"What is it, exactly?" the doctor asked, narrowing his eyes in confusion at the small vial he'd been handed.

"That's what I want to know," Hyungwon muttered, casting a glance at the bedridden male behind the curtain. "I think it has something to do with whatever happened to hyung."

The doctor followed Hyungwon's gaze, brow furrowing in concern as he took in Shownu's state. "I'm sorry, Hyungwon, but his condition hasn't improved."

"I know," Hyungwon said, looking down at the ground. "I didn't expect it to." He hadn't dared to hope. "But maybe we're getting somewhere, with this," he said, looking up and nodding toward the vial. "I shouldn't need to say this, Doc, but you can't let anyone else get a hold of that, not until we know for certain what we're dealing with."

The doctor nodded. "I'll guard it - and your brother - with my life."

Hyungwon bowed his head in thanks before leaving the cramped laboratory.

***

Shin Hoseok was many things; a bit naive, naturally optimistic, still searching for a home in a vast, vast world.

But right now, Shin Hoseok was just lost. He was from the Gangnam province to the south, and he'd decided to take a break from university in an effort to free up his mind a bit. He'd lost confidence in himself and in his abilities as a budding photographer, and he thought that maybe a change of scenery would spark the creative juices in his mind.

Seoul was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. He'd never been, even though it was the capital of his country. He'd never had the chance. So of course, he wanted to see everything. His camera roll had filled up within the first day, and he'd had to buy several backup SD cards to carry all the images he planned to take. He'd gotten most of the historic sites and classic tourist destinations in the first few days; now, he wanted a more candid take on the city. He'd seen the beautiful and the polished; now, he wanted to get a good look at the dirt and grime. Otherwise, he'd feel like he'd cheated himself out on really getting to know Seoul.

He'd taken the public transportation to the other side of the city, where the streets were narrower and people lurked in twos and threes outside shops. He felt eyes on him, picking him out as persona non grata, but he just exhaled, holding his head up. What use was a timid photographer?

Already, with the dark streets around him, he could feel something stirring within him, inspired by the grit of the city. He actually preferred it to the Seoul he'd already seen, and he wasn't sure exactly why quite yet.

Eventually, he decided that walking wasn't enough; he needed to go inside a shop, to really get the atmosphere. He picked what looked like a bar and passed through the doorway into what felt like another world.

This wasn't like the bars he'd frequented as a uni student. Those had felt dirty somehow, overflowing with college boys and girls, hormones in the air and alcohol fueling it all, every flat surface lacquered with layer upon layer of sticky substances and the carpet cheap and ugly. This bar felt pleasantly worn-in, all the counters crafted from solid wood, pool tables and dart boards giving atmosphere to the room.

Here, too, he felt eyes on him, but he just licked his lips before nervously approaching the counter.

"Sorry, we don't serve strangers," the bartender said, giving him a once-over before glancing at a figure seated on one of the middle stools.

Hoseok followed his line of sight, his eyes landing on a slender boy who looked to be about his age who was smirking at something one of the others had said. The boy looked over after a moment, catching Hoseok staring, and his smirk grew as Hoseok turned back to the bartender, flustered. "I- uh, that's fine, I'm not looking for a drink. I just..." He hesitated before holding up his camera as a flimsy explanation. "I'm a photographer, I was just wondering if it would be all right for me to take a few pictures."

Again, the bartender looked over at the boy as though asking for permission.

And again, Hoseok followed his gaze, only to find the boy already watching him with curious but reserved eyes.

"Your accent is strange," the boy observed. His voice was...Hoseok didn't know quite how to describe it. Hoseok wasn't a journalist or a writer; pushing his thoughts onto paper wasn't the same as capturing moments from behind the safety of his camera. But his voice was pleasant, smooth and a bit low. It seemed that when he spoke, everybody leaned in a bit and held their breath.

Maybe Hoseok did too.

"I'm from Gangnam," Hoseok said, scratching the back of his neck but making sure to keep a hand on his camera. Even though it was secured with a neck strap, he'd had straps fail before, and his camera was too expensive to for him to replace. The boy's eyes darted down to the camera before snapping back up to Hoseok's eyes. "Just taking a little vacation, I guess."

"And you came here?" the boy said, his lips turning up at the corners in amusement. "Odd destination for a tourist."

"I wanted to get real pictures. Not just, you know, the basic ones you can find on any major search engine," Hoseok said, feeling his face slowly starting to turn pink, both from the prolonged eye contact as well as due to the fact that he could feel half the room staring at him.

The boy stared at him as well, the amusement frozen on his lips but gone from his eyes before he gave a small nod and a shrug, turning back to face the bar. "Sure, take whatever pictures you want. Just keep me out of them," he said, sounding different than before, the warmth gone.

And suddenly, the bar resumed its normal activities. Pool balls clicked off one another before sinking into pockets, and the chatter grew in volume, just like that.

The man who had been sitting on the stool directly to the boy's right got up and joined the pool match, and Hoseok hesitated before moving over and sitting down rather tentatively, setting his camera down on the counter as he rummaged through his pockets for his blank SD card.

"You'd be better off taking your pictures and getting out of this part of the city," the boy advised without looking over, and Hoseok looked over, startled that he'd spoken to him again.

"I'm sorry?"

"It's what you'd call a bad neighborhood. Get back on your bus or train or whatever you took to get here and head back to your hotel," the boy said, turning only his head to look at him. "It isn't safe. Not for you."

Hoseok frowned, upset for some reason at the boy's implication. "I can take care of myself," he defended, puffing out his chest slightly. "I'd worry more about yourself with your scrawny arms."

The boy snorted lightly, a new light in his eyes as he re-examined Hoseok, seeming to take him in properly just now. "I think I'll be fine," he said, patting the back of his pants lightly, and Hoseok gasped as he saw an ebony handle sticking out.

"Is that a gun?" he asked, and once more, the boy snorted, seeming to find no end to the humor of Hoseok's ignorance.

"Yeah, why, you wanna hold it?"

Hoseok blinked before taking in a breath and nodding. "Can I?"

The bar seemed to grow quieter all of a sudden.

The boy's eyes widened in surprise before a small grin lit up his face. "Why not?" he asked, tilting his head, and Hoseok found his eyes following the small movement of the boy's silky hair as it shifted on his head, catching the overhead lights from the bar. The boy reached back and grabbed the gun before handing it to Hoseok, keeping his hand on the barrel while extending the handle to Hoseok. "Try it on for size."

Hoseok gulped before setting his hand ever so gently around the handle, relaxing as his fingers found familiar grooves. The handle felt warm in his grip, probably from being pressed against the boy's body.

It wasn't what he expected a gun to feel like.

But then, he hadn't really expected to find a boy like him in a place like this, either. He wasn't really sure just what kind of boy he was, even. Not yet.

"I'm Hoseok," he said abruptly as he handed the gun back.

The boy took it, sliding it into the back of his waistband, his eyes quick as they tried to spot any insincerity in Hoseok's words, but he found none. "Hyungwon," he said, his lips hesitating before forming a genuine smile that seemed out of place both in the bar and on his face. It vanished quickly.

"Hyungwon," Hoseok repeated with a grin. "Well, Hyungwon, what are you doing in this part of the city?"

Hyungwon tilted his head as though amused by the question, one he must not have gotten often. "Now, where else would I be?"

Hoseok didn't have time to further question the boy in front of him as the door flew open, slamming into the wall with a scream of hinges as - were they carrying guns?!

"Shit," Hyungwon mumbled, already reaching back to grab his own weapon while moving to provide cover for Hoseok. "Dino's guys," Hyungwon called out to the bartender, who scowled before ducking down behind the counter and emerging with what looked to be two assault rifles.

"What?!" Hoseok squeaked, falling back against the bar counter and fumbling to keep a safe grip on his camera as the men who had just entered the bar raised their guns and began shooting.

The regulars dove behind the pool tables or into side alcoves, pulling out their own guns and slapping their magazines in before trading fire.

Two of the newcomers came running towards the counter, and Hoseok - finding he could inch back no farther - winced, turning his body slightly as a meager defense, but Hyungwon was already up, throwing a bottle at one of them while shooting at the other before switching targets. The first man, wounded but still conscious, switched to a knife, charging Hyungwon from behind.

"Watch ou-" Hoseok began to yell, only to find that Hyungwon already had it covered as he swung a leg high up in the air, catching the man just under his chin. The kick propelled him backwards, and Hyungwon threw an elbow in his throat, sending the man choking and gagging as he fell against the far wall.

"Thanks," Hyungwon said, throwing Hoseok a quick, appreciate nod before darting back into it. Hoseok could only watch as Hyungwon stepped in, taking down one after another, using whatever he had at his disposal. Darts were thrown, knives drawn out of pockets Hoseok hadn't known to exist, new magazines quickly loaded by deft and experienced fingers before being spent just as quickly.

In his distraction over watching Hyungwon, Hoseok hadn't realized that someone had begun charging him until they were near right on top of him, so he did the only thing he could do: scramble back up onto the counter and fall into the crevice, hoping to shield himself at the very least from gunfire. The man hopped the counter, and Hoseok once more retreated, running toward the back door, praying that he would get out and find someplace to hide and then quietly make his way back to the train and get back to his hotel room and just take a nap and pretend like this had never happened-

As he broke through the door, he felt a pressure at his neck, and then his neck strap snapped, and his thousand-dollar camera crashed to the ground, parts splintering and spraying in every direction, but Hoseok couldn't even think about the camera at the moment, only at the fact that as he turned around, he realized that his neck strap had just saved him from having his neck slashed with a knife that was clearly no prop.

And then there were two loud pop's, and the man was falling, tumbling forward, eyes rolling back into his head as Hyungwon followed through the door, gun in hand and held off to his right as his eyes warily scanned the surrounding alley before coming to rest on Hoseok.

"Are you hurt?" he asked immediately, and Hoseok blinked, realizing he'd frozen up for a second before shaking his head.

"No, I'm fine. Thank-"

"I told you," Hyungwon said, his breathing somewhat strained and his eyes dark with worry. "You need to leave, right now. It's not safe."

No shit, Hoseok wanted to say, and while he knew that running in the opposite direction would be the correct play, he felt himself hesitating. "You...will you be all right?"

The boy scoffed, face relaxed momentarily out of skepticism. "Worry about yourself," he said after a moment. "You need to- shit," he muttered as he watched a black SUV pull up at the end of the alley, blocking it off from the connecting streets. He pivoted, turning back to face the door, but more of them were pouring through, forming a semi-circle around Hyungwon and Hoseok.

They were surrounded.

Hoseok watched in horror as they shouted orders at Hyungwon, who did a second head count before flicking his eyes toward Hoseok to affirm to himself that he was both outmatched and outgunned. He held his hands up before placing his gun on the ground and kicking it toward them, as instructed. He got down on his knees, hands above his head, and then they were upon him, kicking him down to the ground so his right cheek kissed the rough pavement, loose stones scattering under feet.

Hoseok felt a sharp pain in the base of his skull as another man slammed the butt of his gun against Hoseok's head, and then he was falling to the ground as well, the world going as dark as Hyungwon's eyes when they'd first met his.