It was snowing here too. Baek-Hyun noted as he gazed hazily at the muddy snow piled on the ground and the flurries that fluttered down to meet the rest on the pavement.

He sighed as he adjusted his position on the bus stop bench he sat on to maximize his warmth retention. He found it hard to keep his eyes open as they followed the traces of his cold breath in the air. He was deadly tired. Since he returned to Seoul earlier than he'd originally thought, he had just enough time to shower and take a quick nap before his work shift started. When the bus finally pulled up, he could almost feel the comfort of his shabby single bed and the warm stress-relieving drops of his semi-broken shower, but as he boarded the bus, the presence of the foreign object in his coat pocket broke any semblance of peace he had conjured. 

Running his fingers along the lines of his pocket, he sighed at the weight of the car keys within them. He was conflicted on whether or not he did the right thing. He was adamant about his choice to not use a complete stranger's car, especially one so expensive, but he wasn't sure if taking the keys was a wise decision. 

He'd wanted to return it as soon as he'd snapped out of his daze, but then Hae-Won's heavy sleep deprived eyes flashed in his mind and he decided against bothering someone that was probably already tucked in bed. Then, he decided to leave the keys in the car, but the recent string of carjackings in affluent neighborhoods he'd seen on the news popped into his mind and he opted out of that too. As the building didn't have a doorman or parking security in sight, the only other option was to take the keys with him, but now that they were in his pocket so far from their match, he was conflicted.

As he pondered this during the entire bus ride, he couldn't help wondering if the person in question who freely gave a stranger access to his car, even cared at all.

Beep Beep Beep!

Five minutes straight. That's how long the incessant beeping and vibrations had been going on for. How was it possible that his alarm clock and phone were going off this early in the morning? When had he ever set his alarm?!

Beep Beep Beep! Bzz Bzz Bzz!

"Ah for fuck's sake!" He exclaimed, smacking his alarm clock off the bedside table, and angrily grabbing his phone. "What?!" He asked, his voice hoarse and grim, dripping with irritation.

"Wow, you actually picked up?" The voice on the other end spoke in a playful tone. "I thought I'd have to call like five more times before you'd answer."

"Then should I hang up?" Hae-Won asked in annoyance.

"Haha, no." The voice sang, punctuating with a small chuckle. "Relax. Shouldn't you be grateful to me? Do you know how worried everyone was when you ran away? The only reason they didn't send people to come find you is because I told them I knew where you were."

Hearing those words elicited a deep sigh from Hae-Won. "Worried?" He asked with a brow raised.

"You know what I mean," The voice said warily. "Anyway, where did you go anyway?"

There was a small pause, as the memories of the previous day played back in his mind, before he exhaled. "The ocean."

"Huh? Come again?" The voice asked in slight confusion. "I thought you just said the ocean."

"That's right."

"You?" The voice reiterated. 

"Yes."

"The ocean?" The tone now sounding more confused and shocked.

The blatant shock from the voice on the other end caused Hae-Won to click his tongue in annoyance. He knew where this was going.

"Did I call the wrong number?" Hae-Won could hear the sound of the person on the other end of the call shuffle to glance at their phone screen. 

"Do you want to die?" Hae-Won said in a deep and peeved tone, knowing what they were insinuating.

"Hae-Won-Ah, are you feeling sick?" Asked the voice, concern wrapped with a joking tone.

"I'm hanging up."

"Wait wait wait," The voice begged, laughing a bit. "Why are you always so hot tempered? Can you really blame me though? The Hae-Won I know would rather die than step out of the house, much less take a day trip to see the ocean. Are you joking?"

"I went there on a whim," Hae-Won muttered with a sigh. That was mostly true, after all, it's not like he left with any particular location in mind, but he wasn't going to tell them that.

"Well, at least you finally got rid of the mushrooms that were starting to grow on you," The voice joked, a hint of pride hidden behind the playful tone.

"If that's all..."

"Wow, you're a real piece of work, you know that right?" The voice retorted with a huff. "Is this how a normal person responds to a concerned call from their best friend? If you push me away will you have anybody? You'll be alone right? Do you want to die alone? Why don't you start being a bit nicer to me?"

"Jae-Hwa, I'll count to five. If you haven't gotten to the point by then, I'm hanging up."

The voice let out a long sigh before mumbling. "Fine, but I'm talking about this in therapy tomorrow." To which Hae-Won responded with a sigh of his own.

"You're acting surprised that I even called. I guess you really haven't checked your phone yet, have you?"

Peeling the phone from his ear, Hae-Won turned to his side to gaze at his screen better. 

26 missed calls and 10 messages. Only four calls and two texts from Jae-Hwa alone. The rest from people he really didn't care for at the moment.

"What about it?" Hae-Won said casually, dismissing the issue.

"Hae-Won, you actually ran away. I don't know if I should be happy for you or worried," Jae-Hwa spoke, a bit of seriousness edging into his voice. "Either way, you can imagine that your father is super pissed."

"I didn't run away," Hae-Won exhaled, twisting around uncomfortably on his bed. He was still half-asleep.

"Right? What kind of idiot runs away and returns in less than a day?" Jae-Hwa chortled.

"Do you really want to die?" Hae-Won retorted, the comment stinging just a bit. "What did you even call me for? I already know the old bastard is mad at me. He was already mad before I left anyway."

"What do you mean why did I call?" Jae-Hwa spoke. "Other than me being worried about you, we have plans today don't we? I can't believe you're still asleep at this hour, didn't the alarm wake you?"

"So it was you." Hae-Won cursed internally, remembering the ordeal of waking up. "What plans?"

"Hae-Won-ah, get the hell up. I'll be there in fifteen minutes. You better be ready by then or we'll miss our reservation." Jae-Hwa stated before finally hanging up himself.

Reservation? What reservation? Hae-Won thought to himself as he glanced at the top of his screen. 12:16

It was still too early, so he tossed his phone onto his bedside table and buried his head under his pillow, then drifted off to sleep once again.

Beep Beep

That was his front door lock. He was vaguely aware of that, but he was too tired and sleepy to bother making any sense of it.

"Of course you're still in bed," The familiar voice of the person that was just on the other end of the phone call sixteen minutes ago spoke. "I didn't expect any better from you."

"Get lost," He groaned through the pillow that covered his head.

"No. Get up!" Jae-Hwa exclaimed, ripping away the plush duvet that wrapped Hae-Won in a warm hug.

Letting out a loud groan, Hae-Won forced himself to sit upright, now able to see Jae-Hwa's face.

"What's the look for?" He exhaled through a tired yawn.

"How many hours of sleep did you get this time?" Jae-Hwa asked.

Sighing, he responded. "About four hours, on and off."

Flattening out the crease lines on his forehead, Jae-Hwa let out a stressed breath. "Clean yourself up and get rid of those hideous eye bags. We're going to be late."

"Late for what?" He asked as Jae-Hwa dragged him out of bed and pushed him toward the bathroom.

"Hah. So you really did forget." Jae-Hwa sighed with a slight frown. "You promised you'd go with me to that new European-Japanese fusion restaurant that just opened."

Now recalling the conversation, he couldn't help but click his tongue in annoyance. "Why did I agree to this again?"

"Oh come on," Jae-Hwa pouted. "You think I wanted to go with you too? But I need to make sure the place lives up to the hype before I invite Chungho hyung to go with me."

That's right. He remembered having this exact conversation about a week ago. He recalled adamantly rejecting this invitation, but Jae-Hwa pestered him so much until he gave in, hoping that it would be a problem for his future self to resolve. "So I'm nothing but a place holder?" He spoke.

"That's right." Jae-Hwa answered bluntly.

"Forget it then."

"No way! You promised so you can't back out now!"

He was annoyed, yet he found himself undressing and climbing into the shower regardless, while Jae-Hwa ranted nonstop about Yu Chungho from the other side of the door.

He figured that even though he really didn't want to do this, he'd try anyway since he'd promised. But that sentiment only went as far as making an effort. It was why he wasn't at all surprised or bothered by Jae-Hwa's upset expression when they'd finally arrived at the restaurant.

They'd missed their reservation because he'd taken his time getting up and getting ready.

"You owe me," Said Jae-Hwa, not adding anything more but getting into the driver's seat of the car that was still waiting to be valeted. 

Hae-Won shrugged and got in without a fuss, and settled with just going along with whatever Jae-Hwa wanted. 

"A café?" Hae-Won asked as Jae-Hwa parked the car in the parking lot of a small café with only four available parking spots, two of which were filled.

"Not just any café," Jae-Hwa stated with a grin on his face. "This place is famous for their unbelievably good looking employees."

Hae-Won paused in minor disbelief before speaking. "What about your obsession with Chungho hyung?"

"Chungho hyung is still the best looking man ever, but it doesn't mean I can't admire other people." Jae-Hwa said playfully before pushing open the door, ringing the small bell above.

"Welcome," A voice greeted. A familiar voice. He knew that voice.

Turning to where the voice came from, his expression laxed and a wicked grin spread on his lips.

"Min Baek-Hyun?"