Minseok comes aware of his surroundings slowly, the darkness disappearing like fog.

The first thing he notices is that he’s lying down on a very comfortable mattress and that there’s a very pretty painting right beside the bed.  What if it falls on me? 

“Hey, you awake?”  A voice from his right asks him, and he gasps in shock when he realizes who it is.  The childishness from his features is still prominent—doe-eyes on an unforgettable baby face—and despite the many years of not holding a proper conversation with each other, it’s still pretty clear to him who he is.

“Luhan?”  He asks, disbelief clearly written across his features.  He moves to stand from the couch he’s sitting on and sits by his hip on the bed.

“Minseok.”  He replies, rubbing his face with his hand.  “I was worried you wouldn’t wake up.”

That got Minseok thinking.  “How long have you been awake?”  She asks.

“About half an hour.  I kept on trying to rouse you but you just wouldn’t.  I figured whatever knocked you out cold was still in effect.”  He replies, looking at her worriedly.  “Are you sure you’re okay?  You’re quite pale.”

“I’m fine.”  Minseok replies, planting her bare feet on the floor.  Luhan immediately reaches under the bed for a set of slippers, apparently hers.  “How long have we been here anyway?”

“Dunno.  Not that long, I guess.”  He replies, looking out the window by the other wall.  Minseok just hums in agreement before realizing something.

“Crap!  Jongin’s gonna be pissed!”  Minseok exclaimed, face-palming. 

“Why?”  Luhan asks.

“We’re supposed to meet at the mall to look for gifts for his cousin’s birthday…” Minseok begins to explain but is cut off by the sound of footfalls approaching the door, causing the two occupants of the room instantly freeze.  A light shuffle is heard before the unmistakable jingle of keys is heard and Luhan instantly puts himself between Minseok and the door.

A man enters, dressed in a suit and is carrying a manila folder.  His brown hair falls gently over his forehead, and his dimples show as he smiles at the occupants of the room.  He gently closes the door and approaches the two occupants, removing his blazer while doing so.

“Geez, hold your horses.  There’s no need to get all defensive on me.”  The man says, eyeing Luhan.  “Besides, how am I supposed to see the pretty man behind you if you keep on blocking my view?”

“How am I supposed to believe that?”  Luhan asks, eyeing the room before glaring at the stranger once again.  Minseok just gasps and protests with, “Pretty? What are you talking about?!” from behind the other occupant of the room.

“Well, you’ll just have to take my word for it… Kim Minseok and Luhan.”  The man says before sending a smirk in Luhan’s general direction.

“How do you know our names?”  Minseok softly asks from behind Luhan.  The man simple raises the hand holding the manila folder before replying.

“I know not just your names, but everything about both of you.  This manila folder right here is basically your entire lives on a plate.  To me.  So that I can teach both of you a lesson.”

“What lesson?”  Luhan, who’s on guard once again, asks.

“One of you has a secret.”  The man says, before seeming to consider his words.  “Wait, that was wrong; everyone has their dirty little secrets.  Even me.”  He says, once again smiling.  “But one of you has the secret, the secret that he has been hiding for most of his life.  The key to your freedom.”

“What the hell?!”  Luhan asks, facing Minseok with a questioning look.  Minseok just shrugs in reply.

“You see? My terms are just easy.  Tell the secret to the other person and both of you can go.  Just like that.”  The man replies.

“But how are we supposed to know which secret it is?”  Minseok asks, standing and pushing aside Luhan.  “I mean, like you said, everyone has their dirty little secrets.  How do we know if it’s the right secret?”

“Oh trust me, you’ll know.”  The man says before advancing to Minseok’s personal space and staring him straight in the eyes.  “And besides, there is a reason why it’s the two of you in here, am I right?”  He finishes, the words coming out as a whisper that only Minseok can hear.

“Dude, cut the crap.”  Luhan says before stepping between the man and Minseok.  “Don’t you have a concept of personal space?”

“Peachy.”  The man says before going for the door.  “Anyways, you can’t leave this room unless you spill the beans so you guys might as well get yourselves comfortable.  There’s food in the kitchen and you don’t have to worry about running out of resources, I have my ways.  And you can’t do anything stupid with the windows because no one can see from the outside.”

“You’re really hell bent on doing this, aren’t you?”  Luhan growls.

The man gives a humorless chuckle.  “Don’t forget, I’ll be watching.”  He says before stepping out of the room and locking the door behind him.  Luhan spins around and faces Minseok once again.

“Now what?”  He asks.

“We eat.”

~O~

“I never really appreciated cup noodles before this.”  Luhan says as he slurps down more noodles.

“Are you trying to make small talk?”  Minseok asks, staring down at his own cup.  This has Luhan stopping to gape at him.

“What the hell am I supposed to do then?  Just eat here and keep quiet?”

“As if you eat quietly.”  Minseok replies, pouting.

“That’s not the point and you know it.”  Luhan bitterly replies.  “What’s going on with you?”

“Aren’t you pissed?”

“Pissed?  Try ing furious!” 

“What are we going to do about this?”  Minseok asks, looking at their surroundings.  He puts down his cup and stares at the other expectantly.

“Well, first we have to figure things out.”  Luhan says, pushing to his feet and pacing the small dining room.  “Then we have to talk about it.”

“Are you really that willing to just spill your guts out to me?”  Minseok asks.

“Are you suggesting that we stay here forever?”  Luhan asks, wide-eyed.

“You didn’t answer my question.”  Minseok replies, a frown marring his face.

“You know what?  I can’t do this right now.”  Luhan replies before walking out of the dining area.  Seconds later Minseok can hear the sound of the TV being .

~O~

“You know, this silence is beginning to be the story of our lives.”  Minseok says as he and Luhan eat their dinner.  Two days have passed since Luhan walked out the dining area and they’ve been living in silence ever since.

“I know.”  Luhan replies, forking his spaghetti.

“This silence is already beginning to be deafening.”

“I know.”

“I’m sorry.”  Minseok says, eyes not meeting Luhan.

“I know.”  Luhan replies before looking at Minseok.  “Me too.  I’m sorry, too.”

“What for?”  Minseok asks, his eyes meeting the other’s in curiosity.

“For walking out on you.”  Luhan replies, a small smile forming on his lips.  “You’re allowed to have your own freak out moment too, you know.  I just forgot that you freak out that way, by being all calm and y and rational.”  Minseok gives a small smile of his own at Luhan’s reply.

They eat in comfortable silence afterwards.

~O~

“I never thought I’d see you again.”  Luhan says while they’re sitting on the bay seat by the bay window.  Minseok rips his eyes away from the children crossing the street to focus his attention on the other.

“Are you starting to spill?”  He asks, voice a mere whisper.

“Maybe.  Maybe not.”  Luhan replies before giving him a small smile.  “But honestly, I thought that graduation was the last time that I’ll see you.”

“Why?”  Minseok asks, perplexed.  “We always see each other around.”

“Yeah, we do.  But we never talk, we just look at each other and nod in greeting and then continue our lives.”  Luhan replies, rubbing his face.  “We never even made small talk.”

“I knew that things are going to get awkward once we graduate, with you being with Jongin and all.”  Minseok replies, making a face.  “But I didn’t mind.”

“Now you’re spilling.”  Luhan replies before laughing. “Seriously, though, you knew?”

“We never really parted on good terms.”  Minseok replies, cringing at the memory of the cruel words coming from Luhan moments after graduation, and missing the way Luhan frowns as he also remembers the same memory.  “And you know Jongin, he can get very…”

“…Full of himself.  Trust me, I know.”  Luhan replies, staring at the old couple crossing the street. 

“It’s such a shame; we were such good friends back then.”  Minseok muses.

“Maybe this is a blessing in disguise after all.”  Luhan replies, and then continues at Minseok’s questioning gaze.  “Maybe it’s a chance for us to start over.  Be friends again.” 

Minseok can only hum in response.

~O~

The man visits them again a couple of nights after.

The door opens slowly, and then a small light in the form of a beam from a flashlight enters the room.  The man then follows, quietly closing the door behind him as he switches off the flashlight.

“Are you really going for subtlety?”  A voice then asks, and he sets his sight on the figure sitting by the bay window.

“Minseok.”  He breathes, sighs, in relief.  “It’s not a good thing to scare people like that.”

“Look who’s talking.”  Minseok replies, his voice soft as a whisper.  It was only then that the man realized that Luhan is asleep on the bed.

“It’s also not healthy for someone to stay way past his bedtime.”  The man says, joining Minseok on the bay seat and looking at the moon outside.  “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It is.”  Minseok replies.  “I couldn’t sleep.  Not with him on the bed with me.”

“You’re that frustrated?”  The man asks, smirking.  Minseok hits him lightly on the arm, a smile on his lips.

“Hardy-har-har.”  He replies.  “What are you really trying to achieve?”

“I already told you, I want to teach you both a lesson.”  The man replies, running a hand through his hair.

“A lesson on what, exactly?”  Minseok replies, giving the man a pointed look.  He doesn’t reply at first, just stares out the window with a melancholic expression.  The silence lapses for about five minutes before the man breaks with a whisper.

“You’ll just have to wait and see.”

~O~

He hastily puts on his sneakers before grabbing his keys and locking the door behind him, and then he bolts for his bicycle.

“Crap. Crap. Crap!”  Minseok exclaims, unlocking the gate and getting his bike on the biker’s lane.  “Jongin’s gonna kill me if I’m late.”  He mutters to himself as he begins to paddle his way to the mall.

This wasn’t exactly the way Minseok wanted to spend his first day of vacation after his freshman year in college.  In fact, he planned to just stay in bed the whole day unless his stomach protests and he has to eat in the kitchen… or unless his mother forces him to get up; but then, his parents had to make an important trip across the state and Jongin called to ask for his help and now… well cycling his way to the mall at breakneck speed really isn’t the way Minseok wanted to spend his first say of vacation.

But how could he say no?  Jongin’s his best friend, his long-lost brother.  No matter how many arguments they have and ing about Jongin does behind his back, Minseok just can’t leave him alone when the other needs his help.  Besides, it’s for Chanyeol’s birthday, so why not?

Minseok rounds the corner and reaches the entrance of the mall in record time.  Dismounting from his bike and leading it to the bicycle stands, he wonders what would happen when he and his best friend finally meet.  He never noticed the man quietly making his way towards him, a syringe in hand.  He never notices the dark shadow until it’s too late.

Minseok never knew what hit him.

~O~

A week and a half after they first woke up in the room, Minseok fell ill.  At first, it was only dizzy spells the turned to muscle cramps and vomiting.  Then came the headaches and then, much to Luhan’s horror, Minseok passed out while in the middle of cleaning the bay window. 

Minseok doesn’t remember much from the time he was ill, it was all blurry and the world felt like it was on fire.  Or rather, he was on fire.  During those rare moments of lucidity, however, Minseok recalls cool hands on his forehead, a soothing voice whispering reassurances, and a more panicked voice begging him to get better.  One time, however, was different; he could hear hushed voices deep in conversation—or argument—before an unfamiliar set of arms lifted him in a lover’s carry.  Then he feels, or hears, a door close behind him and a significant drop in temperature before he falls back into oblivion.