"It's too big!"

 

"No, it's not! You look good!"

 

"Shut up, I'm talking about the suit!"

 

"No, I mean it. Don't worry! Hyung, you look great"

 

"Don't call me that!"

 

From the corner of his eyes, Daehyun saw Jongup guiltily nod and back away, probably thinking he still wasn't forgiven for that punch. 

 

"Right...s-sorry"

 

Daehyun felt slightly bad for snapping at the younger boy and if it wasn't for the bad case of anxiety building up inside him, he would've apologized for his behavior. 

 

Yongguk and Jongup might've been counting on this plan but Daehyun knew all too well that it wasn't going to work. One week was just too short of a time to make a plan that would be successful and besides, he was way too unexperienced to be a convincing actor. He was almost certain that as soon as Taecyeon met him, it would be obvious that he wasn't who he claimed to be and he'd be caught and taken to jail and Junhong would continue to be in trouble and that will be the end of everything. 

 

As Daehyun stared at himself in the side mirror, thoughts sped across his head like cars on a highway and his already weak insides threatened to burst. 

 

Yongguk, who had been leaning on the wall this whole time, approached Daehyun with an encouraging gaze and gave him a gentle pat on the back. 

 

"You'll be fine, don't worry.....actually, I'm sure you're going to be great..."

 

And as if he heard the unspoken thoughts, Yongguk also suggested that they think over the plan again and do it another day. Jongup, who might've also sensed Daehyun's anxiety, agreed immediately. And Daehyun, not having enough strength or maybe the courage to raise his head and meet their eyes, only managed a silent nod in response. 

 

Maybe the nerves had finally taken over his body or maybe it had been the lack of sleep but whatever the reason, he must have fainted again because when Daehyun opened his eyes, he found himself dressed in someone else's pajamas and sleeping in a neatly tucked bed. To be specific, he was in the cleaner side of the room since the other bed and wall were heavily filled with pictures and other miscellaneous things. On his side, it was much neater and much less personal; in fact, if it wasn't for the small, faded Polaroid picture he managed to somehow get his hands on, he would've never known whose side it was. 

 

Daehyun was sure he counted eleven but as he took the final step, he found himself corrected and there to be exactly twelve stairs from the second floor to the first. After a brief hesitation, he started to walk towards the light chattering noises down the hall, picking up his weapon of choice -a soccer trophy- along the way. Just because he had been nicely treated while unconscious didn't mean that Daehyun was going to simply hand himself over to this person!  

 

After some really quiet minutes, he was almost to the door when it suddenly opened and out came a woman that he guessed was probably in her 40s. As stunned as he was scared, Daehyun couldn't bring himself to move and watched as she approached him, her face quickly changing from surprise to concern. 

 

"Aiigooo, woke you up, didn't we? Still, you should've called one of us instead of getting out of bed like this! Well, since you're up, follow me to the kitchen. I made you some healthy and delicious soup! C'mon!"

 

And so, Daehyun followed–blindly like a zombie–since the promise of food too tempting to resist for his empty stomach. The aroma of the soup was so enthralling and dazed him so that it took an additional minute or two to take note of Jongup and Yongguk's smiling faces also seated at the table. 

 

"Mom, can I get a other bowl too?" 

 

Unlike his usual self, Jongup looked confident, almost playful as he tried to persuade the woman to agree with him. Confused, Daehyun hurriedly looked at the name on the trophy and at the same time as he saw Jongup's name staring back at him in shiny letters, he also saw the boy from the earlier picture. How could that room and this house, be Jongup's?

 

Still in his thoughts, Daehyun didn't see that Jongup's mom had already handed him a bowl and now, all three were curiously staring at his hand. A little too late, he tried to hide the trophy behind his back, his awkward behavior managing to make them erupt in a fit of chuckles. Jongup's mom even going as far as to lightly pinch his cheeks. 

 

"Now now, quiet you two. And you, you're adorable but you are too, too skinny and that is not good. Absolutely not. So, by the time you leave today, I want to see this whole pot of soup empty or you're not going anywhere. And another thing, I know you just met me but as the mother of your friend, I'll let you know that if you don't go for your checkups and take your medicine, I will kidnap you for real and have you live here with me forever. You understand?" 

 

Wiping off a small tear or maybe it was sweat, Daehyun watched Mrs. Moon's tiny body start to get up, her eyes stern and reflective of her words. Since neither Jongup nor Yongguk looked up from their bowls, Daehyun was left with no choice but to meet her strong gaze. 

 

"Ye-yes, ma'am."

 

"Oh, you can just call me Aunt Moon or Aunty! Now you three head on upstairs while I watch my dramas. Oh and Jongup ah, make sure Gukkie and Hyunnie don't leave before the party~~ I want them there!"

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>~~~~~~~~~~~>~~~~~~~~~~~~>~~~~~~~~~~~~~>~~~~~~~~~~~~>~~~~~~~~>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>~~~~

 

Boy # 3

 

Jongup didn't know what to say or if he should say anything at all since he really was better at observing and watching. But questions would rise eventually and his mother had always said that it was better to volunteer information than be forced to. He cleared his throat and pointed to the clothes Daehyun was wearing. 

 

"Sorry about that....my mom kept insisting that you needed to get out of the suit and Youngjae was taking too long to come with your clothes so we—"

 

"Youngjae?! Who told you to call him?!?! Wh—" 

 

Before Jongup could reply, Yongguk already starting answering on his behalf. 

 

"You...did....when you fainted, you told us to not call the ambulance and just get Youngjae. Daehyun, you weren't waking up and if Youngjae hadn't come by with the pills then I don't know what Jongup and I would've done—"

 

"He....he had the pills? How..?"

 

"Ask him yourself....he should be here soon with your clothes"

 

He watched the emotions wash by Daehyun's face with every word; anger to disbelief to acknowledgement and finally, sadness. He also noticed how all the while, Yongguk never faltered to gently rub Daehyun's back and calmly continue speaking. Jongup wondered if he would be able to do the same thing with Junhong. 

 

Jongup wasn't offended that the conversation had naturally continued on without him and in all honesty, he was kind of glad that Yongguk had stepped in for him. It wasn't like he had anything drastic to contribute to the conversation and besides, he didn't want to give Daehyun anymore trouble. More than anything, he was just ashamed at himself for being so wrong, so immature and so violent.  

 

"Jongup?"

 

"Huh?"

 

"I...uh....sorry about earlier."

 

Now that Jongup looked around his room, he saw that Yongguk had gone somewhere and left the two alone. Even though he felt incredibly awkward, he somehow managed to smile and lightly wave his hand in front of him as if he were swatting an imaginary fly. 

 

"It's no problem, don't worry about it."

 

"And Jongup?"

 

"...Yea?"

 

"Thanks for everything....um...I'm not much of a hyung so...so..can we be friends or something? " 

 

Without someone to interrupt them, Jongup had no choice but to hesitantly reach over and shake the outstretched hand. Outside of his family, Himchan and Zelo, Jongup had never really had any "friends" to interact with. But as his own clammy hand met Daehyun's equally sweaty palm and two exchanged a friendly smile, it felt as if having a friend wasn't such a bad thing.  

 

"Yea...I guess."

 

"So...um, Jongup, as your friend and uh...hyung, I wanted to ask you something...I–"

 

Before Daehyun could continue, they were interrupted by the entrance of a bag holding, silent Yongguk and a bruised, smiling Junhong. 

 

"H-hey"