“AISH!!” JaeJoong rolled over on the hardwood floor. “One day, I just wanna throttle that idiot! Getting me in trouble and dumping his stupid work on me!”

“Hyung, you’re in my way. I need to cross there and then… hmmm…”

Kim JunSu froze where he stood as he pondered his next move. JaeJoong, however, made no attempt to get out of the way for his friend and continued to sulk face-down on the floor.

JaeJoong happened upon JunSu a few months past. At the time, JaeJoong had been evicted from the third-rate apartment that he was living in due to his less than third-rate paychecks that couldn’t keep up with the third-rate rent. Grumpy from having to sleep in the break room for weeks at the station, JaeJoong was planning on writing JunSu a hefty ticket merely for jaywalking. However, JunSu offered him the other bed above the studio in exchange for dropping the frivolous citation.

JunSu frowned. “Come on, hyung. I wanna practice!”

“Tch, fine.” JaeJoong rolled along the floor until he hit the wall. “I wish I was out on the street already… I’m tired of being behind a desk…”

Even though he graduated from the police academy two years before, JaeJoong had yet to do anything that could be merited of a police officer. If he told a grade-schooler what he did at work, the child would think he worked in a law office. Often, he blamed his bad luck for his lack of promotions; more frequently often, he blamed his senior, Park “JunJin” ChoongJae, for adding to his bad luck.

JunSu stopped abruptly in the middle of his routine. “Ah, hyung! I just remembered! The studio payment is due next week.”

“…crap… How many people have we rented out to this month?” JaeJoong lifted his head.

“Er… we only had three high-school groups and a small, semi-pro group…”

He dropped his head on the hardwood floor in defeat. “Crap. My salary will barely make it…”

Plopping down on the floor in similar defeat, JunSu pouted. “Looks like it’s gonna be another ramen month.”

The two roomed together above – or often, inside – a dance studio. Between JaeJoong’s meager police salary and JunSu’s occasional part-time wares, there wasn’t enough in their budget to live in such a place. Due to a friend’s suggestion, though, they started renting out the studio to whoever needed or wanted the space.

Sadly, the main source of revenue came from small, high-school groups meeting once or twice to practice one routine for nothing worth noting.

“Ah… The atmosphere seems really heavy…” a new voice murmured.

Both guys looked to the only door into the studio as a younger face peeked in. He paused at the door, wondering if he should walk in or not, large eyes darting between the two in the studio.

“Ah, it’s the mental patient,” JaeJoong grunted.

JunSu fought down a smirk. “Oh, JongHyun, what’s up?”

There was no deep side story for Kim JongHyun. In summary, he was the persistent by-product of a failed high-school dance team who thought JaeJoong and JunSu wanted him as their best friend.

“Eh?! I’m not a mental patient!” JongHyun protested, stepping inside.

JaeJoong groaned as he slowly got up. “You sure act like one. Have you seen yourself when you dance?”

One side of JongHyun’s upper lip slightly went up. “I don’t act like a mental patient.”

“Whatever. Are you freeloading or are you gonna pay up?”

“Eh?! Why do I have to pay?! I’m just hanging out!”

“Rates might have to go up,” JunSu said reluctantly. “But then if we up the rate, people might not wanna come here… awww…” He fell over onto his side.

“Surely you have better things to do than hang out with depressed, old men,” JaeJoong said to JongHyun, jabbing at him with his foot. “Go home and do some chores.”

“Ehhh why?! I just got here!” He paused. “You’re not that much older than I am, either.”

“Save your compliments. Get out, go. Go home.”

JaeJoong stood and pushed him to the door. Passing through the doorframe, he was about to turn towards the front door when he stopped.

“Ah, crap!” He wheeled JongHyun around and shoved him towards the back exit that led to the alleyway. “Hurry up, hurry up!”

“Eh? Why? What?” JongHyun looked over his shoulder to see what was going on.

They burst through the door as the hinge banged open to the cool, night air. JongHyun stumbled out onto the cement. He looked over to JaeJoong.

“What was that all about?” he demanded. “Why do I have to walk through this creepy alleyway?”

“Mina was out there,” JaeJoong replied breathlessly. “I’m sure she’s gonna try to get her stupid job back.”

“What, your old receptionist?” JongHyun stared at him for a bit. “…can you guys really not afford anything?”

“No. We have a payment due next week, and no one’s been coming around. We can’t afford little leeches like you taking up our space for free.”

“Well, what happened to your job? Cops get paid too!” JongHyun turned to leave.

JaeJoong sneered. “Yeah, sure. Cops get paid. Get out of here. Go home. And watch out for the ditch right there.”

“Where?”

JongHyun tripped over the ditch, stumbling a few steps and catching himself. He looked over his shoulder only to see JaeJoong laughing silently. He grinned despite the miniscule loss of his pride and trotted down the alley.

JaeJoong sighed and brushed his bangs out of his face. “Aish… what to do now…”

A hand clamped down over JaeJoong’s mouth and nose while the other hand grabbed on his wrist. Startled, he tried to pry off the hand over his mouth, but it didn’t budge. The person started to drag him back into the building.

JaeJoong’s thoughts whirled through his head at high speed. JunSu is still in there… He might’ve let Mina in… He tried to keep the person from getting to the studio, but as much as he fought, the stranger kept on his path.

The studio door opened. JunSu was lying in the same position on the floor as when JaeJoong had left him. Hearing the door, he rolled over.

“Hyung, should we go eat or – ” He stopped abruptly and jumped to his feet, eyes going wide. “Who are you?!”

JaeJoong finally saw the stranger holding him through the mirrors along the walls of the room… kind of. The only visible skin was the guy’s neck; he wore huge sunglasses – even though the sun had been down for at least an hour – with a sick mask over the rest of his face. A cap was low over his forehead. Even his hands were concealed by leather gloves.

He released JaeJoong’s wrist and held a finger up to his lips… mask. He turned to shut the door behind him, and then he released JaeJoong. JaeJoong spun around, gasping.

“Who are you?!” he demanded.

“Calm down,” the stranger replied. He pulled the mask, the sunglasses, and the cap off. “There. Not a mystery anymore, right?”

JunSu registered the identity much faster than JaeJoong did.

He ran up to the stranger and locked him in a bear hug. “HYUNG! You’re back!” he almost shouted.

“Would you hush?!” He pried JunSu from his waist. “I’m sure I still have stalkers outside!”

Something small clicked in JaeJoong’s head. “Ah… you look familiar.”

“Eh? I thought you met YunHo, hyung. Or…” JunSu turned to the stranger called YunHo. “When was the last time you were here?”

He pondered. “I think it was… last March? It’s been a while.”

“Ohhh, well then JaeJoong moved in the summer. This is Jung YunHo.”

YunHo nodded. “Yo. Sorry I was strangling you earlier.”

JaeJoong jerked into an awkward bow. “Ah, uh, no problem. But I was sure I’ve seen you somewhere else…”

Both JunSu and YunHo slowly looked to one corner of the mirrored walls. Confused, JaeJoong followed their gaze. Along the walls, various posters were tacked up; most were dance competitions that had come and gone. One in particular showed three guys in a dramatic pose with bold text scattered crazily along the bottom. The one in the center was…

“AH! You’re part of Dong Bang Shin Ki?!” JaeJoong yelped.

“I am,” YunHo replied with a grin, fence-white teeth flashing. “You know us?”

“Well… One of my coworkers is always talking about how his daughter goes on and on about DBSK. She had him drain one of his paychecks for you one time.”

“Oh yeah? Where do you work?”

JaeJoong scuffed the floor with his foot and mumbled, “Ehhh down at the municipal office…”

“Say what?”

“Hyung!” JunSu broke in. “Where’s HyukJae? Or DongHae? They didn’t come with you?”

YunHo shrugged nonchalantly. “They fell asleep on the bus, and they wouldn’t wake up when it was our stop, so I got off without them.”

“Eh?!”

“Anyway, you don’t care if we rent out the place for a while, do you? We have more shows coming up, and we have to stock up on new routines.

“Ehhh, but then we’d have to block everyone out for however long you’re gonna be here…” JunSu’s face scrunched up in thought. “I don’t know…”

“Hah, please. I can assure you I’m paying a hundred times over what your little high schoolers have been scraping up for you. Think of the waffles~”

JunSu suddenly turned to JaeJoong, eyes glittering. “Hyung! We’re gonna close down the studio for a while, okay?!”

“Eh?! Over waffles?!”