Andy hadn't been able to stay awake for a very long time. He had just barely lifted him from the ground when he immediately passed out again. He looked terrible as well, bruises everywhere, his lips busted, and clothes torn from his body. Junjin felt so much guilt from having lost track of him when he fled. If he had just been able to keep his eyes on him, he wouldn't have had this happen to him, then he would have been able to protect him, to bring him back unharmed. But Andy knew the streets too well, he was trained in hiding in crowds, Junjin had had no chance, he had just been lucky enough to hear what sounded like kicking and yelling, and thought it was worth checking out.

He couldn't help but feel like he had failed his mission. He was to save Andy, to make him normal, to protect him. But he had failed miserably. Andy was now just as hurt as when he had come to him the first day, if not even more, and this time, Andy hated Junjin. The mission seemed near impossible to complete now.

He was to save Andy, make him feel better, make him trust people, believe that he was worth more than just his body. But he had failed, he had ruined Andy's trust in him by taking in Minwoo. He had never considered Andy's thoughts about how he behaved towards Minwoo, how it would seem to him, someone who doesn't understand the act of being friendly.

Andy thought he liked Minwoo, all because he was helping him. He had just assumed Andy was ready to take care of himself, ready to understand his actions towards Minwoo. But he had been wrong, he had neglected Andy, and now, he was carrying him in his arms, through a street, tons of curious eyes on them.

He could understand the eyes, it's not everyday you see a man in his underwear carrying another man only wrapped in a jacked. Andy had run out of the house too fast for Junjin to put on anything but a jacked, and since Andy's clothes were ruined, he needed the jacked more than him. He might not care who saw him, but Junjin did, he wanted to hide him away.

He had begun to feel that way lately, like he wanted Andy to stay with him forever, wanted to hide him away from the world, and the thought was scaring him a bit, it was very close to what he had felt towards Dongwan.

But he couldn't fall for anyone, especially not Andy. It would pull his mind away from what was important, saving him and Minwoo. It would cloud his mind, and he would forget what he was supposed to do, it would let him move on from Dongwan.

He didn't love Dongwan anymore, but the other had hurt him so much by ignoring his feelings and moving out, he could never let his guard down again, he couldn't afford to get distracted again, never again.

And it was even worse that he was falling for Andy, he couldn't fall for the man, he was supposed to show him how friends act, he was his first and only friend, if he just up and fell for him the other would never believe anyone ever liked him for him, he would never know he was worth so much more than he knew.

That was why he had to pretend he felt nothing when the other cuddled up to him, when the other asked to sleep with him, hell, just when Andy looked at him he could feel the butterflies in his stomach. But he had to ignore everything, he had to stay strong, for Andy's sake.

But he couldn't control his dreams. This had all happened exactly because of that. He had fallen asleep, holding Andy, but had made his fantasies flow freely, and he had had the most wonderful dream, a dream where him and Andy could actually be together, a dream where Andy had kissed him, and he had responded. But the problem was, he had woken up to just that, a kiss. He had been so ashamed of himself, of his lack of self control. Poor innocent Andy, he had done nothing, and he had attacked him. Sure, Andy had attacked him before, but Junjin had no excuse to kiss him, he couldn't, it would destroy everything he had worked on. He had decided a lie was better that the truth, but he had never expected Andy to respond like he did.

Why did Andy care so much who he loved? Was it because he still didn't understand friendship? And he thought Junjin couldn't be friends with both of them? He had spend too much time with Minwoo, and Andy had felt forgotten, that was it. That had to be it.

The apartment was still very quiet when they returned, Minwoo hadn't had a nightmare, which was good, Junjin didn't think he would be able to deal with that now, he was both physically and mentally exhausted from the fighting, and he had to make sure Andy got his wounds cleaned up, and that he got redressed so he could get some proper sleep.

He looked so impossibly peaceful in his sleep. He was lying on Junjin's bed, still only covered by the jacked, lip still bleeding, wounds and bruises covering every visible part of his body. But he still looked happy, peaceful, it was so cruel how peaceful he could look, after what had just happened.

He went to the bathroom and got a bowl of water and a rag, he needed to take care of every possible wound before he could wake up and feel the pain. But the mental pain, the biggest pain, was the one he couldn't cure.

after having cleaned him up, bandaged up what he could, and dressed him again, he closed the bedroom doors. He was pretty sure sleeping on the couch would be the safest action, he couldn't risk for Andy to run away again, so locking the front door, and sleeping on the couch would be necessary.

He also knew one other thing, Minwoo couldn't know of anything that had happened that night, that would just cause him more harm than he could take, this had to stay between him and Andy.

Eric really wanted to do as Hyesung had said. He wanted to tell Dongwan about Minwoo, he wanted to tell the whole world that he loved Hyesung, and just wanted to be with him. But he couldn't, he couldn't appear soft.

For the first time in a long time he had actually considered breaking his own promise to himself, he had really wanted to let Minwoo go, to tell Dongwan everything. There was just something about him, something that made him feel so bad for ruining, and he knew that the whole Minwoo ordeal had affected Hyesung as well. But he had to stay strong, no matter how much he wanted to give in to Hyesung.

Everyone knew Eric's father had been killed, it was never revealed exactly how he died, but Eric was sure a rival gang had killed him since he had grown soft with the years. But no one knew why his mother had died, except for him.

See, Eric's mom had been a beautiful young and innocent girl from a well of family. It had always been a question to Eric why she had chosen his father, he was completely different from her, but she had fallen in love with him, and together, they had had a son. Him.

His mother had been extremely kind to him. shielded him from the world of his father. But that hadn't pleased his father at all, he had started to argue with his mother, to grow increasingly violent towards her, and one day he had barged into his bedroom and taken him away from his mother. He never saw her again after that, she had suddenly come down with an incurable illness, they said it was grieve and loss, and she had died not long after.

Eric's father had raised him after that, it had been a cold and cynical childhood, he had  learned from a young age how to kill, to judge, to torture. His dad had been very proud of him whenever he did what he was told, but one day Eric had begun to have his own ideas, he had begun to think up his own means of torture, new ways of killing, new ways of controlling the loyalty of the gang. And after that day his father had gone soft. It was as if he got softer and softer with every new idea, Eric had even caught him looking at pictures of his late mother, and he had yelled at Eric, telling him he should be careful about loosing his sense of humanness. But Eric knew his father was just soft, he was growing old, and Eric had to take over.

And he did, the day his father was murdered. Of cause he had been furious with the murder, but he had known it was all because his father had stopped being careful, and he knew he couldn't let his own guards down.

He hated to deceive Hyesung, but it was all for his own good. He could see so much of his mom in Hyesung. He was too kind to be a part of this world, he cared too much about everyone, but that also left him weak. He knew Hyesung could fall ill and die if Eric didn't listen to him, but he also knew he would get killed himself if he did. So he had nothing to do but to lie, he had to pretend around Hyesung, pretend he had told Dongwan. But he also had to pretend around everyone else, pretend Hyesung didn't mean the world to him, pretend nothing he did ever affected him, he had to, or he would grow soft like his father, and if he died, Hyesung would fall ill.

Dongwan was so exhausted. His whole body was aching like crazy, he had been careless at work again, it happened often as of late, he lost concentration, he didn't eat enough, he didn't sleep well. His mind was constantly on Minwoo, what he was doing, if Eric had kept his word, if Minwoo missed him, if he even knew he was looking for him.

Cause he was looking for him. Every free moment of his week he was wandering the streets, just hoping that someone had seen him, that someone knew where Eric had put him.

He missed him so much, and he had to free him, he just had to find him first. He knew that they had to flee, both of them, if he busted Minwoo out, Eric would surely kill them both, but he could take Minwoo with him and run, run far away from any gangs, to a decent town, far from all of this, then, maybe then, Minwoo could have the life he deserved.

This was what made it possible for Dongwan to make it through the day, the thought of reuniting with Minwoo once again, maybe in weeks, maybe months, maybe even years, but it didn't matter, he knew his love for him would never falter, he had never loved anyone like he loved Minwoo, and if just Minwoo felt the same, there would be no problem waiting.

Well, there would be one problem. Dongwan's work required him to be attentive, aware, and he was everything but that right now. He had gotten beaten up more than he ever had before the last few weeks, and people were starting to notice the change. He had also lost weight due to irregular sleeping patterns, and lack of lust for food.

So maybe they didn't have forever, not if Eric decided to "fire" him first.

AN: So first of, I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting :( I was just very busy. And now I come back with this sad chapter where nothing really happens :( But I felt like I needed to clear up how everyone feels, and what their plans are :D Also, I aim for 2000 words per chapter, and this was 2001, so most precise chapter yet :P I'm still so thankful for all of your comments and upvotes :D Love you guys :P And I'll try my best to update faster next time :D