“Ya, Kim Woo Bin!” the raucous voice pulls his attention out of the girl tangled around him. Woo Bin takes a step back, untangling from the girl’s long arms wrapped around his middle, and darts his gaze up to the top of the staircase where there is a tall boy with silver brown hair glaring at him. His hair still has that same old tousled look from ten years ago; it curls away from his slim forehead almost like a soft quiff. His almond eyes nestled under thick brows gleam in rage. It is almost dubious that they were once the closest friends that couldn’t be separated.

“I see…you crawled back to your buddy eh?” he cackles as he steps down in that inching gait of his, almost as if he is counting the number of stairs as he descends.

Hiding her tear stained cheeks, the girl snakes her arms around Woo Bin’s and snuggles closer to his body. He has hoped that she would go away by now, but she doesn’t seem to have such intentions of doing so any time soon. Woo Bin snatches his arm and the girl stumbles, gripping on to the railing as she almost trips down the stairs. 

“Oppa…” she almost chokes on her word as she shifts her gaze back to Woo Bin; the tears are back on their tracks, streaming down like a broken dam. Woo Bin can’t understand how girls could cry so much, are they made up of 100% tears? He ignores the girl and turns back to his childhood friend, more like his ex-childhood friend.

“What do you want Seung-hyun?” his empty voice doesn’t seem to reach Seung-hyun; because instead of answering he prowls at the girl cringed against the stair rail.

“Oh my poor poor sweetheart,” he jests, singing out the words with a fabricated concern. He traps her slim body between his strong arms and the railing. “Seems like your buddy doesn’t want to fill you up with his anymore,” he sneers at the girl, cupping her chin up with his long fingers. “Wants me to lend you mine? I can—”

The girl spits on his face. Without giving him a second to register what had happened, she knees his groin with all the strength she could muster up, crashes her fist on his fine cheek and flees from the scene.

“Yah! Kwon Yuri!!! You !” he screams at the figure disappearing behind the fire exit.

Woo Bin sighs looking at the crouched form of his ex-friend cringed against the floor with a busted lip, clutching onto his groin for dear life.  

“You deserved it,” Woo Bin mumbles, lending his hand to pull the boy up. He slaps the helping hand away and stumbles on to his feet.

“I’m going to kill that ,” he grunts, glaring down the empty exit.

“Whatever,” Woo Bin mutters, clearly uninterested in whatever he does to her, “What the hell did you want with me?”

A grin invades Seung-hyun’s face, that painful cringe is now long gone as if he was never kneed at his precious groin or fisted on his smooth cheek. 

“I hear you got a new mother,” he sneers. He knows, better than anyone else, what a mother means to Woo Bin, he also knows what it means for his mother’s place to be replaced. 

Woo Bin grits his teeth, his eyes piercing right into those almond orbs. “What does that have to do with you?” he grumbles, trying his best to keep his calm.  

“Nothing really,” Seung-hyun says, roaming around Woo Bin, eyeing him up and down as if he had encountered a fascinating creature. “At-least not with your new mother,” he says, stressing out the last word, “But…if we are talking about your new brother-of-a-beauty, then that’s a different case,” he smirks when he sees Woo Bin’s sharp eyes soften in a glitter at the mention. “Lee Jong Suk…was it…?” he continues wanting to see how Woo Bin will react when he hears the news about his newfound interest. “I thought I should let you know, for the sake of our ten years’ worth friendship,” he stops roaming around and fixes his eyes with Woo Bin’s reddening gaze “He has laid his eyes on Jong Sukie…” he waits to see Woo Bin’s reaction. Seung-hyun sneers with satisfaction when he gets that familiar panic behind Woo Bin’s dark orbs. If it was a normal person, they will see no emotion in that predator glint, but to Seung-hyun who has known him for almost ten years, he knows how to read Woo Bin’s hidden emotions.

“And?” he says “What the hell does that have to do with me?” his flat voice seems to surprise Seung-hyun a bit; he ignores the boy and keeps his tone empty. Woo Bin feels his mind fogging up, if Seung-hyun is telling the truth, then that means Jong Suk will be in danger. After all, he is someone who doesn’t know what it feels like not being able to gain what he wants. He will use any means to obtain his goal—especially if that goal has something to do with Woo Bin.

“So you really don’t care?” Seung-hyun asks, the corner of his lip tugged into a dare.

Woo Bin clenches his fits hidden deep in his pockets. “Why would I care? He is a complete stranger to me. One annoying bastard,” his words spits out with venom, surprising even himself with the words “I’ll be thankful if he can get rid of it,”

Seung-hyun snorts. “Then, you wouldn’t mind if your step-brother becomes his ?”

Woo Bin grinds his teeth, his nails digs deep into his own palm, he can feel the skin breaking away under the assaulting sharp nails. “Why would I care whose he becomes?” he manages to say before turning on his heels, ready to sprint to the exit. But a tight grip at his arm sprains him around.

“Then, you are saying…you don’t mind if that scaredy little cat of yours lose its way and gets trapped into a world of beasts?” A smirk screws over Seung-hyun’s face. Woo Bin can see the playful glint in Seung-hyun’s eyes being replaced by that reddening pain threatening to breaking him into pieces. It’s the same eyes from two years ago, the eyes that had lost their gentle gleam to a darkness Woo Bin could not protect his friend from. “You—don’t—care!” he twists his head ever so slightly, his hands clutching at Woo Bin’s collar “if that fragile little boy is violated by those beasts until he loses his sanity and takes his own life away? IF YOU DON’T GIVE A ,” he yanks Woo Bin at him “Then, WHY the hell didn’t you let me have my fun at the rooftop?”  

Woo Bin breaks away from his grip and stares into the reddened eyes. Woo Bin knows what kind of a pain Seung-hyun is in right now. After all, Woo Bin was the one who just stood helplessly like an idiot when his friend’s world crashed into pieces right in-front of his eyes.

“I guess this is my chance,” Seung-hyun says through his gritted teeth “To take my revenge on you!” he spits the last sentence at Woo Bin before striding back up the stairs and disappearing down the hallway.

Things are getting messier than Woo Bin had expected them to. He had certainly known how that beautiful creature will attract unwanted attention the moment he sets his feet onto this school grounds. He had expected him to at least last bit longer before gaining his attention…but how on earth did he cause such a mess so quickly?

Woo Bin shakes the thoughts away and walks back home.

***

“Oh, you are home?” an awfully cheerful voice greets him the moment he sets foot into the house. He glances at the pale figure hopping down the stairs with a pale blue apron wrapped around his slender waist. An eternal angelic smile hangs on his face and it makes Woo Bin’s chest strain with unfamiliar warmth. Sometimes he wonders if this beautiful creature is even a human, because he doesn’t look like one. He seems too delicate to be a human, too fragile like he is made of a thin veil of glass that would shatter the moment you dare to lay your finger on it. Just with one single smile, this creature has the ability to make Woo Bin doubt his own sanity. Is he really a guy? Why does he look so fragile? Will he break if I touch him…? Argh…it’s annoying me!! Why the hell does he have to look so freaking girlish?! And why the hell am I even thinking about him? That’s it! I’ve had enough of these stupid thoughts. This is just a dream. I am just dreaming, this person is not re—

“Mom and dad called earlier and said they were going out for dinner,” the beautiful boy says, dragging Woo Bin out of his losing sanity. “I am fixing us some fried rice for dinner,” he beams brightly when Woo Bin nods in acknowledgement without really thinking. “You can go take a shower; I’ll call you when I have finished cooking.” he says and waits for Woo Bin’s reply. Woo Bin gazes up at the soft looking figure. He is not real, he assures himself; and he will not break…right? He suddenly feels the urge to reach out and hold those fragile hands in his, just to make sure that that person is real and he will not break if he touches him. No, this can’t be… Is he really trying to drive me mad? Why is my hearting beating like crazy when he smiles at me like that? What is he trying to do to me? Woo Bin gives his head a good shake, slips out of his blue trainers and smacks his shoulder against Jong Suk’s as he steps pass him. He is really real, Woo Bin says to himself when he feels Jong Suk bouncing off his shoulder. Each time he feels like this boy is driving him to edge of madness, smacking him with his shoulder makes him feel somewhat safe like he was not going mad. That was also the only way he could be sure that this person invading his world is a real person without making a fool out of himself. Did it hurt him? He wonders, but it couldn’t be helped. He had to make sure that a person called Lee Jong Suk really exists in this house.

Woo Bin hurries up to his room, strips himself off his uniform, darts into the bathroom and hits the shower. He turns the water to cold, feeling the freshness cooling down his head, his senses returning to his mind. He stays there for good long twenty minutes before getting out and drying himself.

He waits for Jong Suk’s call for what feels like two hours though it’s only been five minutes since he came out of the shower. A gentle knock on his door gets his attention and the beautiful creature peers through the slight open door.

“Dinner is ready,” the soft voice he had been waiting for says. Woo Bin straightens to his feet and follows the boy down. He is surprised by the appetising fragrance of the food wafting from the kitchen. His mouth waters at the sight of two plates full of fried-rice.

Their dinner passes in silence, neither of them making any effort for a conversation. Woo Bin once in a while steals glances at the petite boy seated opposite to him. He watches Jong Suk stuffing his mouth with the food, eyes never leaving his plate. Is he worried someone is going to steal his food? Woo Bin wonders while chewing on a mouth full of rice.

He has been observing this beautiful creature since the first day they met at that restaurant. He had gone there because his father had threatened to take away his motor bike if he didn’t go. But when Jong Suk walked into that suffocating place, he felt a tiny tingle fires deep down somewhere in his chest. That tingle has been growing into something much warmer and much bigger over the last two months or so and now it bothers Woo Bin. He doesn’t like the way this creature seems to have taken control over his soul, he doesn’t like the way this boy makes him stir with the need to protect him, and he certainly doesn’t like how each time he sees this petite boy he is plunged into a world of emotions that he hadn’t ever felt before. These things irritates him so much that sometimes he feels the need to smack that boy just to plunge those thoughts out of his mind, but the moment he does it he starts worrying if he has hurt him too much.

“If you have finished eating,” Jong Suk’s soft voice pulls him out of his thoughts, “Let me wash the plate for you,” he says smiling as he points at Woo Bin’s empty plate. He watches the boy steps to the sink, place the two plates carefully down and squeeze some washing-up liquid on to a sponge.

Once the dishes were done, Jong Suk sets them on the rack to dry and walks into the living room. Woo Bin follows him and slouches on the couch furthest from where Jong Suk is siting.

“D-do you want to watch something?” the boy stammers as he holds the remote controller at Woo Bin. Is he cold or is he scared? He wonders scanning the slightly quivering hand held toward him. He drags his gaze up the length of Jong Suk’s arm, over his slender neck, past his plum lips and pauses at the hesitant eyes, glittering with…fear? Do I scare him that much? Woo Bin holds his gaze firm as he wonders. Feelings of warmth entangled with the urge to wrap this boy in his arms and rock him gently until those fear-glittered eyes turns back to that bright smile overtakes Woo Bin’s chest. He tires his best to surpass the thoughts, but he fails.

Instead of taking the extended remote controller, Woo Bin shifts his weight closer, just until he can feel Jong Suk’s shoulder brushing gently against his own. He settles into the cushion and grabs the remote controller, slightly those long fingers wrapped around it. He feels Jong Suk jolt at the ghostly touch and takes a sideway glance to find his petrified self. He wonders if Jong Suk is going into one of those ‘attacks’ again, no he doesn’t want to see that happening again. He jerks slightly away from Jong Suk, only enough for their bodies to lose that gentle contact between them. He sees Jong Suk glance at him, no longer in the frozen world, then he starts surfing through the channels until he finds a live concert. He pauses at the channel and looks at Jong Suk, wondering if he would mind watching it, then again, it’s not like Jong Suk would dare to say he wants to watch something else. Whatever, if he doesn’t like it he will go away he says silently as he toss the controller back to the coffee table. He lifts his legs up and rests them in the table before leaning back on the sofa. To his surprise Jong Suk doesn’t walk away, instead he settles back on the couch, eyes glued to the wide screen in front of them.

Neither of them talks but the dead silence between them doesn’t seem to bother Jong Suk. He giggles, staring at the weird looking dance that has taken over the stage now. Instead of the TV, Woo Bin observes the beautiful boy sitting next to him, smiling as if Woo Bin doesn’t even exist in this world; his giggles softens as the song changes into a classical one, his eyes flutter gently, those long lashes batting against the rosy cheeks, they eventually shuts close and Jong Suk’s head starts wavering as he dozes off into dreamland. Woo Bin reaches for the sleepy head hanging low, he leans it on his shoulder and brushes the locks of stray hair curtaining over the boy’s closed eyes. A gentle smile tugs at Woo Bin’s lips.

AN: So~~What do you think? Did you enjoy it (~_~) Hope you did....

Thanks for reading ^_^