A shoe flew threw the air, hitting Minwoo smack on the side of the face. "Hey, pass me my shoe back," Eric said coolly.

Minwoo grumbled at him, but Eric pretended not to notice his displeasure. The rest of the group had witnessed Eric taking off his shoe and taking careful aim as he flung it at Minwoo's head. Minwoo wasn't watching in particular - having been dazing off - but he had a good idea of what was going on.

"But seriously, what's wrong with you today?" Hyesung asked as Minwoo relentlessly threw the shoe back, the object clapping Eric on the chest. "You've been out of it since we got up."

Minwoo sighed, poking at his breakfast. He wanted to speak up about what had happened: that confession from Dongwan. His eyes moved nervously over to the man himself as he gobbled down his food. With Dongwan present, though, he was afraid to even open his mouth.

What bothered him more, though, wasn't the confession itself. It was that despite having put his feelings out so suddenly, Dongwan didn't seem to be perturbed in the least. There he was...just sitting and eating his breakfast like every other morning. Minwoo stared at the crown of Dongwan's head as he was bent over his tray. How could he be so normal? How? Shouldn't it have been the other way around; with Dongwan panicking about what Minwoo would say?

"There you go again!" Junjin called out, and Minwoo shook out of his thoughts. "You've been staring off like that all day! If you keep doing that, you'll get punished again for not focusing in training!"

Junjin was right. Minwoo tapped the heels of his hands along the sides of his head, fruitlessly trying to clear his mind of his troubles. He couldn't afford to lose his sanity, especially when Dongwan wasn't even showing a slight bit of having a problem.

"I'll be right back," Dongwan said, and when the words left his mouth, they were like saviors to Minwoo. Dongwan got to his feet and Minwoo struggled to keep his facial muscles under control.

"Where're you going?" Eric asked.

Dongwan smirked and shuffled his feet in a lame dance. "Nature's calling."

Minwoo watched from the edge of his vision as Dongwan pranced away. As soon as he disappeared, Minwoo practically threw aside his tray and hissed, "Guys, can you give me some advice?"

"Okay," Junjin agreed easily. "Can't guarantee that it'll be good advice, but -"

"Dongwan confessed to me yesterday," Minwoo interrupted. He didn't expect an uproar, but he didn't expect what happened, either: everyone was completely silent, eating utensils in their mouths as they stared at him. Maybe he needed to confirm exactly what kind of confession it was. "He said he liked me."

The expressions on the four spectators' faces didn't budge. Hyesung turned toward Andy and shrugged before saying, "I thought you knew."

For a moment, Minwoo saw black as his entire mind voided all the thoughts that were being processed. What...what had Hyesung just said? Minwoo stumbled backward, plopping onto the grass in shock. "You...you thought I knew?"

"Well," Andy said, getting uncomfortable while looking at Minwoo's stunned face, "we didn't think you were a dense person. And you and Dongwan would always be hugging and stuff, so..."

"So, what!" Minwoo hollered, leaping to his feet and dragging the attention of all the other soldiers around them. Out with his rational thinking and actions. "What did you think I was doing? Flirting?"

"Um...you weren't?" Eric squeaked out.

Minwoo was comparatively shorter than all the others, but he was quite possibly one of the scariest when he lost his temper. The four of them found themselves curling away in defense as Minwoo began to shudder in anger.

"I'm going to...kill...you..." he mumbled, almost on the verge of growling. 

"We're stupid! Good-for-nothings!" Eric hurriedly compensated, falling to his knees at Minwoo's feet. He fumbled for his shoe, which he hadn't placed on his foot yet, and held it between his hands as he begged. "This-throwing this shoe was a mistake! Spare us! Please!"

"Okay, but now you know!" Junjin jumped in. He paused, his mind throwing around numerous things to say. In the end, he spluttered out, "And we can help you!"

Minwoo shot a nasty glare in his direction, and Junjin flinched. "You better."

Truthfully, though, none of them knew how to deal with such emotions. It had been much easier when they believed that Minwoo's feelings were on the same level as Dongwan's...but the delivery of a bitter taste of reality twisted everything.

"I guess you can just reject him if you don't like him that way," Andy said evenly. He looked in the direction in which Dongwan had taken off. "He doesn't seem like he minds it that much. Since you're such close friends anyway."

"But what if he gets depressed?" Minwoo said, his heart panicking. "I don't want to have him get sad!"

"Well, you can't change the way you feel. So you might as well tell him."

Minwoo wanted to reach over and shake Andy by the shoulders. Andy always knew what he was talking about. But where was all this advice coming from? And how was it that he made it sound so simple?

"Whatever you do, do it quickly," Hyesung said. His gaze was downcast. "Seriously. If you think too long about it, you'll start confusing Dongwan."

--

Training was to begin in half an hour. While the others were outside fooling around, Minwoo went to their tent and collapsed onto his bunk. It sunk underneath his weight as he stared upward.

The last thing he wanted to do was jeopardize his friendship with Dongwan. Even though it hadn't even been several months since he had met any of this herd of his, they were close enough to be a part of his family. They might as well have been born brothers.

Although, Dongwan seemed to think beyond that.

Grumbling, Minwoo covered his face with his palms. His cheeks felt hot underneath his own hands. He liked Dongwan, but as a friend. But at the same time, it would pain him to have to say that right to Dongwan himself.

He sighed, the exhale coming out as a frustrated groan. Out of all the group, he and Dongwan had met first. And their relationship was much deeper, because it didn't sprout out of the mere roots of having a necessity for an ally. It was quite different. Minwoo thought back to how the two of them first met - the draft.

--

"All males of ages 18-35, excluding those that are physically or mentally disabled, are expected to report to the town square for military attendance at one o' clock tomorrow afternoon. Those who do not report will be assumed as deserters and will be punished accordingly."

Minwoo stood rigidly outside his home as the military officer stood in the center of the square, evenly reading from a piece of paper with a monotonous voice. He was donned in an official uniform - so, as much as everyone listening wished to dismiss the announcement as unimportant, the man was there to serve as a reminder that their hopes were mere fantasies. 

Minwoo's ears tickled as he heard the families around them mumbling underneath their breaths. He saw mothers and little siblings across the street instinctively grasp the clothing of their male family members who fit the description the soldier had read off. From the center square, the officer was attaching the paper to the town bulletin. He meant strict business.

As soon as the officer had marched off with his regime of accompanying soldiers, the town burst into chaos. Minwoo noted a mother that collapsed to her knees on the pavement, her face contorted woefully as wails escaped . Tears accompanied the scene. Her son immediately kneeled in front of her and pulled her weak form to his shoulder. He was going to be sent to the army - but to his mother, he might as well have been handed the death sentence.

Minwoo turned to his own mother, who was standing beside him with a controlled expression. It was to be expected that she would be composed about this. Because while Minwoo had been raised knowing that he could be shipped off to the army like this, his mother recognized that same possibility. Now that it was here, there was no point in lamenting it.

Besides, it wasn't like no one thought this wouldn't happen. It was a war of the nation. How could any family possibly believe that their precious sons or husbands could escape conscription?

"This is ridiculous."

Minwoo looked to the man next to him. He had anger scribbled all across his features. Minwoo didn't have to look past that and the clenched fist at the man's side to know that out of the many that would surely be incensed by this turn of events, this person was one of them.

The man suddenly turned his head to look back at Minwoo. Minwoo felt himself flinch at the hostility in the opposite person's pupils.

"Don't you think?" he prompted.

Minwoo stiffly faced the road, staring across again to the other families who had become somberly silent as they retreated back into their homes. "It was bound to happen," he reasoned. "Did you actually think they wouldn't resort to drafting?"

He didn't have to look to see the increasingly aggravated expression the other man wore. "What, so you think this is okay?" the man said. "To leave your family behind for a damned war?"

Minwoo glanced at his mother next to him. Knowing what he was thinking, she swiftly turned and reported back into their house. 

"My father is a military official," Minwoo said. "I know that it can happen."

The man snorted. "Oh. You're one of those people."

Minwoo didn't want to ask about that distinct accent of disgust on the 'those' of that sentence. "I'm only stating a fact. Anyways, there's no point in complaining about it. You have to go."

Silence. Minwoo's eyes shifted to look at the man, who had darkly become speechless.

"Minwoo, you don't have anyone who depends on you, do you?"

"How do you know my name?"

The man snorted, sneering. "Give me a break. There's only one higher-up in the military living in this town, and he only has one son: Lee Minwoo." He fixed Minwoo with glinting eyes, a look that somehow Minwoo in. "Everyone knows about your father. And they have a gist of who you are."

His head moved to direct Minwoo's gaze farther down the street. "I live down there. So you don't know me. Today my little brother broke a vase and cut his leg by accident. My mother had to stay home and take care of it, so she couldn't come out herself and listen to the announcement." He returned to glaring at Minwoo. "My father is long gone. There's no one to take care of them except me."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Minwoo demanded. "You can't just not go."

"Who said so? Everyone has a free will. And they can exercise it."

Minwoo felt his chest twist achingly. "You're going to desert?"

"You make it sound like a crime." The man chuckled coldly. "Oh, wait. It is."

"Are you stupid?" Minwoo spluttered. "They'll catch you within days! Let alone being punished, they'll kill you! Who'll take care of your family then?"

"I'll find a way." There was a steeled determination in his voice when he spoke, and it made Minwoo's next protests get jammed within his throat. "I will."

Minwoo helplessly watched as, without another word or glance, the man marched away toward the direction of his home.

He was stupid.

He was a fool.

Minwoo warped his hand into a fist, his fingernails digging into his palm. That guy was ridiculous. Going off to war was something. You could die, sure. But there was always a possibility of coming back alive.

Desertion though? Never.

"Stupid," Minwoo mumbled. "...Damn."

It was noon the next day when Minwoo and his father left the house together. They said their goodbyes to Minwoo's mother before heading off to the square.

It didn't escape his father's notice that there was a disturbed tinge to Minwoo's expression. "Nervous for war?" he asked gruffly.

Minwoo alarmedly lifted his head. Nervous? Not in the slightest. At least, not for himself.

"Kind of," he lied, stomaching his anxiety and hurriedly staring down at his feet as they paced forward. He didn't know what to do about that guy from the previous day. He kind of hoped that some sense would fall upon him and that he'd report to call as he was supposed to. 

But somehow, Minwoo didn't have any faith in that happening.

He bit his lip. What was he supposed to do? That man would definitely get in trouble if his intentions were revealed. But he could end up in a worse situation if Minwoo just let it happen.

"Uh, Father," he began shakily.

"Yes?"

Minwoo stared up at his father's face. The only word to describe it would be 'stern'. All those years of working in the military had permanently etched its atmosphere onto his visage.

"Nothing," Minwoo mumbled, turning away again. To put it barely, he was torn. Part of him felt that it wasn't his place to interfere with someone else's business. If that guy was going to walk out on his duties, then that was his problem.

But another part of him was just gnawing away at him to prevent that.

"Son, if there's something wrong, tell me about it," his father said. "That's what I'm here for."

Minwoo heard the edge of strictness in his father's voice. It sounded almost like an order.

He sighed, closing his eyes. Sorry...whoever you are.

"There's this guy. He said he'd desert."

Minwoo was unpacking his few belongings in his bunking tent. Four other men were around him doing the same. It was awkwardly quiet. 

Minwoo wanted to speak up, but he didn't know what to say. They were being sent off to war soon. It didn't seem like there was any room for conversation.

"So," one of them said, breaking the silence. Minwoo ly a bit to see one of the men turning away from his things to face the rest of them. "Um. Since we're going to be living together, let's be pals."

"Couldn't have put it better myself," another replied. "I'm Andy." He bashfully smiled, his own hair. "My real name's Lee Sunho. But you know. American influences."

"Same here!" the first man exclaimed, grinning. Minwoo had to admit, he was pretty attractive and his teeth seemed abnormally white. "Call me Eric. Mun Junghyuk's my real name, but that's a mouthful."

In turn they introduced themselves. Andy and Eric, the men who took on American names after Americans came over from their mainland and tagged them with some intrigue. Shin Hyesung, someone who looked a little too fragile to be able to do any kind of effective frontlining in Minwoo's point of view; but he seemed nice enough. And Junjin, who proved to be a jokester from the moment his name had left his tongue.

"You're a shorty," he told Minwoo, patting Minwoo's head and then leveling his hand to his shoulder. "Very short."

Minwoo practically snarled. "Don't make fun of my height!"

"You're the only really short one here," Junjin pointed out, flashing a grin. Minwoo held back a string of dirty muttering. If this was how his stay here was going to go, he'd definitely have to find a way to boost his height.

"But where's the sixth dude?" Eric asked, gesturing at one of the empty six bunks. "Didn't all the recruits come togeth-"

The tent flap promptly lifted and in walked someone with a flagrant stomp in his steps. His face was dearly familiar to Minwoo.

The man's eyes surveyed the enclosed space before landing on Minwoo. His upper lip twitched and he tried to contain his expression. His frustration revealed itself through occasional flashes in his gaze.

"It was you, wasn't it?" The man stormed over to Minwoo in a couple of firm strides. Junjin, who had first noticed the man by his height, swallowed a joke he was about to make when he saw that there was no atmosphere for it anymore.

Minwoo glared evenly at the man. He knew that when they met again, this kind of thing would occur. But he refused to back down. "So what?"

A moment later, he found himself being held by the collar, the back of his shirt biting into his neck. The man huffed angrily in Minwoo's face, his fingers tightly grasping Minwoo's shirt.

"Hey!" Hyesung snapped. "Let go of him!"

"What the hell, man?" Eric joined in, shoving the new addition of company away from Minwoo.

"I didn't tell anyone else but you about it!" the man hollered at Minwoo, the only thing preventing him from leaping at Minwoo's throat being the physical obstacle of Eric. "And you had to go and babble it off to your father? What did it even have to do with you?"

"You would have gotten your whole family in trouble," Minwoo reasoned, gritting his teeth. That only seemed to make the man's mood worse.

"Don't give me that crap!"

"Hey, if you two got a personal bone to pick with one another, take it somewhere else and get rid of it," Andy said, the irritation gradually infecting him. "We don't have time or energy for feuds when we're living together."

"And they want me to bunk with you, too?" the man scoffed upon hearing Andy's words. "Isn't this just great? I must have destroyed a country in my previous life to earn all this !"

Minwoo swallowed, his Adam's apple rising and falling. "I was only trying to help you."

"Thanks," was the sarcastic response. "Must be great to have a daddy to run to and ask to relieve me of a more terrible punishment than ending up here, huh?" He dumped his bag on the floor, the thud dully reflecting his upset attitude. "I never asked for your help. As a man, I thought maybe you would know to stay out of business that doesn't directly involve you. Especially since I never asked you do anything."

He stepped around Eric - who budged reluctantly - and planted himself in front of Minwoo. He mockingly stuck out his hand toward him. Minwoo didn't move.

"I'm Kim Dongwan," the man said. Not once did the hatred waver in his tone. Then, dangerously:

"Let's get along."

--

A/N: Ah school. How I adore your ways of ruining my fanfiction writing ;A;