Hyunjin kicked off the ground, skating slowly down the street. The chilly air pierced his skin like a thousand little needles as the frost bit his nose and cheeks softly.

Was he allowed to leave the house after midnight to go skate alone in the dark? Absolutely not. But his parents had become more chill after he moved back in, afraid of scaring their son off again.

The latter hummed a soft tune, brushing his messy hair out of his forehead, and thereafter pulling his hood over his head.

Hyunjin entered the park, slowly skating along the pavement path going through it, doing zig-zag turns along the path.

Hyunjin knew the park by heart, having always loved to go there to let off steam, just like all his other friends. It was a common habit of theirs. Skating in the skatepark under the one broken orange streetlight at night.

The soft orange glow from the park came into view, illuminating the ramps, pools and rails set up for kids to have fun on.

There were a few people sitting on top of the ramp where him and his friends always sat, and one lonely skater rolling around the park by themselves.

This wasn't new, skating at midnight seemed to be a hobby for more people than just Hyunjin and his friends, they had actually all together ended up having a few deep midnight conversations at the park with another group of 5 guys but nothing more.

Hyunjin skated over to the nearest pool, dipping over the edge. The lonely skater on the other side of the pool minded their own business, having their hands in the pockets of their sweats and their hood covering their messy, light hair.

Hyunjin's lips stretched into a small smile and a small breathy chuckle escaped him. The latter kicked off hard, catching up on the lonely skater to softly roll beside him.

"Long time." Hyunjin sighed, looking down at their skateboards - both tagged with the pain of a spray can.

"Yeah. Last weeks have been hectic."

"So you're skating your problems and worries away at 1am?" Hyunjin chuckled.

The boy nodded his head, a smile ghosting his lips. The two came to a stop at the bottom of the pool, stepping off their skateboards.

Hyunjin's gaze drilled into the younger, making him avert his gaze sadly. The elder sighed and yanked his best friend into a hug, holding him tightly.

"I'm here for you, Jisung."

---

"Anyone heard from Jisung?" Seungmin asked, looking around at everyone.

The whole group froze, subtly glancing over at Minho.

The latter sent Seungmin a harsh glare.

"Come on. One of us had to mention him. I'm worried." Seungmin softly said.

Minho retracted his eyes, instead focusing on his phone, stuffing his mouth with his soft ice cream.

"He stopped by our place to pick up his stuff the other day." Felix answered, keeping his gaze low.

"I ran into him at the skate park around midnight yesterday." Hyunjin added.

"How is he?" Chan asked, wrapping an arm around Jeongin.

"He's working at some store downtown, and has an apartment close by there. He says everything is fine." Hyunjin shrugged, grimacing.

"What?" Jeongin asked, pouting.

"He looks terrible. He's super skinny and pale and looks just in general unhealthy." Felix silently muttered.

"He changed his phone but he wouldn't give me his new number." Hyunjin added on.

The group silenced down, just sitting uncomfortably in the booth together. The sky was starting to darken.

Minho sat by the window, looking out of it. Right across the street, a broken neon light was flickering on and off. The metal bars on the windows gave the place an eeie vibe.

"That's the place I used to work for as a prostitute." Hyunjin chuckled, pointing to the sign.

Minho nodded his head. He knew this. He came with Jisung there when the younger was quitting his job just a few months ago.

"What the fuck!" Changbin suddenly yelled, running out the door.

No one took the time to question it, they all just followed Changbin, whom was running across the street towards the venue.

"Ji!"

"Jisung!"

Changbin grabbed Jisung's arm just as the latter was about to enter the venue.

"Let me go. I'm late!" Jisung tried to shrug away, but Changbin held him firmly.

"What the hell! You told me you had a good job and an apartment on the other side of town!" Hyunjin yelled, angry.

"I lied." Jisung deadpanned, struggling against Changbin's hold.

"You're selling yourself again?" Jeongin scolded his hyung, disappointed.

"What's the fucking big deal? Hyunjin did it for years!" Jisung snapped.

"Yeah, because he had no other option!" Changbin shoved Jisung away, looking at him angrily.

"Yeah and you think I do? I live on the fucking street! I can barely afford food for myself, let alone a home!" Jisung yelled, dusting himself off.

Felix clutched Minho's arm, watching the whole scene from behind Chan and Seungmin. Minho's jaw hung open. He hadn't even thought about what he did to Jisung when throwing him out, he just kind of assumed everything was alright.

"What?" Chan asked, shocked.

Jisung's friends all stared at him, not knowing what to say.

"Jisung why didn't you tell us? Or your pare-"

"I gotta go."

"Jisung we could've helped!" Hyunjin softly said, feeling like he failed his best friend.

"I gotta go." Jisung repeated, glancing around the group of friends before turning around and entering the venue.

He didn't feel like a part of their group anymore. They all fit together so well, they were all strong, intelligent, amazing people with amazing families and homes. While Jisung himself was a disgusting, cheap whore, living in an empty dumpster In an alley he had found the keys to a while back.

Jisung drew a deep breath, clutching his heart. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts before he had to go seduce creepy old people.

Plastering a fake smile onto his face, Jisung went up to the counter to get his room number, then moving on down the hall to find his room, ready to start his work.