Lunch was an uncomfortable affair for Sanghyun as Mir kept sending furtive glances at him, making him squirm in his seat and wish he wasn’t there.

As soon as they left the restaurant, he returned home, after giving the others a half-hearted excuse about homework, and Dara getting worried.

When he returned home, he found his sister in the living room with a guest, so he tried to sneak up to his room, trying to make as less noise as possible. Unfortunately, Dara had noticed him, and called up to him.

“Hey, Sanghyun, how’s your friend?” she asked, looking over her guest’s head.

“He’s fine, noona,” he replied. “He got out of the hospital, and then we went for lunch.”

At that moment, Dara’s guest turned around, and Sanghyun’s eyes widened.

“Joonie hyung?” he said, disbelievingly.

“Hello,” Joon said, in a cold tone.

“I—What are you doing here?” Sanghyun asked, feeling awkward.

“Dara noona invited me for lunch.”

“N-no, I mean, here, in Korea? I thought you’d come back in October.”

“Something came up.”

The three of them stood in an uncomfortable silence, Dara looking back and forth between them, as if trying to figure out what had happened before Joon left for America.

Sanghyun looked at Joon, feeling guilty over how much of a brat he had been before he left. He wanted to apologize, so they could be best friends again.

The moment Sanghyun opened his mouth to apologize, Joon turned to Dara and cut him off.

“I thought you said he’d be gone the whole day.”

Sanghyun closed his mouth, and a renewed wave of anger hit him.

Forget apologizing, I’m never talking to this jerk again.

“Joon!” Dara exclaimed. She turned to look at Sanghyun, but he was already stomping up to his room.

In the heat of anger, Sanghyun grabbed a duffel bag from his closet and started throwing clothes into it. Once it was full, he zipped it up and went downstairs. Joon was still there. Dara stood before him, hissing angrily at him. She looked up at Sanghyun when she heard him come down.

“Where are you going?” she asked, noticing the bag.

“Away from here,” he said, and walked away.

“Sanghyun,” Dara called after him, catching up with him as he put on his shoes. “What is going on with Joon? Last night I asked him and—”

“You knew he was back and you didn’t tell me?”

“He asked me not to.”

Shaking his head, Sanghyun grabbed his bag from where he had dropped it on the floor and left the house.

He wandered around the city, not really knowing where to go. He went into a cafe when his legs started to hurt from walking too much.

As he sat there, sipping on a capuccino, he tried to think about what had happened. He hadn’t expected Joon would still be angry over what had happened when he left and he couldn’t believe Dara had hid Joon’s return from him. He could have gone to talk to him to fix things instead of suffering two hours of tortuous lunch with the Bang siblings.

He didn’t want to go back home. He had turned off his phone after Dara’s third call. He was sure if she knew Seungho’s or Byunghee’s phone numbers, she would be calling them.

Maybe I can stay with the hyungs for tonight, he thought as he finished his coffee. Grabbing his bag, he left the coffee shop and walked toward Seungho’s apartment building. He decided to walk the stairs instead of taking the elevator, since he felt he needed to gather all his courage to ask them to let him stay. He reached their floor sooner than he had thought he would, so with slow steps he walked towards the apartment.

Taking a deep breath, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“So, that’s why I’m here.”

Seungho and Byunghee had looked slightly alarmed when he had suddenly appeared at their doorstep, announcing he had run away from home. Byunghee had ushered him in, and after making him sit in the living room, he had demanded to know what had happened.

“Didn’t you overreact a little?” Byunghee asked when he finished telling the story.

Sanghyun looked down at his hands in embarrassment. As he told the story, he had realized he had reacted stupidly, but there was nothing he could do about that now.

“Can I stay here for tonight?” he asked, giving them his best puppy eyed look. “I promise I’ll go home tomorrow. Please?”

Byunghee sighed rubbing his eyes.

“I guess you can,” he said after a moment. “Besides, it’s too late for you to be walking around alone. Seungho?”

The oldest had been sitting in silence, lost in his thoughts.

“Seungho!” Byunghee exclaimed shaking him by the shoulders.

“What?” Seungho asked looking confused.

“Sanghyun is staying here for the night,” Byunghee said. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” Seungho answered, still looking thoughtful. “But we should call your sister, so she knows you’re okay.”

Nodding, Sanghyun gave Seungho Dara’s number, but before he could press the call button, the front door burst open, and Mir’s voice rang loudly from the hallway.

“Seungho hyung!” he called. They could hear him stumbling around as he took off his shoes.

Seungho got up from the sofa, dropping his phone on the seat, muttering something about changing the passcode and went to get Mir.

Mir rushed in at that moment, and almost collided with Seungho, who had to grab him by the arms to stabilize him. The younger boy looked breathless.

“Hyung, I’ve remembered where I’ve—” Mir stopped shouting when he saw Sanghyun sitting there. “What’s he doing here?”

“Don’t be rude, Cheolyong,” Seungho said. “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you once he leaves,” Mir said in a huff, glaring at Sanghyun.

Great, Sanghyun thought. Nobody likes me.

“He’s staying for the night,” Byunghee said.

“Then I’ll stay too,” Mir said, not taking his eyes off Sanghyun. He was too intimidated by the younger boy’s strong glare to even try to say anything.

“Does Hyojin know you’re here?” Byunghee asked. Mir shook his head.

“Oh, hell no,” Seungho exclaimed. “I’m not going to get in trouble with her because of you.”

“Then why is he staying?” Mir asked disdainfully, nodding at Sanghyun and looking him up and down with an expression that he could only guess was disgust.

“That doesn’t concern you, Mir,” Byunghee said. “You have to go home, now.”

“But, hyung—”

“Whatever you want to say can wait until tomorrow. I’ll walk you home.”

Mir looked like he wanted to protest, and he turned to glare at Sanghyun again.

Sanghyun looked at the younger boy. At that moment, from the way Mir had been looking at him the whole time, he realized why he had barged into the apartment.

I’m doomed.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Byunghee took Mir home, while Seungho called Dara to tell her that Sanghyun was okay.

“She said you’re in big trouble,” Seungho told him once he ended the call. “Your mother was asking for you, and she told her you were staying over with a friend, which is technically the truth now, but she said she won’t cover for you again when you throw a tantrum.”

“Thanks, hyung,” Sanghyun said. His mind was still on Mir. “I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“It’s okay.” Seungho smiled at him and ruffled his hair. “I’ll get you some blankets. Are you sure you want to sleep on the couch? ‘Cause I have an extra mattress you could use.”

“The couch is fine,” Sanghyun replied.

After putting together the makeshift bed, Sanghyun said goodnight to Seungho and got under the covers. He couldn’t sleep.

He couldn't shake off the feeling that Mir had discovered that there was no Sooyeon, and that he wouldn't even him him a chance to explain. But what was there to explain? He didn't owe them an explanation, did he?

As his eyelids began to droop out of tiredness, he decided he needed to talk to Seungho before Mir did.

um, please don't kill me *hides* Joon came out like a real jerk this chapter (sorry Joonie and Joonie fans OTL). Things will start picking up from now on.

Apparently, I have a thing for cliffhangers OTL, I hope you guys don't hate me for it =P

this chapter was supposed to come out last week, but I'm being swarmed at school (it's only the 3rd week wth)

Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter, and don't forget to comment! And thanks to all my new subbies!

Until next time~~!