Chapter Six: Accusations and Apologies

Lee walked quietly beside Yong Soo as they made their way to school. He waved silently to Yao and Kiku when they parted ways. He watched as Yong Soo yelled loudly that he was going to miss "his Yao-hyung", frowning when the other boy's voice hitched slightly as he said his brother's name, remembering he did the same the night before.

He could tell that something was bothering Yong Soo. He hadn't been himself since Lee came to pick him up last night; all fake smiles and forced exuberance. And today was more of the same. No... it was worse. The strain was starting to show through. The corners of his mouth twitched as he tried to keep the false smile plastered on his face. He talked less and less, his mind obviously elsewhere. And, sometimes, when Lee looked at him, Yong Soo's eyes looked close to tears. Not of deep sadness, but more... frustration. The difference was obvious in the way he frowned and bit his lip when he thought Lee wasn't looking and the way he kept picking at his fingernails. A tension-induced habit Yao had often scolded Yong Soo for when he was younger.

"What happened last night?" Lee asked his friend, keeping his voice level and calm. "Did someone do something?"

"Huh?" Yong Soo blinked in feigned confusion, and his face went blank for all of two second before he slapped a grin back on. "What are you talking about, Lee? I'm fine, da ze! I'm-"

Lee merely nodded, and tuned out the rest of his friend's speech. It didn't matter; it was only going to be lies anyway. Lies that Yong Soo had already been telling all morning. The quiet Asian frowned as he tried to put together the puzzle of what had happened, but he was missing so many pieces. So he focused on what he did know: Yong Soo was grounded for yelling at a schoolmate of Yao's. Yong Soo later told him that the man had been stalking Yao. That night Yong Soo snuck out for some reason, though it seemed out of character for the Korean. He wouldn't have thought Yong Soo would have done anything more that could have incurred his brother's wrath. Lee mentally shook himself; he was getting off track. After he snuck out he went to a party at Yao's and Kiku's college. Something bad happened there and he called Lee for a ride home. But he wouldn't talk about it. If only someone could give him the missing pieces...

"Hey! Dude!" Alfred ran up from another direction waving his arms above his head. Matthew, the better behaved of the twins, trailed quietly behind. "Hey, Yong Soo!" He grinned and wrapped an arm around the shorter boy's shoulders. "That party last night was kick-ass, dude! Sorry, you had to leave so early, though. What was up with that guy you were with, huh? Totally weird."

Yong Soo pulled away from the American and laughed uncomfortably. "H-ha...what-what are you talking about? W-what guy?" His lips formed a tight frown and he shook his head, hoping that Alfred would take the sign to drop it.

Alfred, of course, did not. "Huh? You know, that tall, creepy Russian. The one that tried to make you go home? Called you Yao? I think... I think that's what he did. That's what happened, right?"

Yong Soo slammed his palm into his face. "Yeah..." He hissed the word out through his teeth.

"You said you didn't know he'd be there." Lee said, his voice its usual monotone, but to Yong Soo it sounded accusatory.

"Well- I- he-uh..." Yong Soo sputtered out a useless string of words then begun to wail. "Waahhh, Lee's mad at me now!"

"I never said I was angry, Yong Soo."

"Whoa-whoa-whoa," Alfred held his hands in front of himself, palms forward, defensively. "I didn't know I wasn't supposed to tell. I mean, Yong Soo didn't do anything! It was all that Russkie!"

"He was grounded."

"Oh," The blonde's arms fell to his sides, deflated. "Well, that's... uh... A little rebellion never hurt anyone!" He suddenly exclaimed, slapping Yong Soo on the back and laughing.

Lee didn't think sneaking out to meet his brother's stalker and then going to a college party and drinking qualified as 'a little rebellion', but he supposed the blonde would know better than he would, so he merely nodded, taking the other's words at face value. There was something that was bothering him more anyway. "Who called Yong Soo by his brother's name?"

"Oh, it was that Russian dude! It was crazy, man!" Alfred frowned and flailed his arms in front of him while he started to ramble about the events the night before. "Yong Soo and I were just dancing and stuff and then he wanted Yong Soo to leave with him but Yong Soo didn't want to and I said that he didn't have to if he didn't want to and I started pulling Yong Soo off to get a drink and then the guy started yelling at me to get off 'Yao', which I thought was really weird and I didn't get until later and then-"

"We get the point Al." The boy's twin spoke for the first time. His voice was barely above a whisper, but he effectively cut off his brother's tirade, nevertheless.

Alfred blushed and grinned at his brother sheepishly. "Oh... Sorry. I got a little carried away, huh?"

Matthew just smiled gently and nodded, hiding halfway behind the books he had clutched to his chest.

Lee turned to Yong Soo. "He called you Yao?"

"O-oh yeah... He did! I had completely forgotten about that!" He looked upwards, refusing to meet Lee's eyes and forced out another awkward laugh.

"..." Lee silently stared at his best friend, internally mulling over the new information. "I suppose that would upset a person," he said trying to put as much sympathy into his voice as possible, but it came out as flat-toned as ever. He could only hope that Yong Soo could hear the difference.

"I-I'm not upset..." His arms dropped to his side and he pouted, looking at his feet. "Yao-hyung's a really cool person a-and I'm flattered that I was-"

"Cool or not," Lee personally disagreed with this statement but knew now was not the time to argue it, "You are not the same."

"Yeah!" Alfred slung his arm back around the Korean. "I totally don't get it, man. I mean, you are way cooler than Yao. Dude has a stick up his ass."

"Yong Soo?" An unsure voice called out from behind them.

All four members of the impromptu group turned around at the same time in a manner that most likely would have been intimidating if the recipient had been anyone but Ivan.

The Russian just fidgeted slightly and looked hopefully at Yong Soo, the lower face of his face buried up to his nose in the long pale pink scarf wrapped around his neck. "I... can talk vith Yong Soo?" he asked, his hesitant words muffled by the scarf.

Yong Soo took a step forward to comply, but the other Asian quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "You may not." Venom laced his voice and anger flashed across his normally blank face.

Yong Soo blinked in confusion. Since when was Lee so vicious? Why was everyone surprising him lately? His questions went unanswered and his confusion only heightened when Alfred joined the fray. He was usually so nice to everybody!

"Yeah, get lost, commie." He folded his arms over his chest and stepped forward to stand protectively in front of the unusually quiet Korean. "Yong Soo doesn't want to talk to you. Why don't you go talk to Yao?"

Ivan giggled dangerously, the anger rolling off of him in heavy waves. "I do not vant to talk to Yao. I vant to talk vith Yong Soo."

"Well, ya can't, so go away." Alfred said as he turned away and waved his hand dismissingly.

"Al," Matthew scolded, "don't be so mean. Hi, Ivan." He smiled and waved a timid hand, awkwardly juggling his books with his other arm.

"Ah, привет Matvey," Ivan responded, surprised and clearly just now noticing the smaller blonde.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa. Whoa. You know this guy, Mattie?"

"Matthew looked at his brother crossly. "You never listen to me, do you? I've told you about him; he's the one who convinced the coach to let him join the hockey team."

"Wait..." Alfred pauses at his brother's words, "Our school has a hockey team?"

Matthew half-sighed and half-groaned as he brought a hand to one side of his head and rubbed gentle circles at his temple. "No, Al. It's a city team. I've told you that."

Ivan giggles again, some of his anger dissipating. "Matvey's brother is stupid, да?" He knew the blonde had looked familiar, but he never thought to connect him to Matthew. Truthfully though, the little blonde slipped his mind the moment they were off the ice, so that only made sense.

"Definitely." Matthew agreed irritably, frowning as he glared daggers at his brother.

"Hey!" Alfred looked from Ivan to Matthew, not sure if he should throw a punch at the Russian or if he wanted to whine at his twin. He settled for pouting, arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"Matvey is much smarter. And is much nicer." The Russian smiled as he sidled up closer to his teammate, "Matvey vill let me talk to Yong Soo, да?" His eyes pleaded with Matthew as he looked down at him hopefully.

"Uh... I-I don't really think that's up to me, Ivan. I-I mean it's Yong Soo's choice and-"

"I have no problem talking with him," Yong Soo smiled lightly and shrugged his lean shoulders, though both actions seemed rather forced. He wrestled out of Lee's grasp and made his way to Matthew and Ivan. "I mean, we're already late to school, what are a few more minutes?"

Ivan nodded happily and Matthew panicked in the background about being late. Ivan had been afraid Yong Soo would still refuse to talk to him and he wasn't sure if he could take any more of the Korean's silent treatment.

"So what's up?" The grin on his face looked painful even to Ivan. "Sorry about running out early, but I was tired and stuff so-"

"Я сожалею." Ivan spit out, resorting back to his native tongue.

"Uh... what?"

"...I am sorry." He looked at his feet. He hated apologizing. He felt stupid. And weak. And everyone was watching them. Yong Soo just stared at him, but he wasn't saying anything and it made him so nervous. What if Toris was wrong? He had just been starting to get along with the younger boy... And h-he wants Yao's brother to like him! And...

"It's not okay." The Korean said quietly. He didn't know why those words tumbled out of his mouth. It's not what he'd been intending to say. He planned to laugh and ask him what he was sorry for, he planned to act like he had completely forgotten about what happened the night before, but when Ivan looked at him with those earnest, pleading eyes, he couldn't bring himself to lie to him. "But maybe you can make it up to me." He shrugs again, then grins. "But you better make it good, da ze!"

-o-o-o-

A/N: And I'm back from the dead! -shambles around in a zombie costume- Sorry about taking so long to update, real life, school, other lame excuses you don't really care about... You know, the usual.

This chapter was hard for me. It fought me tooth and nail every step of the way. I tried really hard to get Yong Soo in character, but upset Yong Soo is not an easy thing to write. I hope I managed.

Oh! Yes... translations... Here ya go:

Привет- Hi/Hello

Да- Yes

Я сожалею – I'm sorry

Yeah... oooh... Cyrillic. Fancy. :D

Oh! And I want to apologize for not responding to anyone's reviews. But by the time I got around to it, I felt silly for doing so. I'll try to do that now though, starting with this chapter. So, forgive me?