“If you truly want to be respected by people you love, you must prove to them that you can survive without them.” 

The woman directly before them, her face quickly paling as she stared at Minhyuk. In his head, the young male was counting the seconds as they passed. Five, six, seven, eight…It continued onwards until he reached fifteen. Once reaching that number, his mother walked towards him swiftly and folded her arms around him, holding him tightly against her chest.

For a few moments Minhyuk stood still, his heart rising into his throat, beating beneath his skin. His shoulders trembled and his hands shook as he lifted them up to embrace his mother. Like a child, he rested his head against her shoulder, comfortably resting in her arms. His eyes slid over to Kihyun who stood with a light smile. To Minhyuk, his best friend appeared blurry through the fresh tears that were welling up in his eyes.

Minhyuk looked like he was finally relaxing for the first time since all the complications had risen. Kihyun supposed that, that was just an affect that was stimulated by a parent’s love. He glanced away, his mind reeling back towards his own mother. It had been some months since he had visited her, but he had made sure to keep in contact with her. She thought he was working for some lesser known company that was attempting to raise its popularity in the business community.

“And you’re Kihyun, aren’t you,” he heard the crack of Minhyuk’s mother’s voice. The brown-haired male turned his head and glanced at the woman. He simply nodded his head silently. “Thank you for watching over him for me.” She drew Minhyuk back from her figure and stared at him. He in took a breath as he felt her hand on his shoulder. 

A frown quickly appeared on her face as she gently tugged down the sleeve of his shirt to see the patched-up wound. She visibly gritted her teeth together as she scanned the cloth, reddened with spots of blood.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“I…” he trailed off. His throat felt tight as he attempted to speak. He didn’t know how to tell her what had happened. Would she be worried?  Angry? Would she resent him? Numerous thoughts flooded his head that it caused his head to pound with pain. And now, since his head was aching, it triggered the sensation that his body was in pain.

“Were you shot?” his mother spoke, his tone suggesting that she was horrified. “Who shot you? When? Are you taking care of yourself?”

“Sorry,” Minhyuk murmured, reaching a hand to his cheek in order to wipe away the liquid that was splashing onto his cheek. “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” his mother responded. “But I need you to listen to me carefully.” Minhyuk blinked, tears spilling down his cheeks. Without saying a word, he nodded his head. “As much as I want you to stay, you need to leave here.”

“What?” Minhyuk stuttered. “No, I can’t.”

“The police are on their way here, you need to go.” Minhyuk pressed his lips together and dropped his head forward. He knew that if the police were on their way he would have to leave. He assumed that while his mother was in the kitchen she had been contacting the police. It wasn’t as though he resented her for it, he could understand why she would. The fact that she had told them though, informed MInhyuk that she still cared for him.

“Alright, but please, after the police come, you need to go somewhere safe. I can arrange for transportation, money and provisions. Please, I know you shouldn’t, but trust me on this.” The woman gently cupped his cheeks in her warm hands, brushing away the droplets from his cheeks with her thumbs.

“Okay,” she whispered. “I trust you, now go.” Minhyuk visibly swallowed a lump that had been forming in his throat. He stepped back, his dry lips and walked towards Kihyun first, his eyes gaze shifting to Jooheon who was awkwardly looking around the room.

“Jooheon, come on,” he spoke quietly. The male rose to his feet nodding his head and silently the three males made their way towards the door. “I need to give her my number I’ll meet you in the car. Start the engine.” Minhyuk whispered to Kihyun. The dark-haired boy nodded his head once and stealing a quick glance over to Jooheon, the two continued down the pathway in the direction of the car.

Kihyun sat in the driver’s seat, igniting the engine. He didn’t look over his shoulder as Jooheon scrambled into the middle seat in the back. The car engine grumbled with life and Kihyun sighed softly as he waited for Minhyuk to join them. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

“How long have you two known one another. I know that you’ve been friends for a while, but –” Jooheon began.

“I don’t really think now is the time to be discussing this,” Kihyun bit back. “A long time, let’s just leave it at that.”

“And you knew his family prior?” Jooheon muttered. “I’m just trying to figure out why you joined.”

“Why did you work for Jeong?” Kihyun countered, twisting his body around. Jooheon looked as though he had been slapped and sunk into the leather seat of the car. “That’s why I thought.” Kihyun’s voice was cold as he hastily spun around and, slapped his hands down against the steering wheel.

Wonho, and multiple others, had returned to The Void main headquar