"Why is it so hot today?"

Despite approaching autumn, there were few days like today when the city was boiled alive. It seemed that the weather didn't get the memo that people want to be out and enjoying themselves, because this odd heat wave also happened to be on the same day that Jeongin met with Seungmin and Felix to divulge in a day off of school. The heat wave left the three hiding away from the sun under branches, seated on the thick slabs of concrete used as a planter for the grown tree far above their heads.

Seungmin was leaning his back against Felix, fanning his hands on his face in an attempt to cool off. He sighed, "Sorry. I swore the weather forecast said it would be cooler today."

"Seungmin, let's go find us something cold to eat," Felix nudged the mentioned off of him as he stood up from the planter. He then turned to Jeongin, offering an apologetic smile as he asked, "Will you be okay on your own?"

"I'll be here," Jeongin threw them a soft smile as he tucked his hands under his legs. His friends said a quick "We'll be back", and without sparing a glance, bounded away.

Jeongin watched their backs slip farther and farther away from his spot under the trees. His eyes drifted to the people walking by. There were a lot out today; a sea of unfamiliar faces and crowded masses with no sense or rhythm despite the weather. They all looked so busy, so hurried like there will always be a place to go but no way to get there. He tucked his hands under his legs and hunched his shoulders in. A turtle curled up in his shell. He could disappear, become lodged in the waves of faces, keep his head down and never make a sound. It wasn't like standing out was his top priority. It wasn't like he wanted his voice to be heard.

Still. Maybe, just maybe, if he screamed loud enough, someone would heard him.

"Jeongin!"

A harsh hand slapped his back. He whipped around to see two familiar faces he hadn't seen in a few weeks, smiling down at him like he was their Messiah. Hyunjin and Minho. Jeongin did a double take, he checked everywhere, he saw everyone walking by, and just where did these two pop out of? He was sure he would've seen these two, between their brightly dyed hair and interesting choice of clothing, they stood out like sore thumbs in the usual grind.

Jeongin was broken from his thoughts when Hyunjin plotted next to him, greeting him with an arm thrown over the shoulder and a lopsided grin, "It's been a while since you've come around, the crew misses you."

"I'm trying to focus on my schoolwork right now," The younger scooted away, thankfully prompting Hyunjin to remove his arm. It didn't go without a few snickers though. Jeongin silently thanked him and continued on with his reasoning, "I can't always be staying up till the sunrise, and I don't belong there, it's not a place for high schoolers."

"Don't you go to the same school as Jisung?" Hyunjin raised an eyebrow and turned to the other street racer for confirmation.

Minho mumbled, "But our Jisung is kind of a lost cause when it comes to academics anyway."

"He's failing?" Jeongin's eyes widden.

"He understands the material, but he doesn't try."

With a huff, Hyunjin cut in to the conversation, "Not trying to compare their academic prowess. Just asking because that means their school is near to our 'job'."

"Good point. If you can't stop by the Hub, at least come visit us at our repair shop when you've got the freetime. We'd love to have you there," Minho added in as a second thought, "Hell, if you know anything about engines, we might be able to give you a job."

"I'll... Think about it."

Hyunjin glared at Minho, a nasty snarl to his voice as he quickly informed, "Minho seems to be forgetting that we don't have the funds to pay you."

"Speaking of not getting paid, there's two kids about Jeongon's age power walking in our direction. They got ice cream too," Minho nodded his head in the general direction in an attempt to be subtle, "It doesn't have to do with money, but I thought you two should know."

A pit of dread dug itself in Jeongin's stomach. When he finally built up the courage to see who it could have been, the pit only grew wider. Seungmin and Felix were successfully coming back from their excursion to find something cold, both of them with ice cream cones and an extra one just for Jeongin. They caught sight of the street racers. It was an almost immediate reaction; eyes widening, exchanging a worried look, and stepping up their pace to a jog to get to their friend quicker.

Upon reaching them, Seungmin passed his ice cream to Felix who was now struggling with balancing three cones and gave the 'unfamiliar' two a once over. He must have decided that they were possing a serious threat to his friend's safety, though in reality they weren't, because Seungmin prickly grabbed the youngest and pulled him away from Hyunjin. He interrogated, "Jeongin, do you know these people?"

"Not really, just barely," Jeongin tried to add in with his classic eye smile, "But they weren't doing anythin-"

"Barely? Ouch," Minho winced, "Kind of hurt."

Hyunjin tilted his chin up at them, providing a better angle for him to glare down at the two, "Why? Jeongin, you know these people?"

"We happen to be his friends," Seungmin copied the racer, doing his best to mimic the way he was scowling. It wasn't nearly as intimidating. Jeongin loved his friends for trying to help him, though it is a misunderstanding, but it looked like a kitten trying to face off against a pair of lions. No, hyenas.

Hyunjin sneered, "I also happen to be his friend."

"Jeongin, tell us honestly," Seungmin spun around to face the younger and pointed a violent finger at the two racers, "How do you know them?"

Jeongin locked up, "They're from.... Um..."

At that moment another familiar face approached from behind Seungmin and Felix, far enough to not be seen by the two high schoolers, but close enough to immediately pick up on the predicament the group got themselves into. Changbin froze in his spot. He rubbed his hands together, then made a wide swinging motion with his arms. When Jeongin stared at him in clear confusion, the older repeated the movement, this time placing his hands like he was holding a baseball bat.

"Racket club?" Was the only conclusion Jeongin came to. Changbin nodded eagerly, shooting him a quick thumbs up before preparing for the next game of charades.

Seungmin shot Felix a suspicious look. He crossed his arms over his chest, "You do racket sports?"

Changbin started making weird hand motions once again. Jeongin struggled to follow along, "Not me, my sister- brother! The one with a... Toupe? No! A hat! He has a hat and... They started talking to him because his hat had a fan on it... What? Sorry, his hat had a sports team that they were fans of. That's how they... met. That's how they met."

"Jeongin," Seungmin frowned, "Are you feeling okay? It is hot today, maybe you were in the sun for too long."

Felix pointed over his shoulder with the one hand that wasn't completely occupied keeping ice cream from splattering on the ground, "You keep staring off at this guy over there."

"He looks familiar!"

"No, he really doesn't. And he keeps swinging his arms around," Felix said with a bit of concern in his voice. From over his shoulder, Jeongin could see Changbin laughing at the comment.

"We best be going," Jeongin gave a wide grin to the racers. On the inside, he was at maximum panic mode. He pushed his friends in a direction, hurried to get them away from the two as he walked away and called over his shoulder, "It was nice seeing you two, but I'm busy and don't think I'll be seeing you again soon, bye!"

Jeongin shot them a sorry look, covered up by the wide grin. He hoped it would be enough to tell them he didn't mean it quite like that. The three of them waved a quick good-bye, a clear look of humor dancing across their faces like they already knew they would be seeing him. And soon.

When the three of them made distance, Felix began giving out the ice cream cones he held, finally asking when he handed one to Jeongin, "Do you really know those two? Are you sure they weren't just harassing you and told you to be quiet?"

"No, they weren't but I've only seen them once or twice," Jeongin gritted his teeth together and took a nibble from his ice cream to hide it, "Brother's friends."

"I didn't know he hangs out with those kinds of people. They look..."

"Dangerous," Seungmin finished for him.

Jeongin glanced back to the three still sitting idly below the tree. 'Dangerous'. It was a funny term to describe them, the same people who accepted him as a friend despite not knowing him for more then a few hours at a time, the same people who poke fun at each other for doing stupid things and laughing at the person who was supposed to receive some sort of respect from them. The same people who made a living off of an illegal trade and expensive cars.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Jeongin wondered how they were able to smile so freely.

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