Archive of Our Own

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Gone.
Yona
sat in the plush leather chair at the shining table of her father’s company’s spacious boardroom, the floor to ceiling windows allowing copious amounts of light to spill across the walls as she recalled hollow memories of she and Soo-Won playing tag amongst its sleek furnishings while waiting for their fathers to finish whatever pressing matters had kept them both late after hours. It had seemed like so very long ago, and yet like only yesterday. Pain laced through her chest as she listlessly stared down at the crisp paper that Joo-Doh had slid to her from across the polished surface, the perfectly typed font staring back at her seeming so foreign in the grand scheme of things.
Her father was gone and she was all alone. What a terrible mess.
The thing about messes, though, was that they usually required the presence of someone capable of cleaning them up in order to make them disappear. Normally, it meant that someone would have to get their hands dirty and Yona had absolutely no experience in that department. Why navigate through the muck and the mire when there were people who were paid to do it for you?
Her mother had died when she was much younger, the memories shadowed but still present in her mind. That in and of itself had been a catastrophe that had ripped her entire world to pieces overnight. The gruesome confetti had fallen like rain all around her, covering every surface of her waking life and leaving a disgusting film over everything. The aching hole that had set up residence in her chest had threatened to swallow her whole back then, and Yona had thought that there could be no greater pain in the world than that of a child losing their mother.

Apparently, the world took sick and great delight in showing her just how wrong she could be.

Back when her mother had passed on from this life, there had been others there to pick up the shattered pieces and sweep away the debris from the catastrophe for her, holding her hand and guiding her along with nothing short of the choreographed ease that she’d assumed all adults were naturally graced with. Arrangements had been made and schedules had been shuffled seemingly overnight, everything settling back into place with a swiftness that had left her feeling somewhat eerily sick. How had it been possible for the world to continue spinning along after such a horrible event? How had they known what needed to be done when Yona was still trying to wrap her small mind around the fact that she’d never hear her mother’s voice again?
The complication that was her mother’s passing had eventually faded away, she and her father’s lives continuing on and taking on their own new routines. The monumental clutter that had once seemed so large and grotesque had been managed and life had moved on.

She would not be so lucky this time around.
When her father had first taken ill, he’d sent her off to the finest school in the state, refusing to allow her to hover in the shadows of his sick room and insisting that she begin her studies. Unable to tell him that she had no idea as to what it was that she even wanted to do with her life, Yona had merely accepted his instruction and had allowed him to decide her future for her. Allowing others to guide her was what she was best at, after all, so she’d allowed the chauffeur to drive her over three hours away, and had said nothing as the maid that her father had sent along to unpack her into her own studio apartment got to work. School was to be her main concern right now and she’d accepted it without a fight.
When her father’s health had taken a sudden turn for the worse right before spring break, Yona had returned home and had merely stood uselessly off to the side, allowing others to handle that problem, as well. She’d watched from the wings as doctors and nurses tended to his every need, while the staff took care of his every comfort. What could she possibly do that wasn’t already being done, anyway? She couldn’t cook. She had no medical knowledge whatsoever. Hell- she’d never even made a bed before!
She’d watched with incredibly minimal curiosity as her cousin Soo-Won took over her father’s company for him in his stead; after all, what did an eighteen year old girl know about managing such a gigantic corporation? Hell- she was still having the housekeepers washing and organizing her clothing for her! What little time that hadn’t been consumed with her father’s declining health had been packed with her schoolwork, any spare spot in her schedule immediately filled. She’d been far too busy to see that her cousin had been having papers drawn up, accounts shuffled around and board members casting votes that would ultimately set her future in stone.
Then, right after her nineteenth birthday, her father had left her all alone.
When the time came for funeral arrangements to be made according to her father’s will, Yona had folded in on herself and had allowed her father’s staff to take care of that shambled chaos as well. What did she know about cremations and services? Who was she supposed to even call for something like that? In the end, all she’d had to do was get dressed and show up as her father’s ashes were placed into the family mausoleum beside her mother’s and uncle’s. Hollow condolences had been muttered and that was that.
Gone. Her entire world had crumbled beneath her feet almost overnight, scattered into the wind and dispersed so quickly that her head was spinning from it all once more. Her entire world had ceased to be after only nineteen years on this earth. They’d just celebrated the night before and now he was gone. Ironic. Everything that she’d known was now erased and she was expected to start over without anyone to pick up the disarray for her this time.
The worst had been returning home after the funeral, only to find that the staff was gone and a crew of people that she didn’t know had let themselves into the penthouse, sweeping away all of their belongings and rifling through her things with cold indifference. Still in a state of complete shock, she’d been handed a notice that had stated that she was to attend a meeting at her father’s company the very next day and that she could stay at her (now) previous residence only for the night.

Her stomach had twisted into knots and she’d forced herself to read the paper with uncomprehending eyes, the strangers around her continuing to clear away her entire life while she’d stood frozen to the spot.
A wave of ice had engulfed her in one fell swoop as her knees began to shake.
What a mess.

Now what?
Yona’s feet felt as if they’d rooted themselves to the ground, the loud noise of the city’s downtown business district fading away into nothing but white noise in the background as her eyes stared down at the black, leather portfolio in her hands. The paperwork nestled snugly inside stated that she had a mere forty-eight hours to collect her things from the now empty penthouse, otherwise they’d be thrown out onto the street.
She had to leave. She was being evicted from the only home she’d ever known. Where was she supposed to go? Who was going to hold her hand and guide her now?
Her hands shook slightly as the weight of her current situation began to slowly permeate her fog of shock, dragging its icy tendrils down her spine with sharp claws as her knees began to buckle.
Was there any chance that all of this was just some terrible nightmare?

It was just too much.
A man with a sleek smartphone pressed tightly to his ear brushed past her, knocking into her as he conversed loudly with someone on the other end of the line. He didn’t even spare the red headed girl in the designer clothing a backward glance as he continued on, no doubt eager to finish the conversation that he was having in person.

Busy, busy, busy. The entire world was busy going on about its day while Yona’s finally shattered around her.
The cracks that had been splintering all day had finally succumbed to the pressure.
Yona
immediately pressed the folder tightly to her chest, the fog in her vision clearing just enough to allow panic to gnaw along her spine with vicious teeth. She couldn’t breathe. Had the city always been so congested? Had the buildings always been so tall and grey? Her vision began to swim and she forced herself to take an unsteady breath in through her nose before allowing it to tumble out through her trembling lips. The noise that had been tuned out mere moments ago was trickling back in, growing louder and more oppressive with every passing second. Her chest hurt.
She couldn’t seem to remember how to take a normal breath.
She gripped the folder in her arms even tighter, the only thing that she could use to help ground herself for the time being. Should it slip through her fingers, who knew what else would happen? She had to hold onto it even tighter; she couldn’t afford to lose this. The papers inside held the pieces of her life within them (or what little remained). The ink from Soo-Won’s pen probably wasn’t even completely dry, she realized as her eyes continued to stare down at the pavement without really seeing it. The form that he’d just signed stating that she was about as wanted as a cockroach was probably smeared with the black ink that he’d allowed to flow upon the page, signing his name with a calm and cold indifference that she’d never known him to even be capable of.

He wanted nothing to do with her. He was the only family that she had left and he wanted her wiped out of his presence. She was now the unsightly mess that he wanted cleaned up and the very idea that she was nothing more than a disgusting bug to be crushed had her lungs seizing tightly inside of her chest.
No where to go. No one to run to for help. The only thing left to do was to wait for a solution that would never come.
She didn’t even hear the voice calling her name as she stood there, hyperventilating amongst a sea of suit-clad executives, clutching a file to her chest so tightly, as if she could force it to become one with her body and absorb into her sternum to fill the gaping hole that was trying to swallow her up. She couldn’t breathe.
A large hand landed softly upon the crown of her head, rough palm smoothing her red strands with a familiar tenderness. Yona startled and blinked, turning her head stiffly and slowly to her left, her brain trying its best to reboot as Mundok’s imposing form towered over her.

The man who had once been in charge of the security of her father’s company continued to stroke her head, his expression pinched ever-so-slightly as he took in her pale face, his good eye flashing down to the leather-bound rectangle wrapped up so protectively in her small arms.
Yona’s
eyes began to fill with tears, the weight of the world finally crashing down upon her as a sob left her, twin trails of heat sliding down her pale cheeks as she allowed Mundok to pull her into his chest tightly, the heart-wrenching wails being wrenched free from her now muffled against his shirt as the world continued to spin around them.

“Are you planning on doing anything productive today, princess?”
Yona blinked and turned toward the voice, only to scowl at the familiar face grinning down at her. Ugh. The permanent thorn in her side was awake, it seemed. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone for one day?
“Shut up, Hak,” she grumbled as she lifted her mug of lukewarm tea up to her lips, her annoyance flaring even more at the dark haired man’s chuckle of amusement over her sour disposition. She hadn’t slept well in almost two weeks and she was sure that she’d looked better, but her appearance was the least of her worries at the moment. Right now, she had a mess to try and sort out and she had no idea where to even start. Ugh.
She’d managed to scrape through the rest of her semester at the fancy college that
she’d been sent to, but her efforts had felt as if they’d been in vain. Passing all of her finals had felt like nothing more than a hollow victory. What was even the point? She had no idea what she was going to do and with only one year of general education courses under her belt, what was next? Mundok had offered to allow her to spend her summer at his home and she’d gratefully accepted before packing up her apartment (a monumental task that she would like to never have to repeat if she could) and making the journey back.
Hak had bugged her relentlessly since she’d arrived, and she’d had PTSD of her childhood days almost immediately. She’d forgotten about him almost entirely during the entire ordeal, and the thought of having to put up with him all summer while trying to piece together her unknown future had left her feeling nauseated.
Well, regardless of whatever career path she’d eventually decide upon, she couldn’t afford to do it at her previous institution. Her first step would have to involve transferring to somewhere much more affordable. She’d just have to figure out the rest from there.
Having a plan for the first time in her life should have felt empowering and invigorating; instead, it felt like someone had chained her up. That all-encompassing paralysis of fear had gripped her again and she’d spent the last three nights researching what she needed to do. Some would call it stalling, but she liked to think of it as being thorough.
Procrastination was still procrastination, no matter what disguise she’d decided to wrap it up in.
Well, today she would actually get started. She would start the journey.
If only she would be left alone to do it.
Hak set his cup of coffee down upon the worn kitchen table and planted himself in the seat across from her, choosing to ignore her scrunched up nose at his presence. He could have mercy on her and leave her alone while she sorted through whatever it was that she was looking at on his grandfather’s laptop, but ultimately, he decided instead to kick his socked feet up onto the surface right next to the computer, crossing one ankle over the other lazily as he settled himself more comfortably into the wooden chair.

Hak hid his grin behind the rim of his mug as Yona sighed heavily at his actions, her scowl deepening as she flickered her sour gaze in his direction. What could he say? Baiting her was his hobby and he was bored. “What,” he inquired mildly while mirth danced gleefully in his gaze. “Not enough followers on Instagram, or something?”
She huffed at his question and refused to answer him. Jerking the laptop away from his feet, she stuck her tongue out at him before placing her mug of tea back down onto the table with a tad more force than was necessary.
He released a small snicker of amusement at her actions. God- she was so easy to rile up.

One would think that he would’ve had his fill of goading her by now; over the past two weeks he’d been nothing if not relentless, but he just couldn’t seem to get enough of it. He’d continued to tease and poke at her despite his grandfather’s threats, as well as the stuffed pillows that Yona had thrown at him, the fire dancing in her eyes melting away the dull, lifeless sheen that had been present when Gramps had first brought her home with him. It had been a vast improvement over her previous state, for sure. Hak could stomach a few more down pillows to the head if it meant that she wouldn’t resemble a life-sized doll anymore. It had been unnerving.
Hak studied her out of the corner of his eye while pretending to be absorbed in something on his phone. Whatever it was that she was doing had her completely engrossed, her attention so focused upon it that she didn’t even notice Hak’s foot nudging the edge of the laptop to get some sort of response out of her. The minutes passed with her plucking away at the keyboard, Hak sipping away at his coffee while his phone sat idly in his hand.

Yona muttered something under her breath while her fingers typed away at the keys, her eyes scanning over something on the screen that had her lips pressing together in thought, her shoulders sagging and disposition turning from one of acute annoyance to one of grim acceptance.
Hak frowned and returned his gaze to the black screen of his phone as Yona fell back against the wooden chair with a graceless thud, an aggravated groan filling the once empty space between them. He took another sip of his coffee before murmuring, “Problem, princess?”
Yona made to kick at his feet under the table before remembering that they were perched upon the surface instead. She growled at him before slamming the laptop shut. “Only two of my class credits are transferable. So annoying...”
Unable to afford the prestigious school that she’d been going to, Yona had realized that she was going to have to transfer to a more modest state university if she wanted to continue her education. Mundok had suggested the one that Hak was currently attending and Yona had taken a look at their website to see what all they had to offer.

She’d kept it a secret from her childhood annoyance. Let that be a nice little surprise for him. Productive, indeed.
Hak
shrugged a shoulder and deposited his phone onto the table. “Just take as many summer courses as you can,” he murmured with a tone of disinterest. He grunted as he lifted his right arm up but suddenly froze mid-stretch. Something just occurred to him that he hadn’t thought to ask. “Wait.”
Yona
suddenly seemed incredibly interested in the ceiling, as well as throughly occupied with adjusting the messy knot of hair on top of her head. She refused to meet his narrowed gaze as he slowly pulled his feet down from the tabletop and leaned forward in his seat.
“Transferable? Where exactly are you transferring-?”
“Yona!”
Yona turned her head and smiled as Tae-Yeon ran into the kitchen, grateful for the distraction as the young boy flung himself at her with the gusto that only a child could muster so early in the morning. Neither seemed to notice Hak’s slight scowl of irritation over Yona’s affectionate laughter or the young boy’s arms wrapped tightly around her.
Mundok strolled in after him, a folder embossed with a university name that Hak instantly recognized in one hand, and a box of pastries from the bakery down the street in the other.
“Wait-“ Hak’s voice wheezed, unnoticed by his grandfather.
“Yona, I took it upon myself to get you a coarse catalogue yesterday,” Mundok explained as he handed the packet to the redheaded girl on his way to the coffee pot. “We still need to figure out your lodgings, but I think that you can handle the rest. If not, Hak will help you.”
Hak’s wide blue gaze flickered from the back of his grandfather’s head over to Yona’s glittering eyes, the flame of her amusement burning far brighter than his had before. “Wait- what?!”

The account that her father had set up for her schooling had been the only thing left to her besides what few possessions she’d been allowed to retain. If she was smart with her funds, she would be able to afford a few more years of schooling at the university that she was transferring to, as opposed to the pricey private school that she’d been previously enrolled in. She’d eventually have to get a job, she was sure, but how hard could that be?
Mundok had insisted that she just focus on her studies for the next semester and not overwhelm herself too much. She’d had a hard time over the past few months, and the last thing that she needed was to add more stress.

She’d agreed in the end, and they’d proceeded to sit down together in his office to pour over the documents that had been given to her by Soo-Won’s lawyer. While the man who had taken her in was confident that she would be alright, he’d frowned at the cost of renting an apartment versus staying in a dorm.

Yona felt her shoulders deflate a little. Money was something that she’d never had to think about much in the past and now it felt as if all it did was occupy her every waking thought. She’d completed a few online courses over the summer to help get her caught up a bit, but she had this overwhelming feeling that she could still do more. The semester was approaching, and if they didn’t make some decisions about lodging soon, they were going to run out of options altogether. The university was almost two hours away so there was no way that a daily commute could be even remotely feasible.
Mundok had allowed the paper that he’d been perusing to float down onto his desk from between his lax fingers with a sigh. His eye fixed on her and he offered her a small smile of reassurance. “I’ll make some calls to the financial aid office, and we’ll see where to go from there, okay?”
Yona
nodded.

“A fraternity?”
Mundok allowed his head to tilt to the side with a small hum, eye closing in thought as he pondered how to form his next words. “Not exactly...”
Yona
blinked as her brow furrowed slightly in confusion. What did that mean? While some would agree that she didn’t seem to know much about the world in the grand scheme of things, she understood enough. Was it possible that her temporary guardian/ not guardian was thinking of a sorority? The last time she’d checked, those weren’t exactly cheap.

Mundok
leaned back in his squeaky desk chair and allowed his arms to cross lazily over his chest as the muffled noises from the physical training center leaked in through every available crevice and crack in his tiny office. The walls in the small room were covered in plaques and awards, as well as framed newspaper articles containing the names of the people he’d trained as they’d excelled at competitions and recognitions. While the building itself didn’t really look like that much on the outside, the inside was a well-oiled machine that was kept pristine, people coming and going constantly as they used the equipment and trained to better themselves at whatever area they were focusing on.
When Yona had first stepped inside the building, she’d been overwhelmed by everything that had greeted her. There was so much activity going on that it had been impossible to take everything in at once. Mundok ran a tight ship and had a full staff of several different coaches working under him. Not only did they teach martial arts, but they trained people to become professional boxers, as well.
It was no wonder that Hak had excelled so much athletically; being raised in an atmosphere such as this, what other options did he have?
Yona’s
fingers tugged at the hem of her designer dress, her actions probably doing more harm than anything to the thin, pale blue chiffon fabric. The summer heat was still clinging to the outskirts of the city and she’d felt it more than ever when she’d entered the building this morning. Apparently, the air conditioning was on the fritz and the repairman hadn’t been by to fix it yet. Mundok had the window in his office open, but it wasn’t doing much good. The backs of Yona’s thighs were sticking to the leather seat uncomfortably and even the pale pink flowers printed upon the fabric of her clothing seemed to wilt.
Mundok
was about to open his mouth to explain himself, when the muffled sounds of arguing reached them both. Yona turned her head towards the door to her left as the older man sat up in his chair. The heated sounds of yelling and shouting that had been dulled by the thick barrier were growing closer, beginning to assault the small space.
The door suddenly burst open and Yona’s legs peeled away from the surface that they’d been stuck to as she drew her legs up and into herself, an automatic response to the action. The backs of her thighs stung as she lifted her hands up in front of herself in defense as well, releasing a small, startled squeak in surprise as the hard surface of the solid metal door nearly met her face.
Thank god for Mundok and his (still) lightning quick reflexes. The older man’s strong hand shot out to prevent the potential injury to her nose, his frown deepening even further at the noisy bickering that began to immediately fill the once calm space. His eye flickered over to the voices tumbling into the office after he’d asserted that Yona was okay, and he leaned back in his chair with a quiet calm that would frighten a lesser man.
“-did it last time! It’s your turn!”
“Quit being such a baby and just do your job!”
Mundok’s
jaw flexed as Han-Dae and Tae-Woo (oblivious to the fact that there was someone seated in the chair behind the door and that they could’ve potentially harmed them with their actions) filled his office with the noise of their arguments, the two teens taking to shoving one another, as well.
“A baby,” scowled Tae-Woo as he plucked at the front of his sweat dampened t-shirt, no doubt trying to get just a fraction of air flow. “What are you, five?”
“Boys,” grit out Mundok, the pronounced vein in his forehead beginning to throb more and more.

Yona hunched her shoulders up and attempted to disappear behind the door to avoid the wrath that was surely coming at any moment. It was like watching the smoke beginning to drift upwards from an impending volcanic eruption.
“Shut up,” hissed an equally sweat drenched Han-Dae as he shoved at Tae Woo’s shoulder.
“No, you shut up,” retorted the dark haired boy that Yona thought resembled a young Hak so very much. He nudged his shoulder against Han-Dae’s petulantly.
“Boys.”

Yona
retreated even further with a wince upon her features. Oh- it was like watching a re-enactment of Mount Vesuvius.
“No,” yelled Han-Dae venomously, gusto picking up as Hak came to stand in the empty hallway behind them lazily, expression almost bored even though he, too, knew what was about to happen to the oblivious boys. “You shut up!”
“BOYS!”
Identical expressions of horror ridden shock graced both teens’s features, their frames tensing up as if they’d only just realized their grave mistake. Two sets of mouths snapped shut as two sets of posture straightened immediately, but it was no use; the damage had been done.
Mundok sized both boys up slowly, seeming to take a dark delight in their apprehension. A small gleam twinkled in his eye as he studied their tense posture. The old man seemed to get a kick out of still being able to make others squirm every once in awhile, and Yona peeked around the door frame silently with morbid curiosity.
He leaned back in his chair again and nodded his head toward the redheaded girl. “Apologize to Yona-
who you almost knocked unconscious, by the way.”
Han-Dae’s eyes widened rather comically in horror as he whipped his head around to stare at her, Tae-Woo wincing sheepishly at the floor. Han-Dae bent down closer to her to hurriedly apologize to her, worried that he may have actually caused her bodily harm while Tae-Woo mumbled his apology as well (only to the wall).
Satisfied with their words and seeming to get a kick out of Yona’s shy insistence that she was fine despite Han-Dae continuing to fret, Mundok cleared his throat. “Do you boys need something to do, or have you finished washing the windows?”
Both boys went to open their mouths, to argue that they hadn’t even started their unknown chore, but snapped them shut as Mundok enunciated his next words in a silent command.
“Inside and out?”
The teens shook their heads, and each muttered out a contrite “no sir,” before being excused in order to perform their punishment. Neither one met Hak’s gaze as they shuffled away.
Having done that particular chore himself only yesterday, Hak shook his head and huffed out an amused snort before kicking himself away from the wall that he’d been leaning against in order to enter into the space. He craned his head around the door in order to ascertain for himself that Yona was, indeed alright, and then nodded his head at his grandfather. “Repair man called. Said he’ll be here around two.”
Mundok
scowled as his eye flickered to the clock upon the wall. “Wonderful,” he muttered.
Hak walked a few steps closer and pushed the door shut behind him so that Yona would have more room. His forehead was covered in a fine sheen of sweat, and a few of his raven strands were sticking to its surface. “Think the heat’s making everyone crabby,” he supplied.
Yona noticed that the thin fabric of his black, sleeveless shirt was damp and sticking to the now defined muscles of his back, her eyes trailing along the firm line of his spine slowly. She averted her eyes, pressing her lips together.
“Well, nothing we can do about it,” Mundok grunted. “Glad you’re here. What I’m about to say involves you, too.”
Yona shook herself out of her weird little trance (since when did she care about Hak’s appearance?) at the elder’s words, and Hak’s eyebrow arched in curiosity.

The house was still technically on campus, but it was right on the outer edge of it. The better known and much more popular fraternities were a few blocks over, their Greek letters rather large and pronounced from the street.
Was she even at the right place? Yona frowned slightly before double checking the address that Mundok had scrawled upon the little sticky note for her, and realized that this was indeed the (kind of) fraternity that she was soon going to be a member of. There wasn’t any signage upon the property listing it as such, and Yona couldn’t help but recall how Mundok had tried to explain the house’s origins.
It was rather large and very old, Yona noted as she craned her neck back and drank in every slope of the gabled roof. Was that a third floor in the turret?!
Yona fiddled with her sunglasses and chewed on her bottom lip in thought, shifting her weight from foot to foot as she tried her best to summon her courage and ascend the steep, weather worn and crumbling concrete steps before her.
“Are you planning on standing out here all day to admire the view or what?”
Yona’s once troubled expression flattened out into aggravated annoyance almost immediately at Hak’s voice. She sighed, locking eyes with him over her shoulder and brushing her chaotic crimson waves out of the way. “You could’ve said ‘no’ to this, you know.”
Hak rolled his eyes at her before hitching his backpack higher up on his shoulder. “Yeah, right,” he grumbled before reaching down to pick up his luggage. He came to stand beside her and matched her petulant little frown with an indecipherable expression of his own. Hak threw his head back and sighed rather dramatically before leaning forward, nearly bending in half in order to reach down and drop his forehead against hers.

Ugh. When had he gotten so much taller than her?
“Why are you even here,” she murmured to him.
“Because,” he murmured right back to her, bright blue eyes nearly crystalline in the late morning sun, a stark contrast against the dark strands sweeping across his forehead. “I made a promise, remember?”
Oh, right. That.
She blinked, dropping her gaze and swallowing the ashy taste of disappointment that immediately settled on her tongue. Mundok may have pressured him into coming here, but a long ago exchange of words between Hak and her father would haunt them both until the very end of time. Hak’s face was a constant reminder that from the very beginning, his mild ‘friendship’ with her had been honed out of obligation, not out of want or even necessity.
Hell- he was the only “friend” she had; one who was currently complaining about all of her luggage.
Yona’s once proud and stubborn stance deflated as she turned her head back towards the old victorian house looming above them, drinking in the sight of peeling paint and what looked to be original windows that were probably extremely drafty. This was her only option, and she really couldn’t afford to be picky; guilt-ridden childhood acquaintance or not.
Hak stooped down to grab her heaviest bag and knocked a large shoulder into hers when she remained frozen. She wrinkled her nose at him before righting her balance, sweeping her palms down the front of her sage green and white striped cotton boutique dress with a small sigh. Hak trudged up the steps ahead of her, his patience apparently having reached its end while Yona grabbed her remaining luggage and followed him.
He turned around to wait for her at the bottom of the porch, smirking at the way that she struggled with her things (like he could do this in wedges?). He'd always loved to tease her; calling her a ‘princess’ and quizzing her over how to do everyday household chores before nearly folding in half at her dumbfounded expression. It was something that he delighted in doing frequently, and it never ceased to annoy her.
She was about to open her mouth to offer a smart retort to his silence, when the front door was thrown wide, both of them turning their surprised gazes to the stranger beaming down at them from the doorway.
The young man was blonde, his smile lighting up his features with an almost contagious energy as he cheered, “You’re here!”
Yona and Hak exchanged quick, nervous sidelong glances. What exactly had they gotten themselves into at this strange house?

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Come in! Come in!”
Yona attempted to quickly swallow her apprehension as Hak gestured grandly for her to go on ahead of him, the irony of him insisting that she go first into the strange new house not lost on her. Hefting up her bags, Yona straightened her shoulders before struggling up the steps, the old wood beneath her brown, wedge ankle boots sagging and groaning in despair.
The boy continued to smile warmly at her from the doorway, his golden hair about shoulder length and kept out of his face by means of a worn bandana tied around his head. “I’m Zeno! Welcome to Hiryuu House!”

Based on what she’d seen outside, Yona couldn’t say that she was terribly surprised by the interior of the old home. She’d just been hoping for a miracle, she supposed.
While the house wasn’t in a state of complete decay, it definitely wasn’t in the prime of its life, either. Yona staggered in through the entryway and hissed as she dropped her bags onto the old, wooden floors of the large foyer. Shaking the tingling numbness that had settled into her fingers, she allowed her eyes to roam freely, taking in the mahogany trim work, the rather ornately grand staircase to the left, and also what appeared to be a set of heavy pocket doors to her right that were currently hanging somewhat precariously off of their track.

Huh.
Dust motes spun and lingered in the air around her as she tuned out the background noise of Hak and the stranger exchanging pleasantries, the sunlight pouring in through the stained glass windows above the large entryway behind her allowing the beams to stretch across the space. The walls were old plaster, rough and textured beneath her palm as she trailed a hand curiously along the wall next to the swaying pocket door. The doorknobs appeared dirty, but were rather ornate and beautiful once one looked past the grime. Almost every doorway had a different stained glass transom window above it and Yona recalled seeing more boring versions in the old black and white movies her father had been fond of watching. Would there be actual skeletons in these closets? She shuddered to think about the plumbing in this place.
“-give you guys a tour once you’re all settled,” chirped the boy as he came to stand near Yona, Hak shuffling in close behind her and dropping his own luggage (as well as her heaviest bag, bless him) to the floor with a hefty sigh of relief. “I’m Zeno, by the way! (Yeah- he’d already said that, thought Hak) Geez- it’ll be nice having more people here this year!”
Hak had opened his mouth to inquire a little further into their acquaintance’s casually spoken statement, when a loud and unsettling clanging bang resounded from somewhere in the distance, deeper into the heart of the house.
“Uh oh,” huffed Zeno before heading quickly towards the chaos. “Sounds like Yoon’s keeping himself busy!”
Who?

The kitchen was surprisingly charming. Small, but fairly cozy. White painted cabinets and cupboards reached from the floor all the way up to the ceiling, the ones closer to the top having glass fronts. They were fairly deep, too, by the looks of it. A gas stove was nestled into the far corner, and there was a small window over the apron sink. The fridge was old and was making a funny sound, but it seemed to be operational, at least. The white tiles on the floor were occasionally broken up by small, black square ones-
That were currently covered in a wide array of cookware, ranging from mismatched pots and pans, to a random skillet with no handle, as well as a few rusty strainers. Every drawer and cabinet appeared to have been emptied recently, if the doors thrown wide were any indication. The round table that was squeezed into the space had four mismatched chairs balanced on its scrubbed and worn surface, and what little counter space remained was covered in bottles of cleaning solutions and products.
Hak’s large hand had been holding the heavy swinging door open, but he handed the job off to Yona as he stepped into the room, gingerly watching his footing as he approached Zeno, who was crouching down next to another boy.
“This is insane! How can anyone live like this,” the boy groused from the floor, where he was on his hands and knees as he brushed his sand-colored hair out of his face with the back of his hand. Yona blinked in surprise at the vivid youth etched into his rather beautiful features, tilting her head in wonder as the young boy sat back on his heels and snatched a metal ladle out of Zeno’s hand with a sneer. “This place is disgusting,” he stated while brandishing the large spoon like a weapon. “I’m gonna be cleaning all night at this rate!”
Zeno laughed somewhat sheepishly as he watched the boy throw the broken skillet before him into a nearby trash can without looking. “Well, to be honest, I’m not much of a cook...”
The young kid’s (Yoon, wasn’t it?) flat expression informed the entire party that he was less than surprised as he held up a melted plastic spatula.

Hak
crouched down beside the kid and tapped him on the shoulder, handing him a random measuring cup and offering a small smirk as the boy’s eyes widened in shock, a small yelp of surprise escaping his lips.
“Who the hell are you?!?”

After a few brief introductions were made, Hak and Zeno finished helping Yoon pick up the mess. The boy threw orders around over his shoulder easily enough, instructing his housemates on where to put what while sorting through the cookware ruthlessly. He scowled at what few pieces remained with nothing short of unimpressed annoyance.

“Can’t even make a casserole,” he groused, placing a stopper into one side of the large sink before turning the left knob on the faucet. A horrible groaning sound immediately seemed to shake the very walls around them, and while Hak frowned up at the ceiling in morbid curiosity, Zeno surged forward to turn the knob back to its original place. Yoon’s wide eyes were staring at the walls all around him before settling on Zeno. “How in the hell is this place even standing?”
Zeno laughed with a carefree shrug and Hak dragged a hand down his face in exhaustion, cursing his own existence under his breath while Yona shrunk in the doorway, regret a heavy blanket upon all of them.

When it had been discovered that they at least possessed non-questionable looking cold water for the time being, Yoon took to heating a pot of it on the gas stove to make do until a plumber was called (he’d grumbled under his breath that even the hottest water might not be enough to scrub away all of the grime).

Zeno offered to give them a tour of the house, and both Yona and Hak had exchanged twin sidelong glances of apprehension before following him through the swinging door and out into the dining room, leaving Yoon to his scrubbing in the kitchen.
The old staircase practically shrieked and moaned beneath their feet as they ascended, with Zeno having to raise his voice in order to be heard as he explained a brief history of the house over his shoulder.
“The university purchased the rights to the house back in the sixties, when the final brother passed away and handed his rights over to the board.”

Hak rose a brow at that. “Isn’t that actually a bad thing?”
Zeno laughed somewhat nervously as they reached the landing, where a large and beautiful picture window showcased the side street. “Well...you could say that...”
Yona tore her attention away from the empty bird feeder swaying from a low hanging limb of the large tree that grew on the edge of the yard. “Why is that bad?”
“Well,” Zeno resumed their climb up the second flight of stairs. “When the university or a landlord owns a fraternity, they call the shots and have final say over the funds.”
“Explains a lot,” grumbled Hak as a particular step wobbled beneath his foot. “Guess we’re gonna have to set up a meeting sometime soon.”
“I wouldn’t bother,” stated Zeno as they reached the second floor. “I’ve been barking up that tree since Christmas. Oh, by the way- you’ll probably want to go to a laundromat to do your laundry instead of the basement,” he shot them a look before either of them could ask him why. “Trust me.”

The first door to the right was a small room that held bunk beds, the top one made and the bottom one covered in luggage.

“Yoon and I are gonna be roommates,” cheered Zeno enthusiastically and Hak had absolutely no trouble believing that the young boy had no idea what he was in for.
There was a linen closet that reeked of moth balls and dust next, followed by another bedroom, which had just enough space for two twin beds and a computer desk to be crammed inside, as well as a large window to let a generous amount of light into the space.
Hak ended up choosing the final bedroom available, which was the second door on the left, right past the only bathroom on the floor. There were also two beds in the space, and one was currently made. There were shelves on the far wall next to the window containing a few random books and knick-knacks, and after depositing his luggage onto the available mattress, Hak noted that the window was above the small roof that covered the back entrance of the house, leading directly into the kitchen.

“Saved the best room for the best member,” Zeno chirped with a big smile, turning to Yona and motioning for her to follow after him, leaving Hak to unpack. There was one last door at the very end of the hall, and the red glass knob squeaked as Zeno turned it in his grasp.

Yona
blinked at the small staircase that was revealed after the door was opened out into the bright hall, looking dark and ominous in comparison. Yona could feel the color draining from her face as Zeno trudged up ahead of her, his footsteps leaving prints in the dust.

Seeing as she had no other choice, she followed.

The room was in the turret, as it turned out.
Yona sneezed, the dust accumulation somewhat thick and heavy as she wrinkled her nose. Already a step ahead of her, Zeno had gone to the round bay of windows, resting one knee upon the wooden bench that wrapped around the curved wall and heaving open a window with a grunt.
“This used to be the servant’s quarters,” he explained with another grunt as he shoved open another window. “Since you’re the only girl, I figured you’d want some privacy, ya know?”
Yona thanked him in a small voice as she set her bags onto the full-sized mattress, taking a look around the space with an audible gulp as she noticed how many cobwebs covered every corner. How long had this space been unoccupied? Judging by how untouched everything was, she was willing to guess awhile, at least.
Well, at least is was bright and spacious, she noted with gratitude. There was enough room for her things and quite possible a little more furniture if she needed any. There were beautiful built in cabinets next to the closet, as well as an old steamer trunk shoved into a corner.

“I’m surprised Yoon didn’t want this space,” commented Yona idly, trying not to let her curiosity bleed into her tone. Her father had taught her early on in life that when one was looking for answers, it was best not to sound eager or particularly interested.

“Ah, well- he, uh-“
Uh oh. Yona felt her shoulders tense up as she unzipped her rolling suitcase. What did that mean?
“This place haunted?”
Yona gasped and spun around, fighting the urge to throw her shoe at Hak as he stood in the doorway, looking just as bored and indifferent as ever.
“Don’t be stupid, Hak,” groused Yona as she turned back to her things. “There’s no such thing as ghosts...”
Hak grinned rather maniacally. “Yeah, everyone says that in the daylight...”
With that, he turned and left, the air heavy and rather ominously silent as Yona felt her thoughts begin to run away from her.
Before they could get too far, Zeno interjected lightly, “Yoon’s just afraid of being alone- that’s all.”
Yona frowned softly as Zeno stared at nothing in particular out of one of the windows, a breeze sweeping into the room and ruffling his golden strands. He looked almost sad, she noted. Before she had the chance to think anything else, the far away look in Zeno’s eyes disappeared in a snap, his sunny disposition and cheerful tone returning with vigor as he asked her if she needed help unpacking her things?

According to the university members that held the rights to Hiryuu house, there would be seven occupants in the house for the year. Hak’s roommate, as it turned out, was out of town visiting friends and wouldn’t be back until next week. The other two occupants would be moving into the residence in just a few days. One of them was in veterinary school, it seemed; he had to wait for his summer job to wrap up before he could head back.
The remaining four killed time waiting for the plumber by occupying themselves cleaning. Having finished with the kitchen in only an hour, Yoon had taken it upon himself to scrub the house from top to bottom, starting in Yona’s room.
“You’re not gonna be able to sleep until this entire place shines, are you,” teased Hak, not surprised to see the young boy lift his nose into the air somewhat haughtily as he deposited his bucket of cleaning supplies into the middle of the room and got to work.
“Some of us don’t want to live in a pigsty,” commented Yoon, sharp eyes honing in on the film of grime coating the windows with frightening accuracy.

“Yoon’s actually a genius,” stressed Zeno as he handed Yona a dusty wooden hanger from the closet.

“Ugh- quit telling people that,” the young boy stressed as he dragged a rather rickety looking chair over to the corner so that he could brandish his broom at the collection of cobwebs.

“But it’s true,” insisted Zeno. “The Saika Award hasn’t been given to anyone in nearly fifteen years! That’s huge!”
Yona blinked, pausing in her struggle to manhandle her cashmere sweater onto a hanger without stretching the neck out too much. “What’s that?”
“Is it the award they give to young kids with OCD?”
Zeno snorted as Yona threw Hak a dirty look across the room, where he was busy going through the contents of the large trunk without a care in the world, which only contained mostly old sheets and a few small cardboard boxes filled with junk, thankfully.
“No,” said Yoon distractedly as he fought to keep his balance on the old chair. “It’s a prestigious award given to those with academic foresight and decent intellect. But don’t worry,” he shot Hak a teasing sidelong glance. “I’ll help you with your homework when I get some free time.”
Hak grinned, obviously pleased with Yoon’s temperament. Something told Yona that Hak would have no trouble at all fitting in at this place. Her mind began to wander to the other occupants of the old house and whether or not she could say the same for herself. Would they all get along? How would she manage to live in a house with six other boys? Wasn’t there some kind of unwritten rule somewhere stating that this was not only improper, but also dangerous?
“-won’t be in ‘til next week-“
Yona shook her head as she placed the hanger onto the old metal pole, turning her focus to the conversation that had managed to happen while she’d been busy musing.
“Good,” huffed Yoon as he lifted his chair to relocate it to another corner, his broom getting a good workout. “That’ll give me time to clean that room before they get here.”
“Might wanna pace yourself,” teased Hak as he slammed the lid of the trunk shut at last, finally satisfying his curiosity. “Maybe one of them wants to clean it themselves!”
“Well- then they should’ve-“ Yoon grunted as he evicted another (hopefully long since dead) spider from its dusty nest. “Moved in sooner!”

As it turned out, one of the housemates was moving in sooner than expected.
Not long after Yoon had left the (now clean) empty bedroom next to his, the plumber arrived and Zeno showed the heavyset older man the horrible sound that the kitchen sink made when the hot water was turned on, the plumber’s bushy brows knitting together in horrified concern once Zeno had managed to turn the knob once more with a sheepish laugh. He showed the man to the basement and followed him down into the darkened depths to assist him with the layout.
Covered in a fine layer of dust herself, Yona had decided to take a break from unpacking so that she could freshen up. Cold water would just have to do, she’d decided as she’d grabbed a fluffy pink towel and a change of clothes on her way back down to the second floor. She’d made a mental note to find curtains and see if Yoon knew anything about hanging them up before heading to the bathroom.
Hak had poked his head into the kitchen and informed Yoon that he was leaving to pick up dinner for everyone, opting to save money on pizza delivery by taking a trip over to Main Street himself. Yoon had waved him off with gratitude, hefting his large metal bucket over to the sink to dump the filthy contents down the drain. He then tested the temperature of the large pot on the stove and groused with dissatisfaction over the results.

Exhaustion was already pulling at his limbs, but Yoon would rather eat nails than admit defeat; not when there was still so much to do! Yona’s room, the empty room next to his, he and Zeno’s room, and the kitchen were done, but that was all! Surprisingly, Hak’s mystery roommate had managed to keep their space tidy enough, so Yoon had opted to leave it be.
He’d managed to locate a relic of a vacuum cleaner while cleaning out the linen closet and would need to figure out if it still worked so that he could focus on the worn out runner in the upstairs hallway. He still needed to scrub down the dingy tile floor in the upstairs bathroom, as well as the nasty looking claw foot tub.

He shuddered as he considered just how many layers he’d have to work through to get the porcelain to shine. He could hear voices carrying up through the basement door and he’d never felt more sorry for anyone than he did the plumber. The man was listing off things that needed to be done by the sounds of it, and it would probably just be easier for the man to list what didn’t need to be fixed.

Ugh- what a mess. He was just rinsing out his rag when the sound of a yell met his ears, followed by a feminine cry of surprise from upstairs. What in the world-?
Yona!
Yoon dropped his rag and ran through the dining room to the foyer, taking the old stairs two at a time, unable to grip the bannister due to his still wet hands. Coming to the top of the second floor at last, he practically skidded to a halt and tried to regain his breath while also trying to take in the scene before him.
The bathroom door was thrown wide, the light spilling across the dusty hall runner and illuminating the fair-skinned stranger crumpled upon the floor, his back pressed against the old plaster behind him and hands covering his nose. There were a few crimson drops on the front of his crisp, white button up shirt, and his face was twisted up into a pained expression.
Yona
knelt beside him, clad in nothing but a pink towel, her hand upon his shoulder as apologies poured from her lips. “-sorry! I’m so sorry! You surprised me-!”

Kija was not only two days early, but incredibly shy around girls, it seemed. It didn’t help that his first real interaction with one in years had been somewhat unpleasant. He hadn’t seen anything except for the pale expanse of her back, but it had been more than enough.
Head tilted towards the kitchen ceiling, he winced as Yoon poked at the bridge of his nose, instructing the young man to keep his head back while he fetched the ice.

Yoon rummaged through the contents of the freezer while Yona continued to apologize for the hundredth time. She was dressed (blessedly), messy red waves thrown into a chaotic bun on top of her head, wringing her hands together as she fussed and fretted over his condition.
“I-I-It’s alright,” Kija mumbled, his cheeks pinking up in a delicate blush. “It was mby faull-“ With his nose pinched he sounded all stuffed up, but the embarrassment over having caught her in a compromising situation still lingered in his tone, as well as his inability to look in her general direction. Had he knocked instead of merely opening the bathroom door, he never would’ve startled her and she never would’ve hit him.
“I should’ve locked the door,” Yona bemoaned for the tenth time, watching Yoon wrap what had to be an ancient bag of frozen vegetables in a dish towel. “I’m so sorry, Kija-“
“Yona, enough,” mumbled Yoon as he gingerly removed Kija’s fingers from his nose, instructing him to hold the ice against it instead. “He’ll be fine. Nothing seems broken and the bleeding’s already stopped- this is just to keep down any swelling.”
Yona opened her mouth to protest, but Kija lowered his head, beautiful turquoise eyes finally meeting her face. His blush was still there, but his gaze was kind and earnest, the faint dusting of his embarrassment mostly obscured by the towel. “Seriously, I’m alright.”
Yona allowed herself a small smile as she nodded, their moment interrupted by the heavy thudding footsteps coming up the basement stairs.

“-wait to hear from the committee before we do any work,” the plumber paused in the kitchen as he spoke to Zeno, who took the time to shut the door behind him, a worried frown upon his normally happy face. The plumber didn’t look too pleased by what he’d found, either.
“Wait,” Yoon interjected, coming around the table to stand next to Zeno. “We have to have the committee approve this?!? What about the water? What are we supposed to do in the meantime?”
The plumber shrugged a shoulder. “Guess you’re just gonna have to live without hot water for a little while longer. Gonna be a big job. Gonna cost a pretty penny, too.”
“How much,” inquired Yoon, folding his arms over his chest with a deep scowl.

The plumber handed him the form he’d filled out and Yoon’s eyes grew comically wide at the number scrawled down upon the paper.
Glancing over his shoulder, Zeno also winced, rubbing at the back of his head and mumbling about the committee, about how they were always stating that the funds were already ‘stretched too tightly.’ The likelihood of them even doing anything about it at all was startlingly low-
“Oh for God’s sake-“ Everyone turned to watch Kija pull his leather wallet out of his back pocket, slamming it onto the kitchen table one handed and fishing out a shining credit card. “I refuse to live in a house without running water! Do you take Visa?”

Kija carefully picked the mushrooms off of his slice of pizza before lifting it up to his mouth, grimacing a little at the foreign food before taking a small nibble. He looked genuinely surprised by the taste and happily took a larger bite. His grandmother had never allowed him to have ‘junk food’ before; who knew what he was missing out on?
Hak
reached for the two liter of soda in the center of the table, pushing aside the pizza box a little before nudging at Yona with his elbow. He smirked as he inquired, “We need to get a lock for your room? Don’t need perverts sneaking peeks at you-“
Kija
howled and blubbered in outrage while Yona smacked Hak on the back of the head, soda sloshing around in the opened bottle rather precariously. “Hak, don’t be rude,” she scolded. “Honestly- you’re such a jerk sometimes!”
Yoon
rolled his eyes before calling over to Zeno, who was perched upon the counter by the sink, asking him to throw over the roll of paper towels before they all made a mess of his freshly cleaned kitchen.
Zeno happily obliged, feet kicking idly from his seat as he smiled at the lively crew seated at the kitchen table, their bickering and teasing filling the space with happy noise, contentment over the company warming him from the inside out.
It was going to be a fun year for sure.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Exhaustion had a funny effect on his brain. On the rare nights that he slept like a corpse, memories of incessant pounding upon a door that haunted his past would echo hollowly in the vast expanse of his dreams, dragging shaded scenes from a life worth forgetting out of the shadows and into the light. That door was the symbol of everything that had helped shape him into the person that he was today, and Yoon was a big enough person to admit that it still terrified him and caused him to break out in a cold sweat.

God- the memories would come one right after the other; like decrepit dominos gathering speed as they fell from the recesses of his brain: his stomach howling and small frame shaking with fear at the booming voice of the landlord seeping through the door, threatening to evict them in between violent thumps of his fists if they didn’t pay their rent. His drug addicted mother no-where to be found for days at a time. Having to learn how to take care of himself from an extremely young age because no one else bothered or cared. His longing for an absent father that was never coming back.
Bang. Bang. Bang.

Living in clothes so covered in filth that he’d tried to wash them in the sink with a bar of soap that he’d stolen from a convenience store. Dirty fingers scrounging through trash and gravel to pan for change- just to come up with enough coins to be able to afford something meager to eat. More heavy thudding upon the cheap door.

Flashes of broken scenes from his early childhood that Yoon would give anything to forget were coming to the surface with progressing speed, his brow furrowing slightly in his sleep as he rolled over, fuzzy brain registering a stiffness in his arms and an ache in his spine. He cleared his throat and frowned, trying to recall how those aches had come to be?

Bump. Bump. Bump.
Ugh- that pounding. Why wouldn’t it go away? He was coming back to consciousness slowly and while there was nothing that he wanted more than to sleep at the moment, he would only do so once the nightmares would quell. We get it, childhood- you were traumatic. Nobody cared about some kid with just another pathetic sob story. You either go through it or grow through it and Yoon had been strong enough to overcome things that would make a giant redwood cower in submission.

He was just so tired. He attempted to shove the recollections of angry thunderous rapping against a door that no longer existed back below the dark surface of his subconscious and hummed in annoyance when it just insisted on fighting back. Can’t he have five minutes of sleep? The sound was rather sharp and crisp for such a hazy thought.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

That was new; usually it was echoed and fuzzy.

Speaking of... Yoon opened his blurry eyes to an unfamiliar scene and felt a split second of nostalgic panic rise in his chest. Instead of being met with the comforting ceiling of the spare bedroom at the monastery, he was blinking groggily up at the wooden slats of a strange bed looming above him. He struggled up to his elbows and frowned, turquoise gaze scanning the strange setting before sighing in recollection.

Right- new digs. The bed above him was the top bunk of the housemate that he now shared a room with. He was in a college town- miles away from where he grew up and far from the only true home that he’d ever known. He was in a strange bed in a tumbled down old house and was sharing it with strangers- one of whom was snoring blissfully away above him. Fantastic.

Yoon
winced at the soreness and recalled all of the scrubbing and sanitizing he’d done yesterday in the dump that was now his home. He probably still had dirt from the 1800’s caked under his nails. Figured. He was just about to flop back down against the lumpy mattress poking and prodding him in order to succumb to some well-earned, lazy dozing-

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Okay- that was real.

He tripped in his haste to scramble out of his twisted sheets and hit the floor with a thud and a yelp, alerting his new roommate in the process. Yoon hissed and cursed as he got to his feet and hobbled his protesting body toward the bedroom door, Zeno pushing himself up off of his stomach with a confused whimper and a dazed squint over the edge of his bed and down at the noise.

Yoon didn’t know exactly what time it was, but judging by the soft and golden light spilling across the runner in the old hallway, it was earlier than he was okay with. He’d forgotten how loud the stairs were and winced at the oppressive groans and creeks, his toes curling at the cold flooring as he crossed the foyer and finally made it to the entryway. “Stop,” he muttered. The pounding was even worse than he’d anticipated, bouncing around angrily in his ears as his fingers undid the ancient locks and twisted the antique knob harshly, pulling the door wide. “I’m right here!”

A middle aged and rather hefty-sized man jerked his fist back from the door as his slightly irritated gaze met the icy wrath dancing in Yoon’s. It was apparent just how unprepared the stranger was to deal with such raw emotion this early in the morning and he almost looked slightly sheepish as he cleared his throat, adjusting his clipboard and offering out a gruff, “Mornin’.”

Yoon’s ire did not bank. “So it is,” he murmured, his hair disheveled and expression sour. “And you are...?”

Oh- he knew who they were, all right- but manners were still a thing that existed and they’d woken him up at the ass-crack of dawn. Let them squirm.

The older man blinked as two other beefy-looking men ascended the steps of the front porch behind him, sporting the same t-shirts bearing the name of the plumbing company that Yoon himself had called yesterday. “U-um...” he flipped through the papers on his clipboard to reassure himself that this was indeed, the correct address. “I-I’m ummmm- the pipes-?”

Yoon’s blank and rather unhelpful expression never wavered as he merely stepped aside and pointed toward the doorway behind him that led through the dining room, towards the basement door. Silence resounded. Even the birds ceased to chirp.

Ik-Soo was gonna get it and he’d never see it coming.

Yoon yawned and dropped his head to the surface of the kitchen table with a groan. This sucked. There was no coffee, no food and no basic equipment to even prepare such sustenance. The anger at his guardian was raining down upon his already sour disposition like an evil flood and it was quickly washing away any and all traces of decency that lingered. Dammit- he’d worked hard to overcome his past and now it felt like he was re-living his childhood all over again.

Stupid priest.

Was that blasphemous? Probably. Well, it didn’t really matter, because Yoon had a bone to pick with the big man upstairs over his current situation. What kind of a God sends someone as empty-headed and helpless as Ik-Soo to help raise such a vulnerable child? One with a sick sense of humor, apparently.

Yoon had done all of the legwork when it had come to making all of the preparations for this stage of his life. He’d worked hard and gotten good grades. He’d graduated early. He’d applied for scholarships. He’d selected his courses and done his research. He’d had it all taken care of.

When it came to finalizing all of the details for Yoon’s schooling, the priest had insisted on taking his share of the work and Yoon had relented.

What a mistake that had been. The man had been given one job and he’d failed spectacularly. What kind of adult would half-ass the research into where their ward would be staying?

“I’ll take care of it,” Yoon mumbled under his breath in a mockingly-high falsetto (that didn’t even remotely resemble his legal guardian) as he sat up and leaned his elbows heavily upon the unforgiving wooden surface. He scrubbed his hands down his face in agitation. “You don’t have to worry about a thing! I found the perfect place for you, Yoon!”

Moron. How the bumbling idiot was deemed worthy and capable of leading an entire congregation was beyond him.

Yoon’s face fell into one of immediate concern and he slowly opened his eyes to stare at nothing in particular as his mind began to wander. Had the priest been able to find the box in the cupboard that held all of his favorite teas? Had he eaten anything even remotely nutritious since Yoon had been gone? Had Yoon remembered to show him where the fire extinguisher was? He was pretty sure that he’d replaced the batteries in the tv remote.

A clanging boom resounded from beneath the floorboards and Yoon jumped in surprise as the thread of his worrisome thoughts snapped cleanly. It seemed as though the plumbers were getting right to work and he supposed he should be grateful, but it would be easier to count his blessings with something in his stomach.

Giving his head a small shake, the young boy snapped himself out of his pit of worries and reasoned that not only had the clumsy priest survived without him before, but that he was a grown man who was perfectly capable of making a cup of instant noodles on his own should the situation call for it. Yoon himself had survived much worse conditions than this and as long as someone was actually showing up to do the work, he shouldn’t be complaining.

Everything would be fine.

Yoon yawned and tried to summon the energy to get up so that he could ascend the stairs and get dressed. There were things that needed to be done. He needed to head to a store and pick up the basic necessities, because history had taught him that if he wanted something done, he’d have to do it himself. He didn’t depend on others because they’d shown him time and again that he couldn’t afford to.

The squeak of a knob and the sudden entrance of a stranger through the forgotten back entrance had him jumping again, eyes widening and frame stiff with surprise at the sight of one of his housemates.

Hak’s expression was one of bored indifference as he set the cardboard drink carrier laden with what appeared to be to-go cups of hot drinks down in front of the shell-shocked young teen, offering the boy a nod of his head in greeting. His muscular left arm (Jeez- how often did the guy work out?) hoisted what looked like several dozen grocery tote bags up onto the surface of the table with minimal effort. He was dressed in basketball shorts and an old worn t-shirt that sported a dark ring of sweat around the collar, the cord from his earbuds hanging limply around his neck. His shoes were still damp with the morning dew from an early run and he said nothing as he began to unpack his bags, putting milk and eggs into the ancient refrigerator while Yoon watched silently.

Yoon leaned forward and peered at the drink carrier with a frown. Was- was one of these by chance for him? Had Hak taken it upon himself to shop? What kind of person did the shopping for people that they barely knew? That just didn’t seem right...

The heavy swinging door to the kitchen suddenly slammed open, nearly bouncing against the wall with the force behind it and Yoon retracted his hand that had been reaching for one of the mystery cups in surprise as Hak merely lifted a brow at the figure standing in the doorway.

Wow. Kija looked awful. His navy blue satin pajamas were wrinkled and the matching robe was hanging off of one of his tense shoulders. His hair was a frizzled mess and his already pale complexion was nearly transparent. Ghost of Christmas past, indeed.

Hak snorted at the beginning shades of twin bruises under the fair-haired young man’s eyes. It seemed as though Yona’s strike to his face yesterday had done more damage than they’d originally thought. Yoon wondered if Kija had seen his reflection lately? The coach chose not to comment and merely gestured at the carrier on the table with a thumb over his shoulder before returning to his unpacking.

Kija said nothing to Hak as he shuffled stiffly past him and slowly made his way towards the table, his eyes seeming so very dull and vacant as he pulled out a chair rather mechanically and slowly seated himself next to Yoon.

“S’matter with you,” groused Yoon as he pulled a cardboard cup free and wrestled with the plastic lid. God- he hoped there was coffee in there; tea just wasn’t going to cut it this morning. “Not a morning person?”
Kija’s eyes flickered toward his youngest housemate, as if only just now registering the fact that there was another soul residing in the room with him. “That thing called a ‘mattress’ should be set on fire.”

Yoon wanted to roll his eyes at Kija’s dramatic statement but found himself grunting and nodding his head in agreement instead, the ache along his own spine due to more than just his frenzied cleaning yesterday. While it was true that he’d worked himself pretty hard, it wasn’t anything that his body wasn’t used to.

His bed sucked. Ugh. Yesterday sucked. He’d burned through at least two rolls of paper towels while trying to clean the foyer alone and he quickly made a mental shopping list in his mind. If he was going to have to stay in this dilapidated house, he could at least clean it before the roof caved in. He also needed some basic cooking supplies to survive.

God- so many errands for so early in the morning. He reached for the small brown paper bag that had accompanied the beverages and dumped the contents onto the table; in his opinion, coffee was undrinkable without at least a little milk and a dash of sugar.

Kija, however, didn’t exactly seem picky at the moment. He’d opted to drink his coffee black and had closed his eyes as he breathed in the heavenly aroma hovering near his lips. He quickly winced at the motion, however, and gingerly lifted a hand to tentatively run his fingers over the aching bridge of his nose.

Hak dropped a small box of pastries onto the table before freeing his own cup from the carrier, plopping into his own chair rather heavily with a soft grunt. He didn’t seem to be in a talkative mood himself and sighed as he leaned back, the noise from the plumbers continuing to drift up from beneath them, a steady background noise to fill the silence.

It was sort of nice, Yoon noted as he stirred the contents of his steaming cup. It was almost kind of comforting to know that he wasn’t dealing with all of this stuff alone for once.

Meh, maybe he could get used to these morons after all.

He took it all back. They were hopeless and it pissed him off.

“What’s wrong, Kija,” came Yona’s almost sickeningly sweet tone from behind him.

Yoon groaned and tilted his head back toward the ceiling, resisting the urge to turn on his heel and demand to know what was wrong with this store? Why were they stopping yet again?
He had too much shit to do today and the two idiots that had insisted on accompanying him were doing nothing but slowing him down. His nerves were already frazzled and it felt like they were just doing everything in their power to unravel him further.

Well, forget them. Yoon marched ahead and left them behind to tend to themselves. God- he was babysitting and he wasn’t even getting paid!

Kija squinted at the creepy porcelain doll propped up in a toy rocking chair, his nose scrunching with the fine mixture of disgust and distrust currently oozing from his every pore. He briefly recalled an old folklore one of his nannies had told him as a child about demons possessing inanimate objects and fought to suppress the full body shiver trying to spread itself along his limbs. He folded his arms across his chest that much more tightly in his attempt to not accidentally touch anything and attempted to make himself as small as possible.

“You look a little pale,” Yona pressed, her voice softening. “Is it your nose?”

Kija blinked and quickly snapped his attention back to the red-haired girl currently looking up at him with concerned guilt glimmering at him through those big, bright eyes. He swallowed and tried his best to quell his fluttering heart. “What? Oh- I’m fine!” He wasn’t, but he’d be damned if he was going to burden her with his complaints when she looked at him like that. Hell- she’d already fretted over him so much that morning once she’d gotten a good look at him and it still left him feeling slightly sick at the memory of her expression.

True, he’d insisted on accompanying she and Yoon on their exploits that morning, but he hadn’t exactly anticipated them visiting such, well, interesting retailers . He’d been a good sport so far but even he had his limits, it seemed. There was only so much moth-ball and dusty ointment smell that one’s abused sinuses could take and Kija was the first to admit that he’d had more than his fill.

His nose was incredibly sore from yesterday but he’d managed to ease the discomfort with a few expired ibuprofen he’d found in the medicine cabinet in the upstairs bathroom. He was mostly aggravated by the direction that his life had recently taken and he had no one to blame but himself. Well, he supposed that he could blame his family, but that was neither here nor there.

He took one year off to go abroad and now it seemed like he was being punished for it. The fraternity that he was supposed to spend his year residing in was probably on the short list to be condemned, and the small amount of furniture still standing in the house was all one breath away from falling apart. He’d inhaled more dust into his lungs over the past twelve hours than he’d care to admit, slept horribly on what he supposed could have qualified as a mattress at one point in time and he was more than certain that he’d felt numerous bugs crawling across his appendages during his sleepless night. There still wasn’t any clean, hot water and his new dark haired housemate was nothing but a brutish thorn in his side! To top it all off, this was the third seedy shop that he’d set foot in and it was only ten o’clock in the morning!

His head was starting to hurt. Damn that expired medication. This was all beginning to be just a bit too much.

It was more than apparent that Yona didn’t quite believe his shoddy lie just now, either. Her brow furrowed slightly as she tilted her head at him, small fingers fiddling with the edge of her braid that cascaded down her small shoulder delicately. She really was tiny, wasn’t she?

Taking a step closer to him, she either didn’t take offense to his body’s automatic step back from her, or she didn’t notice. “Are you sure? If you want, we can wait outside! I’ll stay with you!”

Smother the blush. Plastering a fake smile onto his face, Kija set out to put on one heck of a performance. If you she could handle these horrible establishments with nothing short of graceful ease, than so could he! He quickly swallowed his disgust at the sight of a rather lumpy looking floral-patterned throw pillow covered in a fine sheet of (what he hoped was) cat hair and squared his shoulders. “What? No! This is...fun?”

Yona
smiled brightly at him, giggling softly at his poor attempt at courageous positivity. She pried her way past his defenses and linked an arm through his stiff one, making room for herself through his guarded stance. “That’s the spirit,” she cheered. “Let’s go find Yoon!”

Kija
stammered out his agreement and turned his head, hoping to any being listening that she couldn’t see the flustered blush across his face and neck.

Other people’s wasteful spending habits always turned into other people’s good fortunes. Yoon eyed a metal colander without any signs of rust and quickly snatched it up, his careful gaze scrutinizing every square inch of shelving in the home goods area. Rich people, man... they were never satisfied with the perfectly good things that they had. They were always turning over everything that they owned every couple of years to make way for newer, shinier things. They filled their homes with stuff that they didn’t need, with money that they didn’t need to spend just trying to impress people that they didn’t even like. That was how perfectly good household items (such as that glass measuring cup- mine!) ended up at thrift stores such as the one that he was currently at: they donated what they thought was useless junk and he was able to capitalize on it.

Yoon scowled. Stupid, spoiled rich people.

“Yoon!”

Ugh. Speaking of plastic people.

Yoon sighed heavily and slowly turned to face the walking Nordstrom models heading towards him. They both stuck out like sore thumbs; she looked like some dumb hipster shopping in a thrift store for the sheer irony and Kija looked lost and uncomfortable being around anything that wasn’t designer.

Gag. Those two deserved each other. Cut from the same archival silk cloth. Barf. While Yoon was (almost) fairly confident in his judgement of the two, something small just didn’t seem to add up and it bugged him to no end.

Kija was easy to read: pampered, thorough-bred rich kid that probably grew up in either a country club or a yacht club, and most likely came from old money. Like, the kind of old money where every generation had a trust fund as well as an inheritance. Yoon would bet his culinary skills that Kija not only knew how to ride a horse, but that he was also proficient in some useless sport, like fencing. The guy probably didn’t even wear socks with his loafers.

Yona, however... that was just a tiny bit trickier.

Like, he got the whole pampered feel from her as well, but she wasn’t overly snobby. Yoon could taste the disgust at their current surroundings rolling off of Kija in waves. The stench of his unease was overpowering but with Yona, he seemed to get more of an excited thrill buzzing off of her? She seemed almost eager to experience something so mundane as this. Sheltered and ignorant, yes- but snotty? Not really...

Then there was the matter of Hak. Yoon had gathered that the dark haired man and Yona knew each other fairly well, but Hak didn’t seem like he came from the same level of prestige that these two had. Hak wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and he didn’t really seem to look down his nose at anybody or anything. Maybe that was why Yoon didn’t seem to mind him as much- or Zeno, for that matter.

Hm. Weird. It wasn’t really important enough for him to dive into, but it did pique his curiosity a bit. No matter- he had no intentions of making friends.

“Yoon- what are we looking for,” asked Yona as she surveyed their surroundings somewhat eagerly, like she couldn’t wait to get started.

Yoon scoffed at Yona’s question. Seriously? “ We ? Yeah, right...” Like the girl even knew what a whisk was for?

With a roll of his eyes he turned on his heel in an attempt to dismiss them both, but the spoiled girl obviously didn’t get the hint. He could hear her designer boots clicking against the dirty concrete floor as she followed him, no doubt dragging Kija along with her.

“I’ve never been to a place like this before,” Yona stated. “Or ridden a bus!”

“Really,” deadpanned Yoon as he stopped to study a few retro mixing bowls, their colors faded and scratched on the outside. They still looked good, though, so he dropped his other treasures inside and hoisted the heavy stack into his arms. “I’m shocked.”

“No, it’s true,” insisted Yona, oblivious to his sarcasm as she watched him heft the awkward pile over and into Kija’s unsuspecting arms, the taller boy squawking with surprised indignation at having to touch such dusty things. “We should do this again sometime!”

Kija’s wide and panic stricken eyes caught Yoon’s incredulous ones as Yona inspected a collection of random coffee mugs on the dilapidated shelf beside her.

Freaking rich people, man.

“Everything’s fine,” called Zeno over the high-pitched sound of a band saw cutting through the air, almost disgustingly cheerful, considering the circumstances.

Yoon grit his teeth and scowled, Kija placing their finds upon the dining room table and wincing while Yona’s wide eyes watched the younger two plumbers coming towards them, carrying out a rather heavy section of rotten cast iron pipe.

Kija gently moved Yona out of the way of a worker at the last minute, barking at the man to watch out for the young lady! The plumber stuttered out an apology at the sight of Yona and Kija huffed.

Yoon headed toward the kitchen with his box packed to the brim with the treasures he’d managed to find at the yard sale they’d stopped at on their way home. He scowled at the dusty boot prints marking up his once pristine floor and sighed. He’d get to that later.

Placing the container onto the kitchen table, he began unwrapping the fragile glasses from their protective newspaper sleeves. What a day. He hadn’t been aware that anyone had followed him inside until Zeno hooked a chin over his shoulder and peered into the depths of the cardboard, asking him if he’d had fun on their little expedition?
How was his roommate so comfortable touching people that he barely knew?

Yoon jerked his shoulder away a tad more harshly than he meant to as he
snorted, “Fun? With them? Yeah, right...” He set the cups upon the table before rolling up his sleeves and heading over to the sink to fill his pot so that he could scrub the dust and grime off of his purchases with hot, soapy water.

Zeno frowned at Yoon’s tense back before pulling out a chair and seating himself. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m going to bring these in to Yoon,” said Yona, struggling to lift the heavy mixing bowls into her arms with a small grunt, the sound of the smaller ones rattling around inside of the biggest one causing her to move ever-so-slowly. She would feel terrible if she broke them before they even got to use them.

“Yona- let me get those,” insisted Kija, reaching out to assist her.

“No- that’s okay,” she managed, turning to head towards the door. “I got it!”

Kija looked like he was about to protest again, but the sound of a crash jarred him, white-blonde hair whipping around to see two sheepish plumbers staring at a broken porcelain vase scattered against the hardwood. “Oh, very nice,” he barked as he stomped toward them. “You’d better hope that’s a reproduction!”

Yona winced and turned away from the sight, heading towards the swinging kitchen door with careful steps. She was just about to extend her foot to push it open, when she paused at what sounded like the mention of her last name. It was rude to listen in on other people’s conversations, but she hesitated at Yoon’s tone.

“-foolin’ anybody. Never ridden a bus before... I mean, come on! How plastic can she be?”

Plastic?

Yona froze, unsure as to what to do. Cold. The knot that was tightening and coiling in on itself in her stomach felt as if it were made of heavy ice as it slowly began to rise, settling itself in her throat. She swallowed thickly, torn between continuing to listen or pretending that she hadn’t heard anything to begin with.

“I mean,” continued the young boy, his voice rising in volume the more that his agitation seemed to grow. “Why is she even here? She can afford to go literally anywhere else on campus, so why here of all places? I mean- the shoes on her feet probably could’ve paid for a month’s rent on an apartment!”

Yona glanced down at her peep-toe ankle booties, unaware that there had been anything wrong with them when she’d grabbed them this morning in her haste to get ready so that she could join her housemates on their errands. They were her favorite but now they seemed to paint some sort of invisible scarlet letter upon her, alerting their once expensive cost to others. The suede used to comfort her, but now she wanted nothing more than to take them off. She didn’t like this feeling.

“Well,” Zeno’s voice was soft and Yona could barely make it out, fighting against the urge to press her ear against the thick wooden door. The last thing that she wanted was to alert them to her presence. “I don’t think it’s our business, Yoon...”

The young boy grumbled and groused. “So annoying,” he growled. “Freakin’ rich kids are just so
pathetic...don’t know how to do anything...”

Her fingers began to shake with how tightly she was gripping the heavy bowls. Yona’s head ducked down in shame as she took a tentative step away from Yoon’s ugly words. It served her right for eavesdropping, she supposed. Her body felt stiff as she quietly turned away, gently making her way back towards the dining room table and placing her load upon the surface with mechanical movements. She could still hear Yoon’s muffled voice but could no longer make out the words.

She stared down at her shoes again and chewed on his words. She’d thought that they were having fun this morning, but maybe it had been all in her head? Had she said something to offend Yoon? Had she alluded to some idea that she was better than everyone else? She mulled over her actions, her good mood having been popped like a fragile little bubble floating in the wind.

Yona made her way through the doorway and towards the stairs, pausing as she watched Kija kneeling in the foyer, struggling to figure out how to work a dust pan and brush at the same time.

Pathetic.

Yoon’s words echoed in her mind and left a sour taste in her mouth as she made her way over to her housemate. Was that how the world truly saw her? Was it how Hak saw her?

Yona tucked her designer chiffon skirt behind her legs to protect her modesty as she knelt beside Kija, offering to take over the brushing as he held the dust pan. The remnants of the chipped and cracked vase clinked together as Yona silently swept the debris into the metal pan, oblivious to Kija’s concerned frown over her sudden silence, as well as the look upon her normal sunny features.

She’d never really been very good at making friends.

A week had come and gone since she’d overheard Yoon’s opinion of her and Yona found that the more that she tried to rectify the situation, the worse things seemed to be between them. She wasn’t one to sit around and feel sorry for herself without trying to make it better first, so she’d persevered to try her hardest to make a connection with the young boy.

It wasn’t going so well. It wasn’t that Yoon was outright mean to her per se, but he didn’t exactly go out of his way to be nice to her, either. Whenever she tried to start up a conversation with him, he’d shrug his shoulder or answer with clipped, one word responses. Sometimes he wouldn’t respond at all and that was worse. He constantly refused any help that she offered with the household chores, no doubt assuming her to be completely incompetent (and she was with most of it, but hey- at least she was trying!), and pretty much wanted her out of the kitchen while he was in it.

She’d then thought that maybe appealing to his seemingly unending knowledge might tentatively open up some line of communication when she’d asked if he knew anything about sewing on a button, but he’d grumbled at her to ‘figure it out for herself,’ before stating that ‘that was what YouTube was for.’

It seemed that the more she tried, the further Yoon pulled himself away from her. She’d seen his interactions with her other housemates and while he didn’t seem to have any problems with Hak or Zeno, he wasn’t exactly much better to Kija. Yona had frowned, some strange protective surge having reared itself from within her over his treatment of the fair-haired young man who had been nothing but sweet to his housemates, even Hak, who teased him to no end. She’d been more than prepared to defend him, but Kija was able to hold his own and didn’t seem to need anyone to protect him.

She just felt so out of place. She was being pushed to the outskirts despite her best efforts and it was beginning to weigh heavily on her.

Yona hugged her overstuffed goose-feather pillow to her chest as she frowned across the duvet at one of her new (expensive) textbooks, her chaotic red waves tied into a messy knot on top of her head with the help of an overused scrunchie and a well-worn pencil. The plastered wall of her bedroom was hard and unforgiving against her back as she sat cross-legged on her bed, feeling the isolation more and more with every passing hour. She reached a hand out to crack open the spine, annoyed at the fact that the bookstore hadn’t had any used copies. A crease formed between her brows as she recalled a time not so long ago, when a lack of money wasn’t something that had ever crossed her mind.

Pathetic.

Yona buried her face into the depths of her pillow, biting back a frustrated and pity-filled scream. She hated this feeling. She was out of ideas and had no clue as to how to fix her situation. Yona wasn’t stupid; she knew why Yoon had singled she and Kija out as the subjects of his nasty behavior. It was more than apparent that he had a prejudice against people that came from a higher financial background and Yona had made allowances for his actions at first. Maybe he was just trying to adjust to his new surroundings? Was he feeling less superior than she and Kija? Should she tell him about what had happened to her so that they could level the playing field between them?

No- she shouldn’t have to reveal her situation to someone just so that they would be nice to her. While it was true that she used to enjoy the finer things in life, they didn’t define her or shape her into the person that she was. She’d been used to a certain way of life, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t be successful now. She didn’t have to justify herself just because Yoon felt self conscious and struggled with his own issues. It wasn’t personal.

It was hard not to take it personally at this point, though. It was also getting harder not to compare the unwelcome vibes from Yoon to the cold and impersonal paperwork that Su-Won had drawn up. From there her thoughts began to spiral down a dark little rabbit hole and she couldn’t seem to crawl her way out of it. Hak was stuck here because he felt obligated to stay with her, Mundok only took her in out of pity and Kija was probably only nice to her because she probably seemed desperate for friends. When would she stop feeling like a rock in everyone else’s shoes?

“Miss?”

Yona lifted her face out of the down feathered depths in order to peer at Zeno, who smiled and waved at her from her doorway, waiting for her permission to enter the space. Oh- she’d almost forgotten about him. She motioned him in with a small nod of her head
and sat up straight as Zeno plopped himself down onto her oversized and overstuffed bean bag chair in the center of her rug. She couldn’t explain it, but something about Zeno always made her feel just a little bit better. He reminded her of the way that Su-Won used to be back when they were children. His presence alone was always so warm and comforting, but it didn’t make much sense; she hadn’t even known him two weeks!

Zeno stretched languidly atop his comfortable little pile and sprawled out as he smiled up at her. “Feels like I haven’t seen you in days! Whatcha doin’ up here all by yourself?”

Yona smiled softly at him before tossing her pillow aside in favor of drawing her legs up into her chest. She rested her chin upon her knees and gave a small shrug, “Just getting prepared for classes to start next week.”

Zeno nodded softly with a small hum of understanding, but there was a gentle glint in his eyes alluding to the fact that maybe there was more than she was letting on?

Unable to keep stoic under such scrutiny she turned her gaze away from his, deciding instead to watch the leaves rustle in the wind outside of her bay of windows. She was absolutely not avoiding those knowing eyes- nope, not at all. The late afternoon sunlight streamed in through the old leaded glass, letting in plenty of natural light to brighten up the space. They were still so bare, though, and she frowned as she recalled how she still didn’t have any curtains for privacy. She supposed that she’d have to figure out how to tackle that and grimaced at the idea of pulling it up on YouTube.

“Are you mad at Kija?”

Yona blinked in surprise before whipping her head around to her housemate, who was seated in the overstuffed chair with his knees parted and staring up at her ceiling, his hands folded behind his head. He seemed so calm while Yona reeled with shock over such a casually asked question. “Of course not! Why?”

Zeno shrugged with nonchalance before leaning forward, tilting his chin down to make eye contact with her once more. “I dunno... just seems like you’re avoiding him lately. He’d said something to Hak yesterday morning when you didn’t eat breakfast with he and Yoon.”

Yona tensed at the mention of the younger boy, who she’d managed to successfully avoid for the past three days. She’d figured that maybe putting some distance between them would help and had thought that she’d been stealthy enough not to draw attention, but it would seem that she’d done the opposite. Not only that, but she’d accidentally isolated Kija in the process and somehow that stung more.

“And you haven’t really been around much on the main floor...”

Yona cringed a little at Zeno’s words, hunching up her shoulders and tightening her arms around her legs. He wasn’t wrong. Yona had taken nearly every precaution to leave early in the morning and to only come home when she was sure that she could make a straight shot up the stairs and into her room. Ah, guilt. Such an ugly feeling. She stared at her toes and began to pick at the pink polish as she kept silent.

“And Kija said that you haven’t really been the same since the three of you had gone shopping, so I think that’s why he thinks you’re mad at him.”

Yona chewed on her bottom lip in thought. God, she felt so guilty. It was shameful how ridiculous she was behaving. She hadn’t meant to cause anyone to worry about her, let alone Kija, but maybe she was just being over dramatic. Instead of bearing her problem like an adult, she’d avoided it like a child. “I didn’t mean to make any of you worry,” she murmured against the soft material of her leggings. “I’ve just been busy getting ready for classes, that’s all...”

Zeno continued to smile gently at her, that knowing gleam to his eye giving away his feigned innocence. “That’s what I told Kija, but I don’t think he believes me.”

Yona shook her head with a small smile of her own. “I’ll talk to him. I guess I’m just stressed...”

“Well,” grunted Zeno as he hefted himself into an upright position. “If you ever wanna talk or hang out, you know where to find us, yeah?”

Yona nodded, feeling the lingering anxiety she’d been carrying around melt away a little. She’d acted childishly and had alienated herself in the process. Everyone didn’t hate her. Zeno winked at her over his shoulder before descending her staircase and she sighed, leaning back against the wall and watching a bird perch itself upon a branch outside of her window.

Well, she’d had enough of her self-imprisonment. It was time to stand her ground. She had just as much of a right to be here as everyone else and she wasn’t going to put someone else’s opinion of her at the forefront of her mind anymore.

Maybe.

No time like the present. Yona ascended the creaky stairs slowly, keeping a watchful eye out for any of her housemates as she headed for the dining room, her new Foundations of Algebra textbook tucked under her arm along with her old assignments from last year. If she had any chance whatsoever of actually getting a good grip on her weakest subject, she needed to refresh what she’d barely grasped before.

Yona scanned the formal sitting room and actually felt some strange sense of relief at the knowledge that it was deserted. It was a little after six in the evening, so maybe everyone had gone out?

She was not a coward, she affirmed as she pulled out an old chair from the furnished dining room, taking a seat at the table and plucking the pencil out of her messy hair. She cracked open her new book before scattering her papers out before her. She had every right to be here, she reminded herself as she allowed her eyes to begin skimming over her old notes. This was fine.

An hour later and her brain felt like a wrung out sponge.

This sucked. Her poor head was pounding and her level of irritation was only growing with each passing second. None of the jumbled equations in front of her made any sense and she allowed her forehead to thunk against the cool surface as tears of frustration pricked at the corners of her eyes. She was already tightly wound enough and now she was plucking at that taut thread like some kind of moron. What was she doing?

So lost in her thoughts was she that her ears didn’t pick up on the sound of approaching footsteps until the kitchen door was swinging open and there was Yoon, blinking at her as she sat up and froze, staring at him like a deer in the headlights. There was a basket of what looked like clean laundry in his arms and he looked almost as shocked to see her as she him. He must have been at the laundromat, seeing as how the plumbing still hadn’t been completely fixed.

He cleared his throat and glanced away, a small frown tugging at his lips. Yona’s heart sank at the sight, the reminders of his words hanging in the air above her head. “Sorry,” she murmured softly, reaching out to grab her papers so as to clear the space. “I was just finishing up-“

“Have you eaten?”

Yona blinked. “Huh?”

Yoon
sighed and rolled his eyes, setting the laundry basket upon the table. “Have you eaten? You know- taken in sustenance of any kind?”

Yona shook her head. “Uh... not recently, no...”

Yoon turned on his heel and headed back into the kitchen without a word, leaving his housmate staring after him in silent bewilderment. Yona was frozen, unsure of what to do. Did she stay? Did she go? Was she supposed to follow him?

She allowed her gaze to fall to the papers in front of her, the bright red pen marks slashed across her wrong answers staring up at her, mocking her previous mistakes and reminding her of just how clueless she truly was. Yona’s shoulders slumped in defeat, too tired and far too dejected to continue trying to shove anymore unwanted information into her crammed head. She wasn’t really getting anywhere and shame at her failure was causing her shoulders to slump even further. Why couldn’t she get this?

Yoon returned with a plate in one hand and a glass of ice water in the other, standing next to her and clearing his throat, a signal for her to make some space for what he’d brought.

Yona scrambled to pick up the mess, shuffling the papers and tapping them against the tabletop to straighten them out as the plate was placed before her.

He’d made her a sandwich.

“It’s nothin’ special,” Yoon mumbled as he walked back to his previously discarded laundry. “Just something to keep you full so you can concentrate.”

Yona felt something soften in her stomach, a little sliver of ice that had been lodged in her gut for over a week slowly melting away. She smiled softly down at the sandwich, such a loving gesture, whether her housemate was aware of it or not. To cook and prepare food for someone else was a sign of love, but she was fairly certain by the way that Yoon was purposefully avoiding her gaze while unnecessarily fluffing out his socks that he was well aware of the white flag that he’d raised.

It was definitely a start.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Hak lifted the hem of his damp t-shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow. He slowed his pace to a walk as he crossed the back yard. He’d chosen an alternate route this morning and had come across more upward hills than he’d been anticipating. He half-heartedly returned the greeting from one of the plumbers heading towards their work truck with a distracted wave before initiating his post run stretches, the burning in his thighs causing him to hiss and sigh. It was just a little past eight in the morning on his last free Friday but the sun was already beaming down on him, the summer heat stretching into late August something that he should have come to expect by now. Classes started on Monday and he groaned a little as he rolled his shoulders, vowing to mentally run through his weekend schedule to make sure that he wasn’t forgetting anything for the time being.

Hak slowly made his way towards the back door, the old brass knob practically screeching beneath his palm as he shoved against the old wood that constantly seemed to stick-

His nose immediately scrunched at the stench of burning that smacked into him, his senses assaulted as his eyes watered from the smoke hanging in the air. The kitchen was foggy as Hak pulled the neck of his t-shirt up to cover the lower half of his face, his hand opening the door wide as he tried to take in the scene before him.

Yoon was chastising Yona loudly as he struggled to open the window over the sink, the redhead continuing to shout her apology over the screaming of the fire alarm above them, the ancient exhaust fan groaning and whirring as it attempted to help clear away the fog. Good luck salvaging that skillet.

“-have no idea what you’re doing-!“

“I told you that,” yelled Yona as she resumed waving the metal cookie sheet above her, trying to dispel the fumes in the hopes of silencing the alarm. “I’ve never-!“

“-is going on-“ bellowed Kija as he suddenly barreled through the swinging door across the room, coughing as he inhaled a lungful of the thick smoke that continued to linger stubbornly. Everyone was talking and yelling over one another, Yoon hollering at Yona for whatever it was that she’d burned to a crisp on the stovetop, Yona fretting over Kija while he wheezed and hacked, and the shrill beeping of the fire alarm continued to provide the background music to the chaos swirling around them.

No one seemed to notice Hak as he calmly grabbed a chair from the kitchen table, brushing past a hacking Kija in order to position the creaky wooden structure below the thing that was causing his sudden headache to pound the most fiercely. Hak hopped up onto the unsteady surface and stretched, his fingers gripping the device at last and pulling it off of the ceiling efficiently, silencing the infernal thing as he hopped down from the chair and removed the battery from the plastic casing.

“-who burns eggs-?”
“-Kija, I’m so sorry-!“
“-you apologizing to him for-?”

“-sure you’re okay-?”

“-You owe me a new skillet-!“

Hak tossed the now silent fire alarm onto the table and whacked Kija on the back a few times, the young man’s coughing having finally settled enough that he could take a few deeper breaths, Yoon continuing to nag at Yona as she went back to waving the cookie sheet into the air once more. Kija gave Hak a nod and a vague wave of his hand to confirm that he was alright and Hak decided it best to let them handle their own mess, heading out of the kitchen and through the rest of the house towards the stairs.

He couldn’t help but laugh a little under his breath, the stairs creaking and groaning under his feet. This place was such a damn circus.

He shook his head like a dog, icy droplets splattering against the cracked porcelain tile and sliding down the freshly scrubbed grout. He frowned as his body shuddered, unsure of just how many more cold showers he could put himself through. It wasn’t anything that his body wasn’t used to, but there was a definite distinction between an elective one after a particularly grueling training session versus one required due to ancient plumbing; plumbing that was taking a bit longer than anticipated to fix.

Speaking of things being fixed, whatever weird little unease had developed between Yoon and Yona seemed to have worked itself somehow and Hak was grateful. The fact that they were even speaking to one another was a new development, even if it was in the form of yelling.

Things had seemed to quiet down a bit on the main level, and Hak shivered as a sudden draft swept over his bare skin, causing his flesh to prickle. Why did there always seem to be some kind of a breeze constantly swirling around this place? It was hot as hell outside and yet it was still chilly in random areas of the house. He didn’t have much experience with older buildings and while he’d never been aware that they were so windy inside, this place seemed to be a bit excessive.

He extended out a hand to reach for his towel; the sooner that he dried off, the better off his immune system would be.

Lifting his navy blue towel from its perch on the wrought iron rack to his left, Hak jumped, eyes widening as the metal bar suddenly fell to the bathroom floor with a loud clang, plaster crumpling down with it and scattering across the bath mat. Hak stared at it dumbly for a moment before sighing in exhaustion and allowing his tense shoulders to slump.
Whatever. Nothing about this place shocked him that much anymore. He shook out his towel a little before rubbing at his soaked strands and groused under his breath. This place was a special kind of ridiculous. Every time he turned around something was falling to pieces. Things groaned and creaked at all hours of the night, his closet door wouldn’t seem to stay shut and the walls were ridiculously thin.

The things he went through for her. That list was stupidly long.

Nope.

Hak scowled across the room at his pathetic reflection glinting at him from the medicine cabinet, immediately evicting the pining gleam in his eyes and willing his stupid heart to quit thumping at the mere thought of Yona’s clueless presence lurking somewhere in this hole of a former mansion with him. He didn’t need the crazy little drumbeat in his chest to remind him of the fact that he would literally eat glass for her.

Something was truly wrong with him, he decided. Lost cause. He honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he started coughing up flower petals or some shit at this rate.

Ah, well. The heart wanted what it wanted and no amount of denial nor feigning ignorance was going to make it shut up anytime soon. He’d decided a very long time ago that being close to her like this was better than not being around her at all and that involved sucking it up and dealing with it. He was the one subjecting himself to the unique torture that was unrequited love and that was his problem to deal with.

Was it masochistic? Oh, absolutely. Was it something that he should be speaking to a therapist about? No doubt. Would he be willing to actually do the healthy thing and schedule an appointment with a psychiatrist so that he could get the help that he needed in order to move on and have a life? Not a chance.

Hak toweled off his damp body haphazardly before gingerly stepping over the wreckage upon the floor in order to reach his pile of clothes that were crowded in the antique porcelain sink. Why bother seeking professional help for his mental status? Who wouldn’t want to live in a tumbled down old house on the outskirts of campus with total strangers and a girl that they’d been pining after since they were ten? Weren’t those the choices of a perfectly rational adult?

Hak frowned as he began to dissect his clothing so that he could reassemble them into the correct order. Stepping into his black boxer briefs, he knew that one thing needed to be made clear: while it was true that his feelings for Yona were the main factor for him sticking around after all of these years, he’d also made a promise to both his Gramps and her father that he’d keep an eye on her. Yona was so blissfully unaware of the real world and the possibility of her being taken advantage of was staggeringly high. She was just so ignorant of so much and it wasn’t her fault. Besides, he’d also promised-

Absolutely not. He would not think of him.

The ugly and twisted expression that had taken over his features startled him, having barely caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror after pulling his fresh shirt on over his head. Hak gave his head another small shake as he continued to get dressed; anything to keep him focused on something other than shadowed memories of a best friend and life-long companion who existed no more. So many complications lingered there. There were some things that Hak wished could be re-done, but the thing that made him feel more sick than regret was the knowledge that he’d do it all again.

Hak ran a hand through his damp hair before rubbing along the stiffness in his shoulder. Yona hadn’t been the only one left high and dry once everything had been said and done and Hak had to admit that while he played the part of ‘over it’ remarkably well, his freshly healed wounds were still stinging. The thing to take away from mistakes were the lessons that one learned from them. He’d do a little better at keeping himself guarded from now on for sure. He used to think that he was a decent judge of character, but Su-Won had brought to the light just how little Hak really knew about the ones that he’d held so close.

Who was the ignorant one now?

Hanging his damp towel upon the hook behind his bedroom door to air dry, Hak unplugged his phone from its charger and plucked it up from his bedside table. He turned back towards the door and paused, something having caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

When had he opened the window?

He hadn’t... had he?

Never-the-less, it was cracked open ever-so-slightly and Hak took cautious steps towards it, one hand reaching out to shut it firmly. Unease prickled along the nape of his neck as blue eyes scanned the close proximity of the small roof of the overhang that covered the entrance to the kitchen, something inside of him sending out warning tingles down his spine. He knew that the lock was broken; he’d messed with it his very first night in the house and had made a mental note to stop at a hardware store, but with all of the unpacking it had slipped his mind.

Hak turned away from the leaded glass slowly, vowing to make it a priority. He could take care of himself, but with Yona in the house he couldn’t take any chances.

Things seemed to have settled down in the kitchen when Hak returned, Yoon scrubbing away at the pan in the sink vigorously and muttering a litany of colorful curses under his breath, some that even had Hak’s eyebrows rising to his hairline.

Kija was seated at the table with a glass of water, rubbing what appeared to be a lingering sting out of his watery eyes, no doubt from the previous thick smoke. There had been a lot of it- hell, the air still had a thin sheet of white smog to it, despite the open windows and back door. How many eggs had she burnt?

The little troublemaker herself was busy scrubbing down the gas stovetop, looking every bit contrite and wincing every time another one of Yoon’s grumblings reached her ears.

Hak ruffled her hair as he passed her, ignoring her growl of irritation at him as he made his way over to the pantry for his protein powder. Kija was bringing up the topic of Wi-Fi and how much it would cost split evenly amongst the five of them.

Yoon pointed out that there would technically be seven of them living in the house and Kija immediately corrected his math with startling accuracy. Color Hak impressed. Maybe he could bribe the mathlete to do his calculus for him this year. He turned at the sound of Yona calling his name, unscrewing the lid of the container and setting it down upon the table before making his way over to the cabinet that held his shaker bottle. “Yeah?”

Yona reached for the bottle of cleaning spray and used both hands to pull the trigger, trying to douse away the mess that she’d made, no doubt in an effort to get Yoon to forgive her faster. “I wanted to ask- what’s your roommate like?”

Hak dumped two heaping scoops of the chocolate flavored powder into his cup before arching a brow at her. “How should I know? Never seen the guy. He’s outta town still anyway, right?”

Yoon’s arm ceased its scrubbing movements and he peered at Hak curiously over his shoulder. “Wasn’t he supposed to come back yesterday? Zeno mentioned something about it before he left for work last night.”

Hak approached Yoon and leaned around him to intercept some of the young boy’s running water for his cup and shrugged a shoulder. “I dunno. All I know is, no one’s been around.” He screwed the lid to his bottle on tightly then proceeded to shake it vigorously, trying to ensure that there would be no little pockets of dry mix that would explode in his mouth later. That was a sensation that almost always made him gag.

Kija was leaning over and peering into the contents of Hak’s whey protein powder container, nose scrunching up at the smell before his right hand slowly pushed it across the table top and further away from himself.

“Huh,” grunted Yoon with one last hurrah at the skillet. “Well, all I know is that Zeno said somethin’ about the guy being a bit of a playboy... sounded like a real pervert, to be honest...”

Kija squawked and sputtered, rolling into a tirade
over Yona’s safety with a so called ‘pervert’ running freely around their premises. “Don’t they do background checks if not for this exact reason?”

“Morning, all,” greeted Zeno brightly, suddenly strolling in through the wide open back door, hair still tied back and dressed in his scrubs.

“Zeno,” said Yoon, suddenly all business. “I thought you said that Hak’s roommate was supposed to get back into town yesterday?”

The blonde-haired boy blinked. “He did. Didn’t he? I mean,” he paused to scratch at his cheek idly in thought. “I think he did...?”

Hak deadpanned, “You think?”

“Well, I’ve been working swing shifts and I’ve been a little tired...” he headed toward the fridge to retrieve the orange juice. “But Jae Ha kinda tends to just come and go as he pleases. At least, he did last year...” He pulled the carton from the fridge and turned, innocent eyes drinking in everyone’s frowns. “He’s a nice guy,” he stressed. “He just-“

“But-“ Yona was uncharacteristically frozen at the stovetop, the bottle of cleaning solution still gripped tightly in her hands. The expression upon her face had Hak pausing in his shaking motion to frown at her. Her eyes locked onto his. “I thought I saw a shadow moving around under your door this morning after you went on your run.”

Yoon turned off the running faucet, having rinsed the skillet and placing it in the opposite side of the sink to dry in the rack. He was frowning at her as well. The silence in the kitchen was thick, Hak tense as he recalled the cracked bedroom window, Kija gripping his glass tightly as he tried to recall if he’d heard any creaking on the stairs of someone coming or going, Zeno slowly setting his empty glass upon the table next to the juice carton and Yona’s eyes flashing between the four housemates in apprehension.

Yoon reached for his dish towel, his eyes flashing to the swinging kitchen door with unease. He dried his hands slowly, methodically. They were all probably thinking the same thing: what kind of person just snuck around like that? Was the mystery housemate actually back in town? If he really was some kind of pervert, shouldn’t they be taking better precautions? What was going on?

Yona set the bottle down upon the counter, breaking the weird little spell that had seemed to befallen the space. “Um- maybe it was just my imagination,” she laughed, sounding nervous and wholly unconvincing. “It was probably just my eyes playing tricks on me-“

“We should probably keep the doors shut from now on,” muttered Yoon, tossing the towel over his shoulder and brushing past Hak so that he could close the back door. “I mean, it’s common sense, right?”

Hak wanted to tell him that there was no point, seeing as how his somewhat imaginary roommate seemed to prefer windows to doors, but decided against it. Yoon had just hinted at Hak’s alternate worry: what if it wasn’t his roommate that had been in his room? They’d been leaving all of the doors unlocked so that the plumbers could have easy access to the basement, but that had been a stupid mistake in a college town, and especially in a house where a young woman resided. He kept the thought to himself as he popped open the top on his shaker container, lifting the plastic cup up to his lips. The last thing that he wanted was for them to panic and besides- Zeno knew the guy and hadn’t seemed to be too concerned. Hak was going to fix the lock on the window anyway, so what did it matter? He’d stop at the hardware store on his way to meet his new sensei.

He hadn’t been able to make it to the hardware store after all, thanks to his new instructor, Guen Tae. The man was ruthless, running Hak through drill after drill, spar after spar, clapping loudly and roaring out praises whenever Hak did something in particular that he approved of. Hak wasn’t above admitting that his arms hadn’t been this sore in a very long time, and a few of his spar-mates had managed to flip him more than once, his back aching in a few spots from where he’d landed harder than he’d anticipated. By the time he’d finished getting acquainted with his new mentor and orienting himself with the training space and equipment, it was much too late. It was dark outside and Hak hadn’t realized just how long he’d been at the gym until he’d stepped outside.

Hak sighed in exasperation, running a hand through his hair in agitation as he threw his gym bag over his shoulder, turning left towards the bustling downtown so that he could head back to the house. He supposed that it would have to wait until tomorrow, but he managed to soothe himself in the meantime with the reminder that he could at least check Yona’s windows and door lock tonight; that way he’d be able to make a list of any additional parts that he might need before going to the hardware store first thing in the morning.

He turned the corner and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his basketball shorts, approaching a rather sketchy looking bar, where a tall young man was leaning in the open doorway, a cigarette between the fingers of his hand that was dangling down close to his thigh. His back was to Hak, only half of his body visible to the public. Music was drifting from the dark depths and out into the street, Hak’s eyes flickering briefly toward the movement of the stranger’s thumb flicking the end of his cigarette to dispel the ash that had gathered at the glowing tip before lifting it back up to his mouth.

Hak approached the establishment and turned his head away, nose wrinkling slightly at the smell of the smoke that the young man had blown out into the night, blue eyes busy watching for incoming traffic so that he could cross the street. He completely missed the eyes raking over his body appreciatively as he jogged across the road, as well as the matching hum of approval that accompanied it.

The stranger deposited his cigarette butt into the little metal bucket of sand beside the door and headed back inside to finish his shift.

“Is that my shirt?”

Yona froze, refusing to turn around and address her childhood companion, who was standing in the doorway of her room. He hadn’t bothered to knock because he’d seen her door already open at the top of her staircase and he’d assumed that the loud creaking as he’d ascended the stairs would sufficiently announced his presence. Thanks to the music playing from her iPod that was attached to her Bluetooth speaker, he’d managed to catch her off guard.

But more importantly- was that his shirt that she was wearing?

When she continued to ignore him, he took another step into the space, lazily meandering over to her far window and reaching out to test the lock. “Again, why are you wearing my shirt?”

Yona continued to keep her head bent as she sat cross-legged upon her bed, his shirt nearly swallowing up her knees and obscuring the assorted smiling little cartoon fruits printed on her pajama pants and dammit- he recognized those pair. “Don’t be weird about it,” she grumbled.

“You quit being weird about it,” he retorted, making his way across the room to the large half-circle of bay windows about the bench seat. The locks on the first two seemed to be working just fine, which helped to ease some of the worry from his mind. It wasn’t like anyone would scale the side of the house or the roof to try to get up here, but Hak didn’t like to take chances on the unknown.

“Why are you in here,” she inquired like the little brat that she was known to be from time to time, shuffling through an assortment of papers, no doubt trying to get herself organized and ready for classes on Monday, as well. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“Fine,” he replied, his knee abruptly pushing himself up and away from the bench seat, leaving the rest of her windows unchecked (he was sure that they were fine, anyway) as he made his way over to her with purposeful strides. “Get murdered- I don’t care. Gimme back my shirt and I’ll go.”

Yona’s head snapped up at his words, eyes wide as she scrambled back upon her mattress in retreat of Hak’s outstretched hands. “Wha-? No-! Get away from me!”

Hak’s knee caused the mattress to dip as he managed to wrap his fingers around one of the sleeves, not at all serious about the follow-through as he tugged on the fabric. “Then don’t steal my stuff-“

Yona squealed, falling onto her back and attempting to push him away from her, small hands landing solidly on his chest as she squirmed. Hak loomed over her, one hand gripping worn cotton while the other planted itself upon the mattress next to her head, helping him keep his balance while they wrestled back and forth. If she even so much as attempted to kick him, maybe he would actually tear the shirt off of her. Would serve her right- the little brat-

In their mild scuffle, the fabric had inched up Yona’s stomach, revealing pale skin that had Hak’s movements stuttering, his eyes widening slightly at the fire in her gaze.

Jesus- what was he doing?

Hak schooled his features and reached for one of her pillows, smacking her in the face and stifling her cry of shock with a snicker as he stood upright. He turned and headed for her door, ducking just in time and feeling the pillow that she launched at the back of his head just barely grazing along his shoulder.

“You’re definitely gonna get murdered if you don’t work on your aim,” he called to her over his shoulder, pausing long enough in her doorway to check the lock on her bedroom door and scowling at the realization that he’d need to pick up a new deadbolt before descending the stairs to head back to his room.

Hak frowned at the window as he set his phone down upon the little table next to his bed, sitting down upon the edge of the mattress and bending down to grab his charging cable from the floor. His gaze flickered from the darkness on the other side of the leaded glass over to the opposite end of the room that he shared with someone that he hadn’t even met yet, continuing to take note of the made up bed that still hadn’t appeared to have been slept in. It was getting late, the rest of the house’s occupants having settled in for the night. He assumed that if his new roommate actually was back in town, he’d surely be arriving sometime soon right?

Well, whatever. It was late, Hak was tired from all of his strenuous training from earlier in the day, and his second cold shower had helped to soothe only some of his aching muscles. Hak stood, heading over to his closet door to snag a t-shirt to sleep in off of the lower metal pole and paused.

The upper pole that had been a lot more empty before had more articles of clothing on the once empty hangers. Hak’s gaze narrowed, his fingers skimming along a black vest, a few v-neck t-shirts, a black button-up dress shirt and a few nicer things, as well. There were a few ties draped over the hanger closest to the wall and upon closer inspection, Hak noted that there were a couple of leather belts, as well. There was a hooded pull-over sweatshirt, too and just as Hak was about to separate the articles so that he could read whatever was printed on the front, he stopped himself with a shake of his head. If someone was to go through his things he knew he’d be annoyed, so he plucked one of his own shirts off of a hanger and shut the closet door.

The old window slid open slowly, the faint hissing sound of the wooden frame being lifted nearly carried away by the breeze as an arm began to pull a figure in through the opening. A lean torso followed, along with long legs and a lithe form. The person stealthily planted their feet onto the floor beneath the ledge, mindful of every creak and groan of the floorboards as they slunk into the room with all of the grace of-

The breath was knocked out of them as their face hit the floor, tackled by Hak’s muscular and pajama-clad frame as he wrestled the intruder into a flawless kata juju jime that would have surely made Guen Tae beam with pride. Hak crossed his wrists and pressed them against the juncture of the stranger’s throat while he sat upon their hips to keep their lower half restrained.

“Well, well,” coughed a rather playful male tone up at him through the darkness, the upper half of their face encased in shadow while their grimacing mouth canted up slightly in the light of the moon, voice strained from the press of Hak’s wrists against their windpipe. “Isn’t this an unexpected surprise?”

Hak sneered and pressed against the rumbling throat a tad tighter in an effort to shut him up, but it wasn’t working. He could feel the muscles in the man’s neck contracting beneath his grip as he attempted to clear his slightly strained voice.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, sir?”

“Who the fuck are you?” Hak demanded, voice low and still thick with sleep as he continued to straddle his opponent against the carpet, muscles in his arms and legs flexing in the moonlight as the perpetrator struggled against him once more. He was pretty sure that he had a fair idea, but this asshole needed to know his place. One didn’t sneak in and out of windows like some vigilante wannabe. There was a door literally right there.

Hak caught the sight of a glinting smirk before the smooth tone of the voice purred, “Oh, I don’t think so.”

Before he could tense up to stop it, one leg wormed its way in between their bodies, a foot planting itself firmly against Hak’s lower abdomen as two hands fisted themselves in his t-shirt, yanking him forward and up over the mysterious opponent’s head in a wide arc, Hak landing on his back with a whoosh as the breath was temporarily knocked out of him, eyes blinking up at the ceiling as he tried to re-orient himself. Well, he hadn’t seen that coming. His aching back protested sharply and Hak winced at his still tender muscles.

A weight was settled against his pelvis as the perpetrator seated himself in his lap, hands wrapping around Hak’s wrists with surprising strength and pinning the dark haired man’s hands over his head with a chuckle. He was surprisingly strong for someone so lithe.

The person’s face was still half shrouded in darkness as Hak fought beneath him, that infuriating smirk glinting at him once more, only this time from above as he stated, “I’m afraid you don’t get that kind of info without dinner and a drink first.”

Hak had never wanted to spit in someone’s face so badly before.

“What’s going on in here?!”

The door was suddenly pushed open wide, light from the hallway spilling across the carpet and hitting both men straight in the eyes as they whipped their heads towards the intrusion, the boys squinting against the brightness as Yoon’s back-lit silhouette covered the frame. The overhead light was then switched on to further reveal the young genius standing in the doorway, hair lightly tousled from sleep, face stern and ready to dole out a nagging speech about how important a full night’s rest was, when he stopped short as his gaze settled upon the tall man pinning a squirming Hak to the ground.

Zeno and Yona skidding to a halt behind him to see what the commotion was and stared at the pair as Yoon’s expression fell flat, his tone laced with disinterest as he turned on his heel and stated, “ ‘M goin’ back to bed...”

Zeno stepped back to allow Yoon to pass by him, while Yona’s hand leaned against the doorframe, her other rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she whined, “Hak- isn’t it a little late to be practicing judo?”

Crystal blue eyes squinted at her as Hak grit his teeth and silently threatened retribution for all parties involved, his eyes flashing up to the man who had gone suddenly still above him. Hak took in the stranger’s features as his grip grew more lax. He seemed oddly familiar, but he couldn’t seem to place him. The guy continued to stare at Yona with wide indigo colored eyes.

His surprise didn’t seem to last too long. One hand removed itself from Hak’s wrist in order to waggle his fingers at Yona, a smile alighting his mischievous features as he smoothly introduced himself. “Well, hello, Miss! Aren’t you just adorable? I don’t think we’ve met! I’m Jae HAAAA-!”

Seizing the man’s momentary lapse of concentration, Hak bucked his hips and unsettled him, wrapping his legs around Jae Ha’s lean waist and using his thigh muscles to twist them both over to the side before rolling him over onto his back again in one smooth motion.

“My, my,” Jae Ha purred with barely contained amusement, smirking up at Hak. “You sure do know how to show a guy a good time. Someone must be popular with the ladies -“

Hak’s features were ablaze as he snarled down at Jae Ha’s amused expression, “Can’t believe I have to share a room with this sick fuck-”

”Now, now,” teased Jae Ha, that smirk only going so far as to poke at Hak’s temper even further. “Language- there’s a lady present! And besides,” he blew his ash brown colored bangs out of his face. “It’s wrong to judge someone like that before you get to know them.”

Zeno laughed, “He’s right, ya know!”

Yona blinked before offering a small shake of her head. “Well, I’m going back to bed, so would you guys mind keeping it down?” Weirdo or not, she was tired and was growing more and more bored with each passing second. If those guys wanted a wrestling match, then so be it. She turned to head back to her room, but paused as she suddenly remembered her manners long enough to call out, “I’m Yona! It was nice to meet you, Jae Ha!”

Jae Ha smiled and waved, “You too, Yona!”

Hak didn’t trust this guy any further than he could throw him. The freak show had had the weirdest expression on his face when he’d gotten a look at his new female housemate and Hak was thankful that he’d tested the lock on her door earlier. He leaned down with a growl, his breath hot as it ghosted across Jae Ha’s skin, his voice dangerously low as he threatened against the shell of his ear, “Don’t even think about it, you perv.”

Jae Ha grinned broadly as Hak finally released him and eased his weight off of him, lacing his hands together and resting them behind his head as he crossed one ankle over the other, jewel-toned eyes watching his new room mate distance himself. “Well, I guess it’s true what they say...” he returned his gaze to the ceiling as he felt Hak glare at him over his shoulder. “The pretty ones usually are the jealous types.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Yona frowned down at the financial paperwork that Mundok had sent along with her. He’d said that he’d had it all broken down into simpler terms for her so that it wouldn’t be nearly as confusing as it had been before, but she was still having trouble following its logic.

This- This couldn’t be right.

She fiddled with a lock of her hair, blowing her bangs out of her eyes for what felt like the fifteenth time in under a minute. Her hair was getting crazy long and it needed a trim. After looking over her finances, however, it didn’t look like that was happening anytime soon. It didn’t really look like anything would be happening very soon, if she were to be honest with herself.

She set the folder off to the side with a heavy sigh. She hated this. She felt so lost and unsure of everything, like a failure. Yoon had already pointed out her severe lack of life’s most basic skills and it was starting to chip away at everything that she’d once thought to be certain of in life. She almost felt ashamed. She was less than useless in almost every sense of the word. She couldn’t contribute to the house financially, she didn’t know how to cook, she had no other domestic skills under her belt and she was loathe to admit that she’d resorted to stealing Hak’s laundry in order to avoid having to attempt tackling her own.

God- she couldn’t even do laundry.

Her head thunked against her wall. This was hopeless. She’d been holed up in her room all morning trying to come up with some kind of a solution but so far all she’d done was manage to feel more and more sorry for herself.

No! Yona gave her head a small shake and sat up, a determined frown etched on her features. She was done doing that. She was on her own now and she couldn’t sit around moping while wishing for things to be taken care of for her like they had been in the past. She was a grown, young woman and she could handle this! Plenty of other people went off to college not knowing anything, didn’t they? It couldn’t be that uncommon, right?

Yona swung her legs over the edge of her bed and stood, squaring her shoulders to head downstairs. She needed to see Kija about possibly borrowing his computer so that she could look up how to do laundry on YouTube. The head plumber had deemed the utility corner in the basement usable again, so now seemed as good a time as any! How hard could it be?

Kija wasn’t in his room and Yona frowned. She paused in the doorway, feeling as though she were intruding. Perhaps he was downstairs? She turned to head towards the end of the hall but paused when she heard an unfamiliar voice saying, “Oh! It’s you!”

Yona turned, blinking owlishly at the tall young man emerging from the bathroom. He was tying his long, ashy brown hair back into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck and smiling at her like he knew her.

He did know her...right?

Recognition hit her suddenly. “Oh! You’re Hak’s roommate- the guy from last night!”

He laughed, tilting his head at her as he brushed his bangs out of his eyes. “That’d be me! Yona, wasn’t it?”

She nodded, trying very hard not to exclusively think about Yoon having called him a pervert just yesterday. She hadn’t really been able to get a very good look at him last night, what with he and Hak rolling around and what not. He was handsome. “I’m sorry,” she tucked her hair behind her ear in nervous agitation. She was being so rude. “I can’t remember-“

“Jae Ha,” he said with a rather overly-flourished gesture of his hand. “It’s alright- it was late and we’d woken you up.”

Yona smiled. Zeno had been right- he seemed nice, at least. “Jae Ha,” she repeated. “I was just looking for Kija, but he’s not in his room.”

Jae Ha blinked at her, momentarily confused as to whom it was she was referring to, when he snapped his fingers. “Oh! The guy from this morning!”

Yona was confused.

“He left to head out for some kind of technical something or other that I couldn’t follow,” he waved a hand dismissively. He tilted his head at her again. “But I can help you, if you’d like?”

Yona perked up a little. “Oh? Do you have a computer?”

He nodded. “I do! Did you want to borrow it for something?”

“Yes,” she flung her long hair over her shoulder. “I need to look up something on YouTube. Wait-“ Why hadn’t she thought of this? “Do you know how to do laundry?”

He merely blinked at her.

“It’s really not that uncommon,” he insisted from his perch upon the old and rickety wooden table pushed up against the basement wall. “Most college kids don’t know how to do laundry.”

Yona tried to decipher which knob to turn which way on the ancient looking washing machine. “That’s what I thought,” she groused. “I mean, you had to learn too, right?”

“I did,” he said with a nod and a small smile. “But the first time that I attempted it I was only fourteen and I’d grabbed dish soap instead of laundry soap.”

Yona scooped out a hefty amount of the powder from the red carton. “Is there a difference?”

Jae Ha chuckled, “Oh, there sure is... there was soap everywhere- spilling out of the machine, all over the floor... Took me hours to clean it all up.”

Yona laughed, pouring the detergent on top of her clothes in the bottom of the wash basin. Jae Ha had helped her sort out the colors and read the tags (who knew that there were washing instructions on the inside labels of clothing?) so that she could figure out which articles could go into the dryer and which fabrics should probably be hand washed. “I bet that was a fun experience.”

Jae Ha hummed distractedly in agreement, his gaze constantly landing over to the steep basement stairs across the room. He looked... she wanted to say anxious? Yona wasn’t sure what he had to be so nervous about but whatever it was, he was attempting to hide it and failing. His entire frame looked tense to her. He was still able to keep up small talk, so maybe she was just imagining things?

She pulled the biggest knob out towards herself and jumped at the sudden sound of water gushing from somewhere. That was a good thing, right? She lifted the lid and peeked inside, staring in wonder at the cold water filling up the tub of the machine. She did it! The water was mixing with the powdered detergent and little bubbles were starting to form. Who knew that something so simple as washing one’s own laundry could be so empowering?

She was about to turn towards Jae Ha to thank him for his assistance, when the open door at the top of the basement stairs suddenly slammed shut, Yona jumping with a yelp of surprise while Jae Ha leapt to his feet.

He crossed the room in an instant, the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling swaying with his movement, long legs taking the stairs two at a time as Yona fought to calm her racing heart from the sudden shock. Everything was fine. She pressed a hand to her chest and huffed a laugh as she headed toward the stairs, shaking her head at what a scare that had given her.

There was a muffled voice speaking through the closed door. Jae Ha’s left hand was wrapped tightly around the knob, his right palm pressed flat against the wooden surface. His back muscles were even more tense than before. “Stand back,” he ordered to the voice on the other side of the barrier. He turned slightly and Yona jumped at the sound of his shoulder slamming against the thick door.

It sounded like Yoon on the other side and he was yelling something, trying to explain that the plumber had shut the door on his way out. The man hadn’t done anything wrong, but the doors in the house all had a tendency to stick and the worst offenders were the back door and the basement door, which normally wasn’t that big of a big deal.

What was a big deal was Yona’s newest housemate and how he was handling the current situation.

Yona was transfixed on Jae Ha’s profile. The expression on his face had morphed from the fun-loving young man that she’d just been laughing with mere moments ago to something that was giving her chills and causing her stomach to clench. His brow was drawn down into an intense frown as he shoved at the door again, his teeth bared slightly as he rammed his shoulder against the door once more, his movements growing quicker and more frantic.

Yona’s hand landed upon the metal railing, torn between staying out of his way and wanting to pull him back to get a better look at his face and help him to calm down. He must be claustrophobic, she reasoned. That had to be why his panic was suddenly so palpable and growing with every passing second. It couldn’t have been more than thirty seconds since the door had closed, but one would assume based on Jae Ha’s quickly escalating anxiety that it had been hours.

The door suddenly gave way to Jae Ha’s efforts, bursting open and causing light to pour down the once dimly lit stairwell. Yoon barely had time to jump out of the way with a yelp. The plumber’s voice reached her ears and he was apologizing, making promises and guarantees to not let it happen again as Yona hurried up the stairs.

Jae Ha was standing in the center of the kitchen, one hand planted upon the surface of the table while the other rubbed at his undoubtedly sore shoulder, his head bent and face turned away while Yoon yelled at the poor plumber, scared and looking to release his adrenaline.

Yona approached Jae Ha tentatively, her hand reaching out to touch his back. The cotton of his t-shirt felt slightly damp beneath her fingertips and her eyes widened when she realized that he was shaking slightly. He also couldn’t seem to catch his breath.

He stood up straight and turned to face her, smiling stiffly and huffing out a laugh. “Well, that was way more excitement than necessary for your first laundry trip, huh?”

Yona offered him a small smile, opting not to pry into what had just happened. He still looked a little shaken but was attempting to laugh the whole thing off. His claustrophobia must be terrible, she reasoned once again, watching him laugh and assure the poor plumber that it was no big deal!

Yona frowned slightly. Well, maybe someday he’d want to talk about it.

The house certainly was lively that afternoon. It became apparent just how much of a kick Jae Ha got out of teasing others, but he was never cruel about it. He’d seemed to take a real liking to Hak and was almost toeing the line of inappropriately flirting more than once.

Hak had rolled his eyes and headed towards the stairs before muttering, “I don’t swing that way.”

The little twinkle in Jae Ha’s eyes made Yona think that it wouldn’t deter him in the slightest, should he ever actually become serious in his pursuit.

“Agh- it’s peeling in here, too!” Yoon was staring up at a corner in the living room, where a fairly large section of wallpaper had peeled away from the surface beneath, sagging and drooping. He sighed, hands on his hips as he motioned for Jae Ha to bring him over a chair from across the room.

Testing the integrity of the rickety old antique first, Yoon pushed off of Jae Ha’s shoulders and stood on the chair, grunting as he reached up towards the old wallpaper and wrapping his fingers around it before giving it a tug. It came away with surprising ease and Yoon frowned as his fingers immediately swiped along the plaster beneath with questing fingers, seeking out any moisture that might have been responsible. When he found none, he squinted at the rest of the wall, no doubt trying to guess as to whether or not the rest of the old paper would peel away so easily.

Jae Ha offered out a hand to help him down from his perch and Yoon accepted it, grunting as he hopped down. “Well,” he tossed the remnant at Yona, who managed to catch it with minimal floundering. “Looks like I know where my next project is coming from.”

“Oh,” intoned Jae Ha curiously, lifting the old wallpaper from Yona’s hands to rub it between his thumb and forefinger. “You know how to do that sort of thing?”

Yoon shrugged a shoulder as he headed towards the stairs, no doubt to grab his bag for another round of errands. “Guess so.”

Kija returned not long after with a modem and a router (whatever those things were) and immediately got started in setting up the WiFi for the house.

“Well aren’t you handy,” teased Jae Ha. “Look, Yona- we have our own little Geek Squad technical support!”

Kija sneered before slapping a piece of paper against Jae Ha’s chest on his way out of the parlor. “Here,” he grumbled. “It’s your share of the bill.”

Yona frowned, her earlier predicament coming back to her full force. Right. How was she supposed to help cover her own expenses around here? She pondered over it as she stood and headed back towards the basement to switch her laundry around. If nothing else, at least she’d scored one win today.

Yoon was already at the wooden table next to the washing machine and Yona paused as she watched the young boy fold her things. When had he switched her washing over to the dryer? Yona approached him tentatively, still feeling guilty about the egg incident from yesterday, when he said, “It’s no big deal. We can all help each other out around here, right?”

How did he do that? How did he just seem to know everything?

Wait- Yoon did seem to have an answer for everything.

“Yoon,” Yona came to stand beside him, watching his fingers fold her socks into some weird little ball that she had absolutely no idea how to execute on her own. “Do you know anything about how to sell stuff on eBay?”

He turned to her with a quizzical frown. “Like what?”

“You’ve got a lot of stuff, Yona.”

She placed a pair of sunglasses into the ‘sell’ pile without hesitation. “This isn’t even all of it... my winter stuff is in storage, including my furs.”

Yoon’s eyes widened comically as he paused in his folding of her floral printed cotton day dress from Prada, eyes sweeping over her expansive collection thus far. He wondered just how much everything before him was worth when it had been brand new and felt his breath whoosh out of him as his fingers brushed across another incredibly expensive label that he’d only ever seen in magazines.

This was- this was a lot.

Yona sat back on her heels, seated on the floor and surrounded by part of the wardrobe from her old life. She hadn’t even mentioned her collection of formal gowns. It was strange just how little it all mattered anymore, her current problems much more real and pressing than worrying over whether or not her bag from three seasons ago was going to be scoffed at. Her old worries seemed so small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things and Yona felt another wave of shame wash over her.

“Are you sure about this?”

Yona looked up at Yoon, who was seated on the edge of her mattress so that he could oversee everything properly. He was watching her with a look that she couldn’t quite place: like he was weighing and measuring her, testing to see if she was really willing to follow through with it. Would she be able to finally shed the skin of her old life? Could she part with these superficial things and learn to live like the rest of them? It wouldn’t be easy, but was she able to do it?

Yona squared her shoulders, determination lighting a fire in her belly. She gave a nod. “Absolutely.”

Yoon had helped her take pictures of everything and even showed her how to post them on eBay, Jae Ha having loaned them his laptop. It took awhile but when all was said and done, Yoon had guessed that she’d have most of the pieces sold by the end of next week.

Yona stared at the webpage on the screen. While it was true that she’d never thought that it would have to come to this, she couldn’t really find it in her to be particularly sad about it; if anything, it was empowering to know that she was taking matters into her own hands and his own way, her father was helping to take care of her one last time. The things that he had once bought her to bring her a sense of joy were now going to help provide her with a sense of security.

She smiled. How was that for coming full circle?

“Hey.”

Yona’s head snapped up to where Hak’s was hovering in her doorway. “How long have you been standing there?”

Hak arched a brow at her, “Long enough to know that your lips move when you’re trying to read something, you weirdo.”

Yona glared at him. “Then go away if you think I’m so weird... what do you want?”

Hak took a few steps into her room. “Just wanted to know if you needed anything while I’m out. I’m headin’ out to the hardware store to get you a deadbolt for your door.”

She fixed him with a deadpanned stare. “What would I need from the hardware store?”

Hak shrugged a shoulder, “I dunno- batteries for your vibrator?”

“Get OUT,” she screeched at him. “You are so gross!”

Hak snickered as Yoon appeared, Yona’s laundry basket propped on his hip. “You guys are so noisy, you know that?”

Hak dumped out the contents of the hardware store’s paper bag onto his comforter, plucking out the window lock and heading across the room to ensure that he’d purchased the correct one.

“Intending to lock me out,” inquired Jae Ha from across the room where he was sorting through what looked like a bunch of art supplies, different pencils and large sketch pads littering the canvas of his bedspread. His eyes twinkled with amusement as he smirked at Hak. “Because I can break almost anything open.”

The wink was overkill.

Hak did his best to ignore him, fingers prying apart the plastic before realizing that he needed to locate a screwdriver before he could do anything.

”Hak!”

“Yeah,” he called over his shoulder, answering Yona’s call as he threw the empty plastic wrapping into the trash.

“I need your help! Hurry! ”

What else was new?

Jae Ha made to head towards the door but Hak shoved past him with a warning growl. Jae Ha chuckled, his hands coming up to pacify the coach. With a small roll of his eyes, Hak paused on his way out to grab Yona’s new deadbolt off of his bedspread, vowing to fix the lock when he got back so that he could absolutely lock his roommate out.

“-got your lock. Once I find a screwdriver I’ll install it-“ Hak came to an abrupt stop at the top of the stairs that led to Yona’s room and tilted his head at her in exasperation. “What are you doing?”

The room had been turned upside down. Her bed had been pulled away from the wall and the linens nearly torn from the mattress. The mattress itself was askew atop the box springs. Her stuffed animals were in a scattered mess on the floor and the laundry basket filled with her clothes had been dumped over onto the bench seat that lined the turret. Yona herself was practically bouncing as she waved him into the room, her facial expression reeking of desperation and fear.

Hak’s brow furrowed and he made his way over to her, only to stop dead in his tracks at the scratching sound that reached his ears. What in the hell was that? Yona squeaked and ran over to huddle against his side, burying her forehead into his bicep as she wrapped her arms around his left arm, Hak’s head tilting this way and that to try and find the source of the sound.

“What is it,” Yona whispered to him frantically, voice muffled against his skin. “What is it?”

“Dunno,” he muttered softly, turning his head towards the wall that her bed had been pushed up against to try and pinpoint the location. “Maybe a mouse?”

Yona gasped before exclaiming, “Oh my god- gross!”

Hak shrugged before pulling his arm free of Yona’s grasp, much to her dismay. Ignoring her moaning protests he approached the wall cautiously, not wanting to scare away whatever it was that was scuttling around inside. He stopped, frowning at the sudden silence. Pressing his ear against the wall, Hak stilled and tried to listen.

Nothing.

“Well whatever it was,” said Hak as he leaned back and away from the old plaster. “It’s gone now.”

Yona’s wide eyes blinked at him in a panic. “What? What if it comes back? Hak- “ she whined, tugging on his shirt as he made to leave. “What am I supposed to do?”
Hak paused in her doorway and sighed, “Well, you could sleep in my room...but you’d have to share a bed with Jae Ha and he seems kinda handsy.”
If looks could kill he’d be dead and buried six feet under. Hak caught the stuffed rabbit that had been aimed at his head and teased, “Hey- you’re aim’s getting better!”

A scream resounded from the level below and they both jumped, Yona scrabbling around her mess as they fought over who would get through her door first.

“What the hell is that?!” Came next.

Hak made it out first with Yona close behind. She nearly collided into Jae Ha as he came barreling out of he and Hak’s room, his hands grasping her shoulders to steady her. The sound had come from Kija’s room and Yona came to an abrupt halt right next to Hak, who had the gall to look amused at whatever was happening inside of the smaller space.

“What’s going on,” demanded Yoon, stomping towards Kija, who had scampered across his bed and made a beeline for a corner near the door where he hid behind Zeno, who had chosen to brave the scene.

“What’s going on? What’s going on? I’ll tell you what’s going on!” shouted Kija angrily, his voice rising in pitch as his hand shot out from behind Zeno’s back to point across the room and howl, “He’s got a wild animal!”
Who had what? Yona’s brow furrowed as she pushed the door wider and peered around the frame, her eyes widening slightly at the sight of an unfamiliar young boy seated cross legged upon the twin mattress across from Kija’s without a sound, head downcast and eyes focused intently upon his lap. His shoulders hunched up ever so slightly in guilt as Yoon shouldered his way past everyone, voice calm and only mildly put-out as he approached the edge of the bed with slight caution.

“You must be Shin-Ah,” he said with a sigh, arms crossing his chest as he fixed his newest housemate with an exasperated glare. “What do you have? It better not be poisonous...”

Golden eyes lifted to regard the young chef in training and Yona caught her breath at the sight of them, such a unique shade resting just below short, sand colored strands, his eyes so very beautiful as he tilted his head back in order to give Yoon a rather sad look, shoulders hunching somewhat defensively at how closely the younger boy was hovering near him.

A strange little squeak reached everyone’s ears, the room growing deathly still. Kija whimpered and Hak leaned forward in both curiosity and concern, holding his arm out in front of Yona to stop her from getting any closer in case it did turn out to be something poisonous. Jae Ha’s chest pressed into her back, his larger hand landing upon her shoulder as he, too, craned his head around the door in order to see just what it was that had reduced Kija to a trembling mess.

A furry little head popped up from beneath Shin-Ah’s fingers and Yona couldn’t hold back the cooing gasp that escaped her lips at the little creature’s fluffy tail, flicking and swaying behind it as it ventured out from its protective little home in Shin-Ah’s lap, tiny nose twitching as it smelled the air around it.

It was a squirrel.

Yona pushed against Hak’s arm and made her way closer to the bed, kneeling at the foot of it and resting her arms upon the mattress, her chin atop her hands as she watched the small animal accept a walnut from the silent boy and begin gnawing upon it with vigor.

“Shin-Ah,” Zeno started from the corner, tone gentle but firm at the same time. “We talked about this last year, didn’t we? You can’t bring home wild animals.”

Shin-Ah blinked at him before settling his gaze back to his little companion. His fingers gently brushed against one of the squirrel’s back legs, his voice quiet but imploring as he murmured, “But...he was dying...”

“Thing looks pretty alive to me,” argued Kija petulantly, who had regained some of his composure now that he knew that the mysterious creature wasn’t something that was capable of laying eggs in his ear while he slept. He busied himself with righting his slightly mussed clothing as he asked, “So, maybe you ought to just release it back into the wild, yeah?”

Yona noticed how incredibly gentle the boy was as he stroked along the little squirrel’s back left leg, which, if she looked more closely at it, appeared to have some type of slight deformity to it.

Shin-Ah’s softly spoken words tugged at her heartstrings as he mumbled, “He won’t survive on his own.”

Yoon sighed and deflated at Shin-Ah’s statement, standing upright and tipping his head back towards the ceiling, eyes closed in defeat as he sighed, “Yeah, okay...”

Yona held out her hand to the fluffy thing and giggled softly at the tickling sensation that rippled across her skin as it sniffed at her flesh tentatively. “It’s so cute,” she cooed appreciatively as it deemed her worthy of its affections, rubbing itself against her fingers like it was starved for attention. “Does it have a name?” Her eyes lifted back up to Shin-Ah’s, their gazes locking as she smiled brightly at his awe-struck face, his head finally nodding stiffly in answer.

“You named it?” Kija groaned, falling onto his own bed somewhat dramatically.

Zeno attempted to pacify Kija as Yoon insisted that they all stop making so much noise, stating that he was getting a headache from all of their shenanigans.

Jae Ha sat upon the edge of the bed beside Yona and chuckled, “There there, Kija. The thing seems harmless enough...” he extended out his own fingers and lightly stroked them along the tiny animal’s head. “Does it need shots?”

“The only thing that needs shots around here is you ,” grumbled Hak from his occupied space by the door, his expression souring at the wink that his roommate directed his way. The two presumed to bicker while Kija continued to complain, all of the noise causing Yona to giggle as the squirrel scampered back across the comforter and into its caretaker’s lap.

“Ao.”

Yona blinked before lifting her head in order to frown at Shin-Ah questioningly, unsure if she’d heard him correctly, the boy’s soft tone nearly drowned out amongst the chatter swirling about. “What was that, Shin-Ah? Did you say something?”

His eyes closed as he picked up the little animal, holding him against his chest as his tone, calm and soothing simply stated, “His name...it’s Ao...”

Yona smiled softly at him as his eyes slowly opened once more, raising them back up to her own somewhat warily. “That’s a nice name,” she murmured, still in awe over the unique shade in his gaze. “It suits him.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It was hotter than the seventh circle of hell and Hak would be dammed if he was going to risk heat stroke just for the sake of a morning run.

The heat advisory that had been plastered all over the local news had been put into effect on Monday and wasn’t supposed to taper off until the beginning of next week at the earliest, and as appealing as running both up and downhill in the sweltering temperatures sounded, Hak decided to finally just take Guen Tae up on his offer of using the training center before opening to get in his early morning workout. Hell, he had a key- why not use it?

Maybe a workout first thing in the morning after a crappy night’s sleep hadn’t been the best idea? God- he was oddly exhausted. His energy had been siphoned out of him much more quickly than he was used to and he knew without a doubt that it was due to the long nights that he’d been dealing with as of late.

Hak had discovered some time during the first night of the heat wave that while the house technically did have central air, it had been installed some time during the early nineties and the unit had never been updated, just poorly and repeatedly patched over the years. It hardly worked on a good day, let alone during a scorcher such as the present. All that it had managed to do so far was barely spit lukewarm air around, leaving the entire house brimming with a thick stagnancy that hung oppressively.

It was tempting to go out and purchase a window unit- even more so with the notion that it would piss off his roommate to no end (a delightful bonus, really). The idea had merit, but Hak grimaced as he pictured having to listen to his roommate whine and complain on top of everything else. Jae Ha liked the window unobstructed and available for use, which was something that had yet to stop confusing Hak. He didn’t get it. Why not just use the damn door like a normal person? It was literally right there...
Well, that was neither here nor there; all he knew was that if he had to spend another night tossing and turning while trying to get comfortable, he was going to snap. His first week of the new semester was already loaded with assignments and it was harder than hell to concentrate or study when one could barely focus on anything but the sensation of boiling in one’s own skin. Hak could handle the heat as long as the air moved , which it didn’t. Even now, as he walked back to the house it was disgustingly still and sticky.

He’d have to search the house for a long-forgotten box fan hiding away somewhere like a squirreled away treasure. His odds were probably slim to none, but it never hurt to check. Maybe he’d get lucky?

Ugh- his soaked shirt was clinging to him like a second skin. This was just excessive and gross. The humidity was high, too, which made it even harder to take a satisfyingly deep breath. He couldn’t wait to rinse off, change clothes, then sit in an air conditioned classroom where he could actually be comfortable for a change. Frigid water sounded like a poem written about heaven. The sooner he got home and beneath the spray of the shower, the better he’d feel.

What an ironic turn of events, he thought with a wry smile as he finally approached the familiar street; to go from praying for hot water to feeling sick at the very idea of allowing anything above lukewarm to touch his skin.

The house came into view and Hak found himself fixating on the rounded curve of windows in the turret with a frown. Heat had a tendency to rise, and with it went Hak’s concern over Yona’s state, convinced that she wasn’t faring any better than the rest of them.

Actually, he thought as he crossed the street, she was probably faring worse.

He scowled. What was his problem (a colorful variety of things came to mind)? She was a big girl and if she had an issue, she could either ask for help or handle it herself, right? Absolutely. It was none of his business.

He’d check in on her later after his shower.

Ding.

This heat could fuck right off to the furthest corner of hell, back to whence it came. He didn’t sleep well on a good night, let alone one where it felt as if Satan himself had decided to grace the Earth with his unwanted presence. He couldn’t take much more of this. Stubborn strands of long hair were sticking to his temples and the nape of his neck, despite him having secured it back and away from his face sometime before his earliest attempts at slumber around two this morning.

Ding.

Jae Ha grunted as he rolled over onto his stomach, burrowing half of his face into the pillow beneath him in an attempt to smother himself back into a catatonic state. His brow furrowed at the chiming noises continuing to pluck away at his pathetic excuse for sleep. What in the hell was that sound?

He cracked a bleary eye open and grumbled, immediately aware of the fact that it was far too early in the day for him to be amongst the land of the living. “Hak,” he rasped, arm dangling over the edge of his mattress. “Why’s your phone so noisy?”

No response.

Jae Ha sat up on an elbow and squinted around the room. Hak was gone, of course... no doubt already on one of his early morning runs that he seemed to be so fond of, his side of the room vacant and still. Hm.

Confused, Jae Ha then turned to his own phone resting on the small night stand to his right and reached for it, lifting it up just enough to frown at the black screen that greeted him. Odd. He placed it back down onto the surface and swept his puzzled gaze over the room once more. Well, maybe he’d hallucinated. Wouldn’t be the first time.

Ah, well. Settling back down amongst the bedding, he exhaled and allowed his muscles to relax. His body grew heavy as he focused on the exhaustion pulling along his every limb. Jesus, it was hot...Maybe he could salvage the situation and squeeze out a few more moments of sleep?

Ding.

Spoke too soon. Jae Ha sighed and rolled over onto his back. Seriously? What issue did the universe have with him now? Who’s dick did he have to suck to-

Ding.

Aagh- where in the fuck was that coming from? It was obnoxious as hell and he was already teetering on the edge of anger through his heat induced misery. He wasn’t one to get aggravated easily, but it had been a long night preceded by two others just like it, and he was nearing his breaking point faster and faster. The last hurrah of this summer heat was relentless and there didn’t seem to be a reprieve in sight. It was scorching outside, it was sweltering in the house, and the bar was muggy at best. It was inescapable.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t used to heat- hell, he’d grown up without air conditioning along the southern coast! The difference was that the bay had a refreshingly cool breeze that would sweep across the waters in the morning, streaming in through the windows that Gigan would scold him for leaving open whenever it rained-

Another ding broke through the silence and Jae Ha’s confusion evaporated as he realized that it was coming from his laptop, which he’d left on the floor right next to his head. He collapsed back to his bed with a groan, irritated with himself for not having powered the stupid thing down while he’d charged it last night.

Ding.

With a growl he heaved himself over the edge of the mattress, fingers yanking the power cable out of the side somewhat aggressively and grunting as he lifted it up. No use in trying to ignore it now, dammit- the last traces of his pitiful sleep having vanished into thin air. He sat up just enough to lean back against the rough wall and deposited the infernal thing into his lap, lifting the screen with a scowl. His back was already sticky with the residual sweat that clung to him, the air conditioning barely able to keep up with the damn heat wave flooding the town.

Ding.

That did it. His patience (which he normally possessed in spades) was scraping the bottom of the barrel. Jae Ha’s middle finger furiously tapped along the touchpad loudly. What in the hell was sending out such a staggering amount of alerts? What was so damn important that it felt the need to ruin the first solid four hours of sleep that he’d gotten in who knew how long-?

His eyes narrowed in confusion for a moment as he took in the webpage, trying to recall a time when he’d set up an eBay account for himself-?

Wait.

Deep sapphire eyes pulsed wide and his hand gripped the edge of the screen as he leaned forward, mind boggled and trying desperately to wrap around the logic behind someone dropping such an insane amount of money on a women’s bag-

Ding.

His new mattress was supposed to be delivered yesterday and had been delayed. Because of course it had. Why not suffer through one more painful night of sleeplessness?

The rather meek (and apparently incompetent) store associates had vowed to have it at the house no later than noon today and Kija hoped that for their sakes, they kept their promise and followed through. He really didn’t want to have to go back down there.

Truth be told, it was absolutely more for his sake than theirs. He wasn’t going to last much longer at this rate, and neither were his back nor his complexion.

Kija attempted to stretch and immediately bit back a gasp at the crisp ache along his spine, whimpering as he tried to arch the small of his back minutely to alleviate the spasm. He grit his teeth and swallowed the vulgar curse threatening to hiss from in between his clenched molars. If he weren’t so exhausted, he’d march over to that tiny, shabby little furniture store downtown and raise hell once more, just for the sake of letting off a little steam.

He sagged back against the unforgiving surface beneath him with a groan, calling his own bluff. Oh, who was he kidding? Hell- he didn’t have the strength to throw a fit, and to be perfectly honest, he didn’t know if his muscles would even cooperate long enough to get him upright.

This was ridiculous. This whole situation was like a Greek tragedy. He hadn’t slept well since he’d arrived at this god-forsaken excuse for a house and the stifling temperature was only adding to his suffering. This whole town was a disgrace. There were a dozen places to get pizza and cheap beer, but he couldn’t seem to find a suitable dry cleaner for his clothes.

He hated this. He cursed this disgusting mattress, vowed vengeance upon the frigid hard water that was clogging up his pores, and wanted nothing more than to declare war upon whatever God had decided to send such a horrible flood of heat to wash away this cursed town and him right along with it.

If he weren’t so dehydrated, he’d cry. God- when would this nightmare just end ? Why couldn’t just one thing go his way?
A scuttling scratching noise resounded in the silence and Kija scowled viciously up at the ceiling. Jesus, this again? As if he didn’t have enough to deal with, that damn squirrel had been up making a ruckus all night! Every time Kija was certain that the little cretin had finally managed to just shut up, the noises would begin anew and his eye would twitch that much more. How could it still be awake?

He’d finally grown a tiny bit more comfortable around the little rodent that Yona was so fond of (he was not jealous of a costumed rat, thank you very much), but he didn’t know that it would be up at all hours of the night, scratching away and rustling around. What in the world was it even doing?

An odd sound met his ears and Kija’s brow furrowed as he tried to place it. This one was different; it sounded a little like the crunching of leaves in between someone’s fingers and a lot like the brittle sound of a thin line of lead snapping cleanly from the tip of one of his mechanical pencils over and over again.

It suddenly stopped, the abrupt silence almost eerie. Kija stared up at the ceiling, back aching, jaw tense and eyes slitted as he waited. He held his breath. He clenched the sheets in between his fingers and waited.

Munch munch crunch.

With a growl, Kija stumbled up into an upright position, bloodshot eyes scanning the space for that infernal little fur nugget. He wasn’t above tossing a pillow at it at this point.

His eyes landed upon the fluffy squirrel almost immediately and widened slightly in surprise at having located it so quickly; it was much closer to him than he’d originally anticipated.

Ao was currently perched upon the bottom left corner of Kija’s mattress, not so far from his foot. It’s back was to him and its tail swayed back and forth.

Ugh. Seriously? Why him? He didn’t even really like animals. He still had war flashbacks from all of his horseback riding lessons he’d been made to suffer through as a child and now he was being forced to live in a tumbled down old house with a (probably) parasitic wild animal. Why it wasn’t shedding fleas all over its owner’s bed was just another ding against Kija’s once smooth sense of calm and he growled.

Kija’s eyes flashed across the room and over to where Shin-Ah’s bed sat vacant and made up. The vet student had begun his part-time school-year job and that meant that he would be gone in the early morning. He couldn’t for the life of him recall exactly where it was that Shin-Ah had said that he would be going in one of their brief and rare conversations, but that was neither here no there. The point was, Shin-Ah’s little beast was stinking up Kija’s blankets and he was about to lean forward to shoo it away-

When a tiny little ear flickered before the squirrel sat up, head swiftly turning around to face the bed’s human occupant. It’s black little beady eyes locked onto Kija’s now horrified ones.

Kija yelped and scrambled back and away from the disgusting little critter, the rather large and shiny- looking dead grasshopper hanging out of its mouth. It turned its body towards Kija’s frozen one, startling him out of his terror-ridden state as it took a half step towards him.

“N-No-!” Kija cried out as his legs got tangled up in his sheets, falling out of bed and onto the hard floor with a large thud and a groan, Ao immediately resuming his meal.

It was hotter than the desert and she felt sick.

Yona groaned and rolled over, damp sheets tangling up in her sticky legs as she stared up at her ceiling despondently. Disgusting. She swallowed thickly, her mouth dry and eye lids nearly sticking together in her dehydration. They were experiencing an unnaturally high heat wave for this time of year and she didn’t think that she could take much more of it. That had to have been the longest and most sleepless night of her life to date... even worse than the three before it. This weather was stupid. Everything was stupid.

She’d discovered earlier in the week that while the house did have central air, whoever had installed it hadn’t deemed it necessary to run any kind of ventilation up to the third floor, which was technically converted attic space. She supposed that it made sense in the grand scheme of things (who would pay for cooling an attic?), but it was very little comfort when Yona continued to lose sleep and awoke from what precious few hours she’d been able to obtain drenched in sweat and feeling nauseated. She’d never experienced a hangover before, but she had a suspicion that it had to be eerily similar to her current symptoms.

She’d tried everything those first few nights to get any sense of air flow: leaving the door at the bottom of her staircase open hadn’t seemed to help any and neither did opening any of the windows. She’d closed her curtains to block out some of the sunlight, but the fabric that she and Yoon had used to make them already allowed light to filter in naturally. She’d made plans to sleep on the main floor last night, but she’d been up late trying to get a firm grasp on her composition paper that had been assigned on the very first day of class (insert whine) and had passed out in sheer exhaustion in the early morning hours.

Wait.

Realization smacked her upside the head and she sat up so quickly that her vision swam momentarily. It felt later than it should. What time was it? Where was her phone?

Oh no! She’d forgotten to set her alarm after accidentally disengaging it yesterday! Shit! No no no no no...

Her legs were tangled up in her damp sheets momentarily as she rocketed out of bed, but she managed to stumble to her closet without falling flat on her face. If nothing else, she’d have to count that as her one victory for the day.

Catching a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror on her desk, she paused, frowning at her appearance. She wasted precious minutes messing with her damp bangs and by the time she realized just how much time had gone by, she flung her closet open and grabbed whatever she was able to find that hadn’t been put into the pile in the corner that was currently up for sale on eBay.

She made a harried mental note to shoot Yoon a text about it later as her clumsy fingers fastened the straps on her brown wedge sandals, straightening up and throwing a hand out to steady herself against the wall as a wave of dizziness blurred her vision. She gulped in a shaking breath of the hot air and frowned. She’d never been dizzy like this before, but she really didn’t have time to dissect it, because due to her inability to get a firm grasp on her new schedule, she was now running late and was (literally) a hot mess.

Yona hurried down the small staircase and out into the main hall, hastily throwing the strap of her crossbody bag over her head before tearing her hair tie out of her messy top knot. She managed to smooth some of her messy waves back into a high ponytail as she raced past Hak, who had just emerged from the bathroom in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist and a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. He let out a small shout of surprise at nearly being bowled over, and she called out a hasty apology.

Her small hand wrapped around the newel post, using it as leverage to help fling her around the corner and to give her a boost of momentum. She distantly registered a muted thud and a voice calling out, but she didn’t have time to call out a farewell in return, using all of her concentration into hurrying down the stairs without falling and breaking her neck in the process.

It was too hot to cook and Yoon never thought he’d see the day where he’d be willing to say such a thing. The idea of standing over a gas stovetop made him want to gag and if any of his fellow housemates made so much as a peep of displeasure, he’d strangle them with one of the dirty dish towels that they were so fond of leaving laying around. He’d be damned if he was going to start up that stove and add to the oppressive heat that he was currently cloaked in. He didn’t think he’d be able to stomach so much as a toaster being used at this point.

He had to take a moment to set aside a dose of gratitude that no one in the house was fighting him for possession of said space; in their minds they had each probably figured out very early on that not only did they not want to have to clean or maintain the area, but that almost none of them possessed the basic culinary skills to be able to feed themselves anything that wasn’t heavily processed.

Ergo, the kitchen was Yoon’s and if anyone wanted to challenge him for it, then they’d have to fight him tooth and nail for it. He’d settle for a jousting match with the broom and mop to let off some steam.

Yeah- like any of them even knew where the broom was.

He grumbled as he slammed the pantry door behind him with a swift kick of his foot, holding an offensive box of Poptarts in one hand and a glass of iced tea in the other. He grimaced down at the brightly colored packaging in mild disgust, shooting a glare at the box of sugary cereal that Zeno was currently pouring into a bowl at the table. That crap held absolutely no nutritional value, despite what the packaging claimed. Complete garbage. If he ever found out which one of them brought such crud into his pantry, so help him...

There were sudden noises upstairs and Yoon closed his eyes as his shoulders slumped. He swore to God- if Hak and Kija were at it again-

He couldn’t make out exactly what was being said, but the muffled voice was feminine and most assuredly Yona’s, Yoon frowning up at the ceiling while Zeno paid no attention whatsoever. The occupational therapy student was too busy fetching the milk from the fridge as the grand staircase began its cacophony of noise. Someone thundered down the steps, followed by the sounds of their hurried footsteps crossing the foyer, then the heavy front door squeaking open and slamming shut.

Yoon frowned. What sort of person left without eating? Well, not his problem. His own appetite had pretty much disappeared under the heat, making him feel almost nauseous as he took a seat at the table.

Zeno was pouring milk onto the heaping pile of cereal before him as Yoon dropped the box of frosted diabetes that he’d been holding onto the surface. He was too tired to lecture any of these people on vitamin deficiencies and sugar content. These grown ass adults masquerading as helpless idiots could feed themselves.

He could at least do the word search on the back of the closest cereal box, he supposed. Zeno crunched happily away at his mockery of a breakfast and Yoon basked in the silence. His thoughts returned to Yona and her rush to get out the door as he sipped at his iced tea. Based on how her week had gone thus far, she was more than likely running late for class. Again. What a pain.

He was so damn tired, having been unable to put a solid night’s sleep under his belt since Monday. He’d been spoiled at the modest monastery and hadn’t realized just how much until the weather had turned to shit, leaving him to suffer night after night. He’d tossed and turned, alternating between miserable consciousness and unsatisfying dozing. Once the temperature reached its peak, he was sure that it would begin its slow descent and everything would taper off.

He just had to try and not lose his mind until then.

He was overwhelmingly busy with classes, he was frustrated over having to constantly pick up after everyone, the wallpaper extraction process was moving along at a snail’s pace, the plumbers had to stop working in order to wait for a specific pump part to come in, and every time one or more of his housemates bickered, it was getting harder and harder to keep his temper in check.

These so called “brothers” were pushing him closer and closer towards a psychotic breakdown.

Another set of footsteps up above thundered ominously down the hallway and the staircase began to play its familiar tune as someone else stomped down the stairs. Yoon closed his eyes and hung his head as the creaking and thumping down the ancient staircase grew louder and louder. It wasn’t possible. No deity could hate him this much.

Zeno munched away but lifted his curious gaze towards the noise.

Oh, Yoon knew those footfalls... he was growing more and more acquainted with them with every passing day that scorched by. He dropped his chin to his chest with a heavy sigh of defeat, swallowing the growl threatening to claw its way out of his throat. He’d bet his favorite spatula that it was-

The swinging door to the kitchen slammed open and there stood Kija, hair a mess, pajamas askew, cheeks flushed, and chest rising and falling as he panted, “That squirrel has got to go!”

Yoon moaned and slid his iced tea away from himself, appetite and will to live now completely gone. Well, there went any hopes at having a relatively peaceful morning. Dammit.

“Morning, Kija,” chirped Zeno brightly as he dipped his spoon back into the massive pile of cereal.

“-gonna kill it, I swear -!”

“Kija,” rasped Yoon, rubbing at his temple and wishing for the sweet relief of death. His own temper was simmering just beneath the surface and he fought valiantly to try and keep it there. “Why-?”

“It’s that squirrel ,” Kija hissed, one hand rubbing along his lower back with a slight wince to his features. “I swear to God- I can’t take much more of that thing! Shin-Ah’s GOT to get rid of it-!”

“Don’t you get tired of whining all the time,” voiced Hak in annoyance as he came in through the swinging door, dressed for the day and hair still damp from a shower.

Kija whipped his head around to Hak and immediately whimpered at the motion, his other hand coming up to rub along the juncture of where his neck met his shoulder. Yoon frowned and noted that the young man looked absolutely miserable, feeling the tiniest speck of sympathy for the pain that he seemed to be in, only to have the dust mote sized flick of emotion dissipate as Kija voice, strained and near frantic, shrieked, “Shut up, Hak!”

Silence.

Zeno’s spoonful of carb-loaded breakfast cereal paused on its ascent up to his parted mouth, eyes rounded comically.

Yoon’s forehead was now pressing against the table as he held back the urge to scream himself.

Hak arched an unimpressed brow at Kija’s dramatic outburst. “Problem, your highness?”

Kija practically vibrated as he took an unsteady step forward, hands now clenched into fists at his side. “Oh, plenty! Ya know- it’s bad enough I have to live in this hovel with you,” his eyes were practically manic as he watched an uninterested Hak brush past him on his way to the cabinet that held the cups. “But now I have to wake up to the sight of a rodent eating bugs in my bed!”

Hak’s shoulders shot up to his ears as he snorted, his poor attempt at stifling his amusement blatantly obvious.

Yoon’s previously limp arms lifted in order to twine his fingers into his hair and tug upon the strands viciously, groaning and muttering a slew of curses under his breath as Kija growled out just how much he despised the little critter, calling it a nuisance and cursing its very existence.

“Aww but Kija,” crooned Zeno as Hak filled his glass with water from the tap. “That’ll break Shin-Ah’s heart! He nursed the little guy back to health! It isn’t dangerous or anything, so what’s the problem?”

Kija ground his teeth as he recounted his grasshopper story, immediately shuddering and looking a little green at the finer details.

Zeno crunched on his cereal as he listened, brow furrowing slightly before swallowing and asking, “Isn’t that actually a good thing? I mean- better in Ao’s tummy than in your bed crawlin’ all over you, right?”

Kija froze at the very idea of that being a possibility and Hak snorted into his glass of water, one large hand brushing the spilled liquid away from the front of his shirt as he snickered.

”I mean,” continued Zeno obliviously. “I don’t think Ao goes outside, so that means he had to have found that bug in the house, right?”

Kija’s head turned in every direction, looking faint as his eyes raked over every available surface, the thought of more bugs lurking somewhere within the four walls surrounding him painting his face a shade of panicked, sickly pallor. “ What?!”

Hak leaned against the counter with a sigh. “Just leave the little guy alone. He’s eatin’ the stuff you can’t stand and he’s harmless.”

Kija looked as though he’d deflated a little, the fight seeming to have drained out of him as the exhaustion began to show on his face. If anything, he seemed closer to collapsing into a fit of tears, now. He pulled a chair out from the table and sunk into it. ““Do you have any idea what it’s like to have to share your room with vermin?”
Hak merely blinked, “Have you met my roommate?”
“Is that really necessary,” deadpanned Jae Ha from the doorway, long hair free from it’s restraints and one hand holding open the heavy swinging door while the other held his laptop open and balanced upon his forearm. “I only hope that you’re not as cruel to dear little Yona .”

Hak finished his water as Zeno extended out a friendly greeting. Kija leaned forward to plant an elbow upon the table so that he could rest his chin in his palm sullenly, lifting a hand in a mild form of acknowledgement as the architect shuffled slowly into the room.

Jae Ha set his laptop down upon the surface of the table and tapped his fingertips against the nape of Yoon’s neck, offering an amused smirk as Yoon’s hands flew up to wave and smack him away, head still pressed into the table. “Hey- check Yona’s eBay page. Damn thing woke me up.”

Hak frowned as he twisted his torso towards the faucet for a refill. Since when did Yona have an eBay account?

Yoon lifted his head and blew his hair out of his face. He’d forgotten about that, actually. Over the last few days, he hadn’t thought about it and nothing had sold as of yet. Plus, with classes having started back up, everyone was busy and their schedules rarely intersected. It was sometimes hard to catch one another at a shared free moment during the week.

Zeno lifted his bowl to slurp up the leftover milk, Kija grimacing at the sight before blearily asking if anyone wanted to grab an iced coffee with him before his ten am class?

“Don’t drink caffeine in this heat,” warned Yoon distractedly, his finger running along the mousepad and brow furrowed in concentration as he pulled up the webpage. “ ‘S a good way to get heat stroke.”

While Kija began to whine like a petulant child, Jae Ha untangled a black hair band from the corded leather bracelet that he wore around his left wrist so that he could tie his hair back, nodding his head at his roommate in acknowledgement before asking him if he’d noticed the extreme heat coming from the end of the hall upstairs?

Hak arched a brow. “No, why?”

Jae Ha pulled his hair through the tie, twisting it before pulling it through again. “No reason...just that it seemed to be coming from Yona’s room, that’s all...”

Hak’s brow furrowed in concern, opening his mouth to inquire further, when Yoon’s voice sliced through the air, startling them all and gathering their attention.

“Are you freakin’ kidding me?”

Jae Ha slowly came to stand behind the young boy, Kija and Zeno both leaning over and around the computer screen to see what was shocking Yoon so much.

She was late. She was sweating through her clothes and she was so late! Thank goodness she only had two classes today.

Yona huffed as she adjusted her crossbody bag, grimacing at the slow burn that the strap was rubbing into the pale skin of her chest. The thin sheen of sweat was acting as some sort of catalyst and causing the flesh to develop a nasty pink patch of irritation. Hak had warned her that she’d come to regret choosing what he’d deemed an impractical bag over a more traditional book bag and nothing chapped her already flaring annoyance more than having to admit that maybe he had been right. Stupid Hak. Stupid weather. Just- stupid everything.

A wave of dizziness washed over her again and Yona slowed her pace, blinking away the blurriness with a frown before rubbing her eyes. What was with this? She still didn’t feel well and the fact that she’d missed the bus and had to walk to campus in the heat wasn’t really helping.

She gave her head a small shake and resumed her pace. She didn’t have time to be coming down with something. She was more determined than ever to get her life together and prove to herself that she could do this; she could not only survive on her own, but she could thrive and grow. She would earn her place in the world if it was the last thing that she did.

Yona swallowed down a sudden flash of nausea and chalked it up to the fact that she hadn’t eaten anything in her rush to get out the door.
Approaching the campus building, she pulled open the heavy glass door with a grunt. Why did she feel so weak? Air conditioning coated her sweaty frame and she took the barest moment to sigh in relief, allowing it wash over her before continuing towards one of the large staircases in order to reach her classroom on the second floor. Her vision wavered ever so slightly and she paused before pushing forward.

This was going to be a long hour, indeed.

Zeno’s eyes widened and blinked slowly, Kija’s lips parting as his eyes raked over the screen. “That’s,” breathed Kija. “That’s just- I mean, I knew those bags were expensive, but even used-“

“What,” intoned Hak distractedly as he began to wonder if Yona’s room had any access to ductwork while part of him insisted that he really didn’t care.

“Even the wallet’s going for sixty,” pointed out Yoon, baffled over what he was witnessing. A little chime sounded. “Wait- now it’s sixty five!”

“Huh,” muttered Jae Ha, bending down a little to get a better look over Yoon’s shoulder. “Last I’d checked the boots were only at ninety...”

“What are you guys talking about,” tried Hak a second time, trying to convince himself that he seriously didn’t care, but found his curiosity growing as their faces all seemed to range from slight interest to shell-shocked.

“I didn’t know people spent a hundred and fifty dollars on sunglasses,” mused Zeno. “Do they really cost that much?”

“That brand does,” insisted Kija, the former Country Club Member.

“But they’re just sunglasses,” insisted Zeno.
“Did someone seriously just bid three hundred and forty for that-“ wheezed Yoon in a choked whisper.

He’d never really thought about it, but Hak was fairly certain that he hadn’t seen an air vent in that space.

Ding.

Hak rolled his eyes as his curiosity finally won. Pushing himself away from the sink, he realized that none of the other occupants of the kitchen were going to answer him any time soon. They were too fixated on that damn computer. He brushed past the back of Zeno’s chair and stood next to Jae Ha. His eyes locked onto the screen and he frowned. Why were they all staring at a page filled with women’s clothing-

Hak’s eyes pulsed wide. He recognized that dress; a memory of Yona sitting in Gramps’s office over the summer dressed in pale blue chiffon flashed before his eyes. The custom designer sunglasses that Yona had perched on top of her head as she’d stood out in front of this house just a few weeks ago were currently in the middle of a bidding war. One of the numerous expensive tote bags that her father had bought for her on a whim while on one of his business trips was steadily reaching the four hundred mark-

“What-“ Hak’s brow furrowed further as one of the auctions on a set of her earrings closed, having raked in over two hundred dollars. “Why-?”

“Yona wanted to thin out her stuff,” said Yoon as he checked her profile, making sure that her bank account information was correct and nearly choking as he scrolled through the transactions. “But I mean...this is just-“

Hak’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Thin out her stuff? That didn’t sound right to him. She hadn’t seemed that concerned about going through her things when they’d moved her expansive wardrobe into storage after her last semester at that pricey private school had ended.

Come to think of it... He remembered that she and Gramps had gone over her finances a lot towards the end of the summer and that that had somehow factored into the reason as to why she’d ended up in this house...

Another chime went off and Jae Ha whistled lowly over the response to someone else’s bid on a pair of heels with a red sole. “Four hundred...”

Everyone froze with wide eyes as the amount immediately went up another fifty dollars, the silence nearly palpable as yet another chime rang out.

Kija suddenly yelped and broke the silence as he flung himself back and away from the table, everyone else crying out in response and jumping in surprise, his chair knocking over in the process as he scrambled away and pointed a shaking finger behind Zeno-

Where Ao was perched upon the countertop, chewing on a rather squishy and large caterpillar, Jae Ha grimacing while Zeno merely tilted a head at the animal curiously, Yoon making a disgusted face while Kija whimpered.

Hak’s nose wrinkled. Well, wasn’t this a nice way to start the morning?

Ding.

Her head wasn’t aching anymore and she was no longer nauseated, but she still felt a little off.

Her stomach grumbled and her expression fell as she sat in her seat, annoyed over how rushed her morning had been. She made a vow to try harder tomorrow and pressed a hand against her empty stomach to try and stifle the sounds. The next hour was going to be a long one and she was already crabby enough as it was. She still needed to price a laptop and she couldn’t really do that with her lack of funds-

Her stomach growled again, a little louder than before and Yona sank further down into her seat. Ugh. She hated today already and it had barely even begun. She wanted a do-over.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder and Yona startled before turning around to see a dark-haired girl leaning over her desk and extending out what looked like some kind of a granola bar? Yona blinked at it and jerked her head back a little as the girl waved it at her.

“Just take it,” she hissed as the last of their fellow classmates trickled inside of the still mostly silent space.

Yona lifted her hand and accepted the snack from the girl. “Um, okay...thanks...”

“Sure,” she murmured as two chatty girls meandered past them to take seats in the back of the room. “Most important meal of the day, right?”

Yona gave a small nod and felt her lips quirk up into a soft smile. “Yeah.”

The girl offered her a tentative one in return before extending out a hand. “I’m Lili, by the way.”

“Yona,” she murmured, wrapping her hand around the brunette’s and returning the gesture before unwrapping the delightful little gift, just as the professor entered to begin class.

Hak felt sick. How in the hell had Yona been living up here in this heat?

Standing in the center of her room, he was glad that he’d overridden his initial urge to mind his own business and stay out of her personal space unless she asked him. Knowing Yona and just how deep her stubborn streak ran, there was no way that she would’ve come to him for help.

Still, he groused as he began to search her room for an air vent that he was fairly certain didn’t exist. She could’ve at least mentioned something to Yoon, or someone, for that matter; it didn’t necessarily have to be him. The staggering temperature made it hard to breathe, let alone focus on what he was doing. Hak could feel the skin on his face tightening, blinking away the dryness in his eyes as he shook his head. This was a damn good way to get heat stroke.

Had she seriously been sleeping in here? Hak crouched down to the floor, lifting up the quilt on her unmade bed to check the space for ductwork. How had she been managing? He was fairly miserable and his room was nowhere near this bad.

Hak sat up slowly, sweeping his gaze around the space one final time. Guilt ate away at him. He should’ve checked on her sooner. He’d made a promise and he’d let his denial for his own feelings get in the way of her safety.

“Jesus!”

Hak turned to see Yoon in the doorway, the young boy taking a tentative step back as he met the sudden wall of intense heat.

His incredulous gaze met Hak’s and the two seemed to share some silent conversation with one another. Hak slowly stood as Yoon’s eyes obviously began the search that Hak’s had already taken. “I’ve got class in half an hour,” murmured the young boy as his eyes landed upon the pile of Yona’s things that were currently in a bidding war on eBay. “Gonna run some errands after, though... pick up a few things, ya know?”

Hak grunted in acknowledgement. “Same.”

“I’m so glad I got partnered with you,” crooned Lili as she walked beside Yona on the path. “Thought I’d be stuck with one of those stupid Betas.” She shuddered and gripped the straps of her book-bag tightly as she grimaced.

Yona was busy searching for her wallet and was only half-listening, which probably wasn’t the most polite thing to be doing, but Lili had suggested that they stop for coffee before going over their project assignment and Yona wasn’t sure if she even had any cash on her to begin with; she hoped that she did, because Yoon still had her bank card from setting up her eBay account. She kept forgetting...They were also back out in the heat and Yona’s earlier headache was beginning to press against her skull once again. “Who?”

Lili was about to respond as she hitched her book-bag straps higher up on her shoulders-

“Outta the way, Delta,” yelled a voice before a hard force knocked into Yona’s shoulder, shoving her into Lili’s arms before she could even process what was happening. Lili yelled out something to the boy at the rude gesture, but Yona was too busy wincing at the pain in her arm to notice the sneer that the boy had cast both of them over his shoulder before jogging across the quad to join a larger group of his peers that had gathered among the grass.
Lili helped Yona straighten herself back into an upright position with a frown of concern, dark eyes watching Yona rub at the tender spot on her sweaty skin with anger. She jerked her head towards the herd and grumbled, “ Them.”

Yona frowned as she adjusted the strap of her crossbody bag with a wince, already feeling the effects of a nasty rug burn settling in against her sternum. When she’d first chosen the bag, she was a little ashamed to admit that she’d chosen style over comfort and practicality, and her poor skin and neck were paying the price for her foolishness. The group of boys were loud and obnoxious without the aid of her already grouchy demeanor. She didn’t even know them but she could tell right away that they weren’t people that she’d go out of her way to make friends with or be nice to. “Who are they?”

“Stupid Betas,” Lili grumbled as they made their way towards the direction of one of the less populated coffee shops located just off of campus. “Annoying dude bros of the lowest quality.”

Yona blinked, having not understood a single thing that Lili had just said. “They what?”

Lili turned to look at her and frowned, “You know- the sleazy frat guys everyone can’t stand?”

Yona shook her head and lifted her shoulders.

“Ugh,” Lili grunted as she squeezed past a couple kissing in the middle of the walkway. “Rude,” she barked at them over her shoulder before flicking her long, dark hair away from her face. She turned back towards Yona. “This your first year here, or something?”

“I transferred from a private university,” Yona continued to watch the rowdy group of boys, nose scrunching up in disgust as she observed them being rather nasty and disrespectful to several passing girls, none of whom looked even remotely okay with being the recipient of their advances.

“Well, those guys are from Beta Pir, which is basically a cesspool of scumbags,” Lili lifted her nose up at them as they passed by, ignoring their jeers and crude remarks. She linked a sweaty arm though Yona’s and made a wide berth around them as they cut across the sunlit quad. “They’re one of the oldest fraternities associated with Kouka University and they think they’re better than everyone else here, not to mention the fact that they’re under investigation.”

“For what?”

Lili’s expression darkened and she released Yona’s arm as they made their way towards a separate path. “A lotta stuff went down during some of their parties last year and a couple of girls from my sorority were involved...” she shot a nasty look at them over her shoulder as she and Yona came out of the shade and into direct sunlight. “They’d better watch their backs this year if they know what’s good for ‘em.”

Yona lifted a hand up to shield her eyes from the intense heat beating down upon her, that strange lethargy from before tugging at her as Lili reached for her wrist impatiently, eager to get to their destination. She continued to pull her along and urged Yona to go faster. Lord, she didn’t feel good. She couldn’t wait to get back into the air conditioning.

Kija opened the door to his bedroom very slowly, the lengthened creaking noise filling the air as he remained as still as a statue in the doorway.

No movement.

He leaned forward and stuck his head over the threshold, tilting his head in a few different directions to try and pick out any sounds. No chewing. No scuttling.

Silence.

His shoulders sagged in acute relief and a heavy exhale pushed its way past his lips as he finally entered the room. He stripped the linens off of his mattress in anticipation of his new one being delivered. He hoped that Ao would stay away long enough and not bother the delivery men.

He then began the process of gathering his things. He had Linear Algebra in an hour and he still had to shower and get dressed. The idea of sitting in an uncomfortable chair had him tense, but the promise of blessed air conditioning had him almost eager. He fought against the yawn that suddenly threatened to overtake him and couldn’t remember the last time he’d managed to successfully gain a decent night’s sleep since moving into this hellhole.

Well, hopefully part of that would be remedied this evening once his new bed arrived. He winced as a muscle in his back began to twinge.

“Hello.”

Kija yelped and spun around, immediately whimpering at the fierce pulling at his sore spine. He reached around to try and rub at it, but that only made it worse and he grimaced at his roommate, who continued to stare at him unblinkingly, his expression blank.

Shin-Ah had left sometime before the sun had even risen (Kija knew that because he’d tossed and turned all night). While he had just come off of one of his summer jobs at a farm located about an hour away, he was still employed at the local wildlife rescue, where he went in every morning and checked the vitals of the animals before charting them for the morning staff. He also cleaned cages and refilled food and water dishes as needed.

His brow furrowed a little as Kija grumbled a sour greeting in return, still rubbing at his back while turning towards his back pack once more. Shin-Ah watched the tense muscles beneath Kija’s shirt and tilted his head before heading for a specific box underneath his bed.

He could hear Kija muttering curses behind him over his ‘broken down’ mattress as he knelt down and pulled back the edge of his comforter. He pulled a shoebox out from the darkened depths and lifted the lid, golden eyes immediately spotting the cream that he sought.

He rose to his feet and turned back towards his roommate silently, placing the tube of muscle pain relief cream on Kija’s bare mattress before heading for the door. He’d managed to stop and pick up some sunflower seeds for Ao on his way home and wondered idly if the little squirrel had been able to keep out of trouble while he’d been away?

There hadn’t been any seating inside of the cramped coffee shop and Yona’s flowing, white cotton tank top was sticking to her spine as she and Lili sat beneath the shade of a tree on the outskirts of campus.

Lili was chatting away as she twisted her hair into a braid, unaware of the fact that she was having a one-sided conversation with her class partner.

She didn’t feel so good. That coffee had made her even more nauseated. Yona panted a little, unable to catch her breath as she finished off what was left of her iced latte. What was wrong with her? Was she sick? She shook the remaining rapidly melting ice cubes in her drink and pressed the wet plastic cup against her temple, sighing at the cold sensation soaking into her overheated skin.

“Ya know?”

Yona blinked heavily and hummed a response, dizzy and unable to focus. Her phone chimed in her lap and she stared at it stupidly for a moment before realizing that she’d received an e-mail. Lili’s phone beeped loudly as well, and she checked her own device with a furrowed brow.

“Oh,” she exclaimed. “My next class got canceled due to the heat! Sweet!”

Yona’s hand felt weak as she held her phone up to her face, realizing that hers had been canceled as well, the relief at being able to just go home and to get out of the sun sending an odd shiver down her spine.

Wait. Why was she trembling?

“Whew,” breathed Zeno as he fanned himself, golden hair tied up into a ponytail to get it off of his neck. He peeled his soaked shirt off of his back and blanched before tossing it into the washing machine with his other things, whistling as he poured the soap on top of his scrubs. Class had been canceled due to the heat, so he had time to get caught up on some of the household chores that Yoon was always nagging at him to do.

Not that he was complaining. The basement was the coolest place in the house. He’d been on his way to class when he’d been notified that it had been canceled, so he’d taken the opportunity to stop at the store for some popsicles and some sports drinks. Nothing tasted better during the summer than a popsicle!

Dropping the lid of the washing machine with a loud clang, he turned and headed for the stairs so that he could help himself to a frozen treat right away. Coming to the top of the steps, he closed the door behind him and promptly jumped at the unexpected sight of Shin-Ah sitting at the kitchen table and feeding Ao what appeared to be sunflower seeds.

“Shin-Ah,” smiled Zeno, happy to see the somewhat elusive boy. “Whatcha doin’ home? Classes cancelled?” At the boy’s silent nod, he pressed forward. “Want a popsicle?”

Another nod. Zeno clapped his hands before throwing open the freezer door enthusiastically, retrieving a blue one for Shin-Ah and an orange one for himself.

He handed the boy the treat, “Here ya go!”

Shin-Ah murmured a soft ‘thanks’ just as someone pounded heavily upon the front door, startling them both.

“Hm,” gargled Zeno around his popsicle, slurping up the sugary goodness before recollection smacked him. “Oh! Must be Kija’s new mattress!”

He helped the two burly-looking moving men inside and headed up the stairs with them to make sure that they brought it to the correct room, Shin-Ah having emerged from the kitchen to watch curiously in the doorway of the dining room.

Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he frowned in concern at the sight of Yona slowly stumbling up the front steps.

Her lips were pale and her cheeks were flushed, bangs sticking to her forehead as her murky gaze watched the ground in front of her. She didn’t look very steady at all.

Yona dropped her bag in the foyer with a heavy sigh, grateful to be out of the blazing sun at long last. She gripped the edge of the doorway, willing the dizziness to abate. She swore that if she moved another inch, she would puke. She just needed... she just needed to-

A hand softly touched her shoulder and Yona blinked in confusion at the stranger frowning down at her in concern. Who-

Oh. It was Shin-Ah. What was he handing her? Was that a blue popsicle? She wasn’t sure her stomach could handle that at the moment and she shook her head at him weakly, unable to protest as he took her hand and placed the stick in her weak fingers for her. Apparently, she wasn’t allowed to say no to this.

Shin-Ah wrapped his larger hand around hers and peeled her grip off of the doorway gently, pulling her towards the stairs and murmuring soft words to her all the while. Yona tried to protest, unsure as to whether she could manage the two flights up to her room, back toward the furnace of her bed, but before she knew it they were up on the landing and he was guiding her into the bathroom.

The edge of the porcelain tub felt like an iceberg against the heat radiating from the back of her thighs as Shin-Ah urged her to sit, her bare legs soaking in the relief, thankful that she’d chosen to wear shorts that morning. Yona watched through a heavy lidded and exhausted gaze as Shin-Ah leaned down and turned on the cold water, dropping the plug into the drain and testing the temperature with his fingers.

He glanced over at her and pointed to the popsicle that he’d given her, urging her silently to eat it now, please.

She blinked and looked down at her hand. Oh. Right.

She hadn’t even felt it dripping down her fingers.

Yona could vaguely hear voices out in the hallway but she couldn’t make out what they were saying, let alone manage to summon the strength to even inquire about them, all of her energy focused into lifting the cold treat up to her mouth. The old staircase was creaking and groaning as Shin-Ah turned away from her, Yona slouching further and further as she consumed her gift. It did taste good after all.

“Why’s there water runnin’,” Zeno’s muffled voice asked as he tugged a white tank top over his head. “What’s-?” He froze in the doorway as his gaze locked onto Yona’s slumped form and assessing the situation before quickly stating in a no-nonsense voice that he’d be right back.

Shin-Ah knelt before Yona and draped a wet, cool washcloth over the back of her neck. She sighed at the delightful sensation, eyes opening slowly only to lock with Shin-Ah’s golden gaze, one of his hands gently cradling her wrist in his palm as he pressed his fingers to her pulse.

He had such pretty eyes, she thought as she watched him assess her vitals. She wondered how many people had told him that over the course of his life?

“A lot,” he murmured softly in a shy tone over the noise of the running water, a faint blush dusting the tips of his ears as he dipped his head and began the process of removing her shoes.

Had she said that out loud? Oops.

Zeno returned with a huff, pausing in the doorway to catch his breath before entering the somewhat cramped space, just as Shin-Ah guided Yona to turn around and place her feet into the water.

Zeno placed a few bottles of a red sports drink upon the floor before reaching out to shove the shower curtain out of the way, the metal rings screeching against the circular rod above them as he tucked the mass into the corner behind the massive claw foot tub. He then plunged his own feet into the tub in order to sit on the rim opposite of Yona, his back to the wall. He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees and head dipping down to catch her cloudy gaze with a bright and sunny smile. “Hot enough for ya?”

Yona huffed out an exhausted laugh, the wooden stick from her popsicle resting between her molars, Zeno reaching down to cup some of the cool water in his palms and trail it along her calves.

Shin-Ah settled his own feet next to hers in the water as he seated himself beside her, unscrewing the cap off of one of the sports drinks and handing it to her wordlessly.

Kija fell back upon his bare new mattress with a sigh laced with pure joy, bouncing upon it’s softness and finally stilling. His eyes closed as he soaked in the way it cradled his sore spine, his tense muscles relaxing into the pillowy softness that comforted him so. Linear Algebra wasn’t necessarily difficult for him, but it was time consuming and he was already exhausted as it was. A nap sounded tempting, right after he got up and put his sheets on his new bed.

He was about thirty seconds away from dozing off, when the sounds of splashing water and voices reached his ears, his brain computing the noises and not matching up with the location.

What was that?

His interest piqued, Kija slowly sat up and headed for the hallway, poking his head out of the door with a small frown. Were those sounds...coming from the bathroom? Why were there multiple people in the bathroom?

Tentative step after tentative step, Kija approached the open door, hand reaching out to brush the doorway-

Only to stop at the puzzling scene before him. What were they all doing? He tilted his head, trying to comprehend why they were all washing their feet together in the bathtub?

It was Yona who noticed him first and Kija felt his brow knit in concern over her appearance; the normal sparkle in her eyes looked a little dull. Her lips were stained red and her skin was flushed. She almost looked drowsy, despite her attempts at her normally radiant smile.

“Kija,” she practically croaked and he felt his feet pulling himself to her before he could gather his wits. Something was absolutely wrong.

“What’s going on,” he inquired as his eyes took in the sight of both Zeno and Shin-Ah blinking up at him as well. “Why are you guys-?”

“ ‘Cuz it’s hot and we don’t have a pool,” said Zeno, like it was the most logical explanation in the entire world. Zeno’s eyes widened in realization and he leaned over to nudge one of Shin-Ah’s arms. “Ooooh- we should get one of those inflatable blow-up pools to put in the yard!”

Kija was skeptical. Yeah- good luck getting Yoon on board with that one. He returned his attention back to Yona, watching her lift a half-empty bottle of a sports drink (well, that explained the ring of artificial red on her chapped lips) up to her mouth with a slightly shaking hand.

His frown deepened. “Yona, are you okay?”

Yona tilted her head back in order to see him properly, her features softening as she gave a small nod. “Mhmm. Better now.”

Kija bristled. “ Now? What do you mean better
now? What-?!”

“Just a little heat sickness,” interrupted Zeno calmly as he leaned back against the wall, torso stretched out to bridge the small gap in between the old plaster wall and the lip of the tub.

Kija stuttered and squawked, “J-Just a little- WHAT?!?”

Jae Ha plucked away at the fabric sticking to his chest with a groan of defeat. Done. He was officially over this heat. He couldn’t stand this. The urge to strip and stand in front of the open refrigerator sounded so goddamn indulgent and not a single fuck could be given towards how anyone else in the house would feel about such a sight.

He simply could not make his body move any faster as he neared the house. He was practically trudging along at a snail’s pace, but God- it was just so damn hot! His class was one of the few that hadn’t been cancelled due to the heat and he’d sulked through most of Calculus with a sneer and a snide remark at the ready. Calculus put him off only slightly on a good day, but this heat cranked it up several notches and then some.

Jae Ha closed his eyes and sighed. Ugh. He hated being like this. Things didn’t typically bother him this much. He took a deep breath and tried to focus on the fact that the weather couldn’t hold out forever, and he just had to make it through the worst of it.

Besides, he thought with a deep frown. He’d promised himself a long time ago in worse conditions that he’d never again take the sun for granted.

How was that for a wake up call and an attitude adjustment?

The inside of the house was still as hot as it had been that morning, much to his chagrin. Setting his bag and his portfolio upon the dining room table, Jae Ha paused at the almost unnatural silence. Where was everyone? He frowned when he noticed that the kitchen was empty. Odd.

The ceiling creaked above him, indicating that at least one other person was upstairs and he turned to head towards the obnoxiously loud staircase. He hated the infernal thing, preferring to be able to come and go without announcing his presence to the entire household when he did. He came to the top of the landing and paused at the sight of Ao, munching away happily on a small pile of sunflower seeds and leaving behind a mess of black shells on the carpet in the process.

Jae Ha cracked a small smile at the tiny critter, bending down to extend a hand out to the oddly friendly little thing. Ao sniffed at his fingertips before resuming his meal and Jae Ha couldn’t say that he blamed him.

There were voices coming from the end of the hall, as well as the sounds of water splashing and he straightened up with a curious arch of his brow. Hm. Interesting...

“Well, isn’t this a sight,” Jae Ha teased from the doorway of the bathroom, the small space awfully crowded for a Wednesday afternoon (or any afternoon, for that matter). Kija harrumphed at him from his seat upon the penny tile floor beside the tub, Zeno leaning forward to peer around Shin-Ah and Yona, who merely turned their heads to blink at him curiously.

Jae Ha huffed a small laugh of amusement as everyone either called out a greeting or offered a wave.

He could ask what they were doing, he supposed, or he could just join them instead.

“Yona,” Yoon panted from the doorway, the two box fans that he’d managed to find at the thrift shop having been dropped to the floor, the young boy nearly doubled over from having raced into the house. “I-I just-“ he huffed and swallowed the saliva pooling along his tongue. Damn, he was out of shape. “I checked your account at- at the ATM...”

Yona crunched on the large bite of the purple popsicle that Jae Ha had retrieved for her, the architect’s eyes having grown rather wide after listening to Kija dramatically recounting Yona’s day not long ago. She’d insisted that she was fine, but none of them would listen and continued relentlessly shoving popsicles and liquids at her. “Evryfing okay,” she asked around a mouthful of artificial grape.

Yoon panted and attempted to straighten himself as best as he was able, but ended up slumped heavily against the wide, wooden doorframe. “You- you have-“ he groaned as he leaned his head back, eyes closed and appearing to be in pain. “You’ve got over-“

Everyone stared and waited. She had...?

“Over- over four thousand dollars-“

A collected outcry of gasps, denials, huffs of disbelief and shocked noises spilled out of the room, echoing off of the tile, Yoon waving them all off with a hand pressed into his side.

What a damn pain.

Why did he always walk in on the weirdest shit?

Hak had a feeling that this wouldn’t be the strangest thing that he’d see in this house, nor would it be the last time that he would happen upon something so damn odd. After setting the box fan down out in the hallway beside the others (random, but okay), he leaned against the porcelain sink and watched with a smirk as a fully-clothed Zeno climbed completely into the seven inches of water in the tub.

“That’s so disgusting,” grimaced Kija from the floor, having already expressed how cool the tile felt against his overheated skin.

Jae Ha laughed from his perch upon the back of the toilet tank, forearms resting upon his knees and fingers loosely intertwined as his feet tapped a silent beat upon the lowered toilet seat lid.

“You’re just jealous,” called out Zeno with a wide grin as Ao scampered into the space, Shin-Ah leaning over and down to allow the squirrel to climb into his outstretched palm in order to be hoisted up into its caretaker’s lap. “ ‘Cuz there’s no room in here for you!”

Kija huffed and closed his eyes, too tired to play along. They’d all been in here for over an hour, he was sure of it, yet none of them (himself included) had made any attempts whatsoever to move or leave the space.

Hak watched Yona laugh at Zeno’s splashing, relieved to see that she was no worse for the wear as Yoon took Zeno’s former seat near the corner of the tub, keeping his feet up and balancing cross-legged somehow.

He still needed to bring in the extra window unit that Guen Tae had given him when he’d upgraded the one in his office. The guy had given it to him for free, which was incredibly generous of the already kind hearted man. Hak needed to get it fitted into one of Yona’s windows and running so that the space had time to cool down.

Kija called over to Jae Ha, asking him to open up the medicine cabinet and grab his new container of face mask for him. “Might as well do something constructive while I’m in here,” he grumbled as he sat up a little straighter.

Hak stared at the man while Jae Ha merely perked up in interest and asked, “What kind of mask?”

Kija glared at them both, seeming already primed for a good teasing from his housemates and just sighed, “A pore-refining charcoal one.”

Yona turned slightly. “Does it work?”

Hak rolled his eyes as he leaned to the right so that Jae Ha could reach the edge of the mirror to investigate the contents further. They couldn’t be serious...

Kija shrugged his shoulders. “I haven’t tried it yet-“

Jae Ha unscrewed the lid and took an experimental sniff, dipping his fingers into the smooth surface as Kija gave a dismayed cry.

Yona reached for it next, Kija trying to intercept, only to have Jae Ha toss it to her over the mathematician’s head, the architect smearing the paste along his nose with a laugh.

Yoon tried to referee from his spot in the corner, but there was no point, Yona was already turning and layering a thick application onto Shin-Ah’s cheeks and chin, Zeno inquiring loudly about dinner as Jae Ha turned to Hak and asked him if he noticed a difference in his complexion yet?

Hak shook his head with a huff. These strangers maybe weren’t so bad, he reasoned. Some small part of him, the part that hadn’t been damaged by past experience, whispered that maybe it was alright to trust them. Just a little.

Idiots. All of them.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

There were times when it was easy to forget that Jae Ha was the oldest member in the small fraternity.
“WHO CHANGED THE WIFI SETTINGS?”
Yoon’s expression fell into a frown of exhausted exhasperation at the bellow of outrage, steady hands merely tilting the bowl of brownie batter to allow its contents to pour into the greased baking dish before him. Jae Ha snickered beside him and Yoon sighed, listening to the sound of thundering footsteps approach with all of the rumbling tenacity of an incoming storm. The stairs shrieked in protest as someone barreled down them, Jae Ha’s finger swiping along the inside of the empty bowl to taste the thick leftover liquid as Yoon evened out the contents of the pan with a rubber spatula.
“You.”
Jae Ha arched a finely sculpted brow as he hummed innocently, offering a simpering smile to Kija as he stomped into the kitchen. “Yes~?”
Cheeks pink in his anger, Kija’s finger poked and prodded at Jae Ha’s shoulder, growling through clenched teeth as he hissed, “I don’t know how you did it, but change it back, now!”
Yoon sighed heavily, eyes closing and chin dropping to his chest. Couldn’t they give it a rest for just one night? “Can’t you guys go play somewhere else?”
Kija sputtered and Jae Ha chuckled, continuing to clean out the excess batter from the bowl, licking the gooey confectionary treat from his finger as Kija whined and complained to Yoon, like a child tattling on its sibling to a parent.
“Look,” yelled Yoon once his temper finally reached its limit. “I’m not your damn mother, alright? You-“ he smacked Jae Ha on the back of his head. “Fix the damn WiFi password and you-“ he whipped the towel off of his shoulder and snapped it at Kija, whose outcry was met with Jae Ha’s snicker of amusement. “Quit whining like a damn baby! You’re both adults, goddammit!” He then heaved his entire weight against Jae Ha’s back, shoving both men and sending them stumbling out into the dining room. He turned on his heel and threw open the oven door with exaggerated movements, sliding the tray of brownies inside under grumbling and grousings of ‘immature’ and ‘so sick of this drama!’

“Wanna play a game?”
Hak frowned as he packed up his textbooks, finally finished with his homework and looking forward to an evening of absolutely nothing. “Not even a little bit.”
“You’re no fun,” pouted Jae Ha from his perch on their open window, the late afternoon breeze ruffling through his bangs.

“Nope,” agreed Hak as he made to walk past him, opening their door to step out into the hallway, only to nearly run into Yona, who was on her way downstairs as well.

“Oh-“ she squeaked in surprise, breathy laughter escaping her as she tried to still her beating heart over having been startled so suddenly. “Hi guys! What are you doing?”
“Being annoyed,” grumbled Hak as he brushed past her, the floorboards groaning under his feet as he escaped his obnoxious roommate.

Yona frowned at him in confusion before turning to regard Jae Ha, who was looking at her with some strange expression upon his features. His smirked, mischievous and playful before beckoning her to step over the threshold. She hadn’t known him that long, but she’d quickly learned through observation that a bored Jae Ha usually led to an ornery Jae Ha and she wasn’t willing to step into that particular funhouse. She politely declined his offer before coming up with some excuse regarding Hak and quickly took off after the tall, dark haired man.
Jae Ha frowned, pouting slightly as he rested his head back against the window frame.
No one wanted to play with him, it seemed.

“You do know that I’m studying to be a strength and conditioning coach, right,” grinned Hak in premature triumph, tilting his head back to stare challengingly into Jae Ha’s eyes as the architect stood at the kitchen table, hands planted firmly against the surface. “So, you know that there’s no chance of you winning here, right?”

Jae Ha shrugged a shoulder and tilted his head at his roommate. “Well,” he sighed as he brushed his long hair over his shoulder before fastening it in a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. “Guess that’ll just make it extra embarrassing for you when I win, won’t it?”
Hak knew that he shouldn’t take the bait that was being offered to him on a silver platter, but there would be no peace until he played along.

Kija had wandered into the kitchen right on the tail end of the two men’s discussion and paused on his way to the fridge in search of a beverage, deciding instead to tentatively approach the table at the tone of Jae Ha’s voice and the atmosphere of the room. “What’s going on?”
Hak tilted his chin up at Jae Ha while leaning back in his chair, “Pervert here just challenged me to a foot race for some weird reason and he thinks he’ll win.”
“Why’d he do that?” asked Kija with a furrowed brow.
Jae Ha slid him a mischievous look while he murmured, “I’m bored...sue me.”
Kija blinked while Jae Ha grinned, innocent deep blue eyes watching the two men continue to banter and egg each other on, throwing around jabs and what could only be described as ‘trash talk’ before they were interrupted by Zeno, who had walked in with Shin-Ah at all of the commotion that the two men were making.
“What does the winner get,” the happy-go-lucky young man inquired, rocking back and forth on his heels as Shin-Ah stood off to the side silently. “What are the stakes?”
“The loser has to do whatever the winner says,” stated Jae Ha as he stood upright, crossing his arms over his chest. “No matter what. Which is probably why Hak doesn’t wanna do it- he knows I’ll win.”
Hak’s chair suddenly scraped loudly against the floor as he stood, blue eyes blazing and lips stretched in a rather demonic looking grin. “You know what, you droopy-eyed bastard? You’re on!” He jerked his head toward the back door. “You and me, outside, right now. I’ve got plenty of time to kick your ass!”
Kija’s eyes pulsed wide at the language, his posture nearly snapping as straightened his spine. He called out after the two young men as they headed for the alley out back. “Wait up!”
Zeno laughed in amusement before choking slightly at the sight of Shin-Ah crossing the threshold as well, the screen door’s hinges squeaking loudly in protest in his wake. “Hey- you too?!”

All four of them lined up at the end of the alley, Kija rolling the sleeves of his navy blue dress shirt up to his elbows in concentration, having been pulled into the race with minimal teasing from both Hak ands Jae Ha.
Jae Ha stretched his right leg and rolled his shoulders, confidence oozing from every pore.
Hak stretched his neck before bouncing on the balls of his feet, shaking out his hands and conditioning his breathing.
Shin-Ah merely observed the others readying themselves in blissfully innocent curiosity as Zeno stated the rules.
“Alright, fellas!” Zeno drew a line in the dirt with the heel of his shoe to indicate the finish line and clapped his hands to make sure that he had everyone’s attention before continuing, “The race is as follows: first one around the block wins and the losers have to do what the winner says, no matter what! No shortcuts and no dirty tricks! Any questions?”
“Just one,” said Jae Ha in a playful tone that foretold of his intentions. “Does first place also come with a box of tissues for the crying losers to share?”
Kija growled and Hak ignored him, Shin-Ah lining up and getting into position as Zeno laughed and started the countdown.
“GO!”

Kija panted, doubled over and resting his hands on his knees as his mouth watered and heart pounded in his chest. He hadn’t raced in ages and his heart was reminding him of that as it continued to resound against his ribs to the steady beat of an incoming heart attack. His knees were shaking, but it had been worth it, if not for the look on Jae Ha’s face when he’d passed him as they’d rounded the corner. While Kija hadn’t come in first place, second was just as sweet a victory- even if he felt like throwing up.
Shin-Ah was leaning against the sturdy pole of the basketball hoop as he fought to regain his composure, eyes closed and a slight grimace upon his face, Zeno clapping him on the back and congratulating him for coming in third place.

Hak sauntered over to where Jae Ha kneeled in the grass, hands flat against the cool greenery and fingers digging into the earth in disbelief while fighting to catch his breath. “Well,” he chirped, barely out of breath before dropping down beside his roommate rather smugly, balancing his weight evenly on the balls of his feet as Jae Ha sat back on his haunches with stiff movements. “Looks like someone underestimated not only me, but the rest of his brothers, as well...Last place looks good on you!”
This couldn’t be happening to him. Jae Ha began to grind his teeth as he dropped his head even further against his chest in defeat, disbelief coating his lean frame as Hak continued to point out the fact that not only did he lose, but he came in dead last, of all things. How could this have happened? How?

“Might wanna pick up some tissues while you’re out,” teased Hak mercilessly as he stood, turning to head back towards the house, pausing to call out over his shoulder, “You’re gonna hafta run to the drug store, anyway.”
Jae Ha’s brow furrowed as the ground began to feel as if it were crumpling away beneath him. The terms of the bet suddenly returned and with it, the realization that he was completely at Hak’s mercy. Oh, it didn’t sound good at all...

“I hope the guys are hungry,” chirped Yona as she approached the back steps to the house, arms adjusting the bags linked over her elbows. She’d never attempted to cook anything before and she couldn’t wait to help Yoon prepare the pasta dish that he’d been assigned to try his hand at.
The young boy scowled as he followed close behind her. “There better not be a mess in my kitchen...”
The two crossed over the threshold and promptly froze in shock, the young boy sputtering and squawking at the mess while Yona gasped loudly at the sight before them, her eyes wide and hand slapping across her gaping mouth. Yoon’s bags dropped to the ground as he slowly and stiffly stepped into the chaos before him, eyes sweeping over every available inch and glazing in a sensory overload. Two of the four young men were in what appeared to be a rather heated discussion, not one of them acknowledging their housemates as they entered.
“That’s bullshit!” roared Jae Ha, completely ignoring Yoon and scowling down at a seated Kija, who continued to merely frown up at him with a glitter of triumph in his eyes. It was the angriest that Yona had ever heard the architect speak, the young man usually so laid back and relaxed when it came to life. “You’re nothing but a cheater!”
Shin-Ah allowed Zeno to scrub the towel through his short hair, pulling away the terry cloth to reveal bright blue strands beneath the dim lighting of the kitchen as he munched on some pretzels, bright eyes watching the two men argue and shout.
Hak was practically wheezing as he lay sprawled across the kitchen tabletop, the surface littered with empty plastic convenience store bags, boxes of hair dye and a few empty bottles of beer, as well. He sat up and threw his head back towards the ceiling with unrestrained glee, tears trailing down his cheeks as Jae Ha pulled his own towel off of his head angrily, long strands now pigmented a bright green as they brushed against his shoulders. Yona gasped loudly at the sight and Yoon’s mouth dropped open at the rich emerald shade, such a shocking color against his skin.
Kija shrugged a shoulder at Jae Ha haughtily; well, as haughty as one could be while sporting a thick, bright blue streak in their white-blonde hair. Yona had to admit, though, the color really did enhance his eyes quite well. “First of all, that’s rich coming from you! Second of all, ever hear of a loophole?”
Jae Ha growled down at him, fingers scrubbing through the damp locks angrily.
“Hey- it’s not my fault that you didn’t think to challenge the fact that he didn’t specify how much of our hair had to be dyed!” Kija said as he brushed his bangs out of his eyes. “Maybe next time you should think before you act!”
“And maybe cut your hair, man!” laughed Hak as Jae Ha spewed a rather colorful curse at them both before heading to the fridge for another beer, missing the fist bump exchanged by the two boys as Zeno gathered the (now ruined) bath towels and Yoon perused the hair dye boxes with a deep frown, Yona’s fingers softly stroking Shin-Ah’s newly dyed hair in fascination.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Remember when I’d asked you if you’d gone to the clinic and gotten your flu shot?”
Kija groaned, rolling over onto his side to face the wall instead of the boy who was too busy nagging him to let him have any rest. “Yoon...please...”
“And you said that you’d ‘get to it?’” Yoon pressed, Kija’s protests falling upon deaf ears. The young boy wrung the excess water out of the washcloth and pressed it against Kija’s flushed neck, frowning at the shivers that wracked his slender frame from beneath his nest of blankets.
Kija coughed into his comforter and moaned at the aching that seemed to bleed into his every bone, too fatigued to do anything more than argue sourly with the mother hen currently perched upon the edge of his bed. This was horrible. “If you’re just going to bully me, then maybe you should go...” It was an empty threat, but he left it hanging in the air all the same.
Yoon narrowed his eyes at the tone and paused mid-shake of the thermometer, Kija’s last temperature reading still flashing upon the tiny little digital screen. It was still a little high for his liking and he chalked up the attitude to his possible fever delusion. “Well, if that’s what you want, then maybe I should...”
Kija’s gaze was slightly panicked, eyes wide as he opened his mouth to retract his statement, when-
A knock on the door interrupted him. “Kija,” called out a concerned feminine tone. “How are you feeling?”
The young man tensed, hunching in on himself for the briefest of moments before scrambling like a madman for his covers. With a feat of strength that left even Yoon blinking in surprise, he hoisted his comforter and blankets high up over his head to encase himself fully in his cocoon just as the young girl pushed the bedroom door open and poked her head inside.
Yona blinked at the lump on Kija’s bed, Yoon staring dumbfounded at the mass as the floorboards creaked beneath her weight, her footsteps tentative as she attempted to come closer. “Kija? Are you-?”
“D-Don’t come in here, Yona!” came Kija’s muffled and hoarse cry from beneath the covers. “You’ll get sick if you come any closer!”
Yoon’s eye twitched before his temper flared at last and he shouted, “Oh, but it’s fine for me?!”

Zeno hauled in the large bag of ice with one hand, the other gripping the plastic bag from the drug store between his fingers, kicking the door shut behind him as he made his way into the kitchen. He could hear Yoon’s voice out on the landing as he pestered a whining Kija, chuckling softly to himself while making a mental note to speak to the young boy about his lack of bedside manner at a later time. While it was true that Kija tended to be a bit dramatic whenever he became ill, it was probably a good thing that Yoon hadn’t gone to medical school like everyone had originally wanted him to.

He finished pouring the ice into the tray and closed the freezer before throwing away the empty bag. He fished out the things that Yoon had requested from the white plastic sack and began setting them all onto the table while humming the song that had been stuck in his head since that morning. He was just wondering if they’d be able to get the finicky patient to eat something so that he could take his medicine, when the sound of the front door closing softly captured his attention. Zeno knew almost immediately that it had to be Shin-Ah, for the veterinarian was always so careful whenever he handled doors and windows, soft handed and gentle tempered in everything that he did.
He knew something was wrong just as he’d finished placing the last box of cold and flu medicine onto the table top, his brow furrowed and mouth set in a grim line as he hurried out of the kitchen and stopped in the doorway, his eyes narrowing as he watched Shin-Ah drop his backpack to the floor with a heavy thud, his footsteps dragging and uncharacteristically loud as he trudged towards the stairs with sluggish movements.
“Shin-Ah,” called Zeno as he slowly approached, frown deepening as he watched the tall boy pause in his ascent, hand gripping the wooden railing with trembling fingers. “Everything okay?”
Shin-Ah’s eyes were glazed, his lids heavy as he turned slowly to face Zeno, face pale and voice slightly strained as he murmured softly, “My head hurts.”

“You two deserve this, you know,” accused Yoon as Shin-Ah sat upon the edge of his bed and allowed Zeno to remove his shoes for him. “I told you guys to go get your flu shots, but did you listen to me?”
Shin-Ah fell over onto his side and pulled his legs up onto the mattress, eyes closing in heavy exhaustion as Zeno pulled his blankets up over him and tucked them tightly around his shoulders. Ao was perched upon his nightstand, the squirrel’s tiny little hands trying to crack open a walnut as his tail swished and swayed behind him.
“Nagging won’t change the past, Yoon,” stated Zeno softly, his fingers brushing Shin-Ah’s blue strands out of his face so that he could press his hand to his forehead to gauge his temperature. “Just let’ em rest, okay?”
“Bunch of idiots,” mumbled Yoon as he stomped to the door with a huff, stating that he’d be in the kitchen making broth if anyone needed him. “I’ll be back to give you guys some meds later, and you’d better eat when I do, alright?” Zeno shook his head softly as the door closed behind the worried young boy and ran his fingers along Ao’s back as the little squirrel settled himself upon the pillow beside Shin-Ah’s head.
Yoon ran into Yona out in the hallway (who was probably hovering in concern) and barked at her to come and help him in the kitchen, the young girl immediately following him down the stairs in compliance, eager to help in anyway that she could to help make her housemates feel better, the creaking and groaning of the old steps following them in their descent.
“Finally,” moaned Kija as his head emerged from his blanket burrito, his cheeks flushed from his fever and strands tousled. “Felt like I was suffocating in there...”

“Oh? They’re sick?”
“Yeah,” grumbled Yoon as he dropped the carrots and stalks of celery into the large pot, Yona standing up on tip-toe beside him to watch the vegetables disappear beneath the surface of the liquid in fascination. “Morons forgot to get their flu shots like I told ‘em to.”
He paused suddenly, his sharp eyes flashing as he turned toward Hak, perceptive gaze narrowing in a silent question as he brandished his knife at the tall man in warning.
Hak held up his hands as he headed for the fridge in search of juice. “Easy, tiger. Don’t harp on me- I got mine last week!”
Yoon visibly relaxed before turning to Yona, asking her to start adding in the onion and the chicken. “Good to know there’s some responsible people in this house,” grumbled the young boy as his head turned in every direction, searching for the salt and pepper shakers while Zeno sat perched upon the small section of counter top beside the stove, legs swinging idly in the air while he munched on a carrot.
The back door opened just as Yoon located the spices behind Zeno’s back, four heads turning to take in Jae Ha as he slowly staggered inside, lips parted and a thin sheen of sweat upon his brow, his bangs sticking to his face as he rasped softly that his head was aching and that it was surprisingly cold in the house.
“Ugh, you’ve gotta be kidding me!” Yoon groaned as Yona hurried forward to press her hand to his forehead with worry.

“Yona, sweetheart,” sighed Jae Ha from his bed, his green hair fanned out against his pillow as he blinked up at her blearily through glazed eyes. “Not that I don’t enjoy the company, but you should probably go...You’ll get sick if you stay here.”
Yona smiled softly at him before flipping the washcloth resting against his forehead over to the cool side. “I got my shot a few weeks ago, so I should be okay,” her tone gentle as she brushed his hair out of his face, watching his eyes close in relief beneath her ministrations. “Besides, no one likes to be alone when they’re sick.”
Jae Ha’s smile looked slightly strained as she pressed her cool palm into the side of his face, his head leaning into her touch. “I wonder about that...”
“We can go.”
Hak was stretched out on his bed across the room, hands behind his head and legs crossed at the ankle as he sat with his back against his headboard, pillows propped up beneath his lower back as he watched Yona care for his roommate. “If he wants to complain about us being here, then let’s just leave.”
Yona frowned at Hak’s tone. “Don’t be mean, Hak! Jae Ha’s sick!”
“Yeah, Hak,” croaked Jae Ha pitifully, chuckling slightly with amusement at the dark haired man’s sour frown. “You heard her- I’m sick, so be nice to me.”
Hak merely scowled, his foot tapping in the air with his irritation. “If anyone should be pitied here, it’s me! I’m the one who’s gonna have to listen to you moaning and groaning all night like some kind of wounded animal.”
Animal? How dare he? Jae Ha coughed into his hand and swallowed the pained whimper that threatened to escape his throat at the residual burning in his chest from the action. He’d be damned if he made a sound, now; had some pride, after all. “You’re so mean, roomie...” he teased as his eyes closed in defeat. As much as he would’ve like to have kept up their banter, he was just too tired...
Yona watched Jae Ha’s hands settle against his abdomen, fingers long and lean as they rested against the linen of his sheets. She noticed the leather cuffs still upon his wrists with curiosity, her fingers reaching toward the clasps with the intention of taking them off in order to make him more comfortable-
His hands gripped her wrists before her fingers could make contact with the soft leather, his eyes slowly opening to see her blinking above him in both surprise and question. He smiled weakly at her once more, his right hand lifting her left one up to his face to press a kiss to her knuckles as he softly asked her if she wouldn’t mind getting him some water?
“Of course!” Yona exclaimed while standing swiftly, heading to the door with slightly flushed cheeks and failing to notice the stern frown that Hak was sending his roommate from across the room. His eyes narrowed as the door closed softly behind her, watching Jae Ha’s brow furrow slightly as he coughed into his hand once more.
Silence stretched between them, Jae Ha pretending to rest as Hak began to mull questions over in his mind, wondering as to why the architect wore those bracelets in the first place. They were always present, always upon him no matter what the circumstance. The only time that Hak had ever seen him without them on was when he wore long sleeved shirts that covered the skin.
“If you want to know, then just ask. I know I’m handsome, and all, but you don’t have to stare.”
Hak’s expression fell flat, knowing good and well that there must be a catch behind the casually issued statement. Jae Ha never gave anything about himself away willingly, every little tidbit or sensitive piece of information always wrapped up in a riddle that usually required the recipient to either give up or form the wrong conclusions entirely.
He liked to think that he was a mystery, an enigma, but Hak him pretty well figured out.
He wasn’t disappointed as Jae Ha rolled over and muttered, “Cost you two dinners and a movie, though.”

“You should sleep with me.”
Hak coughed and sputtered, his water spraying everywhere as he hacked and pounded against his chest, crystal blue eyes wide as he wheezed and tried to regain his composure at Yona’s casually spoken statement.
She blinked at him in surprise, clueless as to why he was making such a fuss over nothing. It wasn’t like they hadn’t shared a bed before!
“As much as I’d love to help you out, kid,” he croaked, wiping his mouth upon the sleeve of his grey pull-over hooded sweatshirt before attempting to wipe away the moisture from his physics textbook, as well. “You’re not exactly my type.”
Yona squeaked as her cheeks began to pink at his words, understanding finally dawning upon her as she realized how she must’ve sounded by saying it like that. Yoon rolled his eyes as he stirred the strained and simmering broth on the stove with a large wooden spoon. Those two were so ridiculous sometimes that they deserved their own damn tv show. If not for the fact that he had three giant man babies to tend to, he’d be far more interested in what was going on.
Yona’s hands went to her hips as she huffed at Hak, who was still trying to dry the pages of his textbook. “Don’t flatter yourself, you jerk! I meant that you should stay with me tonight so that Jae Ha didn’t keep you up with his coughing!”
He scoffed as he fanned the damp pages before him. “Pass,” mumbled Hak, not even flinching at the roll of paper towels that Yona threw at his head. “You’re a bed hog, anyway.”
She growled at him with all of the ferocity of a kitten before stomping off towards the living room in a huff. She yelled at him from the other room, stating that she hoped that the gods punished him for his attitude, hoping that he failed his test tomorrow, and that he could forget that she’d even offered!
Hak ran a hand down his face in frustration as the tone of her voice echoed in his head, her statement repeating on a continuous loop in his frazzled brain, muttering under his breath as Yoon disappeared into the depths of the pantry in search of pasta, “Wish I could.”

“Thought the offer was off the table,” he stated from his place at the head of the large dining room table, physics notes spread out before him as he tried to make sense of the study guides and having no luck. Damn, she was determined to make him miserable.
Yona sighed and poked at his shoulder, trying to urge him to turn around and face her but having no luck, either. “Come on, Hak- you need to get a good night’s sleep for your test tomorrow! I saw you in the library studying with Heuk-Chi...”
Hak lifted an eyebrow at that. Was she spying on him, or something? Yeah- like he could be so lucky. He controlled his features and tried to ignore his pounding heart as he scoffed, “Well, yeah- he’s my lab partner...kinda hafta study together...” He turned to face her and poked her with the eraser end of his pencil. “‘Sides- since when do you care about my grades?”
Yona huffed at his teasing, averting her gaze as she mumbled petulantly, “I don’t care...I just don’t want you to fail, okay?”
Fuck- why did she have to be so damn cute? She was even more adorable when she showed concern for him, which really was rare, now that he thought about it. Hak turned back towards his study guide in an attempt to keep her from seeing the satisfied smile tugging insistently at his mouth, fighting the urge to release a huff of laughter in delight. He had problems.
He groaned as she poked at his shoulder again, realizing that she wasn’t going to stop until she got her way. “If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll stay with you tonight, okay? Just let me finish this first.”
He didn’t know who he was kidding, but it certainly wasn’t himself.

“I’ll take my chances in my own room.”
Hak turned to head back out into the hallway but was stopped by Yona’s hand wrapping around his wrist, her tiny strength attempting to pull him back to her and having absolutely no luck against his muscular frame.
“Hak,” she whined, lips pouting as his brow twitched at her tone. “Why are you being so weird about this? You don’t have to sleep on the floor- there’s plenty of room in here for you, too!”
Was she serious? She was serious! Hak growled and fought against every fiber of his being as she pulled back the covers and crawled into bed, urging him to join her amongst her pink sheets and floral quilt, so innocent and completely clueless as to why he was struggling so much with this.
Ignorance truly was bliss, he supposed as he gave in at last and let her tuck him in beside her, staring up at the ceiling and trying to ignore his pounding little lovesick heart.
The thing was sad and twisted and really needed to learn when to let go.

He was considerably bigger than the last time they’d shared a bed, back when they’d both been sick as children, spending the entire day together, miserable, surrounded by her stuffed animals while watching movies and sniffling.
Yona knew that Hak had grown a considerable amount, far taller than her now than he had been in their youth, but it was something that she hadn’t taken into account before now. His large frame totally dominated her bed, leaving her with no where to escape as he nuzzled his face against the crown of her head and murmured something in his sleep before falling under once more. The scent of him completely surrounded her, filled her senses with nothing but him as she fidgeted with the edge of her quilt and tried to relax.
This was going to be a long night. Trying to fall asleep was going to be an odyssey, her mind failing to settle as Hak’s chest was pressed snugly against her back, his arm thrown over her waist to prevent her from falling out of bed. She should be grateful for the way that he sought to protect her, even while asleep, but all she could do was feel incredibly nervous and focus on how strangely the day had turned out.
Although, if she were to be completely honest, it did feel nice to feel so very safe and secure, her muscles relaxing against the heat of Hak’s body as she listened to his deep and even breathing behind her. Where was this when she’d been all alone in her dorm, sobbing into her pillow after her father’s death, having been gifted only a singular box of her mother’s possessions by her father’s (Su-Won’s) cold lawyer to keep her company after the reading of the will stated that she wouldn’t even be allowed to stay in the condo that had been her home her entire life?
He may not have been physically present in her bed at the time, but Hak had been there through it all, escorting her to the reading of the will as well as her father’s small funeral, his strong arm wrapped around her shoulders as they’d taken the urn that held her father’s ashes from her small fingers and placed them inside of the family mausoleum to rest beside his wife and brother, just as he’d asked.
He’d taken her back to his grandfather’s home to rest and recuperate without a word, helping her to sort through all of the legalities from Su-Won taking over the company without her having to even ask, never leaving her side during their entire stay in Fuuga, his eyes silent and steadfast as he’d watched her interact with his family, watched her grow a little stronger every day, supported her from afar as she learned how to stand on her own without her father’s empire to back her up.
Yona rolled over to face him, unable to fully see his features in the darkness of her room. She buried her face into his firm chest and held back a small sigh at the feeling of his arm tightening around her subconsciously, fingers grabbing onto the soft material of his t-shirt to keep him right where he was.
Hak had always been there for her, she supposed. She just wished that it was out of want instead of necessity.

That had been the longest night of his life.
Hak smothered a yawn against his hand and gave his head a small shake as he struggled to stay focused during his exam. How in the hell had she expected him to sleep when she’d been snuggled up against him all night? It had been pure torture, designed to torment him as the hours had ticked slowly by, her small body fitting against his own like a damn glove as she’d clutched the front of his sleep shirt in her tiny little fingers and refused to let him go.
He’d never forgive Jae Ha for coming down with the flu for as long as he lived.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

A pink hairbrush stroked along raven colored tresses, bristles smoothing the long locks into strands of black silk with every pass. A petite hand brushed the mass over a dainty shoulder with the flick of the wrist once her task had been completed.
Lili turned around to survey her dress over her shoulder, satisfied with her reflection and reaching for her shoes as a knock sounded upon the door of her bedroom. “Come in,” she called out, stepping into her heels and adjusting her earrings as her eyes flashed to the reflection, where Ayura and Tetora stood hovering in her doorway. “Ready?”
Both ladies nodded, backing up to allow the young girl to head out onto the landing upon the upper floor of the sorority, the women following her down the stairs, their sights set upon the party happening at a fraternity a few blocks over, where they hoped to gather some information and procure answers to the questions as to what had been occurring to students lately.

“There’s a party happening at the fraternity two blocks over,” announced Jae Ha as he stepped into the living room. “Who’s in?”
Yoon groaned as Hak mumbled, “Pass.” The others were too preoccupied in their activities to answer, but there was only one person that the eldest brother had his eyes upon.
Jae Ha plopped down beside Hak on the large sectional couch, his roommate slouching against the cushions as he stared rather listlessly at the tv, appearing nearly catatonic in his boredom and not truly paying attention to the program whatsoever.
Hak shifted his weight and sighed as Jae Ha tilted his head at him, already knowing the man’s question and intervening with a hearty dose of denial once more.
Jae Ha was determined, however. “Come on, Hak,” he whined slightly, fingers tugging upon the sleeve of his grey t-shirt. “Don’t make me go to Beta Pir all alone!”
Hak snorted at the familiar name, his disdain for the fraternity written clearly all over his face. “Double pass,” he mumbled, watching Jae Ha tug upon the beanie that he’d put on his head to help hide as much of his green hair as possible out of the corner of his eye. He snorted once more, this time in amusement as he chortled, “You look like a hipster.”
“And whose fault is that?” Jae Ha sighed dramatically, tilting his head back towards the ceiling before giving it one more try. “Come on, Hak! Thanks to your mean streak, I’m gonna need a wingman tonight! It’s the least you can do!”
Hak refused to give an inch. “Ask one of the others,” he protested with a vague waving of his hand.
Jae Ha stared at him. Was he serious? He was serious!
Both sets of eyes swept around the room, taking in the remaining members of the house in silence, seeing as how Zeno was working thirds at the front desk of the local ER at the moment.
Kija’s innocent features were rucked up into a grimace of concentration as he sat upon the floor beside Yona, both working to untangle the mess of knots that the young girl had accumulated in her effort to learn how to crochet from a video on the internet. There was crimson yarn everywhere and it was only getting messier with every passing moment.
Shin-Ah had commandeered the recliner, using the part normally reserved for propping up one’s legs for holding his notes and diagrams of various animal anatomies, his eyes scouring the pages and taking in the necessary data for maximum knowledge intake.
Yoon was seated at the opposite end of the sectional and was still too young to drink, the boy having almost no interest in such an event where the activity was sure to be the main attraction and only sense of entertainment.
Jae Ha slowly turned to face Hak once more, having gone full circle, his facial expression indicating the disappointment of their company for his evening’s needs and desires.
“Looks like you’re going all alone,” murmured Hak as he settled himself more cozily against the cushions. Kija’s family had donated the plushy piece when he’d joined the house and he had to admit: they had some excellent taste in furniture. “Too bad, Captain Planet."
Jae Ha bristled at the name and Hak smirked, Yoon nearly spitting out his drink at the reference as the architect stood abruptly, adjusting the rolled up sleeves of his black dress shirt before heading to the front of the house. He called out for them not to wait up before the door shut behind him.
“Maybe you should have gone with him, Hak,” said Yona from her nest of yarn, fingers pulling upon the knots and having little to no success in loosening them.
“Why?” he groused sourly, the idea of going to one of those parties, let alone at a skeezy sinkhole like Beta Pir, causing his stomach to clench tightly in disgust. He’d seen one of the more prominent brothers eye her from across the quad on more than one occasion, his fist itching to land in the guy’s face if the opportunity should ever present itself.
Yona seemed to hedge around her words. “Well,” she blew her bangs out of her eyes. “You never seem to have any fun! Maybe you and Jae Ha could relax a little together...?”
“As Beast Boy’s ‘wingman?’ No thanks...” he leaned forward and reached for his soda resting upon the coffee table. He jerked his head toward the mathematician beside her and said, “Rather let Queen Elsa over there organize my closet.”
Kija perked at the possibility of getting his hands upon Hak’s messy room, only to frown as the man shot him down almost immediately.
“I’m just saying,” interjected Yona once more, not finished with the conversation. “That maybe it would be nice to spend some time with your roommate? Maybe meet some new people? A girl-?”
“Time for a refill,” Hak stated as he suddenly rose, trudging off to the kitchen without another word.
Yoon shook his head as he watched Yona’s oblivious eyes return to her work, head bent and unaware of the frown her casually spoken words had placed upon Hak’s lips. “I feel bad for the guy,” he muttered to himself, fingers toying with the strands of his hair absentmindedly.
Hak stared into the contents of the perfectly organized refrigerator without really seeing any of it. He wasn’t really thirsty, but the idea of having to listen to Yona practically shove him away from her and into the arms of any stranger made his chest ache. His decent mood thoroughly soured, he closed the door and nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of Shin-Ah standing in the space he’d previously assumed to be unoccupied.
He hadn’t even heard the vet student approaching. Props for his lightness of foot, indeed. “Shin-Ah,” began Hak as he headed towards the pantry in search of a snack while trying to tame his rapid heartbeat. It’d been awhile since he’d been startled. “Either say something or start wearing a bell, because that’s getting old, understood?”
The silent housemate merely nodded in understanding, continuing to stand still as he watched Hak unwrap a bag of popcorn and place it into the microwave. “Are you and Yona dating?”
Hak’s outstretched finger froze in midair, just above the start button of the machine, his eyes wide and blinking as he fought against the paralysis temporarily plaguing his brain and vocal chords. “Uh...?”
“I just always see you looking at her when you think no one’s watching...and I...was just wondering...?”
Hak gave his head a small shake in an effort to dislodge his frozen mind. “I don’t-?”
Shin-Ah finally crossed the threshold and walked into the kitchen, heading towards the microwave, his finger pushing the button for Hak before turning to look at him once more, his eyes filled with curiosity as he patiently waited for Hak to answer his question.
“How long have you and Hak known each other, Yona?” Inquired Kija as he located one of the ends of the skein of yarn at long last, determined not to lose it as he began to finally make progress.
“Since we were kids,” she quipped, her fingers still fighting a rather hopeless battle over on her end. “His grandpa runs a really successful training center and he trained all of the company’s security guards as well as our private ones. Hak was over all the time growing up.”
Yoon leaned an ear in closer to their conversation in interest, pretending to keep his focus fully on the tv to cover his eavesdropping.
“You guys are really close, then, huh?” smiled Kija softly.
Yona shook her head, “Not really. He only hung around because of my cousin, Su-Won. They were best friends.”
Kija blinked, a question ready and waiting upon the tip of his tongue, when he noticed the layer of melancholy that had suddenly replaced the nostalgic fondness that had been shining in Yona’s eyes mere moments ago. It caused him to frown at her in concern; he hadn’t meant to make her sad.
Yona smiled wryly down at the mess in her lap. “That’s why he’s here, too,” she murmured as she fiddled with the yarn, wondering if perhaps she shouldn’t just throw it all out and start fresh with a new roll. “He promised my father that he’d keep an eye on me.”
“We’re not dating,” stated Hak as he searched the cabinets for a bowl to put the finished popcorn in, one that wouldn’t incur the wrath of Yoon for disorganizing his spotless system, his back to his fraternity brother while he rummaged. “Not even a little bit.”
Shin-Ah had ripped open a package of trail mix, turning his head slightly at the scuffling noise that approached from the dining room, signaling the arrival of a hungry little squirrel that was slowly fattening up under his care. “Do you like her?”
Hak crumpled the empty popcorn bag and tossed it into the garbage can without looking, an impressive feat to most, he was sure. His eyes were unfocused and voice somewhat dull as he stated, “I love her.”

Lili twirled a lock of hair around her finger, eyes taking in the sights and ears drinking in the sounds buzzing all around her, voices and conversations attacking her from every angle as she held her bottled drink in her hand and tried to sift through it all with little luck.
The music was loud and a little disorienting, her mind trying to remember the instructions that Tetora had issued her should she find herself in danger, but she’d really only been half listening. She’d somehow gotten separated from her sisters shortly after arriving at Beta Pir, trusting the girls to gather their own information and to report back to her before the evening was over.
She made to remove herself from the corner, to circulate around the room to see if she could pick up any clues or whereabouts to the drug that had made an appearance at a few parties on campus, the strange pill the main cause behind one of her sorority sisters dropping out of school to move back home to recover fully from her traumatic experience last month-
She shook her head and urged herself to focus, to pay attention to what she was doing-
Someone knocked into her from behind, spilling her drink and narrowly missing her dress as she growled and turned, only to come face to face with-
“Watch it,” hissed Tae Jun Kan, one of the higher-up brothers that had been rumored to have been at the party that her friend had attended the night of the assault. Lili’s eyes widened in slight panic at his cold attitude towards her, disdain written upon his features as fear rendered her nearly immobile.
Another boy stumbled his way over to them with a red plastic party cup, hanging his arm heavily over Tae Jun’s shoulder with a wide grin. “Hey, now- no harm no foul,” stated the boy with a smile that dripped with deceit. He took her now half-empty glass bottle from her lax fingers and replaced it with the plastic cup before she could even respond, warning bells going off in her head as he winked at Tae Jun and disappeared into the crowd of people.
“Idiot,” mumbled the rude boy, his voice nearly smothered under the heavy bass of the pounding music as he brushed past her rudely in order to head outside.
Lili released a heavy breath, her tense shoulders deflating with relief at the boy’s absence, when she suddenly remembered the cup down in her hand. She peered at the purple liquid in mild disgust, sniffing it and wondering if it was laced with the Nadai.
She turned to head towards the front of the house, where she hoped to be able to run into Tetora and Ayura, one of them having the test strips upon them so that she could see if-
Two boys blocked her path in the space of a heartbeat, both wearing sweatshirts with the fraternity’s name printed upon them, eyeing her up and down with lidded gazes that had unease coiling heavily in the pit of her stomach, icy dread settling into her veins as she tried to skirt around them, only to have one of them grab at her wrist.
“Let go of me,” she demanded, attempting to wrench her arm free of his grasp and wincing at the burning pain from his grip. “I said let go!”
He sneered down at her before turning to his friend, her ears barely able to hear his voice as his chin tilted towards her drink. “How much you think she’s had? Got much longer?”
Her muscles seized and her vision swam as the other boy made to grab for her shoulder, every fiber of her being recoiling against their touches as she attempted to free herself once more. A hand landed at the nape of her neck, trying to pull her down a hallway as she cried out for help.
Why was no one looking her way? Why was no one helping her?
Panic overtook her every movement, her lungs gasping for air as she continued to struggle, to fight against their combined strength when hers was so very minimal to begin with-
“There you are, babe!”
A hand landed heavily upon the one latched onto her wrist, fingers digging into the merciless grip and prying her tender flesh free. She was tugged back against a firm chest and blinked rapidly, head tilting back and up to gaze upon the face of her rescuer.
The young man was good looking, tall, lean muscle pressing against her back as he wrapped one arm protectively around her and began to lead her away from her attackers. “I went to get you a drink and you’d disappeared,” he said as his eyes, filled with a burning intent, pinned down the boys who slowly began to back away from them without a word.
Her shoulders were shaking as she allowed the stranger to guide her back towards the front of the house, weaving his way through the bodies with ease and placing her with her back to a wall before shielding her from the rest of the party as she shook and fought to take deep breaths.
“Calm down,” he instructed gently, pulling the cup from her stiff fingers and replacing it with an unopened bottle of water. “You’ll hyperventilate if you don’t settle down.”
Lili nodded furiously, wide eyes blinking away the tears that gathered amongst the edges of her vision as realization smacked her in the face: she’d almost ended up in the same boat as her sorority sister, if not for the man-
With green hair.
Lili’s brow furrowed as she stared at the strange strands not completely covered by his hat, tilting her head as she watched his profile continuing to scan the room for any more threats coming their way. “Please tell me that’s not your natural color.”
The young man blinked before turning towards her, incredulity alight in his eyes as her fingers twisted off the cap of her water, tilting her head back to down its contents greedily and closing her eyes with relief.
“Lili!”
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and craned around the stranger to see Tetora and Ayura shouldering their way towards them, eyes ablaze and concern rolling off of them in waves as Tetora wrapped her in her arms and held her against her. “Are you alright?” she cried before holding her back at arm’s length, unwilling to let her go or allow her to answer her question before pulling her back against her tightly.
“I can’t breathe,” Lili complained in a muffled voice against her sorority sister’s chest, suffocation a likely scenario as she fought to turn her head in order to gasp for oxygen.
“Where did you run off to?” demanded Ayura, her gaze locking onto her reddened arm and eyes narrowing as her hand grasped her wrist and held the tender flesh up to her eyes in scrutiny. “We told you not to play around! It’s dangerous!”
“I wasn’t playing! I almost died!” she exclaimed somewhat dramatically once free from Tetora’s smothering grasp. “But he saved me!”
Ayura blinked at her, “Who?”
Lili’s head whipped around in every direction, searching for the young man in the beanie who had saved her from those disgusting frat guys-
She locked eyes with him as he stood in the open doorway to the entrance of the house, shooting her a wink as he held her red cup up in a toast before disappearing into the night.
Lili frowned and sagged against the wall, disappointed with not being able to thank him properly for his actions, when she remembered why she’d gone looking for her friends to begin with-
Oh no. He’d taken her drink. She had nothing to dip the little test strip into.
Lili groaned and threw her head back against the wall with a loud thud, ignoring Ayura and Tetora’s questioning calls of her name.
All that work...wasted.

Jae Ha grimaced after dropping the empty cup onto the lawn with the other trash that littered the grass. Grape. Disgusting. He’d feel bad about his littering, but after witnessing what those scumbags had attempted to do to that poor girl, his yard waste was the least of their worries. He’d exited after making sure that her friends were sober and capable of looking after her, his skin crawling with the need to get out of that horrible house and back to the boring one that he’d dared to admit that he missed.
He crossed the street and jogged over to their familiar block, glad to be back in his own quiet neighborhood, for a change. Yes, it was indeed time to go home and ditch the cesspool of sleezy frat slugs that dared to call themselves men, his anger still simmering and muscles still primed for a fight-
He nearly doubled over as his vision began to mottle, his feet stumbling against the pavement as he stopped to steady himself against a light post. He tried to flex his fingers and noticed how delayed his actions were. Odd. He hadn’t had that much to drink...
That drink.
He’d been drugged. Jae Ha’s eyes pulsed wide as he panted at the realization, his lungs feeling like they were seizing up, sweat beading along his brow as he attempted to straighten himself up to his full height and quickly discovered that his body had no intention of following his orders.
He felt like he was going crazy, his lucidity and sanity both sliding away slowly, everything distorted and swimming around him as he swayed and swerved, his head dizzy and senses turned upside down as he nearly fell over into a rose bush while trying to sidestep a hole in the sidewalk. If he could just make it home...
He fought to keep his eyelids open and stumbled his way down the street, fighting against the delirium that pulled at his every sense, ripping his ability to focus into tattered shreds as he staggered his way up the front steps of the house and crashed against the front door, his legs no longer under his command as he leaned heavily against the sturdy wood with the number 437 painted on it in pristine black numbers, right below the glass window-
“Yes?” asked Kija as he pulled the door wide, yelping as Jae Ha fell into his arms and lost consciousness. He called for help and tried to wake the sleeping man up, but to no avail.

“God- he’s so heavy!” complained Yoon as he and Kija dragged the architect closer to the stairs, Shin-Ah coming out of the kitchen to blink at their actions curiously.
Hak joined him a moment later, a cookie balanced between his teeth as he raised his brows in mild interest at their struggling. “Man, he really tied one off, huh? Hasn’t eve been an hour...”
“Hak- help-“ huffed Kija as he attempted to begin pulling the man up the stairs, Yoon barking at him to slow down and allow him to catch up.
“Alright,” sighed Hak as he approached them, “stand aside.” He lifted his roommate over his shoulder with a grunt, ascending the stairs to head towards their bedroom as Jae Ha’s arms dangled down his back, hands brushing the hem of his shirt with every step. It was a good thing that Yona had disappeared in order to change into her pajamas- he didn’t want to have to hear her fretting over Jae Ha’s stupidity.
Yoon released a sigh of relief while Kija whined about his arm being sore, both returning to the living room while Shin-Ah frowned up at the men as they climbed the steps.
Hak deposited Jae Ha onto his bed and straightened up, rolling his shoulders and wincing at the strain upon his spine, turning around to head back downstairs, only to nearly run into Shin-Ah in the dark, suppressing his cry of shock at the last second and gritting his teeth as he landed his fist gently upon the vet student’s shoulder. “Shin-Ah, what did I say-?”
“Something’s wrong.”
Hak turned towards the young man in question and frowned as Shin-Ah approached his unconscious roommate and dropped to his knees beside Jae Ha’s bed, his hand reaching out to switch on the bedside lamp, illuminating the space in gentle light so that he could see properly. His fingers lifted the lids of Jae Ha’s eyes one at a time, taking note of his dilated pupils and short, shallow breaths.
“He’s sweating,” murmured Hak as he leaned down, watching Shin-Ah trying to locate his roommate’s pulse around one of the thick leather cuffs adorning his wrist and failing, his fingers clinical as they undid the clasps and quickly moved to locate a heartbeat, able to move freely now that the obstruction had been removed.
Hak’s eyes widened at the sight of the thick, white scar tissue twined around the architect’s otherwise flawless skin, but Shin-Ah didn’t seem to notice, merely continuing in his quest, fingertips digging into Jae Ha’s clammy skin and frowning at the results. “He’s been drugged.”

“He’s still sleeping?” asked Yoon incredulously as he flipped pancakes in the skillet the next morning, having offered to make Sunday breakfast the night before when Yona had offered to try her hand at cooking.
Hak shrugged a shoulder at him while filling a glass with cold water from the pitcher in the fridge. “Yeah. Guess he really had a good time last night.”
“Sounds like it,” the boy muttered before sliding a pancake onto the top of the stack beside him, his hand slapping away Zeno’s greedy fingers, the occupational therapy student having just gotten off of work at his part-time job only an hour ago.
Yona yawned and attempted to rub the sleep out of her eyes as she dunked her tea bag into her mug of hot water, blocking out the whining protest from Zeno at Yoon’s actions. “Maybe I should go check on him...?
“Nah,” Hak muttered as he ruffled her hair, smirking at her squeak of protest. “Poor guy’s hungover...your voice would just give him an even bigger headache.”
Her cheeks pinked as she stuck her tongue out at him, Kija blubbering and insisting that she had a lovely voice, and to not listen to Hak, the big bully!
Hak turned the corner and allowed his face to fall as he climbed the stairs and headed down the hall towards the room that he shared with Jae Ha, worry guiding his movements as he opened the door and slid inside before closing it softly behind him.
Shin-Ah sat beside Jae Ha’s bed, having placed himself there all night and taking turns with Hak in monitoring his condition. Hak jerked his head toward his still sleeping roommate in question and Shin-Ah merely turned back towards Jae Ha’s slumbering form in silent reply.
Hak placed the glass of water upon the nightstand and softly asked, “How is he?”
“Too soon to tell, but I think the drug might finally be out of his system.”
Hak hummed and tapped his friend on the shoulder. “Go eat something or else the others will get suspicious.”
Shin-Ah nodded and slowly rose, stretching his arms up over his head and rubbing his hands along his spine as he left, the stairs creaking and groaning beneath his feet as he headed down toward the bustling kitchen in search of breakfast.
Hak took the now vacant seat and crossed his arms over his chest. His voice was slightly louder, but still mindful of his volume as he said, “He’s gone. You gonna keep pretending to sleep?”
Jae Ha groaned before sluggishly rolling over onto his back, eyes still closed and face painted in a slight grimace as his shaking fingers swiped his bangs out of his eyes. “What time izzit?” he slurred groggily.
“Almost nine,” Hak replied while reaching for the water and urging Jae Ha to try and sit up so that he could drink. “Mind telling me what happened last night? Remember anything?”
Jae Ha’s eyes were bloodshot as he peeled his lids open and watched his lax fingers attempt to hold the glass that Hak offered him, leaning heavily against the wall behind his head and groaning at his sore muscles. “Not much to tell,” he croaked. “Just rescued a girl from being another statistic and paid the price, that’s all.”
Hak’s frown deepened as he watched Jae Ha’s hand tremble with the effort of lifting the cup up to his lips, watching his throat constrict as he took several gulps of water and coughed once he was finished. He took the empty glass from him and watched him attempt to get up before holding out his arm and pushing him back down into his bed. “Sleep.”
“I’m fine, Hak,” he insisted, but settled himself down amongst the rumpled sheets once more, anyway. “It’s not like I haven’t taken drugs before...”
“Didn’t ask,” he muttered while leaning back in his chair, gaze unwavering as he watched Jae Ha adjust the pillow beneath his head. “What’d they give you? Do you know?”
Jae Ha gave his head a small shake before closing his eyes and grimacing, his vision swimming slightly still as his head gave a dull throb. “Couldn’t taste it. Whatever it was, it works fast...”
Hak hummed as he watched his roommate relax even further against his mattress, his complexion still too pale for his liking. He stood and headed for the door to allow him to rest, pausing with his hand upon the knob as he said, “I’ll check on you in a bit. Shin-Ah said you can have some meds in awhile, but not until he’s sure you’re clean.”
“Great,” moaned Jae Ha at the realization that he would have to suffer for a little longer, moving to tug his sheet up over his shoulder and noticing his bracelet’s absence with an abject look of panic. He stiffened, expression stricken and bloodshot eyes snapping over to his nightstand to see his bracelets strewn over the surface.
“Shin-Ah owes you dinner and a movie,” stated Hak as he watched Jae Ha fumble to hide his skin from him.

Jae Ha squeezed his eyes shut and pulled the sheet high up over his head. Fan-fucking-tastic.
“But if you wanna talk about it, I’m here.”
Jae Ha stayed frozen as he listened to Hak’s fading footsteps in the hallway, the architect counting the creaks and groans as his roommate descended the stairs, all the while fighting against the strange tightening in his throat as he urged himself to calm down and just breathe.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Alright, enough is enough!” roared Kija from the upstairs bathroom, the door flying open before the normally calm and collected young man stomped out into the hallway in a rage, hair still damp from his shower and steam practically coming out of his ears as he thundered down the stairs and into the living room, where Hak was sprawled out lazily upon the couch while Zeno relaxed in the recliner with Ao resting upon his stomach.
“Hak, this is ridiculous!” Kija shouted, startling the once sleeping little creature with a squeak, Zeno’s hands quickly catching the tiny animal before it could sprint off into unknown corners of the house in its fright. “You can’t seriously expect me to have to keep putting blue in my hair! It’s unprofessional and I look ridiculous!”
Hak barely spared Kija’s (now) faded baby blue strands a glance, scoffing towards the tv as his voice droned, “Well then, maybe you should’ve run a little faster in that race...”
Kija gritted his teeth and growled, hands clenched into tight fists at his sides as Zeno cradled the shaking squirrel against his chest and sat upright, eyes wide as he watched the tension between the two young men grow darker and more sinister.
“If you wanna stop, you know the cost,” Hak said with a wolffish grin, just as Yona walked around the corner with a newly acquired skein of yarn for her next attempt at crocheting. “If you don’t wanna pay the toll, feel free to issue another challenge.”
Yona stood in the entrance, pausing at all of the hostility in the air. “What’s going on?”
Kija whirled around to face her, eyes wide with frustration and lips pressed together in a thin line, his voice strained as he muttered something nonsensical under his breath and brushed past her in his departure.
Yona turned toward Hak and narrowed her eyes at the dark haired man as he settled himself even more comfortably against the cushions, not seeming even the slightest bit out of sorts over his housemate’s fury regarding his relentless teasing. “Hak- stop picking on poor Kija! What’s he ever done to you?”
“He annoys me,” he muttered, sliding his gaze toward her as he watched her drop to the ground with a huff of annoyance. “Besides, he agreed to the terms just like the others did, but you don’t hear them complaining about it.”
Both Zeno and Yona stared at Hak in disbelief, wondering how the man could say that with a straight face when Jae Ha bemoaned the fate of his hair on a daily basis, loudly and repeatedly.
[In fact, just last week he’d cried out, “I’m sick of looking like an anime character, Hak! This is just wrong!”]
Having learned from her last mistake, Yona slowly unraveled the yarn to begin rolling it into a ball before beginning her next project. “I really think it’s time to end this stupid little bet, don’t you?”
Hak grinned, the demonic pull upon his lips something that would send a grown man to his knees, his tone dripping with glee as he murmured, “Not a chance.”

“Hak, I challenge you to a duel!”
Hak’s eyebrow twitched at Jae Ha’s war cry, his finger outstretched and pointing at him with determination from his spot at the kitchen table, Kija seated directly across from, his eyes filled with fury and the desire to ensure that Hak suffered with the weight of his loss.
Hak sighed and slowly shuffled his way over to the boys, pulling out a chair and murmuring, “Yeah, alright. Guess I shoulda seen this coming...” What else did he have to do on a Monday night besides study, anyway? His brow furrowed as his eyes drank in the sight of the tabletop, about to open his mouth in question when Jae Ha interrupted him.
“We’re having a pepper eating contest,” he issued as his hand swept across the various brightly colored vegetables arranged in little groups in front of each of them, the center of the table occupied with a gallon of milk, a pitcher of water, and a pint of what appeared to be vanilla ice cream. Each place setting had a spoon and an empty cup, as well as a small bowl of ice cubes and a few napkins.
Well, well...they’d been very...thorough this time.
Hak raised a brow as he recognized a few of the peppers, uncertainty over the others only making him curious instead of uneasy.
Kija’s hands were once again clenched into fists upon the table, his game face on and ready to go as Jae Ha continued on with the rules.
“Now then,” the architect stated as he scooted his chair in closer. “We’ll be starting with the mildest peppers and working our way up to the hottest ones. You have to chew and swallow at least half of the pepper without throwing up, and no spitting out, either. Last one to cave wins, and the losers have to do whatever the winner says, no exceptions.”
“And just so you know,” hissed Kija as he leaned toward Hak, eyes narrowed into sapphire slits, his tone dripping with venomous intent as Hak continued to look unimpressed and rather bored with the whole affair. “I will show no mercy. It won’t be pretty.”
“Bring it on,” smirked Hak as he turned towards the fair haired mathematician. “Always thought you’d look good with a matching purple streak.”
Jae Ha announced the start and each man reached for a bright green jalapeño pepper, the only noise the sound of their crunching as they chewed the vegetable with relative ease, each one swallowing it and announcing their completion before continuing on. So far so good, but it was early.
The chipotle pepper was next in line, its bright red hue causing Kija to frown at it as he held it up to his face, consciously making the effort to erase his slight discomfort from his features at the teasing glint in Hak’s eye as he smirked at him. The crunching continued as the men ate and before long, it was on to the next, everyone fairing off decently well as the minutes ticked by.
Kija cleared his throat, his shoulder twitching slightly as Hak’s face reflected his ongoing boredom, Jae Ha’s voice stating that it was time for the tabasco pepper, these ones yellow as opposed to the much more common red ones that they were used to seeing.
The tiny pepper wasn’t particularly tasty, if the mild grimaces upon each of their faces was any indication, all three men chewing quickly and gulping it down to get it over with as fast as possible.
Shin-Ah entered in through the back door, back from his monthly farm rotation just as three voices all chimed in with their consent to continue, golden eyes blinking curiously at the group as he slowly approached the table. He watched Jae Ha announce the next pepper and pulled out a chair to observe them in their challenge, taking in the state of each of his brothers as they all reached for their cayenne peppers.
Hak made a remark about the flavor being more satisfactory than the last as they all chewed, the three of them at least agreeing upon that much as Kija exhaled a loud breath and Jae Ha rolled his shoulders. One of Hak’s fingers twitched ever so slightly against the table, unobserved by everyone else except Shin-Ah. The vet student eyed the remainder of the pods and reached for one, munching upon it as the others all checked in and announced that they were ready to continue.
The Thai chili pepper was long and thin, another bright red skin that caused Kija’s burning lips to warble as he lifted the rather menacing looking thing up to his mouth, Hak and Jae Ha eyeing one another as all three men bit into it, their teeth grinding and crunching, the three of them sniffling as their noses began to run, reaching for their napkins and sighing after cleaning themselves up.
Kija used the back of his hand to swipe away the moisture gathering along the corners of his eyes, swallowing the pepper and releasing a shaky exhale as Jae Ha cleared his throat, unaware of Shin-Ah’s hand pulling his left overs closer to himself for a snack.
“Everyone alright?” the eldest brother asked in an overly flippant tone, his voice slightly strained as Kija clenched his eyes tightly shut and nodded his head furiously, oblivious to Shin-Ah’s fingers reaching for his remainders as well.
The Jamaican hot chili was squat and oddly shaped, each man eyeing it somewhat warily as they bit into it slowly, teeth grinding it with precaution as the capsaicin began to activate along their tongues with a bit of a boost.
Kija whimpered and ducked his head with a whining protest, his hands digging into the fabric of his slacks as he struggled to swallow it down, Jae Ha coughing into his hand as Hak sniffed once more before reaching for his napkin once more to catch any dripping fluids.
Shin-Ah continued to watch silently as each of his brothers began to shift in their seats, ingesting his own snacks while Kija began to squirm in his chair, his face flushing and skin coated in a fine, thin sheen of sweat.
The habanero proved to be Kija’s undoing, the young man coughing and gagging before reaching for the pitcher of water, not even bothering with his glass as he lifted the vessel up to his mouth and took deep gulps of the cold liquid. The water dribbled down the sides of his mouth and dripped onto his chinos as he continued to swallow greedily. He gasped and coughed when he was through, shoving ice cubes into his mouth as Shin-Ah tilted his head toward him and quietly asked if he was alright before inquiring as to whether or not he was going to finish the pepper?
Kija’s eyes were clenched tightly shut as he rolled his ice cubes around in his mouth, shaking his head at the vet student’s questions that he hadn’t really been listening to and moaning with the slight relief that the frozen little pellets provided his poor tongue.
Shin-Ah swallowed the habanero without complaint as Jae Ha began to rock back and forth, shaking his head from side to side as Hak’s fists pounded down upon the table top, rattling the spoons and nearly knocking over everyone’s empty cups as both boys gritted their teeth and tried to wear the other one down.
Unable to speak, Jae Ha gestured toward the final pepper in the challenge, the skin a menacing crimson and resembling something that the devil would grow in a flower pot for mere fun. It was wrinkled and unappealing, both men dragging it towards them with trembling fingers, aware of what pain awaited them as Kija continued to shove more ice into his already stuffed cheeks.
Both boys managed to get a few chews in before the final threads of their controls snapped, Hak spitting the infernal thing out and reaching for the milk, tipping his head back in order to glug it down straight from the plastic jug with Jae Ha right behind him as he frantically scooped out a heaping spoonful of ice cream and shoved it into his mouth.
“I win,” the green haired architect gurgled around his mouthful of confectionary frozen treat, Hak ignoring him as he gargled the dairy product around the back of his throat in desperation. Who the hell cared? He was too busy dying, over here!
All was silent for a moment, until Kija heard a crunching chewing sound, finally registering its cause as his wide eyes slowly turned towards Shin-Ah, whose presence he’d completely overlooked while in the throes of his misery.
The blue haired student was eating Kija’s ghost pepper slowly and with a straight face, silent and still as Kija’s fingers tugged insistently upon the sleeve of Hak’s sweatshirt to gain his attention.
Hak moaned and managed to ask him what he wanted with a mouthful of ice cream that he’d managed to procure from Jae-Ha, his bright blue eyes growing impossibly wide as he and Kija both sat frozen, watching Shin-Ah continue to chew as Hak’s hand smacked Jae Ha in the shoulder to alert him.
All three men watched Shin-Ah finally reach for a glass of water calmly another minute later, Jae Ha’s voice a wheezing croak as he breathed, “You gotta be fucking kidding me.”
Hak begrudgingly announced Shin-Ah the winner, none of the others objecting his declaration before they all shared the ice cream amongst themselves.
“My stomach hurts,” whined Kija as he pressed his face against the cool surface of the table and licked the remaining ice cream off of his spoon, hoping that Shin-Ah would be far more merciful upon his hair than Hak had been.

“Seriously?” grumbled Hak as they all stood outside of the entrance to the arcade that Friday, the smell of pizza heavy in the air as the sounds of ringing bells and archaic video games chirped and sang to them through every crack, seeping out of the building’s pores as Kija tilted his head curiously at all of the noise.
Jae Ha smiled softly at the child-like excitement radiating off of Shin-Ah as he pushed the door open and stepped inside, glancing at them all over his shoulder to ensure that they would all be along shortly before disappearing into the fray.
“What can I say, Hak?” Jae Ha asked with a slight shrug of the shoulder. “He won fair and square. Let him have this one, yeah?”
“Yeah, he murmured softly, nostalgia heavy upon his heart as he tried to recall the last time he’d set foot in one of these places. Hak grinned and rolled his shoulders as he eyed a Ms PacMan machine, loosening up his muscles as he recalled that his high score back home was unbeaten to this very day.
Oh, this was gonna be fun.
“Anyone up for another challenge?” issued Hak, his grin met on either side of him before all three headed inside to relieve their pockets of some change and treat Shin-Ah to dinner.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

His name was Tae Jun Kan, he’d announced with an air of importance while blocking her exit, and he’d be willing to ask her out on a date, seeing as how she looked so lonely.
Yona blinked in both surprise and confusion, the application for the position of part-time barista for one of the campus coffee shops clutched in her fingers as she tried to comprehend just what was happening and how the events had led her to this exact moment in time. Where had this boy come from? He’d nearly knocked her over after she’d thanked the kind barista behind the counter for the form, turning around to leave, only to knock right into his chest.
He hadn’t apologized for bumping into her yet, either.
And what was that crack about her looking so lonely? She wasn’t lonely! Even if she was, she wouldn’t be seeking out the company of a stranger, much less an inconsiderate one like him!
“Let me buy you a cup of coffee,” he offered, but not with any true kind intent behind his actions.
Yona tried to skirt around him while folding her application and placing it into her bag, not overly fond of the aura that he was giving off. “Oh! That’s very nice of you, but I don’t drink coffee.”
He wasn’t deterred; if anything, her denial merely urged him on, barreling right past her words, his voice obnoxious as he simply stated, “Of course you do! Here, let me-“
His hand wrapped around her wrist to keep her right where she was and she frowned, in both annoyance to his deference of her denial and his pushy actions. Where had he gotten the notion that it was alright to touch her? “No, thank you. If you’ll excuse me, my friends are waiting for me-“
Managing to break herself free from his grasp, Yona hurried around him and pushed against the glass door, stepping out into the late September sun and sighing with relief at having escaped the rather determined boy-
She gasped and choked back a cry of shock as a tight and vice like grip wrapped around her bicep, pulling her back against an unfamiliar body and jarring her tiny frame in the process. “Ow! Wha-?”
His eyes, completely devoid of what small amount of false sentiment they’d held earlier, sent chills down her spine, his fingers digging into her flesh as she whimpered and tried once more to shove herself away from him, but to no avail. People passed by them, some averting their gazes to her struggles while others muttered and murmured their recognitions of the boy whose father ‘was on the board of education’ and how his family ‘was one of the leading donors to the University.’
“Let go of me!” she yelped, her eyes closing as he dug his fingertips into the sensitive flesh, panic controlling her movements as she fought and struggled-
A large hand wrapped around Tae Jun’s wrist, executing a rather complex movement that had his grip disappearing from her before his shoulder was tugged, his arm held behind his back at an awkward angle and a yelping cry wrenching itself free of his chest as he bent over into a weird twisting motion.
“Oops,” muttered Hak as he held Tae Jun’s writhing frame captive with minimal effort, his free hand holding his donut up to his mouth so that he could continue eating his pastry while exuding his hold. “My hand slipped.”
“Then let go!” cried Tae Jun as he struggled fruitlessly, Hak’s bored expression never faltering despite the boy’s whining cries of pain.
“Oh, I don’t know if you want that,” purred Jae Ha as he came to stand beside Hak, his fingers pulling off a piece of the half-finished donut and popping it into his own mouth as he watched Tae Jun’s eyes grow wide. “Because if Hak lets go, then I’m going to have a turn at you...and that might not be in your best interest...”
Kija came up to complete the half circle, the bloodlust in his normally clear gaze sending shudders down Yona’s spine, his left hand cracking the knuckles upon his right as he tilted his head at Tae Jun and murmured how horribly rude it was to touch a young lady after she’d repeatedly asked one not to.
Gentle hands gripped her shoulders, turning her away from the sight and towards a face that she knew and trusted. “Are you okay, Yona?” asked Yoon, a deep frown of concern upon his handsome features as his fingers inspected the red welt growing upon her pale skin.
She nodded, not trusting her voice as she plastered on a wobbling smile to assure her friend, but he didn’t look like he believed her when he noticed how her hands shook as she gripped the strap of her messenger bag tightly.
Shin-Ah appeared out of nowhere, his hand steadying her beneath her other elbow as he guided her away from the scene that was currently unfolding upon the sidewalk, Yoon following after them as they crossed the street and headed over towards a quieter section of the small park, where she could escape the small crowd gathering and rest upon a bench.
Tae Jun dropped to a knee upon the pavement, his voice strained as he barked out an empty threat to report them to the higher ups for their actions. They would pay for laying their hands on him, they’d see!
“That’s funny, mister,” chirped Zeno as he landed a hand upon Kija’s shoulder. “We were just gonna say the same thing to you about going to the police and reporting you for assaulting a young girl, especially when she explicitly told you to back off!”
Tae Jun’s wide eyes narrowed to slits, his teeth clenched as Hak pressed his arm back just a tad more to ensure him that their warning held true.
“I’ve seen you, you know,” muttered Hak as he brushed his left hand off on his jeans, ridding his fingers of any lingering crumbs from his donut. “Around campus...watching her...”
Tae Jun glared at him over his shoulder as Jae Ha leaned down as well, indigo eyes squinting slightly with recognition as he murmured, “Pretty sure I saw you at that frat part a few weeks back, too...over at Beta Pir...”
“My family founded that fraternity,” he hissed, committing every last one of their faces to his memory for later retribution. “You’d do well to stay away from us.”
“Gladly,” grumbled Hak as he released the young man at last, brushing his fingers against one another as Tae Jun fell over onto his hands and knees after being held in such a compromising contortion for so long. “Let’s go, guys.”
Kija growled at him as he passed by, Jae Ha urging him to stop making whatever expression was upon his features as all three men jogged across the street in the direction that the others had gone.
Tae Jun clenched his hands into fists and raised his head to watch them go, vengeance burning brightly in his eyes-
“Ya know...”
He startled and whipped his head to the side, unaware that the bubbly one with bright golden hair had crouched down beside him, his chin in his palm as he studied Tae Jun with a neutral expression.
“You should probably stay away from us, too,” he said with a mild tone, a small smile tugging upon his lips at the look on the young man’s face. “‘Cuz we don’t take too kindly to anyone who hurts the little Miss.”
He stood and brushed off his pant legs before following after his friends, leaving the crumpled form of Tae Jun upon the sidewalk to think about the challenge lingering behind his words, his shoulder throbbing and anger simmering just below the surface of his humiliation at having been put in such a situation.
Oh, this was far from over.

“Guys, I’m fine- I swear!”
Shin-Ah’s fingers grazed her welted skin before resting her arm back in her lap with a small frown. He looked upset at the state of her pale skin, even though it wasn’t a serious mark. There was bound to be a slight bruise, but nothing more.
Yona stroked his shoulder gently, smiling at him sweetly as he lifted his gaze to hers from where he kneeled upon the grass in front of her. “I’m fine,” she urged him, fingers trying to soothe away the tension in his frame. “I promise.”
He lowered his head slightly and gave a small nod before rising and settling himself beside her upon the bench, Yoon on her left, both boys watching the people coming and going from each direction, waiting for the others to catch up to them.
Yoon swiped his thumb across the screen of his phone, about to text Jae Ha and inquire as to where they were, when the green-haired architect’s voice echoed, “So here’s where you all went..?”
Yona tilted her head back, watching the other four members of their fraternity approach them slowly, Hak coming to stand before her, his eyes upon her arm as his brow furrowed with both anger and concern.
“Yona,” cried out Kija, any anger that had been upon his features before wiped completely clean as he squeezed himself in between she and Yoon, much to the outcry of the young genius as he slid himself down the bench a bit further in order to put some space between them. “Are you alright? You’re not hurt? Do you want to get your injury checked out?”
Yona sighed and smiled weakly at all of them, wanting to be exasperated by their continuous questioning regarding the slight redness upon her arm, but knowing that they meant well. Her gaze locked with each of the boys as they all waited for her answer, her heart swelling at the worry that lingered in each of their eyes, their desires to protect her such a very humbling feeling. “I’m fine, everyone. Thank you for your concern, but it’s nothing- I promise.”
“You really should report him, Yona,” insisted Yoon, leaning around Kija to frown sternly at her. “If you don’t, he might try to pull something like that again!”
“Better not,” groused Kija, clenching his right hand into a fist once more against his thigh, the desire to strike still lingering in his thoughts.
Yona covered his hand with hers, patting him softly and smiling gently at the surprise that etched across his features at their skin touching, a slight blush painting his cheeks a rosy hue as he stared at her hand resting upon his. “I’m sure he got the message, guys. Thanks for stepping in when you did.”
“Of course,” stated Jae Ha, flicking his long strands over his shoulder, not commenting upon the pigment for once, in light of the circumstances. “What I don’t understand is how or why no one else jumped in? They all saw him harassing you!”
“It’s because his father is Soo-Jin Kan,” interjected Zeno, who stood next to the end of the bench beside Shin-Ah. “He’s got a lot of push and pull around here. So even if she does report him, chances are it probably won’t amount to much, unfortunately.”
Hak’s lips pressed into a thin line and Jae Ha snarled at the statement, both men knowing that the happy-go-lucky housemate was probably right. The fact that boys like Tae Jun were permitted to run around freely on campus without fear of punishment for their actions had their stomachs twisting with disgust, let alone the fact that he had his sights set upon their Yona. It made them all uneasy, knowing that the more that they would urge her to be cautious, the more that she would fight to prove that she could handle herself, unintentionally putting herself in harm’s way in the process.
The atmosphere had turned grim with their contemplative silence and she didn’t like it. Determined to salvage the rest of the afternoon, she cleared her throat and gathered her things. “Let’s go home,” she said as she stood, smiling at them all and watching them all agreeing with her in one way or another.
Hak walked beside her as they all headed off for the house, his arm occasionally brushing against hers as he said, “Don’t go walking anywhere by yourself for awhile, okay? And don’t pass by that place on your way home if you can help it, alright?”
Yona nodded in agreement, wanting to do anything to appease her housemates and assure them at the moment, just wanting to put the whole thing behind them while knowing that it wouldn’t be possible for a little while. Their serious expressions as they watched the people passing by and milling around them informed her that none of them would be able to forget any time soon.
She smiled softly as she assured herself that if her father knew just how many people would be looking out for her, he’d be able to rest much easier.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Yona adjusted the books that she’d borrowed from the library in her arms, juggling their weight and frowning as she struggled to not drop any of them.
“Do you want me to carry a few of those, Yona?”
Amethyst eyes widened for a moment as the red head stumbled, righting herself before smiling in reassurance, her voice only slightly winded as she huffed out, “No thanks! I got it!”
Her partner for their nineteenth century American History course didn’t exactly look mollified, but she allowed Yona to carry the load anyway, having already witnessed the crimson-haired girl’s stubborn tenacity when their ancient professor had incorrectly graded one of her quizzes, refusing to back down until she’d made it apparent that she wouldn’t be accepting the older man’s indifference without a fight.
Watching the crusty old man concede to her had unknowingly won her Lili’s hard-to-acquire respect and admiration.
Yona turned the corner and headed down the street toward the house that she shared with her friends, the breeze that swept across her face slightly cooler with the steadily lowering temperature that accompanied early October. It was refreshing and soothing, a welcome break from the late summer heat that had been clinging to the college town so stubbornly.
She made a mental note to open up the windows in her bedroom once they’d ascended the stairs, eager to rid the space of the stale summer air that had been continuously recycled by her air conditioning unit the past few weeks. She was certain that her partner would appreciate the gesture and there was nothing more that she wanted than to make her as comfortable as possible, seeing as how Yona had practically insisted that they get some work done over at her place.
Coming upon the front steps at long last, Yona nearly dropped her stack of books as Lili gripped her elbow tightly, yanking her backwards as she hissed, “Yona, what do you think you’re doing?”
Yona blinked at her around the stack of books and frowned slightly as she tried to process why the dark haired girl had stopped her from going inside. “Eh?”
“That’s a fraternity,” Lili explained, as if Yona didn’t know or understand fully where she was. “You know- where guys live?”
Yona stuttered over her words for a moment, having completely forgotten that her circumstances, which had become second nature to her, could be construed as strange and not exactly normal to outsiders.
She was about to briefly explain how she’d come to living at a fraternity, when the front door opened and Zeno bounded down the steps, his golden hair in a ponytail and bouncing behind him with every movement. The young boy paused as he caught sight of Yona, a bright smile lighting up his features as he called out, “Hey there, little Miss! You’re home late!”
“Yeah,” she called, blowing her bangs out of her eyes and missing Lili’s wide eyed expression as the boy approached them. “I had to stop by the library for some reference books,” she took note of his navy blue scrubs and asked, “Are you working tonight?”
He nodded and hummed his response before informing her that the guys were thinking about ordering pizza for dinner, since Yoon was too busy practicing his pastries to be bothered with cooking anything else. He then turned toward Lili, smiling at her as well and introducing himself.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” exclaimed Yona at her lack of manners, turning to Lili with a sheepish smile. “Lili, this is Zeno, one of my fraternity brothers. Zeno, this is Lili,” she watched them shake hands before continuing, “she’s in one of my classes and we’re partners for an assignment.”
“Boo homework,” he laughed, glancing down at his phone and grimacing at the time. “I gotta run! Bye ladies! It was nice to meet you, Lili!”
“Yeah, you too,” she murmured after him as she watched him jog down the street in his scrubs, her frown of confusion smoothing out only slightly as she warily followed Yona up the steps. She didn’t understand...weren’t frat guys usually sleazy and perverted?
Crossing the threshold, the sounds of raucous yelling and loud callings of names greeted their ears, both girls standing inside of the foyer with wide eyes and blank stares to watch a fair-haired boy, with skin flushed from exertion, jumping and pouncing as he attempted to retrieve a notebook out of the high-reaching grasp of a green-haired boy. Their voices carried and echoed in the space while a third resident of the house stood in the doorway to the kitchen and yelled at them both to ‘knock it off!’
The taller of the two was snickering, his face familiar to the raven haired girl-
“I know you!” yelled Lili, pointing her finger at the tall and lean young man with the long emerald colored hair, who turned his head towards her in surprised question, lifting his hand to wave at her as recognition crossed his features. His lack of concentration ended up costing him, his lapse allowing the white-blonde haired boy to tackle him to the ground in his attempts to pull his notebook free of his grasp.
“You’re such a heathen, Jae Ha!” cried Kija as he stood crisply and straightened his appearance, his notebook clutched tightly beneath his arm as his housemate regarded Lili with a smile and a wave from his place upon the floor. “Honestly!”
Jae Ha chuckled and watched the mathematician storm off to the second level, stairs creaking and groaning as he headed back towards the depths of his bedroom to shut himself away in solitary confinement once again. “It’s not healthy to stay up there all day hunched over a keyboard, you know!” he called after him. “You should come out and interact with the three dimensional people once in awhile!”
“Mind your own business, you Muppet!” he called from the top of the landing before his bedroom door slammed shut behind him.
The reference finally registered and Jae Ha threw his head back against the floor with a shout of laughter, Yoon mumbling about how he was ‘surrounded by morons’ before turning back towards the kitchen to finish practicing his hand at rolling out a pie crust worthy of his standards.

“You seriously saved me that night,” Lili insisted from her place at the dining room table, she and Yona having confiscated the entire surface in their quest for getting a good head start on their project. “It was such a close call.”
Jae Ha smiled softly at her before flitting his gaze over to Yona, watching her hand scribble furiously across her paper as she copied down another reference from one of the books she’d secured from the campus library, having buckled down after hearing the backstory of how the two knew each other. “It was my pleasure. I’m just glad I got there when I did.”
Yona softly asked Lili if she could borrow her pink hi-liter, and the girl handed it over to her wordlessly, beginning to feel a little guilty for how little she was contributing to their work, but she needed to thank Jae Ha properly while she had the chance. It had been bothering her for over a month now and she needed the closure.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly were you doing in a place like that?” he inquired, leaning forward to plant his elbow upon the table and rest his chin in his palm. “Those kinds of parties are really dangerous for girls, you know?”
Lili’s expression hardened in determination slightly, causing Jae Ha to raise a brow at her reaction. “My sorority sisters and I are trying to get information on a drug that’s been circulating at parties over there.”
Jae Ha sat up slightly in interest, watching her brush her long hair over her shoulder before continuing, explaining how one of her sorority sisters had been drugged and accosted, forcing her to leave school and head back home in order to receive proper therapy and be able to recover in a supportive and more calming environment.
“It’s called Nadai and it’s really dangerous,” she stated, her fingers toying with a stray paper clip in her restless agitation. “It’s fast acting and doesn’t appear in a drug test. You have to either catch it before someone’s ingested it or confiscate their drink to prove that they were drugged at all, which is why it’s so popular... it basically allows those assholes to get away with it...”
“Since there’s no proof,” murmured Jae Ha softly in thought, brow furrowed as he leaned back in his chair, mulling over his thoughts as Lili nodded, solemn and still angry over the things that she couldn’t change for her friend who’d left their sorority. “That’s really commendable of you to investigate, but I think it would be best for you to stay away from that place, Lili dear.”
Lili frowned as Yona agreed with him, the red head closing the book before her to smile softly at her classmate.
“Those guys are really dangerous and they don’t take no for an answer,” Yona murmured as her fingers absentmindedly brushed over the faded bruise upon her bicep, unaware that she was even doing it. “Why not go to the dean or the authorities-?”
“We have,” she urged, a fire beginning to simmer behind her eyes at the injustice of it all. “But it’s just words without proof! That’s why no one’s been charged with anything- no one will listen if we don’t have any evidence to back the claims up!”
Jae Ha reached out to pat her hand soothingly, fingertips brushing along her skin in soft strokes. “I can’t imagine how frustrating that must be, but I know that we would all feel so much worse if you were to end up in a horrible situation without anyone there to intervene.”
Lili dropped her gaze and bit into her bottom lip, tears of frustration beginning to gather upon the outer edges of her vision. “I hate those jerks...”
“Yeah, join the club.”
Three sets of eyes turned towards the doorway to the kitchen, where Hak was leaning against the frame, popping blueberries into his mouth like candy. He pushed himself up and away as he headed towards them, standing in between Yona and Jae Ha as he gave Lili a wave of his hand in greeting after they were introduced.
“If only I could get my hands on it...” Lili murmured in thought, facial features pinched into a deep frown of contemplation as her brain fought to come up with a scheme to allow her to safely obtain some of the mystery drug without being caught. “Then they’d see...”
“Lili,” murmured Yona, leaning forward as an idea began to brew behind her eyes. “What if we were to help you instead?”
Lili frowned. “What do you mean?”
“We?” deadpanned Hak at the same time that Jae Ha sputtered, “What?”

“Think about it,” Yona continued. “Those morons would probably be far more likely to help a fellow male student out, wouldn’t you say?”

The plan to have Kija, Hak and Jae Ha infiltrate the next frat party underway, Lili headed towards the door with a lighter feeling upon her frame, relief at finally getting closer to uncovering the happenings upon campus removing a huge weight of responsibility off of her shoulders.
“Thanks for everything you guys,” she said as they stood in the foyer, Jae Ha tugging on his hat after insisting that he walk her home in the dark. “And Yona,” she said as she turned toward her classmate. “You’re really lucky, you know?”
Yona smiled at her new friend, nodding her head in agreement as the two took off into the night, waving goodbye as Hak bumped his shoulder into hers. She frowned up at him and promptly rolled her eyes at his smug smirk.
She sighed in irritation over the look on his face. “What?”
“You’re lucky to have me,” he teased her in a sing-song voice, chuckling at how she stuttered her denial and blushed lightly. “Even Lili thinks so.”
“You’re such a bear, Hak,” she muttered as she turned back towards the dining room table, gathering up her things and tidying her mess. She was still slightly annoyed at having both men refuse to allow her near the event to help, insisting that she stay back and away from any danger. It was sound reasoning, she knew, but she still wanted to help.
Hak’s eyes softened as he watched her movements without her knowledge, a little voice inside of him insisting that he was her bear, for as long as she would have him.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

This was all her fault.
Yona swallowed her screaming nerves and tried her best to take in a deep and calming breath, the cool wind lacing its unending fingers through her crimson strands as she tried to calm the shaking in her limbs.
Sitting upon the ledge of one of her open windows, hands braced in the frame, she tentatively placed her feet upon the tiny ledge of tarred shingles beneath her window and clenched her eyes tightly shut to avoid reminding herself just how far down of a fall awaited below her if she lost her footing.
A squeak to her right had her eyes shooting open, her head whipping to the side to watch the ornery little runaway squirrel take a few more bounding leaps up the slope of the roof, heading over towards one of the dormers and making a break for the chimney in its avid curiosity.
Yona called out to Ao, silently cursing herself for her irresponsible negligence that morning, despite Shin-Ah’s gentle reminders to everyone to close their bedroom windows to prevent the little squirrel from getting into too much trouble until its wobbling leg had had a proper amount of time to heal adequately.
The little thing sure looked fully healed at the moment.
Tears blurred the edges of her vision as Yona sunk her teeth into her bottom lip and stood, slowly edging her way out onto the narrow ledge, hands tightly gripping at the wooden siding as she turned and began to gingerly make her way around the curve of the turret and out towards the wider sloping of the roof. She paused often, limbs shaking and apprehension stiffening her movements, the idea of having to apologize to Shin-Ah over the heart-breaking loss of his pet causing her chest to ache and spurring her forward.
She took a deep breath and steeled herself. She could do this. She wasn’t helpless. She wouldn’t allow anyone in this house to feel the pain of losing something or someone so very dear to them if she could help it.

Only four days had passed since Yona’s plan to infiltrate the Beta Pir Halloween party to acquire a sample of Nadai had been formulated, the stubborn young girl still pouting as she begged and pleaded with Hak yet again to allow her sneak into the party to help, as well.
“Absolutely not,” he’d denied her once more while seated at the dining room table that morning, scraping his fork against his plate and lifting his final bite of scrambled eggs up to his mouth. “I told you- it’s too dangerous.”
The petulant glare that she leveled at him had absolutely no effect upon the dark haired man, having been raised with her and growing immune to her usual ways to try and get her way, scrolling through his phone and continuing to ignore her pokes against his shoulder.
“Hak,” she whined as Kija set his recently re-filled mug of coffee down at his place across the table from her, the young man sinking heavily into his chair in exhaustion. “Come on! It’s my plan! I wanna help!”
“Hak’s right, Yona,” said Jae Ha from the end of the table, frowning in thought as he organized his drawing utensils and realizing that he was due for new ones already. “It’s way too dangerous. Frankly, I don’t feel that comfortable taking Kija along.”
Kija yawned blearily and rubbed at his bloodshot eyes, having finally emerged from his bedroom after completing a rather difficult coding assignment just last night. “Can handle myself, thanks,” grumbled the mathematician around the rim of his coffee mug, sipping at the steaming liquid and sighing as it slowly helped to wave away the fog from his brain. “Wait-“ he blinked after a moment had passed, as if only registering the favor that they’d asked of him yesterday. “Why do I have to go, again? Why can’t you guys take Zeno or Shin-Ah?”
Both Hak and Yona turned around in their seats while Jae Ha merely turned his head, all three of them watching both housemates in question sitting upon the floor of the living room, their innocent eyes wide in curiosity and fingers poking at Ao’s stuffed little cheeks, trying to get the small squirrel to empty the near bursting pockets that had been thoroughly filled with whatever it was that it was chewing upon.
Jae Ha and Hak both slowly turned back towards Kija with flat expressions in answer, the fair haired young man sighing heavily before agreeing, “Yeah, okay...”

“Why won’t they let me help?” Yona whined in the kitchen as Yoon rummaged around in the cabinets. “I’m not stupid! I’ll be careful!”
Yoon blew his hair out of his face with a huff of frustration as he emerged from the depths of one of the cupboards, scowling as he realized that his favorite measuring cup was missing. “It’s not a matter of your intelligence, Yona-“ his eyes scanned the sink, realizing that it didn’t contain the glass vessel, either. “It’s a matter of you being too impulsive and those dumbass frat guys being too reckless.”
She frowned as she stared down into her cup of tea, both Hak and Jae Ha having left for their morning classes already while Zeno and Shin-Ah had headed out not long afterwards. Kija was upstairs getting dressed so that he could walk her onto campus, everyone continuing to insist upon having someone accompany her at all times until they could be certain of her safety.
She appreciated their concern for her well being, she truly did, but it was frustrating to be so helpless, to be considered a liability when she wanted nothing more than to prove herself capable of handling herself. She didn’t want to have to rely on her housemates so thoroughly when she still didn’t know them all that well. It was sort of embarrassing to be considered so weak.
Yoon hissed and spit out a rather colorful expletive that had even Yona’s eyes widening in shock. He crossed his arms and growled out that he was going to have to make a run to the cooking supply store in the next town over that afternoon, stomping over to where his bag rested upon the countertop while growling out that he had no idea where everything had disappeared to.

Coming to the edge of the turret, Yona’s eyes slid up the steep slope, towards the ironwork upon the ridge of the tall roof high above her. The chimney was just on the other side, the brickwork and top of the column peeking at her over the summit as Ao scampered ever higher.

She didn’t want to do this. She was scared. She hated this. She wanted to turn back.
She took in a deep rattling breath and fell to her hands and knees, beginning her ascension slowly while trying not to focus on her fear of heights as the wind whipped red strands across her line of vision, her hair catching and clinging to the moisture upon her cheeks as tears continued to stream down her face, fallng onto her hands. She focused upon the rough feeling of the shingles beneath her palm instead, taking her time and fighting against the shaking in her knees as she began to crawl.

Jae Ha heard the little bell over the door of the art supplies shop jingling as it closed behind him, pausing to adjust the strap of his bag over his chest after having placed the bag of pencils and two new rulers in beside his sketchbook and two of his textbooks. The wind was beginning to pick up a little, blowing a few stray leaves across the pavement before him as he shoved his hands into his pockets and started out at a leisurely pace back to the house. He had a few hours to spare before his shift at the bar that evening and wondered if maybe he could persuade one of his housemates to do something entertaining until then.
He made it to the end of the sidewalk, turning his head both ways to check for traffic before crossing the street. His mind wandered as his feet carried him in the direction of the fraternity, recalling that Hak was working at the training center until eight, and how both Kija and Shin-Ah would be at the university library so that the mathematician could tutor the veterinary student in peace and quiet.
He couldn’t recall whether or not Zeno would be busy or if Yoon had more plans to practice his hand at the more difficult pastries that he’d been struggling with lately and winced guiltily at the reminder to replace the glass measuring cup that he’d accidentally broken yesterday while putting away dishes. It was a harmless mistake, but an accident that could potentially bring about the wrath of the young boy without a confession followed by a sincere and heartfelt apology from the architect student.
Rounding the corner of their street, Jae Ha tilted his head back to gaze up towards the colorful leaves that were beginning to fall from the trees that lined their block, appreciating their colors and rich hues as he reached the edge of the front walk. He wondered if he was the first one home, for once, when a flash of crimson from above caught his eye.
He abruptly froze, mouth open and indigo eyes widening as his gaze took in the sight of Yona up on the rooftop, shock having rendered him temporarily immobile as he watched her petite frame climbing slowly and steadily higher as she followed Ao up to the ridge. He almost shouted out to her then thought better of it, knowing that he could potentially cause her to lose her focus and slip, his stomach clenching tightly at the thought.
Jae Ha’s heart hammered loudly in his chest as his eyes finally broke away from her tiny frame in order to glance around wildly, hands pulling the strap of his bag up and over his head with fumbling movements, dropping it to the ground beside him as he broke into a desperate run, his feet carrying him around to the back of the house in his haste. His mind ordered him to take the fastest route to her, the way that his legs knew best.
Shucking off his black blazer and tossing aside, Jae Ha scaled the old drainpipe up to he and Hak’s room with ease, nimble limbs and lean muscles pulling him up onto their window ledge with practiced movements. The architect student crouched and braced his feet against the wood, leaping onto the small roof over the entrance of the kitchen, his footwork nimble as he crossed the surface, reaching the lattice work on the opposite side and climbing further up to the rooftop above.
The soles of his brown leather shoes slid twice along the shingles as he reached a dormer, scaling over it and watching his footing while crossing over various vent pipes. He was nearing the ridge slowly, movements careful, the scrollwork of the iron railing coming into view at last. Knowing that Yona must be on the other side, he gave his head a small shake to free his vision from the stray green strands that had worked their way free from his low ponytail and blown across his forehead, approaching the chimney and cursing under his breath for his choice in wardrobe that morning.
To be fair, though, he hadn’t exactly been expecting to be scaling any tall buildings when he’d gotten dressed before breakfast. His fingers clutched at the tar shingles as he slipped slightly once more, clenching his teeth and swallowed any lingering apprehension for his own safety.
All that mattered was Yona.

Yona froze as she clenched her eyes tightly shut, tears streaming down her cheeks at the second close call she’d barely managed to escape. Her old and worn sneakers didn’t exactly have the best traction against the shingles, having nearly lost her footing yet again, but it was far too late to turn back now.
Lifting her head at the small squeaking sound above her, she sighed with relief to see Ao a little over a foot away from her, beady little black eyes watching her as his fluffy tail swished from side to side. Yona reached out for him tentatively, trying to keep her voice calm and steady as she begged Shin-Ah’s pet to come to her, watery gaze watching the little squirrel’s whiskers twitch as he regarded her outstretched hand.
She waited, lip trembling slightly as her muscles shook, the seconds ticking by agonizingly slowly as Ao warily moved a little closer to her. Every inch felt like a victory, relief beginning to invade her tense frame. Her fingers dug into the rough surface beneath her palm as she forced herself to continue to remain calm, to focus only on the little animal as it took another few steps closer.
She fought the urge to cry out in joy as the little squirrel finally scampered up her arm, reaching for the hood of her sweatshirt and nuzzling himself in the space like he always did whenever she would hunker down at her desk and study at night. He squeaked and chirped at her as he snuggled in tightly, making himself comfortable as she released a broken sob of a laugh. She turned her head ever so slightly to ensure that he was safely tucked away and froze as her gaze registered just how high up she’d traveled.
She froze and felt her vision swim. How was she going to get back down?
“Yona!”
Amethyst eyes widened in surprise, the red-haired girl tilting her head back sharply to see Jae Ha at the ridge, carefully scaling over the iron railing and making his way down to her. She adjusted her stance, made to reach out to him, the rough grit of the shingles digging into her knees slightly muted thanks to the denim of her jeans, getting her footing beneath her-
She slipped.

Jae Ha roared her name as he slid down the valley of the sloping roof opposite of her as she fell, his hand shooting out to wrap around her wrist, gripping her tightly, his heels bracing them both as he dug them into the shingles and grit his teeth.
One of her feet hung over the edge of the gutter before coming to an abrupt halt, Jae Ha calling out her name through panting breaths before slowly pulling her up and towards him so that he could wrap an arm around her tightly. He held her firmly against his chest while both fought to calm their racing hearts and slow their frantic breathing.
A little squeak met his ears as Ao poked his head out of the hood of Yona’s sweatshirt, nose twitching as Jae Ha stared at the tiny little beast who had caused them both so much trouble.
He sighed in relief as Yona trembled against him, her hands clutching the thin material of his light grey v-necked t-shirt in her tight grasp. “Well,” he attempted to joke lightly, to relieve the pressure coiling tightly deep within his chest, eyes scanning the scenery below them briefly to make certain that they weren’t going to be surprisingly spotted by one of the others and about to get the scolding of their lives. “You picked one helluva place to nearly lose your life, Yona dear,” he chuckled lightly as she whined at him in response. “I mean, where else are you gonna find a view like this?”

He was kind enough to wait until they’d safely made it back inside of her bedroom before giving her an earful.
“Why would you do something so reckless?” he practically roared as he turned back around to face her, having slammed her window shut before locking it tightly. The lingering adrenaline coursing through his veins was guiding his actions and he was just along for the ride, apparently. He was normally so in control of his emotions, but something about her caused him to do things that he normally wouldn’t.
Yona looked so small from where she sat upon the floor in a crumpled heap, her knees having given out beneath her within seconds of her feet reaching solid and safe ground. Ao scampered out of her hood and seated himself in her lap, rolling around merrily, filled with energy after having gained some fresh air and the ability to stretch his legs outside.
Jae Ha took a deep breath to control himself and knelt before her upon the floor, his hands gripping her shoulders as he ducked his head in an attempt to make eye contact with her. “Yona,” he murmured at the sight of her tears, feeling contrite for having raised his voice at her. “What were you thinking?”
She sobbed at the disappointment in her tone and bit her lip to cut the noise off, pressing the back of her still trembling hand to her mouth as she took shuddering breaths to try and get herself under control. Jae Ha’s hands cupped her face gently, thumbs wiping away the moisture trailing down her cheeks as he lifted her head up so that he could see her better. “I-I-I just-“
Indigo eyes pulsed wider at the sight of her. She looked so very young before him and he had to remind himself that she was, that she was still just a girl who had her whole life ahead of her, her previously sheltered one slowly being shed from her in layers with each passing day. It wasn’t that she did impulsive things on purpose; she’d just been held back and away from life’s experiences unknowingly. She was so eager to make her own way in this world, to prove herself to everyone that she could do anything that she put her mind to.
She sniffled, her small hands landing gently upon his wrists, nails digging into the leather of his bracelets as she whimpered, “I-I didn’t want anything to happen to Ao...” Her breath shuddered and she closed her eyes, fresh tears rolling down her flushed cheeks. “I- I didn’t want... Shin-Ah to...”
Jae Ha’s frown softened, his tense frame loosening as he leaned forward to press his forehead against hers, her warm breath ghosting across his skin as he closed his eyes as well, thumbs continuing to stroke her skin in soothing movements. “Is it that painful,” he murmured softly, recalling Hak’s face after he’d informed him that her father had passed away last year. “To lose someone?”
She nodded silently, her breath still hiccuping.
Jae Ha smiled wryly before pulling her into him in a hug, one hand landing upon the back of her head, fingers winding through wind-blown strands as she sobbed out an apology for worrying him. He murmured to her, promised that it was alright, shushed her gently as the minutes ticked slowly by, a small part of his soul aching with the knowledge that she’d only done what she’d thought necessary in order to prevent Shin-Ah from experiencing the grief that accompanied loss.
She was so very incredible and Jae Ha swore that he could feel the thread that connected him to her tightening and drawing them even closer.

Both agreed to keep the deadly mishap a secret, not willing to face the wrath of the others for their reckless actions, let alone have to explain to Yoon as to why they’d gone around the house and locked all of the windows tightly that afternoon, leaving little notes upon everyone’s beds to keep them tightly closed, lest Ao get out.