Yunho scrunched his nose and tried to ignore the fact that his lower lip was begging him to stop biting it, but most of the time he didn't realize he was doing it. He could feel that it was puffed up and swollen, but right now he couldn't help it.

He and Mingi were currently leaning against the wall of a shop watching people file into a large building. It looked like it was an old warehouse that was now repurposed into the fighting ring one of their supposed team members was running.

That wasn't what was stressing him out though, at least... not fully.

No, it was the fact that he was standing next to who he presumed was a complete stranger, someone who came to him with a fantastical tale about how they knew each other in another life and told him things about himself that no one else knew... and it felt like he was where he belonged.

Yunho had always learned to follow his gut. That's how he had become such a good driver. Most street racers followed logic, like the precise angle to turn your wheel to get the perfect drift or the fastest route through the city.

No, Yunho didn't follow that. He used them as guidelines, but if his gut told him to turn left he turned left.

It was how he had survived for so long.

Yunho started to run his finger over his lip as if that would soothe the pain he had inflicted on himself while turning to glance at Mingi.

The red-head looked like he was in a constant state of discomfort. He had deep lines on his forehead from it being furrowed and his eyes darted back and forth like he was trying to see something that wasn't there.

It made Yunho wonder if it was some kind of side effect from the 'time travel' Mingi kept talking about, or if it was something else.

Either way, he felt sorry for Mingi. If everything he was saying really was true and did happen, then that was a lot of weight for him to carry alone. Especially with how the world was today... This Mercer guy had really torn everything apart and destroyed the world by the sounds of it.

God he could use a stiff drink...

Yunho looked down at his other hand and noticed that it was shaking slightly.

With everything that had been going on, it had been awhile...

"Are you ok?" Mingi asked. His voice was soft and gentle, the way one spoke to a friend they cared about.

Yunho licked his raw lips and nodded. "I'll be fine."

"You should switch to coffee." Mingi let out a low chuckle.

"What?"

"I'm not blind, Yunho. I saw the alcohol bottles in your house. I'm not going to judge you for it. But you used to be addicted to coffee. Boy did you like it. Hongjoong used to have to hide the coffee machine to make sure you didn't drink too much in one day. Boy would you get mad at him." Mingi smiled at the ground, then sighed.

Yunho straightened up and placed a comforting hand on Mingi's shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world. "You really love him, don't you?"

"Yeah... I do." Mingi's eyes grew wide and started to water. "I love him so fucking much and I don't know if that's going to be enough." He brought a hand up to cover his mouth and slowly sank down so that he was crouching but was still leaning against the wall. "He's so different from the man I fell for, but he looks exactly the same."

"Hey," Yunho crouched down next to him and leaned over to try and see his face, "You convinced me, right? I'm sure if he's anything like he person you talk about he will come around." Yunho had no idea if what he was saying was true or not, but he wanted to try and comfort Mingi at least a little bit.

The younger nodded and sniffed. "You're right. I'm sorry... I know I need to be the strong one..."

"You're allowed to be upset about things. If we are going to be a team I can shoulder some of the weight then. I know I don't know everything that happened, but I'm here to help." He patted Mingi's back a couple of times and then shook him gently by his shoulder. "Now let's go get the next person."

Mingi glanced up at him, eyes still wide and now slightly red, but managed to grin. "Yeah, let's do it." He allowed Yunho to pull him up.

They walked across the street and joined a group of men heading into the warehouse. Everyone was required to pay a cover charge, which Yunho took care of.

He had pulled some money out of the large sack he used as his bank before stowing it away in a secret compartment in his car.

The inside of the warehouse was impressive. A large fighting ring had been set up in the center. There was enough space around it for everyone to crowd together and cheer on their fighters but there was also bleachers setup on the side for anyone who wanted to sit down. A stand was set up in the far corner for visitors to purchase food and drink and right now there was music playing over the speakers.

One wall had a large chalkboard on it listing names of the participants for the evening. Next to each one was their odds and a few other columns of statistics that Yunho couldn't quite make out.

What he did see, however, was some of the Pack.

Yunho immediately grabbed Mingi's hand and pulled him to the other side of the area. "I was right, there are Pack members here. We need to keep a low profile."

"How do you know?" Mingi asked, turning in a circle.

"Keep your head down!" Yunho hissed. "They were wearing a uniform. All Pack members are given a uniform if they are going to be seen amongst us commoners. It's so that they can always be picked out and used as an intimidation tactic. It's simple to those who don't know it, so they have a hard time picking it out from a distance, but I've had enough of them prowling around my neighborhood to know. You always look for the silver compass on their right shoulder and leather straps around their thighs and stomach."

He watched as Mingi scanned the crowd again and located the three members standing in the corner. "They don't look hostile."

"No, odds are they are here to bet and unwind. They come here a lot, but we still need to be careful." Yunho started running his teeth over his lower lip again. "Do you see him anywhere?"

"Not yet." Mingi looked around the rest of the room. "Maybe he won't come out until things get started." He started to move to the side, then paused. "Wait, he's there."

Yunho followed Mingi's line of sight and saw another boy about their age walking down a set of stairs that had one flat platform in the middle before they started going down again. It looked like a section of the upper floor had been sectioned off for offices maybe?

A hush fell over the warehouse and the crowd parted to allow Jongho to step into the right. "Fighters, you know the drill. Fight until one of you forfeits. Winner takes the pot." He turned in a circle to take in the full room.

Yunho had to admit, it looked like Jongho belonged here. It was easy to see that he could have held his ground in a fight himself with just the way he was standing. He had a hard look in his eyes too. It sent a chill down Yunho's spine when he pictured being cornered in an alley somewhere with Jongho advancing on him.

"Begin."

At that one word, the first two fighters entered the ring while Jongho stepped out.

"How are we going to talk to him?" Yunho asked.

"I don't know, I haven't figured that out yet." Mingi huffed and watched Jongho walked back up the stairs to stand on the platform there. "We could always try the straightforward approach and just go up and talk to him. I don't have as convincing of a story to tell him though, so it won't be as easy as it was with you."

"That's right, you said he was locked up because he beat someone to death with a brick?" Yunho cringed at the thought.

"Yeah. His childhood bully. I don't know if that is the same thing that happened to him here or not and he never spoke of any other family."

Yunho paused and pressed his lips together. "You mean to tell me that you don't have a plan at all?"

The smirk that crossed Mingi's face make Yunho want to slap him silly. "I didn't have one with you."

"We are going to get so far going off no plan..." Yunho muttered under his breath, and yet he still followed after Mingi when the red-head started to weave his way through the crowd.

No one seemed to bothered by them, although a few did shoot them a dirty look for distracting them from the two men punching each other in the center of the room. A loud rare echoed through the room, accompanied by booing, indicating someone was gaining the upper hand.

All the sound made Yunho nervous. He didn't like being able to have a full grasp of his surrounding. He was used to it being just him and his car.

At least Mingi was tall too. That made it easier for him to keep track of the younger.

Jongho didn't look at them until they were right under his platform. His eyes narrowed and he tapped his fingers against the rail. "Problem, Gentlemen?" His voice was powerful but controlled, just loud enough to be heard over the crowd.

Mingi cupped his hands around his mouth. "Can we speak with you?"

"What for?"

"It's urgent and... private. Please."

"If you haven't noticed, I'm a little busy right now." Jongho pushed his lips out and scowled. "Whatever you're trying to sell I'm not interested."

Mingi hesitated and sighed. "It's not like that, I promise. He didn't know when else to come. Please."

Jongho studied them for a moment longer then made a sharp sideways motion with his left hand before returning his attention to the ring.

The couple on the ground level looked at each other. "I'm not leaving." Mingi said. "We will wait here then."

"Ok, I trust you." Yunho said, taking up a stance next to Mingi.

The words felt weird coming from his mouth. Yunho had grown up not being able to trust anyone but his sister, and then she ripped that away from him the day she had killed herself. Sure, Yunho blamed himself for it too, but it made it so that he never wanted to open himself up to anyone ever again. He was too afraid of getting hurt again...

But standing next to Mingi, in a place he would have never imagined himself, Yunho felt so right saying it.

Maybe Mingi was right... Maybe they really had known each other in a previous life. That would be the only explanation for this that he came up with.

They watched several rounds of fighting and commented on how riled up the crowd would get. Jongho awarded the cash prize at the end, which was partially from the cover charge everyone paid. From what they found out, half the cover charge went to keeping the place running and the other half went to the prizes for the evening.

It was a good system. Jongho had really perfected things.

When the crowd started to clear, both Mingi and Yunho straightened up. They were prepared to have to fight to stay, but Jongho surprised them by watching everyone else leave.

Then he turned slowly, crossed his arms over his chest, and growled. "What do you want?"