"Where have you been?"

Jinyoung has only set one foot inside the apartment and this is what he hears from a seemingly impatient roommate of his. He still holds two bags of groceries and is not done taking off his shoes yet, but here he has Youngjae with his arms crossed, giving him the mom look. Taking his other shoe off and fully stepping inside their apartment, Jinyoung answered the younger's question.

"I'm literally carrying two grocery bags. Do I still need to tell you that I went to the supermarket?"

He made his way past Youngjae who is still keeping his arms crossed against his chest and is still wearing that same look. He went straight to the kitchen and put the paper bags on top of the counter. While he was getting each canned good out of the bag, he saw Youngjae who has followed him to the kitchen and is now leaning on the door frame. 

"Uh-huh." Youngjae mumbled, still with his arms crossed. "And what time is it?"

Jinyoung who was just taking a canned tuna mackarel out of the bag gaped at his room mate for three seconds before he put the can down making a thud. "You're wearing a watch, Youngjae. Why can't you check the time yourself?" He can't help but sound annoyed. "Can you please stop asking questions like these? It makes me wonder why you were allowed to graduate with high honors. How many were you in your class? Four?" And Jinyoung ended it with a scoff as he resumed to what he was doing- emptying the grocery bags.

He didn't hear an immediate response from Youngjae. For the record, in five years of living with the younger (they decided to get a place of their own when Youngjae started college), Youngjae have gotten used to his snarky or sometimes sarcastic responses. It's rare that the younger gets pissed by it. 

"You forgot. Didn't you?"

As he looks up, he sees Youngjae yeah he is still keeping his arms crossed and the mom look in front of him, on the opposite side of the kitchen counter. Jinyoung didn't say anything and just gave his roommate a puzzled look. He is not sure if he knows what Youngjae is talking about. Two seconds after, Youngjae was talking again. "8 pm. Midnight Solace." Jinyoung listened to every word Youngjae said. "Does any of those ring a bell? No?" 

Jinyoung shook his head a bit to tell the younger that no, it doesn't ring any bell. But then the last one kind of ticked something. "Hmmm. The last one sounds familiar. I'm just not sure...."

He heard an almost harsh sigh came from Youngjae. "I'm pretty sure even mentioning Yugyeom and Bambam won't remind you anything." 

That made him crease his brows even more. "Oh. What about those two?"

"At this point, I am not sure how to brand you as a kind of friend, hyung." Youngjae let out an exasperated sigh as his hand flew to the back of his head, scratching it. Glancing at him again, Youngjae spoke. "Those two decided to open up a bar, remember?" And that seemed to flick the light switch on. He now remembers. They have talked about it in their group chat. "The opening of the said bar is tonight. And they invited us. They repeated that over and over again in the group chat which you are a part of. How could you forget that, hyung?"

Youngjae sounds not only annoyed but also disappointed. He could see it in the way how the younger is frowning at him. But all Jinyoung could do was ask, "Is that tonight?" which Youngjae answered by grunting.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry if it slipped off my mind." Jinyoung just said, catching the younger's elbow as he was about to leave him alone in the kitchen. He made Youngjae turn and face him again. "When you were all talking about it, I was so damn busy with work. That's why I forgot."

Youngjae was still pouting.

"Anyway... we're coming. Right?" Jinyoung asked smiling to somehow appease the younger. "It's a good thing I came home a bit early tonight. Let's get going then?"

When he saw how Youngjae slowly loses his scowl, Jinyoung smiled wider. The younger pushes him off upon seeing his grin. "You go and prepare yourself. I was only waiting for you to get home so that we could leave."

"Oh. Is that so? Then let me just take a quick shower and then we'll get going." The younger nodded. "Is Jaebum fetching us?" Jinyoung asked.

Youngjae shakes his head. "He's called in for work today. He said he'll catch up after his shift. He promised he'll make it before midnight."

Jinyoung laughed. "He'd better. No one dares to get in a fight with Choi Youngjae." That earned him a smack in the shoulder from the younger before he sent him off to go and take a shower.

✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼

"Aye ooooh! Wassup man?" Bambam greets them as they approached the bar's counter. The Thai is standing along side his partner (and lover) Yugyeom who is also part of their circle. 

"Hyungs! Thank God you both came!" Yugyeom greeted them too, giving them a bro hug, tapping their backs.

"Of course we're here to support you both!" Youngjae said, smiling at the couple. "Jaebum hyung will arrive a little later, but he'll be here."

"I'm just here for the free food and drinks." Jinyoung remarked making the couple laugh and jab at him playfully. "But, congratulations to you guys."

After thanking them, the couple led him and Youngjae towards their booth. They sat with them and called for the waiter. Jinyoung ordered food and Youngjae ordered drinks. Bambam guaranteed that it's all free since they're vip guests. While they were eating and drinking, the four of the, talked and catch up with each other. There's not that much to catch up on however because even after they all graduated in college, they all kept in touch with one another. Yugyeom was the one who made a chatroom for all of them and since then, they talked to each other through it. It has been three years since Jinyoung has graduated, and two years for Yugyeom, Bambam and Youngjae. Jinyoung has been working as a financial consultant, while Youngjae has been working as a computer programmer. Meanwhile, Yugyeom and Bambam ventured on a business of their own and is now set to manage their own bar. Jinyoung hopes for the best.

It was around 10 pm when the couple excused theirselves to go and entertain the other guests and customers. Jinyoung and Youngjae understand the situation so they let them off. Youngjae asked him if he likes to take a look around the bar but while they were at it, the younger excused himself and said he needs to meet Jaebum by the bar's entrance. 

So now, Jinyoung is left alone.

Okay. Not really alone alone since some friends and acquaintance come up to him every once in a while. While he was walking past the dancing crowd, Jinyoung noticed the stair which leads to the second floor of the bar. He hasn't seen that part yet so thought of going and check it out. When he reached the second floor, he noticed that it's less crowded unlike the ground floor. It looks just as same and there's also a counter for drinks but smaller than that in the ground floor. Jinyoung then saw that there's a veranda and that is where he planned to go. 

He rested his hands on the railings as he looked at the view outside- Seoul at night. The cool breeze hits his face and Jinyoung closed his eyes. Seemingly, the noise coming from the loud music played from the speakers, started to die down. Now that he's outside, it's like he can't hear the noise that much anymore. And Jinyoung starts to like it more here. Staring up at the sky, he saw the peak of the Namsan Tower and he suddenly imagined how nice it would be to watch the fireworks later this midnight from this spot. He figured, he'll just bring his friends here to witness the sight with him.

Jinyoung was about to take a sip from his glass of vodka when he saw that it was already empty. Deciding to get another glass, he turned to head to the bar's counter only for his eyes to see a familiar face. For the time he's been staring, Jinyoung noticed a few things. One, he has dyed his hair purple (and never did he see the guy's hair dyed in that color or any color as loud as it. His hair color only ranges from dark brown to light brown). Second, he's gotten himself a few more piercings that he had back in college (he can't miss on that nose thud he has). Third, he's gotten tattoos. Not that much but the visible ones are found on the side of his neck and on his forearm. He's not sure if there's any hidden ones but why the heck should he wonder about that? He has changed... a bit perhaps. Jinyoung figured as he still stared at the older who is doing the same thing to him- staring. Maybe the older has changed a bit, but one thing remains the same- he still looks handsome.

The older was the first on to break the silence and the staring by uttering his name. "Jinyoung?" He saw how those eyes squinted in recognition. "Park Jinyoung from college."

From college... his mind seem to repeat. Isn't it amusing that it's how he remembered him? A guy he met in college. Jinyoung shook his head mentally as he let his name slip from his lips. "Mark Tuan." He said. "From college." 

He just used the same words to refer to the older. But his mind has another reference and suddenly, he was brought back to seven years ago.

Mark Tuan. He met him when he was in his second year in college. They were in a class together- Chemistry. Mark was a foreigner and not everyone is confident on how they speak a foreign language other than their own. When they were asked to work in pairs, no one was willing enough to pair up with Mark and when Jinyoung noticed it, he went up to the older and asked if he wants to pair up with him. After stuttering with his broken Korean words, Mark managed to say that he would like to work with him. And since then, they became closer. They always sit next to each other during class, and even hang out with each other after class. Even after they finished the sem and had no same class anymore, they still remained friends. 

"How has life been for you?" Mark asked as he offered him a bottle of beer.

The older took the initiative to get drinks for them so they could have something while they catch up on each other's lives. They're still here at the veranda, staring at the night sky. 

Jinyoung had a swig of the beer before talking. "It's fine... I think I can say that." He started. "I've been working as a financial consultant at Hong Investments. I've been with