"Do you want to see him?" Heechul asked.

Jongdae and his caregiver stood outside of the group home, all the other boys inside with the substitute.

Heechul had come back to check up on the boys for the first time since Baekhyun was hospitalized, not really speaking, but more so inspecting.

The only thing that Heechul said to everyone was that Baekhyun was now stable, although badly bruised. Then, the caregiver asked Jongdae to speak with him outside, which is why the two were now standing alone on the porch.

"See him?" Jongdae questioned.

"Do you want to see Baekhyun? He can have visitors now, and he has been asking for you."

Jongdae took a moment to understand. Baekhyun and Jongdae are best friends, but the question was so sudden that it took him by surprise.

"Y-yes." 

"Okay, then lets go." Heechul began walking down the porch steps, already heading to the car.

"Now?!" Jongdae said, stunned at how quick.

"Yeah." Heechul didn't stop to answer, leaving Jongdae running to his hyung's car and buckling in.

"So..." Jongdae attempted to make conversation during the awkward ride to the hospital. "How did Baekhyun's parents take the news?"

The caregiver tightened his grip on the wheel. "How do you think?" Heechul sarcastically replied. "They were yelling and threatening to sue. I can't blame them though, I don't know what I would of done if my son was in the hospital."

 Son? Heechul didn't have any kids...

"So are they? Going to sue?"

"They can't. There are certain rules in the contract for our group home that even parents can't get around."

Jongdae didn't question anymore about what 'rules', considering how the caregiver was getting anxious. He let the silence rest in the car.

Heechul parked his vehicle in a visitation area, and the two hoped out of the car. Jongdae felt nervous, recognizing the smell of a hospital since his parents are both doctors.

The caregiver didn't even give the younger a chance to breath, speed walking through the halls of the large building until he stopped outside of a closed door on the third floor.

"Is this...." Jongdae trailed off. Heechul nodded. Not waiting, the caregiver opened the door and walked right in, the other following closely behind.

The hospital room was divided by a curtain, Baekhyun occupying the half that the pair just walked into. Jongdae had to hold his breath when he saw the badly beaten boy, the sight even worse now than it was before.

The jumpy boy's parents were right at his bedside, glaring at the two that just walked in.

"Hello." The caregiver gave a small bow, Jongdae repeating the action with a small 'hello' as well.

The parents didn't say anything. Baekhyun's mom gave her son's hand a squeeze.

"Omma, appa," Baekhyun began, his voice weak and small, but still filled with energy. "Can I speak to my friend... alone?" The parents hesitated. "Please." He begged, and no one could resist Baekhyun when he begged.

"Okay," His mother said warily, pulling her husband along with her as they exited the room with one last nasty glance in Jongdae's direction. Heechul followed them, closing the hospital door on his way out.

Jongdae didn't move from his spot near the door.

"Well?" Baekhyun laughed. "Are you going to come over here, silly? Come on, I don't bite."

The younger chuckled only slightly, going to take the seat next to Baekhyun that the other's mom occupied before.

"How are you?"

"How does it look like I am?" Baekhyun responded, grinning. "Come closer, you're to far away."

"Oh, sorry." Jongdae scouted closer to the older. "Um, how is it here? In the hospital?"

Baekhyun laughed. "You, Jong, ask the worst questions ever."

"Sorry."

"How have things been back in the group home?" The older questioned, attempting to get in a sitting position, but ultimately failing. "It must without me around," Baekhyun continued. "I'm sure it must be boring."

"Oh yeah, it really is." Jongdae admitted honestly. "There's no fun without you, even Chanyeol said it. And Chanyeol hates you."

"I'm sure he doesn't hate me." Baekhyun rolled his eyes at Jongdae's exaggeration. 

"Either way, it was much better with you around. Now, we barely talk to each other." The younger sighed. "But that might be because of the substitute we have, he's really strict. Nobody wants to talk around him, he just kills the mood. We can't even joke around anymore. You know, he almost tackled Jongin."

The older smiled at the thought of Jongin getting tackled. "Jongin probably deserved it though." Jongdae nodded, agreeing. "But since when did we have a mean substitute? What happened to the grandma?"

"She quit."

"Ah, I would've too." The two laughed. "It must having to deal with a mean substitute, but hey, it's not like you have to deal with him twenty-four seven."

Jongdae tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, when Heechul-hyung goes back to the home, it's not like you have to handle the substitute."

"Heechul-hyung hasn't been back since the accident with you and..." Jongdae didn't want to saw his name around Baekhyun, who was still recovering from the injuries he sustained during the fight.

The older ignored the hesitation in Jongdae's voice. "He hasn't been back? That's weird, he's not here that often."

"Again, what do you mean?"

"I mean," Baekhyun sighed in frustration. "Heechul-hyung usually only visits for an hour each day before my parents chase him away."

Jongdae didn't respond.

"Wait, so you're telling me that hyung never went back home after all this time?" Jongdae shook his head. "So, then where has he been?" Baekhyun thought out loud.

The pair both stayed quiet, thinking for a possible solution. Heechul was never one to skip work, he wanted to spend as much time with the boys as possible. The caregiver would always say that it's to be a father figure for the boys, so that they can depend on at least one constant in their life.

"Best not to dwell on it." Baekhyun put his hand on the younger's shoulder, gaining his attention. "How have you been, Jong? I haven't seen you in almost a week. I missed you."

Jongdae blushed at his friend's words, never hearing them from a friend before. "Uh- good, I guess." The younger forced on a smile. "I've m-missed you too."

It was like a switch flipped back on, and the two once again began to talk normally, like they were back in the group home. It was nice, just being able to laugh and chat again.

Tao's name had come up awkwardly once in the conversation, Baekhyun wondering how the younger Chinese boy was doing. Truthfully, Jongdae didn't know how Zitao was, he hadn't heard any news on the bully.

Soon, an hour passed, and Baekhyun's parents, along with Heechul, were back in the room. Jongdae immediately stood up, afraid of the older's parents.

"I'll see you when I get back." Baekhyun smiled.

"See you soon." Jongdae responded, giving his friend a hug before leaving.

It was hard seeing Baekhyun the way he was, black and purple covering his body, but it was comforting just to see him. Jongdae didn't realize how much he missed taking to the older till he was actually there.

It was also comforting knowing that Baekhyun was coming back to the group home. Jongdae worried that the older's parents wouldn't let him come back, he worried that Baekhyun might be transferred to another home, but he was glad when he learned that it wasn't going to happen. Baekhyun wanted to stay where he was, in the home with people he knew and cared about, so that's what happened.

Jongdae wanted so badly to ask why Heechul never came around the group home anymore, after learning that the caregiver did in fact have plenty of time to visit the boys, but Jongdae decided against it. The caregiver was already looking tense and sick.

"Hyung, are you coming?" Jongdae asked as he got out of Heechul's car, right outside the home.

"No, I'm going back to the hospital, Jongdae. You know I always do."

Right. Always.

"Oh, well goodnight then."

Heechul smiled, just about to respond but not getting the chance to because Jongdae slammed the car door in the older's face.

It affected him. The caregiver's absence did affect Jongdae, no matter how hard he tried not to let it.

Heechul was like an older, wiser brother. He took care of Jongdae, and Jongdae missed it. It hurt that the caregiver, a person that he trusted so much, just lied straight to his face.

Back inside the home, Jongdae was bombarded with questions on Baekhyun's well being. Well, he wasn't bombarded, as most of the boys just cleaned, but he was still asked questions from some.

"You're lucky," Jongin said to the older, dusting off the tv. "You got to spend the whole day out of this place. And guess who had to do your chores?" He gritted bitterly.

Jongdae rolled his eyes. "Baekhyun is fine, thanks for caring."

Jongin scoffed, but he didn't say anything after that. That could be because Kyungsoo glared at him, but Jongdae didn't really care what shut Jongin up, he was just glad that the younger did shut up.

That night, as Jongdae laid still in his bed, Baekhyun's absence taking a toll on him much harder now, Jongdae found the urge to cry, or scream, or just break something.

It was dark, and even though he couldn't see, Jongdae tip-toed his way quietly to Baekhyun's empty bed, careful not to wake up his other roommate, Sehun.

Baekhyun's bed was no different than his own. The mattress was still hard, the pillow still small, and the blanket still horribly knitted, but it just felt different. Being in Baekhyun's bed made Jongdae feel safe, since the two people he trusted most in the home (Heechul and Baekhyun) were now gone.

Times like these Jongdae wondered what his life would of been like if he never made that mistake that got him here. Jongdae was always such a good kid, a jewel to his parents that always expected the best out of him. 

He just wanted to do one small bad thing. Just to be rebellious. Just to rebel against his parents, who never gave him room for failure.

Jongdae's idea of a 'small bad thing' was to wear a mask and pull a gun on a lawyer. He didn't know it was loaded, Jongdae's friend gave him the gun, and the two thought that it would be fun just to scare the lawyer. 

Well, of course that turned into a very big bad thing. The next thing Jongdae knew, he heard sirens that were distant, and he dropped the gun, running with his friend as the two went as far as they could.

Jongdae wondered, what if he had never dropped the gun? Then the police wouldn't have gotten his finger prints off of it, and then Jongdae wouldn't be stuck in such a lonely place.

But if he hadn't dropped the gun, he would've never gotten the chance to meet Baekhyun. Sure, the two went to the same school, but they didn't have the same class. The only time Jongdae ever heard about the other was when he heard that some student punched a teacher, and it was only till he arrived in the home 1 month ago that he found out it was Baekhyun who punched the teacher.

Maybe it was fate that Jongdae ended up in this group home, no matter how terrible it might be.

Maybe it was fate that everyone ended up in this group home, all coexisting together in the same place at the same time...

***

Fate<3 Also, I'm editing this at night, so I apologize for any spelling mistakes :( I'm really tired :p anyways, hoped you liked this chapter!