“What are you going to do this time?” Minho asked, leaning back on the couch with his boyfriend Taemin tucked securely under his arm, a concerned expression on his face.

Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, seated in the recliner in their shared apartment, Jonghyun groaned and scratched his head with both hands in frustration.  “I don’t know yet,” he grumbled, turning to smacking his cheeks with open hands as a mild form of self-punishment.  Not even a couple weeks after he’d borrowed money from Jinki, he’d run out of it again and gone in the red, having to rely on the house for a loan…  Now they were asking for the funds back and he knew there was going to be a load of interest involved.

“Maybe you can just ask Jinki again?” Taemin offered, sitting up slightly, soft red hair attractively mussed.  It appeared as if he’d just woken up from up a nap, though it was an oft achieved look just by his being him…  Neither of the two ever really achieved very attractive bed hair and undoubtedly, the youngest looked best with it anyway, so they usually just let him have that victory with no complaint.

“No,” Jonghyun stated quickly, gesturing with both hands in a negative motion.  “I promised them both I wouldn’t and I will not go back on my word.”

“But you promised him you’d get the money too,” Minho reminded him gently, clearly uncomfortable with the situation they were in.  The owner of the gambling den was not one that you played games with or made wait unnecessarily.  Things tended to happen when he got impatient and though it had only been a few days since he’d requested a return on his loan, Jonghyun had yet to come through.

Wordlessly, Jonghyun groaned again and slumped back in the chair, arms resting limply against his legs.  “Yeah.  I did…  Okay, so what can I do then?” he asked aloud, jumping back to his feet as his eyes scoured the apartment for anything of his that he might be able to hock for additional funds.

They all remained drearily silent as they saw the same thing; what could be sold had already been, leaving little left to work with.  He wasn’t going to ask to sell any of their items and even if they offered, he wouldn’t accept them.  “I don’t suppose finding a job would help right now?” Taemin offered weakly, frowning when even that sounded poor given the time restraint.

“I’ve got nothing left,” Jonghyun wailed in defeat, plopping back down and running his fingers through his hair, gripping the strands tightly in despair.

“Not quite,” Minho sighed, looking out the front window to where their vehicles were parked, a pained grimace on his face.

“Argh!  Not my baby!” Jonghyun cried, rushing over to stare at the shiny jaguar sitting next to the sidewalk, freshly waxed finish gleaming in the dying sun.

“Okay.  Not the car, but what else are you going to use?” Taemin asked, holding tighter to Minho’s arm for comfort.  Watching the slow but gradual decline of their friend had been hard and was harder every day, but neither of them knew how to help him short of digging him out of his own hole, which neither of them could afford.  While he refused to tell them how much money he’d lost, they knew it wasn’t mere chump change.

Pouting miserably, Jonghyun turned around and shuffled back to his chair, throwing himself despondently into its embrace.  “My poor car…” he sighed, covering his eyes with his arm and leaning his head back.

Taemin and Minho looked at each other with worried frowns on their faces.  Distractedly, the red head picked at his boyfriend’s short black hair, sorting out the stray pieces just to give him something else to do.  “I’ve heard the Auto Trader has pretty good luck with selling vehicles on short notice,” Minho offered after the uncomfortable silence lengthened.  It wasn’t the solution any of them wanted but it was the only one he could offer.

Reluctantly, Jonghyun pulled out his phone from his pocket and Googled the name, trying to find a number.  “Bleh…” he sighed, hefting his frame up and shuffling back to his room while he waited for the number to connect.  “Just so you know, this ,” he called back over his shoulder, holding the phone away from his ear before he shut the door behind him.

“We know,” Minho and Taemin agreed in tandem as they leaned forward and then fell back against the couch when Jonghyun disappeared out of sight.

“Do you think he’ll be alright?” Taemin asked worriedly, turning to throw his legs over the taller male’s lap, resting his head against his shoulder.

“I hope so, Taeminnie,” Minho murmured, placing his lips against the red hair warmly.  “I really hope so,” he sighed, wrapping his arms around the more slender frame and holding him close.

A week later, Jonghyun bid goodbye to his car, just short of tears as he accepted the underpriced lump sum of cash, swallowing the shreds of his pride.  He’d priced his car at just under ten grand and he’d accepted a paltry six for it.  “Okay, guys.  I’ve got the money for rent and I should have enough to break even…I think,” he murmured uncertainly, carefully counting the bills out of their line of sight.

“Jonghyun…” Minho sighed, shoulders drooping at his friend’s tone.

Immediately, he waved away the taller man’s concern and put on a bright smile instead, “It’s fine.  I’ve got this.  Now, you guys should just go on and head out like you planned to for the weekend.  I’ll just get a cab to take me there.  I’ve got enough to cover that at least.”

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Taemin asked in concern, stepping close and placing a hand on the shorter male’s shoulder, soft brown eyes searching his face intently.

“Feh.  Since when have I not?” he responded, gently removing the hand and clapping Taemin on the arm.  “Seriously guys.  You’ve been planning this for weeks and I don’t want you to worry about anything.”

Minho and Taemin looked at each other and shrugged.  They had been planning their getaway for weeks now and the mountain trip had been a highlight they could look forward to from the get go.  While they were mostly packed already, they’d just been waiting to hear how things were going to end up with Jonghyun before they were entirely ready to cast off the lines and set sail, as it were.  Of course, now that they had an answer, they weren’t so sure they wanted to leave him be…

Minho approached him and ruffled the spiky black hair, earning him a grimace from his friend as he swatted the offending hand away.  “Well, you know our numbers and you damn well better call us if anything comes up.  Neh?” he asked seriously.

“Minho,” Jonghyun groaned, laughing off the paternal interest nonchalantly.

“Seriously, Jong,” Taemin joined in, stepping closer to his boyfriend and grasping his hand in both of his.

The shortest waved at them dismissively and finally nodded in acceptance.  “Alright.  If anything does happen, which it won’t, I’ll give you guys a call.”

“Good,” Taemin beamed, exuding his usual exuberance as he bounced in place on the balls of his feet.  “This is going to be so much fun,” he giggled, pulling on Minho’s arm lightly, reminiscent of a small child.

Patiently, the taller smiled and nodded back at Taemin, running his fingers through the flowing hair in a gentle caress.  “Calm down,” he chuckled, pulling him close and sliding his arm around his waist instead.  “We won’t be heading out until tomorrow morning anyway.”

“I know!  Why don’t we all go out for dinner tonight?” Taemin asked, giving puppy dog eyes to Minho who pursed his lips and then quirked his mouth to the side, well aware of what the outcome would be already.

“No,” Jonghyun laughed immediately.  “I’ll just get some ramen or something,” he explained rather offhandedly.

“Come on,” Taemin insisted, turning the puppy dog eyes on Jonghyun, who grumbled at the highly effective technique, and nudged Minho in the ribs with his elbow.

The taller male coughed distractedly and tried to hide his smile behind his fist as he added, “Don’t be like that, Jong.  It’ll be my treat,” he chuckled, relishing the resultant hug and kiss on the cheek he earned from an excited Taemin.

Hesitantly acceptant, Jonghyun looked up from under his bangs and quirked one brow in inquiry, “You sure?”

“I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t,” the taller promised simply.

“So what are we waiting for?” Taemin asked, pulling free to grab Jonghyun by the hand and then snag Minho’s arm as he walked back towards the front door.  “Let’s go already!” he cheered, quite happy with the result.

“Where are we going anyway?” Jonghyun asked as he slid into the backseat of Minho’s dark blue Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV, which was also the vehicle they’d be taking to the mountains.  It carried more and was more comfortable in longer hauls than Taemin’s yellow Suzuki, though often times he opted to drive them around town in it.

Minho shrugged and glanced to his left where his boyfriend was happily shifting from side to side in his seat, “Any preference?”

“Nope!” Taemin giggled, turning to look back at Jonghyun directly, hands perched on either shoulder rest.  “Where would you like to go?”

Like his taller companion, Jonghyun shrugged but grinned, “Somewhere that doesn’t have noodles.  I think I’ll be eating them a lot before too long,” he tilted his head to the side, trying to be positive despite the circumstances.

“Fair enough,” Minho agreed, easing onto the street and driving away, steering until someone pointed him towards whatever struck their fancy.

Over dinner, where Jonghyun was quite satisfied by a juicy steak, which he’d basically been lambasted into ordering by the couple since he wouldn’t have by himself, the trio laughed and enjoyed each other’s company.  They shared a bottle of white wine between them just because they could and Taemin happily ordered dessert when Minho caved quickly, unable to resist his pout.

“Thanks for tonight,” Jonghyun smiled when they got back home and had settled themselves in their usual spots in the living room, with himself in the recliner and the couple on the couch.

“Of course,” Minho nodded, reclining slightly with Taemin already resting peacefully against him, nestled in between the couch and his boyfriend’s taller frame, a soft smile on his face.

“You’re our friend,” he murmured sleepily, cracking one eye to peer at the shorter male leaning back in his chair, his hand resting lightly upon Minho’s chest.

“I know, but still.  Thank you.  And I hope you both have an awesome time this weekend,” he grinned, giving them a salute as he leaned forward, the effect slightly forced.

“Only if you take care of yourself here, Jonghyun,” Minho warned in a quiet tone.

“I will!” he responded quickly, smacking the arms of the chair with both hands, the sound lost on the cushions.  “When you get back on Sunday night, everything will be sorted out and we’ll be good to go,” he promised, leaning forward to fish out the funds he’d forgotten to get them for rent.  “Did you…  Um, could you guys drop rent off on the way out?” he asked, stopping short of offering to take care of it himself when he remembered he no longer had a ride.

“Sure, Jong.  We can get that,” Taemin agreed with a sleepy smile, sitting up and nodding in approval.  “Come on, Minho.  We’ve got an early start for us tomorrow,” the younger urged, gently tugging at his boyfriend’s shirt to pull him up.

“If you insist,” he smiled, standing up first and offering his hand to the other politely.  “You’ll probably still be sleeping by the time we head out,” he spoke at the still seated roommate.  “In case we don’t see you in the morning, good luck tomorrow and enjoy your weekend too.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Jonghyun promised as he waved at them, grinning harder when Taemin stopped to wave both hands at him in goodnight.  He laughed outright when Minho simply picked up the younger male and hauled him off to the bedroom bridal style.

“Let’s go sleepy head,” the taller chuckled, offering Jonghyun a reserved smile as he closed the door behind them.

As expected, the duo were gone by the time Jonghyun woke up in the morning and he spent it slowly getting himself together and ready to meet with the owner of the gambling den he frequented.  Uselessly, he paced in the living room, chewing on his thumbnail as he internally bashed himself for his bad habit.  Bad enough that he’d borrowed two thousand from Jinki, the majority of which he’d used to pay back what he’d borrowed from the house, but worse still that he’d lost that and had then actually accepted their ‘loaner’ offer of funds to gamble with.

“You’re an idiot,” he reminded himself for the umpteenth time.  A couple thousand would have been a fairly bad loss but he’d been positive that day that he could win…and win big.  So he’d foolishly borrowed five grand but everyone knew it wasn’t just as simple as paying back what you borrowed.  He just wasn’t sure how much more they’d be asking for.  “Well…  Let’s get this over with,” he murmured softly, retrieving the envelope of bills and calling for a cab to come pick him up.

(a/n: Okay, I know I said I wasn't going to post until I had a poster (no worries primadonna - take your time!  ^_^) but I wanted to go ahead and put something up anyway.  If I have the words, why not go with them?  ;)  Hopefully it was a good read at any rate.  I was debating upping the borrowed amount of funds but not sure yet...  I'll have to get back to you on that.  Thanks for reading and look forward to the next update!)