Jiyong had only come back to the dorm to scour its floors for the very expensive hoodie Seungri had borrowed from him to wear back from dance practice and then promptly lost. He figured it was going to take the better part of an hour to find it on his own so he told the driver to go on his lunch and he'd call him to come a little later. Finding the hoodie hanging on the coat rack in a dry cleaning bag labeled with a post it saying "for hyung~~~" did little to quell his anger at his maknae for not simply bringing him the hoodie earlier that day. Since he had already gotten what he came for and had some time to kill, he remembered how the roof was his favorite part of this place. Panoramic view, great place to write or drink or just lounge. Jiyong had conquered many a pack of imported American cigarettes up there while working the kinks out of lyrics to his raps.

For old time's sake, Jiyong put his clean sweatshirt over his plain white V-neck and jogged to the stairs to the roof. He was almost childishly excited to be revisiting a forgotten place he cherished so much for so long. Once at the top of the stairs, he noticed the door was wedged open with a rock. Had somebody else discovered his getaway? (He knew right away how dumb a thought that was; it's just a door a hundred people had access to that was clearly labeled 'roof', but he was possessive nonetheless.)

He'd already come too far to just turn around and leave, so he pushed the door open despite its resistant squeal and came face-to-face with a guy, probably slightly his junior who looked oddly familiar. Jiyong tried to deduce whether the boy had been living there for so long he recognized him when the kid gasped and jumped back.

"Holy , G-Dragon-sshi. I'm sorry."

Jiyong found it funny how one blurted obscenity and 90 degree bow from a stranger could charm him to the point of laughing out loud.

"Don't worry about it. I didn't mean to sneak up on you there. This place used to be my hideout too."

"I think I'm gonna be up here a lot, since we just moved in and I'm still getting used to the dorm."

Jiyong offered a placatingly polite 'ah' but tried to avoid having to ask the kid who he was. Luckily this particular dongsaeng was sharper than most and allowed Jiyong to save face.

"I'm Lee Howon by the way. Infinite's Hoya."

"The y dancer. I know you!"

Had he been a more shameful man, he probably would have blushed at his outburst. As it was, he hoped the excited comment could be chalked up to GD being GD.

He honestly wasn't hitting on him. At least not yet. He barely knew the guy and had no reason whatsoever to out himself or even bring up the issue of being gay at all.

"Ah, thanks. That means a lot coming from you. I love Big Bang. I'm more hip-hop too."

Jiyong sat down against the wall, his back to the sun. Hoya joined him after a few seconds' hesitation. When he saw Jiyong pull out a pack of cigarettes, he scooted away a little.

"You rap, don't you?"

"I try."

"Let me hear one of your verses."

"Ah, not sure if that's a good idea. I'm way too nervous. You're so much better than I am."

True humility, Jiyong was impressed. But he didn't wind up in a successful idol group by having no confidence whatsoever. He just had to find the right button to push.

"What about one of your y dances? You're a much better dancer than I am, no need to be nervous."

"I guess I could do a very brief demonstration because you asked nicely."

Hoya did one of his standard variety show freestyles, chock full of popping, locking, and pelvic ing. He ended the show with the scorpion dance and, needless to say, Jiyong was impressed. He made an awkward attempt at clapping with a cigarette in his right hand but Hoya looked like he got the message anyway.

Hoya sat back down. 'Not even out of breath, that little ,' Jiyong might have thought for just a second.

"So, what brings you up here again? Nostalgia? Boredom? Suicidal depression? You gonna jump, hyung?"

Jiyong laughed out loud for the second time, this round being brought on by Hoya's sarcastic deadpan. Jiyong couldn't remember the last time he'd been so comfortable around someone so soon after first meeting them. He also took notice of Hoya feeling the same comfort by starting to call him hyung casually.

"Came to pick something up, had some time to kill. Missed being up here. What about you? Oh no, did I thwart your suicide plans?"

Hoya laughed then, but the way it just kind of trailed off along with Hoya's eyes at the end, spoke volumes to why Hoya was really up there. He needed to get away, even if for just 15 minutes. Jiyong had been there more times than he could count.

"Nothing really. Just the usual poor little rich boy stuff. I'm sick of having to play a role 90% of the time."

Jiyong put out his smoke and exhaled the last puff before he moved to sit closer to Hoya. He put what he hoped was a comforting hand on the kid's shoulder and rubbed.

"Trust me when I say we've all been there. But, honestly, even if you screw up publicly, fans will forgive you if you keep putting out hit records. And besides, you seem to be pretty good at keeping things low key."

"Yeah, I'm great at it. That's partly why it's so tiring. And I've never felt so much like a double-agent before these past few months. It's gotten bad lately."

"Something to do with your drama?"

Jiyong was aware Hoya had a supporting role on a drama, but he had no idea what kind of role would make him feel like a liar and imposter, but he was suddenly quite interested.

"I play a gay kid."

Oh. Oh. Leave it to Jiyong to have found a kindred spirit on the top of a roof on a Tuesday afternoon. Hoya's need to escape his bandmates and the real world made perfect sense to Jiyong now. Maybe he'd be able to offer this kid more meaningful advice than just standard comforting platitudes after all.

"Oh," Jiyong said aloud that time. He was still so taken aback he didn't know what to say right away.

"Yeah. I keep hearing how people still support me because they know I'm not really 'like that'," Hoya continued with a sneer. Seemed like the floodgates of emotion had been opened now.

"That's gotta be tough," he offered with a hesitant glance and another squeeze to his shoulder.

"Shouldn't you be moving away, not touching me more? Everyone I've told pulls back even if they don't mean to."

Jiyong knew the pulling back Hoya spoke of was emotional as well as physical. And just how badly it felt.

"I know how much it hurts for people to think of you differently even though you haven't changed."

Hoya was silent and appeared to be contemplating something. Jiyong figured he was probably about to ask Jiyong if he was gay too but didn't want to risk being wrong and offending him. No sadist, Jiyong took matters into his own hands.

"I'm like you; you know that, right?"

Now Hoya was the one shooting the hesitant glances, his laced with a little hope. 'This kid...' Jiyong thought and couldn't help but smile, once again enamored with his charm.

"So, how do you do it? Live the double life?"

"I have lots of attractive female friends so that keeps the wrong kind of rumors away but other than that, I mostly wind up alone or with closet cases."

"That's bleak, hyung. Couldn't you sugar coat it a little?"

Howon's sense of humor really shouldn't take Jiyong by surprise anymore, but damn if it doesn't.

"It's not all bad. Occasionally you'll meet someone who's not afraid to be with you and who you can trust and it's great."

"I just don't have the energy to sneak around like I used to. I'm getting old, hyung."

Jiyong couldn't resist smacking the kid's bare shoulder in disbelief.

"You're old? I was born in the 80s! I'm gonna be 30 in six years!"

"Yeah, you're right. I'll save my complaining until I'm really old like you."

"Aish...I'm trying to be your gay support system here and you're insulting me. If I wanted this kind of insubordination, I'd go find Seungri."

"Yeah, but I'm cuter."

To make his point, Howon moved directly in front of Jiyong and unveiled some of his rare but adorable aegyo, imitating a bunny until his hyung finally smiled. Jiyong's gummy grin made Howon's lips twitch as well. 'Definitely cuter than the maknae.'

Jiyong was ed.