VZZZZT VZZZZT VZZZZT

I narrow my eyes at the so-called “angel” in front of me, reading the cereal box (probably just looking at the pictures, honestly).

VZZZZT VZZZZT VZZZZT

I continue to glare at the boy-like-man, but it seems like he is oblivious.

VZZZZT VZZZZT VZZZZT

Finally, Junsu looks up at me. Pajamas wrinkled, eyes bored and hair messy, Junsu opens his mouth.

CRUNCH

Junsu just takes another bite from his cereal bowl, causing my eye to twitch.

VZZZZT VZZZZT VZZZZT

 “Oh my God!” I nearly shout,

“What?” Junsu asks, lazily.

VZZZZT VZZZZT VZZZZT

“Do you not hear your freaking phone?” I ask, ready to smack the sloth-like creature in front of me.

“Oh,” He says, glancing at his vibrating phone.

VZZZZT VZZZZT VZZZZT

“Answer it!” I growl, “It’s shaking the whole freaking table!”

“Meh,” Junsu says, “It’s just HyukJae,”

VZZZZT VZZZZT VZZZZT

Unable to take the noise and the shaking of the table any longer, I grab Junsu’s phone and answer the call, putting it on speaker.

“Hey!” Junsu pouts, I roll my eyes as I prepare to respond through insult.

“YAY!” A voice screams through the phone, “Why aren’t you answering my calls?!”

UE KYANG KYANG

Junsu laughs, at his friend’s annoyance.

“My am I obligated to answer to my servant?” Junsu questions Eunhyuk.

“I expect my servant to at least pick up the phone when I call,” responds Eunhyuk.

“I’m surprised you waited that long to pick up his phone,” Yunho says, reading the newspaper.

“I’m surprised he didn’t break the phone,” Yoochun laughs, I can’t but smile.

“I thought about it,” I joke, and the others snicker.

“Hey HyukJae,” Jaejoong says, setting his breakfast on the table. “What’s up? Why are you calling so early in the morning?” He asks. As he looks at Junsu’s phone, waiting for his reply, Yoochun and I each sneak a piece of bacon of his plate.

Jaejoong looks down at his plate, and back up at the two of us (mouth covered in bacon grease), and shakes his head before lightly hitting both of us. Yoochun and I snicker. Worth it. Yunho, amused, gives Jaejoong one of his bacon strips, so both of them have two strips instead of three.

“W-Well,” Eunhyuk’s tone suddenly changes, and we all pick up on it. “I was calling because we wanted to ask you guys for help.” He says, slowly.

“You don’t have to say yes,” A voice in the background says. “We completely understand if you do not want to get involved.” I assume the voice belongs to Sungmin.

“Why would we not want to get involved?” Junsu asks, tilting his head to the side.

“Well, I can scare you off with a list of reasons,” Heechul’s voice echoes through the phone.

“Hyung,” Yunho says, eyes worried. “Is something wrong?”

“Well, we can’t exactly tell you over the phone,” Leeteuk says in an unusually quiet tone. “Why don’t we meet you at your dorm, so we can discuss it?” He suggests.

“What’s wrong with doing it at your dorm?” Yoochun asks, suspicious.

“Well,” Heechul says, “Kibum, Siwon, and Hangeng didn’t approve of what we told them, so we had to play it off as a joke so they wouldn’t call the auth-” We hear a hand cover Heechul’s mouth. All of us look around at each other, eyes wide. Heechul was going to say “authorities”, there is no doubt about it.

“Someone could be listening,” We hear Kangin whisper. “What Hyung means to say,” Kangin grunts, as we hear Heechul struggling in the background, “Certain members just didn’t like our idea, and we don’t want to force anyone who doesn’t want to be involved in this…project, to feel obligated to participate.”

“YA!” Heechul screams, “I know where your hands have been!” He complains. I look at members and I can see fear in their eyes. Wait though, he didn’t mention Kyuhyun’s name.

“What does Kyuhyun say?” I ask slowly, if Kyuhyun isn’t doing it, then I shouldn’t either. “How does he feel about your ‘idea’?” The line goes silent. “Hyung?” I ask, wondering if the line was cut off or if they hung up. Shuffling is heard at the other end. “Hyung,”

“We didn’t tell Kyuhyun,” Leeteuk says finally, “We’ll explain why when we get there,”

“HyukJae,” Junsu says, shaking his head. “You’re trying have us do something dangerous, when your own members refused, purposefully excluded one of your members from this ‘idea’, and you can’t even tell us what you want us to do or what the consequences are, so give us a reason to listen to your ‘idea’.

The line goes silent once more, before there is a crackling noise.

“We’re trying to help one of our members,” Eunhyuk says seriously, “We need to help our maknae,”

Maknae? Kyuhyun?

“What’s wrong with him?” I ask, worried. I know Kyuhyun said that he wasn’t feeling well, but…

“We’ll tell you when we meet,” Leeteuk sighs, “But Changmin-ah, we can’t let Kyuhyun know.” He says, voice hard. “Not now, anyway.”

“Okay,” Jaejoong says, sighing. “We’ll listen what you have to say,” Hyung says, looking at me. I nod.

“When should we meet?” Yunho asks.

“Well, Kyuhyun has a schedule this evening, so it’d be best to do it when he’s not here.” Leeteuk says, as papers are shuffled.

“Okay let’s have dinner then,” Junsu nods, looking at us to make sure that would be alright. We all nod back at Junsu, “Around six tonight?”

“That’s perfect,” Ryeowook says. I could imagine him nodding, checking over his shoulder to make sure Kyuhyun wasn’t listening in. “His schedule starts at six-thirty, so he’ll have to leave an hour early to get his hair and make-up done.”

“Well, if you had those bags under your eyes, so would you,” Heechul points out. So Kyuhyun hasn’t been sleeping? Figures. That’s probably why he got so much better in StarCraft.

“Okay,” I sigh. “We’ll-”

“Is that Changmin?” A familiar caramel-macchiato-like voice says, I can’t help but smile as I can clearly see Kyuhyun narrowing his eyes, intimidating his hyungs.

“Uh, maybe?” Eunhyuk says, nervousness clear in his voice.

“Why is his talking to you?” Confusion is evident in Kyuhyun’s voice. “He said he didn’t like talking to boring people,”

“Hey!” Eunhyuk says, offended. I try to hide my smirk, there’s that evil maknae we all love.

“You used to be really fun,” Kyuhyun says, “But I don’t know, maybe it's your age, but now you’re boring.”

“This brat,” Heechul chuckles.

“I called Junsu,” Eunhyuk explains, still sounding bitter, “But Changmin answered.”

“That makes sense,” Kyuhyun chuckles. “He probably got annoyed with the noise Junsu’s phone was making.”

“Yay!” Junsu says grabbing the phone, face scrunched up. “Why are you regarding me as just Junsu? I’m your hyung,” I smirk as Junsu is ignored.

“At least you’re smarter than Junsu,” Kyuhyun says, and everyone but Junsu laughs.

“I am, aren’t I?” Eunhyuk says, gummy smile evident in his voice.

“Like Hell!” Junsu explodes,

“You still have your !” Kyuhyun’s voice sounds farther away as rummaging is heard.

“True,” All of us say in union, causing Junsu to get red in the face.

“Hyung,” Kyuhyun sighs, “Feed me.” I hear the laziness in Kyuhyun’s voice and shake my head.

“Cook for yourself,” Heechul says, huffing.

“I’m too tired to cook,” Kyuhyun says, and my smile drops as I hear this. “Whatever, I’m too tired to eat anyway.” He huffs. “I just thought I should have something in my stomach before I go to my schedule, but never mind.”

“Stop being lazy,” Kangin orders, masking his concern.

“I’m serious,” He murmurs.

“Aish,” Heechul complains, “Ryeowook go make the make the maknae some porridge,”

“No,” Kyuhyun says, “It’s fine, I don’t think I can even chew properly.”

“What should I make?” Ryeowook asks. I feel the eyes of my members on me, knowing that I am worried about my friend.

“It’s fine,” Kyuhyun insists.

“I’ll make you a green smoothie, for energy,” Ryeowook says. “You can just drink it.”

“Okay,” Kyuhyun says, sounding defeated. “I’m too tired to argue. Thanks Wookie,”

There is murmuring for a while, but no discussion.

“Well, I’ll see you at six,” Eunhyuk says.

“Yeah,” Junsu replies, staring at his phone with worry. “At six.” The line goes dead and all that we’re left with is questions.

“Okay,” Yunho sighs, rubbing his temples. “Team meeting,” He announces, using his leader voice. “Living room, in ten minutes.”

We all gather in the living room, after washing our dishes, using the bathroom, or changing. I can’t help but think about Kyuhyun. I know there are some things that Kyuhyun has never told me, or anyone for that matter, but this has me worried. Is he ill? But if he was ill why would the authorities be a threat? Is he being stalked? Maybe by someone in the military? That would keep me up at night, but he could tell me that. Kyuhyun, you stupid boy, when are you going to learn to trust me? I sit on the floor, by the coffee table. I trust you with everything, can’t you trust me? I mean, sometimes you say you tell me things you’ve never told anyone else before, but they never make sense.

FLASH BACK

“One more round!” Kyuhyun shouts, lifting up a shot glass and another bottle of soju.

“Aish!” I laugh, pulling the bottle away. “Ya, you’ve had enough.”

“Come on Chwang,” Kyuhyun whines, pouting. “We just finished SMTOWN, and we were amazing! Let’s celebrate,” He says, trying to grab the bottle once more.

Unfortunately, we both underestimated Kyuhyun’s strength. Kyuhyun pulls the bottle so hard, I go with it. I fall on top of Kyuhyun, bottle flying behind him.

SMASH

The sound of the soju bottle breaking, silences both of us. Thankfully, we’re alone in my apartment, so no one else had to worry about the noise, but I am left to pick up the mess. Sighing, I look down at the boy beneath me, his eyes wide and scared. I can’t help but feel bad when I look at them.

“I-I’m sorry,” Kyuhyun whispers, tears starting to form. Maybe it’s the alcohol, it must be the alcohol, because Kyuhyun looks so beautiful right now, that it breaks my heart to see him in tears.

“Hey,” I saw softly, wiping away a fallen tear, “It’s okay,” I whisper. “There’s no reason to cry, I’m not mad.”

“Really?” He asks, sniffling. I smile, nodding softly. We stay there for a second, as I feel his warm breath on my forearm. I stare at Kyuhyun, yes, stare. His pale skin, soft, cheeks red from the alcohol, hair messy and comfortable, big dark eyes shine brighter than the night stars, lips plump and soft looking. I can feel my heart speeding up the longer I stare.

Clearing a nonexistent itch in my throat, I quickly stand up. I look at Kyuhyun, who hasn’t moved, and see his shirt is lifted. He has a tattoo.

“When did you get a tattoo?” I ask, curious about the mark I had just seen. Kyuhyun’s eyes widen, before he pulls down his shirt.

“Y-You’re not supposed to see that,” He says quietly. I scrunch my eyebrows together, why shouldn’t I know? “People aren’t supposed to see it,”

“Why did you get a tattoo if you weren’t going to show people?” I ask softly. “I didn’t even know you wanted one,”

“I didn’t,” He says, “I don’t,”

“So why did you get one?”

Silence enters my home, as Kyuhyun fidgets uncomfortably.

“You can tell me anything, Kyu,” I say softly. “You can trust me,” I tell him “We’re best friends,”

“I do trust you,” He says, looking me in the eye. “But I shouldn’t tell you,” He says. “You won’t believe me, even if I did.”

“Try me,” I smile, encouraging him to tell me his story. He stares at me, trying to determine if he should or not.

“Okay,” He swallows, “B-But you can’t tell anyone,” He says. I do the scouts honor, getting a small smile from Kyuhyun, before he frowns once more. “And I can’t give you details.”

“Deal,” I smile. his lips, Kyuhyun lifts his shirt once more.

“T-This means destruction,” He says, pointing at his tattoo.

“Why destruction?” I ask softly, curious. He looks at me warily.

“I-It’s code for something else,” He says quietly. “There were many people, and we all went through tests. Depending on the result, you were assigned a code word,” He says, touching the tattoo on his rib cage. “Unfortunately for me,” Kyuhyun closes his eyes. “I did really well,”

“What was it code for?” I ask. Kyuhyun shakes his head, silent. “Right,” I sigh. “Details.” Kyuhyun nods. “Sorry, go on.”

 “I got it when I was young, by a man who was very scary. He gave many people my age tattoos.” Kyuhyun says softly, “None of us were happy.”

“Was it not the one you wanted?” I ask, “Is that why you were unhappy?” Kyuhyun shakes his head slowly, looking up to meet my eyes. I had never seen that look before, not one so pitiful, so desperate, so pained. I just wanted to make that pain go away, but I know I can’t.

“None of us wanted the tattoo,” He whispers, covering his stomach once more. That doesn’t make sense, why would you get a tattoo if you don’t want one? I guess my face illustrated my confusion. “I guess gave is the wrong word,” Kyuhyun says, “It was like these tattoos were forced on us,”

“Forced?” I ask, surprised. Kyuhyun nods, looking down. I stay quiet for a second, trying to understand the story. A scaring man, many people, forced tattoo, code words…I gasp, “You were in a gang!” I say loudly. Surprised, Kyuhyun looks at me,

“What?” He asks.

“I’m right aren’t I?” I say excitedly. “You were in a gang, and your leader was some scary dude who forced all of the members to get tattoos. The tests you had were to determine your position in the group,”

“Changmin,” Kyuhyun laughs.

“So, “ I cut Kyuhyun off, not caring about why he felt that he had to join a gang, as long as he’s out now, it was good. “What was your position? How high were you in the gang? Second in command? Third?” I ask, poking fun at Kyuhyun’s past life. Kyuhyun shakes his head, laughing.

“Pabo Changmin,” He laughs. “No, it was not a gang.” Kyuhyun laughs softly. “If only it was just a stupid gang,”

END FLASH BACK

The next morning Kyuhyun claimed he couldn’t remember anything of that night, so I never brought up his tattoo again. The next time I saw it, we were both sober and going for a swim. I didn’t question it or even act surprised.

“Changmin,” Yoochun calls my name. Looking up at him I see worry in his eyes. “I know you’re worried about Kyuhyun,” That’s an understatement, “But before you make any rash decisions, you need to take in consideration all the consequences that may come with helping Kyuhyun.”

“Rash decisions?” I repeat. All I can think about are those pained eyes that Kyuhyun had, I’d do anything to keep Kyuhyun from having another reason to look like that again. “What if I don’t think it’s rash?” I ask, serious.

“Changmin,” Jaejoong says softly, “I know Kyuhyun is your friend,”

“No,” I correct, looking at the others who stare at one another worriedly. “Kyuhyun is more to me than just some friend,” I tell them, slightly offended. “He’s my best friend.”

“Okay,” Jaejoong nods. “I know he is your best friend,” He corrects himself.  “But do you really want to risk being involved with the authorities over him?” He asks. “I’m not saying there isn’t good reason why the Super Junior Hyungs want to help him, but I’m asking if it is a good enough reason for us to help?”

“Maybe not for you guys,” I say slowly, “But it is for me,”

“Look, Changmin-ah,” Yunho says, getting my attention. “We all recognize your loyalty,” He says, causing a sting in my heart as the three behind him look down. We’ve always been loyal, all of us, but in different ways. Stop Changmin! It doesn’t matter now, we’re all together again, that’s all that matters. “But you're loyal to fault,” He tells me. I frown. “Besides,” Yunho says quickly. “Think of all the other people depending on you, waiting for you,”

“Your parents for example,” Jaejoong nods.

“The company,” Yunho adds. “The fans,” He continues. “Us.”

“We’ve waited a long time for this Changmin, to promote as one. Please, we need all five to be whole.” Yoochun says. I know, I think to myself, I’ve been waiting too.

“We all think Kyuhyun is a swell kid, but if he did something that is making the others go to these extreme lengths, maybe he isn’t who we think he is.” I look down quickly, as anger boils inside of me.

Anger is all I feel at this moment. How dare he question Kyuhyun like that? How dare they use my family, our fans, and our group as guilt against me? Composure, Changmin. Composure.

“When you guys were…busy,” I say slowly, looking at the three members who were known as JYJ for a while, “Yunho Hyung was very depressed, and I had to step up.” I look at Yunho, “Remember Hyung?” I ask, as Yunho looks at me in shame. “I did everything I could so life would be easier on him. I tried to cheer him up, always making jokes and what not,” I say looking at my hands “I-I cleaned, I cooked, I checked in on him every single day, because I was scared for him. I was worried he do something, something that could not be fixed.” Memories of Yunho taking countless pain-relievers during the day, and drinking tons of alcohol at night, resurface. “I-I had to protect him,” Silence surrounds me. “But I didn’t mind. I knew he needed my help, even if he refused to ask for it.”

“But that is different Changmin,” Junsu says, wiping the quiet tears from his eyes. “Yunho is our family,” He tries to reason with me. “Kyuhyun is-”

“Kyuhyun,” I say, voice hard, “Is the reason why I had the strength to take care of Yunho Hyung. He was there for me, getting me out of bed, feeding me, listening to my broken heart so I could find the room and strength to do the same for Hyung.”  Tell them. Yunho looks at me, surprised. I know he thought I toughened myself up, but the truth is, Kyuhyun was there to catch me every time I was about to fall and break. “You guys don’t know Kyuhyun, so it’s understandable for you not to see him as family,” I say. “It’s even understandable for you guys to not trust Kyuhyun and to question him, because you do not know him. But I do,” I say. “And I will always be there for Kyuhyun,” The room goes silent. "What would you do if it was Eunhyuk Hyung in need of help?" I ask Junsu. His eyes widen, as fear becomes visible at the mere thought of his best friend being in trouble.

"HyukJae?" Junsu asks softly, looking down. "I-I'd help him," Junsu answers, "I-I'd do whatever it takes to help him, b-because I know him. He's my friend, my best friend."  He looks at me, eyes determined. 

"And that is Kyuhyun to me," I tell him softly. 

"Okay," Yunho sighs, "Well, we all will hear out the other Super Junior members, then we'll discuss what we'll do."

Hey Guys,

I updated! I hope you enjoyed DBSK here.Um, maybe I'll post another chapter this week (maybe today or tomorrow or Friday, I'm not sure). Thank you guys for reading and commenting and subscribing, it really means a lot to me. Well, break is over so back to school work. 

-ALL4ALL