Baekhyun's headstone was ugly. In fact, he didn't even have one. Instead, there was a piece of wood, plonked into the ground with his name written on hastily. Suho pursed his lips at the sight. 

He knew that Tao was oblivious to the detail and that once the latter saw it, he would get angry. Sure enough, Tao began to rage at the sight. 

"Who the hell did this?" 

Suho shook his head, "Tao, it's complicated. We have to get permission from the parents—"

"For what?" He asked, obviously pissed off.

"To get his headstone engraved and made. I tried. I really did but they wouldn't let me do it." 

Tao shook his head, his fists clenched. Was this really how messed up the world was? The Byun family obviously didn't care enough about their son. Their dead son. Heck, they didn't even want to investigate his death, claiming it was mere suicide. 

"Then why didn't you ing bribe them? You have enough in your bank account, don't you? Don't you?!"

"Tao, please understand—" Suho tried to calm the boy, but it wasn't working. Instead he was cut off mid sentence. Tao had turned around and started back towards the car park. 

"Where are you going? We just got here." Suho asked, calling after him.

"I'm getting a ing headstone. And the next time we come back, I won't be staring at some ugly piece of ." 

-

-

Kyungsoo was sorting through some flyers for the school's upcoming ball. It was months away, but the male had taken it upon himself to have it ready a whole month before. That's just how he was. 

He checked his watch. 7:43 in the morning. Students should start rolling into the school soon. Kyungsoo took the flyers, after counting one hundred and fifty, and placed them neatly into a clear plastic folder labelled; BALL. 

He stood and exited the student body office and made sure to lock it with his spare key and make sure everything was just as he left it. As he turned around to start towards his locker, he spotted his little trio entering the school gates.

Despite their shaggy appearance, and bony statures, they looked genuinely happy as always. Kai and Chen were grinning and talking while Sehun seemed to be rolling his eyes. Kyungsoo smiled at the sight and opened up his locker, placing his folder neatly into it. 

He was just pulling the lock close on his chain, when he overheard the trio, who were now walking behind him. 

"I really wish master would give us another week of school. I love it here!" He heard Kai exclaim.

Master? What was he? A dog?

"Yeah," Chen said, "I wish the same. I used to be so lonely, but now that I've had you two, it's so much better."

He heard Kai give a loud sigh. "I wish I could come to school everyday and never go home." 

Immediately, he was shushed by Chen. "Yah! Are you trying to get us in trouble? Don't go around saying things like that. We could get into huge trouble." The fear was evident in the older's voice.

"But master's not here—"

He was cut off once again, but this time by Sehun. "Yah, just shut your mouth Kai. He could have spies anywhere. Don't you remember what happened to Baekhyun and Lay?" 

Kyungsoo didn't hear anymore after that. Not that he wanted to either. After overhearing the three, he ran straight for his classroom, not even greeting those in his stead, as he usually would. 

He couldn't process what he'd just heard. Who was this master they were talking about? And what the hell did Sehun mean by 'having spies'? Had they been kidnapped? Were they a part of a secret society? Or cult?

Were they perhaps...from North Korea?

No, no, no, no. Kyungsoo shook his head and ran his hands along his shaking arms. Something was definitely up with those three. Kyungsoo so badly wanted to ignore the feeling he had to approach them, to help them, to find out more. But he couldn't.

It wasn't his business. 

-

-

Kris almost stumbled over a trolley standing in the hallway of one of the wards, but quickly recovered. No one saw what had happened, so he wasn't too embarrassed. 

His mind was elsewhere that day. After his appointment with Park Chanyeol, he couldn't stop thinking about the kid. What possible connection could he have had to Baekhyun? 

Some teenage drunkard who he'd stumbled upon somehow knew Baekhyun, the boy who Kris tried so hard to save, but failed. The boy who entered his nightmares each night, haunting him. But sometimes they were dreams. Dreams of the memories they had together, dreams of the times he spoiled him and his friends late on Friday nights. Dreams that could never exist anymore.

Turning a corner, and entering an elevator, Kris sighed and rubbed his eyes. He had multiple bags under his eyes, and his body was sore. He'd been overworking himself these days, and staying in the ICU all night wasn't helping. 

But it was all he could do to help Lay. Even after failing to save Baekhyun, he had hope for Lay. The boy was showing signs of recovery which was good, but the downfall was seeing him wake up. 

Waking up and finding that his 'brother' was no longer alive. Waking up and having to go through his ty life again. Because no matter how much Kris denied it, their master would somehow have him in his hands again. 

-

-

Sehun only wanted to visit the restroom in peace. But instead, he found the one person he hated, despised even. Luhan. As soon as the two made eye contact, Sehun his heel, making a dash for the exit. 

"Oh Sehun?" Luhan called out. 

Sehun stopped in his tracks and turned around. He scowled at the boy in front of him. So Luhan still had the audacity to call out to him?  Even after what he did? How disgusting. "What?" 

Luhan stepped forward, approaching Sehun slowly. The look in his eyes were soft and sad. "It really is you. Wow you've....grown." 

Sehun rolled his eyes. "Obviously. Six years would probably make a difference in my height, although it really didn't make much of a difference with yours." He remarked.

Ouch. That was harsh.

But really, what was Luhan expecting? A forgiving child who was willing to run back into his arms? No. He knew better than to expect that. Sehun was the most unpredictable, unapproachable person he'd met, and yet...the most fragile. "Look Sehun. I know we got off on the wrong foot and I know that what I did was unforgivable...but can we just forget it all?" 

Sehun felt like punching the apparently, innocent, desperate in front of him. Forget? How could he just forget what the guy did to him? Sehun just shoved his hands into his pockets and shook his head. "You know, why don't we? Why don't we just forget all that happened and continue living our happy, amazing lives aye? Because I'm sure you're doing just fine. Just like always." 

With that the younger turned around, escaping the dirty atmosphere. He wasn't dealing with Luhan's . Not now, not tomorrow, not ever.

-

-

A/n: lmao I was reading through this and I realized how incosistent some of the characters are