Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hyungseok woke up in his small apartment and slowly rose from his futon to look around in a futile effort to search for his brothers. The three futons belonging to them were left empty and messy. Ignoring how tired he was, once again he started cleaning up. One of the futons was still warm—the one that belonged to Daniel. He rolled all four of them and put them neatly in the corner.

He ignored the gnawing feeling in his chest asking for at least some help from his brothers. Already used to the emptiness of his home, both literally and figuratively, he decided to continue on with his routine. He made himself breakfast from the leftovers of yesterday’s dinner’s tteokbokki, which he had prepared for them before going off to work again.

He ate quickly and left even faster so as not to be late to work. When he arrived, he was greeted by the manager. He waved back and without any hesitation went to the staff room to get ready for the day.

The smallest brother often rotated between jobs; he worked day and night just so he could support himself and his brothers. He finally landed a nice-paying job in a cosy café in the middle of a shopping district with a nice manager that was in her mid-twenties.

“You’re a pretty one,” Hyungseok was thrown out of his thoughts by a gruff voice that addressed the manager. She was currently taking care of the register while he was still cleaning up in the back.

Without much thought, he approached the counter and put himself in between them. He started staring down the man, even if he did have to look up at the man who stood like a gangster but looked like he had just raided his mother’s closet with his questionably put-together outfit. He hated guys like that; similar gangsters often loitered around their neighbourhood.

“Ooh~ you’re an even prettier one, even if that haircut could use a bit of work.” Hyungseok furrowed his eyebrows even further. But remembering that the guy was still a customer, begrudgingly fixed his expression, putting on his customer smile and raising his head in an angle so that his doe eyes would truly shine.

“Hello, dear customer, what would you like to order today?” His voice came out sweet and cheery. The man smirked.

“Hmm, I wonder if there is anything that I would like here…” the man said feigning interest. “How about your number, cutie?” He winked, ewww.

“Sadly, that is not on the menu today. Please choose something that we can make!” The smaller of the two kept up his cheerful voice but could not help but notice the queue that had started to appear.

“Come on, baby, I can pay extra for your services.” Hyungseok did not even want to think about what kind of services the man had in mind.

“Please order, or we’ll have to ask you to leave.” His smile was starting to strain, but he realised that the man wasn’t budging.

Out of nowhere, a heavy hand appeared on the weirdo’s shoulder. He turned around, ready to get aggressive, only to come face to face with a man with dark hair and sunglasses that barely covered the gruesome scars decorating his face. He looked like Hyungsuk imagined a yakuza would, omitting a dark aura (or maybe it was just the noticeable heavy scent of cigarettes).

“Please order.” The man’s heavy baritone voice hit Hyungseok like a brick, and clearly, he was not the only one affected.

“One americano, please!” The previously pompous rooster was now reduced to a meek mouse. He punched in the order and, with no further ado, started making the man his undeserved coffee.

Hyungseok debated spitting in it but decided against it because the freak might even enjoy it.

He set the coffee on the counter with a loud thud, accentuating that the man was not wanted here. Understanding the underlying message, the unpleasant man scurried away.

“What would you like?” “Four Americanos.” Hyungseok was stunned for a moment due to the unexpected bluntness of the man that had just helped him, but he got over it pretty quickly and started making his order.

“And to whose name should I write this up?” The barista didn’t need to know that man’s name for any work-related purposes; he had never asked his customers for a name, but this man had piqued his interest.

“Gun.” The man said with a hint of confusion in his cold voice, as the small worker hadn’t asked the creep for his name, but he chucked it up to the small guy not wanting to seem like he had any interest in that weirdo.

Hyungseok let out a snicker at the name and again did a once-over at the man and his appearance. ‘What a fitting name,’ he almost let out a sound again, but it died quickly in his throat as he noticed the man’s unimpressed glare.

——————/——————/——————

“What took you so long~?” Goo whined, acting like he had genuinely missed Gun, even though everyone in the room knew that could never be the case. The blonde received unimpressed looks from DG and Crystal, but he didn’t appear even slightly affected by any of them.

“Nothing, just a long line.” Gun put the coffee on the table, and everyone took their own. But as Goo was sipping on his cup, he noticed a note written in messy handwriting on it.

‘Thank you for your help, Gun! ♡’. Goo giggled to himself but didn’t say anything. The unaware victim of the blonde’s wordless mocking threw him a questioning look but also kept quiet, deciding to keep his peace and what was left of his nerves.

The meeting started.

DG was the last person to leave the room, for he had lost his phone somewhere. He had the suspicion that either Crystal or Goo took it to make him suffer more than he already was, but he had to make sure before blaming anyone. He kept looking when Goo’s empty coffee caught his attention. Of course, next to it lay his phone.

‘That fucker with his tricks, does he think I’m his cleaner?‘ He picked up both the trash and his phone, pocketing the latter. He looked at the cup one last time when he noticed something written on it. A note noticeably for Gun, not for Goo.

DG froze as his heart sank while a tsunami wave of familiarity washed over him.

Chapter Text

After Hyungseok’s shift in the coffee shop had come to an end, he said his goodbyes and left the manager to close up the shop. Squinting his eyes at the blaring sun, he made his way outside.

The street life was pretty; every minute more and more people seemed to appear as he made his way through the streets. Remembering the three hungry mouths waiting for him at home, he made a mental note of what he needed to buy for dinner today. He continued his leisurely stroll when his eyes were caught by a poster of some idol that he didn’t bother remembering the name of.

“He does look handsome...‘ His features were accentuated by his short pink hair, and a hint of a handsome smile was peaking through. A sheen of sweat covering him didn’t take away from his composed appearance in the slightest.

Oh, how he wanted to be in his place right now; he looked handsome, cool, relaxed, rich, and most importantly carefree. He imagined his life being surrounded by people that adored him the way that he imagined a multitude of people adored this idol, not a day going by where he needed to worry about money and most definitely not thinking about how to keep his family from starving and off the streets.

He was so engrossed in his daydream that he didn’t notice his name being called out until a strong hand grabbed his arm, shocking him back into reality.

Hyungseok quickly turned around, readying his fist for a punch. He swore if it’s that punk from the café! He wasn’t strong, but if the need came to be, he knew where to hit …only to come face to face with one of his worries lately — his mad brother, who is appropriately called Crazy.

“Oh, it’s just you... Next time just call out to me like a normal person,” Hyungseok held back a pout while Crazy just rolled his eyes at him and retreated his arm. The older brother, who—the closer he stood next to, the more comically shorter he looked—put some distance between the two of them. Throwing one last glance at the poster and the life that he could only dream of.

Crazy, noticing his brother’s line of sight, glanced at what his dear brother was looking at. A mischievous smirk lit up his face.

“Awww, does our little Hyungseokie have a crush, hmm? So cute and scandalous—” the rest of what he might have had to say was forced to be left unsaid by a hand covering that yapping mouth and a harsh pinch to the cheek.

"Stop it!” The now-blushing boy said firmly, still reaching up trying to keep his brother’s mouth shut. From afar, the image must have looked quite bizarre, but both of them subconsciously chose to ignore that. “Don’t say stuff like that…”

When Crazy finally calmed down, he rested his hands against his chest and turned around, facing away from his terroriser. He opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind at the last second, looking at the idol poster again.

A strange sense of similarity engulfed him looking at the person, who was captured in such an effortlessly beautiful scene, but he forced himself to stop the rising suspicion in his chest. If Hyungseokie had no reaction to the pretty, yet eerily similar to that asshole, man, except maybe the understandable jealousy of his ethereal beauty, then he had no reason to worry his own pretty head about it.

“Where are you going now?” Trying to take his mind off the poster, Crazy asked the smaller man, who was looking at the ground with a solemn look on his face.

Oh, how he hoped that he was right and that the idol meant nothing to the boy. Even the hint of Hyungseokie getting sad was grounds for great disaster, if not by his own hands, then the other two twins’ most definitely.

“The grocery store, I need to buy some things for you guys,” hearing that, Crazy started walking without saying a word. Hyungseok was taken aback at the audacity to start a conversation and then to just walk out, until he realised that the taller man was walking in the direction of the store. Catching the wordless invite, he caught up with the tempo of his brother’s walk.

“What about you?” Crazy continued the conversation. They ignored the amazed looks that strangers cast their way and the whispered compliments that brushed their ears.

“What…?” Hyungseok raised a brow at his brother.

“Are you not buying anything for yourself?” Neither of them dared to look at each other, both of their attention seemingly elsewhere.

“I don’t need anything.”

“Even food?”

“Your leftovers are enough.”

“Are they?”

“They are.” They had finally reached their destination.

“Maybe that’s why you’re still so short.” Hyungseok did not want to react to the jab at his height but could not resist elbowing Crazy in the stomach. The one-hundred-percent-not-that-short-guy walked ahead into the store, leaving behind the now disabled brother to recover.

Making his way around the grocery store, he got all that he needed for the dumplings he wanted to make, when he came across his favourite—honey butter chips. Remembering Crazy’s words about him not treating himself and after pondering for a minute, he threw them into his basket, even if it was just to prove him wrong and rub it in the meanie’s face. He paid and left the store with no other problems except that he had no money left aside from a certain 5 thousand won bill, which he did not dare spend.

Standing there waiting for him with a cigarette in his mouth was Crazy. Noticing Hyungseok leaving the store, he hid the cigarette in his pocket and started reaching for the bags in the latter’s hands.

“I told you not to smoke.” Hyungseok had to crane his neck to look up at this troublemaker, who he had the fortune of being related to, and came face to face with pouty lips and puppy eyes, both of which looked out of place and at the same time fitting on that handsome face.

“But it wasn’t lit~” he whined.

“It’s the fact that you have them on you. Do you want to look cool or fuck up your lungs?” The smaller of the two had fire in his eyes, meanwhile the other looked like a kicked puppy. “How did you get them, who sold them to you, whose money did you use?”

Hyungseok felt like he was continuously kicking an already beaten dog, but he did not give in. If even a chance that his brother was a bully, like which Hyungseok spent so much time fearing, existed, he could not let it slide.

“My friend gave them to me… I swearrrr,” Crazy finally picked up his head and spoke up. “And I can do whatever I want. Stop chastising me like I’m a kid. You’re not my mum.”

Hyungseok fell silent and looked away from his only younger brother. Quietly, he picked up the bags and walked off, not caring if Crazy followed or not.

He did not.

Reaching home, he jumbled with the keys a bit before finally entering. He yelled out to check if anyone was home but received no answer. “Good…” he whispered to the empty room; the empty silence was the only presence apart from himself, which he was honestly glad for after the messy start of his day.

Leaving the bags near the kitchen sink, he washed his hands and started the process of making dumplings. He moved around the kitchen with practised ease. He was left uninterrupted for a good hour before his focus was interrupted by the familiar jingle of keys outside the door. Thinking that it was Crazy, who finally decided to come after him, he paid the new presence no mind.

Carefully observing the steaming dumplings, he felt a strong pressure behind him. Silent footsteps, which Hyungseok wouldn’t be able to hear if his ears hadn’t trained themselves to detect them throughout the years, approached the counter, and the body to which those footsteps belonged started washing his hands.

Those hands gently interrupted his space as they reached for the knife and onions. Wordlessly, they started cutting them up. When they were finished with one, Hyungsuk could feel a burning stare at the side of his head. When he gave in and turned his head, his round eyes were met with the glaring black irises. Through years of getting scared and being wrong, Hyungseok knew that the look in his brother’s eyes held no ill intent, only an innocent inquiry if the cut onion was enough. With a small nod from the shorter, those black beads sparkled with a rarely seen emotion and quickly went back to work cutting up carrots.

After seamlessly working together, without a word exchanged, the meal was finished and set on the table. UI got two sets of utensils and sat down with a quiet invitation for Hyungseok to join. He almost happily did so when he saw the time. His boss at the convenience store was so going to kill him.

He ignored the steaming food in front of him and the cosy atmosphere that was slowly built up by him and the quiet person sitting in front of him, and with an apologetic smile, he had meekly bowed in a silent ’sorry’ to his brother for having to leave him and started moving towards the door. As he was reaching for the door handle to finally leave, the key lock turned and the door opened. In came the other two brothers. To accommodate the new intruders, the smallest of them all stepped back only to bump into UI’s chest, who had moved behind him unnoticed.

Hyungseok was now surrounded from all sides by these giants he calls brothers (why did this gene miss him, is a mystery that will never be solved). He tried to manoeuvre himself out from the intimidating circle and go on to his work, but he was stopped by a dwarfing hand on his shoulder.

Hyungseok turned to UI, whose eyes the previous glimmer of warmth had all but disappeared. He turned to Daniel for help, but all he got was a confused look at Hyungseok and UI and then at the food on the table. A silent deal was made without his consent as Daniel and Crazy removed their shoes and, while blocking the way to Hyungseok’s escape, headed towards the humble makeshift dinner table.

As they all sat down, the stressed boy hesitated but was harshly pulled down by UI to take a seat. He really hoped that boss was in a good mood today… he cried silently to himself.

It was awkward for a bit until Crazy started shoving food down his throat, and the sound of slurping and loud chewing replaced the silence. Hyungseok felt the tension in the air, and to avoid it, he started picking out the smallest dumplings and putting them on his plate.

Not one of them uttered a word; they didn’t even look at each other until a bigger dumpling was plopped down right on Hyungseok’s plate. He looked up at them to see who did that, just to come face to face with all of them looking at him with a serious face, like they wanted to breach a subject that he did not.

“School is starting soon,” Daniel was the one that broke the barrier of silent reluctance. His words rang through the room as everyone and everything stilled. The implication was clear. Who will be the one to go?

“Can’t all of us go…?” Crazy said uncharacteristically docilely.

“No…” it was Hyungseok’s turn to speak.

Ever since he was little, he had an amazing learning ability. He could see a complex problem being solved once and could repeat it a hundred times over; he could learn at the speed of light, literally, so he was unofficially put in charge of taking care of the more serious things—like the finances, and literally everything else to keep them alive, partly because of his smarts, but mostly because no one else bothered to. He knew best that it was physically impossible to enrol all of them and sustain it.

“Guys, I really need to go to work. Can this conversation continue without me?”

He did not wait for an answer as he got up and made his way to the door, put on his shoes, and left. Nobody stopped him this time.

He started running the normally 15-minute distance, and not long after, he made a hasty entry into the convenience store. His silent boss and an unbothered client were the only ones there. The boss took care of the customer and left to the back room without saying anything. Well, certainly, Hyungseok wasn’t the one to complain about being let off easy, so he just quietly threw on his work vest and got to work. He needed to make up for the time and dignity lost.

He could manage without an official education—he could make up for it later with the advancement test. It’s the rest of them that he is worried about… His stupid, overgrown brothers.

Chapter Text

“Mom, which cake would you like?” Hyungseok asked, pointing at the pastries that were laid out. The matte from his sleepless eyes was gone, glazed over by a happy shine; just by looking at them, you could tell that he was excited to spend this day with their little family.

All of his attention was on his Hyungseokie, his poor brother, who was in a constant struggle with himself, who seemingly for the first time since that fateful day, that had taken away the one thing that had kept him smiling, had relaxed. All his responsibilities were lifted off his shoulders just by the mere presence of their mom.

The guilt of his brothers floating away with the sound of his childish laugh, which rang through the park like the chirps of birds looking for love. The long, unseen joy of his soul was infectious; their mom was smiling to her ears, UI turned his lips in a way that showed all his teeth in a botched attempt at a smile, and even Crazy could not hide the warm smile breaking through his rough demeanour. Daniel slid his hand into Hyungseok’s hair, brought him closer, and kissed his forehead with a gentleness only reserved for his brothers and mom.

Daniel closed his eyes; he had never felt so light. Hyungseok had his head burrowed in his chest as they stayed in the same position for a while. He felt his shirt turn damp from his brother’s sad little tears… he did not move. He did not move until everyone had left, until the green leaves turned yellow, until they were covered by snow, until his brother’s head migrated from his chest to his shoulder, until he felt alive.

Daniel was startled awake by the ringing alarm that was put near his ears, probably by UI or Hyungseok, as they were the ones that didn’t react to the sound. He spammed the turn-off button until it finally shut up.

7 a.m. Daniel sighed; he had to get ready without disturbing the two that were still sleeping.

‘Wait—two?!’ He looked around. Crazy’s stuff was where Hyungseok left it the day prior. That bastard probably didn’t even come home; he probably ran away again. No matter how hard they tried, they never could get through to him. Usually, someone—that someone was more often than not UI—was sent off on a mission to retrieve him, or at least make sure that he’s still alive.

Daniel tiptoed around the room, trying to get ready with as little noise as possible. He looked at Hyungseok, who was still soundly sleeping and snoring away to his heart’s content. His gaze turned to a rustling sound. There, UI sat as if waiting for Daniel to explain himself.

“I’m going to school, don’t you remember?” A knowing glint lit up the dark irises, and in response, a quiet chuckle escaped Daniel. Apparently, the chuckle seemed too loud for UI, as he startled and immediately turned to look at Hyungseok to check if he was still sleeping.

He was. UI visibly relaxed and laid down again, his plans for the day clear: either sleep in till next morning or spend the day with their little brother.

“If you find any free time, go look for Crazy. Who knows what he’s up to now.” It seemed that the mere mention of their hardcore brother annoyed the silent man, because he rolled up in his blankets like an omelette and rolled away as far away from Daniel as he could, making his lack of interest clear. He did not push any further as he packed his ragged bag and went off to school.

He was met with whispers and looks. He knew they didn’t come from bad intent, but it still made him uncomfortable. No matter that the whispers were in the background of his every memory, good or bad, he just could not get used to it.

With some asking around, he finally made it to what was supposed to be his class. He loitered around a bit before the teacher called him in to introduce himself.

Once again, he was met with heart-shaped eyes and wishful looks, but alongside them came glares of jealousy. He was shown to his seat, and walking through the class felt like walking down the aisle; eyes followed him even when he had sat down.

He turned towards his seatmate, who looked back at him with a frown. He looked like he could put up a decent fight, if the need came to be, which Daniel wished it wouldn’t.

“Hello!” He had mustered up all his courage, put on his most charming smile, and finally broke the silence, despite the gnawing feeling in his chest.

“Yeah, hi.” ‘He’s fucking handsome’ was the only thing that Zack had on his mind from the moment that the new guy entered the class.

To Daniel, the greeting was a success. He hoped that they could become friends quickly and that his new seatmate wouldn’t turn out to be an asshole.

He wanted to continue the conversation, but he had no idea what to say; no one in their family really had any friends, only people they could call acquaintances, well… no, Hyungseok did. In retrospect, that guy could have also counted as their friend, but that topic is something that he doesn’t dare to breach even within the walls of his mind.

All he could do now was sit awkwardly and wait for a miracle to happen. Which it did, in the form of Zoe Park. She made her way towards him like he was prey, which he was, at least in her eyes.

“Daniel? Hi, I’m Zoe,” instantly whispers that covered him changed their tune and started attacking her like hyenas. Daniel, from what he heard, got a general gist of what she’s like but decided to give her a chance. “Hey, you’ve got something on your face!” Zoe started her attack.

“Huh? Where?” Zack could see the confusion on Daniel’s face; it was hard to believe, but it was likely he genuinely didn’t realise that the handsome guy was being flirted with.

“Handsome thing! Hehehe” A blush erupted on his face. He was used to people talking about his looks, but never so straightforwardly. Zoe, seeing that she had gotten a positive reaction out of him, was about to continue, but was rudely interrupted by Zack telling her to piss off, who then looked at the love of his life when he felt his Mira sense tingle.

She. Was. Blushing. Which would have been fine, but only if it was directed at him and not the transfer student. Whatever nice feelings he could have had towards him before vanished. He could not forgive him for trying to steal his girlfriend (the space in between these two words is very important).

When the bell for lunch rang, it was like a deity giving Daniel a blessing, in this case, food. He made his way to the cafeteria with Zoe following close behind like a lost guard dog. He smiled at her genuinely as he was reminded of his brothers, a smile which disappeared as he remembered that only he had the chance to be here. He lost his appetite, but he had already paid for the food, so he had no choice but to eat it. If Hyungseok learned about any wasted money or food, he would not come out of the ordeal unscathed.

The whispers had died down a bit, only to come back with a new wave as he was approached by some ‘intimidating’ guys.

“Come with us,” with the gruff voice speaking, all were silenced, waiting to see the reaction of the new kid.

“Wait. I have to finish my lunch.” It was a simple statement, but some did not expect it at all. Whether they thought that he would shut them off completely or follow them like a wimp, did not matter as none of those were options for him.

“It’s shit anyways, come.” For some reason, they could not take wait as an answer.

“I paid for it, doesn’t matter if it’s actual shit, I have to finish it. Otherwise, I’m going to get shit from my brother.” Daniel was telling all this to a friend, feeling no sense of shame in oversharing. He scouted their reactions, hoping that he seemed not worth their time and effort and left him alone. To his disappointment, they did not. At this point, the interest in their interaction had died down; only a few people kept their full attention on him, people who were scouting his abilities and searching for signs that he might be a threat or, for one case in particular, a bully.

He tried to eat as slowly as possible to see if that was enough to annoy them (for Zoe it certainly was) and get them to leave, but they were not deterred by his antics and kept their wish clear.

“Don’t you want to, I don’t know, sit down?” Daniel started feeling bad for them as they did not dare to sit down; he did not plan to eat faster, as his mother would say, patience is a virtue. Not only were they surprised by the sudden invitation, the observers were too. Daniel noticed the looks full of awareness and hesitation from the goons and looks of confusion from a certain man who was supposed to be a teenager. ‘Seriously, why does he look so old?!’

The ‘tough’ guys were blushing and messing with their uniforms as if they were a bunch of shy schoolgirls.

“Sit down. You’re making me uncomfortable!” The goons obediently sat down, but still looked like they knew they didn’t belong next to this idol-looking guy.

When most people had already left, not bothering to keep up with the boring yet intriguing situation, only then Daniel stood up with his empty tray and started walking. Behind him, the goons walked like he was already a part of their gang. His loyal observers escorted him out with their gazes.

They led him to the back of the school where they were spared from any onlookers.

“So, your name’s Daniel?” Now that he looked at them, they looked aggressive, but harmless. ‘Do I need to tell them that I spent all my money on my uniform?’

“Where are you from?” He was presented with a pack of cigarettes; he was almost tempted to take up on the offer but then remembered how hard Hyungseok worked to help a certain someone quit and how heartbroken he was when his efforts went in vain, so in respect to his dear brother, he refused.

“I quit smoking.”

“Damn, probably made trouble and now you’re here?”

“I’m out.” Daniel didn’t finish listening to them; he already detected that they didn’t have anything interesting to say.

What was left of school was uneventful. The last bell of the day rang, and Daniel could not be more excited to come back to his brothers. Which was pretty soon as apparently they came to him. All three of them, so that means that either Hyungseok and UI found Crazy on their way here or he came to them.

Whispers filled the area once again. All four of them were handsome on another level. But they all had their shortcomings: Hyungseok was too short, UI too scary, and Crazy, well, he was just him. He approached them with a slight jump in his step, excited to see them. The sight looked borderline comical. The smallest of them adorned a smile that shone like the sun, breaking through the dark aura the other two were emitting. Seriously, why do they look like they’re ready to kill someone?

“They look like your bodyguards, lol.” Even though Daniel spoke to Hyungseok, a proud grunt of approval came from his right, UI, and an offended huff of disapproval from the left, Crazy.

“Stop saying lol out loud, that’s cringe. Chronically online shit.” Trying to avoid the allegations, Crazy changed the topic.

“You saying cringe is cringe.” Daniel retorted.

“You just said cringe, so you just proved my point that you’re cringe.” Crazy refused to back down; neither did Daniel. They continued their bickering until they noticed that Hyungseok and UI had already run away from them a long time ago.

“Anyways, where were you in the morning?” Daniel carefully brought up the question, scared that Crazy would shut him down and leave him on read IRL—fuck, Crazy was right.

“I had to deal with some stuff.”

Daniel did not push anymore.

Chapter Text

Night shifts were especially hard for Hyungseok as there was no escaping from his thoughts. Memories eating him away. What broken pieces of himself he mended during the day came apart at night, his wounds bare for the moon and the cold convenience store lights to see.

The only way out was sleep; unfortunately, it did not come easily for him. He swears that every time he closes his eyes, he sees his face. A face he wishes to remember, but with every night, his features—detail by detail—seem to be erased by someone else’s hand.

He reaches for a pen and paper, trying once again to commemorate the face on a transient piece of paper. With every move that his hands make, he cannot help but get mad at himself; he was not able to recreate the beauty that can only exist in his mind. He has collected multiple fragments from his mind, from different angles, different memories just to immortalise him. Let him be alive at least in his head.

Even Crazy, the never-caring tyrant, has told him to move on. He couldn’t. He tried everything. Deep in his heart, he hoped that he’d come back—he said he would, and there is only one person in the world that he trusts more than his brothers.

Then finally he was finished, he tried the best he could but something in his chest was still unsatisfied by the drawing. He looked at it as if it was the one to take him away. Hearing the jingle of the bell, he pushed it away, but not too far, far enough that it wouldn’t catch unnecessary attention, but close enough to still feel his presence as if they were together again.

Three guys trying to act tough came through. After years of experience dealing with a variety of customers, he could see that they were underage. They came as a group requesting smokes and alcohol. As a responsible cashier, he of course denied them.

They started getting aggressive when another guy came in; at least this one was more bearable to look at. Hyungsuk would even dare say, “handsome.” But all this was balanced out by his attitude. He was just as rude as the other guys, maybe even more of an asshole than them, clearly their boss. The guy came over with a disgusted look on his face. Feeling that a confrontation was inevitable, he took out his phone and dialled their home number, praying that someone would answer.

“You know what, you kind of remind me of someone, someone that I don’t like.“ Hyungseok was flustered, he did not know what to say.

“He’s probably talking about the transfer student.“ Could they be talking about Daniel?

:Now that I’m looking at him, don’t they look kind of similar? Like this is the compressed version of that handsome devil?“ They definitely are…‘

“Yeah, I saw how Mira was looking at him. Imagine years of devotion getting beat by a pretty face! Haha.” Hyungseok saw the rage bubble beneath the handsome customer’s skin.
“If he’s getting worked up over that, then why am I getting the brunt of it?!” Hyungseok was desperate as the feeling of dread started growing in his tired mind. His phone still ringing.

—

Hyungseok stood restrained by two of the goons; his pants were down, and the continuous flashing of the camera humiliated him even more. His face burned with pain and embarrassment as tears started rolling down his cheeks.

“Aww, how cute, probably crying for his mommy!“ One of the goons holding him taunted him. Hyungseok felt disgust overtaking him. He wanted to vomit or scream, or gauge their eyes out for seeing something that wasn’t meant for them.

“Make sure the camera catches his face, he’s such a great model, you wouldn’t want his talent to go to waste, would you?“The other goon joined in. Hyungseok swore he felt him sniff at his hair. Fucking weirdo. He gathered spit in his mouth as ammunition to fight back when the disgusting words of the goons were interrupted.

„Alright, I think that’s enough.“ Surprisingly, it was the main reason for his despair that became the voice of reason. „You wouldn’t want my storage to end, would you?!“ ‚Ok, never mind then...‘

Finally, the whole ordeal was finished. The bullies left without their alcohol, but now with his private parts on their phones. He prayed the owner wouldn’t look through the footage of this evening and wouldn’t have to sit through the humiliation ritual the cashier had just endured.

He was drained. He went outside to chill out and regain any hope that was drained from him by the weirdos. Were they Daniel’s classmates? They mentioned him a few times; he was the reason for this whole situation. He reached into his pocket for a lighter and looked to his side, waiting for a cigarette to be delivered straight to his lips. ‘Fuck, how long can this last?’ His muscle memory was as good as his brain memory, which more often than not felt like a curse more than anything these days. He felt hopeless like never before; everything seemed to go wrong for him. The deities not granting him a chance of a happy life.

He camped outside till the clock struck the last hour of terror. He wanted to go home. As he dragged his feet through the familiar streets, he noticed a familiar figure sitting in the alley. Thinking that this was crazy, he approached the figure and sat down next to him. Because who else of his stature, strong and tall, but lean, with an aura that transcended darkness would be in their neighbourhood, sitting, and looking like they just got into their nth fight of the day? He probably was just too lazy to walk ten more minutes to their home.

He was exhausted; he put his head on the shoulder and closed his eyes. He was cozy, warm, and familiar, and that was enough to get him sleepy.

“I’m tired… I want to go home.”

Silence…

“This was your cue to say, “Oh, how tragic! Let me be an amazing brother and let me carry you back!”

Silence. A hand reached to hold his. That hand…

Hyungseok looked up at his brother only to find dark, tired eyes that did not belong to his family looking back at him. Hyungsuk quickly scrambled away, all his exhaustion vanishing.

“I’m so sorry, sir!” He bowed a 90-degree bow, but still received no answer. He took out his phone and turned on the flash to see if maybe that person was hurt and needed help, but when he directed the light towards the alley, there was no one.

Half-heartedly believing that he saw a ghost, he made his way home as fast as his tired body managed.

Having mastered the art of quietly opening the door to not wake the others up, he made his way inside. Soundlessly, he made his way to the bathroom, got some gauze for his injuries, and went to sleep. That night, he fell asleep faster than usual. Like some part of him was kissed till calm.

——————/——————/——————

Daniel entered the class. He did not want to be here; he had a bad feeling that something bad had happened or was about to happen. That’s when he heard it:

“Suddenly, this prick beat him up!” ‘What are they talking about?’ “I took a picture to ensure that he stays quiet.”

“What picture?” Zoe beat Daniel to the punch.

“You want to see or not? Hehe.”

“Ooh, hi Daniel! Come here! He has something funny to show us!”

“Yep! Want to see?” Daniel knew that this could not end well, but curiosity killed the cat, and he agreed.

“Yesterday, Zack beat up this cashier at a convenience store. Then we took some photos… nude photos. Hihihi.” He said it like it was the biggest revelation of the century. “That little pig could be a porn star with that body and face; the way he cried was just—“

“Stop with that gay shit! I should’ve knocked him down; instead of a straight, I should’ve hit a jab.” The guys around the boxer were kissing his ass, talking about his lightning-fast punches and how strong and amazing he was.

Daniel was approached by some girls asking if he had a girlfriend; he ignored them because he was trying to listen in on the conversation; he was dead curious. Zoe gladly protected her territory, shooing the other girls away. He thanked her with a nod and went back to focusing on their conversation.

“Why did you pick a fight with him, though?” He secretly thanked Zoe, asking all the right questions. Zack looked at him but kept quiet. Unfortunately, his goons did not.

“It’s because he looked like the transfer student, and Zacky here was jealous~” Zack kicked the goon off his chair and made eye contact with Daniel just as he stood up. This really did not sit right with him; all the details coming together painted a bad picture in his head. If only there was a chance that it was actually his brother. They were dead.

“Show me the photo,” Daniel put out his hand, waiting for the phone.

“What? Do you want to get off to a little fag who looks similar to you? That’s a new, different kind of low that even I didn’t expect from you,” Zack started bombarding him with these accusations, but he did not falter. If it’s someone else, that’s still not okay, but if his fear that it was his brother that was abused like this…

“Give me the phone.” It was clear that Daniel was not asking. Goon No. 2 was the first one to give in, trying to avoid his wrath, put his phone in Daniel’s hand, suddenly getting ashamed of what they were getting up to in their free time.

His hunch was right. He scrolled through the pictures, all from different angles. He could feel the shame, disgust, and fear through the screen. His brother’s naked body was not what concerned him; it was the bruises that did.

“You’re saying Zack did this?” The voice that sliced through the atmosphere like a knife sounded neutral at first. Listen, but it was clear that something else was bubbling beneath the pretence of calmness. Everyone’s eyes fell on the fashion department’s pretty boy, to be more precise, his hands. The phone in his palm started to bend and crack. He was filled with blinding rage. His hardworking brother, his Hyungseokie, was touched and humiliated by others’ hands.

“Hey, dipshit, that’s my phone!” Zack. He’s going to kill Zack.

News about the fight spread fast across every department. To everyone’s surprise, the fight couldn’t even be called a fight; it was more of a massacre. The massacre part, honestly, wasn’t that surprising; after all, this school was filled with beasts. The surprise was who came out on top.

Daniel stood over Zack’s barely conscious body, his fists still bloody. A crazed look adorned him.

“He’s fucking crazy.”

“No. Crazy’s my brother. I’m Daniel fucking Park, and the little ‘pornstar’ in your photos is the reason why you’re still alive.” He kneeled down and whispered in his ear. “If I ever see you near him or hear any mention of you from him, you’ll never ever raise a hand against anyone because you won’t have those anymore.” Zack felt deep down in the deepest part of his soul—the monster was not joking.

——————/——————/——————

‘All of them should be gone now,’ he entered the house. When he heard rustling and a meek “UI?” coming from the kitchen.

What was Hyungseok doing home? Shouldn’t he be at the café by now? Panic arose in Crazy, but he stayed quiet.

“Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat!” More rustling was heard, and the sound of the stove turning on.

“No, it’s me!” He shouted in the doorway. Since he wasn’t alone as planned, he had to think of something quick. He ran out, hid his bag in a narrow alley next to their house, and in a few seconds, he was back to standing in the doorway like nothing had happened.

It looked like Hyungseok didn’t even notice that he had disappeared, even for a moment, which was good, but concerning, he never missed anything.

He fried some rice and eggs, just for him. Oh, how he loved his Hyungseokie, his food always was tastier than what any fancy restaurant could ever offer in the next hundred, no, thousand years. Still, he could not help but notice that something was off. It took him some figuring, but he got it! He grabbed Hyungseok and turned him around—

“What.” Crazy stilled.

Then started touching and stretching the bruised face in his hands. Hyungseok tried to cover up but failed against Crazy’s feral eyes.

“Who did this?” Crazy’s face was engulfed by a cold rage. The smaller boy looked straight into his eyes but kept his mouth shut. He did not need a feral Crazy running around wreaking havoc on their neighbourhood and innocent civilians.

After a silent battle of wits and patience, Crazy lost, of course he did, and let out a heavy defeated sigh.

“Let me come with you to work… in case that bastard shows up again.” Hyungseok frowned, hundreds of thoughts were running between the two of them. Doe eyes dropped with a quiet nod.

He prepped dinner for the other two and went off to work. Crazy never fell more than three steps behind, acutely aware of every sound and movement. ‘Does he genuinely think that I’ll get killed or something? And in a random corner too??’ Hyungseok sighed with exasperation.

The night shift started as it usually did—slowly and quietly; after a bit of figuring out, Crazy was let to stay in a chair a few feet away from the counter. Although at first he was not happy with this arrangement, thinking that it was still too far, but after some reassurance from Hyungseok that that would be enough, he gave in and sat down. The smaller boy chuckled to himself as the image of Crazy sitting there turned into an aggressive, yet obedient dog who was now pouting as if he were punished by its owner.

Some time passed, and it went by pretty smoothly, due to Crazy’s reputation and his guarding sight; no incidents occurred. At least it was that way until Crazy spoke.

“Fight me.” Hyungseok looked at Crazy like he was crazy.

“What?”

“Just as I said, fight me!”

“And why would I do that?” Hyungseok decided to humour him, for at the time it was the most interesting thing he could do; no customers had entered the store in the past thirty minutes and in his educated guess they probably won’t appear the next thirty too.

“Because I’m curious. Curious if you’re still as weak.”

“I’m not going to fight you.” At those words Crazy stood up and approached the counter.

“Come here, or I’m going to burn this place down.” As if to make his threat clear, he pulled out a lighter and swung it around. That pulled Hyungseok out from behind the counter and right in front of his crazy brother.

“I said, I’m not going to fight! And you’re not burning down my workplace! Letting you come here was a mistake.” He snatched away the lighter and was immediately met with a high-kick to the top of his head. He managed to react in time to cover his head down so that the damage does not go to his brain. He took the leg and was about to throw him over his shoulder when—

“Excuse me, can I pay?!” A pretty lady was met with one crazed and one frustrated pair of eyes, but she did not give in. Holding out some gummies and an energy drink. Hyungseok slammed the leg in his hands down and directed Crazy to sit in his seat with a glare.

Crystal expected the taller guy to put up a fight or at least complain, but he did none of that. He just simply looked at the smaller boy, his face turned neutral, and just simply walked to his place slumping on his chair to continue pouting.

‘Like an obedient dog.‘ Crystal thought casting a glance in his direction, she was met with an unimpressed look that clearly said, ‘Hurry up so we can continue.’ She approached the small cashier and put down her stuff.

The cashier complained that one of the gummy packets had no QR code, so he had to search for it in some book that was lost in between the drawers. At first, she thought that this was a ploy to keep her here longer, a way of flirting if you’re socially awkward, but the cashier looked like he held no interest in her and wanted her out just as much as the only two other people in the room.

This gave her time to look around the boring layout of the cash register, the cigarettes, schoolbooks, and… drawings? The drawing that was closest to her looked like a poorly drawn version of Diego. Poorly drawn not because of the skills, but because the guy in the drawings didn’t look like the Diego she knew now, but still unmistakably him.

“Are you a fan of DG?” At least some distraction from the boredom. The two men looked at her like she was the weirdo.

“No.” That’s okay, maybe he was just embarrassed, taking in the fact that there was an audience present. “Who is that?” The cashier looked at her in pure confusion; unfortunately for him, she looked back just as confused, looking back and forth between him and the drawing. Catching her inspection of the drawing, that he forgot to put away last night, apparently so did the day shift, as it was lying in the same spot where he left it. A blush covered his face. He took the paper and opened a drawer, and oh god, it was full of drawings of the same man, all from different angles. Realising how it must’ve looked, he grew even more red; he shut the drawer and covered his face.

“It’s okay, many people do, there’s no need to get embarrassed!” Observing his shy demeanour, a fond feeling sprouted in her chest, but was quickly killed off by the reminder that he was handsome enough to live life easier than the not-so-fortunate.

“Is that what it looks like…?” The cashier picked up his head to finally ring her up. “7000 won, please.” Any remaining embarrassment was erased from his face. Confusion grew in Crystal by the mood swings of the cashier.

She paid, and as she left the store, she overheard the taller man uttering, “I told you to get over him, you’re only hurting yourself.” She threw a last glance at the pair and left. It was none of her business anyway.

It was quiet for a while after the girl left. Crazy did not ask for a rematch, noticing the complete lack of enthusiasm in the other, knowing that he wouldn’t get what he wanted.

Commotion and the smell of smoke filled the store. Three funny-looking dudes and a girl were squatting in front of the store. Neither one of the brothers reacted, leaving them be. Crazy was lost in his mind, and Hyungseok had long gone under.

A ding from the entrance woke both of them up from their stupor. A sweaty boy with glasses and a shitty cut entered the store. He looked nervous, weird.

Seeing the bruises on the cashier, the newcomer relaxed a bit. This irked Crazy for some reason. Then the loser looked at him, and his eyes turned towards Hyungseok in a pitiful but understanding manner. ‘The fuck’s that supposed to mean?’ Crazy felt himself growing heated from his own imagination.

Noticing the dangerous-looking guy’s dissatisfaction, the customer inquired about chargers and where they were. Hyungseok directed him and waited for him to approach the counter.

That moment did not arrive as he tried hiding the charger under his shirt and making a run for it.

“Excuse me!” Hyungseok tried to stop him. He was almost out the door when he tripped over his own feet and face-planted into the ground. Hyungseok got over the counter and approached the boy with compassion that Jiho did not expect. “Excuse me. Are you hurt?” The cashier did not receive an answer. “If you just went, I would’ve been in trouble.” Crazy, who was amusedly observing the interaction, had now perked up; the idea of Hyungseok getting in trouble because of some nerd didn’t sit right with him.

Jiho was happy that he found a loser just like him who happened to be nice. Maybe he could let him go! Jiho’s wishful thinking was interrupted.

“What the hell are you doing?” The goons that were stationed in the front now had entered. “Didn’t I tell you to steal it?” Hyungseok started sweating, confused about why they were here.

“Oh, two four-eyes, what does that make? Eight-eyes? Their duo can be called eight-eyes, hihi!”

“Wait, isn’t that the piggy that we took care of yesterday?” Hyungseok was at a loss for words; throwing a glance in Crazy’s direction, he noticed the complete lack of emotion on his face.

“Ooh, I know what we can do! Loser face-off!”

For some reason, that idea made it out of the store. Now the two boys, one bruised, one in danger of being bruised, stood in front of each other. The gang stood blocking the alley; there was one more person, but they did not pay him any mind.

“Fight! Fight!” The boys didn’t move; Jiho felt like if he punched the cashier, it was like punching a mirror. He reminded him too much of himself; he did not want to hurt him.

“Fight or I’ll spread the nude pics!” Seeing as they were still unmoving, they had to make compromises. “Okay, okay, let’s make a deal. Whoever wins this gets their picture deleted!” The goon put on such a revolting expression that Hyungseok already imagined it a staple in his nightmares.

Seeing how the cashier’s pretty face was incapable of hiding the disgust, irked the main goon. Now he wanted them to fight more than ever. “If G hole wins, no more serving us.” That broke Jiho’s resolution; he began desperately hitting Hyungsuk; all he could do was guard his face.

Happy that finally there was some action, they started cheering and jeering them on uninterrupted.

“Enough.” Crazy looked at the man who came out of nowhere. The goons tried to get rid of him with insults and threats and keep their attention on the fight. One of them looked at the intruder, and their blood ran cold.

“Wow, he’s my style.” “Isn’t everyone?” “That’s Euntae Lee, the architecture top-“
The goon was held in the air by his throat.

“You guys are bad guys.” ‘So he has a hero complex, how cute.’ Crazy observed the man with amusement. This was way more entertaining than whatever that fight was supposed to be.

“I’m sorry,” while everyone’s attention was on the new arrival, Jinho decided to apologise for succumbing to his weakness and throwing hands.

“Nah, forget it.” Hyungseok did not want him to feel guilty; he knew how it felt being in his place, so he didn’t blame him.

“You guys better start working out.” Now that the goons had run off, the attention was back on them. Crazy was about to interrupt; no one can tell his cute brother what to do, but was stopped by a placating look from the boy.

“Thanks, Vasco.” ‘So his name is Vasco,’ Crazy side-eyed him only to be ignored by the man.

“You know me? You from our school?”

“Yep. Fashion department,” Hyungseok and Crazy looked at the lanky guy with surprise.

“Fashion? That’s the transfer student’s class, right?” He nodded. “Tell him not to screw around.”

“You like to order everyone around, don’t you?” Vasco looked back at the tall guy with a shocked expression.

“You’re Daniel, no? What are you doing here?” Vasco had not seen him up close before and was even more saddened that the rumours were true; scrap that, they didn’t do the guy justice.

Hyungseok could not help but let out a snicker at his brother’s offended expression. He stopped when he got two confused looks and one death stare.

“Fuck, do we really look that similar?” His expression completely changed; he pulled out a mirror from his pocket and started looking at himself from different angles.

Now he couldn’t contain himself anymore as his laugh bubbled over; this whole situation seemed bizarre, the displayed dramatics hilarious. Crazy approached the little guy bent in half from laughing.

Vasco was getting ready to defend the smaller boy. He had heard the rumours about how cruel and merciless he was in the fight with Zack. He had no clue what he was capable of doing to someone that much weaker than the boxer. And since Crazy hadn’t interfered with the loser-duel, Vasco deduced that the new transfer student was also a part of this humiliation ritual.

All were surprised, even Hyungseok, that when Crazy was in front of him, he did not do anything. His expression turned… sad? His movements became slow, cupping the now confused face fighting off a smile in his hands, looking over all the injuries, and then their eyes met. Hyungseok felt that he was drowning in Crazy’s deep eyes, or maybe it was more that they were drinking, taking him in, like they were trying to etch the sight into the deepest part of his soul.

“Do that again.”

“Do what?”

“Laugh. I haven’t heard you laugh in ages.” The solemn mood took hold of everyone. Not a muscle was moved from anticipation of the smaller’s reaction.

Hyungseok took Crazy’s hands in his own, held them, but didn’t say a word. He looked at the audience of two and back up at his brother. His brother’s hands dwarfed his, but they held in such compassion that the difference didn’t matter anymore.

While Crazy was lost somewhere in his mind, Hyungseok took the chance to better their position. He looked at Jiho and then at Vasco. “Daniel is not a bad person. I believe that no one inherently is. Whatever he might’ve done to upset you, it’s probably not how you imagine it. Please give him a chance. I—we worked hard to get him into school. Please don’t make it hard for him.”

Crazy looked defeated. Hearing him plead in defence of one of them had always been the most humiliating thing in the universe; getting scolded by their mother didn’t even feel as bad as this. He wanted him to stop, but his body was frozen in shame.

The four of them were covered in a blanket of silence. Each of them lost in their own thoughts.

“Let’s go, Crazy. I need to finish my shift.” Hyungseok took his hand and led the way to the store.

„Ah, that must’ve been the rumoured Crazy and the killer brother.“ Jiho said to himself and didn’t notice the confused look Vasco threw his way.

The rest of the night was docile and silent, as if it was listening to the same soft breaths that Crazy was trying not to disturb.

Chapter Text

Jiho felt something in the air changing. Specifically, something about the transfer student.

That cashier from yesterday must’ve said something about him because now, Daniel was acting like they were best buddies, trying to get them to eat together, always staying by his side, and trying to start conversations.

It was nice that in his presence, he was spared from being a slave to lesser bullies, but the newly brought attention on him was still too much.

Zack entered the cafeteria, his eyes fell on the new top dog and his stolen patsy. He glared at the duo, but he received no reaction as they were happily conversing and probably didn’t even notice his intense stare.

“Is that the guy that beat Zack? He’s pretty.”

‘Who the fuck said that?!’ Zack turned around to face the voice and came face to face with that dog, Vin Jin.

Zack could not stand him; that bastard always went on about how he was the most handsome person in school while never actually showing the most important part of his face—his eyes.

“Oh, hey, Zack. I heard you lost to that pretty boy.”

“I might’ve lost to the pretty boy, but I’d definitely take you.” In an instant, Zack’s fist flew at Vin Jin, and Vin Jin’s hand grabbed Zack.

For a moment, silence overtook them; they were lost in each other’s quiet threats when a sudden chuckle rang like bells through the room.

They both turned to the owner of the sound— Daniel. His pretty face was turned away from them, towards that booger, Jiho, but he could not hide his curious eyes looking in their direction. Vin Jin and Zack exchanged knowing looks; they could not give him what he wanted. Zack was first to put down his fist.

The cafeteria moved on from the interaction pretty quickly, most going back to chatting and eating.

Vasco entered the loud cafeteria, and his eyes were immediately drawn to the transfer student sitting at the same table as Jiho.

Memories of the little cashier pouring his heart out for this charlatan flooded his mind. He guessed he stared long enough because the object of his attention turned to him.

He felt perplexed as Daniel looked between him and Jiho and waved him over.

“Is he picking a fight?” Jace, who stood a step to the left, interrupted. Vasco, as always, believed everything Jace said, even if Jace himself didn’t. He started approaching the guy with a menacing look.

“You haven’t ever been taken down, huh?” Now Daniel was the one confused. What did his fighting skills have to do with anything? “Even if you’re good-looking and strong, don’t screw around.” The man put his hand on the shoulder and squeezed. Everyone who knew how that felt winced on his behalf.

“Sorry, sorry if I bothered you. I guess I mistook you for someone else.” An apologetic smile covered up the pain that the handsome man was feeling.

Daniel took the man by his wrist and wrung it off his shoulder. Nobody could hide their shock at Daniel, who just sat there, in his seat, like an innocent child looking up at a wild animal.

Vasco, seeing his wide eyes, was once again reminded why he hated handsome guys (they think that with a bat of their eyelashes all will be forgiven and forgotten. Ready to teach this arrogant fool a lesson, he once again raised his hand, but this time, it was to cause real damage. But to Vasco’s disappointment, he was blocked by Jace.

“Ah, so you mistook him for someone else? That happens, haha.” Daniel took the chance to get out of this awkward situation offered by this big-eared guy.

The situation was diffused quickly, not without complaints from the onlookers and Vasco himself. They thought that they got robbed of a show and lost the chance to see the mystical man be beaten.

‘He’s strong, handsome, and kind of funny. Maybe he’ll let me cut his hair, hihi,’ the man of the beauty department was surrounded by beauties that didn’t take his lack of interest seriously. Eli had no want or need for a girl who was pretty enough to forget to take a look at what hid behind the flawless skin.

—

“A get-together?” Daniel looked at the goons, confused. Maybe they weren’t such bad guys after all.

Daniel was never lonely. After all, he had his brothers. He didn’t need any extra burdens to worry about; those three were enough for a lifetime, but just looking at the acne-ridden faces with sly yet innocent smiles adorning them, he couldn’t find it within himself to deny them. And just maybe, from deeper within, he realised—he couldn’t deny himself.

“I guess I could spend a few hours with you guys!”

“Okay, see you at 7,” the goons skipped away like they were kids who had just received their favourite candy, and Daniel was stuck thinking about how: first, this was going to change his life, and second, how was he going to break the news of his new friends to his family.

-

He had never been to this part of the city, so he was a little lost. He asked for directions to the place in the new group chat that they had created when a message popped up from UI: ‘Tell us where you are and when you’re finished. We’ll come to pick you up.’ He wrote the address and hit send.

The last thing he needed was for them to spam his phone when he was out with his new friends. He still couldn’t believe that he had someone to call friends; he was so happy!

He started feeling nervous when he approached the door which separated him from his first ever friends. He gathered the courage and opened the door.

Instantly, his lungs were filled with smoke, and his nose was attacked by the stench of cigarette smoke and alcohol being combined. Clearly, nothing good was happening here.

There were two unexpected guests: Zoe and Zack. Apparently, for Zack, he was also a surprise. He didn’t know what to do; he wanted to be back with his brothers, even if it meant that he had to clean the floor with a toothbrush till it was squeaky clean as punishment for him returning home when not even an hour had passed. So he did what any sane person would—sat down before he could change his mind.

Sitting among them, where there was alcohol and smoking present, he felt like he was being corrupted just by their presence alone. He insisted that he did not drink, but they were persistent.

“So, Daniel, do you live with your parents?”

“Oh… no, I guess.” The words that came out of his mouth were filled with hesitation.

“Sweet, that’s a whole ‘nother level. Can it become our hangout spot?”—but it was obvious that it went unnoticed.

“Well, no, see, I live with my three brothers.” He felt bad after seeing the disappointment on their faces. “But they’re mostly never home, sooo…”

“Do they go to our school? Why haven’t I noticed them before? I feel like my eyes have been robbed of something that I didn’t even know existed!” Zoe’s whining was starting to get on everyone’s nerves, except Daniel’s.

“Well, they… they go to different schools, and one of them works day and night, so it’s not a good idea.” Daniel did not know what else to say.

Zack had been taking shots the entire time that they were talking. Now completely drunk, he stuck to Daniel worse than Zoe ever did. He even smooched his cheek!!

‘That’s the first time that someone kissed me!’ Feeling scandalised, he looked around for help. Probably noticing his awkwardness, Zoe gave him a glass. He thanked her and downed it. Immediately, he spat out what was not yet swallowed. It was alcohol. He couldn’t let his brothers learn of this, or they’re going to be so disappointed (maybe except Crazy, but he’s an exception).

A few feet away, some adults started speaking louder and louder. They said something about teenagers today being ignorant and whatever, bla bla bla. Daniel could not listen anymore as his vision started getting blurry. He felt the need to apologise for the inconvenience his friends had caused.

He stood up and turned towards the goons, berating them for their actions. Then he turned to the others, trying to say sorry. He wanted to offer them a drink, but his hand slipped and the bottle broke.

The goons celebrated having shooed off the grown-ups, but Daniel just sat down, defeated. He still could not imagine how this could be fun for them. Feeling frustration bubble up again, he took a glass nearest him and took a big sip. ‘Fuck,’ it’s alcohol again. He felt himself getting sleepy.

Zack put Daniel’s head on his lap and started patting him like he was a poor dog. Zoe tried waking Daniel up, but to no avail; he was completely blacked out.

It was nearing midnight when Daniel’s phone, which had been completely silent the entire night, started insistently ringing. Everyone looked at the phone with weary eyes as the caller ID picture was that of a very aggressive-looking face.

Now, not even Zoe wanted to wake him up. Who knows what trouble the handsome troublemaker had gotten himself into? Zack gently shook him; when that didn’t work, he started slapping him. The slapping was so bad that from an outsider’s perspective, you’d guess that a poor, drunk, passed-out man was being beaten by his bully.

Daniel was out cold, did not react to the abuse in the slightest. “His pain tolerance must be incredible.” Everyone was getting tired. Except the caller, as the phone had been ringing for almost half an hour.

They looked at it like the person would come out from the picture and kill all of them in cold blood. Zoe had finally had enough. ‘It can’t be that bad,’ she closed her eyes and pressed answer.

Silence. Had she not put it on a speaker? The goon leader took the phone out of her hands, pressed some buttons, and threw the phone on the table like it had physically burned him.

“Daniel?” A soft voice came from the other side. The difference between expectation and reality hit the room like a grenade. Instantly, relief washed over the tense teenagers. “Daniel, are you okay? We’re coming to get you. You didn’t answer any of our texts, so we started getting worried!”

Zack took the phone and pressed it against his ear. “Daniel’s okay, he just got ti-*hiccup*-tired and is sleeping like a baby right now.” A sigh came from the other side, then some mumbling.

“We’ll be there in five. Thank you for letting us know.” The previously warm tone could not be found anymore; now it sounded official and almost disappointed.

“We? Who’s we-” Zack was cut off by the other side abruptly hanging up. “Rude, but whatever.” Rolling his eyes, he looked around and observed the mess. The memory of Daniel talking about his brother having this no-nonsense attitude came up.

“Let’s meet them outside.” It seemed like Zoe and he were on the same page.

Zack was put in charge of carrying the man downstairs; a whiny protest came from Zoe, but that led nowhere.

The group stood around near the entrance until their idle chatter was interrupted by the same honeyed voice from the phone call.

“Hi! You’re Daniel’s friends, right? We came to take our brother home.” Zack turned around with Daniel still cuddled up in his arms. He looked… up? The voice came from below, so why— Zack’s head rose until he met eye to eye with the same threatening set of eyes as in the picture. The delicate voice did not suit the man that stood in front of him at all.

The man saw the inquisitive look he was given. His eyes lit up with understanding, and he moved two steps to the side, revealing an incredibly short and unimaginably beautiful guy, so beautiful that Zack could kiss him and be more than proud of it. Zack received a small smile, but soon it turned upside down as recognition glazed the wide eyes.

Hyungsuk stepped closer to UI, glaring at the group, as if he wanted to remind his bullies that this time he was not alone.

UI looked at him, at Zack, and then to Daniel in his arms. He reached for Daniel, and Zack plopped the body down in his awaiting arms.

“I feel like I’ve seen ya’ somewhere before.” Zack’s hazy eyes tried hard to focus on the smaller boy’s soft features.

Hyungseok could only glare at him. “Yeah, it’s because you have. You stripped me naked, beat me, and took a photo of it all.”

Oh. Oh.

Hyungseok was tightly holding onto his brother’s shirt, refusing to let it go. Sensing his brother’s discomfort, UI raised his guard, covering Hyungseok’s lithe body with his own, bigger one.

“Yeah, uhhh, sorry ‘bout that…” Zack was never put in such a compromising position before; he was always the one being apologised to, even when he was the one in the wrong.

A stifling feeling gnawed at Zack’s chest. He fought with himself to leave the poor boy alone; he had already suffered enough from his hands, but still, he reached out to catch the cashier that he had previously abused.

“Hey-“ instantly, strong fingers encircled his wrist, stopping him from moving any further. The guy with weird eyes was not looking at him but at Hyungseok, as if waiting for permission to act, like an obedient puppy.

Zack’s pulse bumping against the strong hold felt like an interrogation, even if there were no words exchanged. “I just wanted to apologise.” The hand on top of his let up a bit but still did not let him go.

Hyungseok was ready to go home now, but now he needed to deal with this whiny bully. “Are the pictures at least gone now?” Zack had to strain his ears to hear the voice over the nightly breeze.

“They are. He made sure of that,” Zack nodded to the passed-out guy that was now held by only one of UI’s arms; the other was the one holding him hostage.

Hyungseok looked at Daniel and then at Zack. “Then all is good now. UI, let’s go.” The voice lacked any of the softness that could’ve been heard before. Hyungseok did not want to waste any more time. UI finally let go of his wrist and, with a glare, bid him goodbye.

–

When the three brothers came home, Hyungseok prepared Daniel’s bed, and UI laid him down. Not long after, the other two were also lying in bed.

Hyungseok could not sleep once again.

“UI?” He received no response, but he knew that he was heard from the sound of UI turning towards him in his futon. “I cannot sleep again, what should I do?”

UI stood up and, carefully, to not disturb the sleeping brother, walked over to Hyungseok and squatted next to his head. Hyungseok observed UI’s eager expression, not noticing the two pairs of shoes he held in his hand. Only when UI nudged him with one of them did he realise.

Normally, he would decline and say that he was too lazy to go out; he was actually about to do just that, but once again, the rarely seen glint in UI’s irises drowned out any other choice but to accept.

Hyungseok did not need to say or do anything, as UI picked him up from the warmth of his covers like he was nothing but a slightly bigger cat than most. He moved them to the doorway and put Hyungseok down. After putting on his own shoes, UI bent down and slid his brother’s feet into the shoes. Carefully, he tied the shoelaces, occasionally checking Hyungseok’s expression to see if he didn’t tie it too tight.

Both of them, still in their pyjamas, made their way through the street. The quiet chirps of insects and the humming of the distant nightlife brought peace to the two brothers.

“I miss this.” UI looked at Hyungseok. “I mean, we—uh, me and James, used to sneak out to go stargazing.” He chuckled and, seeing UI’s intrigued face, he continued. “He used to tell me that if I were the Earth, then he’d be the Moon so that he could follow me for the rest of time. If I were a star, he would be a cloud, and if I ever fell, he would’ve always caught me…” UI put his hand on Hyungseok’s shoulder, realising that this was the first time Hyungseok had opened up about him to this extent and most probably the last one too. “I—I never got the chance to tell him that, to me, he was like the Sun. Even if I were the stars or the Earth, my life, either way, would be worth nothing if he wasn’t there to witness it.”

UI watched as tears formed at the corners of his brother’s eyes. Leftover resentment towards the delinquent, who stole his brother’s heart, lit up like sparks that were long forgotten, deep within his soul.

Hyungseok clutched at UI’s shirt like a lifeline, buried his head in his chest, and wept. Finally getting the chance to grieve for the man he had lost that he had never before.

UI was at a loss for words, or actions, so he just stood there—still and unmoving, every fibre of his being frozen. He did not know what else he could do except drape his arms around the smaller one and wait for him to calm down.

After a while, the tears stopped, but an occasional heave escaped Hyungseok’s sore throat. After this display of emotion, he was rightfully too exhausted to move anywhere, and the warmth emitting from the taller’s body left little to be desired. UI, understanding the clues, picked him up in his arms with much ease and made their way to their humble abode.

——————/——————/——————

“He must be sad today…” Looking up at the stars, he took notice of the clear sky, completely empty of clouds. The man sighed, following it up with a clap on his knee to help him get up. He made his way through the groaning bodies, not caring if he stepped on any of them.

——————/——————/——————

UI was finishing up with some chores he still had to do when he heard rustling and thudding on the other side of the wall. Hyungseok was at the café, Crazy who knows where, and Daniel was supposed to come back from school pretty soon.

Confused by the sounds, he made his way outside only to come face to face with a tall, rich (judging by the fact that he was dressed head to toe in designer) kid whose face was covered by bleached bangs. The teenager in front of him did not say anything, but neither did he; both of them just stood there awkwardly staring at each other.

UI understandably got curious about what the man was doing there. He looked at the multiple bags behind him; looking closer, he noticed a small note saying ‘Happy Bday’ stuck on the bag that was in the man’s hands.

‘Oh… that’s right…’ but it was the first time that he had seen the teen. Alarmed, he glared at him, but instead of the usual reaction of quivering and scurrying away, all he got was a quiet stare.

UI debated letting him inside but realised that the others probably wouldn’t be very keen on letting a complete stranger into their house. So all that was left was just to stand there in awkward silence.

Daniel made his way through the narrow streets before noticing two men standing in front of each other. One of them—his silent brother—and the other—his silent classmate. The area where they stood was surrounded by fancy-looking bags.

The growing confusion forced him forward. When he grew closer, both of them turned their heads toward him. One in relief, the other in confusion.

“Hi Jay! What are you doing here?” Daniel’s lips turned into a cheerful smile. Jay did his best to ignore his reddening ears and raised his hand, on which a designer bag, with a small “Happy Bday” written on it, lay.

Daniel looked at the bag first in confusion, then in recognition, which turned into the brightest smile the world has ever seen. The world in this case was Jay.

“How did you know it was our birthday?!” Jay looked at the boy’s eyes sparkling with anticipation.

“Oh, you overheard me talking to my mum?” Daniel cocked his head to the side. Ignoring the shivers running down his back from the glare that UI sent him.

“Since you’re here, you might as well come inside. I’ll tell Hyungseokie to bring a cake!” Daniel looked at the uncertain UI. “It’s alright, I think we can spoil ourselves; at least today we can.” UI gave in to his brother’s wishes. He opened the door and led the two inside.

The only room of the house was completely silent, the only exception being Daniel’s incessant chatter. Even though the other two participants were completely silent in the conversation, that made no difference as apparently Daniel had the skill of speaking for three people all by himself, with the occasional accompanying nod or grunt from the other two.

The handsome classmate and brother led the conversation until he heard the lock turning. Hyungseok was left speechless when he entered the house. He was greeted by the sight of Daniel sitting between UI and a random guy. Noticing the proximity between the new guy and his brother, he realised that he was probably not as random as he thought at first.

The guy’s face was covered with bangs, but something about the sharp jawline, tasty-looking lips, and the overall good proportions made it clear that what the bangs hid was not ugliness.

Hyungseok was ushered to take a seat in front of them. He put the cake that he had gotten, for free, from the café, on the table. All he needed to do to get the treat was to ask prettily, bat his eyelashes, and remind the manager about all the times he had saved her.

Jay picked up a knife that had been previously put on the table by either of the brothers and approached the cake. He was about to cut into it when he was stopped by an iron grip on his wrist.

“UI wants to wait for Crazy; after all, it is also his birthday too.” Hyungseok calmly translated his brother’s intent for the other mute man.

“Are we sure that he’s coming?” Daniel had probably noticed Jay’s fidgeting, mistaking it for the need to hurry and not for the feeling of discomfort. In this situation, being uncomfortable was completely understandable. Jay came out of nowhere, made his way into their home, and was now sitting surrounded by two and a half intimidating brothers. He wouldn’t exactly dare to call the newest addition to their gathering intimidating. But even he, at first, couldn’t have imagined Daniel to be as violent as he was.

Jay was startled out of his thoughts by a sudden ringing from Hyungseok’s phone. A caller ID lit up. It was a picture of a guy from a weird angle, as if it was taken secretly. The man looked identical to Daniel. Honestly, he would’ve thought that it was him calling if not for the fact that the beauty sat next to him.

Hyungseok sighed and picked up the call and put it on speaker. From the other side, heavy breathing erupted, the breaths occasionally interrupted by grunts.

“Crazy, come home, please. We’ve been waiting for you.” Daniel was the first to break the silence. He spoke calmly and almost politely.

Jay was anticipating what would happen next. How would the mysterious and infamous Crazy react?

“I’m sorry.” Crazy went quiet for a moment. “I’m coming now. I’ll be there in five.” Hyungseok immediately hung up the phone.

The silence hung in the air. The two brothers that could speak apparently didn’t feel the need to fill in the void. Jay was left to marinate in his thoughts. The last thing he expected from someone called Crazy was for him to apologise. Jay looked around the one-room house. There were well-used futons in the corner. Everything was squeaky clean except for the mould growing in the corner of the ceiling. It was completely silent, which seemed to bother only him, until Crazy stormed in. Injuries littering his face.

“Sorry, I’m late.” Jay swore he heard a quiet ‘fuck’ leave Hyungseok’s lips after seeing him. He immediately stood up and left the room, not saying a word. He was quick to come back with some gauze and bandages. The boy sat on the floor and patted the space next to him, inviting Crazy to sit next to him.

Crazy obediently sat down and held up his bangs so that Hyungseok had a clear space to work on.

Jay looked at the two brothers on the floor, both lost in themselves. Then at the other two that sat next to him, both of them gazed at the duo with no reaction. As if this was a normal occurrence. Looking closer, Jay noticed the glaze over Daniel’s eyes, as if he was looking at something completely different.

A few minutes passed, and the domestic scene was finished. Now the newcomer’s face was decorated with Hello Kitty band-aids and a small but warm smile.

They sat around the table; since it only had four corners, Hyungseok was placed in between Crazy’s legs, being hugged from behind by the cute brute.

“Crazy, bring a lighter.” Jay looked at the brother who had just spoken and then at the other brother, who was now pouting.

“Nooo~ it’s too comfortable right now, bring it yourself!” Hyungseok snuggled deeper into Crazy’s chest, both of them emitting an invisible but cozy heat.

Jay sighed and took the lighter from his pocket.

Crazy looked at him with weird eyes. “You smoke?” Jay froze in his place. A loud laugh followed. The brute’s arm was smacked by a flustered Hyungseok.

“Don’t be rude to our guest!” Crazy rolled his eyes, evidently not promising anything.

At last, the candles were lit.

Chapter Text

[If you were ever in a relationship, how would you like your girlfriend to look like?]

—Well, I don’t care how they look as long as they’re healthy and happy.

| @cutesly aww, he’s so cute 😭
| @wilre as long as we’re happy and healthy
we stand a chance!! (≧∇≦)/

[How cute, anyways, you said “they”, do you not mind the gender of your partner?]

| @Diegoslefttiti asking the real questions
rn frfr
| @melileli isn’t this a bit too personal??
| @mylifemylove nahh, nothing is too
personal between us ;D
| @melileli You do realise that you don’t
actually know him? You’re not entitled
to know every little detail about his
life…

—I’m too amazing to follow gender norms, haha, just kidding. I believe if you truly love someone gender is the last thing you need to worry about.

| @2g4y4this slay king above gender
| @minchkin131 but are we surprised, ARE
WE SURPRISED?!!

[If the gender is the least important thing while loving someone, what would be the most important?]

—Letting them know they’re loved. Because a moment will come where you look at them from afar and regret everything that pushed you apart.

| @klisjjf Bro is spitting wisdom on us
| @mimimimiom The wisest people are the
ones that hurt the most
| @mynameis shit your goofy ass up
that’s not even how the saying goes
| @kreizikillr I wonder how perfect you have
to be to have THE DG wrapped around
your finger.

[From what I understand you’ve already had a lover, if you don’t mind, the fans are curious, could you tell us more about them? For example: how did you meet, why you fell in love and why you speak so sadly of them. If you feel uncomfortable answering, you’re free to say so, we have many other questions coming in from the fans.]

—I don’t mind, although it is a very personal matter, so please be patient with me. We met in an arcade. In my hometown, I was unbeatable in any game that I was challenged in. It stayed like that for a very long time, until he came. His brothers made a bet that if he won against me, then he’d get their week’s lunch money to buy whatever he wished for. What was in it for me? Well, he was promised to me as a servant for the rest of the year. I swear, I wasn’t a bully, haha! His brothers were just weird… But I accepted the conditions, and, well, I won… I told him that he didn’t need to follow me everywhere, but he insisted, said he was “a man of his word” or whatever. Anyways, to cut the story short, I promised him that I’d spend the rest of my life with him, even if we had to stay as friends, as long as I could be by his side. Then life happened, I became an idol, he knew early on how life next to me would look like, and he, understandably, chose not to be a part of—

“Fucking liar,” Daniel shut down the video that was being shown on Zoe’s phone.

“What’s wrong with you?! Ugh, my dear DG, you do not deserve such treatment!” Zoe was looking at him like he just beat up her puppy (to her, he might as well have done just that). “Daniel, you just don’t understand. I know I boost your ego, but do not get ahead of yourself. You’re important, but to me, DG is more important!”

“That’s not even a word.”

“You know what I mean!”

“Shut up, both of you.” Zack finally moved from his sleeping position to face the two. He wondered what Daniel meant by saying that the idol was a liar, but decided not to dig into this guy’s head any more than he needed to.

It was a free period, only a few actually used it to study. Daniel wanted to be one of them, but Zoe was interrupting his focus every second minute.

Seeing his lack of reaction, she had finally settled down and busied herself with watching an interview from this DG person. He wanted to ignore it, but the loud volume and the man’s awful similarity to him were stopping him.

The longer he listened, the clearer the man’s true identity became. He couldn’t even imagine that this was how he found out.

The bell rang, announcing lunch break.

“C’mon, Jiho, let’s go eat.” The smaller guy was startled by the invitation but couldn’t refuse.

They were making their way through the line when Daniel spotted a chubby, short dude getting berated by the top dog, who was always wearing dark glasses.

“Jiho, you know him, right? Invite him to eat with us.” Jiho looked at him like he was a complete psycho, but once again, it was impossible to refuse the pretty eyes and handsome smile.

Now the three of them were sitting together, Daniel wedged in between the two ‘losers’, surrounded by whispers.

Suddenly, a cup banged on the table surface, clearly aimed at the table’s new member. Daniel kept his mouth shut but glared at the direction that the cup came from.

There sat Vin Jin, who noticed that the pretty boy was looking at him. To take his mind off the attention, he continued his attack on the poor boy.

“Get me some water.” Duke was about to move but was instantly stopped by a hand on his shoulder. A look from the fashion top dog made it clear that he was not to move.

“So you’re the transfer. You’re handsome, and I like that. Want to go out? For a smoke, I mean.” Now Daniel was the one flustered. He couldn’t understand the man. What exactly did he want from him? “You have a problem with me? What’s with that look?” He decided that the safest option was to just turn his eyes away from the bully.

Vin Jin continued to observe his victim when he noticed a deadly intent from behind the pretty boy. The prince of fashion was glaring at him through the bangs.

“Fill it yourself. Or is your hand broken?” Now Zack was attacking him; he swore they’re all trying to start something today.

“Hey, glasses, pick up your cup and throw it in the sink.” Vasco too?! Fuck him!!

Vin Jin stormed off, swearing into the distance.

“I know why you didn’t fight~”

“Shut up.” Not only was he getting pissed already, Mary Kim decided that it was not enough and came to piss him off even more.

She doesn’t know anything!

“Daniel, are you going to participate in the slave auction?” Daniel was half listening to the conversation, busy leading Vin Jin out of the cafeteria with his gaze, when he heard the question. He blanched and looked at Jiho, who looked up at him with cunning eyes.

“Nah, I’m not planning on it.”

“What!? Why!? You’d bring us a lot of profit!” The object of objectification gave Duke the stink eye.

“Please, just stop speaking. I just don’t like the thought of being sold off to some rando.”

“If not the slave auction, then are you going to perform?”

‘Me? Perform?’

The tall teenager was sweeping the floor when those words came back to his mind. I can try singing, no one is around to hear it anyway.

‘As the sun went down and darkened the class, I heard his voice. As the cool fall breeze blew in the empty room… it was like he was crying out to me with the space, the air, and the smell. I was not sure why his voice sounded so lonely even though he was a perfect guy… what we had in common…and why I felt empathy for him.'

‘Ah, no one heard me, right?’ The student was about to go back to sweeping when a new presence appeared.

“H…hi.” The short, fat guy shyly waved at him. “Let…let’s perform at the festival together.” Daniel was genuinely shocked. “I know it’s crazy, but I believe we can do it. I was wrong about you, I hear honesty in your voice.”

‘Are you kidding me?’

“Y…you must feel bad— that I’m capitalising on your popularity.”

‘How could we do that?’

“I’m confident in my rapping. We’ll blow them away, believe me.”

‘I see, it isn’t us. It’s me who’s pathetic.’

“Can we… can we really do it?”

-

‘Daniel Park. An elite combination of looks, height, and wealth. Right after transferring, he took out Zack Lee and is the hottest thing going at school. He can even sing, and this surprising guy… is at my house right now.’ Sweat was flowing off Duke’s forehead when he was opening the door for the incoming guest.

“Duke,” ‘Is he going to have a problem with my shabby house?’

“Yes?”

“Why are the lights on during the day? You’ll need to pay more unnecessarily.” Daniel caught him completely off guard by turning off the light. “Collect water and use it for laundry. First, use a tissue to wash oily dishes, not water.” ‘Daniel is actually—‘ “Put a brick in your toilet tank. Do the dishes with rice cleaning water.” ‘-much better brought up than I thought.’

Even though he didn’t really do any house chores—that job was appointed by Hyungseok to himself, these were the things that were beaten into him and the others by the unstoppable smallest son and mother duo.

“S-sorry.” ‘But why is he going around my house telling me how to live?’ Duke looked around to find something that’d distract the self-appointed house inspector. “Do you want to hear this? It’s a song I wrote.”

“Wow, you write songs?!” A bright smile appeared on Daniel’s face.

“Yeah, it’s, uhm, for the festival.” A blush spread on Duke’s cheeks while the melody played. “How do you like it? It’s still in the early stages, so it may not be good enough yet. After improving and mastering it, it will be a lot better, don’t worry-”

“Worry? Duke, this is amazing!”

-

Hyungseok was back at the convenience store. Lately, Daniel has been happier than he has ever seen him. Really, the decision to get him to that school was probably the best thing that they could have done.

He started humming a melody that Daniel had been busy memorising. It was actually quite catchy and fun. The student told them about his newest friend and what they do together after school. Hyungseok cannot wait to watch him sing with that friend of his; he is sure that the performance will be legendary.

He was startled out of his thoughts by the announcement of a client entering. It was the goddess-like lady again.

“Ah! Hello.” The lady did not answer, but he left it at that.

She brought over a box full of energy drinks. And an extra on top.

The cashier rang them. The girl got her box but left the extra on the counter. She turned around to leave.

“Excuse me, you forgot one.”

“No, that one is for you. A gift.”

Hyungseok was left speechless at the counter. Suddenly acutely aware of the cold breeze coming from the fan and the rumbling of the freezers. He led the woman out with his eyes until she entered a car where a man waited for her. His dark eyes made contact with his own, and it felt like the gaze pierced him straight through.

“You know him?”

“No, just a cashier. A really weird one at that.” Crystal looked at the unusually curious Gun.

“Why weird?”

“Well, whenever I see him, he has these mood swings and hangs out with a weird bunch. He also draws Diego… a lot. And I mean a lot.”

“Maybe he’s just easy to draw? Who knows, a lot of fans do this, and the mood swings are not that out of place, taking in the fact that he’s still probably a student and working through the night; of course, he’s tired.”

“That’s the thing. It is weird. He claims he doesn’t know who DG is, but he draws these complex images, and some of them…”

“Some of them what? Finish your sentences, princess.”

“Some of them… look like they’re drawn from memory... and I mean not from photos or videos… but memories.” An uncertain tone blanketed her words as she turned away to look at the passing twinkling buildings.

Crystal could not throw the small cashier out of her mind ever since she met him. A strange curiosity about that man was born in her that day. The drawings and the man’s character mismatched, and his emotions as curious as his relationships with both DG and the strange guy he was with that day.

“Crystal, would you say that the cashier is about 1.60 in height and with a particularly cute-looking face?” The addressee was startled by his sudden question. Gun’s concerned expression was a thing that baffled her even more.

“Whoah, Gun, is he some secret lover of yours that you lost in the past and are now desperately searching for?”

“Not mine. Crystal, answer the question.”

The woman wriggled her eyebrows; this intrigue wasn’t what she expected when she asked Gun to take her on a late-night ride. She turned her full body towards him like she was ready to spill some serious tea.

“Well, I guess yes, he was particularly short, definitely shorter than me, and I guess you could count his face as cute.” Crystal gauged Gun’s reaction. His hands on the wheel tightened; the handsome features morphed: his sharp eyebrows furrowed, his dark eyes darkened even more, seemingly focused on something in the distance.

The man clutched the wheel he was holding. “Did he seem suspicious to you at any point in time?” His serious tone was now genuinely concerning Crystal.

“Well, there was this one time where he was sitting there all beat up, and this very aggressive guy was, I guess, guarding him, at least he looked like it. He listened to the cashier’s every command. Although the same guy did try to get into a fight with him. But anyways, if he’s not yours, then whose?” Now Crystal needed to know.

Gun immediately hit the brakes when he heard her answer.

“Oh fuck... Sorry.” He apologised for the sudden stop but completely ignored her follow-up questions, and the rest of the ride went by in complete silence. Gun lost in his thoughts, and Crystal lost in her hypotheses.

The bell rang again. Two short guys came in.

Hey! He recognised one of them. It was the guy he was made to fight. Jiho was his name, maybe?

“Hello! Welcome back,” Hyungseok softly smiled at the two boys.

“Hey, uh— I’m sorry for hitting you.” ‘Straight to the point, I see.’

Jiho probably noticed his eyes drifting off to the other person in the shop. “I was too shy to come alone.”

‘Cute,’ Hyungseok thought.

“Do you want to talk outside?” He bought two cold coffee drinks, not without using his employee discount, and walked with them outside.

He didn’t have to wait long for them to start opening up. Jiho was first.

“I came to J-high because of my love for fashion, but I’ve met only bullies.” A small agreement sounded from Duke.

“I came because of my love for music, but it’s hard to fit in with all the handsome and pretty students.” Not long after all of them started sharing their traumatic stories, it was a weird but very effective way of bonding.

It was going well until Jiho pulled out a cigarette. He noticed Hyungseok looking at him because he offered him one. “You want one? I smoke when I’m sad.” The cashier could only cringe at the sight. Now he kind of gets why this guy was bullied.

“Anyways, it’s gotten better since this student, Daniel Park, transferred.” Hyungseok perked up at those words. “I have someone to eat with, and at some point, a bully named Zack not only stopped bullying me but also stopped others from doing anything to me.”

Hyungseok’s mind drifted off to the man that came into his shop and terrorised him. He was completely unsurprised that a guy like that put another poor soul through endless suffering. The conversation had now shifted completely towards the new transfer student, Hyungseok’s brother.

“I… I’m also prepping for the festival with Daniel and eating lunch with him…” The blush covering Duke spread from his ears to below his neck. “I thought he was a bully… but Daniel is actually really nice!!”

“Waaaah, guys...” The proud brother could only coo at the praise his brother was getting. “I’ll make sure to let him know that you appreciate him. He’ll be over the moon when he hears—

“

“Is what you said true?” The cigarette was snapped from Jiho’s lips and put out by fingers alone. The poor trio raised their heads and were met by an aggravated, gangster-looking man. When Hyungseok looked at the man longer, he realised that this was the man who had previously stopped his and Jiho’s ‘fight’.

“Daniel? Yeah, he invited us to eat.”

“And he had no choice but to fight Zack…”

“He doesn’t show off his strength.”

Continuous praises were sung about that handsome creature. Hyungseok felt his heart soften knowing that his cute brother had guys like these two backing him up.

And it seemed that not only his heart was softening up. Vasco’s expression changed into something unrecognisable. He stood there for a while before looking at the discussion’s target’s brother.

“Hey part-timer… you are not weak. You should work out.” Ouch, but okay.

After saying those words, he left…

…but not long after came back. This brute forgot to buy his milk.

-

Just like that, the day of the festival arrived.

Since Daniel had left earlier to help with preparations, only he, UI, and Crazy were left.

Hyungseok gathered his brothers in one spot like a shepherd to his sheep.

“Don’t move while I get ready.” A disgruntled huff came from Crazy but was calmed down by UI’s strong hand patting his back.

Hyungseok moved himself to the bathroom, to the only mirror in their house. He ignored the dark circles under his eyes from countless sleepless nights and started ruffling and twisting his hair to make it appear at least somewhat neater than usual.

His outfit consisted of an oversized silk designer blouse, a neat black jumper, and naturally oversized jeans (sadly, Jay didn’t take into consideration that one of the brothers was significantly smaller than the others). (To be fair, it was only for Daniel at first, but all of the brothers made use of the new clothes.)

Crazy went with his favourite blue and white shirt and a pair of black pants. Honestly, he didn’t put any effort in, but it still looked chic and sleek.

UI sported his usual white shirt that framed his shoulders perfectly and fitting black jeans.

They were only going there to support Daniel, so neither of them bothered to bring any money.

The school was swarmed with students and not just from J-high. Different coloured uniforms danced around the tents that offered different things to buy in each one.

Crazy’s attention was caught by the architecture department’s tent. The arm wrestle entrance fee was 5,000 won, but if you won, you’d get 20,000. He looked at Hyungseok with pleading eyes; now he regretted not bringing any extra. He looked in his wallet and saw his precious 5,000 won bill. He took it and showed it to Crazy, who looked at the bill with a complex gaze.

“You can use this, but when you win, ask for this bill back, okay?” Hyungseok urged Crazy to take the money; he trusted that there was no way that he’d lose against some random guy.

He hesitantly took it and started approaching the stall when, right before his eyes, they started packing up and changed from arm wrestling to water balloon targets.

“Weirdos… whatever, it’s not like I wanted to win against him that badly.” Crazy rolled his eyes and pocketed the 5,000 won while sulking and turned around to get back to his brothers. What he didn’t know was that in the distance, in the water-balloon station, a certain big-eared man sighed in relief watching him retreat.

When he came back, an extra had joined his two brothers. A tall, well-built, dark-haired man in an untasteful yellow shirt. In all honesty, the man looked like a clown, but an aggressive one judging by the sly smirk he was wearing. That made Crazy raise his guard while he made his way towards the trio.

And he was not the only one, as at the same time, an elegant woman approached them too. She made eye contact with him; recognition and surprise lit her eyes, but she immediately turned away.

Both of them approached the group at approximately the same time. The man with the hideous suit and sunglasses welcomed the woman into the circle that they formed but blocked the incoming Crazy, which irked him.

It didn’t take long for him to be accepted into the circle too as Hyungseok and UI made space for him. He just stood there, and he could still feel the man, who he learned was named Gun, glaring at him through the glasses. He genuinely didn’t understand what the guy’s problem was!

“Well, Seokie-“

“I told you not to call me that.” A sound akin to a whine came from that clown.

“But Jihoo-“ a punch flew at Gun’s jaw. He barely managed to move in time so that the impact hit his skull instead.

“Don’t talk about that asshole.”

“Don’t call him an asshole.”

“Hyungseok- ugh fine. A piece of shit traitor.”

“Crazy.”

“Sorry… a man who was destined to die alone could not suffer by himself, so he dragged others along and made them suffer twice as much.” UI went unnoticed on the side when he nodded his head in agreement.

A sigh escaped from deep within Hyungseok. He knew he couldn’t change how his brothers viewed Jihoon, but they at least could hold their curses for when he wasn’t around to hear them.

“I sense some feelings of animosity. Seok-… Hyungseok, let us talk in private; is there anything that caught your eye in here?”

“You’re crazy if you think I’ll let him go with you.” Crazy grabbed Hyungseok by his arm and pushed him behind. He glared at Gun until he felt a careful hand press against his back. He looked behind to see his agitated brother sprouting a contemplative expression.

“Let me go.” Hyungseok looked at his brother’s confused eyes. “We need to talk.”

They walked around the stalls. Once Hyungseok looked at something, it was immediately bought. He felt weird being spoiled like that, but he was in no position to object. The lack of conversation was killing him; he could no longer keep silent, he needed to ask him for what he came for.

“About Jihoon…” his voice cracked, he started but could not finish, he felt like an itchy ball of hair was stuck in his throat stopping him from speaking.

“I just wanted you to know, be careful.” Gun was looking at him with the most serious face that Hyungseok had probably received in his entire life. “If anyone learns of your connection with him, you are going to be used. It’s best if you don’t search for him… don’t bother missing him either. It will only end up hurting you.”

“I don’t mind hurting if it means I can be close to him.”

“You fool.” Gun sighed and massaged his forehead where he was sure that wrinkles started to appear.

-

“He was sold for how much?!”

“7 million…”

Secretly, Hyungseok couldn’t be prouder; his lovely brother was not worth any less.

“Sad you missed him again, but the talent show is about to start, so we’ll see him pretty soon.” The brothers couldn’t be more ecstatic to finally see their brother on stage.

Daniel couldn’t be more nervous to go on stage. Jay had prepared matching outfits for him and Duke. They looked pretty fly if he said so himself!

After Voice dept. performance, he felt his knees quiver. He almost lost hope when he saw Duke fearlessly approaching the spotlight. His legs started moving forward by themselves, following in Jihoon’s Duke’s footsteps.

When he entered the spotlight, his friends’ faces morphed with the crowd. His sight became blurry, and his fingers felt numb. The buzzing in his ears was interrupted by the sound of music. When he heard his cue, he tried to sing what he had practised, but only a strangled sound escaped him. He felt the crowd’s disappointment even through his unseeing gaze and the erupting laughter.

With the sound of Duke starting his rap verse, a memory of him asking Duke how he deals with stage fright came to him.

“Imagine that you are singing to someone you love.”

‘Someone I love?’ The image of his smiling brothers and mother came to his mind.

The blurry crowd became the background as he imagined only his brothers as he heard his second cue.

The strangled voice was replaced by that of an angel. The duo sent the crowd through a roller coaster of emotions with their performance.

Hyungseok clapped the loudest out of the group during the song. He even took Crazy’s hands in his to clap along to the rhythm. Crazy felt his face heating up, but Hyungseok looked so happy that he just let him.

When the performance ended, the hyped-up brother would like to believe that he was the one shouting the loudest; he even managed to climb on UI’s shoulders to get a better view. Either way, it didn’t matter as when Daniel was leaving the stage, the brother met him with a cracking voice and a sore throat. Hyungseok didn’t want to let him go from the hug that he was holding the performer in; of course, Duke was also not spared from his endless praises. To everyone around, Hyungseok seemed like the biggest fan anyone could ever have.

But eventually, the fanboying needed to stop when a middle-aged man adorning a designer suit and fancy glasses approached them.

“You’re the kid who came to the audition last time, right?” Duke lit up from excitement. “You were pretty good; sorry about before. Here’s my personal contact info.”

“Oh, thanks.” Duke reached out his hands to receive the card.

“Please contact me, Daniel.” The man didn’t even look at Duke. He passed him by like he was less than human.

“Daniel?” Hyungseok looked at Daniel while still clinging to his arm, but he received a just as confused glance from him.

“What about Duke?” Daniel looked at the man who was now holding his hand.

“What’s a Duke?” Hyungseok and Daniel blanched at the question.

“The guy you just met.”

“Oh, him? He’s good, but he’s not fit for the entertainment world. How could he ever make it to this field? Don’t blame me; the public’s cold-hearted.” At those words, Hyungseok noticed the same pitiful tears that he once shed turn up in Duke’s eyes. All he could offer him was a comforting hand on the shoulder, but it was quickly shaken off. Duke didn’t want pity; he wanted to show the world what he could do, share his feelings, and make them understand. No matter how he looked.

“Anyways, Daniel, let’s talk about you immediately signing the contract. I’ll support you in any way I can.” The possibility of money piqued not only Daniel’s interest but also the rest of the brothers.

“Do I receive a salary?” Hyungseok patted Daniel’s back in a proud manner, like he was praising him for asking the right questions.

“As a trainee? No.”

“Then I won’t sign.”

“Fine, I can do a down payment - 13.5 million won.”

“How long does the contract last?”

“Geez, seven years, for you? I’ll give five.”

“That’s a bit less than 1.3 million per year, about 112 thousand per month.” Hyungseok supplied.

“Sorry, but I still need to pay my living expenses.”

At some point, Duke had disappeared without anyone noticing.

——————/——————/——————

“He’s pretty good, no?” The assistant turned off the video she was showing.

“Get him in. Agree to everything he asks for, no matter the price. If he asks for something outrageous, doesn’t matter, agree. I’ll cover everything.” The idol clasped his hands, a small smile adorning him. If there is any chance that his world will be brightened once again with his presence, he’s ready to pay any price he has to.

Chapter Text

Daniel was so screwed.

All of them were pretty screwed.

All their money was gone. Whatever leftover money Hyungseok had saved up was put in a box under the sink. Now? There was an empty spot between a bottle of bleach, rubber gloves, and an opened pack of sponges.

One could find Hyungseok curled up in the furthest corner from the crime scene, trying his best not to spiral. Daniel was sitting in front of the empty cabinet, looking like he was meditating, but actually was panicking just as much as, if not more than, Hyungseok. You could practically see steam rising from his ears as his brain was working overtime to think of ways to get out of this unexpected misfortune.

„What is this mess?“ The door opened, and the newcomer didn’t waste any time to start interrogating the two hysterics marinating on the floor.

„It’s gone… everything is gone.“ It sounded as though Hyungseok was talking more with himself than anyone else in the room, but his words were still heard, loud and clear.

Immediately, a foreboding feeling took place in Crazy’s chest. Now he observed the situation more carefully. The main clue to his brothers’ despair could be found under the sink, or more accurately, what couldn’t be found.

„That’s fine, it’s fine. Let’s not worry too much.“ His voice sounded way too relaxed in the duo’s opinion.

„What do you mean ‚it’s fine’? Does this look fine to you in the slightest?!“ Daniel lashed out at his brother, the silent sobbing in the corner turned into loud cries.

„Let’s not fight, alright? I should’ve told you sooner, but I— we have some extra cash—.“ Now Crazy was dying to diffuse the two different sides of the despair spectrum presented in front of him. At his words, both of the brothers fell unbearably silent. He hoped it was because of regained hope and not due to the seeds of distrust he had sown with his words.

„Show us.“ Apparently, Daniel decided it wasn’t time for a well-deserved questioning that might or might not deepen the cracks in their relationship even more. His voice lacked any sort of emotion, which, in all honesty, disturbed Crazy way more than their previous display of overwhelming emotion.

There aren’t many places in their humble house to hide anything really, so Hyungseok let himself be surprised as his teary eyes followed his two brothers into the bathroom. His surprise quickly changed into concern as a resounding slap escaped through the now-closed bathroom door. He abandoned the heavy feeling that was anchoring him to the ground until this moment and forced himself to get up and go check on the two.

Hyungseok opened the door and frowned. Inside the small room, piles of cash lay on the cold tile floor.

„What is this…?“ Hyungseok asked, but apparently, his new presence wasn’t even noticed as neither of them bothered to answer him or even look at him.

„Why would you do this to us?! To him?!“ Okay, so he was noticed, Hyungseok sighed as a finger was pointed at him in anger, but the anger wasn’t directed at him, no, Daniel’s anger was directed towards Crazy, who was now holding an empty duffle bag leftover from Jay’s birthday visit.

„You wouldn’t want this money. I thought I would never have to show it, nevertheless, use it…“ Was that guilt in his voice? Hyungseok let out a dry chuckle as, until this point, he was half convinced the shameless man was incapable of feeling such emotion.

„Do you know what this money could’ve done for us?! We could’ve put Hyungseok in school with me!“ Daniel’s voice cracked as he yelled, the betrayal it exuded was palpable in the air.

„No, he was right to hide it.“ At that cold voice, both of their attention turned to the main subject of their argument. They could swear the temperature dropped at least a few degrees the moment Hyungseok spoke, even despite how calm, borderline happy, his voice sounded. „It’s dirty money. Either way, I would’ve made him give it back—or get rid of it and out of my sight as soon as possible.“ Hyungseok stopped in the middle of his sentence to correct himself.

„How did you—…“ Daniel started asking, but decided against it. The victim of the yelling match just stayed silent, either from the shame or because he decided it was the smarter thing to do—none of them, except the man himself, knew.

„You’re not going to ask where it’s from?“ Daniel asked carefully, not trying to cause any more disagreements or shouting than there already was.

Hyungseok scoffed coldly and turned to leave. „I won’t. I don’t want to hate him.“ He was about to take a step when the sound of knees hitting the ground and cash fluttering in their way slashed through the thick atmosphere.

„What do you think you’re doing?“ Both Daniel and Hyungseok’s voices doubled as they both reacted at the same time. Crazy was now on the ground, prostrating himself for the duo who were now both frowning and stood above like deities openly judging his actions.

„Please, just use my money, I’m begging you.“ The brothers didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this sorry sight. Daniel was about to agree and just take the money, but he was stopped by an angry look from their little Hyungseok.

„And why should we do that?“ Now Daniel was ready to jump to the other side and fight with Crazy against their, apparently even crazier, brother.

„What do you mean why? We need the money-.“

„Because I’m useless.“ Daniel was rudely interrupted by a quiet voice, but he let it slide this time, purely due to the shock factor those words held. And if the world seemed to freeze for a minute because of them, that was for the brothers to keep.

No one said anything for a good few moments, and in those moments, it felt like the four walls decided to start closing in, and the temperature kept dropping even more.

„Who has ever said that you’re useless?“ Hyungseok was now seething. The two brothers couldn’t help but flinch. They doubted they had ever seen such anger coming from the small boy in their entire lives. „Stop annoying me and get up.“ The reaction was immediate. Crazy almost jumped from his kneeling position and stood up straight, like a soldier waiting for his dictator to say the word and go off to war. The small dictator decided to ignore this weird show of respect, or whatever this was, and approached Crazy until his nose was almost touching the other’s chest.

„You’re hopeless…“ Hyungseok sighed and wrapped his arms around the wider torso. „It’s only the start of the month, and they let us wait till the end of it when we must pay everything. And until that moment comes, I believe we can make something work.“

Crazy managed to relax in the smaller’s arms, but yelped and straightened up again when he was pinched on his side.

„And we won’t use any of this money.“

Daniel wanted to ask why Hyungseok would torture not only them (deserved) but also himself (undeserved) like this, when there was an easy way out right under their noses, literally, but quickly shut up when he realised fighting with the little dictator’s wishes was useless.

———

„What am I even doing here?“ Hyungseok cried to himself internally.

„Are you coming?“

‚That’s right… I’m here to support Duke.‘

After Jiho’s and Duke’s visit to his workplace, combined with Duke’s performance with Daniel, the two boys found themselves growing quite close. And that’s exactly what now brought the second Park brother into Duke’s humble home.

„Is the camera on already?“ Hyungseok approached the filming area. He wasn’t keen on showing himself, but he also didn’t want Duke to face the big, wide net alone, so in a moment of bravery, he plopped down on the seat next to the short guy. Actually, Duke wasn’t that short, maybe just a few centimetres shorter than the other, but Hyungseok’s proud heart let himself enjoy that small superiority, which he didn’t even get the chance to feel often.

„Yeah, it is. We already have a few viewers!“ Hyungseok couldn’t hold back his smile seeing the other so excited. He observed Duke, his eyes not leaving the sparkling eyes until they slowly dulled—wait, dulled? Now his gaze left his friend’s face and glanced at where he was looking. The comments.

The comments they received were mixed. The few people that were watching didn’t shy away from making mean comments about their looks, Duke’s looks to be exact, but the comments about Hyungseok weren’t any better. They accused him of using Duke as his piggy bank and for bullying the poor boy. He blanched at the harrowing words directed against both of them.

„Is everyone on this app so mean?“ He asked Duke, who he assumed was more experienced in this field.

„Yeah, this is pretty normal if you’re not prostituting yourself, but even then these kinds of comments are pretty common….“ Hyungseok’s jaw fell open at those words. When he looked at Duke, his eyes held a lot of worry for the other boy.

„Why would you do this to yourself then?“ He asked curiously, but to outsiders’ ears it sounded more like clingy whining, which invited even more unwanted reactions from the viewers.

Duke didn’t answer at first, but then a celebratory ding rang from the computer.

„That…“ He pointed at the incoming message which was read aloud by a robotic voice. „If he prostituted himself, he’d definitely get more than comments, let me know when he starts his own stream without this other loser.“ Accompanying the message came the notification of the first 500 balloons received on this account!

„What about this makes you want to be a streamer?“ Hyungseok could barely hide his disgust as his perception of Duke was slowly starting to transform. Thankfully, his wandering mind was stopped with Duke’s next words.

„Those comments just made me 70 thousand won.“ Duke said matter-of-factly without breaking his gaze away from the screen.

„Seventy thousand?!“ Hyungseok turned comically slow from Duke to the screen. His wide-eyed, slack-jawed face now took up more than half the screen. That amount of money one could get for just sitting in front of the camera for a few minutes was mind-boggling. Hyungseok’s brain stopped working at the prospect of all the money he could possibly make if he started streaming between returning from one job and going to another.

„Well, kinda, yeah, the site takes forty percent though and you can only take it out after you reach a thousand balloons.“ The 15 viewers plus Duke could see the gears in the boy’s petite head turning.

„That’s still— yeah, that’s still a lot.“ A newfound shimmer could be found in those previously dark doe eyes.

„So I guess we can wait for a new beauty among the prostitutes.“ Both of the boys ignored the creepy comment, but the target of it subconsciously nodded in agreement, still lost among the numbers in his head.

Now it was Duke’s turn to look at the other boy. He couldn’t help the bad feeling, akin to fear, beginning to gnaw at his chest, begging to be let out, but Duke did his best to snuff it out. The only thing that could’ve revealed his inner turmoil was the heavy crease taking its rightful place between his eyebrows.

The stream passed uneventfully after that. After the explicit donation, they only received 100 more balloons, which neither of them complained about. They had already decided that the 500 balloon incident was a one-time thing and would most likely not repeat itself.

——

Daniel felt something was off.

Hyungseok has been running off all the time to go hang out with Duke. He wasn’t against it per se, but he just felt something ominous brewing in the background. Hyungseok had told him something streaming, something money, something this and that, but he was lost in his thoughts, his mind unable to escape all the worst scenarios it could possibly make up.

Today, Doo had decided to show them his secret way of making quick money. Daniel wasn’t interested at first, but once he heard the word streaming, his interest was immediately grabbed.

To call what he saw disgusting was an understatement. Doo had made a fool of himself just for some extra cash. Yes, the money was alright, if he guessed from the influx of smoking cartons under Zack’s desk, but what was the point?

„Why would you do this to yourself?“ Daniel could not hold back his curiosity and finally dropped the question. Next to him, Zack and the rest of the goons nodded in agreement. All of them were standing in Doo’s messy, and quite frankly, vile room. There were brown stains all along the walls, and cracked eggs were forming a disgusting, slimy texture on the ground.

„Why? Well, the money is fucking good!“ Doo drawled out his words as a raw egg slid down the side of his face.

„Really? How good could it be?“ Now, Zack added in his own two cents into this spontaneous Q&A.

„Me acting like this got me 200k!! You can’t blame me for not caring about how stupid this makes me look!“ The half-naked streamer laughed, and Daniel couldn’t help but think that this was how a total madman looked like. He felt like there was no hope to retrieve Doo’s lost mind from the clutches of greed.

At those words, quick gasps of surprise could be heard from the others, but Daniel was long gone, lost in making sense of the world. That’s when the memory of Hyungseok speaking about exactly this crossed his mind. He knew Duke was streaming, and he trusted him to keep it normal, but if his little brother was doing anything even remotely similar to the scene that played out in front of his eyes, then he had to put a stop to it immediately.

He ignored his classmates’—slash—friends’ yells and ran out of the apartment building. He ran towards where he knew Duke lived, which was thankfully not that far from here, and soon enough Duke’s front door was smashed open by the fashion department’s top dog. The short boy jumped out of his skin at the unexpected intruder, but once he saw who it was, managed to calm himself down enough to start asking questions, or answering them apparently…

„Is Hyungseok with you?!“ Duke couldn’t be more startled than he already was, so he just stuck to giving the intruder everything that he asked for.

„No, but he should be coming pretty soon… we’re supposed to stream together.“ He subtly turned his head in the direction of where the computer sat open; the treacherous device showed both the scared shitless homeowner and rapper, and the seething and sweating newcomer. On the video, there was an influx of comments, and a constant dinging of gifted balloons rang through the now silent room.

„Why do you want Hyungseok? Did he do something?“ Now, additionally to the never-stopping comments about the new handsome addition to the stream, there was the new wave of comments about a secret romance between this domineering tyrant and the cute and soft teenager they grew to know and love. But those comments went unnoticed by the two men as one of them looked emptily through the computer, and the other was biting his nails at the threat of something very bad happening if Hyungseok didn’t get his ass here and quickly.

„Are you streaming?“ ‘Okay, ignore me then.’ Duke sighed internally. At least Daniel sounded calmer now, but his face still held many difficult and fear-inducing emotions.

„Yeah, I am. I decided to start a bit earlier so Hyungseok wouldn’t waste any time.“ The atmosphere in the room shifted; the way Daniel’s fist clenched was subtle, but easily noticeable by the veins popping out to a more perceptive eye.

„Waste time to do what?“ ‘What could he possibly be thinking?‘ A sweat drop ran down Duke’s temple; he never expected the school’s local nice guy to ever have such an aggressive reaction to absolutely nothing. ‘Did Hyungseok do something and Daniel is here to get his revenge? But what could be so urgent to barge into my house? They’ll see each other soon either way, they sleep in the same house after all…‘

„Byebye guys~“ All the attention immediately shifted to the new voice that rang outside the door. It was muffled, but the honeyed undertone made it clear who it belonged to. Duke sighed in relief for he believed his saviour had come. The camera caught Daniel physically forcing himself to swallow all the unwanted emotions and steel his face into the handsome and calm version of it that everyone was so used to. And the chat was reeling with intrigue; more and more people were joining and a notification for the first two thousand viewers on stream popped up, but it was ignored in favour of watching the door that was opening way too slowly for anyone’s patience.

When Hyungseok ended his personal livestream and opened the door to enter the stream he had planned out with Duke, he wasn’t expecting his dear brother to be standing there. The handsome figure looked like it was photoshopped into the shabby environment, but Hyungseok didn’t pay it much mind, already used to similar views.

„Oh? Daniel, what are you doing here?“ The small boy practically skipped towards the older man. „Are you here to join me and Duke?“ The named man felt cold sweat gathering on his back as he heard the sugary sweet way with which his name left the beauty’s tongue.

„I-.“ He couldn’t even start speaking before he was hastily dragged to sit in a chair next to Duke’s. Hyungseok ignored the stunned silence and started checking if everything was in place, especially Daniel’s face. He took it into his hands and started squishing it and pulling it in all eight directions before finally deciding it was enough and nodding in content. Then out of nowhere he took anti-oil patches and started dabbing at his forehead, on which the leftover sweat droplets still hadn’t dried up. All this sweetness left for the hungry eyes behind the camera to see.

„Oh, are you already filming?“ Hyungseok perked up as he noticed the live footage on the screen and the flood of comments bombarding their usually quiet stream. „Sorry I didn’t notice you before, sweeties, I was a bit busy as you might have noticed.“ The onslaught had stopped for a moment while he was speaking, but after he was done it became two times worse, or better? Definitely better, the two streamers simultaneously agreed when the constant dinging of gifted balloons picked up too.

„There are so many of you today, most of you must be new, so let me introduce you to the people here!“ Duke might be the main talent of this chatroom, but it was definitely Hyungseok’s looks and character that carried them through most days.

Some might say the boy was stealing the spotlight, but Duke couldn’t even be mad. Hyungseok looked and acted like every viewer was his best friend. If Duke didn’t know better, he might’ve even thought that the money was an afterthought for the cunning beauty and he was genuinely there just to socialise. But Duke did know better, the way Hyungseok’s pretty eyes grew darker after a bad day of donations, the way his eyes lit up just a bit more with every ding of an incoming balloon, and the way he would tell Duke how he would spend the money from the stream, never on himself. Duke had noticed after the first few times.

„This is Duke, the main star of the show~“ During the impromptu introduction, he felt like he was constantly being stabbed by two cold needles stalking him from behind. Also, the way Hyungseok leaned in and initiated skin contact between the two really didn’t help the promise of keeping his head on his shoulders after the camera is off.

„And this is Daniel, my brother, also the guy who performed with our dear Duke in the famous performance~!“ As the boy’s attention lifted off the rapper, he could finally sigh a breath of relief. He also noticed the disappointment in the comments when Daniel was introduced as his brother and not something else. Of course, there were a few weirder comments that weren’t bothered by the fantasised couple’s blood connection, but Duke decided to ignore it for his own sanity.

„And I’m Hyungseok, your cutest and loveliest host~“ Daniel never imagined, okay, maybe he did, never believed the day would come when he would see his brother doing aegyo on camera for thousands of people to see. He swore he could see a bunch of little bouncy hearts flying out of his pretty mouth as he spoke. ‚Cute‘

And naturally, Daniel wasn’t the only one who thought that as hundreds of balloons came flooding in.

„Thank you everyone for the donations~ All of you are amazing, because of you I’ll have very sweet dreams tonight!“ Daniel wanted to look disgusted at the over-the-top acting, but this charm was clearly working as his imagined look of disgust was replaced by a loopy smile. The handsome guy was also not the only one affected as the sweet sound of dinging filled the room.

„Now let’s give all our love to our deserving Duke! Everyone clap!“ The newcomer was a bit confused about how that would happen, but as always, the little dictator got his way as the screen started filling with clapping animations. Daniel laughed quietly to himself and was stupefied when a bunch of donations came mentioning his name.

A beat started playing from the speakers, and Duke finally found himself again. It seemed like Hyungseok was floating around the room as he listened to the music and to the ever-changing lyrics of Duke’s songs. He proudly exclaimed his love for each version, but wasn’t afraid to butt in and give his own two cents.

It was also worth mentioning that with every action or inaction, Daniel kept receiving donations. It didn’t matter what was happening as long as Daniel was looking at the camera, the donations were coming in.

There were two main perpetrators of these never-ending donations; it seemed like they were in their own kind of battle of who was willing to give the poor boy(s) more. Finally, a winner was clear with more than ten thousand balloons donated, which baffled two of the boys after they did the maths.

„Go thank them~“ Daniel startled as a voice whispered softly in his ear. He would’ve believed it even sounded a bit sultry if it wasn’t his brother who leaned over him from behind. After Hyungseok received a confused look, he decided it would be useful to elaborate.

„They clearly like you; you wouldn’t want them to feel neglected after they dropped such money on you, would you?“ What was going on? And why was his dear Hyungseokie speaking to him like a little devil on his shoulder? But he decided it was better to listen to him; after all, his little brother seemed way more experienced in this than Daniel could ever wish to be.

After the donation war, the chat seemed to calm down a bit, definitely way less dinging. Maybe the others were intimidated by the huge amounts that were dropped carelessly in this stream that no more than a hundred people knew about until the last hour. To liven up the atmosphere, Hyungseok thought up the amazing idea of making the singer-rapper duo perform their festival song again.

He happily clapped his hands like a seal when everyone came on board with the idea. After a bit of balloon encouragement and a few rounds of remembering how the song went, the amazing song graced the ears of hundreds of people again. This time it sounded different, less forced; the subtle change brought tears to Hyungseok’s eyes as he hugged the rapper from behind and rubbed his soft cheek on the top of his head.

The dissatisfied grunt that came from Daniel at the weird show of affection was overshadowed by a message accompanying a huge donation. „Get off of him.“

Duke did a double take at the donation—fifty thousand balloons?! That’s more than double of what the handsome beast received from his admirers. He blanched at the prospect of someone, who had this much money lying around to drop it like it was nothing on his chatroom that was nothing, watching him. Now he felt triple the pressure, one from the back, one from the thousands of anonymous eyes, plus one extra beast observing him through the screen, and the physical pressure on top of him that seemed to have no plans to let up.

“Hyungseok, listen to the rich viewer and let me go…“ Duke tried pleading with the clingy rabbit. The prospect of losing such a heavy-paying viewer didn’t scare him as much as the threat of losing his life looming behind him. The constant sound of thousands of balloon donations urging Hyungseok to act was also a nice little stress factor to add to the causes of Duke’s rapidly greying hair.

“No.“ The rabbit said simply, leaving no room for arguing. “Are you jealous~“ Hyungseok now addressed the camera directly. It seemed like this wasn’t the first time he was dealing with the secret viewer. Duke looked in amazement as the numbers quickly piled up. ‘Where did Hyungseok find such a person?‘

Finally, after the donations reached an additional twenty thousand, Duke was let go from the cosy prison. Hyungseok shot up and gleefully approached the camera, which was stationed above the computer, and bent down to blow a kiss with a wink as a cherry on top.

“Thank you sweetie~“ The honeyed voice sounded like music to everyone’s ears. Who needed dessert when Hyungseok was right there?

They let the little dictator absorb all the attention he was getting, but when Daniel noticed his brother’s shirt hanging a tad too low, he grabbed him and yanked him back to finally take a seat. Weirdly enough, the secret admirer had similar thoughts as another big donation dinged with the message ‘Back up.’ at the exact same time the student had decided to act.

“You need to sit down and calm down.“ Daniel felt uneasy that he was agreeing with a maybe-creep that hid behind copious amounts of money and the screen.

“Well, I guess we’ll end the stream here, thanks for coming and definitely thanks for all the donations.“ Duke was the one to end the stream as Daniel was trapping the sulking Hyungseok in a makeshift chair prison.

After the chatroom camera finally shut off, all three streamers let themselves marinate in the silence for a while before Duke couldn’t force himself to hold it in anymore.

„The stats are fucking crazy! We made over 90k!“ 90 thousand balloons that is, and then you subtract one zero—that’s how many dollars they’re worth. The app shaves off forty percent, which leaves them with five thousand four hundred dollars, which is „7.5 million won…“

„What?“ Hyungseok’s soft voice rang through Duke’s unhearing ears.

„If we split it three ways, rounding it up to your advantage—you two walk away with five million won.“ After his mental calculations were done, he couldn’t help but slump back in his chair in pure shock. Slowly, he turned his head towards the two powerhouses that, for some reason, bother to hang out with a loser like him.

To add to his shock, the other two didn’t seem that surprised. They were definitely surprised, don’t get him wrong, but not as surprised as someone in their financial situation should be, especially with that amount. Were they already secretly rich or what?? Duke wanted to cry from the sudden wave of confusion that was now attacking him.

The two subjects of his wavering emotions appeared to be in a battle of their own. A long and treacherous one at that, one that seemed to have started way before any of them entered this humble territory. Finally, with a long and heavy sigh, the unstoppable soldier yielded to his unbending dictator.

„I guess we can at least go get a treat with all this money…“

„I want velvet cake!!“ The smaller of the two immediately declared and jumped on the other’s back as if he were a horse to ride into battle. The brother—now-turned-horse—just sighed and waved the stunned homeowner goodbye. As they were going out the door, Hyungseok also happily bid him goodbye; all the tension seemed gone from the duo.

Duke refused to believe their harsh, yet wordless disagreement was about cakes or desserts, but who was he to pry? He sank into his well-used chair as he glanced at the never-before-seen numbers in his statistics chart on the screen and then back at the door, which was now freshly closed.

„Absolute monsters, those two…“ He sighed and moved to shut down the app before the name of his (read Hyungseok’s) top donor caught his eyes: ‚Themoon_misses_hisearth‘. A deep sigh escaped his lungs. „Make that three...“

——————/——————/——————

„Why is he still not signed?“ He tried reeling in his anger, but he could feel it starting to bubble over. He had never been so close yet so far away at the same time.

„Sir, his requests were impossible to fulfil.“ The voice answering was fearful. She had worked here for years and knew better than to offend him, so she had always tried her best not to stand in his way. A mission which she, for the first time in her career, had failed.

„What did I tell you?“ He swore someone was about to suffer. Naturally, he preferred it was himself, but with how everyone seemed keen on ignoring his words lately, he couldn’t promise anything.

„To grant his every demand—“ She could feel his next words in her bones, so she quickly cut in to try to salvage the situation. „-but sir, besides the monetary demands which you greenlit, there was one more…“ She dared look at the threatening man, the raised eyebrow on his handsome face was a clear sign for her to continue. „He asked if he could smash your face in if he signed…“ She sighed in relief as she finally managed to explain herself, but a heavy sound, akin to a growl, ringing through her entire body stopped her from celebrating.

„So?“ She paled at his one-worded accusation-slash-question. ‚What do you mean so?! Your face is all we have!‘ She wanted to scream at him but held back. It wasn’t her place to tell him anything.

„I told you to agree with all of his conditions.“ The intense voice promised violence if the teenager didn’t show up at his doorstep soon.

„Yes, sir.“ She bowed as fast and as respectfully as she could and ran away from the career-ending threat of a man.

The idol couldn’t help but chuckle. ‚So the stars have figured out my face, but the Earth still hasn’t?‘

His mood immediately lit up as he opened the daily stream only to see his Earth clinging to some defaced meteor.