Minseok looked at his friend, only friend, Chungho. He just asked Minseok a question, but the boy was still out of it from the events of this morning. His first day back, and his day was already a mess.

Minseok had woken up, took a shower, packed his school bag, and went to do some of the morning chores he had to do. Heechul printed Minseok a list of chores he would have to do from now on, so the boy just had to memorize it. When he was done watering the plants (one of Minseok's chores), Minseok, who was dressed in his school unifrom, was pushed into the wet dirt.

"W-what?" Minseok had said, using his hands to soften the blow of falling, but he still got dirt on his uniform.

"What are you doing, hyung?" Minseok turned around, Zitao laughing at him. The two had never made any interaction, not even in the two days Minseok's been in the group home, but Tao just felt the need to ridicule the older boy. "You need to get cleaned up, breakfast is being served."

Upon going back in, Minseok told Heechul that he fell in the dirt on accident, and the cargiver gave him the okay to miss breakfast and change. It was a good thing that he had two uniforms, or else Minseok would be stuck wearing gym clothes all day, and with the weather higher than 90 degrees fahrenheit, he was glad he didn't have to go with that option.

The oldest then grabbed his bag, making his way back downstairs. By the time he got dressed, breakfast was done, and Heechul dismissed for school.

"Safe trip kids!" The caregiver yelled as everyone ran out. They couldn't get out fast enough.

Minseok trailed behind the rest, the new route to school confused him, but he knew he would get use to it fairly quickly. It was the morning, so the weather wasn't as hot yet. It felt good.

The next thing Minseok felt though, was the cold pavement. His face scraped the ground, and Minseok knew that would leave a mark

"Watch where you're going, hyung. We don't want you getting hurt." To late for that, Zitao. Minseok bit his lip, hard. Tao was walking with Kris and Luhan, and they both laughed at the sight of the older on the ground.

"Ohhhhh," Luhan laughed. "Don't cry. Not again at least." Minseok should of known, actually he did know, that this boy was going to hang that moment over his head. Minseok cried just for a split second, and yet, here he was.

"Wait, when did he cry?" Kris, probably one of the coldest, maybe emotionless was a better word, guy at their school had asked. He didn't talk much, but when he did, his voice came out like he was a bit angry.

"Saturday. His precious clothes touched the floor and this boy lost it. He was sobbing." Luhan is a lier, that's the conclusion Minseok came to. Minseok wasn't crying because his clothes were on the floor, in fact, the older boy couldn't care less about that. Minseok explained to Luhan why he cried, not sobbed. And from what he could remember, he was pretty calm.

Not that the other boys would believe him. They were laughing. And Minseok, he was still on the ground. Minseok was glad that the others had gone on ahead, he would be embarressed if they saw him like this.

After Zitao and the others had enough fun, they went on to school. Minseok cursed at how weak he was. How weak he is.

"Hey, Minseok, hellooooooo," Minseok snapped his attention back to Chungho. Now, the two were sitting in class, and there was a huge wound on Minseok's left cheek. "I asked, where have you been the last two weeks. I was worried, I thought you died. I called your home alot, but nobody ever answered."

Minseok smiled at his friends concern. "I live in a group home now." It felt weird, to say that. It was even weirder to hear though.

"W-what?!" Chungho yelled. It was lunch time, so nobody paid any attention to the two boys. "You live in a group home?" Minseok nodded. "Isn't that like, for bad kids?" Minseok nodded. "And... you, you are living there?" Minseok nodded. "Why?"

"A misunderstanding."

"Yeah, one hell of a misunderstanding. I've known you since 3rd grade, and I don't think you've ever even gotten yelled at by a teacher before."

That was true. Minseok was a good kid. Not so much as an overdue library book. "Yeah, but life isn't really ever fair. I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. You know what they say, curiosity killed the cat."

"Well, this time it was the human." Chungho chuckled. Chungho could always make himself laugh, that's why they got along so well. Minseok didn't talk much, and he didn't have to, because his friend could keep a conversation with himself for hours. "So tell me, what happened?" Minseok then went on to explain the short version of things, lunch almost over. Minseok explained how he took a late night walk, ended up at a crime scene, and got busted for what someone else did. "Damn," Chungho said after processing everything. "Only you, Minseok. Only you."

Lunch over way too quickly, the boys cleaned up their mess and took out their history books. It was an easy switch, since during lunch students could choose wheather to eat in the cafeteria or in the classroom, and Minseok and his friend would always choose to eat in the classroom.

Minseok had alot of make-up work to do, like he expected. So when Minseok walked back to the group home, this time unbothered, he went straight to the kitchen table to do it. That was one of the rules. After school, you do homework. Although, the majority of the boys just sat around, playing with a balloon they managed to get.

"Boys!" Heechul yelled, snatching the balloon that was in mid air. "Why do I always have to remind you guys to actually do your work?!"

"Why do we always have to tell you we don't want to do our work?" Jongin retorted, scribbling on a napkin with a highlighter.

"Jongin! If you don't follow the rules, the longer it will take for you to get out of here."

"That's okay with me, I'm not getting out till I'm eighteen anyways." Said Luhan, slouching back in his chair.

"You're right, that's why I just find other ways to punish you." Luhan sighed, saying something in Chinese. Heechul rose his eyebrows. "Do your work, Luhan. Maybe then you will actually pass your classes."

Heechul left the boys alone. The caregiver gave the guys too much alone time, at least that's what Minseok thought.

"Chanyeol." Junmyeon whispered. "What did you get for number 6?" You see, unlike Luhan, Chanyeol did his work. It was suprising for Minseok, he didn't think that someone who looked so... intimindating, actually bothered with school. But Minseok had learned many things already from living in this group home, only 3 days so far. You can't judge by appearances. Some of these boys, like Kyungsoo, didn't look like he belonged here, but here he was. Even Luhan had a soft look to him, when he wasn't scowling that is.

"Hyung, I don't think you're going to be able to finish all that homework today. Unless you plan on not sleeping." Kyungsoo said. The younger boy now sat next to Minseok everyday, making it a usual thing.

"Yeah, I guess that's what I get for missing two weeks. It's giving me a headache."

It was around 5 when Heechul came back out. He checked everyone's progress, giving a big depressed sigh once he was done examining everyone's work.

"Those of you who did your homework, good job. Those of you who didn't," Heechul glared specifically at Jongin, one of the few who didn't do anything. "I will make sure to write that in my report for the day. Now, go finish your chores. Chanyeol, Yixing, it's your turn to cook."

Everyone groaned, also an everyday thing. The boys moved more slower now than in the morning, not in a rush to get started on chores like they were to get out of this home. Minseok examined over his chore list again. He was on bathroom duty today, and that was just fantastic, because like everything else, Minseok was stuck cleaning the bathroom with Luhan.

It was silent, neither one making eye contact even once. They both wore gloves, and Minseok was the one who had to clean the toilet. It was disgusting. In the home, there were only 2 bathrooms, so that meant 6 boys shared one toilet. Obviously, alot of messy boys and one bathroom, it was bound to get filthy. Plus, on top of that, some of the guys aim was off, way of.

After cleaning the bathrooms, they still had to do some other things, but luckily, Minseok and Luhan could do them separately.

"Hyung, use this," Baekhyun handed Minseok an unmarked bottle. "It will get the stains out faster." The jumpy boy explained. Minseok stared at the bottle, trying to figure out what it was. For all he knew, the younger could be messing with him, and the bottle was filled with bleach. Baekhyun, guessing what his hyung was thinking, quickly defended himself. "Minseok-hyung! I promise, it will work, this isn't a trick!" Baekhyun laughed, giving Minseok a slight punch.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry, thank you." The older responded quietly, hesitantly spraying the bottle contents on the big stain in the couch. Minseok let the liquid sit for a couple seconds, and then used carefully dabbing motions. Typically, Minseok would rub stains off, not patient enough to dab, but since that tatic never worked at home, he figured it wouldn't work here either.

"So, how is it rooming with Luhan-hyung?" Baekhyun asked, going back to his chore of cleaning the windows.

"It's..... it's okay."

"Really?! That hyung is extremly possesive of his things, I would imagine it would be a nightmare sharing a room with him! One time, when I got my shirt dirty, I took one from the dryer to wear. I thought it was my shirt, but it turned out it was Luhan-hyungs! So when he saw me wearing it, hyung punched me!" Baekhyun exlaimed, not bothering to keep his voice down. Jongdae was also in the living room, but he was dusting things off at the other side of the room. Minseok was sure Jongdae heard Baekhyun, and he was correct.

"Same thing happened to me, Baekhyun. But I accidently borrowed some underwear." Jongdae admitted.

"Yeah, but underwear is underwear, Jongdae. I would even punch you if I found out you had worn my underwear."

"Oh....... really?" Jongdae smiled sheepishly, backing further away than he already was.

Baekhyun's expression changed in an instant. "Why you-!" Th boy cut himself off, dropping his materials and jumping over the couch, running to reach the slightly younger kid. Jongdae didn't let Baekhyun get him though, he threw the duster he was holding at Baekhyun, making a run for it. The two boys now running around the living room, with Minseok watching silently.

"BOYYYYYYS!" Minseok went back to work as the caregiver yelled at Baekhyun and Jongdae, zoning out like he so often did nowadays.

By the time dinner rolled around, all the boys were starving, quickly thanking Chanyeol and Yixing for the meal, and then digging in.

That was how the next week passed for Minseok. He adjusted fairly quickly to the way of things in the group home, and also to the insults Minseok constanly heard from Zitao, Luhan too occasionally. Luhan and Minseok made no progress at all. They didn't talk (aside from the insults). They didn't look at each other, in fact, they didn't even stand next to each other. The only thing keeping Luhan and Minseok connected was their share of the same room. Even then, Luhan enforced the rule that Minseok couldn't come on his side, only if he was heading for the door.

Minseok caught up with his school work too, and he was slowly getting his grades up again. Chungho helped Minseok keep taps on his mother. Chungho visited Minseok's mother everyday, making sure she was doing okay, and he even let Minseok borrow his phone to call his mom. The boy wondered when he could see his mom again. It has been three weeks since they had a real conversation.

"Kids, before you leave, I got something to tell you." Heechul said one day after group. "I'm sure you will be happy to know, that we are allowed to do family visitations again." Some boys clapped in joy, others gave no response. Minseok, well he smiled brightly, that being the first time he felt genuine happiness in the home. It's been 2 weeks now, since Minseok's lived in the group home, 4 weeks since the boy saw his mom. "Minseok, we haven't been able to have family visitations for a while now because of an....issue," Again with the issue. What was it? And why was in such a big deal that Heechul couldn't even tell him? "But now, we can! So all you have to do, is follow the rules and be good, then you will be allowed to see your family! Every Saturday is visitation day. We inform parents on whether they can visit or not. It's alot of fun! We make a bunch of snacks and everything!" The caregiver exclaimed.

"It's not that fun." Luhan said

"We get to eat whatever and whenever we want that day, of course it's fun!" Jongdae said. The older kid rolled his eyes.

"Minseok, if you have any questions, just ask me, or one of the boys." Minseok was not going to do the latter. "Okay guys, your dismissed."

Family day. Minseok couldn't wait, and the grin on his face showed this. It was Monday, so the boy only had to wait a few more days.

"Stop doing that." Luhan said. They were in their room now, getting ready for bed, Luhan's hair was still wet from his shower. "Stop smiling, it's creepy."

"Smiling is creepy?"

"When you do it like that, it is. There isn't a reason for you to be smiling."

"There is." Minseok responded.

"Family day isn't fun. It's boring." That was true for Luhan. Those were the worst days of the week for him. Luhan was glad when Heechul announced they would stop for a while, but now they were back, and he dreaded it.

"I'm gonna see my mom. I haven't seen her in a long time, so I'm happy. I miss her." Minseok's words hurt Luhan. It made the younger feel like throwing up, but not from disgust, not that Minseok could tell the difference.

Minseok sighed, not caring what Luhan thought, for once. The older curled up in his bed, waiting for Luhan to turn off the lights. Minseok's smile still hadn't faded.

***

Next chapter will focus on someone else, so that's why this on was a bit short, sorry :( Nonetheless, hope you guys liked this chapter!<3