Joongi and Minho are breathing heavily, as if they ran a marathon. But they didn't do anything physically exhausting.

Few seconds ago, Joongi saw something or someone in the house they were walking past and hurriedly shoved Minho against the wall away out of sight from whoever is near the gate. That was some weird sense of deja vu right there.

The puppy, who was left few feet away from them with his scooter, watches them curiously. If Minho was the dog, he'd be curious too.

He looks at the hand flat on his chest, pressing him against the wall, then lets his gaze travel the length of the arm sideways to his brother. Joongi's back is plastered to the wall as he cranes his neck to carefully peek around the edge of the wall. He's sheet white, like he just saw a ghost. Clueless as he is, he doesn't know what's going on in Joongi's mind.

Joongi's immediate goal is to not let those people see them. When he found out this morning that Yunho and Jaejoong are moving, who would've thought that they'd be in this neighbourhood. He thought he was seeing things when he saw that familiar car near the gate of this property. But when he caught sight of Jung Yunho and Shim Changmin near the vehicle, he instinctively dragged Minho backwards before those two saw him.

 It must be because he's imagined some scary scenarios of how Yunho might have gotten Minho to let go of Minyoung. Something along the lines of physical violence Minho deserves.

Joongi's phone rings in his pocket terrifyingly loud. He hurriedly pulls it out and mutes the call but doesn't answer.

Joongi and Minho stare at the "Abeoji" on the screen with mixed feelings. Joongi peeks beyond the wall just in time to see Yunho's back disappear past that house's front door. Maybe they've gone inside the house without realising two suspicious-looking men are hiding beyond the wall. Joongi breathes a sigh of relief before pocketing the phone where their father is still calling relentlessly.

"What was that about?" Minho asks him when Joongi doesn't seem as tense he was moments ago.

"We have to go back to Abeoji," Was Joongi's hopeless command. "What about him?" Minho points at that dog that is waiting to be carted away. Joongi thinks for a few seconds, deciding that the safest option is to send Minho back and he'll return the puppy himself. But before he could speak a word of the plan, they hear a voice in the distance.

"Bubbles~ Bubsy~ where are you?" A man much younger than them is walking down the street in their direction, searching eyes looking at every nook and corner. "Bubbles~ come back~ look~ I got Brownie~" he waves a little brown bunny toy in his hands keeping an eye out for the plush's owner.

Said owner is enticed by the offering because Bubbles immediately hops off the scooter and noisily runs over to the young man. It's only when the distance is shorter between them that does he notice the puppy.

As soon as he sees Bubbles, his face lit up with relief and he crouched down to welcome the puppy. "Bubbles! Thank goodness I found you!" The puppy's happily wagging tail says the same. Bubbles twirls in its spot and nuzzles the bunny toy in the man's hand. "Yes, you can play with Brownie, but later. We need to get you home first. The Madam is really sad and you need to cheer her up, okay? We'll look for your scooter later. Or I'm sure the boss will get a new one just for you."

The young man scoops up the puppy and stands up only to be startled when two imposing men are few feet away from him. Their casual yet expensive clothing is something he's seen the residents and visitors around this neighbourhood wear often. But their solemn expressions are disconcerting.

It's only when one of them moves their hand forward does he see the familiar blue scooter. He looks at the two men curiously. "Did you find our Bubbles?" Assuming that's the puppy's name Minho and Joongi nod stiffly. "Thank you so much!" The younger man bows slightly to them while hugging the puppy and immediately takes the scooter's handle from Joongi.

Though Bubbles wants to return to his scooter, the young man doesn't allow it because Mrs. Hwang strictly instructed him that he should mot risk Bubbles wandering off. "Thank you for bringing back Bubbles." He tells them again looking at them without the erstwhile caution. "I don't want to seem too direct but, are you from around here? My boss would like to know how I found Bubbles."

They really wouldn't, Joongi wanted to say. But Minho has his own opinions.

"We're looking at a house nearby." Joongi nearly choked on shock. What happened to not moving here?! He shoots his brother an incredulous look but Minho is resolutely avoiding his gaze. The young man is oblivious though, happy about finding Bubbles.

"That's great! If you're going to move here then do stop by this little guy's home. It's that white one right after this house." He gestures at the house where Joongi saw Yunho.

"Sure... thanks..." Minho again surprises Joongi. Just what is he unilaterally agreeing too? Before Joongi could snap at him, Minho grabs Joongi's arm and drags him in the direction they came from. "We'll head back now. Take care of the dog." Without waiting for a response or looking back, the brothers briskly walk away.

The man found their stiff demeanour weird for a couple of guys who rescued a puppy with its scooter. But he doesn't have time to investigate the fishy vibe he gets from them. "Let's go home. Hopefully you can get the madam to come out of her room." Bubbles barks in response which the man interprets as puppy for "I'll do my best!"

Minho and Joongi have mini scuffle as they walk till they put a two feet distance between them as truce. "What the hell was that!" Joongi grits out, not caring to be specific because Minho knows what he's talking about. "Drop it." Was Minho's curt reply.

That set off an argument between them while they walked without attention to their surroundings. A short distance away, Changmin and Jihoon step out from the untrimmed hedges behind the property wall.

They watched the Lee brothers bicker till they can only see them and not hear them. When they're out of sight, Changmin looks at Jihoon, silently seeking confirmation if what they witnessed is real.

~~~

Minyoung stared at the door when it's silence on the other side. She mentally counted to 17 before there's more banging on the door, shouts for her and then more hushing each other.

Nothing though makes her want to get up from the chair and move.

Dohwan and Hana with Jiran and Mrs. Hwang are gathered outside the room, alternating between pleading to/demanding Minyoung to come out and scolding her father to calm down before he scares Minyoung further. Too late for that really.

Dohwan was on the way to pi