Hongseok was a fine man, with a fine living, with a fine job, and with a fine family. In fact, there is nothing more that he could ask for in this world, except for something-- just something that he himself didn’t even know.

 

He runs a lot of arcade shops, because somehow, the loud machinery distracts him from over thinking about the things that he could’ve done and shouldn’t do. The beeping noise stops his mind from blowing off neon blinking lights, and blocks his ear from hearing his whispers and moans.

 

He loves the fact that students come into the four corners of the room he bought and spend their allowances as if games like these would bring them a step closer to their dreams and goals.

 

He had friends, he had a home, he had a dream, he was perfect.

 

There was nothing people could ask more from him, because he was the ideal.

 

So when two men submitted their application forms to his counter, his eyes perked up to look at their faces and analyze them. They weren't what he expected them to become.

 

“Did you assume that I am hiring?” He asked to the unsettling eyes of the two shorter men in front of him.

 

They looked like they were desperate for something. They looked like they were there not because of their volition, but because they were coerced to be there.

 

“You looked like you needed help,” the shortest man replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

 

Hongseok couldn’t muster up the force to chuckle because even if those remarks were meant to be laughed about and brushed off, the words resonated inside him and struck him where it hurts the most.

 

“I needed help?” Hongseok repeated as his eyes travelled from the shorter to the other that has a wide grin plastered on his face without faltering.

 

This was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

 

Hongseok’s hands searched for the stack of paper that these two men in front of him gave him. His fingers trembled at the edges and his eyes read the basic information attached on the first page of the resume.

 

Kang Hyunggu. Yeo Changgu. Hongseok whispered and thought strangely of their names.

 

“Sorry for his foul mouth, he sometimes needed a beating,” the goofy one reached out to Hongseok’s arm and tapped it.

 

“I noticed,” Hongseok mumbled and let his eyes scan the paper before returning his gaze towards the foul-mouthed.

 

“You’re Hyunggu?” Hongseok asked towards the brunette that frantically scans the place from side to side, even to the farthest corner of it.

 

Hyunggu beamed up and nodded at Hongseok after letting himself get distracted by the lights.

 

“If I asked you to clean the machines, would you agree to it?” Hongseok waited for Hyunggu’s reply, meanwhile Changgu was leaning towards the counter and flicked Hyunggu’s forehead with his fingers.

 

“Yea, sure, I like it dirty,” Hyunggu responded and broke off his linking arms with Changgu before running towards the certain corner of the room where his feet would be used the most.

 

With confusion that rose on Hongseok’s head, he looked over at Changgu who still had his eyes glued on to Hyunggu and watched his every movement, but unlike to what he witnessed earlier, Changgu’s smile wasn’t as goofy, it was a sad one.

 

“He sometimes acts like a kid, I’m really sorry for that,” Changgu mumbled without looking at Hongseok that bit his lips.

 

“Are you like his guardian? Or friend--”

 

“His family was poor, so he left them and lived by his small money,” Changgu started speaking and turned his face over at Hongseok whose eyes were widened and mouth agape. His hand reached at the corner of his counter and used it to balance himself while his eyes could no longer break the gaze with Changgu.

 

“He’s a good kid, I know,” Hongseok witnessed the shift of Changgu’s eyes to darker and his lips forming a frown, “I know because I was with him then.”

 

Before Hongseok could reply, the blasting music of dance revolution echoed inside the room and annoyed a handful of students residing inside that colorful place. As soon as their eyes saw where it came from, their heads snapped towards that direction and watched every movement that Hyunggu was performing.

 

“He’s the most beautiful when he’s dancing,” Changgu remarked as he let himself get devoured by the way Hyunggu snaps his arms to the beat and moves his feet gracefully to the rhythm.

 

It was indeed a beauty. Hongseok thought.

 

Hongseok’s eyes were glued to Hyunggu, and Changgu was the first one to notice that. It was just like how he came to the conclusion of protecting Hyunggu-- he may be a mean, foul-mouthed kid that he shows to the people, but he’s not just that.

 

“Why are you here?” Hongseok’s words were slow mouthed and almost stuttered, but Changgu was still able to make a sentence out of it.

 

“I just want him to continue dancing,” Changgu’s words were almost lullaby. His voice was very smooth and his eyes were very meaningful. Even if the blinking lights defer the emotions that Changgu’s eyes speak to Hongseok, they are evident.

 

“And what do you do?” 

 

“I shine.”

 

Hongseok ran a hand through his hair and finally broke off the lingering stare between him and Changgu. The same time that he released the breath that he didn’t know he was holding, was the same time that Hyunggu ran to Changgu and hugged him.

 

“Hyung! I did it!” Hyunggu exclaimed.

 

Hongseok inwardly smiles and watches Changgu mess the hair of the younger, and though Changgu’s eyes shifted from dark to the brightest it could give, Hongseok realized that those who shine are the darkest most of the time.

 

And when he had everything in this world to live a beautiful life, the missing pieces of the something that he was longing for was coming together and forming a chunk, “Work anytime you want, just tell me when.”