Where is he? We were supposed to have a morning off for once, did he go practice on his own? He better not be practicing, he promised not to!

The boy sits up with a sigh and ruffles his deep black hair, his eyes drifting from the empty bed next to his to the messy van, searching for a decent top to wear. He ends up grabbing the first tank top he finds before leaving the van, groaning as the morning sun attacks his eyes violently. For a split second, he wonders if the other boy protected his eyes when he left, but his attention is diverted by the noisy atmosphere outside. Their friends are having a nice time, having fun, practicing outside some of their tricks. He walks to the tent, knowing it is the only place where the younger male can be practicing. He waves at their ringleader on his way and enters the red circus, just in time to see the boy falling down. His scream is deafening. He runs to him, screaming for help, but as he takes the broken male in his arms, the latter can only smile and tremble, before he stops moving at all. There is blood everywhere; the world turns red, as red as the lifeless eyes of the boy dying in his arms.

Ryeongjin woke up with a start, sweat covering his torso. Breathing heavily, he looked at his shaking hands before wiping them frantically against the blanket. He took a moment to calm his breathing before looking at his alarm clock. He growled as he realized that it was not even 5 am. A medium-sized black jindo dog jumped on his bed, looking at him worriedly. He its fur a bit. Ever since he left the circus, these nightmares kept on coming back to him. He could not remember the last time he actually slept an entire night. Pushing the blanket, he stood up and walked blindly to his fridge – not that he had too much to walk, despite living comfortably; his flat was far from being a palace. He had been able to save quite a lot of money during his life at the circus but since he was jobless for the moment, he couldn’t afford anything too fancy. Taking a bottle of milk, he drank a few mouthfuls and put the bottle back into the fridge. A new sigh passed through his lips and he let himself fall down on the sofa, his dog lying on his lap. 

It was useless to try and go back to sleep, it never worked. These images kept coming back. Every time he tried to fall back asleep, he would be full of thoughts like ‘What if I had come a minute later ? What if I hadn’t come at all ?’ and it would be enough to bring back up his dinner. He remembered way too well the broken body in his arms ; it had been terrifying. He sighed, again, and turned the tv on, hoping to find something to distract himself. His thoughts wandered again. Was Yeonmin okay ? Was he eating well, was he taking care of himself ? 

If he was honest with himself, Ryeongjin knew why he had these nightmares. For years, he had lived with Yeonmin in the circus and the first time he actually left him alone, the albino almost died. When the circus was sold, everyone left and Ryeongjin was sure that Yeonmin would go live with the ringleader – but when he had called him to have news of the white-haired boy, their leader had told him that he was still living at the circus. Since then, the older male had not gathered enough courage to visit him. He felt guilty for leaving him, even knowing deep inside that his best friend would never leave his home, and he couldn’t bring himself to face the boy. It had been one week, though, and the 25-year-old boy was getting more worried every day. Maybe… Maybe it was time.

A few hours later, the tall boy was sitting in the bus. He just couldn’t stay still anymore, he had to make sure that Yeonmin wasn’t starving to death, that he was okay. He turned his head around when he heard giggles and found two ladies blushing and giggling while looking at him, a young man behind seeming pretty annoyed by them. Ryeongjin scoffed and turned to look at the window, totally uninterested by them. He heard them curse at him and smirked. Girls were all the same. He heard his stop being announced and a smile found its way on his face. He jumped out of the bus as soon as it stopped and started walking toward the path he knew by heart.

After a few minutes, the familiar red and white tent came into view. Some catchy foreign pop song could be heard through its thin walls, and Ryeongjin started walking faster. As he reached the open entry, he suddenly stopped. He felt his heartrate go crazy as his eyes fell on a young white-haired boy he knew so well. One week hadn’t been enough for his heart to forget the feelings he had had for his friend for the past years. He walked closer, watching intently as Yeonmin was trying (failing) to draw some kind of flyers, his mind totally focused on his work and on the music, judging at how he didn’t notice Ryeongjin walking behind him at all.

“Damn, Min, you still at drawing !”

The performer jumped and let out a scream, as the older boy burst into laughter.

“H-Hyung ! How did you… ? When did you arrive ?”
“I’ve been watching for the past minute or so,” the boy said with a smirk.
“Ah, don’t scare me like that anymore ! It was not funny !” he pouted, making Ryeongjin laugh again and ruffle his hair.
“Sorry, Yeon-ah, I just wanted to play a bit. Did you miss me ?”

Yeonmin’s face lit up and he almost jumped in the arms of the muscular man, hugging him tightly. Ryeongjin grinned and wrapped his arms around the slim figure, softly the white hair, still wondering how Yeonmin could not notice his frantic heartbeat.

“Of course I missed you, Hyung !”

The boy detached himself from the taller boy and showed him his work.

“Look, Hyung ! I’m trying to get people to join the circus ! You know, so we can start again !”
“Why would you ever do that ?” Ryeongjin questioned, confused, “The circus has been sold.”
“The man who bought the place went to see me and he wants to help. He can’t really do it because of his job, but he gave me a dare ! He gave me money to make the circus work again and if in six months, we can have a show for a full audience and make them happy, then he gives us the circus back and give us money to take care of it !”

Ryeongjin frowned. That sounded obviously way too good and he really didn’t like it. It was certainly an opportunity, but it was too good to be true. He felt deep inside that Yeonmin was going to get hurt again but before he could utter a word to reason with him, he found the child-man’s hopeful eyes and he couldn’t bring himself to crush his hopes down, again. He smiled at him and chuckled.

“Well, it’s not with those crappy flyers that you’ll get people to work with us,” he smirked.
“Hey, I did my best !”
“I know, I know, but now I’m here so I’ll take care of it.”

The man sat down and started drawing, under the confused red eyes of his friend. The boy looked at the talented drawer for a while, before he understood.

“Y-You’re joining the circus to help me ?” he yelped, and the dark-haired boy smiled.
“Of course, I wouldn’t leave my Yeonminnie alone.”
“Thank you Hyung !”

Yeonmin backhugged him happily, making Ryeongjin grin. Oh my, how he had missed that. He didn’t know if the dare was a good idea, but he was not leaving Yeonmin alone again. He would be a part of the adventure, and this time, he would also win the boy’s heart for sure.
 

authorS notes

Soonyangel : hello everyone ! Here is a new teaser introducing my co-author's character, Yu Ryeongjin. Please welcome them well :) more will be revealed about their common past in the circus later on during the story. We're both on holidays so now we have time to work on the story. We need more applicants though so bring your friends ! I hope you liked this teaser and see you next time !

“ i won't let this happen again. ”