Listen to: Fourth of July by Fall Out Boy

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Prague, for all it's intentions and purposes was a good city. It was pretty and historical and still undiscovered by most of the tourists that went to Europe. The type of city that Yongguk loved traveling to. He should have known what was to come when he said that he was going to Prague. All because of one ex-idol, the city would never be the same for any idol in the Korean industry. Over dramatic? Maybe. But he was only following the viewpoint of everyone else.

He was in Old Town Square, taking pictures when he spotted a figure drinking coffee and walking around the Square, towering over a good portion of everyone else there. Yongguk placed his camera away. Prague didn't seem to have that many Asians but he could always be wrong. It was worth a shot, wasn't it?

He walked towards the figure and the figure stopped, taking in Yongguk. The figure pushed his sunglasses (it was winter and yes the sun was strong that day but was it really strong enough to wear sunglasses or was it a habit after two years of hiding) and nodded at Yongguk.

“Welcome to Prague.” Kris said. His Korean still sounded the same.

“I thought your movie was done filming. Shouldn't you be in China?” Yongguk asked.

Kris shrugged. “I liked Prague more than I thought I was going to. It's a nice city. If I could learn to speak Czech I would live here.”

“It is a beautiful city. I got in the other day from Dresden.”

Kris moved to a less populated corner to let the people pass and Yongguk followed him. “Are you making your way around Europe?”

“Sort of. I like to travel and it's different going somewhere by yourself when you're so used to five other guys with you. Sometimes, I feel like I'm late for a concert then I realize what's happening.”

Kris gave a sad smile. “You miss, don't you? There was that energy that was untouchable, nothing can compare to it.”

“It is strange. You have this power over a crowd of so many people, people that feel better and happy by your music and by the idea of seeing you in front of them.” Yongguk said.

“You love your fans don't you?”

Yongguk nodded. “It was something that the group had to do. I love my fans and I love my group. I chose my group but the fans understand.”

“Do you want to go somewhere for lunch?” Kris asked.

Yongguk nodded.

Lunch was at a small café, Kris seemed somewhat familiar with it and he led Yongguk to a nice spot near a window. Kris ordered a coffee and Yongguk had the same.

“Where are you going next?” Kris asked while they waited for the coffee.

“Zagreb. It's close-by. I like going to the places that most tourists wouldn't go.”

“London and Paris aren't your thing?” Kris asked, a smile, a playful one this time, gracing his lips.

“I've been to London and Paris. They're both fine but yes not exactly my thing.”

“What made you leave?” Kris asked suddenly.

“I didn't want to stay in Korea. I could go and stay with my parents but I knew that I had this chance to travel, clear my head, take in all the places I've always wanted to see but never could. I'll have to go back to Korea at one point but there's still so much of my vacation left.” Yongguk answered. Kris seemed satisfied with this. Yongguk knew he could read between the lines, just like he knew that Yongguk knew exactly what he meant by leaving. I was sick and tired. Literally sick and tired and underpaid. I love my fans but sometimes you have to take care of yourself. The air in Europe is different, I feel untouchable, unhurt. I feel healthy.

“Have you been elsewhere in the Czech Republic?” Yongguk asked after their coffee had arrived.

“No. Prague has been my stay. I'm thinking about it though. Exploring the rest of the country. I'm sure it's as beautiful as Prague.” Kris said.

“Does Luhan ever come and visit you? When you're in Prague?”

“Me and Luhan tend to avoid going to the same places if we can help it. We don't want the media to get the wrong idea. The media won't get the wrong idea but some people might.” Kris paused for a beat. “I don't really talk much to Jessica. She's busy with her own things, her fashion label. I don't know the story of why she left. I only know what the articles say.” Kris sipped his coffee and looked at Yongguk. Yongguk read between the lines. You got the one good thing about this whole situation. You did it with your group. Everyone in the group wanted out. I may not know everything about your situation but I know by that fact alone, you got lucky. Luckier than me and Luhan ever will be.

They finish their coffee and the muffins they ordered but tasted like nothing spectacular. Outside of the café, Yongguk looks at Kris. They had seen each other here and there but there was no doubt he looked vastly different from when he did in EXO. Yongguk realized for the first time that even though he had yet to verbally address Kris by his name, in his head he kept calling him Kris instead of Yifan. He wondered how big the difference was. He never had a stage name. It made more transparent.

Either way, he was handsome. Taller in person and even more good-looking. This was a man that could had very easily made into being a celebrity on his looks alone. Yongguk knew Canada was different than Korea but people like Kris were good-looking everywhere and good-looking people rarely suffered in life.

“Do you want to go back to my apartment?” Kris/Yifan asked.

Yongguk didn't need to give him an answer.

Kris's apartment didn't have an elevator but it was only four stories high and Kris lived on the second floor. The apartment was clearly an actual apartment and not one of those apartment-hotels. There was signs of it being lived in. There was actual furniture and actual drink ware. Picture frames on small tables. Yongguk caught sight of a picture of EXO-M all together with smiles on their faces. It looked to be from 2013.

“Do you ever think about why we didn't hang out back-” Kris paused. He wanted to say “back when we were idols” but he knew Yongguk was going to fight for the right to be an idol, even if it meant going to a new company, “back in Korea?”

“Didn't our fans hate each other for a while back during our debut? I think they've stopped but I don't know why. Different agencies and our promotions were different.” Yongguk said.

“I like, liked, your music. You write good raps.” Kris said.

“I saw you on Running Man. You're good at making people laugh.” Yongguk confessed and Kris broke out into an honest happy smile and laughed. “I'm planning on seeing your movie.”

“I don't know if my movie would be played in Korea.”

“You're an ex-idol, not a convict.”

“Sometimes I feel like those are more related than they seem.” A heavy silence hung between them. “You were the most handsome idol to debut in 2012 after me, of course.”

Yongguk let out his laugh. Flirting with Wu Kris/Yifan wasn't something he had ever expected to be doing. Much less in the aforementioned Wu's apartment in Prague after they had both filed lawsuits against their companies and needed to get away from Asia, just for a bit to breathe better.

They don't flirt for very long, they're grown men and they know what happens when grown men that are attracted to other grown men take one another back to their apartments. Yongguk'll admit it. It was the first time he had since he became an idol. The classic idol cliché of not having enough time was the truth in his case. He didn't have to remember being human let alone take someone out for dinner. There was something oddly liberating about having with Yifan. They weren't idols but at the same time they were still famous. They could date if they wanted to, they had time to date, they would still have to hide but not in Prague. They weren't famous in Prague, if they weren't any fans around they could introduce each other as boyfriends. When Kris went back to China to continue his career as an actor and Yongguk went back to Korea to try and save his idol career with the only five guys he could see himself singing and dancing with, they could publicly be friends. A few of the fans that analyzed things better could even deduce that they were dating. Yongguk had very rarely cared for a more serious idol image (and being friends with a hated ex-idol was a lot worse than him tweeting support for human rights campaigns).

Yifan lit a cigarette (Yongguk wondered when he started smoking, was it back when he was still Kris?) and blew smoke into the ceiling.

“Where do we go from here?”

“You want go see Zagreb?”

Yifan stared at Yongguk, picturing train rides and plane rides sharing headphones while listening to Tupac. The ex-leader of EXO-M and the transient leader of the transient group B.A.P. “I'll let you know, I sleep very easily on long rides.”

Yongguk smiled. “Perfect. I don't like talking much when I'm going places.”

Yifan stared at Yongguk, he wasn't classically handsome by any means and too skinny for his overall frame but there was that gummy smile that made him feel like he was staring at an idol.

“You told me that you liked playing basketball. There's an indoor court nearby. Want to play a game?”

Yongguk nodded. They played that game and went to Zagreb together. Yongguk took pictures and Yifan tripped over thin air. There was nothing special or idealistic about it. It was the cliché, it doesn't matter where you are, it matters who you're with. But both Yongguk and Kris knew that they would choose Prague over Seoul to be with each other any day of the week.