He had no reason for being awake at such an ungodly hour. God didn’t work the late shifts, or so this is what Yukwon had chosen to believe. No, God worked during the day while the sun shone brightly on his most prized possessions, his little pawns that entertained him while he worked on fixing small problems. The man was getting old and tired. No one should’ve expected him to cure any major disease or end something like world hunger because well..There’s only so many hours in a day before the dark creeps down into the cracks of the earth, spills over the edges to the other side and crawls through streets, screams at windows, comes uninvited through the small hole you haven’t noticed in the corner of your wall and slithers to you, calling out words and ideas, thoughts and stories, memories and visions that keep you awake. Or so this is what Yukwon had chosen to believe. He didn’t know why he was awake and this was a night that no words or ideas, thoughts or stories, memories or visions were coming to him and he lay there in the dark silence of 3am wondering how he could possibly pass the time.

He rolled over on the cold sheets and sighed, contorting his face to further show his disgust at the boredom. Everyone else was asleep. The dorm was silent as it only was at night but then, he rolled over once more, was this considered night or morning? What was time anyways and who was to say the hour, minutes, seconds when it was different in each place? Somewhere in the world the sun was high and shining. Maybe he didn’t belong here, in this little town, in this little apartment, in the little bunk bed with its cold sheets. Maybe he was supposed to be there in that place where the sun was shining warmly. The birds would be chirping and people would be out and laughing, there’d be no silence or boredom if he could  be up and about, out in that sun. He wanted to be laughing right now too. Maybe he didn’t belong here. Or so this is what Yukwon had chosen to believe. The only sound he heard was empty breaths that weren’t his own and the occasional ruffle of sheets as a member had turned over. Yukwon wondered what they were dreaming about, if someone else was awake just like he was. If this was a movie, he could softly call out and maybe hear a much needed response but this wasn’t a movie. They had a long day ahead of them and he was certain everyone else knew better than to be awake at such an ungodly hour. He nodded to himself and turned over again. He should go for a walk. He should get up and go for a walk. A walk sounded much better than being in this little room, in the little bunk bed with its cold sheets. Another nod and he carefully removed the fabric that held him in place, stepped easily down the little ladder and carefully made his way to the door. “Kim Yukwon!” The runaway flinched and turned quickly towards where the voice had come from. It was a whisper that echoed through the room and it hadn’t been expected. Even in the dark Yukwon’s eyes easily found Zico’s and he gave a sheepish wave, one hand on the door handle. “Where do you think you’re going?” the younger demanded, sitting up. Yukwon looked around to make sure the others hadn’t woken up as well before turning back, “For a walk. Do you want to come?” It seemed as if time had paused, not that Yukwon knew what time really was, before Zico made his decision and nodded, removing himself from his own little bunk bed with it’s presumably cold sheets and followed the runaway out into the living room, closing the door as quietly as it’d been opened.

Zico coughed and shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets as they rounded a corner. “Why were you still up anyways?” he asked, looking over at his counterpart. Yukwon shrugged and smiled, “I really don’t know. What about you?” The younger one mimicked the shrug and looked ahead at the empty street. “I had a weird feeling like I needed to be awake for some reason.” Yukwon laughed, “You’re weird.” “Says the one who was sneaking out of the dorm at 3am to go for a walk.” Zico retorted, giving the runaway a slight shove. Yukwon looked up at the stars and a silence fell between them as they continued their journey that had no set destination, anywhere but home. “You and Minhyuk..” the younger started slowly, removing a hand from his jacket to adjust his hat. “Why do you guys do so much fanservice? Don’t you think it’s starting to get a bit..” “As if it’s real?” Yukwon finished, turning to his friend. Zico nodded and pulled the hat lower, giving another cough. “No. Not at all. Fanservice is all it is, you know? It’s part of the job I guess. Pyo and Taeil do the same and if you ask me they’re a bit more obvious with theirs.” Yukwon didn’t think fanservice was a big deal at all. It gave the fans something to hold on to, something to keep their interest in the group when they couldn’t be there for live performances or if the group was on break. These ‘ships’, he’d read up about them, were what held a large part of the ‘fandom’ together. Or so this is what Yukwon had chosen to believe. It made the fanservice easier to do and it became fun for him. It was the same as performing, it was just giving the fans what they wanted to see, what they wanted to hear. It was a service and it was free. Why not? “Fans seem to respond very well to you two. There’s also a lot of other..uhm..I don’t really know the name for it but..Other uhm..kind of pairings that aren’t talked about as much but exist. Do you think it would be good for us to play those up a bit too?” Zico asked carefully, trying to find his words. He kicked a rock in his way as they rounded another corner, coming into a small market area that was just barely buzzing. Mostly ahjumma’s and ahjussi’s setting up for their morning sales. It must’ve been around 4 by now but it made sense to be getting ready early he supposed, the work hour started as early as 5. “Like what?” Yukwon asked. Zico bit his lip and shrugged again, “You know like..like Pyo and Kyung or..Jaehyo and Taeil or..me and you..you know..” Raising an eyebrow, the runaway stopped walking and looked at his friend, giving a short laugh. “Me and you?” Zico looked around frantically as if Yukwon had said some deep secret they’d been hiding for years, quickly stepping closer and tilting his head down. “Shh, yeah. It’s..they call it..they call it ZiKwon I think.” “And you want this to be one of the ones we ‘play up’ more?” Zico pouted and turned his back on the runaway, continuing his walk. “It was just a suggestion.” Yukwon blushed at the idea and hurried to catch up to his friend, taking the youngers cold hand in his.

Zico blinked and looked down at the sudden skinship before meeting Yukwon’s soft eyes. “It’s a good suggestion, it was sudden is all. You’re just not allowed to fall for me ok?” Zico rolled his eyes, “Did you make Minhyuk promise this too?” The runaway shook his head, “I’m certain I could handle him falling for me. But you..” Zico stopped walking, waiting for the end of the sentence. When it didn’t come and Yukwon focused on the stalls being setup rather than the conversation he’d abandoned, Zico spoke up. “What about me?” Yukwon turned back and the change in his eyes was noticeable. “If you fell for me, I’d want to catch you.” The silence that was banished earlier had been brought back as the two stared at each other. It must’ve been around 4:30 now and the wind was picking up, blowing ponytails to the side and table cloths up in twirls as merchants set their goods out for display. “But a want isn’t a need, right?” Zico asked quietly, his stomach turning. Yukwon looked up at the sky, up at the stars that were beginning to fade, and sighed. “Your love, should it be aimed at me, would then be a need, Jiho.” “What kind of need?” Yukwon let go of the youngers hand and began walking again, almost annoyed when he caught up. “What kind of need, Yukwon?” Zico repeated. No answer came and the wind blew more wildly than it had before, knocking the runaways hood off, his red hair blowing freely. Grabbing his wrist, Zico pulled the older one around sharply and made sure their eyes were locked before speaking. “What was keeping you awake?” Hadn’t he said before that he didn’t know? There was no reason for Yukwon being awake. There were no words or ideas, thoughts or stories, memories or visions. Or so this is what Yukwon had chosen to believe but he knew the truth. He knew all those words and ideas, thoughts and stories, memories and visions had been about his leader. He knew he couldn’t sleep because the idea of the younger one loving him back was so incredibly warm to him and he was so incredibly cold in the little apartment, in the little bunk bed with it’s cold sheets. He wanted so desperately to be warm that being out in the cold seemed the best way to counteract his silly feelings. Maybe all this read on his face, maybe he’d uttered these words out loud because it had somehow seemingly gotten through to Zico and Yukwon only had time to blink before warm lips crashed against his. Warm, he repeated in his mind. Warm. All he wanted was to be warm. He didn’t know what was going on, if time had stopped, if he was dreaming and if God had awoken early and worked magic for the runaway but it didn’t matter as he kissed back, wrapping his arms around the youngers neck. Their surroundings had been forgotten and it wasn’t until a few low whistles and laughs rang out that they parted. “So, ZiKwon huh?” Yukwon grinned coyly, removing his arms. Zico nodded and took the runaways hand in his, beginning the walk home. “Doesn’t sound too bad does it?” “Not at all.”

Yukwon’s sheets were warm when he returned. The air outside had proved even colder than his sheets and thus coming back to them felt nice. Maybe it was the butterflies in his stomach, anticipating the kind of fanservice he would get to show with the leader tomorrow but that wasn’t a possibility he needed to dwell on. He’d never get to sleep if he imagined too much. He began to analyze each sentence Zico had spoken to him, looking for hidden meanings and not believing anything he came up with. He wouldn’t believe what happened no matter how many times it replayed in his head or how tingly his lips felt. Tonight hadn’t happened, no, time was certainly a bold thing. Morning. This morning hadn’t happened or so Yukwon had chosen to believe. “Kwonnie?” came a whisper from across the room, slowly but loud enough to echo. Yukwon looked over at the leaders bunk, waiting for what was coming next. “Tomorrow, if there’s any U-Bomb, I’ll kill you.” and with that he turned his back on the runaway and Yukwon thought this was very ‘diva’ of him and giggled, rolling back over to face the ceiling. Yes. This morning had happened. Yes. Time was something important, and yes, there had been a reason Yukwon was awake at such an ungodly hour. 

A/N: WOW I'M SORRY I KNOW, WHAT THE HELL EVEN IS THIS I KNOW I'M SORRY OK IT'S LIKE 5AM NOW BE GENTLE. Maybe I'll rewrite this later, it could be a hell of a lot better. /s0bs