Loving Them

Prologue

January 8, 2019

MinHo groaned as he sat up in bed. Moonlight shone through the window, illuminating the room and the little papillon growling at the closed bedroom door, his hackles raised and stance protective. MinHo would have laughed at the little dog's attempt to be fierce, if he hadn't heard footsteps in the living room of the upscale apartment that he shared with his best friend, band mate, and partner, Oliver. Said man was currently sleeping the sleep of the dead next to him, blissfully unaware of the intruder to their home. The intruder that had somehow managed to not set off the alarm. Panicking, MinHo reached over and began to rapidly smack the man next to him on his bare back and whisper, "Ollie, Oliver wake up."

Oliver groaned, reached over to the nightstand, and unlocked his phone. His eyes squinted in the bright light, and he glared at the time, before locking the device and turning to look at his partner, "Mini," he grumbled, his already deep voice even deeper from sleep, "it's two in the morning, and we don't have practice for another six hours."

"Someone's in the house."

"And you're waking me up because?"

"Go check it out."

Oliver rose up on his elbow and raised a brow at his partner, "MinHo," he deadpanned, "you have several black belts, and can use a gun infinitely better than I can. You are by far the best candidate to 'Go check it out'."

MinHo opened and closed his mouth like a fish several times before blushing and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "If I bang on the wall hit the panic button." Oliver nodded once and MinHo stood, pulling on a pair of sweats over his otherwise bare lower half, just in case the intruder had a camera, and quietly opened the door.

He crept down the hall on silent feet, toward the sound of footsteps coming from the living area. As soon as he rounded the corner, he flipped on the light and slammed his hand against the wall, effectively scaring who he recognized as the front desk agent half to death.

~*~

Two floors down their bandmate, and Oliver's cousin, Judas, woke to the cacophony of a woman's scream, a dog snarling, and a baby crying. Without a second thought he hit the panic button behind his headboard, and all but flew out of bed and down the hall toward the growling that was coming from the entry way. Where he found a young woman with her back pressed against a wall and a very angry German shepherd standing in front of her with his hackles raised and teeth bared. "Who in the fuck are you, and how did you get in here?" Judas snarled.

"Where's that crying coming from?" The terrified woman asked.

"Never you mind. Answer the fucking question."

~*~

Three doors down another band mate, and Judas's best friend, Jason, woke to a gentle caress of his bare thigh. For one bleary moment he wondered which one of his bandmates; the only other people who had keys to his home; it was and what they were doing there. Then, as his mind began to clear, he realized that absolutely none of his bandmates had hands even close to that dainty, and he had certainly not brought anyone home with him on a work night. His arm, already under the pillow and out of sight, slid straight so that his fingers touched the button behind the headboard. The one that alerted police should someone break into his home. Every apartment in the building had one, and Jason had quite literally laughed when he found this out. Now though? He was beyond grateful for its existence.