Daehyun loved the view from the top of the apartment building. He liked to watch the ant-sized people walk by, and wonder what their destination was. Everyday after work, he would go up there to relax, or until Youngjae would show up. He would always see him coming; the boy always ran toward the building, quickly entered the code, and disappeared through the door. Daehyun would head down to his apartment to wait for him. They had spent a lot of time together ever since that one day at the coffee shop. In the beginning, Youngjae would call him, asking if he wanted to hang out about once a week. Then once became two to three times a week. Now, everyday at around four, Youngjae would show up at Daehyun’s apartment, walk through the already unlocked door, and plop down beside Daehyun on the lumpy couch. They would spend hours talking about the past and what had occurred in the time that the two were apart.

            It had been six months since Youngjae’s parents had been murdered.

            They stayed up all hours of the night until one of them fell asleep. Since Daehyun was always up early for work, it would usually be him who passed out first. He would wake up to his alarm clock that Youngjae set for him, covered in a blanket that wasn’t there when he’d fallen asleep. Before Youngjae left, he always picked up whatever was left sitting out from their nightly shenanigans. From board games to bowls of popcorn, everything would be picked up, cleaned, and put in their place when Daehyun awoke.

            Through their nightly talks, the two had learned a lot about each other. Youngjae had been thinking about becoming a computer programmer. SInce he was homeschooled by his mom for so many years, many of classes that he took were online courses. The hours spent in front of the monitor made him curious as to how the computer programs actually worked. Before his parents died, he had been studying to take his college entrance exam. After spending a few years at a university in Seoul, he wanted to go and study abroad, and maybe try to get into MIT in the United States.

            Youngjae had clearer goals than Daehyun, that’s for sure. After getting out of high school, Daehyun really didn’t know what to do. That’s what brought him to Seoul. He thought that maybe he would be inspired to do something productive, or that would make a difference. However, the only difference he was making so far was ensuring that guests had clean sheets on their beds, and the dirt residue from previous guests was washed out of the shower stalls.

            That didn’t bother Daehyun too much though. He was like a leaf, willing to let the wind take him wherever it wanted him to go. That wind had led him to Seoul and to Youngjae.

            After spending a month hanging out in Daehyun’s apartment, however, things were starting to get a little stale. He couldn’t help but to laugh a little, remembering the day that he convinced Youngjae that he should be his personal guide.

-O-

            It was just another day. Youngjae had come over to Daehyun’s apartment so that they could hang out, like they had been for the past month. However, Daehyun wanted to go out. He wanted to do something! His legs were aching to run all Seoul ever since he had arrived. The thing was he didn’t have anyone to show him around…until now that is.

            “Hey Jae, let’s go do something.” A mischievous smile was strewn across Daehyun’s face.

            “Like what?” Youngjae replied, his head thrown back against the couch and eyes closed, not seeing that Daehyun already had something on his mind by the look on his face.

            “Oh…I don’t know…I was kinda thinking that since you have lived here for most of your life and I’m still new to the area, that you could take me around Seoul. Show me all the attractions, I’ve always-”

            “No,” Youngjae interrupted, still slumped in the same position.

            “Why not?” Daehyun shocked at such a quick refusal.

            “Because Seoul is boring. Plus, I’m not going to drag you through all the touristy parts that I know you want to go to.” Youngjae had his eyes partially opened, and he glared at Daehyun, who sat on the other end of the couch.

            “Come on! I really want to go out and explore! If you don’t voluntarily take me places, then I will drag you off that couch and force you to be my tour guide!”

            “You wouldn’t.” Youngjae’s eyes widened.

            “Wanna bet?!” With one quick move Daehyun stood up, grabbed onto Youngjae’s ankles, and pulled him off the couch.

            “YAH! Okay, okay! Just stop dragging me!” Youngjae begged as he held onto the leg of the couch with one hand and the leg of the entertainment center with the other.

            Daehyun dropped Youngjae’s legs and gave him a big smile.

            “Good. I’m glad we came to an understanding!”

            After a few more days of nagging, Youngjae finally decided on a place to go.

            “So, where are we going?” Daehyun asked, putting his hands in his pockets. It was starting to get dark outside and they were walking down a street that Daehyun was unfamiliar with.

            “Probably one of the most touristy places in all of Seoul: Namsan Tower. I’ve actually never been there before, so this will be an adventure for the both of us.” Youngjae turned and smiled at Daehyun. “You excited to go see a tower?” his voice hinted at his lack of enthusiasm.

            “Actually, yes. It’s a lot better than just sitting in my apartment!”

            After what seemed like hours of walking, Daehyun started to question his tour guide. “When are we going to get there? We’ve been walking forever!”

            “Calm down! You whine too much. We’re almost there. Just a few more blocks.”

            “I think you’re misleading me. You actually don’t know how to get there, do you?” Daehyun squinted suspiciously as he looked over at Youngjae.

            “Yes, I know how to get there! Will you shut up and walk!” Youngjae exclaimed, slapping Daehyun’s arm with the back of his hand.

            A few blocks later of walking amongst thick crowds of people and abandoned sidewalks, they could finally see the tower ahead of them.

            “See, what did I say? I knew where I was going!” A proud smile graced Youngjae’s face as he pointed with towards the tower with an outstretched arm.

            “Wow! That’s really tall!” Daehyun was ogling at the soaring tower ahead of them. The pole sat up on a hill. The base of it was constantly changing colors and the light that emitted from it rivaled that of all the buildings in Seoul.

            They rode the elevator up the hill to reach the cable cars that took visitors to the platform that the tower rested on. Once there, the line was long and took forever to get through. After another thirty minutes, they were finally allowed to get in one of the cars.

            The ride up to the tower’s platform didn’t take long, thankfully. The two of them were squished in the small car with about twenty other people; one of them being a small child who Daehyun was sure needed her diaper changed.

            Once to the top, they walked over to the edge of the platform that overlooked the city. The sight was beautiful. It was dark out, but Seoul was alive. The lights from the city shone into the sky, removing any evidence of stars that were supposed to be there. The sounds of sirens and horns honking could be heard from afar. Busan was beautiful at night as well, but Seoul had something special about it, something that Busan didn’t have. The sight made Daehyun’s heart flutter just looking at it.

            “I take it you like the view?” Daehyun turned to look at Youngjae, who was clutching a cup of warm coffee in each hand. He had been so captured by the lights of Seoul that he didn’t even notice that Youngjae had gone. Taking one of the cups into his hands, he nodded.

            “It’s beautiful! Why haven’t you come here before?” Daehyun asked before taking a sip of the bitter liquid.

            Youngjae shrugged, “Never thought about it I guess. So, you want to go all the way up?” Turning around, Daehyun could see that Youngjae was pointing at the observation deck of the tower.

            Daehyun shook his head. “ I really don’t want to be stuck in an enclosed space with over a hundred people to look at the view through a piece of dirty glass. This is good right here.”

            Youngjae turned around to look out onto the view.

            “You know, only one thing would make this moment perfect.”

            “And what would that be?”

            “Well, I have my best friend, and a beautiful view; all I need is a big slice of cheesecake.”

            Almost spilling his coffee, Youngjae started to laugh. “You are always thinking about food aren’t you?”

            “Not always. Like right now, I’m thinking you have a nice smile,” Daehyun smirked.

            He could see his friends plump cheeks turn a rosy color as he covered his mouth, embarrassed by the comment. “Would you just turn to look at the view? That’s why I brought you here.”

            Daehyun did look back at the view, but he could tell that the other man was still smiling shyly behind his hand.

            At that moment, Daehyun couldn’t help but to feel that he wanted to be more than friends with Youngjae.

-O-

            Daehyun’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang from behind him. Turning around, he realized that it was Youngjae. He had thrown the door open so hard that the metal door had bounced off the brick of the stairway enclosure.

            His eyes full of tears, Youngjae ran over to Daehyun and pulled him into a tight embrace. Youngjae was crying, his chest heaving as his lungs gasped for air in between sobs.

            “Wha-what’s wrong? Daehyun asked, hugging Youngjae back.

           All Daehyun could make out was, “They stopped,” from the string of incomprehensible words.

            “Who stopped? What did they stop?” Daehyun was genuinely confused, his mind still trying to process what was going on.

            “The police…they said that they haven’t had any leads. They’re going to stop looking.” Youngjae whispered as he looked up at Daehyun, his lips quivering.

            “But it’s only been six months! I don’t understand. Isn’t that too soon to just give up?”

            “They said they don’t have one clue to who did it. Since it’s been six months and they haven’t gotten anywhere, the police said that it is a waste of their resources to keep looking for something that can’t be found,” Youngjae said, breaking away from Daehyun, tossing his hands in the air with frustration.

            Daehyun could hear the animosity towards the police’s statement in Youngjae’s voice. He couldn’t blame him either. The police losing hope so early had probably crushed Youngjae. How would he get closure now?

            They both stood apart for a few seconds. The quietness was unsettling, but before Daehyun could ask Youngjae what he was thinking, he spoke up.

            “I’m going to find them.”

            “Wait, what?” Daehyun was unsure he had heard Youngjae right. He hoped that what he’d heard was wrong.

            “I’m going to find my parents' killers.” Youngjae was now looking straight at Daehyun, determination in his eyes.

            Daehyun hadn’t heard wrong.

            Hey guys! Sorry that this chapter came a little later in the day than usual! I hope you all like it! The next time I update will be on April 11th! Don't forget to comment and subscribe!