Sitting on the park bench, Youngjae pulled out his cell phone. It had been two days since he’d seen Daehyun at the coffee shop. Youngjae had wanted to call him that night, but decided that was too soon. Unlocking his phone, he went to the contact list and tapped on Daehyun’s name. Youngjae let his thumb hover over the call button before he finally pressed it and put the phone to his ear. Only two rings later, he heard the other end pick up.

          “Hello?”

          “Hey, Daehyun, its Youngjae.”

          “Oh hey! I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to call!”

          Youngjae chuckled; Daehyun seemed to be just as happy or happier to hear his voice as he was to hear Daehyun’s.

          “I was uh…wondering if you wanted to hang out or something?”

          “Sure! I actually just got off work. Where are you and I’ll meet you there?”

          “I’m at that park a couple blocks down from the coffee shop.”

          “Okay! I’ll be there in like 20 minutes.”

          “I’ll see you soon, then!”

          Hanging up the phone, a wide grin spread across Youngjae’s face.

          After watching joggers, families, and young couples pass by his bench for what felt like an eternity, Youngjae finally caught sight of Daehyun running toward him. He was still in his work uniform; black dress pants, a white button up shirt, and black bowtie.

          “You look a little overdressed for the park, don’t you think?” laughed Youngjae. “They make you clean the hotel rooms in that?”

          Daehyun looked down at his attire, “Yeah, I guess I kind of am…would you mind if we walk towards my apartment so I can change clothes? I smell like cleaning chemicals and room spray.”

          Youngjae nodded his head, “Lead the way!”

          Their walk to Daehyun’s apartment was nice. Daehyun talked about his day at work and all of the weird things that people leave behind in the rooms. From toys to pets, Daehyun had seen it all.  Before Youngjae knew it, they were at the apartment building. It was a tall brown brick structure, about twenty floors or so. It looked a lot older than any of the buildings that Youngjae had lived in, but still seemed pretty nice.

          Daehyun punched a code in on the keypad next to the single metal door. When a buzz sounded, he opened the door then stepped aside and bowed.

          “After you, sir,” Daehyun said with a sway of his arm.

          Youngjae laughed, “You’re an idiot, you know that right?”

          Youngjae could see a smile come across Daehyun’s face, but he stayed in a bowed position until Youngjae walked into the building. Stepping inside, they walked over to the elevator that was directly across from the entrance. The foyer of the building was small. Unlike the buildings that Youngjae had lived in, this one didn’t have any plush furniture or fancy paintings on the walls. The only decorations, if you could even call them that, were some old fake tulips that sat in the windows. The colors were faded and a thin layer of dust sat atop each petal.

          They stepped inside the elevator and Daehyun pushed the button for the top floor of the building.

          Youngjae raised an eyebrow, “Penthouse?” he questioned jokingly.  

          “You could say that, I guess.” Daehyun smiled self-deprecatingly.

          The ride up the elevator was silent except for the creaking of the cables, which made Youngjae a little worried. Reaching the top floor of the apartment complex, Youngjae breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stepped off the elevator, just in case it decided to plummet back to the ground floor.

          They walked down the hallway until they reached Daehyun’s apartment. The door opened up into a small studio. They entered a quaint kitchen area that also appeared to be used as a home office and coat closet. Paperwork was spread across the table, partially covering a laptop that looked more like gray cinder block considering how ancient it was.

          “It’s not much, but it’s a place to sleep, plus I don’t spend a lot of time here. Make yourself comfortable while I change,” Daehyun said, motioning to the couch.

          “Thanks,” responded Youngjae as his sat on the threadbare furniture. The couch was a crème color with a few bright neon pillows on both sides.It faced a chipped, sagging, entertainment center which cradled a small tv and was flanked by glass-doored cabinets

          In the glass of the cabinet, Youngjae could see the reflection of what was behind him. The open floor plan of the apartment meant that the bedroom area was shared with the living room. He could see Daehyun rifling through his wardrobe to find clothes that he wanted to wear. He pulled out a black t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans before practically ripping off the bowtie and tossing it onto his bed. After taking off his dress shirt, he slipped out of the white undershirt to reveal his bare torso. Youngjae couldn’t help but to keep staring at Daehyun undressing. He didn’t have defined abs, but was by no means out of shape. After putting on his shirt, Daehyun started to unbuckle his belt. This is when Youngjae decided that it would be best if he started looking through the glass and not at the reflection on it.

          Forcing himself to focus on the contents inside the cabinet, he realized that one side was a collection of cds that ranged from American soul artists to Korean underground rap music. The other shelves were sparsely decorated with simple picture frames. Youngjae looked at the faces of many smiling children playing on the beach and messing around. In a few of the photographs, he could pick out Daehyun; his facial features having not changed much throughout the years.

          Youngjae was startled when two hands found a firm grip on his shoulders, making him jump from his seat.

          “YAH!” Youngjae yelped.

          Daehyun jumped back a little bit himself, then started laughing.

          “Looked like you were really focused there. What were you thinking about?”

          Youngjae took a minute to gather himself, his heart still beating quickly.

          “Oh, I was just…uh…looking at your pictures in the case. Who are all of those people?”

          “They’re some of the other kids that were in the same foster home as I was.” His voice was somber, but filled with affection.

          Daehyun stepped over to the case and opened the door. He took one of the pictures out and studied it for a few seconds before looking up at Youngjae and handing it to him.

          “This is my favorite one,” he murmured, “This is the closest I ever had to a family.”

          Youngjae took the photo and looked down at the smiling faces of the kids. He could tell that the kid in the middle of the picture was Daehyun, who looked like he was around eleven or twelve years old.

         Daehyun stepped beside Youngjae and pointed to the boy to his right in the picture.

         “This is Jongup. He moved in with the family the same day that I did. He doesn’t talk a lot, but he always has a stupid smile on his face.Then over here to the left of me, is Junhong. He’s the biological child of the foster family. Jongup and I lived there with Junhong and his parents for six years before we moved on to another home. Junhong’s parents broke up, so that made them ineligible to be foster parents any more. They’re like my brothers.”

          “Did you still see them after you guys got split up?” asked Youngjae, hoping he wasn’t getting too personal.

          “Yeah, I kept in contact with them and I still do. We call each other pretty often. Jongup just aged out of the system actually and lives with Junhong and his mom again.”

          Daehyun took the picture back and returned it to its spot in the cabinet.

          “So, what did you want to do?” asked Daehyun.

          “Huh?” Youngjae responded.

          “When you said you wanted to hang out, what did you have in mind?” chuckled Daehyun.

          “Oh, right! Um…I actually didn’t think that far ahead, I was hoping you might have an idea.” Youngjae said, rubbing the nape of his neck.

          “Hmm…I have an idea. Come with me.”

          Daehyun grabbed Youngjae’s wrist and led him out of the apartment and down the hallway. They reached a gray, rusted, metal door that was secured with a padlock. Daehyun let go of Youngjae’s hand and dug in his pocket, retrieving a small piece of metal with a little hook at the end.

          “Uh…Dae…what are you going to do with that?” Youngjae asked, worrying what Daehyun was going to respond with.

          “You’ll see,” smirked Daehyun.

          He slipped the small piece of metal into the lock and began jiggling it around until he heard a little click. The lock fell into Daehyun’s hand and with a light push, the door opened, revealing a dark staircase that led upward.

          “Come on!” Daehyun urged, grabbing Youngjae’s wrist again and pulling him forward.

          At the top of the steps was another gray door. Daehyun twisted the knob and opened it, letting light pool into the previously dark corridor. The light blinded Youngjae as he was pulled out into the open.

          Once past the door, Youngjae realized that they were on the roof of the building.

          “Won’t we get in trouble for being up here?”

          “Nah, I come up here all the time.”

          “Okay, so why did you bring me here?”

          “The view.” Daehyun pointed to the horizon, smiling softly at Youngjae.

          They walked to the edge of the building, a short wall keeping them from falling to the pavement below. The view was nice. The sun was still high in the sky and there wasn’t a cloud to be seen. Buildings lined the horizon, carving out Seoul’s skyline. It wasn’t anything that Youngjae hadn’t seen before, but when he looked over at Daehyun, he could see that it was so much more to him. After standing there for a few minutes, Daehyun sat down and started to take off his shoes and socks.

          “What are you doing?”

          “I like to come up here to think. It reminds me of sitting on the beach in Busan. Sometimes I take off my shoes and pretend the rough tar roof is sand under my feet and the sounds of the cars driving by is the water splashing against the shore.”

          Youngjae thought for a moment before removing his own shoes. The tar was warm on his feet and the texture was somewhat reminiscent of sand. He closed his eyes, feeling the breeze against his face, and imagined being at the shore. He felt at peace.

          After a few minutes of standing there, Youngjae opened his eyes to see Daehyun with his still shut. A smile was spread across his face as the wind blew his hair back.

          “Hey, Daehyun.”

          “Hm?” Daehyun hummed, keeping his eyes closed.

          “Thank you for remembering me all these years.”

          Daehyun opened his eyes and turned towards Youngjae.

          “You’re welcome. But you need to promise me one thing.”

          “What would that be?

          “Promise me, this time, you won’t leave.”

         “I promise.”

Thank you everyone for subscribing and reading my story! This chapter was really made last minute and I was editing it with my friends until the last minute. So, don't forget to comment and for those of you who aren't subscribed, subscribe! The next time the story will be updated will be on March 28th!