'Ah,' Jungwon groaned, stretching his feet as he got up from the couch. He carried his backpack with him to the entrance and hooked the strap of his bag on one of the pegs which held umbrellas and coats. It looked sloppy and it seemed like his bag could fall any moment, but Jungwon couldn't have cared less. He just wanted a place to hang it. He returned back to the living room, only to find his space occupied by Nishimura Riki. The jet black haired Japanese boy shrugged. 'You went away. This place is mine now, hyung.' Jungwon sighed, looking around to see if there was some place to sit on the couch. But there was none.

'Jungwon-ah,' Sunoo hyung said, scooting over and trying to make some space between him and Sunghoon hyung. 'Come here,' he said, waving his hand. Jungwon smiled. 'It's fine hyung,' he said. His didn't really care about Riki taking his spot. His favorite place to sit in Jay hyung's living room was anyway vacant.

'I'm gonna sit here,' he chuckled and spread his weight comfortably on Jay's lap. Jungwon could feel Jay smiling at him and running his hands through his wavy hair. Jungwon's favorite place to sit was his favorite hyung's lap.

Jungwon felt Jay hyung's fingers intertwining infront of his belly, holding his body back. 'We all literally live in Seoul. We should meet up more often. It's been a long time since we last saw each other,' Jay hyung said. His voice boomed in Jungwon's ears due to their proximity to his mouth. 'Ah hyung,' he rubbed his ears. 'Oops,' Jay hyung flashed him an apologetic smile and ruffled his hair. 'Agreed,' Sunghoon hyung chimed in. 'We all just got so caught up in our own lives last year that we barely contacted each other and met like this.' 'Uhm hyung? What are you all talking about?,' Jungwon frowned. They all looked at him. 'What?,' Sunoo hyung looked at him.

'We literally met four days ago,' he lifted his arms. They all looked at him bleakly. 'Come on? Jake hyung's eomma's funeral?,' he said emphatically. The room which was filled with giggles and hugs a few moments ago was now drenched in uncomfortable silence.

'We all know that, Jungwon,' Jay whispered in his ear.   

'Then why are we acting like we haven't seen each other in a year? Speaking of which, how are you holding up, Jake hyung?', he blurted out. Jungwon noticed Jake shift uneasily on the couch.  'It must've been tough for you,' he smiled sympathetically. Jake smiled through gritted teeth. 'I'm completely fine Jungwon, don't worry about me.' 'How can I not hyung? You looked pathetic that day. You were s-'
'I really wanted to tell you guys something!,' Sunoo hyung said chirpily. Everyone looked at him, completely disregarding the fact that Jungwon had just been interrupted. 'Ah-', he tried to speak again. 'Guess who's debuting as a singer in a couple of years?,' Sunoo pointed to himself while smiling brightly.

'Waah...You signed a contract with an entertainment agency? That's so cool hyung!,' Riki gaped in admiration and slapped his back, loud enough to produce an echo in the hall. 'Yah Riki,' he pouted. 'Sorry hyung,' he rubbed his back gently and giggled. 'I'm so happy for you,' Jake hyung smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder.  'Uri rising star,' Heeseung hyung made a dramatic gesture, replicating MCs at variety shows and clapped. 'Whoo,' Sunghoon joined in. 'Sunoo was born to become a celebrity,' he put an arm around Sunoo. 'Yah you need to throw a party for us now,' Jay hyung winked at him. 'Congrats hyung,' Jungwon smiled. 'Are you gonna debut as an idol?' 'Nope,' Sunoo shook his head.

'As a singer-songwriter. I signed a contract with DN Entertainment. Look,' Sunoo smiled proudly as he showed a picture of the contract in his phone. 'Damn hyung you have a picture for everything,' Jungwon sneered. Riki snorted.
Sunoo curled his upper lip into a sulk as a response.
'You three,' Jay sighed. 'When will you ever stop bickering?'

The rest of the hyungs started laughing. 'Bickering is their birth right Jay,' Heeseung said, his laughter making it difficult to force the words out. 'Hyung?,' Jungwon looked at Jake again. 'Did you get to know how eommoni died?,' he squinted his eyes.
Once again, the scent of silence filled the air. It appeared to suffocate Jake. With much difficulty, he made eye contact with him. 'No,' he said. It was a curt tone, and if Jungwon was not caught up in his curiosity he would have probably noticed that this was his cue to not ask any further questions.
'But how hyung? It's been four days....Autopsy report should be out by now. She didn't have a natural death, did she? There was blood on-'

'No.'

Jake hyung was glaring at him now. This "no" was not only curt. This was...different. Jungwon had never heard his hyung speak to anyone like that. Then he realized he had shouted at him. He spared him another look. Jake advanced towards him while Jungwon could only stare back, dazed and confused. He was standing in front of him now, his fists curling up and eyes widened. His lips were pressed into a thin line. This was enough to make Jungwon recoil as he moved uneasily in Jay's lap. He could feel Jay shifting uncomfortably too. His hands were no longer on Jungwon's belly and had made their way closer to his mouth. He was biting his nails, something he often did when he was nervous.

Jungwon could now feel the tension pulsating through the room. But he didn't know why.
Why was everyone acting like this?

'What?', he glared back at him. Jake looked extremely taken aback. He squinted at him. Jungwon exhaled deeply, running his hands through his hair. He got up from Jay's lap and turned to face all of them, including Jake. 'Are we just going to act like Jake hyung's eomma never died?,' he said incredulously. 'Do we not need to come to terms with the truth, and talk about it in a civil manner-' , he glared at Jake. '-instead of getting infuriated and picking up a fight over it like toddlers?'

Everyone but him and Jake gasped audibly.
'Yah Jungwon,' Sunghoon said softly, urging him to stop. 'What hyung? Are we really supposed to act dumb like this?,' he scorned. Jake grabbed him by his shoulders and brought his face closer to him. Jungwon could feel his fingers digging into his clavicles, hurting him. 'Hyung,' he looked at him, half shocked and half scared. Jake loosened his grip on his shoulders but his expression stayed the same. Jungwon had never seen his hyung act like this.
It wasn't the sweet and mild tempered Jake he knew. 'Yes, my mom's dead but that's my business, not yours. Your parents are still alive so take care of them instead of pitying me. I don't need your pity, I don't need your sympathy,' he hissed in his ear. He pushed him harshly, enough to make him fall on the floor.

It took him a few seconds, but Jungwon soon regained his composure and hoisted himself up. He silently started walking towards the entrance. 'Jungwon-ah where are you off too?,' Sunoo looked at him. His slender eyes were widened and his tone reflected fret and disbelief of the recent event.
'I skipped my Korean literature class to come here,' he smiled weakly.

' I don't think I can miss the other classes hyung,' he chuckled humorlessly and waved at them. 'See you soon,' he mouthed.
'Yah Jungwon,' He found Jay's hand on his shoulder as he pulled the strap of his backpack off the peg. 'Hmm?'

'Don't mind what he said and did,' he rubbed his back. 'He knows you care, we all know you do because we care too, Jungwon. It's just not the right moment, he's still trying to process his mom's death,' he smiled at him gently.

'I know hyung. It's fine,' he said absentmindedly as he slipped his arms into the straps of the bag. 'Goodbye hyung,' he wore his shoes and left the place. He entered the escalator. Something inside him felt funny. He wasn't mad at Jake, he was pretty sure it was his fault. Sure, he still felt it was weird for him to act this way. 'If you're terribly upset about something don't you talk it out? Share it with people you care about?', he thought.

But.

Maybe he was wrong. Maybe different people processed grief in different ways. He knew without a doubt that although he was friends with Jake since he was ten, he had never seen him act that way.
The Jake hyung he knew never acted like that.
The ding of the escalator was followed by its door sliding to the left as Jungwon made his way out. He sighed and looked at his phone. It was seven in the evening and the sky was already pitch black. I-PARK Apartments was a terrible place to leave at this hour if you weren't rich enough to live there. The area barely had any cabs around since people living here had their own chauffeurs and their own expensive sports cars. He couldn't book a cab online either since it would cost him both time and money. He kicked the road. He had to walk through Gangnam gu, and then take the subway. He started taking long strides, a desperate attempt of his to reach his destination as early as he could. His next class, English started in half an hour and he wanted to reach the Coaching Center five minutes prior to that. He wasn't a big fan of kids at the institute staring at him like was a newly discovered rare animal species when he walked into the classroom. Jungwon knew a dark alley which provided a shortcut to the neighbouring district. He had tried it numerous times before and it had saved him endless time, money and effort.

He walked through the bustling city of Gangnam and kept walking till he reached Garuso-gil. He slid between two of the smaller shops and turned left.
The alley didn't really smell pleasant and was rather dingy, but Jungwon didn't mind it. He wanted to reach his Coaching Center as early as possible, and this would do.

It was awfully quiet down there, and he admitted to the fact that if it wasn't just a fifteen minute walk then he would have passed and preferred spending extra money on the cab. He sighed. His bag was heavy and he felt drained. He wished to go home but he didn't want to be served slippers in the dinner plate for not attending his classes.

Click clack click.

Jungwon stopped walking and looked around. There was no one. The click clack sound ceased to be heard now. He started walking again.
Click clack.
Again.

Jungwon gulped. He didn't dare look back. He started running. The sound followed him closely, as he sprinted in the alley. His heart thudded in his chest.

Stalked. He was being stalked.

He ran as fast as his adrenaline allowed him to, and the sound of footsteps seemed to be equally determined to get to him. His lips trembled. He should've spent some extra money and waited some time longer for the cab to show up. Doing this was a terrible idea.

Sweat beaded his forehead as he tried to run faster. He could almost hear the loud, labored breathing of the person following him. Due to some scanty amount of light peeking through a narrow hole in one of the doors of the gangster hideouts and illegal drug dealing stores, Jungwon could see the shadow of an object aimed right at his head by the person running after him.  He shuddered. What was that?
Hammer?
Axe?

He didn't want to know. He didn't need to know. All he knew was that he had to get away from the guy following him.
He didn't want to die. Not like this.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, almost dragging him.

Crap.

He broke into a sprint again, making the guy lose his grip over him. A temporary feeling of relief washed over him.

Temporary.

Seconds later he tripped on a stone and fell face first on the ground.
'Finally,' he heard a raspy voice .

Jungwon tried his best to get up, still believing that if he was quick enough he could run to safety. The guy clutched his arm the very instant that thought crossed his mind. Jungwon's lips quivered.
'Please,' he whimpered, blood slowly dripping from his left cheek.

Author's note
Hey guys I hope you liked this chapter. Vote and comment if you enjoyed reading it. I would really appreciate it ❤️