Jonghyun had no idea how much time he had spent, simply sitting in the bleachers. The only indicator of time that he had, were the facts that the sun had nearly completely disappeared beneath the blanket of darkening sky and that his tears had dried, with none left to continue falling. The rapid succession of drastic event that evening, had left him completely exhausted. He chuckled a little, humorlessly, as he silently remarked that he never wanted to go for a visit to the doctor's again, even for just a check-up. How unpleasant it would be, indeed, to be reminded of what it was that he had tried to achieve, and what he had so horribly failed to do, immortalized in another person who had managed to make the journey that he had so desperately wanted to make.

Having nothing else to do, Jonghyun put his duffel bag of clothing down on the bleachers, to use as a pillow. He figured that the soft material inside would make for better cushioning than his other bag, full of hard text books.

The young man lay down, glad that the air was only just chilled enough to make him feel comfortably warm in his jacket and in his expired sadness. He couldn't even find it in himself to be angry anymore, or frustrated. In fact, for a few minuted, he even felt as if he was just going to be spending a nice, quiet night under the stars. It was wonderful, almost, to have the human need for sleep as an excuse to not have to think of his troubles for a moment, and let himself be pulled into a peaceful, semi-conscious world. If it wasn't for the situation that had put him outside in the first place, Jonghyun reflected, he might even have enjoyed this-sleeping outside, undisturbed.

At least for a few hours, there was no longer any need for him to worry about what to do; where he should go, who he should talk to. It was just him, just Jonghyun, laid out for the only the heavens to see. 

He had closed his heavy eyelids, feeling the same heaviness begin to soak into his limbs. Soon, he wasn't even aware that his hands were folded atop his chest, or that he had a pair of shoes on his feet. It was as if a dentist had just administered some "laughing gas", before beginning a procedure to extract a tooth.

He had been comfortably floating on the verge of sleep, when he slowly became aware of a noise indicating that pieces of polished metal were clinking together and what sounded like a person's jeans rubbing together, as they walked.

Jonghyun's instinctual reaction was to try and ignore the sound. much as he would have when he heard a noise in his apartment that threatened to pull him out of the comforting arms of sleep. As he soon remembered, however, he was not in his apartment. He was outdoors. Exposed. Vulnerable.

Very aware of possible dangers that could be lurking about, especially at this time of the day, Jonghyun somewhat reluctantly opened his eyes and, rather than getting up and making himself extremely visible, he turned his head to the side, only enough to be able to watch the moving shadow that had entered the area.

The moving figure was carrying a large bag and was heading into the main building, presumably to return the bag. Jonghyun correctly guessed that the tall individual was a man.

Despite having only just jerked himself into a state of full consciousness, Jonghyun's mind reeled. What if the person was some kind of hack murderer...what if that bag contained someone's body?!

Jonghyun began to panic, as the man disappeared into the building.

Shoot! He didn't even have a cell phone! He had absolutely no connection to the police, or anyone else who could help him, for that matter. If the man really was dangerous, then Jonghyun's only hope was that he would remain unseen.

He didn't move, not wanting to make any noise, and not wanting to make his presence known if he were to get up and try to hide.

So he simply lay there, hoping that he would survive his night outdoors and hoping that this wasn't some kind of "divine justice" saying,

"See? Things could be much worse!"

He swallowed, hard, when he heard the building's doors open again, signifying the man's return.

"Hey! Who's there?"

Jonghyun's eyes popped wide open and a feeling of doom punched his stomach. He felt his heart rate increase so much that it was uncomfortable and a layer of cold sweat covered his entire body. He had been noticed.

Deciding to throw it all down on the line, he got up, blowing his already ruptured cover. He figured that, if he was literally going to have to have the "fight of his life" tonight, he might as well be prepared.

Maybe there was a chance that the person was a police officer, coming to arrest him for loitering? If that was the case, maybe he would be able to get some help? But Jonghyun's mind, again, chose a negative alley. If it was a member of the police, he would more likely go from student to criminal, knowing his bad luck. 

When he noticed, in the faint, remaining orange sunlight, who the person was, however, he almost wish that he was a police officer, or even someone wanting to rob him of the few possessions he had left. But, of course, he had no such luck.

The person turned out to be Minho.

Of all the people that could have seen him in this state, it had to have been Minho. Jinki, Taemin, or Kibum could have found him. Heck, even a member of Minho's soccer team or a fellow classmate that Jonghyun had never talked to in his life could have been the one to witness hi lowest moment. But no. It had to be Minho.

Thinking fast and acting even more quickly, Jonghyun shoved his duffel bag beneath the bleachers, and out of sight. Minho was only drawing ever closer and, if he asked, Jonghyun hoped that he might be able to lie and say that he had just been studying, or that he had only just finished a very late class. There was no way that he could tell Minho that he had just been evicted, and was on the verge of failing his studies.

"Jonghyun?!" Minho frowned, seeing his friend alone, at night, in a deserted soccer field. "What's wrong?' He immediately asked, jogging the rest of the distance to the elder's side.

Jonghyun was taken aback. Sure, it was unusual for someone to be out this late at night, and hiding away in the bleachers, at that, but why did Minho have to ask if there was something wrong? Of all the questions... He had had to ask the one that Jonghyun was trying to avoid having to answer.

"Nothing's-"

"Don't lie, Jonghyun," Minho interrupted, as he sat down beside his friend, not rudely; but his tone suggested that he was expecting Jonghyun to be honest with him. "No one just 'comes here' to think, at night, looking like they've been crying-" Minho fixed his eyes on Jonghyun's "-if 'nothing's' wrong."

Jonghyun didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. That someone had noticed his suffering, had been insistent to pursue the matter and had taken the excuses right out of his mouth, was something that hadn't happened before, and he simply wasn't in the mood to try and protest.

Minho glanced down and, unfortunately for Jonghyun, took notice of the bag that he had attempted to stow away behind his legs.

Observant Minho was quick to "put two and two together".

"Have you been evicted?" He hazarded a guess, rather astounded.

Jonghyun simply sat and stared. Minho was right on the mark about his situation-part of it, anyway- and all the pride that he had been trying to salvage simply dissolved.

One tear fell, then another, followed by yet another drop, until Jonghyun had started sobbing and crying, yet again.

Minho was quick to act, pulling Jonghyun in for a long hug.

Jonghyun was still so shocked by the loss of his home and now, Minho's perceptiveness, but he gratefully took refuge in the arms offered to him and wrapped his own around Minho's neck, hiding his face in the younger's shoulder as he cried.

"Jonghyun?" Minho said, softly in Jonghyun's ear, not wanting to end the embrace that the elder seemed to so desperately need. "Come and stay with me, please."

Letting the last of his pride vanish, Jonghyun hugged Minho tighter, in response.

Note:

I hope I did an okay job of describing the events of this chapter ^^'

Just for clarification, yes, Jonghyun has non-verbally accepted Minho's request to move in with him. Jonghyun isn't homeless anymore!!! Yay!! ^_^

I hope that this was somewhat realistic- I think that it is plausible that a truly good friend would notice their friends' times of need and would be able to fill in the blanks about what went wrong. I hope so anyways ^^'

Just so that you are all aware, I'm going to start replying to comments on each of your respective walls, if that's alright with you all :) I just find that it keeps things more organized and that way, I know for sure that you've received my responses to your much appreciated comments!!

Thank you, everyone, for reading, and thank you, queenhinata for acting like a Minho-type figure for me and offering advice and insight onto my situation :)

x Angela