Warning: Public caning scene.

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Time passed, and the war slowly but surely drew to a close. Minseok got snatches and snippets of what was happening from Prince Lu Han when he was home, but he didn’t dare ask further. From what Minseok heard, it was happening as he predicted. His home kingdom was still only using omegas as foot soldiers, and the battle lines were being pushed farther and farther into his home kingdom’s borders.

The Lu’s took three major ports and trade cities within the course of about two weeks and there was a massive banquet after Prince Lu Han and the generals arrived back to the palace. Minseok assisted with cleaning and decorations beforehand. All of the captured omegas were left on cleaning and decoration duty: while they had all found their places in the palace, as well as friends in the Lu kingdom, no one wanted to take the chance with anyone, even an omega, from an enemy nation handling food. When news first reached the palace, it had started as a whisper, ghosting from captured omega to captured omega, until anxiety whipped through all of them like wind from a storm. The Three Cities had fallen. The Lu’s had managed to take the Three Cities.

The day of the banquet, the day that everyone returned, they had the palace shining with the care put into it. There were even streamers on some of the trees and archways, and bouquets of fresh flowers were put all over the dining hall. It was beautiful, and festive, but it left a weird feeling in Minseok’s stomach. He had no love for his king, or the government in general, he didn’t know the strategies behind the Lu’s movements in battle beyond taking land and blocking supplies; but he knew that the three taken cities had been full of omegas living on the streets. What had become of them? Had they been captured? Brought to one of the other cities in the Lu kingdom as servants like the omega soldiers were? Had the army ignored them? Had they been left to rot, no better or worse off? Or had they been killed? Had there been too many and the Lu’s hadn’t wanted to deal with them? Minseok had no love for his king, but he had a lot of love for his people, and he could see on the faces of all the other captured omegas that they were feeling the same unease that he was. Here they were, cleaning and decorating the palace of the enemy, to celebrate a decisive victory in the war against their own country.

It was early afternoon when the call came through the palace:

“They’ve been spotted! The company is almost to the city!”

Not long after, Junmyeon came and found him.

“Minseok, come with me. We need to make sure Prince Lu Han’s rooms are tidy.”

Minseok knew for a fact they were tidy. Minseok and Junmyeon had cleaned and tidied it daily, so that no dust even had a chance to build up. The only thing to be done was change out the bed linens for fresh ones; but he let Junmyeon pull him along to Prince Lu Han’s personal wing as always. The work would go faster with two, at least.

Minseok had gotten more confident with some of his new duties. With the Prince gone more often than not, Minseok had time to practice and train without fear of messing up terribly in front of him. Junmyeon was a gentle, patient, teacher, and while Minseok was still feeling nervous about many of his tasks, mostly anything that involved much eye contact or touching, he was no longer nervous about all of them.

The two of them changed the bed linens: it was easier together, and they’d left it until now so that the linens would be as fresh as possible when Prince Lu Han returned. Minseok had practiced and practiced until he was nearly as fast and efficient at it as Junmyeon, and he was proud of his work.

He helped Junmyeon lay out formal clothes for Prince Lu Han for the banquet, and set out a pretty, intricate, hair pin. Minseok was worried about snagging the fabric with the callouses on his hands, but it wasn’t an issue. Still, he was careful to handle the clothes gently, and touch them as little as possible.

“Relax, Minseok,” Junmyeon smiled at him. “It’s not going to rip just from putting it on the bed. I thought you said your grandmother had a hanbok?”

“She wore it for special occasions only,” Minseok muttered. “And Jongdae and I weren’t allowed to touch it.”

Junmyeon just laughed and took his hand to pull him out of the room.

“Come on,” he said, once the door was closed behind them. “I’ll help you fix your hair a bit.”

“For what?” Minseok asked.

“Did you forget that we’re going to greet Prince Lu Han?”

If it were possible for Minseok to choke on his own spit, he would have.

“Minseok, you’re one of Prince Lu Han’s servants,” Junmyeon told him gently. “Of course you’re included.”

Minseok had kept the thought of this being a temporary position in the forefront of his brain. He murmured it to Jongdae every morning, and at the exact same time felt guilty being so friendly with Junmyeon because of it. Minseok was only going to be in the palace, in the Lu Kingdom, for the duration of the war. He was an omega of the enemy nation… why should he be in the entourage to greet the Prince and arriving generals?

But he let Junmyeon pull him into his bedroom, which was around the same size as Minseok’s and Jongdae’s own, but had far more clothes and trinkets packed into it, and attempt to do something with his hair. By the time he was done, Kyungsoo was yelling at them to hurry to the palace gate. Junmyeon had only managed to get Minseok’s hair into another braid, but it was nicer, without any strange bumps, because his hair had been brushed smooth.

If Junmyeon was telling him that he was supposed to greet the Prince, then that meant that Kyungsoo said he was supposed to. Who was he to tell them no? Kyungsoo liked him, Minseok knew he did, but when was that ever a guarantee of anything?

Minseok kept his eyes down as the entourage of servants followed a good distance behind the King and Queen out to the fort. He didn’t know what the protocol for this was, so he just watched the heels of one of the Queen’s servants and kept Junmyeon in the corner of his vision.

“You can look up, Minseok,” Junmyeon whispered. “It’s okay.”

The force that had taken the Three Cities was truly massive. Minseok couldn’t help but be afraid when he saw the lines upon lines of soldiers, officers, and multiple generals. This was the force that had marched in and taken the cities that were thought to be a major opposing force for any invader, and just looking at them, Minseok had no doubt in his mind that they had done it easily.

If his own king cared for the lives of his people at all, he’d surrender soon. There was no hope winning against the Lu army.

Minseok just hoped he would have a home to go back to.

The King’s speech was grander than when Minseok had first arrived, and there was more ceremony to it. But there was a reason for there to be: not only was it a major accomplishment, but more important, the most important, people were involved.

Minseok watched Lu Han bow to his father, but once the royal family had left the fort, the prince was all smiles. Minseok could tell by the way Lu Han moved and talked, even if he was behind him and couldn’t see his face. He was already starting to tell stories to his father and walked close to his mother, so much so that if Lu Han hadn’t been wearing different colored clothes, Minseok didn’t think he’d be able to tell where one person ended and the other began.

When they approached the prince’s wing, Lu Han did move away from his parents. He seemed to be in the middle of a story, but there wasn’t much time before the banquet.

“Finish telling me after,” the Queen smiled, and patted his cheek.

Minseok, along with the rest of Lu Han’s entourage, split away from the larger servant group to follow Lu Han. The others went back to their regular jobs, but Minseok and Junmyeon followed Lu Han into his bedchamber.

As soon as the three of them were inside with the door closed, Lu Han let out a happy sigh, and immediately flopped down onto his bed.

“It’s good to be home.”

“We’re glad to have you back,” Junmyeon said with a smile, and Minseok nodded when Lu Han turned to look at him.

The two of them helped Lu Han get ready. There wasn’t enough time for him to have a bath, but he could at least wash his face. Minseok started to go and fetch the water, but Lu Han stopped him.

“Minseok, would you stay and help me undress?”

Lu Han blushed slightly as he said it and Junmyeon rolled his eyes before he left the room.

Minseok tried to stay focused on what he was doing while he undressed Lu Han. He was still worried about snagging the fabric, but that wasn’t his main issue. He could feel Lu Han staring at him, and it was more than a little distracting. Both of them were completely silent and Minseok was positive Lu Han could hear his heart beating.

“What did you do while I was gone?” Lu Han asked, finally breaking the quiet.

“Practiced, mostly,” Minseok told him. “Yerim did a lot of work that I’ve never done before. I’m made for field work, not anything delicate.”

“I think you’re doing just fine,” Lu Han told him. “You’re still learning, but you’re not making any noticeable mistakes.”

“Thank you,” Minseok murmured, and he could feel a blush spreading over his face.

“You’re cute when you blush,” Lu Han said, and Minseok could just tell he was smiling.

Minseok was trying to decide if he should reply or not, when Junmyeon came back in.

“Don’t go scaring Minseok off,” Junmyeon scolded. “If he goes anywhere I won’t have anyone to help me deal with you.”

Lu Han pouted, but it was clear he was teasing, as Minseok moved away, taking Lu Han’s outer clothes with him. Lu Han washed his face and some of his upper body while Minseok and Junmyeon got Lu Han’s banquet clothes in order.

Minseok knew what order they went in, but putting them on was a different story. Lu Han stayed still while Minseok held garments in place and Junmyeon taught him how the more formal garments were tied.

Lu Han smiled at him when he and Junmyeon finished, and Minseok fought down another blush. He started to move off to the side so Junmyeon could brush and style Lu Han’s hair, but Lu Han had a different idea.

“Minseok? Will you try brushing my hair tonight?”

“But I haven’t…” Minseok had barely practiced this, and he did not want to mess up Lu Han’s hair or hurt him somehow.

“I’ll be right here,” Junmyeon patted his shoulder.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Minseok looked up at Lu Han. “My hands are rough.”

“I’ll let you know if you need to stop,” Lu Han assured him, and sat down.

Lu Han didn’t tell him to stop. Minseok knew for a fact he wasn’t doing as good a job as Junmyeon, nor as quick of a job, but Lu Han didn’t seem to mind. Junmyeon helped him style Lu Han’s hair; he usually wore it in the same style most days, but his hair was so long that it took a minute, and he was ready.

“See?” Lu Han smiled up at him. “You did just fine.”

“Thank you.” This time Minseok couldn’t suppress a blush.

The wind of anxiety among the captured didn’t slow, not during the banquet while they ate dinner on their own, and not in the days and weeks following, as the war drew to a close. Not all of the omegas were anxious; some, like Baekhyun, either had nothing to go back to or didn’t like where they’d come from in the first place. They all knew the Lu’s would win, there had never been any way they wouldn’t, but any final chances had been dashed when they’d taken the Three Cities. And now it was just a question of what was to be done with them, the captured omegas. Technically they were prisoners of war, but all of them highly doubted their king would make an effort to get them back. It was all up to the Lu’s. Would they send them home? Would they give them a choice? Would they want to keep them?

Minseok couldn’t help but be torn. Jongdae was desperate to go home, and Minseok wanted to see his mother, and the rest of his family, again, but at the same time… already, he knew, he would miss Lu Han. Junmyeon and Kyungsoo too, Junmyeon was someone Minseok considered a friend, and Kyungsoo was a bit distant because of his position as the head of staff but was kind in his own way; but Lu Han was the first to come to mind.

The prince was kind, thoughtful, gentle, and endlessly curious. He paid attention to Minseok, noticed when he was tired or when something was wrong. If it was something physical, he asked Minseok to come sit with him, whether he was sitting on a bench or had to pull a second cushion close to him. There had even been times when Minseok had fallen asleep on Lu Han’s shoulder. At first he had been apologetic and a little afraid, but Lu Han had calmed him down and assured him that he didn’t need to worry about it. If what was wrong was something on Minseok’s mind, he would talk with him. Not always about whatever it was directly, but he had a way of getting to it.

Minseok’s job, his purpose for having been tended to by an enemy nation, was to keep Lu Han happy. He spent so much of his waking hours around Lu Han or doing something for Lu Han. When Lu Han was everything Minseok admired, Minseok didn’t think it was a wonder that he’d become fond.

Life at the palace ebbed and flowed. Lu Han stayed home a lot more, and there were a greater number of social gatherings to prepare for. Minseok got much better at his tasks, though he still wanted Junmyeon nearby for help. Junmyeon would stay far enough away, though, that all he did was give Minseok verbal instruction, making him go through the actual motions himself. It was a good learning tool, even though it made Minseok nervous.

Just as Minseok knew it would, the war ended. Over a year after he, Jongdae, and their fellow captured omegas had come to the palace, and the war was finally over. The actual date of the surrender passed quietly in the palace, and the celebrations only started when a messenger boy: rosy-cheeked, panting, with both he and his horse sweating enough to make a lake, brought the news to the king.

Lu Han left the morning after with his father’s instructions for surrender terms. An excited murmur made its way over the captive omegas. The war was over. They could go home, to their families. There were several who weren’t particularly excited, but they were quiet and knew better than to tread on anyone’s happiness and excitement.

“I might beg Kyungsoo to ask to keep me here,” Baekhyun said thoughtfully one evening, while they ate dinner. “He likes me, I’m sure he’d go for it.”

“He looks like he wants to smack you every time you open your mouth!” Jongdae laughed.

“He smiled at me the other day!”

“Cause you tripped and fell on your !”

Minseok couldn’t help but smile while he watched the two of them bicker. He’d mollify the two of them later, but they were teasing each other more than anything.

Eight days, several hours, and who knew how many minutes later, Lu Han and his entourage came back with the rest of the army. Minseok felt like he was in a whirlwind with all the preparations being made. None of the captured omegas knew what was going to happen to them, but Kyungsoo had told him that after the banquet was done he would read it to them, so they tried their best to concentrate on their work.

“We’re going to get to go home,” Jongdae told Minseok, his smile beautiful and bright.

Ceremony after ceremony, one banquet, then another… they were quiet through it all. The royal celebrations, and the celebrations the royals attended, were long and drawn out. It was days before one quiet evening saw all the captured omegas gathered in the courtyard, almost unnaturally silent and still, waiting with baited breath for Kyungsoo to read them their fate.

Kyungsoo started off with the sections on the economy, which very few of them understood, but from what Minseok could gather, the Lu’s now had the country’s economy in the palm of their hand. Trade agreements, import tariffs, docking, port entry, and shipping fees… One wrong move, and the Lu’s could crush them.

Although, as had been seen from the results of the war, it hadn’t taken much for the Lu’s to crush them anyway. Only now less people died from the actual process, never mind from the results.

They were still as statues as Kyungsoo read off their personal fate. Minseok felt like a statue as he stayed frozen in place, the butterflies in his stomach turning into lead weights one by one as his heart dropped lower and lower. He could feel Jongdae begin to shake next to him, and Minseok wanted to hold his hand, but he didn’t feel like he could move.

Everyone was dead silent. Not even a sob rang out among the entire group.

The Lu’s were keeping them. Their own king had negotiated for it, that they be kept. They were subjects of the Lu’s now, with modified rights, which would be transferred into full rights as subjects in ten years, or if they married, whichever came first.

For at least ten years, they couldn’t go home.

They were silent, completely silent, as they trudged back to their rooms. None of them spoke, they just walked with their heads down, mouths closed. The usually noisy halls were silent, save for the sound of feet shuffling. There were no sniffles yet, no sobs. Just dozens and dozens of shuffling feet. Minseok laced his fingers in with Jongdae’s, and he could feel his cousin trembling. It was like both of them were in a trance as they shuffled towards their room.

The spell was broken as soon as they closed the door. Minseok grabbed Jongdae as soon as Jongdae let out a sob. Sobs turned into full-fledged crying, and all Minseok could do was hold him. He sat them both down on his own bed, and pulled Jongdae close. Jongdae didn’t say anything, he didn’t need to; he just clung to Minseok’s shirt and cried into his chest.  

After a while, Jongdae’s tears slowed, and Minseok managed to get him to lay down. Minseok’s bed was too small for two, but that didn’t matter when Jongdae was clinging. All Minseok could do was gently run his fingers through Jongdae’s hair, but that just made Jongdae begin crying all over again.

Eventually, the two of them fell asleep.

The escape attempts started that night. Minseok knew the first ones were not well-planned, they didn’t have time to be. Still it was frightening how quickly they were caught, crying or fighting or a combination of the two, and publicly dismissed. Palace guards would drag them in front of a quickly assembled group of omegas, all of the captured omegas and some of the regular servants, and a furious Kyungsoo, who dismissed them from there. But they weren’t dismissed to be sent home, no, instead they were sent elsewhere in the Lu kingdom. After the first wave of dismissals, Kyungsoo told them where.

“Serving his Majesty the King is a high honor.” Kyungsoo looked remarkably composed, even when it was clear he was seething. “It is a position not entrusted to most, including those born in the Lu kingdom. By choosing you for this position I placed my trust in you. Working at the palace is a privilege many across the kingdom work to earn, and I will not stand by while you step and spit on the achievements of the servants surrounding you. If you do not wish to serve your new king here, you will serve him in the fields.”

By now, they all knew, they had all heard from other palace servants, about the fields. They were vast and rich, but the work was hard. Not only the work, but the conditions in which the field workers lived and ate. Some of the field bosses, often former prison guards or demoted military officers, were harsh, others gentler, but it didn’t change the fact that field workers were only scraping by at best. For country omegas like Minseok and Jongdae, it was the promise of a difficult ten years. For the city omegas who weren’t used to hard labor, it might be a death sentence.

Minseok could feel Jongdae boiling next to him, and squeezed his cousin’s hand. Exhaustion settled into Minseok’s bones, and he desperately hoped Jongdae wouldn’t try running. He knew Jongdae was angry, he had a right to be, but Minseok knew he couldn’t live without his cousin.

All Minseok could do was keep working. Keep working, attending to Lu Han, and pretend that everything was okay. If he kept pretending long enough, he told himself, then eventually it would be truth. So he did his tasks with a smile on his face and did his best to sound cheerful whenever he spoke to Lu Han. Junmyeon looked worried, and there were several times when he tried to talk to Minseok seriously, but Minseok never let him. He brushed it off and pretended to have forgotten to do something.

Pretend like he wasn’t about to burst into tears at any given moment. Pretend like he was perfectly happy with his situation. Pretend like he wasn’t exhausted. Pretend that the combination of Jongdae’s anger, his own emotions, the expectations of everyone around him, and his own desperation weren’t spreading him too thin until he thought he might wisp away in the wind.

Pretend, and eventually, so it would be. At least, that was what he told himself.

More attempts, more dismissals. The ranks of the captured palace omegas were growing thinner and thinner. With it, tension in the air rose, until the entire palace, or at least the palace staff, seemed to be waiting on the edge of a cliff, leaning forward to look over the edge.

Through it all, Minseok kept himself busy. So busy that he forgot to pay attention to what was happening around him, or the emotions of the people closest to him. He was cleaning some of Lu Han’s more formal clothes, when Junmyeon came running, wide-eyed and out of breath.

“Minseok,” he panted. “Your room. They caught Jongdae planning.”

No.

Minseok threw everything down and ran.

He could not lose Jongdae.

He ran through the halls. It wasn’t long before he could hear the commotion.

Anything but Jongdae. He could endure anything happening to him, but he could not lose Jongdae.

At first he had to push through the crowd, but when people realized it was him, they parted quickly, pulling those in front of them to the side so Minseok could get through.

“Kyungsoo, please!” Minseok cried out as he ran into his and Jongdae’s room.

There were several alpha palace guards, and Minseok had to slip past them to get into the room, but they let him in. Minseok took a small moment to look around and figure out what was going on.

Kyungsoo was furious, and Jongdae didn’t look sorry in the slightest. Jongdae was angry too, and Minseok was just glad Kyungsoo wasn’t making the decision to dismiss him at that exact moment. Jongdae was yelling at him outright, and Minseok knew he was pouring out every single thought he had about the terms of surrender, the injustice of it, the way that they were treated like nothing more than cattle. Kyungsoo yelling back at him that that was the way it had always been, nothing he could do would change it, and that he might think of the family he had here.

Behind Jongdae, on his bed, was a small pack of things. Rations, a small water cask, rope… materials to run away with. It wasn’t much, but Minseok had no doubt Jongdae could do it. He was clever, he could be crafty when he wanted to; if he could have gotten past the guards, gotten out of the palace and out of the city, Minseok had no doubt that Jongdae could have made it home.

And it was likely that Kyungsoo knew it too.

Minseok didn’t think, he just threw himself between Kyungsoo and Jongdae. He bowed onto the floor at Kyungsoo’s feet.

“Kyungsoo, please!” Minseok begged, his face still into the floor. “Please don’t dismiss him!”

“Stand up, Minseok.” Kyungsoo didn’t sound angry, but his voice was eerily calm, almost flat.

Minseok stood. He met Kyungsoo’s eyes for a moment, but then dropped his gaze.

“Did you know about this, Minseok?”

“No! No, I swear to you, I didn’t! Kyungsoo, please, if I had known I would have talked him out of it, he didn’t mean to disrespect-“

“Yes he did.”

No, no no no no…

Kyungsoo turned to face the gathered crowd of palace servants. “All of you get to the courtyard! Now!”

“Kyungsoo,” Minseok looked him in the eyes. “Punish me instead! Please don’t dismiss him, punish me instead!”

Kyungsoo slowly, almost gently, took Minseok’s hand.

“Both of you come with me to the courtyard.”

Minseok felt nothing as they walked to the courtyard. Kyungsoo had not let go of his hand, and Minseok had taken Jongdae’s hand in his other one, so the three omegas walked together, the alpha guards just behind them. Minseok knew they were passing through hallways, passing people, but he took nothing in. His eyes didn’t focus on anything, he heard nothing, he barely even felt Kyungsoo’s and Jongdae’s hands. He just walked. One foot in front of the other. Step by step.

He couldn’t do this without Jongdae. He could not.

Everything snapped back uncomfortably quickly, like jumping into cold water, when they reached the courtyard. Kyungsoo let go of Minseok’s hand, and Minseok didn’t protest. Looking at the crowd, Minseok thought this might actually be everyone, certainly all of the captured omegas and possibly most of the regular servants, and the idea was terrifying. Junmyeon was in the crowd and Minseok couldn’t tell from the look in his eyes what was about to happen, if Junmyeon even knew. Baekhyun and Jongin near the front, looking terrified. They might not depend on Jongdae as much as Minseok did, but they certainly didn’t want to lose him either.

Minseok and Jongdae stood a few paces behind Kyungsoo, an alpha guard on either side of them. Kyungsoo was calm in front of them, and Minseok tried to take comfort in knowing that they weren’t dealing with an angry, seething, Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo started talking, explaining to those who didn’t know what was going on, although with how news spread it was unlikely that anyone didn’t know what had happened. Minseok held his breath when Kyungsoo finished.

“Fortunately, we will not have a dismissal today.” Kyungsoo said, and turned to look at Jongdae and Minseok.

The adrenaline and fear coursing through Minseok didn’t let that register.

“But, Kim Jongdae, you were still planning on running, and that cannot go unpunished.”

Maybe it was good that Minseok hadn’t started to feel relieved yet.

An alpha guard stepped forward and handed Kyungsoo a switch. The switch was made of bamboo, and Minseok gripped Jongdae’s hand tightly, his eyes widening. The switch was not particularly thick, not enough to be a cane, but it was still bamboo and Minseok knew it would be very painful.

Kyungsoo stayed turned toward the two of them, and talked to them like they were the only two in the entire courtyard. But it was deathly quiet, and Minseok knew that everyone would hear him.

“The punishment is ten strikes.”

The alpha guards separated the two of them.

“But, Jongdae, you will not be receiving them.”

Jongdae started to speak, but Kyungsoo kept going.

“Minseok, as you know, told me to punish him instead, so he will be receiving your strikes.”

Jongdae began to protest, and Minseok could hear that he was speaking, as one of the alpha guards dragged him out of reach, but all he could really hear was his own heart beating.

This was going to hurt very badly, but he had asked for it.

The alpha guard next to him held his arms over his head. He couldn’t brace himself on anything, and he didn’t like feeling this vulnerable in the hands of an alpha. But maybe that was part of it.

Minseok didn’t know if the guard had been told to position him just so that he could see Jongdae, or if it was an accident. Jongdae was looking frantically back and forth between him and Kyungsoo. Minseok could see his mouth moving, he knew he was protesting, but he couldn’t register what he was saying. The only sound that registered in his ears were that of his own heartbeat.

“One.”

And Kyungsoo’s voice.

The cloth of his uniform didn’t act as any kind of a shield. It was a sharp pain that left a sharp ache, and Minseok couldn’t help but cry out in pain.

“Two.”

Kyungsoo was not gentle, but he was also not a sadist. Minseok knew Kyungsoo wasn’t enjoying this at all, and he didn’t drag it out. But still, each strike hurt very badly and the fear and adrenaline coursing through Minseok focused on it. He knew he was shaking, but there was nothing he could do about it. He kept his eyes on Jongdae, and finally his cousin locked his eyes onto his. He was still protesting, his tone of voice sounded like he was begging now, but Minseok couldn’t hear the words.

Just his own heartbeat, Kyungsoo’s voice, and his own cries of pain.

And then, both suddenly and after what seemed like forever, it was over. The alpha guard was letting his arms down, and Minseok couldn’t help but cradle them to his chest. It was only then that he looked up.

His stomach dropped. Lu Han was watching from the upper hallway. A different kind of fear blossomed in Minseok’s chest. What if Lu Han thought he had tried to run? What if Lu Han thought Minseok had betrayed his trust?

He watched Lu Han watch him, just before someone took his arm and led him away. A moment later he realized it was Chanyeol, the medic.

“Come with me,” Chanyeol told him softly. “We’ll go back to your room.”

Chanyeol walked with Minseok and Jongdae back to their room, and the three were completely silent, until the door closed.

Jongdae burst into tears, and Minseok coaxed him into cuddling on the bed, shifting so that he was in a good position for Chanyeol to check him over. Jongdae apologized over and over again, and Minseok hushed him gently, letting him cry into Minseok’s chest and cling while Minseok ran his fingers through Jongdae’s hair.

“I’m so sorry,” Jongdae said through tears and sobs. “I wasn’t… I was so angry. I wasn’t thinking… all I was thinking was that I could prepare, and leave first, and then work on getting you out from home. All I wanted was to get back to mom, dad, auntie…”

“I know,” Minseok assured him. “It’s okay. None of this is fair. None of this is right. I don’t like it either. But I can’t lose you. We have to do what they tell us until we can go home.”

Even as Minseok said it, he felt a pang of guilt in his gut. He missed his family, he missed his mother most of all, but when he thought of leaving, he immediately thought of Lu Han. He wanted to see his family, but he couldn’t help but think that he didn’t want to leave Lu Han either.

Eventually, Jongdae fell asleep, and Minseok eased himself out of his grip.

“You’ll be sore for a while,” Chanyeol whispered to him, unusually solemn, “but you’ll be fine.”

“Thank you,” Minseok whispered back. “Will you stay with him? I have to… I have to go.”

Chanyeol nodded, and Minseok left the room, closing the door quietly.

He needed to breathe, he needed to think, he needed…

Lu Han.

Minseok didn’t let his mind concentrate on needing Lu Han, or why that was what popped into his brain. But he did need to make sure there wasn’t a misunderstanding.

He didn’t run into anyone on the way to Lu Han’s wing, not even Junmyeon, and he was grateful. He couldn’t deal with talking to anyone else right now. His mind was a whirlwind, and he needed to talk to Lu Han before he could do anything else.

He found Lu Han in his bed chamber. The door was open, and he could see Lu Han inside, but he still knocked quietly and let Lu Han beckon him inside. To his surprise, Lu Han got up and met him halfway, before reaching to close the door behind him.

“Are you hurt?” Lu Han asked him. His voice was gentle and Minseok let himself be hopeful.

Minseok nodded. “Chanyeol said I’ll be fine, just sore.”

He waited a moment before continuing: “I didn’t… I wasn’t the one to…”

“I know you weren’t the one planning on escaping, Minseok,” Lu Han assured him. “I heard the whole thing.”

Minseok looked up at him quickly. “You did?”

Lu Han tucked a bit of stray hair behind Minseok’s ear and nodded. “And even if I hadn’t… I wouldn’t think you would try. I don’t doubt you, Minseok.”

Minseok could feel emotion welling up in his chest, his eyes prickling with the start of tears, but he was determined to stay composed. “Thank you.”

Lu Han took his hands. “Minseok, you’ve kept going like nothing was wrong this entire time, staying composed and strong in the face of everything, but I know you’re not okay. I know you feel like you have to pretend, like you have to stay cheerful. But… it’s okay. It’s okay to cry. Maybe you don’t want to in front of everyone else, but you can cry in front of me. I don’t want you to feel like you have to pretend in front of me.”

It was as if, by having Lu Han’s permission, by Lu Han telling him out loud that he knew Minseok was not completely content with everything, his emotions took that as the go-ahead. The floodgates opened on his tears and emotions, and Minseok burst into tears.

Lu Han held him while he cried. He felt Lu Han running his fingers through his hair, or at least what he could get to before the braid pulled it secure. Lu Han was murmuring something, and Minseok realized it was just gentle reassurance, like his mother would do.

Somehow that made him cry harder.

Eventually the tears slowed, and then stopped, but Lu Han didn’t let go of him. Instead, he gently coaxed Minseok into sitting down on the floor cushions with him. Lu Han talked quietly, and got up briefly only to come back with a wet cloth. He wiped Minseok’s face gently, and guided him into laying his head down on Lu Han’s lap.

Minseok fell asleep like that, his head on Lu Han’s lap and Lu Han’s fingers running gently through his hair.

......................................

Author's Note: Hey y'all! Sorry, I meant to get this posted yesterday, but a lot of stuff happened and so writing this chapter did not. I know this was fairly angsty but I promise it gets lighter from here ^^