Leeteuk was waiting by the door when Kyuhyun came out of the room.

"Hyung..." Kyuhyun muttered, avoiding Leeteuk's eyes on purpose, still feeling ashamed of himself.

If Leeteuk did notice that, he pretended he did not, "Let's go Kyu."

Kyuhyun trailed behind Leeteuk wordlessly.

They walked on without saying anything until they reached a little noodle shop not too far away from the dormitory. The shop was empty, except for a middle aged man slurping on his noodle at the back of the shop. They went in and sat at the corner.

"Do you want any food? You haven't eaten anything today." Leeteuk asked as he gestured for the waiter to come.

Kyuhyun shook his head, "I am not hungry."

The waiter seemed to recognise the two of them, but the seriousness on both their faces told him it's not a time for signatures and phototaking.

"We will just have two cups of warm green tea." Leeteuk ordered.

The waiter nodded and went away, only to come back in a few minutes with two cups of green tea.

Leeteuk took a sip from the cup.

"I think you know what we are here for." Leeteuk commented.

Kyuhyun nodded, still not looking at Leeteuk in the eyes.

"Does it still hurt? Your legs..." Leeteuk asked, with concern in his eyes.

Kyuhyun subconsciously reached down to touch his own legs, "No... Not really."

"It hurts me to see you doing this to yourself. I want to help you, Kyu... Not just as a leader, or as a hyung. But as a friend, who cares about you."

Kyuhyun kept silent for a minute or two, contemplating on what to say. He could sense the sincerity and concern in his hyung, but he did not quite know how or where to start.

"Take your time." Leeteuk said, smiling gently at the maknae.

"My mum passed away when I was born." Kyuhyun finally spoke after a few minutes.

He looked ahead at the faraway corner, recalling his awful past, "My dad put the blame on me. He hated me, and would abuse me physically and verbally whenever he sees me. The scar... The scar on my back wasn't caused by an accident. I lied. My dad slashed me with a knife once when I accidentantly broke a pot of plant at home."

Leeteuk gasped, finding it unbelievable that a father would ever treat his son this way. His own dad might hit them once in a while, but he knew that deep inside he doted on both him and his sister. Why was Kyuhyun's father so cruel to his own flesh and blood?

"My dad's condition spiraled downwards as I grew up. He came home drunk almost every night, he gambled all the money away, he even did drugs. I lived in fear... for the many years. Fearful of his verbal abuse... Fearful of his beatings... Everytime I hear the door open, I will run to my room and hide in a corner, hoping he will not find me."

"But luckily for me at that time that I had a brother, a few years older then me. We were close, and he would try to protect me from our father's crazy acts. It was of little use though. The old man was totally insane, my brother got beaten up together with me most of the time."

At this point of time, tears were welling up in Kyuhyun's eyes. He tried to swallow them back, but disobediently, they began to roll down his cheeks.

Leeteuk reached out and held on to Kyuhyun's hand, hoping to give him some form of comfort. His other hand was clenched tightly in a fist, as if ready to strike down Kyuhyun's father anytime if he was to appear.

"I think it reached a point of time when he could not take it anymore. He left home one night after our father threw away some of his belongings, including a stuff toy that our mum gave him not long before she passed away. He never did come back."

Kyuhyun's voice cracked as he thought of his brother. His beloved, protective brother, who could not take it anymore and abandoned him, all alone in the horrible house with that horrible man.

"I didn't see him since that night. I tried to look for him when i grew abit older, but heard from a friend of his that he had followed our father's footsteps. Turning to alcohol and drugs. He eventually died of drug overdose on the streets one day."

By now, Kyuhyun was sobbing hard, as those awful memories came back to haunt him.

Leeteuk hurried over and sat beside him, drawing him into a hug, and his back gently.

"The old man eventually got caught for robbery and went to jail. I was 11 years old then. My grandfather brought me over to stay with him. He clothed me, fed me, sent me to school. Most importantly... He loved me."

"But he's gone now..."

Kyuhyun looked up at Leeteuk with his red, teary eyes, "When I look at you... When I look at the rest of the hyungs... I get reminded of my brother... And my grandfather. How everyone of you love me... dote of me... protect me."

"But you will ultimately leave, wouldn't you? Just like they did. You will find me too much of a trouble, and all of you will leave me."

Leeteuk was shocked at the maknae's words. Was that why he had been so afraid to share his trouble with all of them? Because he was afraid that they will find him a nuisance and leave him one day?

As he looked at the younger one in the eyes, he realised how broken the maknae was inside. The lost and helpless look in his eyes... Why hadn't he noticed that earlier? Leeteuk's heart broke at the thought... Half blaming himself that he had not realised what the maknae was going through, not lending a helping hand before things escalated.

He tightened his arms around the younger one, "We will not leave you, Kyu."

"I will never leave you."

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