"Lee Howon, Lee Howon...," Kikwang repeated it silently as he stared at the guy sitting right across. He was confused - why was he here? Wasn't he supposed to be still...in there?

"I was released yesterday," Hoya said curtly as his coffee arrived, and he finished half the cup without hesitation, "what about you? I didn't see you around for about a month."

Kikwang seemed uncomfortable about breaching whatever topic they were talking about, and L.Joe could tell. He watched as Kikwang's fingers tapped lightly on the cup in a random manner, and a corner of his mouth twitched downwards.

"I came out earlier." 

Kikwang cleared his throat and looked out of the window, not knowing what else to say. Hoya knew too much - and yet too little - about him, and that part of his history was something he didn't want to dig up again.

"I was betrayed by my own best friend. Her glib tongue landed me in jail as a scapegoat for her crimes. The funny things that guys will do for girls."

Hoya looked at Kikwang who snapped his head back to face him, as though willing him to look back at him straight in the eyes, to which Kikwang couldn't refuse.

"And the funny things that guys won't do for girls." Kikwang murmured, and Lee Joon's sharp ears picked his words up. He knew all too well what Kikwang meant, but he remained just as silent as L.Joe did as the both of them silently drank their coffee.

The four of them remained silent, only interrupted once in a while by the slurping of coffee or by the laughter and giggles from Jinwoon and the girls. They were forming judgments of one other - yes, it was innate for anyone to do so - and none of them were quite sure what all of them were actually like beneath that image they attempt to portray. 

L.Joe played DBSK's Hug that was playing in the cafe earlier in his head to clear his confused mind; Joon stared at his coffee as though it was the most interesting thing in the world; Kikwang fiddled with his sleeve, and Hoya stared blatantly at all three of them. It was strange, how the four of them seemed to be in a silent trance, a world of their own as they thought about their problems and instinctively felt the connection between them, one which they weren't quite sure what to make of.

ing his sleeve, Kikwang slowly rolled it up as the three of them watched intently, only to see one of the most feared marks in Korea.

"I-I guess this is who I was."

Kikwang was breathing so slowly and deeply that the other three found themselves doing the same as they observed the tattoo that branded him as a member of one of the most notorious gangs in Korea. 

"Thank you for getting me to face the past again, but from now on, I would rather bury it and move on from there."

The rest of the afternoon rolled by slowly as Jinwoon eventually moved back to the table after the girls had left, and five of them finished up their coffees at the same time. As though in synchronization, they pushed their empty cups aside and got up from their chairs.

L.Joe would have been intimidated by how tall the rest of the table were, but somehow he felt a strange sense of comfort with them although he hadn't spoken a word. The exchange between Hoya and Kikwang (his good memory never failed him, not once) had left a deep impression on him. He was alittle sad not to have engaged in a proper conversation with these two men who had as dark a past as he had, but if they were fated to be friends, then he would meet them again soon.

Joon involuntarily flexed his biceps, and he saw a look of admiration on Jinwoon's face. He hadn't done it on purpose, he swore. They were an interesting table all right, but the last thing he wanted to do was form friendships with people who would peel off that tough layer of his and reveal the gentle - no, scratch that - weak side of him, one that he tried so hard to hide.

To him, gentleness equated to weakness.

That was what Yeon Seo had taught him, and it was a lesson he could never forget.

Leaving the cafe one by one, they headed in different directions, just as how their life had been - different.

 L.Joe stopped in his tracks, and turned back to run after Joon.

"Hey."

His voice was surprisingly gentle, and Joon wondered if he was just like him, and at that thought a small smile appeared on his face.

"The song playing in the cafe," L.Joe panted a little as he tried to catch his breath, "it was DBSK's Hug. You kept looking at the speakers, I guessed you were interested in the song but you didn't know the song title because you looked like a lost lamb back there." 

Giving a small smirk. L.Joe pushed his nerd glasses back up the bridge of his nose and walked away, leaving Joon in awe, and, of course, gratitude. 

Maybe their directions in life weren't so different after all.