Yongguk frowned as he looked down at the number in his contacts list. He’d saved it when Junhong had texted him last week, but he hadn’t used it yet. It was sort of embarrassing having to call a dorky middle schooler like Junhong, but they needed to talk and Junhong had been pretty adamant about Yongguk not going back to his apartment. 

Sighing, he flopped back onto his unmade bed and pressed the send button. It rang four times before Junhong answered, sounding a little breathless. “H-hello?” he panted, his voice so low the elder had a hard time hearing it. 

“Why are you whispering?” Yongguk demanded, his voice sounding overly loud in comparison to Junhong’s breathy voice. 

“I’m not whispering,” Junhong whispered lamely. 

Yongguk rolled his eyes. Whatever. If Junhong wanted to be a freak, that was fine by him. He didn’t care. “Listen, so they told us in homeroom today that this Friday we’re having a special assembly to talk about this whole stupid mentor program. We can count that as our meeting this week, if you want.”

“Oh.” It sounded as though Junhong was trying to hide his disappointment, but Yongguk picked up on it anyway. “That’s fine, I guess. Since we have to go anyway.”

Yongguk chewed on his lower lip, debating with himself. He didn’t know why it bothered him that Junhong sounded disappointed. It wasn’t like they were friends. He didn’t even like the kid. He was only doing this because the school was making him. “We can still hang out Thursday night if you want.” The words slipped out without his brain’s permission. 

“I-I guess that would be okay,” Junhong muttered, unable to hide the relieved tone just as he’d been able to hide his disappointment earlier. “I mean, I don’t have plans that night anyway,” he tried to play it off like he was doing Yongguk a favor. 

And, because Yongguk was in a rare mood, he let it pass. “Cool. We can watch a movie or something.” 

“Nothing scary,” Junhong said at once, his voice tightening so that he forgot to whisper. 

Yongguk laughed, deep and resonating. “I’m not making any promises.” 

He already had a movie picked out and in the DVD player when Junhong showed up at his doorstep after school on Thursday. The dumb kid was still wrapped up in that heavy coat of his even though it was halfway through March by this point and the temperature was in the fifties. It wasn’t cold enough to warrant such a big coat, but, like always, Yongguk ignored it and Junhong shed it the second he stepped into the Bangs’ apartment. 

“What are we watching?” Junhong asked warily, taking a seat on the couch and draping his coat and mask across the armrest. 

Yongguk grinned. “You’ll see.”

“It’s not something scary, is it?” Junhong whined, his eyes flickering around as if hoping to land on a DVD case somewhere. “I said I didn’t want to watch something scary.”

“You’re such a girl,” Yongguk rolled his eyes, flinging himself onto the couch beside the kid and reaching for the remote. “Just watch the movie. It’ll be fine.” 

The intro began playing, and it wasn’t a horror movie. Yongguk had thought about choosing one just to get under Junhong’s skin, but that wasn’t his type of cruel. So he’d chosen a war movie instead, one of his favorites, one that included a lot of violence and blood and gore. The best kind, naturally. He grinned, settling back to enjoy the movie. 

They were a good twenty minutes into the movie and they’d reached a particularly violent scene where the protagonist was having the beat out of him by nameless, faceless thugs, when Yongguk detached himself enough from the movie to glance at Junhong. The kid was sitting with his knees drawn up, eyes staring in wide-eyed horror at the flashing screen. He seemed to want to look away but was unable. He looked scared and it wasn’t even a horror movie. 

Yongguk grabbed the remote and pressed pause, startling Junhong. His expression immediately shifted into one of confusion, the horror and fear gone. “W-why’d you pause it?” he asked, his voice trembling so faintly that Yongguk almost didn’t notice it. 

“You didn’t look like you were enjoying it,” Yongguk muttered. 

Junhong blushed cutely. “I’m sorry, Hyung,” he mumbled. “I-I’m just not a huge fan of violence.”

Yongguk recalled the nasty bruise he’d seen a few weeks back - it had all but faded by now - and surmised that Junhong was getting beaten up at school. It would make sense. Everything about Junhong screamed for someone to bully him, from his gargantuan height - which would easily put him head and shoulders above most of his classmates - to his tendency to wear baggy clothes and masks. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together, Yongguk concluded. 

“You should’ve said something,” he said, ejecting the disc. “I have other movies. You know, the type that aren’t scary or violent.” He slipped the disc back into his DVD case and placed the entire thing in Junhong’s lap for him to choose a movie. 

Junhong flipped the case open, scanning the first few titles - all of which were violent war movies. “Are you sure you don’t mind watching something else?” he asked uncertainly, that unsteady waver in his voice again. 

“Yeah, whatever.” Yongguk played it off, but he really didn’t mind watching what Junhong wanted to watch. 

Junhong stopped on a page near the back and gave Yongguk an incredulous look. “My Sassy Girl?” he said, holding up the disc. “You have My Sassy Girl?”

Yongguk blushed crimson - something that rarely, if ever, happened - and made a mad reach for the disc, only to have Junhong hold it out of his grasp. “I-it’s my sister’s,” Yongguk lied. “She just left it here when she left for school.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Junhong was smiling, and it was perhaps the first time Yongguk had ever seen the kid smile so genuinely. “I want to watch this one, Hyung.”

Because Junhong wanted to, Yongguk gave in. “Fine,” he grumbled. He’d vehemently deny ever having seen this movie to his friends, but if it was just him and Junhong, it would be fine.

Junhong’s smile broadened and he put the disc into the DVD player before settling back onto the couch, much more eager about this choice than the last. Even though Yongguk would never admit it, he actually liked this movie. It was nice to know that, even if he couldn’t ask his friends, at least Junhong would watch it with him. 

The movie was almost over when the front door opened and Yongguk’s brother walked in, loaded down with books. He’d been spending every night at the library even though the term had barely started. He was even studying for college entrance exams already. 

He stopped in the doorway and Yongguk scrambled to turn off the movie, but it was too late. His brother had seen what they were watching, and the smirk in his eyes let Yongguk know he wouldn’t live it down. 

“Hello,” Yongnam said politely, and his gaze became quizzical when it landed on Junhong. “You’re our neighbor from a few doors down, right?”

“Y-yes,” Junhong stammered, immediately retreating right back into the shell Yongguk had slowly been breaking down. “I’m Choi Junhong, hyung.”

Yongnam smiled. “That’s right. It’s nice to see you again. It is a school night, however, and I think we all need to be getting to bed.”

“He doesn’t have to leave yet,” Yongguk snapped, feeling himself get irrationally angry. He usually did when he had to deal with his brother. It was a good thing the two no longer shared a bedroom. “You don’t make the rules.”

Yongnam’s smug smile broadened, and even Junhong didn’t like it. “Ah, but I’m still your hyung,” he reminded in a sing-song voice. 

“By four ing minutes,” Yongguk rolled his eyes. Even though they were barely minutes apart, Yongnam liked to lord it over his slightly-younger twin. 

“Four minutes is four minutes, baby brother,” Yongnam said. “And I think it’s time Junhong-ssi goes home.”

Yongguk opened his mouth to retort but Junhong laid a warning hand on his arm, startling him. “It’s fine, hyung,” he muttered. “I really ought to get going anyway.” 

“It was so nice to see you again, Junhong-ssi,” Yongnam smiled again before disappearing down the hallway to his bedroom. 

Yongguk was almost embarrassed as he walked Junhong to the door, the younger pulling on his coat and mask. “Sorry about him,” he muttered. “My brother’s a complete jackass.”

Junhong smiled briefly before the mask hid his mouth. “Don’t worry about it, hyung. Everybody’s got someone in their family they can’t stand. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll text you when I get to the high school.” With a brief wave, he headed off to his own apartment.