Jake winced as he ran. The strong rays of light that bled from the setting sun blinded his vision. Everything was distorted, some things appeared in an intense bright gold hue and other objects could scarcely be identified in the darkness.
The city streets were laden with large numbers of pedestrians and he felt incapable of building any real speed with his movements. Despite this, the route he traversed seemed familiar and he felt comfortable that he would be able to get where he needed to go. To get away from what he needed to flee from.
As his legs continued to run his mind wondered, asking itself the question, 'what am I running away from again?' He didn't know. The confusion ultimately stopped him and he paused besides a bus stop.
The sudden break allowed him to grow aware of his racing heart which he could feel pounding in his chest. It was worried - he was worried.
A warm rush of stress overcame him as he forced himself to move onward, beginning to duck and weave through the crowds in front of him. As he moved he could feel his temperature rise uncomfortably. The heat seemed to be enveloping him from all angles and most noticeably from a warm belt of heat that scorched around his chest.
With this increased discomfort, Jake failed to look forwards and the next thing he knew he had run head first into a large body of a man. Such was the bulk of the man that Jake rebounded away from the figure only to be taken in horror as he realised the man, who now blocked him, was his father.
Jake tried to scream in fear but felt no sound release from his mouth. His father looked down at him but said nothing. Jake tried to look back as his father begun to open his mouth to speak but when he did it sounded wrong.
"You have let everyone down Jake and worse than that you have let yourself down. You will burn everyone around you because you are a selfish deviant who doesn't know when to not put himself first."
The words hurt and the voice, although wrong, sounded familiar but Jake was unable to figure out why.
"You betrayed everything you learned and now you will hurt him for what? Lust"
'Who's him?' Jake wondered a he stared back at his father. By the time he had processed the previous thought another part of his brain had remembered the voice and its owner. The voice belonged to his priest back home in Brisbane. It was warm and comforting, as it had always being, but now it was stating that he done wrong. This made him feel particularly uneasy
"No" Jake replied in protest. Eager to plead his innocence at the accusation he was facing.
"You already know you have done this - I am just trying to warn you to save yourself and those around you" The priest said. Jake felt his gut move in fear at the statement that now stuck to him like a pin affixed to the shoulder of a shirt so that he was incapable of being shaken off, no matter how hard he had tried.
He felt, reluctantly that the priest was right, that he had made bad and reckless decisions. Decisions that he knew better than to make.
But against who?
Jake looked away from his wondering mind and back at the figure in front of him. His father, once more loomed over him. "No" Jake repeated, yelling as he spoke "You don't get to control me. You don't get to tell me I betrayed anyone, let alone you! You betrayed me!"
This time his father's voice replied. "You are a disaster and you hurt everyone you touch! You've ruined everyone."
'No' Jake tried to say once more but the voice felt empty and hollow - like he was unable to speak.
"You hurt me. You hurt your mother, you hurt Taehyung, you hurt Jungkook, you hurt Sunghoon, you hurt Jungwon and..."
'How does he know about Jungwon?' Jake asked himself. The question was so absolutely different in tone from the voice of his father. 'He doesn't know Jungwon' Jake told himself. That realisation showed Jake that his father wasn't all knowing and wasn't all controlling.
Using the notion of hope that the inconsistency created in him Jake remembered he was still free. Free from the grips of his father, still far removed from the church.
The next thing he knew he was running again. Fleeing once more with a renewed confidence that he could escape. The warmth around his chest now comforted him, forcing him to press on. Onwards he ran - in the distance was the bridge, the bridge he had started his new life from.
'I'm almost there' Jake told himself as he begun the assent up the side of the bridge. The sense of freedom was tantalising, it was so close that he raced up and along the bridge until he came to the middle. As he ran he found harmony in himself that he was running parallel to the horizon, enjoying that fact he tried to catch a glimpse at the sunset - but he couldn't remember which direction it was in.
If it was to his right then he was running forward, to the freedom of Jungkook, Sunghoon and Artemis, if it was to his left then he was... running backwards? Jake felt his heart drop with such weight that he was slowed to a stop.
Taking a moment to catch his breath, Jake grabbed the side of the barrier that prevented bridge users from plunging into the water below. He looked down at the reflection of the sun in the water as he tried to gage which direction the light was coming from.
"Why did you stop?" A friendly voice asked.
Jake looked up to see Sunghoon staring at him. Impossibly, given their location Sunghoon stood in the middle of the ice rink, the white of the ice reflecting so perfectly from his eyes that they shone with pail white light.
"I..." Jake tried to begin speaking but felt himself smiling. "I've had the craziest day Hoon" He began.
Sunghoon smiled at glided towards him in the way he always did - effortlessly. Jake had always liked how Sunghoon would move in a manner that tried to be nonchalant and cool but would always end up looking like he was trying too hard. It was cute. "Okay - then tell me what happened?" Sunghoon asked.
"It was my dad. He found me. He told me that I was betraying you and hurting you. It's crazy!"
The smile didn't move from Sunghoon's mouth as he replied, "But you did!"
Before Jake had a chance to reply his eyes caught the sight of another figure approaching from their left.
"Jake?" Namil called. "JAKE?"
Chills ruptured throughout Jake's body and he felt like he might freeze or throw up. "Sunghoon jump!" Jake said before grabbing his boyfriend's hand.
"But Jake..." Sunghoon begun as Jake pulled them off the bridge, "... I can't swim!"
Jake's panted as his eyes shot open and and he took in the darkness of the motel bedroom. He was safe and, judging by the warm arms holding him in place, Sunghoon was too. His heart was beating with such speed that his first fear was that is may wake his sleeping partner.
He allowed for himself to indulge in the pleasure of feeling Sunghoon's warm skin soothe him. In amongst the arms he tried to allow himself to feel safe. It was the best he could do as the ending of his dream had left him wide awake. He sighed as there was no way that Jake knew of that would lead him quickly to sleep.
The room was still and quiet, save for the regular exhalations of air from the sleeping Sunghoon. Every five seconds a warm breeze blew against his neck. The sensation of genuine affection made Jake tingle with warmth and pleasure and ... 'love?'
Jake questioned the emotion as soon as he felt it. Surely not, he told himself. 'This isn't love, this was just...' - another breath warmed his neck for a moment more - '... was it?'
Sunghoon was so comfortable with him that he could sleep happily, despite having Jake lying on his arm for who knows how long. The thought of the gentle and blissful Sunghoon was jarring in juxtaposition with his own dream.
'What are you trying to tell me?' Jake asked his mind. The knot inside his stomach tightened and sadly, Sunghoon's hug wasn't helping matters.
Jake, with all the stealth he could muster, wriggled free of the embrace.
_________
Sunghoon felt peculiar as he woke. Jake's movements hadn't disturbed him up to then, any motions before hand had only interrupted his sleep for a few moments as the giant warmth he clung he clung to repositioned itself.
This time however the warmth was gone.
"Jake?" He called but received no response. "Jake?" He called again.
Still somewhat asleep, Sunghoon shifted his body on the bed to see where Jake had gone to. He did this blindly, so to not open his eyes until he almost fell off the bed. The sudden jolt of alarm that his body created at the prospect of a fall, forced him to open his eyes.
The room was a musty black in the darkness, nothing could be made out save sliver of light in the far corner of the room by the window. The curtain had been pushed away from the wall to allow someone access to the windowsill.
Jake sat on the lip of the windowsill, staring out of the window. It was still in the fall darkness of the night and Jake's demeanour was not one of someone who had woken up 45 minutes before their alarm waiting for breakfast - it was one of someone deep in thought.
Without asking once more, Sunghoon decided he would go to his boyfriend. The tiredness in his body was absent as he thrust his legs out from under the duvet. The temperature was substantially lower in the room but he rejected the opportunity to retreat beneath the covers.
Instead, he gingerly lowered his feet onto the floor. His balance was unusually poor and he caught himself from falling over by stabilising himself on the mattress. After retracting his hand he heard the sound of the spring recoil into position. Staring at Jake, his boyfriend didn't seem to hear much less react to the sudden sound.
Standing tall in the darkness, Sunghoon watched Jake - he was clearly deep in contemplation. His mind, clearing overriding every other bodily concern as he was without clothes as he sat against the glass and was presumably cold.
Instinctively, Sunghoon feared the idea that Jake could be worried about something as no doubt he might be worried about them and their relationship and damage it threatened to cause both of them. Those doubts, fears and insecurities that Sunghoon had always being unable to shake remained but he forced himself to set aside those concerns. Sunghoon reminded himself that comforting Jake was his primary objective.
He grabbed the duvet from their bed, hung it over his shoulder like a cape and walked towards Jake.
"Bad dream?" Sunghoon asked as he surprised Jake by wrapping the duvet around his boyfriend so they were both enveloped by the bed linen.
Jake didn't really react when he was pulled in by the duvet - as if he was expecting it almost. Instead he staid silence for an moment that lasted probably 20 seconds. "Yup" Jake finally admitted solemnly and nestled his head against Sunghoon's chest. Due to Jake sitting on the windowsill and Sunghoon standing next to him they were at an odd height to share the duvet. This meant that the only thing covering Sunghoon's chest was Jake's head.
"Want to talk about it?" Sunghoon asked.
"I... I'm not sure - want to look at the Moon?" Jake replied.
Sunghoon didn't speak his answer but instead opted to look up at the bright which object in the sky above them. He wasn't expecting the sight above them, he'd never seen it like that. "Wow! It's massive"
"No look at the Moon Hoon, stop talking about my dick"
"Ha! But really Jake, it's like nothing we get in Seoul. It's huge."
"Again my dick..."
"Argh, you're a piece of work"
"I know" Jake declared proudly and rubbed the back of his head into the nook of Sunghoon's chest. In response, Sunghoon leaned in and with his right hand's pinky finger stretched it out for Jake to grab - which he did.
"So what's up?"
"Do you..." Jake cut himself mid sentence.
"Go on?"
"Do you think I've betrayed you - or hurt you?"
"What? No? How can you ask that?" Sunghoon's voice increased in volume as he tightened the embrace of the duvet around Jake. "You've never done anything like that to me"
"I... think, I think I'm scared that I'm going to hurt you and the rest of the Wolf Pack?"
"The Wolf Pack?"
"It's uh, Jungkook's name for me, him, Artemis and Jungwon"
"And me?"
"I'm not sure - are you a wolf?"
Sunghoon paused on the question and allowed his eyes to drift up to the moon. "Jake" He said after a little while please don't be scared of your dream. We're strong enough that we'll get through whatever okay"
"Even school?"
Sunghoon's heart dropped a little as he remembered the not-so-minor detail obscuring his life that lead him to wonder if he ever could set foot on campus again. The question however had been put to him and so he was inclined to answer it in the affirmative. "Of course!"
Jake let out a small giggle in response.
"Oh, you don't believe me?" Sunghoon said, kissing the top of Jake's head as he said. "You think I'm scared - that I'm not enough of a 'wolf' for you?"
"I mean, you said were scared earlier so..."
"Jake?"
"Yeah?"
"What's the bravest thing you've done?"
"I... jumped off a bridge I guess"
"How cold was it?"
"Very - why?"
"Are you brave enough to go for a swim?"
"What?"
"Now?"
"NOW!?!" Jake repeated, this time his voice was the one with increased volume.
"Chicken?" Sunghoon asked.
"Of course not - but why?"
"Because I'm going to show that I'm just as brave as you"
"How is us going swimming now... in the sea right?" Jake asked seeking clarification mid-sentence.
"Uh huh" Sunghoon confirmed.
"How is us going swimming now going to prove you're as brave as me?"
"That sounds like the question of someone who is chicken and who doesn't actually want to brave the elements" Sunghoon replied.
Jake took the bait and with his left hand, unlocked the handle of the window and pushed it open. The night breeze sent a chill into their room. The rush of air filled their noses with the fresh sent of sea air that disturbed the hitherto unnoticed stuffy smell of the of the motel room. Sunghoon felt his hair blow black. For its part, Jake's hair blew into his face. It remained there as Jake reorientated his bum so that his legs were hanging from the window. "Well...let's go Hoon."
They made their way away from the motel after Jake had forced Sunghoon to leave the duvet behind. Nakedly, they ran across the empty road that was between them and the way down to the beach.
"This wasn't on the list of things I though I'd be doing within the next day when I woke up yesterday morning" Jake called as the began their descent down to the beach. The walked carefully, using the balls of their feet to move quickly and softly over the terrain.
"Oh really - I had imagined this was more likely that me acing English" Sunghoon barked back. Their voices had raised now to compensate for the howling breeze.
"Oh do shut up Hoon - your English is fine - good actually."
"Don't flirt, I'll be lucky to pass"
"I'm not flirty - you're good because I'm a great teacher after all"
Sunghoon laughed at Jake's compliment that turned about to be himself bragging about himself. "It's really cold Jake" He called after a breeze hit his torso once more.
"Hey! This was your idea" Jake said as he lead Sunghoon onto the beach.
"I was just stating the obvious" Sunghoon replied, his teeth beginning to chatter. He followed Jake right to the waters edge where he had stopped, staring out into the sea. "What are you looking at?"
"Just wow" was Jake's response and Sunghoon turned his eyes finally away from the muscular form of his boyfriend that had been captivating him until then and out towards the horizon. It was hard to make out as the reflection of the star laden sky meant that the point where sky met sea was hard to locate.
"It's beautiful" Sunghoon agreed and he felt that sentiment be shared as Jake's hand reached for his. He gave it and felt his heart beat begin to warm himself up. Something in him possessed him to loosen his control of his inhibitions and take a step forward - into the ice cold sea water. "AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" The cold on his feet made him jump back out of the water in an instant.
There was a moment of silence before Jake let out a laugh. "Nice squeal Hoon"
"Squeal? What squeal? That was a howl"
"A howl?" Jake asked in disbelief.
"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Sunghoon repeated, trying to defend himself from accusations of legitimate fear of the water's cold.
"Are... are you an idiot?" Jake asked.
"I mean, probably, I love you after all but I want to hear you howl too?"
"Ha, I'm not doing that! I'm not six!"
"Oh so you mature enough to be in a Wolf Pack but too mature to howl - some wolf?" Sunghoon challenged, staring down towards the face of Jake that was looking back at his.
Jake seemed suitably challenged and took a step forward into the water, "AWOOOOO....OOOOOOOOOOOOO" he called, the break in his voice seemingly in reaction to the cold however, unlike Sunghoon - his feet remained in the water.
Sunghoon smiled, "Cold?"
"Freezing" Jake confirmed, but I'm at least wolf enough to handle it.
Taking the bait, Sunghoon bundled into the water, "AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" he let out again, the water now up to his thighs could well have being literally freezing him but his feet remained steadfast. Turning back he saw Jake smiling at him, knowingly. "What?"
"You're about to scream"
Before Sunghoon got to ask why he was engulfed in a wave that reached his groin. "AHHHHH" He cried and went to run for land. Instead he found himself griped by Jake who was trying to push him back into the sea. "Fine" Sunghoon declared, "Have it your way" and pulled Jake with him into the sea.
They both lost their footing and fell beneath the water. Ice cold water numbed their heads and in milliseconds they had both shot back out above the water.
"Ahhhhhh, it's so cold!" Lamented Sunghoon he said, whilst feeling the saline burning sensation overwhelm his nose but Jake didn't give him a worded response. Instead, Jake threw his arms around him and placed a kiss on his lips. The warmth the kiss created was strong enough that both Jake and Sunghoon staid in place as the waves rolled against their exposed skin.
Emotion overcame them both and Sunghoon pressed his whole body against Jake's.
"I love you" Jake whispered into Sunghoon's left ear during a momentary break for air.
"I know" Sunghoon replied, "I love you too Jake. I love you - AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" he howled again.
Jake smiled and leaned in for another kiss only to be stopped by Sunghoon leaning back. "What?"
Sunghoon nodded for Jake to howl again. Reluctantly, Jake's moonlit face leaned away to allow a large intake of breath before unleashing another howl into the night sky, "AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" He called.
"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Sunghoon joined and together they tried to combine their howls above the roar of the wind and the waves.
__________
Jay had felt uncomfortable all morning. He hadn't waited for Sunghoon and Jaeyun to join him for the walk to school and it had been a good thing to as neither had shown up for class. When he had arrived he had received a death glare from Yun and an exasperated sigh from Heeseung to greet is lonely arrival.
He had shrugged when asked by each teacher so far that day of the location of Sunghoon as his ignorance over his one-time friend's location was legitimate. If he had been more vengeful he might have tried to make up some excuse to land his former friend into greater trouble however, his mind was otherwise preoccupied.
His primary concern was not his school work, or the coming exams that may or may not determine his life. Instead he was pressed by the correspondence he had had last night and this morning from Jungwon's sister. She had reached out to him in order to request help in finding her brother.
He learned that Jungwon had, after the incident at school the day before, gone off the grid completely. Jay in turn had promised that he would find Jungwon, however, despite making this commitment his mind was now trying to fathom how exactly he would achieve this aim.
Now that it was lunch break he had planned to find Jungwon's friend Choi or the otherwise reprehensible Minki in case they knew anything. First however, he had to navigate a rather toxic lunch. Heeseung hadn't said much as they had walked from class to the cafeteria and now he was sat opposite him, staring coldly at him.
"What?" Jay said, finally breaking under the scrutinising glare of his friend.
"What do you mean what?" Heeseung barked back over the table .
"I mean what is your mood bro, why are you staring at me like that"
"Don't bro me dude. Sunghoon's our bro and you threw him under the bus. You hate that he's gay or something?"
"What? No? I couldn't care a moment about what Hoon fantasises or actualises over. He just had no right to treat us like crap - I don't see why you're picking his side?"
"His side?" Heeseung repeated. "There are no sides - there is just right and wrong"
"Right, and he lied to us, kept us in the dark and deliberetly mislead us, so - he's in the wrong - what more do you want to talk about it?"
"How can you say that? Of course he hid it. Are you dumb or just mentally incapable of looking around you?"
"What?"
"Have you seen the school? Listened to the conversations in the hallways? If they're not talking about Psycho Jungwon..."
"Hey!"
"... they're talking about Jaeyun and Sunghoon - the two swimming faggots"
"Don't talk about Jungwon like that"
"Huh?" Heeseung's face became one of disbelief and his question looked like someone demanding a track be rewound so he can listen to it once again.
"Jungwon - he's not a psycho" Jay asserted.
"Okay, what? You're going to interrupt me to defend that boy. Look I get he's your friend and all but you can't defend what he did yesterday!"
"I'm not defending him but he had his reasons. You've seen what Donghyun and Insu were like, we've had to intervene on them bullying Wonie before."
"So what? He beat the life out of them Jay. If he hadn't been stopped he might of killed them"
"You're being dramatic"
"There was an ambulance Jay - a goddamn ambulance!"
"Yeah, yeah"
"Yeah, yeah" Heeseung repeated. "How is it that you can brush aside Jungwon hospitalising some boys but Sunghoon, your friend for years and years hiding in the closet is somehow incomprehensible. Do you even try to listen to yourself?"
"I..."
"Your double standard is frankly ugly Jay. Like you don't have to try and imagine gay stuff if you have an issue with it - it doesn't harm you or..."
Jay slammed his hand on the table, "I've being totally isolated from all of you! You abandoned me. You go off and prance about like a college student with your girlfriend and your dancing mr Perfect. You are awful at texting back - you only need check your texts to see the number of times you've left me on read. What's worse is it's not just you, Sunghoon started doing it too. It's like I only exist at school to you people. I don't, I exist and have feelings too and the only person who realised that is Jungwon. I'm sorry if it's weird that he's a few years younger than us and I'm sorry if I empathise with him but you've gone and treated me like sh.."
"Sorry" Heeseung said meekly and quietly but with enough conviction to end Jay's rant. He slumped in his seat and leaned back slightly.
"Sorry?" Jay questioned, his demeanour shifting to reflect the dynamic of the conversation reversing.
"Sorry." Heeseung said again, "You're right, I've being lousy and I'm sorry that you've being made to feel like that but why didn't you say anything?"
"How could I Hee? It's not easy to admit you feel lonely, its akin to putting your hands in the air and say 'By the way it feels like I have no friends anymore' and I could hardly text you."
"Okay, okay well this is me saying sorry and I'm going to start by being a better friend."
"How?"
"Well I'll text you back sometimes rather than never."
"Wait you can't just drop it Hee. Please tell me, whilst we're on the topic why you don't text back?"
"Because I've already seen enough memes, the ones you send are funny but I don't seek them out like you, I haven't got a cache on my phone that I want to share with you. And look, I'll laugh at your jokes but I can't always be expected to write a 'hahaha' if they don't make me laugh a lot. That would be disingenuous"
"You didn't stop to think that you know... I might be made to feel lonely?"
"No, and I'll admit I screwed up. I was focusing on my relationship and not my friends. I had presumed Sunghoon and Jaeyun were keeping you company but just because they..." Heeseung corrected himself, "We abandoned you, doesn't mean you should repeat our mistakes. You're Sunghoon's best friend Jay, you can't just leave him like this. Why would you let yourself do that?"
"Because I want him to know how I feel? How it is to feel like the friend you always relied upon isn't actually there at all when you needed him"
"Come on Jay - that's not you?"
"Huh?"
"This whole act, it's not you so drop it"
"I... I don't get what you mean Hee?"
"A moment ago you were telling me off for not empathising with Jungwon. You're probably the only person in the school who is prepared to argue his side of the story - why? Because your his friend. You're clearly not a guy to give up on people so all I'm asking is do yourself a favour and be consistent"
"But I'm not being a hypocrite, Jungwon never abandoned me and I never abandoned Sunghoon!" Jay protested.
"So? You've never abandoned anyone before right?"
"No"
"Then don't start now! Be yourself. Be Jay Park, the best friend a guy can get."
__________
Jungwon sat happily in the front seat of Jungkook's car as they drove that afternoon. The party was in far better spirits then it had been the day before. The trepidation and fear that had been felt had somewhat melted away. Even if Jungwon felt that if he laboured his mind with his concerns, those fears could easily return. Despite that he was successfully living in the moment and building a sufficiently positive mindset.
He watched the signs of increased habitation encroach on the sea as they arrived in the Busan metro area. Midday light shone from above and a clear blue sky was mirrored by the deep navy colour of the sea.
In the back seats, the two older boys were fast asleep, large bags indicating tiredness caused by too little shuteye, afflicted both of their faces. Jungkook had been quick to ridicule and joke about what the cause of the limited sleep could have being - and stated that he'd try not to repeat the mistake of leaving them in a room together again.
They didn't seem to mind the jibe - indeed the energy radiating from their sleeping bodies was warm and positive. Jungwon had never seen himself as much of a 'feeling person' but they were practically radiating dopamine.
"Hey" Jungwon whispered to Jungkook, keeping his voice quiet so to not wake the others.
"Yeah?" Jungkook replied in the same hushed tone.
"Do you... um... think they had sex?"
Jungkook snorted at the suggestion, "No, no - they're sleeping too comfortably"
"What?"
"I'll explain when you're older"
Jungwon rolled his eyes and returned to looking out the window. "This is your hometown right?"
"Well it's a city - but yeah. It's home"
"It's nice - why did you leave?"
"Good question" Jungkook agreed. "I guess, opportunity in Seoul always seemed greater, and it was."
"Do you regret leaving?"
"Probably not - but I sometimes wonder what would have being had I stayed. The simpler life is more well rounded - I might be happier"
"But you wouldn't have me!"
"Right, nor the other two teenagers stowing away in my car"
"Which you probably also wouldn't have?"
"Haha, no. Probably not."
They drove for another half an hour after getting bogged down in traffic until they had made their way through Busan to the east of the city, where the suburbs began to subside into a more rural, forested environment.
Thick quantities of trees began to wall the ever smaller roads there and Jungkook drove and drove until they found themselves on a narrow dirt track that looked as if it would end in trees.
"I think we're here" Jungwon declared to the car in an effort to rouse the sleeping backseat passengers.
The trip down the track lasted a full four minutes from leaving the road until they ended up at a small collection of modern buildings.
"Wow!" Sunghoon said from the back, "Is Jimin rich or something?"
"I guess we'll find out" Jungkook replied, changing the gear stick to put his car into park, "Not that it matters" he muttered beneath his breath and opened the car door.
The three teenagers followed suit, although Jake had to allow Artemis to jump off of him onto the ground. She shook herself as she reacted to freedom from the cramped confines of the vehicle.
The sound of her collar shaking was the only thing they heard apart from the sounds of the wildlife. Warm spring light filtered between the trees and Jungwon stared in wonder - allowing the fresh scents of spring to captivate it. The city boy in him became instantly jealous of these surroundings and the freedom they represented.
Jungkook walked to the largest of the buildings and made his way up to the front door of the building. It was raised slightly on a foundation and was constructed out of a timber coated in a dark stain. He rang the bell, and then turned round to look at his collection of boys. 'This is it' his expression told.
Jungwon stared back, Jungkook seemed nervous and tense. He was holding himself in a manner that was designed deliberately to extenuate his height, whist puffing out his chest to appear broader and more well built than he actually was. This act caused Jungwon to smile and he turned and caught the other two boys making the same appraisal of the man.
The sound of the door unlocking caused all of their eyes to return to it.
"KOOKIE" A voice called and before any of the boys could register the face of who the voice belonged to, a man who was shorter than Jungkook had thrust his arms and legs around him in a playground embrace. His limbs locked tightly around Jungook who struggled to remain standing as he accepted the greeting.
After a slightly longer than normal period of time the man popped his head up from Jungkook's shoulder and looked at the three teenagers staring at them.
"Kookie?" The man asked, "What the hell is going on?"
________
Jakehoon fanfic 18.5