know is a soldier, coming all the way from Busan to a strange town just to train with 5 boys he didn't know at all, complete strangers to follow his life of singing. The man I know was ing chosen by an extraterrestrial bunny alien to be the Guardian of Sound and Joy. The man whose competitive spirit knows no bounds, and never gives up on his friends in a contest. The man I know listens to his hyungs well whilst looking out for his dongsaengs, effectively bridging the gap between the Hyung line and Maknae line of B.A.P."

"This man's voice can bring me to tears during ballad songs, to sadness during slow songs, and to triumph during upbeat songs. That, that man is the man I'll support, all the way to the end, and like someone wise told me," here, you smiled at Junhong shyly from across the coffee table, " for every bad person out there, there is a good person that believes in you. And it's for them, the truly good fans, your members, and your friends, that you should continue to bless us with your music, for that people the truly matter to you."

Junhong nodded in agreement as Daehyun seemed moved by your words, dropping his head as he absorbed them completely, and as you slyly slid the ashtray over in Junhong's direction with a wink and a quick head tilt to the kitchen,sending the lanky man on his secret quest to get rid of the offending smellmaker he sighed, "...............You've got some points, noona. It's been hard," he looked at you clearly, a bit of his fire returned to his eyes,"But we've been through worse together, right?"

You nodded as you leaned in, pressing your forehead gently to his bangs as you said, "And you'll get through this one as well-don't give up."

The two of you stayed like that until a small cough from above your heads caused you to look up;Junhong was holding the charred remains of the ashtray, "So I may or may not have tried to burn this up-and I accidentally set of the sprinklers in your kitchen, hyung...."

Daehyun laughed as you snorted, "Oh, the irony," and as you got to your feet you swayed backwards suddenly,feeling faint-

-and Daehyun was there for the catch, as Junhong hurried to your side,"_____-noona!!!Are you alright?"

-You waved a hand as he set you down gently on the couch, "Yeah, I just got dizzy from the sound force earlier," Daehyun looked away guiltily as he said quietly, "..........So I really did hurt you guys. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

You patted his arm as your senses came back, "Go and take a shower, then come back and eat with us. Take care of yourself before you can help others," Daehyun looked at you with concern, but a slight push from Junhong had him moving to the direction of his bathroom, as the maknae came and sat down next to you, "Are you alright, noona? Do you want anything?" You laughed, "For the room to stop spinning, if that falls in the range of your powers." Zelo chuckled as well, and laid his head atop yours so that you could feel his breath moving your stray hairs, "You did it noona-we're getting through to him...."

..........................................................................................................................................................................................

A half hour later found the three of you sitting on the couch, Daehyun in fresh clothes and more of his normal voice coming back in as he sampled the cheesecake you brought, Junhong popping the cork of the wine to your right as Daehyun smiled," This is really good noona, can I have more?"

Junhong muttered to himself, "Seeing as that's your 6th slice I don't see why not-oomph!!"

The powerhouse reached around you and hit him in the arm, laughing with a ghost of his normally boisterous laugh. He was still down, but it was getting better as Zelo poured everyone a round of cherry-flavored wine as you peeled oranges, "Try some, noona!!!" Taking a sip, you were surprised at the quality of the rich liquid, "This is amazing, Junhong!!" Glancing at the year, you almost spat out your wine as you saw the year, "1968?! Where in the world did you get this bottle from?It must be at least $5,000!!!!"

The maknae shrugged casually as he said, "I got it from Yongguk-hyung's stash," Your jaw dropped as he continued, "I told him that you might need a drink for something, and he opened up his personal cache to me," You made a mental note to get Yongguk something special as you began feeding both rapper and dancer orange slices with your fingers, Daehyun setting up some music in the background off of his phone as Zelo found a movie on TV to watch.....

You spoke shyly as Daehyun was now 84% done with the cake, "So I guess you still want us out, right?" Daehyun shook his head firmly, 'No......not right now. This..............this was good for me, you guys are my healing light, you,_______-noona, and our matured Junhong." The maknae's cheeks flushed at this praise as he looked away shyly and you nodded once, "We are here, okay? You matter. We care about you. We would care if you suddenly disappeared. We would also hunt you down and beat you up-Himchan especially, followed by Youngjae in a close second-for making us worry more," you added as an afterthought,"and Bbang would take you to the hospital and Jongup would sing you your own solo songs as well as  Pokemon songs until you were healed up", and this time Daehyun really did laugh-a bright sound that filled his whole face up with life and made you smile back, "Thank you," he entertwined his fingers in yours as you tried to pull away, "But I was peeling oranges, so my hands are sticky...?!"

Daehyun took your hands and kissed the palms lightly, ghosting your skin with his breath as Junhong fake-vomited at the cheesiness of the moment, "You care to me, so it doesn't matter, right?" You felt your cheeks get warm as Daehyun leaned in and kissed your hands again before pulling away, smiling kindly at you, and as Junhong pointed out the latest Christmas movie on TV you snuggled back into the sofa with the powerhouse resting on your shoulder, you knew that things would turn out okay for the Busan soul in the end......

THE END!!!!