Chapter 1
"There's one. Middle row, third from the bottom." a ketchup covered french fry popped into Jinyoung's vision in the general vicinity of the paper ad. Park Jinyoung's eyes scaled up to glare at the boy sitting across from him.
"Lee Tae Hoo, if you get ketchup and grease on my stuff..." he warned.
Across from him, a bleached blond Tae Hoo smiled innocently and popped the fry into his mouth. Jinyoung rolled his eyes and looked back down at the ad.
"Taehoo, I'm not getting THAT much money from my parents for expenses. I'd have to get a full time job to afford that condo." he said.
Taehoo rolled his eyes and wiped his hands off on a flimsy paper napkin.
"You could always get a job at a greasy spoon diner like this one." he teased.
Jinyoung narrowed his eyes at his friend. It hadn't even been his idea to stop at the diner. The two and their group of friends had taken two vehicles on a trip to a summer concert series a few cities away. Gitae's prized pickup truck had run low on gas so they had collectively decided to pull into a close gas station and refuel.
Taehoo had dragged Jinyoung next door to the diner to continue their conversation about college housing. It was only a month until classes started up for the semester and Jinyoung needed to find an apartment closer to campus.
Taehoo wasn't exactly helpful. The teen had a flair for the more expensive side of life. Despite their opposite personalities, the two were pretty good friends.
Jinyoung was startled out of his thoughts by the booth shaking as a tall individual slumped down next to him.
"Kiyong, could you please tell your friend that he needs to find an apartment before classes start or he'll be stuck living at home again?" Taehoo complained.
Kim Kiyong chuckled and stretched his arms over his head.
"There's nothing wrong with living at home." he reasoned.
Taehoo wasn't amused. It was evident in the scoff that left his lips.
"Just because you live at home..." he said.
Jinyoung cut him off with an audible sigh. He folded the apartment ads and tossed it on the empty food tray, rubbing his eyes.
"So Jinyoung, I get Sangwoo, but why did you invite your brother?" Kiyong asked with hesitance.
Jinyoung crossed his arms over his chest and sat back.
"I didn't invite him. Gitae did. Makes him feel dangerous." he said, glancing over Taehoo's shoulder at the two people sitting in a corner booth at the back of the diner. He could only see the back of one of their heads but the other stared right back at him.
Im Jaebum's mother had married Jinyoung's dad when they were little, Jaebum being a few months older than Jinyoung. As children, they had gotten along just fine. But as they got older, they had drifted apart. Jinyoung was always on the straight and narrow. Jaebum though caused trouble on a weekly basis. How they would get through this trip without killing each other was beyond him.
Jinyoung couldn't hold his brother's gaze any longer and looked away, focusing on Kiyong instead.
"I know you're anxious about college in a big city, but with Taehoo taking a year off, I didn't want to be stuck there alone." he said, ignoring the embarrasment burning on his cheeks.
"You could always travel with me." Taehoo persuaded.
Jinyoung raised an eyebrow.
"You could always muster up the guts to tell your parents that you're taking a year off instead of using their funds for classes." he sniped back.
Kiyong hid a grin behind his fist. Taehoo looked at the two of them in mock shock and stood up.
"I better return Gitae's card before he realizes he just paid for our meals." he said, flashing the plastic and trotting to the door.
Jinyoung rolled his eyes and Kiyong snorted.
"Like Gitae would notice a small amount of money missing with how much his dad puts in there." Kiyong mumbled.
Jinyoung shoved him, almost knocking his tall friend out of the booth.
The joking mood was broken up by the arrival of one sulky Im Jaebum. The older teen sat down in the seat Taehoo had vacated. The air became awkward. Jaebum's cold gaze affixed to Kiyong, boring into him like drills. Jinyoung glanced nervously from Kiyong to Jaebum and sighed in annoyance.
"You need something Jaebum?" he asked.
Jaebum leaned back in the booth and crossed his arms over his chest. He smirked. No words left his mouth. Jinyoung glared at his older brother.
Kiyong cleared his throat.
"So which group at the concert are you looking forward to?" he asked Jaebum.
Jaebum's gaze slid from Jinyoung to Kiyong and the smirk dropped. It was an intimidating look to try to match.
"You mean which of your teenybopper groups am I looking forward to assaulting my ears?" Jaebum asked sarcastically.
"Then why did you come?" Jinyoung ground out through clenched teeth.
"It's not like I had a choice now did I?" Jaebum's tone gave off little emotion other than annoyance.
Jinyoung rolled his eyes and tapped Kiyong's shoulder.
"I'm ready to go." he said shortly.
Kiyong was swift to stand up, stepping back to give Jinyoung space.
"Yeah you better head out. You know how Jinyoung is with pressure." Jaebum goaded.
Jinyoung bit the tip of his tongue so hard to keep from snapping back that he tasted blood. Kiyong lightly tapped Jinyoung on the shoulder to get him moving.
Jaebum watched them leave the diner quietly.
"Kiyong gets on my nerves too. The goody two shoes." Choi Sangwoo's voice came through Jaebum's ears with a buzz. Jaebum didn't look over at him but raised an eyebrow. Sangwoo, with his badly dyed green hair, leaned against the back of the booth to the right of Jaebum.
"Your brother sure is friends with the clueless ones." Sangwoo murmured.
"Shut up Sangwoo."
Jinyoung trotted out of the diner and across the street to the gas station Kiyong and Gitae had parked their vehicles at. The passenger door of Gitae's black shiny truck was open, Taehoo sitting flipping through the radio stations. Gitae, a tall muscular teen, known for his wild behavior, was using the cuff of his jacket sleeve to wipe a smudge off his truck.
"They have nothing good on their radio stations out here." Taehoo complained, switching off the radio with a huff. jinyoung chuckled and kicked Taehoo's dangling foot. Gitae dug his hands in his pockets and came to stand by the others as Jaebum and Sangwoo exited the diner and walked over.
"I think I found a shortcut that might save us an hour of drive time." Gitae announced as it if were big news.
"I'm riding with Gitae. He owes me for not telling a certain math teacher about who leaked the answers to the final." Taehoo said, flashing an innocent smile to match Gitae's glare.
"That was you?" Kiyong asked.
Sangwoo clapped Gitae on the shoulder.
"Hey man, thanks to you I might graduate." he remarked.
Gitae rolled his eyes and smacked him upside the head.
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