“I can’t believe this,” Hoya muttered to himself, pushing away some debris with his foot. “I can’t believe anyone would do this.”

Dongwoo rubbed a reassuring hand on his back. “Babe, there’s nothing we could’ve done to prevent it. The police said that there were no known motivations behind it. It was probably some kleptomaniac.”

“Dongwoo, I know,” Hoya breathed out. “I just can’t believe it.” He stuffed his hands inside his jacket pockets and kicked at a piece of broken mirror glass. “Just look at our studio.”

Dongwoo stared at the dim space surrounding them, taking in its desolate appearance. The door had been broken off its hinges, the mirrors had been smashed in to and the pieces were dangerously scattered everywhere. The stereo had obviously been thrown into the mirror, as it lay underneath the offending breaks. The whole scene of it couldn’t hit him quickly enough. He let out a devastated sigh, clutching to Hoya’s arm tighter. “Hoya…” he whispered.

Hoya’s arm reached over to his hands, them in comfort. “I know, baby, I know.”

Dongwoo whimpered, “We just… we worked so hard for this place. And look at it.” He looked up at Hoya with misty eyes. “Why would someone do this? Why would someone destroy our dream like this?”

“Hey,” Hoya said, reaching to cradle Dongwoo’s face in his hands gently. “Everything is going to be okay. We have the money – we can replace the mirrors and the stereo. They took money from us, but it’s not every penny we have. Things will end up alright.” He wiped away a tear that had silently slid down Dongwoo’s cheek. “Everything will be okay. Like you said – we just need a little hope, right?”

Dongwoo nodded, slipping his face away from Hoya’s hands. “I hope so.”

“Excuse me.” A police officer came into the room, breaking the two from their embrace. “Are you two the owners?”

Hoya stepped forward. “Yes, we are the owners of this studio.”

“Well, I’m happy to inform you that not much has been done that can’t be replaced. So long as you have the money, everything should be fixed easily.” Hoya nodded, and the officer continued. “As for the criminal, we caught his face on the CCTV, so we’re going to keep a lookout for him. The neighboring buildings also saw a bit of him, so they’ve given their witness accounts. Sorry for bothering you at such an inconvenient time.”

Hoya nodded. “Thanks for your time. And yes, everything is replaceable, it’s just so… hard.”

“I understand. If it’s alright with you, I would like to take your contact information so we can alert you of any news following this.”

“Yes, of course, officer.”

Dongwoo walked off to a corner of the dance studio as Hoya spoke with the policeman. The constant sirens in the background and blue and red lights filtered into the studio. He bent down to the floor, carefully clearing some large shards of glass aside to pick up a wrinkled photo from under it. He bit his lip and blinked back his tears because this very photo was of the first dance contest they had won together as a duo. Their happy photo of an embrace and eye-smiles was wrinkled and broken all over. He stared at it in regret and sadness because this wasn’t how he wanted to look at this picture. He never wanted to see this picture near ruin but here it was in his hands.

A warm pair of hands grasped his shoulder and he looked up and saw Hoya’s comforting eyes. He smiled softly and stared down at the picture. “Can you believe it?” he said. “Our very first win.” And then, everything seemed to hit him so quickly. Their studio was in shambles. Everything they had every worked for had been broken into and smashed to pieces and suddenly, he found himself crying.

Hoya immediately wrapped him in his arms and soothed him softly. Dongwoo cried in his shoulder, hugging him as though he depended on it. “Shhh,” Hoya whispered, “it’s alright, baby. Everything is going to be okay.”

Dongwoo didn’t know what to say. After all, what could he say in a time like this? Instead, he clutched the sleeves of his jacket and hugged Hoya tighter.

“We’re going to be completely fine,” Hoya said gently. “We have the funds, remember? It’ll just take some time to replace everything.”

Dongwoo nodded and wiped his tears away. “You’re right – everything is going to be okay. Crying isn’t going to do anything.”

Hoya smiled at him gently, rubbing his shoulders. “Let’s go home, okay? The police will call us if they get any more information. For now, let’s just go back home and talk about what needs to be replaced.”

He nodded and Hoya helped him up to his feet. “We’re going to be okay,” he told himself again, trying at a smile. Hoya slung an arm around his waist and led him out of the studio.

When they were outside, Hoya spoke to a few more policemen who wished him the best of luck. Dongwoo held his hand the whole time, politely thanking the policemen for their wishes. It was another five minutes before they got into their car and headed home. The ride was silent as Hoya focused on the road and Dongwoo stared out the window. Lights whizzed by like little streaks and his eyes struggled to keep up. “Hoya, aren’t we going a little fast?” he asked softly.

Hoya glanced at him then looked at the speedometer. His foot on the gas pedal lifted slightly and the car slowed. “Yeah. I guess we were. Sorry about that,” he murmured.

“No, it’s fine,” Dongwoo said. He leaned to the side, cradling his chin on the armrest as his forehead touched the window. “Everything just seemed to pass by faster than normal.”

Hoya sighed. “I guess I’m just a little stressed and my foot pressed the gas pedal a bit more than I normally do.”

Dongwoo looked over to him and glanced down at the small digital clock in the dashboard. 3:27 AM. He stared over to Hoya with tired eyes and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “We’re both under some pressure now. Don’t worry about it.”

“I know, honey, I know.” He bit back his millionth sigh. “It’s still a little surreal that someone would do this to us.”

“I know how you feel, babe. I’m still hoping that I can wake up from this tomorrow and realize that it was just a… dream, or something. And that I just had a nightmare after our anniversary dinner.” He smiled down at his lap and fiddled his thumbs. “But I know better than that.”

Hoya reached across to Dongwoo’s lap with one hand and intertwined their fingers. Dongwoo smiled wearily at the action as Hoya caressed the back of his hand with his thumb. “Don’t worry too much,” he whispered. “I promise I’ll take care of it.”

Dongwoo gave him a smile, squeezing his hand. “We’ll take care of it. Because we’re married and we do things together, remember?”

Hoya smiled as he stared at the road. “Of course I remember. We’ll fix everything together.”

Dongwoo nodded happily. “Yes we will. Neither of us will have to do it alone.”

As soon as they walked through the front door of their apartment Dongwoo walked over to the kitchen counter where his laptop was placed. Hoya flicked the lights on as Dongwoo opened it up and typed in his password. Hoya walked over and wrapped his arms around his husband’s waist. “What are you doing, honey?”

“E-mailing our classes. They need to know that the studio will be closed,” he replied.

Hoya placed his chin on Dongwoo’s shoulder, hugging him closely as he watched him type out the e-mail. He smiled to himself, because Dongwoo tended to whisper everything that he was writing out loud and he found it adorable. He chuckled as Dongwoo muttered about something sounding too informal then deleting nearly half of the paragraph. After a moment or two, he had finished and pressed clicked send. “There we go.”

Hoya planted a kiss on his cheek. “It’s late, babe – almost four in the morning. Let’s get to bed, yeah?”

Dongwoo turned around to return the hug, nuzzling into Hoya’s neck fondly. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Let’s just hope for a better day tomorrow.”

Hoya locked their hands together as they walked lazily to their bedroom. “You know, if anything good came out of this, it’s that we get to sleep in tomorrow.”

Dongwoo slapped his shoulder slightly. “You’re such a loser; finding optimism in this situation.”

Hoya pulled him towards him. “Isn’t it better to be optimistic? That’s what you always say.” He kissed the tip of Dongwoo’s nose once they reached their bed. “Well, isn’t it?”

Dongwoo hummed in content as he slipped under the covers. Hoya followed him, hugging his waist close as they snuggled. “Yeah,” Dongwoo said. “It’s good to be optimistic.”

Hoya smiled at him and kissed his forehead then pulled the quilt up to their chins. “Let’s get some rest, baby. We’re going to be really busy soon.”

Dongwoo made soft noise as an agreement, cuddling up into Hoya’s warmth as they fell into a slumber.

“Good news – Sungyeol says I don’t have to wash his windows anymore.”

Dongwoo rolled his eyes with a smile. “Not exactly the best news in the world; still good news though.” He looked back at the laptop balanced on his knees as he leaned back on the couch. “Babe, how much of the damage is our insurance covering?”

Hoya sighed. “Not enough. We still have to cover a lot ourselves. We’re lucky enough to have the money, but even then” He sat down next to Dongwoo, “it’s still really costly.”

Dongwoo linked their hands together, trying at a smile. “It’s okay. At least we have the money for it.”

“We have more than enough money. The real problem is that we won’t be able to make any more money until the studio is done being fixed up. I’m not sure how long we’re going to be jobless.”

“It shouldn’t take too long,” Dongwoo reassured him with a smile. “After all, what could go wrong?” He turned his eyes back to his screen. “Meanwhile, finding mirror replacements are harder than it looks. Why are there so many options?”

Hoya leaned on his shoulder, looking down at his screen. “You know what we should do right now?”

“Hm?”

“We should take a second and take a breather; just for a few minutes. Then we can do all the mirror-replacement searching you want.”

Dongwoo smiled at him. “I’d really like that, actually.”

“Then lets take this” Hoya took the laptop off his lap and placed it on next to him on the sofa “and place it over here. And you get to stand up with me.” He held Dongwoo’s hands and stood him up. He picked up a tiny remote from the arm of the sofa, clicking it and turning on their home stereo system. Soft music played through the systems and Hoya said, “And you and I are going to dance.”

Dongwoo grinned, wrapping his arms around Hoya’s neck. His husband’s arms wrapped around his waist, holding him firmly. They swayed around together, their years and years of mixed dance styles making it easy and relaxing. Dongwoo pressed a kiss on Hoya’s lips. “I like this.”

“Me too,” he grinned. He tightened his grip on Dongwoo’s hips. “It’s nice to just take a second to step away from what we need to think about.”

Dongwoo nodded. “I like it. We can’t let each other get too stressed, or the both of us will just go downhill.”

Hoya smiled at him. “Baby, have I ever told you what an angel you were? You’re so kind, sometimes I wonder how I landed someone like you.”

Dongwoo slapped his shoulder playfully. “Don’t flatter me, honey. Actually – flatter me all you want, but don’t stress me.”

“I promised not to stress you out the other day, didn’t I? We even promised.”

“Yeah, but we un-promised it.”

Hoya frowned. “Oh yeah. Well, let’s re-do our promise. Let’s promise to not add any additional stress to the one we already have.” He held up his pinky. “Promise?”

Dongwoo smiled. “Promi–” He was cut short by a banging on the door. They both turned their heads to look. “What was that?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Hoya muttered, switching the music off. “Let’s go see.”

The two traveled across the floor and to their door together. Dongwoo looked through the peephole and gasped. “The boys are here!”

“The boys? You mean like Myungsoo and everyone?”

“No!” Dongwoo exclaimed as he undid the chain on the door. “As in our seven o’clock students.”

“What?!” But Hoya didn’t get any response as Dongwoo swung the door open, three of their students coming in. “What are you guys doing here? Your school isn’t even out yet, why are you skipping?” Hoya asked as they shuffled inside in their uniforms.

“I know this is probably an invasion of privacy,” Jimin said, “but we really need your guys’ help.” He and Hoseok pulled Jungkook forward. “More like he needs your help.”

Jungkook frowned, trying to hide his face. “Guys, I’m fine, okay?”

“You’re all welcome anytime,” Hoya said. “Just let us know next time, okay?”

Hoseok nodded. “We understand. Just… help Jungkook. Please.”

“What’s wrong?” Dongwoo asked, reaching for the teen.

Jungkook immediately flinched and turned away. “No, I’m fine, alright? Just take me home, guys.”

Jimin glowered. “We’re not letting you go home at all!”

“Guys, I’m fine!” Jungkook yelled, keeping his head low so that his bangs covered his eyes. “Stop bothering Dongwoo and Hoya hyung and just take me home!”

“No!” Hoseok said, grabbing his arm. “You’re staying here because it’s safe!”

“Boys, what happened?” Hoya asked in a concerned voice.

“Nothing,” Jungkook said again, his voice cracking.

“Jungkook,” Jimin said. “We didn’t bring you here for nothing.”

Dongwoo sighed and suddenly stiffened when he noticed a purple mark near the edge of Jungkook’s jaw. “Jungkook…” he began. He reached for his face and Jungkook turned away.

“No! Don’t touch me! Just… just take me home!” he repeated.

“Jungkook, look up,” Dongwoo said. Jungkook stood his ground, refusing to look up. “Come on, look up.”

“Jungkook, kiddo, let us help you out,” Hoya said gently.

The fifteen year old shook his head and they could hear an audible sniff and then a hiccup. A teardrop fell from his eyes as he whispered, “I don’t want to show you. I don’t want you to see.”

“Jungkook,” Hoseok said, “we only want to help you.”

The hiccups got louder and he whimpered softly. Dongwoo reached out and this time he didn’t flinch. “Look at me, okay?”

Slowly, Jungkook lifted his face and Dongwoo gasped. Bruises and cuts littered his face. He had a serious black eye and a cut over his eyebrow. His lip had been evidently split and it even looked like it hurt to cry.

“That’s not even the worst,” Jimin whispered. He turned Jungkook around and lifted his shirt. His back was filled with long cuts and angry red welts, his skin puffed from the pain.

“Jungkook,” Dongwoo said in horror. “What happened?”

“I-I fell down the–”

“Don’t give them that bull,” Jimin told him. Then he turned towards the two instructors. “His dad did it.”

Hoya’s eyebrows furrowed his anger as he led Jungkook to sit down on the couch.  He knelt down in front of him, staring him straight in the eyes. “Jeon Jungkook you tell me right now if your father gave you those.”

Jungkook bit his lip, trying to hold in his crying and hiccups. “Hyung–”

“It’s a yes or no question, Jungkook. Did you get those from your father?”

Jungkook sniffled and chocked back a cry. “Y-Yes…”

“You’re going to stay here with us,” Hoya said defiantly, “until you have a place to be.” He stared at the other two in the room. “Have you guys worked anything out yet?”

“He’s going to stay at my house,” Jimin said, “and my parents are going to file a police report. But we told the nurse we were bringing him home because he was sick and that we would be back for study hall.”

“You guys better go then,” Dongwoo said. “Study hall should begin soon.”

Jimin and Hoseok went out the door, sparing many concerned glances for their friend. “We’ll be back around six, so take care of him for us, okay?”

Dongwoo nodded. “You have our word that we’ll keep him safe. Now you two get to study hall then hurry back as soon as you can. We’ll try to bandage him up a little bit.”

The two nodded and disappeared down the building hall as they shut the door behind them. Dongwoo locked the door and turned to find Jungkook on the verge of sobbing. He rushed over and gathered the fifteen year old in his arms. Jungkook cried into his shoulder as Hoya pat his back.

As much as they loved this particular group of students, this was still a surprise. They were not expecting a hurt and crying boy in their living room on today of all days. They were already in some trouble of their own, and they weren’t too sure how to handle the current situation smoothly.

“Get him some ice, Hoya,” Dongwoo whispered. Hoya nodded and immediately headed for the kitchen. Dongwoo then pulled away gently, patting the boy’s hair softly and wiping his tears. “Jungkook, can you tell me what happened?”

Jungkook nodded slightly, and Dongwoo felt a little proud. The boy was strong. He held Jungkook in his arms, his chin resting on his head and Jungkook’s face resting on his chest as they sat on the sofa. “My dad drinks a lot,” he rasped out. “And yesterday he came home drunk and got mad at me.”

“Why was he mad?” Dongwoo asked.

“He’s always mad. Mom died when she gave birth to me, so he hates me,” he whimpered.

“Why did he hit you yesterday?”

“I was home at the wrong time,” he said softly. “Since the studio is closed, there was no class. The guys and I usually get together after school and just hang out until it’s time to get to class, so I’m not home all day. And then we go to get dinner afterwards and I’m home late so my dad is passed out by the time I come home.”

Dongwoo continued rubbing his back soothingly, urging him to continue. Jungkook let out a soft hiccup. “And he just… he just came home and saw me and threw his empty bottles at me. He hit me and he cursed.” Jungkook’s voice sounded on the verge of tears again.

“Okay, shh, you don’t need to say anymore – you’ve said enough for me to understand.”

At that moment, Hoya came back with a small packet of ice wrapped in some cloth. He handed it to Jungkook, who took it gratefully and held it to his bruises. “Thanks,” he whispered. He sniffed and looked up at them. “Can I take a nap?”

“Of course you can,” Hoya said. “You can crash in our bedroom.” Jungkook stood up and followed him and lay down on the bed.

“I’m sorry for intruding like this,” he said softly.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dongwoo said gently, closing the door softly so he could sleep. “Just get some rest.” As soon as the door was shut Dongwoo turned to Hoya with urgent eyes. “Hoya, we need to get our studio fixed as soon as possible.”

“I know, I heard,” he said and he let out a rough sigh. “I knew our studio was important to us, but I didn’t know how important it was to other people. Our place was probably Jungkook’s safe haven until recently.”

“Hoya, we need to get that placed fixed. Now.”

“I–” He was interrupted by a phone’s ringing. Hoya sighed and went to pick up their landline. “Hello?” he said. His eyes widened. “Y-Yes, I understand! I’ll be right there!”

“Babe?” Dongwoo asked. “What was that? Did something else happen?”

Hoya rushed and grabbed his coat, planting a large kiss on Dongwoo. “Yeah, something happened. They caught the guy that broke into our place! The police just called and asked me to come down to the station and press charges and whatnot.”

Dongwoo’s eyes lit up. “That’s amazing!” He pressed a kiss onto his husband. “You go to the station and I’ll stay here and watch Jungkook, okay?”

“Okay, babe.” He slipped his shoes on in a rush and flung the door open. “It might take a while, but I promise I’ll be back before you know it!”

“And they’ve caught the guy already?”

Dongwoo nodded, his phone wedged in between his ear and shoulder as he was cooking dinner. “Isn’t it great, Woohyun? The police are so reliable!”

Woohyun chuckled over the receiver. “Well, you know, my boyfriend is the chief, so of course they’re reliable.”

Dongwoo laughed. “I’m just happy things are going well. It could’ve been a lot worse. When my student showed up I thought things were going to start going downhill.”

“Yeah, you guys are pretty lucky. But what am I talking about – you two are always lucky. The perfect couple,” he teased.

Dongwoo smiled, staring at his new ring fondly. “Well, we’re not exactly perfect,” he said.

“More perfect than Sunggyu and I are, anyways,” Woohyun said. “It’s kind of sad – I get home so late nowadays that I just fall asleep in my scrubs and he falls asleep in his uniform.”

“You should ask to have an earlier shift at the hospital,” Dongwoo said, mixing something akin to salad in a big bowl. “That way you can get home early and surprise him. Like me – I’m making a surprise dinner in celebration of our criminal being caught.”

Woohyun sighed over the phone. “It’s not that easy. Anyways, my break is basically over so I’ll talk to you later!”

Dongwoo blew a kiss into the phone. “Bye Hyun! Go save lives and keep people healthy!”

He laughed. “Yes, okay, because that is totally what I do on a daily basis when I only change the bedpans.” He laughed again. “I’ll talk to you later Dongwoo!”

Dongwoo smiled as he hung up the phone, now turning his focus to the dinner he was making. He hummed to himself as he danced around the kitchen, putting things in ovens and microwaves, and opening and closing the refrigerator.

“Hyung?” a voice said upon entering.

Dongwoo smiled softly as Jungkook emerged from the bedroom, looking much more rested than before he came. “Hey,” he said. “Are you hungry? I made some food.”

Jungkook shook his head, his melted ice pack still pressed against his cheek. “I’m alright. It’s almost six, so Jimin should be here to pick me up soon.” He looked around. “Where’s Hoya?”

“They caught the man who broke into our studio, so he went down to the police station.”

Jungkook blinked a few times and shook his head then rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “When did he leave?”

“A few minutes after you fell asleep. And then I decided to make a dinner to celebrate!” Dongwoo grinned.

“After I fell asleep? But that’s so long ago. Why isn’t he back yet?”

“It’s probably just taking a while at the station.” He glanced at the clock. “I should probably give him a call.” He picked up his cell phone and speed dialed Hoya immediately. The phone began ringing and he turned back to Jungkook. “Are you sure you don’t want to eat anything before you leave?”

He shook his head again. “I’m not hungry.”

Dongwoo shot him a questioning look and said, “Okay. But make sure you eat a lot with Jimin, alright?” Jungkook nodded. “Hm,” Dongwoo mused, “he didn’t pick up. Maybe he’s busy.” He turned to Jungkook. “You can watch TV for a little while you wait if you like.”

Jungkook nodded and sat on their sofa, switching on the small flatscreen. The news channel by default, the garbled language saying something about a bad car accident as Dongwoo tried dialing Hoya again. The phone rang nine times before it was sent to the voicemail.

There was a knock on the door and Jungkook perked up. “That must be Jimin.” He went to answer the door and Jimin stood there. Jungkook turned back to Dongwoo. “I’ll go now, hyung. Tell Hoya thank you for me when he gets back.”

Dongwoo smiled at him and pat his hair fondly. “I’ll be sure to let him know. Be safe, okay?”

Jungkook nodded as he followed Jimin out the door. “Thanks, hyung. …Sorry for intruding so suddenly.”

Dongwoo smiled gently. “It’s not a problem. I’ll see you boys in a little while.”

“Hyung,” Jimin said from the hall, “do you know when the studio will be fixed?”

“Hopefully, very soon,” he replied. “Things are going smoothly right now, so I hope we will be able to fix things up and open up again soon.”

The two of them nodded and headed down the hall, Dongwoo closing the door behind them as he left to try and call Hoya again. The phone kept ringing, but he would always be brought to voicemail. On the fifth time, he left a message.

“Hoya, it’s Dongwoo. It’s getting pretty late and I just want to know how things are going. Call me back, okay?”

He set his phone in his back pocket and placed the food in the oven to keep warm. After, he sat down on his sofa, continuing to watch the television that Jungkook had left on. The anchorman was still reporting about the accident, showing aerial footage of a terrible four-car crash. The accident happened hours ago, but there was still incoming news on witness accounts of what had happened. The cause seemed to be an extremely drunk driver. It confused Dongwoo though, because there was no driver found inside the car. Other victims were taken to the hospital immediately, but one driver had died upon impact.

It set a dreading feeling in Dongwoo’s stomach. He hated these kinds of things – car accidents or plane crashes or anything. He hated when innocent people were hurt for no reason. Luckily, he and Hoya had never–

“Oh,” he muttered when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He fished it out immediately, hoping that it was Hoya. “Hello?”

“Dongwoo.” It was Woohyun.

“Oh… I thought you weren’t on break,” he said. Woohyun usually didn’t get more than one break during his shift in the ER.

“I’m not, but I need to tell you something. Right now.”

“I’m all ears,” he replied, lowering the volume on his TV.

“Listen, did you hear about the giant accident today?”

“Yeah, I’m watching the news feed right now–”

“You need to get down to the hospital right now. Hoya was part of that accident and he’s in the intensive care ward.”