Jeonghan woke up the next morning to an empty bed, he reached over next to him to find that the spot was cold. He slowly rose from his sleeping position only to lie back down feeling the soreness of his hips and the stiffness in his lower back. His behind was also sore for obvious reasons but he didn't mind the sensation all too much in all honesty. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and went straight to brush his teeth. Drawing the curtains he was able to catch a glimpse of Mingyu from his balcony window, the boy was throwing fists at Seungcheol and his older brother retaliated in response. Jeonghan dropped his toothbrush, was he seeing right? He quickly got dressed pulling a loose t-shirt over his head and a pair of track pants. He slipped on his sneakers and headed for the door making a beeline for the house next door.

The minute he stepped inside he was faced with the two boys at each other's throats. Jeonghan watched in horror as Seungcheol hit Mingyu in the stomach followed by Mingyu punching his older brother square in the jaw. Mrs. Choi was shouting hysterically for her sons to stop, Jeonghan ran past the boys and shielded the small woman from her two sons as they proceeded to throw punches.

"Get the out of my way!" Seungcheol shouted.

"Apologise!" Mingyu snarled back at his brother.

"You started it first you little !" Seungcheol gave Mingyu one last shove, his younger brother hitting the wall with a loud thud.

"Come back and face me, you coward!" Mingyu shouted as he watched Seungcheol run out the front door.

"Mingyu," Mrs. Choi tried to talk to her son only the boy had already disappeared up the stairs, the sound of the door slamming told them Mingyu wasn't in a talking mood.

"Are you okay?" Jeonghan looked at Mrs. Choi whose hand was clutching her heart.

"They've never gotten along but I've never seen them fight like this," she said looking visibly shaken.

"I'm sure everything will work out, you know how we teenage boys are. Sometimes all it takes is an exchange of fists in order for us to get on the same page," Jeonghan comforted the woman.

"They were being civil up until Mingyu said some words about Seungcheol's guitar playing. Mingyu definitely pushed a button," Mrs. Choi walked into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of tea.

"I'll go find Seungcheol," Jeonghan said as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Be careful, that son of mine is the most stubborn person on the face of the planet next to his father," Mrs. Choi said as she saw Jeonghan out the door.

Just as Jeonghan walked out the front gate he heard the sound of a sliding door followed by Mingyu's voice calling him from the balcony, the boy looked at him with wide eyes and an open mouth.

"Hyung! Where are you going?!"

"To find your brother," Jeonghan answered.

"But you promised we would go somewhere today!" Mingyu shouted.

"That was before I saw you and Seungcheol almost rip out each other's throats!"

"But you promised!" Mingyu griped.

"Go back inside and think about what you did, I didn't agree to being a glorified babysitter. I thought you were better than this," Jeonghan his heel, he was very disappointed with Mingyu.

"Hyung!"

Jeonghan ignored the boy and walked without a second glance back. He wandered around the streets to all the typical places he thought Seungcheol would go. Jeonghan stopped first by the park and searched for Seungcheol among the several people who were playing soccer but he wasn't there, he tried at the convenient store and once again he was disappointed. He bought two ice creams and an ice pack before he started searching again. Finally Jeonghan followed his gut and decided to go look at the basketball court just further up the road. Sure enough he found Seungcheol lying down in the centre of the court with one arm draped over his eyes and a basketball tucked under the other. He approached the boy slowly and plopped himself down beside him.

"How'd you guess I was here?" Seungcheol didn't bother opening his eyes.

"I looked everywhere else, this was the last stop," Jeonghan admitted.

"Guess you're here to tell me I should go home and make up with Mingyu?"

"For once I'm taking your side on this one. Mingyu shouldn't have said anything about you and your guitar. I know how much it means to you," Jeonghan said.

"Thanks man," Seungcheol rose up crossing his legs.

"Here," Jeonghan handed his friend an ice cream as well as the ice pack he got from the convenience store.

"Sometimes I feel like you're the only one who actually cares about me," Seungcheol smiled sadly as he opened the ice cream wrapper.

"If I didn't you'd have ended up in a ditch somewhere, that's for sure," Jeonghan unwrapped his own ice cream.

"Thanks for those kind words, Yoon Jeonghan," Seungcheol bumped their shoulders.

"Put that Ice pack on your face before you get any more swollen, you have today and tomorrow to recover before school starts on Monday. The teachers are going to have questions," Jeonghan took the ice pack out of Seungcheol's hands and pressed it onto his right cheek.

"Ow," Seungcheol mumbled but proceeded to eat his ice cream.

"Mingyu threw a mean right hook," Jeonghan said looking at Seungcheol's face.

"How bad is it?"

"Your nickname is already camel but now you have a hump to go with it," Jeonghan said.

"," Seungcheol sighed.

They sat together in silence with ice creams in hand. Jeonghan couldn't even remember the number of times they met at this spot. Whenever one of them had problems they'd meet at the basketball court and chat while eating something from the convenient store. Sure it wasn't anything special but it was how they had coped with bullying and dealing with their parents when they felt like the adults didn't understand them. When Seungcheol found out his parents were getting divorced they'd done the exact same thing, buy food from the convenient store and hung out on the basketball court. There it felt like they were in their own world, they could pretend to be somewhere else.

"Thanks for being there for me man," Seungcheol leaned his head against Jeonghan's shoulder.

"You're welcome, taking care of your dumb
is the least I can do in exchange for your mother feeding me," Jeonghan smiled.

"You really know how to ruin a beautiful moment," Seungcheol complained but kept his head on Jeonghan's shoulder.

"You up for a game of basketball?" Jeonghan asked.

"Asking me if I want to play ball is like asking a fish if it needs water."

"Why would you ask a fish a question?"

"Yeah okay, smartass," Seungcheol dusted himself off as he stood.

Their one on one game of basketball ended up lasting a good few hours because despite his laziness Jeonghan hated losing. Sure Jeonghan needed to take breaks in between and his arms and legs were tired but he had a good time. Seungcheol seemed to have enjoyed himself as well because the boy wore a smile on his face even when he missed -- Seungcheol never smiled when he missed the basket. When the sun began to set they decided it was time to call it quits...and also because Jeonghan's stomach was growling.

"Thanks again, I don't know what I'd do without you," Seungcheol had his free arm draped around Jeonghan's shoulders.

"Stop being so sentimental, I'm getting goosebumps," Jeonghan shivered.

"I mean it, Jeonghan," Seungcheol ruffled Jeonghan's hair and pressed their heads together.

"I know you do," Jeonghan said.

They finally reached home but unlike their usual exchange of casual handshakes or simple 'see you laters,' Seungcheol did something unexpected. He pulled Jeonghan into a hug, his arms wrapping around the blond's torso. Jeonghan stood still with eyes wide, that was new. After a few seconds Jeonghan found himself returning Seungcheol's hug, Seungcheol responded to the hug by resting his chin on Jeonghan's shoulder. They stayed in that position until Seungcheol decided to let go.

"I'll see you tomorrow for band practice," Seungcheol smiled walking towards his house.

"See you," Jeonghan waved as he went one door over.

Just as he reached the front door a streak of light caught his attention. He turned just quick enough to catch Mingyu looking at him before the boy closed the curtain of his balcony window. Jeonghan's mouth pressed into a thin line, that wasn't good. Chances were Mingyu could see him from there, the boy must've also seen the hug he shared with Seungcheol. Jeonghan entered his house and flung himself down on the sofa, why did everything involving the boys next door always have to be so complicated?

"Satan take me home," Jeonghan rubbed his tired eyes.

Jeonghan spent the evening by himself in his room, his bed feeling exceptionally empty without Mingyu taking up half of it. He sat reading a novel only to realise that he hadn't actually absorbed any of the words on the page, every time he attempted to read a paragraph his mind would wander. His mind was just filled with Mingyu, he was beginning to feel bad about breaking his promise but another part of him reminded Jeonghan that Mingyu had acted like an absolute turd towards Seungcheol. The boy had intentionally provoked his older brother and initiated the fight, Mingyu didn't deserve his sympathy right now. When Jeonghan was finally preparing for bed he heard the sound of a car pull up, blaring music resonating loud enough to be heard from inside. He opened his balcony door and saw that the car was parked in front of Seungcheol's house. Jeonghan watched Mingyu run out from the front door clad in all black.

"Mingyu! What are you doing?!" Jeonghan shouted.

"None of your business!" Mingyu shouted back.

"Mingyu! It's late, you can't just up and leave when you want to! You're a minor!"

"Watch me," Mingyu smirked before jumping in the car, the tyres screeching as the vehicle drove off.

"Bloody hell Mingyu," Jeonghan mumbled, where did the sudden rebellion come from?

Jeonghan closed the door and went back inside, he tried to ignore the fact that Mingyu had just jumped into a random car and dri