Chaeyeong might have been young and rather trusting, but she wasn’t naive.

 

Hakyeon was avoiding her and she knew it, despite what the other boys tried to claim.

 

He was polite but brief when she called, and was quick to make excuses to leave her company if they met at school. No one had invited her to hang out outside of school again.

 

If she hadn’t been so suspicious, Chaeyeong’s feelings might have been hurt.

 

As it was, she wasn’t worried that her friends suddenly didn’t like her, but she was a little concerned for her mental state.

 

Had she gotten a concussion during her fight that had gone unnoticed?

 

It seemed the only logical explanation for the theories her mind had begun to create.

 

The boys were so secretive, so vague about their families and relationships with each other that it was strange. Chae might have chalked it up to the pair of couples being cautious about revealing their relationships in a judgemental world - if there weren’t other factors to consider as well.

 

Hongbin and Wonshik both had such dramatic mood swings and both had moments of such intensity that it unnerved her.

 

They got hurt and lied to her about it often. Sanghyuk had sliced his hand open, Hakyeon had cracked his head, and Wonshik had recovered much too quickly after getting jumped by a group of guys.

 

And they all played it off like it was nothing.

 

The way it had her doubting her own mind irked her.

 

There was no doubt logical explanations for her new suspicions, but there was a strange voice in the back of her mind that urged her to look closer and keep an open mind.

 

(That same voice also made her wonder if the attraction that she felt towards Jaehwan and Hyuj was part of her curiosity and subconscious suspicions.)

 

Regardless, there was no denying that the boys were acting differently lately.

 

After being around them for so long, Chae had become more than accustomed to their roughhousing. It happened so often that she normally didn’t even realize they had started playing around until they nearly rolled over her. It was expected of them.

 

That was their normal and now they were hardly trying to horse around with each other.

 

Hakyeon had even put a stop to his usual neck chopping!

 

Chaeyeong frowned, absentmindedly shredding her napkin as she watched Hongbin and Wonshik share a peaceful lunch instead of trying to occasionally choke each other.

 

It was unnatural.

 

“Are you guys okay?” Chae asked bluntly, startling them.

 

They looked like a pair of deer in the headlights.

 

“How do you mean? Do we look sick?” Wonshik joked, looking a bit nervous.

 

Chae didn’t smile. “You’ve been acting odd since Saturday. You’re all guys - I was expecting someone to get hurt playing around at some point…”

 

Hongbin smiled nervously and patted her head. “We’re just trying to be more cautious. After all, what if we’d accidentally hurt you? None of us could handle that.”

 

Wonshik winced at the annoyed expression that passed over Chae’s face as Hongbin used her as his excuse.

 

“I’m going to the restroom.” Chae said flatly, leaving her lunch on the table. She didn’t even bother with taking her bag - one of the boys would get it.

 

Wonshik rolled his eyes and punched Hongbin in the arm. “Dummy.”

 

“What did I do?” Hongbin asked in bewilderment.

 

---

 

“I’m going to quit the team.”

 

N looked up at his lover in shock, his homework sliding out of his lap. He scrambled to catch it while he peered at Leo suspiciously.

 

“You love playing soccer!” N exclaimed. “Why would you want to quit?”

 

Leo frowned at his own homework, looking frustrated with both the question and his Physics problems.

 

“It’s too risky,” he said eventually. “If something happens like it did Saturday-”

 

“We’re not going to keep living in fear!” N snapped, slamming his book shut. “Just because I was careless-”

 

“I’m being reasonable!” Leo cut him off, scowling. “It’s not because of you! What happened wasn’t your fault. But it did show us that our secret could be exposed at any time! I don’t want to risk everything for the sake of some game…”

 

“The whole point of our escape,” N said tightly, biting out his words carefully to keep hold of his anger. “Was to live like we wanted to. To be part of the world instead of just in it. We wanted a new start in life, so we started high school. Do you think it would be fair to ask Ken to stop drawing incase he accidentally stabs himself with a pencil? To ask Hongbin and Ravi and Hyuk to stay away from the friend they made and be lonely again? How is it anymore fair that you quit doing something that you love?

 

“You want to keep playing soccer and you will. And at the end of this school year, it’ll be the end of it at graduation. But I want you to keep playing until then at least. You love it. And we love watching you.”

 

Leo flushed. “Hyung…”

 

N grinned. “Besides, it’d be kinda suspicious to Chaeyeong, don’t you think?”

 

“I guess…”

 

“If we try to play it too safe, Chaeyeong might catch on - we’re all boys and it’d be weird if some of us didn’t roughhouse. It’s just who we are. So just be a bit more cautious when you play, and it should be fine!”

 

“If you say so.” Leo conceded hesitantly, looking unconvinced.

 

---

 

Living alone, while liberating, did tend to make one feel a bit paranoid.

 

When you’re in a rush and move things around as you’re leaving your home, you don’t remember every detail of how things looked when you left.

 

Say you knock something over and you don’t remember doing so right away. Maybe you only registered it as a passing memory.

 

So when you get home later and notice that something is out of place, you may freeze in terror and suspicion for a moment while your mind frantically tries to decide if you did that or if someone has been in your home.

 

Or is currently in your home still…

 

Chae stood silently in the kitchen, her school bag still in hand and a kitchen knife in the other. She was still as a statue, her eyes fixed on the doorway and her ears straining to hear anything besides the usual hum of electronics and the HVAC’s rumble.

 

There was a fresh plate left in the sink, having been rinsed off recently and left for the dishwasher.

 

Chae had skipped breakfast that morning and didn’t remember using that particular plate the night before.

 

Someone had been in her house.

 

Despite her annoyance and rather chilly attitude towards the boys at the moment, their number was the one she dialed without thinking, leaving her school bag in the kitchen and moving cautiously through the house.

 

“Someone’s been in my house.” Chae said bluntly, not even bothering to greet them. She kept her voice low as she checked out the living room and the laundry room. When the guestroom and it’s bathroom both proved empty, she turned towards the stairs.

 

An avid viewership of horror movies told her that going upstairs was a bad idea, but it was her house and she’d be damned if she went down in it without a fight.

 

Over the phone, Chae heard a familiar gasp and then a frantic conversation between her best friends.

 

“Get out of the house!” Wonshik commanded. “Hongbin and I are on the way!”

 

“I’m already upstairs.” Chae snorted. “The door’ll be unlocked when you get here.”

 

“Jeon Chaeyeong, don’t you dare-!”

 

Chae hung up as she reached the second floor.

 

She stopped short at the sight of her father’s bedroom door.

 

It was open and the scent of lemon cleaner drifted out into the hallway.

 

There was no intruder.

 

Her father had come home.

 

Chae dropped her knife and ran into the room. “Appa!”

 

Her grin froze on her face, confusion warring with her joy as she found the room empty.

 

It had been cleaned and the bed remade. The closet was open and Chae could see where some of his suits had been traded out. She knew that she would find the same of his casual clothes in his dressers if she opened them to check.

 

She rushed out of the bedroom and back into the hall. “Appa!”

 

Chae checked through the house again, continuing to call after her father. She even checked the basement, growing more desperate.

 

She threw open the door to the garden, a last ditch attempt to find him on the property, only to be disappointed again.

 

Chae returned upstairs, more slowly this time, and wandered into her room, feeling a bit dazed and confused.

 

One last, dying spark of hope glowed inside of her at the sight of a piece of paper left on her pillow.

 

A note from her father.

 

Chae sank down onto her bed and read it eagerly. She grew still.

 

This was how Hongbin and Wonshik found her, the pair rushing into the house in a panic.

 

“Chae!” they shouted, running into her bedroom.

 

The boys fell onto the bed next to her, frantically checking her over when she didn’t respond.

 

“Jeon Chaeyeong!” Hongbin said firmly, cupping her face and making her look at him. He flinched at the sight of her red-rimmed eyes. “What happened?”

 

A bitter smile curled at her lips. “My dad came home - and left again before I even came home from school.”

 

“Oh, Chaeyeongie.” Wonshik breathed in horror.

 

“He left me a note though,” she laughed humorlessly. “Very considerate. ‘Chaeyeong, thank you for your gift.  It was very lovely. Congratulations on your high test scores - you’ve been working hard. I’ll send you extra money this month, so treat yourself as a reward. Love, Dad.’ I can really feel the love, can’t you?”

 

“Chae, I’m so sorry.” Hongbin took the note from her. He pulled her into his lap and cradled her like a small child. “You deserve more than a note, honey.”

 

That broke the dam and Chae let out a sob, clutching at Hongbin desperately. She tangled a hand in Wonshik’s shirt, pulling him even closer when he joined the hug too.

 

The trio sat there for what felt like forever, trying their best to chase away the agony of abandonment.