Younghoon noticed that their string had started to shimmer again. "The hell does this mean...?" It had abruptly stopped and had become circulation cutting tight. "You okay? You don't look too good." Younghoon looked up then spotted some familiar guys across the street entering the snack shop. "We have to go, now." He grabbed Changmin's wrist then made a dash for the bus stop. "What the hell is going on?" "Those guys from last time." "What? It hasn't even been a month yet!" The bus arrived and Younghoon ushered Changmin on, paying for the both of them. "Where are you taking me?" "My house. They don't know we're...friends...and they don't know where I live." It hurt him to say the word "friends", but that was the least of his worries at the moment.

"You're back so soon?" "Can't talk right now. Sorry." Younghoon dragged Changmin upstairs and into his room. "That was rude." "I know, but I had to make sure you were safe." "How did you know they were there?" Younghoon wanted to tell Changmin the truth, but he knew he wouldn't believe him. "Younghoon, what is going on?" They looked towards the door and saw an angry Mrs. Kim. "The...the string. Tightness." He secretly gestured to the teal string and was relieved his mother understood. "I'll keep an eye out. Close the curtains up here just in case." She left the room and Younghoon decided to take her advice. "Go ahead and get comfortable. Make sure you contact your dad about this." Younghoon left the room and went about closing the curtains.

Younghoon's mother came up to him as he closed the last curtain in the guest room. "What's really going on?" "His father is in debt and the guys from last time showed up at where he works. They said they had another month, but it hasn't been a month since then." His mother nodded in understanding. "We're going to try and let his dad know of what's going on." "All right. I'm guessing he can't go back home either. Don't bother asking, he can stay, but, he's not going to be a freeloader." Younghoon hugged his mother and she happily returned the gesture.

"You're back." "Did you call your dad?" "Yep. After the 11th try he finally answered. He said he would stay a friend's place. I don't know who. He also promised to regularly check up on me." "That's good. My mom said you can stay here." Changmin sighed then looked down at the ground. "If only they could've waited 'til the end of next week, we'd have it." "People like abusing their power and being superior over the helpless." "That was deep." Younghoon sat down in the chair by his desk then pulled out a book from the drawer. "You don't have to stay up here." He heard Changmin get up from his bed and assumed he was going to head downstairs. "What are you reading?"

Younghoon looked up and turned to face Changmin. "The name of it is Sin." "Sin?" Younghoon nodded then showed him the book. "Interesting." Younghoon opened up the book again but found it hard to focus with Changmin so close. "Are you sure you want to stay up here? You can use the TV downstairs." "Things seem more fun with you around." "I'm flattered." He figured Changmin was reading along with him, so he told him to let him know when to turn the page.

After a while of reading in silence, someone's phone had started to go off. They had moved to the bed beforehand so that Changmin wasn't standing the entire time. "Juyeon is calling you." "Go ahead and answer it." Younghoon turned his attention back to the book then heard Changmin greet Juyeon. "Changmin? Isn't this Younghoon's phone?" Younghoon noticed Changmin had put him on speaker. "He's...busy." "So, he's reading. If it's not one thing it's another. Wait, why are you in his house?" "Some things happened and I ended up here." Younghoon took note of Juyeon's silence and hoped he wouldn't say anything incriminating. "Assuming this call isn't on speaker, I'll let you in on something." It was then Younghoon snatched his phone from Changmin and dashed out of the room.

a/n: don't forget to vote, share and comment! juyeon is all of us, let's be honest