Taemin walks into work that day, carrying three to-go cups on a tray. He knew how much the two had worried about him last night and he had to make it up to them somehow. He was really glad to be part of a team that understood.

The station had some comforts that a simple home had, for all the time that they spend waiting around for jobs during their 48-hour shifts. The different teams took turns staying here. It had a small room with comfortable cots to sleep on and a common area with a small living room and kitchen. It looked like a small, cozy house. The big difference was the easy access garage that they could easily run through when they got a call. Not to mention the state-of-the art ambulance that was sitting in the driveway, which they affectionately called the bus.

Two years had passed since they were all assigned to this small station. After training, Taemin was so eager to be of service to his community and he was delighted to be stationed not so far away from home. Jonghyun and Minho, however, came from the other side of the region. It took a while for them to adjust to how things were. In no time, they were actually enjoying each other's company and developed a rhythm together. Jonghyn became in charge of driving the bus, being trained in emergency response driving--which was actually just a safer, modified version of the fast and the furious. He had safely maneuvered them through weaving traffic, and winding shortcuts just to make responses in record time. Of course, they all had medical training, but Minho was the most skilled. He was top of the class and had gotten his license as a registered nurse. He had a promising future in different hospitals but chose to practice in this field instead. He was the core of the team, having lightning quick responses in first aid and easily directing the other two in what to do. Hospital staff always showed their appreciation when Minho would wheel victims into the emergency rooms ready with full briefings of the nature of the accident and the vital stats of the patient. Taemin had a different set of skills altogether. He was great in gaining the trust of the people they rescued, making them calm enough for treatment. Taemin often held their hands when they were on the way to the hospital and spoke soothing words to the victims to help them calm down. He was often the one to visit them long after the rescue was over, just to make sure that they had recovered well. And for the ones that didn't, Taemin respectfully brought them flowers too. Together, they made the perfect team and were recognized as one of the best.   

As good as they all were, there were still rough days. Taemin was lucky to have had his meltdown during the final hours of their previous shift. This meant that he could spend his entire day off curled up in bed to recover and that was exactly what he did. He scoured the internet reading articles about the signs of high-functioning depression. He had a growing suspicion that he maybe had it.  

There was a somber mood over the station this morning. The clouds that had formed overhead were not helping at all. Jonghyun was on the couch already watching television, and Minho was seated at the dinner table, reading the morning paper.

"Hey."

They both look towards Taemin who was carefully approaching them from the station entrance. 

"Is that for us?" Jonghyun asks, his eyes widening.

"Yeah... It's for last night... I'm sorry I freaked out."

"You can freak out everyday if I'm going to get coffee out of it in the mornings," Jonghyun says with a huge smile on his face, taking one of the cups. 

Taemin smiles back, thankful that his friend is trying his best to make light of the situation. Jonghyun immediately turns his attention back to the television which played another episode of his favorite anime series. The young man was so glad that was the end of the discussion. It had already been an emotionally draining night for him and he really didn't feel like talking about it right now. He looked forward to a non-eventful day, maybe continuing to read about his "condition," but he knew it wouldn't be easy to get away. Taemin sighs as he turns to see Minho. 

Oh well. So much for not talking about it.

The look on Minho's face says it all. Last night, Taemin had noticed that the older man had his eyes glued on him after responding to the car wreck. He was extremely thankful that Minho was there to look out for him but when he was dealing with something, the last thing he wanted was to be smothered. Yesterday, he had chalked it up to good intentions. Today, he didn't know if he could be as understanding.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. It was just one of those nights," Taemin says, handing him the cup, still hoping to dodge the conversation.

"You didn't have to." Minho holds the cup with both his hands, staring at Taemin as he moves to sit down.

"I know. I wanted to." 

"I'm here if you need to talk about it..."

"I know. Thank you, hyung."

"So you went to your Dad's last night?" 

"Yeah..."

"How is he?"

"The same... He's doing okay..."

"That's good to hear..."

The silence hangs in the air as the two silently drink from their coffee cups for a while. There had been an awkwardness with them lately that didn't used to be there before. It came quickly and wedged its way into what was once their easy-going friendship. Taemin did his best to act normal, but everything was tense now... Uncomfortable. 

"Taemin... Did you have the chance to think about what I asked?" 

Jonghyun turns up the volume on the television and the pair's conversation comes down to a whisper. 

"Hyung..." Taemin shifts uncomfortably in his seat. 

"I really wish you would let me take care of you."

"You and Jonghyun hyung already do," he says, averting his eyes from the older man's intense stares.

"You know what I mean."

"I... I need to check the supplies..." Taemin says, standing up in a panic.

He goes into the room and lays his bag beside his designated bed, before crashing down to sit on it. 

This needs to change. 

*****

Jinki didn't really know what he was doing there. Deep in his gut he knew that the line he was crossing was dangerous, and that there would be no turning back. Did he really want money that badly? He took a deep breath before he pushed the button for the intercom. Yes. Yes, he did.

"Yeah," the voice in the box said.

"It's Onew."

The door buzzed and he was able to get through. This was his first time visiting ahjussi in his place of business. They would always meet up at obscure places, but now there was an address to the name. It had a feeling of finality that came with it, and it left an uneasy knot in Jinki's stomach.

He stops in front of the unit listed in the text that he received. Three knocks--that was how they were going to know that it was actually him. 

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The door swings open and ahjussi is standing there with his arms open wide. 

"Onew! So glad you decided to join us!" The old man pulls him into an awkward hug that Jinki hated. He usually blows up over people touching him unnecessarily, but this was a delicate situation. He just chalked it up to a warm welcome and let it go.

Jinki nervously looks around the room for any clues as to what the job actually was. Embarrassingly, he had agreed to show up not knowing anything except that these jobs would pay well. He didn't usually like being in the dark about these things, but the promise to make more was enticing. All that he could see for now was that there were many people hanging around. He was fairly certain that this apartment wasn't really used as a place to live but that was all that he could figure out from a thirty-second glance.. 

"Yeah... Well... The offer was pretty tempting." 

"It's real too. Come in, let me tell you more about it."

It turns out ahjussi had a name. But just like the gaudy silver chain on his neck, his name really didn't suit him. Jinki had to swallow his laughter when the men in the room had referred to the pudgy old man as Hornet. It was really hard not to laugh; it hurt his throat.

"You do your first job alone, Onew. It's a test. In case your loyalty is askew at least you don't bring anyone else down other than yourself." Ahjussi puts his arm around Jinki's shoulders, the young man shuddering at the unwanted contact with the old man's sweaty armpits. "We value loyalty here, do you understand? The Nest always comes first."

Hornet's... Nest... Clever.

Before Jinki could even get the chance to roll his eyes at the awful pun, the old man presses his hips against Jinki, letting him feel the cool, hard barrel of the gun strapped to his belt. He freezes at the realization of exactly what that was.

He had never done jobs like this before. The most dangerous job that he had ever done was to swipe a packet of medical from the athlete next door who just happened to own a taser gun. Ahjussi was right. Seems like every job Jinki's done until now was child's play. He's in the big leagues now. He can feel it... Literally.

Jinki is terrified but tries his best not to show it when the rest of the men in the room all show him a glimpse of their weapons. 

Sht.

"All members of the family get a piece, Onew, when they've proven themselves. Are you gonna prove yourself to me tonight, kid?"

Jinki nods his head 

There's no turning back now.

*****

It was a slow day today. No calls were coming in, and quite frankly they all preferred it that way. The team was only called on when there was someone in need of emergency care, and Taemin had always felt a sense of peace when things were quiet. It meant that everyone was safe... At least for now.

He slams against the couch, mindlessly surfing through the channels and settles on a silly variety show from Japan. One of the hosts had blonde hair, and Taemin is instantly reminded of that guy he saw in the restaurant the other night. 

Onew. 

He had this kind of lost look about him, that Onew guy. Taemin could read through the rough persona that he was trying to exude. Onew probably didn't know that his eyes betrayed him. There was a racing mind behind those beautiful brown eyes. The young man had seen those kinds of looks before. He saw them in the eyes of patients, struggling to understand what was happening to them in the moment of trauma. He saw it in relatives' eyes when they were told that their loved ones had been rushed to the hospital. There was absolutely no doubt in what those eyes conveyed: fear. The man that had the steely facade and who spoke in short sentences was actually scared. But scared of what? Onew had fascinated Taemin more than anyone else ever had before. 

Stop it.

How could he be thinking about a stranger when he hadn't even settled what happened with Minho. It was a mistake, that kiss. The moment that it happened, Taemin immediately knew that it was something that he would regret. He was just carried away by the beautiful confession, and the night sky, and the stars and the alcohol--the many, many, bottles of alcohol. But how could he ever bring himself to tell Minho that when he clearly didn't see it the same way?

RINNNNNGGGGGG!

Taemin's thoughts are interrupted by the alarm system going off, alerting them for emergency response. 

"A car is stuck by the train tracks, woman at the steering wheel reported unconscious--GO!!" Jonghyun shouts as all three of them scramble to get inside the bus as fast as they could. Doors slam as the eldest revs up the engine and the operator comes through the CB radio for directions to the site. 

"Did you finish checking the supplies?" Minho asks.

"Yes I did. Fully stocked."

"Good. I hope it's not a wreck." 

Sirens wail through the air as the three make brace themselves to do their jobs. 

I hope so too. 

*****

Jinki slams the door to their small apartment and comes in to find that Kibum is waiting for him. The younger man stands up from the couch and puts his hand on his hip, ready to give Jinki the interrogation of his life.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Out." He opens the refrigerator to find out that it had been fully stocked since he had been away. The clinking of bottles echoes through the room as he takes out a bottle of beer.

"It's one in the afternoon."

Jinki looks at Kibum dead in the eyes as he takes out his lighter and positions it to open the metal bottle cap of his drink. It instantly flies of with a pop under his expert grip and he wordlessly takes a big gulp from it, almost emptying the contents in one go. 

"Are you seriously going to start drinking at one in the afternoon?"

"Say what you need to say," Jinki says.

"How could you go for a job without me?"

"It's not the kind of job you would like," the older man opines, disappearing into the bedroom. 

"Jinki..." Kibum says, frantically chasing after him. "Jinki, you know that jobs like those are dangerous. We can just do more of the same jobs if you want to... We're okay doing that..."

"I'm sick of being 'okay,' Kibum." The look on Jinki's face is stern and unflinching. "Aren't you?"

"I thought we were happy," the younger man says faintly. 

Jinki sighs as he lays down completely on the bed, bringing his arms over his eyes. He didn't want to have this conversation right now and wished upon all wishes for Kibum to leave him alone, but the young man stops beside his bed to loom over him.

"Don't do those jobs."

Jinki sits up and takes out his newly-bought pack of cigarettes and taps it on the palm of his hand. Kibum watches in disbelief as Jinki continues to stay quiet, letting the ripping sounds of paper and plastic do the talking for him. He slowly puts the slim stick in between his lips and takes his precious time lighting it up, flipping the cap off of his metal lighter--all the while with Kibum just standing there. 

Kibum has been living with Jinki long enough to know exactly what this means. His blank stares meant that he wanted to be left alone to do what he wanted to do. The deliberate slow pace of all his movements were meant to mock Kibum and all the care that he was trying to show Jinki. His defeaning silence meant the thing that the younger man had feared the most. Smoke fills the room and a freshly breathed puff reaches Kibum's face--a sobering reminder of what he truly meant to Jinki...

Nothing.

The young man abruptly turns around and leaves the room, driven by the will to not let Jinki see his inner turmoil. "I need fresh air."

"And I need a change," Jinki mutters, playing with rings of smoke on his tongue.