Yesung heard the sound of knuckles popping and knew he was in trouble.  He was walking down the sun drenched sidewalk.  Everything was oversaturated with light, making the nearly deserted block look eerily post-apocalyptic.  Receiving some protection from his dark bangs, Yesung still found himself blinking the sun out of his eyes as he tried to find in his peripherals the source of the sound.

Straining his ears, he could only hear the clunk of his own boots against the sidewalk.  There didn’t seem to be anyone around.  Maybe he’d imagined it.  He quickened his pace anyway and tried to focus.  There was really nothing to be worried about.  It was the most literal definition of broad daylight he could imagine.  No one would be crazy enough to try anything in public like this.  Still, he couldn’t help an uneasy feeling settling into his stomach.  He hadn’t passed another human being in a while.

His foot caught on the ground slightly and he tripped.  Effectively shaken out of his stupor he laughed at himself and noticed that he was just around the corner from his destination now.   

A hand fell on his shoulder and he spun to shake it off, only to have a knife jammed into his side.  He stumbled back and the hand stayed on his shoulder and the knife in his side until his back hit the building behind him.  Pain flooded his senses, his hand grabbed blindly at the arm pressing the blade into his side.  He lifted his gaze and was met with a smirk, before the knife was pulled free.  Then, as quietly as he’d appeared, the stranger was gone.

Yesung pressed his back hard against the wall as he started to slide down.  Blood was seeping around the hands he’d pressed firmly to his side.  Vision swimming as pain began radiating outward into the rest of his body, he placed one foot across the other like a man possessed and took one step, then another, his shoulder moving against the wall for support.

Each step caused a jolt of pain to run through him but he kept stepping, his vision tunneling.  He could barely think, but his feet carried him around the corner and he pushed off the wall.  The street seemed to stretch out in an eternity before him but he moved determinedly, one step then another toward the front steps of a familiar apartment building.  His foot caught and he fell shoulder first against the wall again, breathing in short little gasps he pressed his head against the cool stone and debated staying there.  He looked down the street at the red brick building and scrunched his face.  No, he could make it.

Forever later, he finally reached the shadow of the building.  Ears ringing, completely drained and shaking with exhaustion, he tried to take another step but a wave of dizziness washed over him.  His knees gave out and he fell against the wall, sliding down into a sitting position.  Darkness flooded in on him and he was unable to fight it off as he thought this must be what dying was like…

Yesung snapped his eyes open and sat up, regretting it as the stitches in his side pulled.  He realized someone else was in the room and looked over, expecting to see Heechul or Leeteuk.  Instead there was an older nurse writing on a clipboard. 

“Oh, hello there,” she said when she saw he was up, “how are you feeling today?”   

“Fine,” he said, blinking around confusedly. 

“Are you ready to go home?” she asked cheerfully.

Yesung looked around the empty room and frowned.  The nurse’s smile faded as she watched him. 

“Do you have someone coming to pick you up?” 

There was no answer from the strange young man.  A look of pity crossed her face and she sighed, flipping the clipboard around to face him.

“Okay, well, I just need you to sign this paper here.”

Yesung took the offered pen and signed, only now noticing that the IV was gone from his arm.  He didn’t bother to read what it was he was signing. 

The nurse looked at the signature and smiled, saying, “You have beautiful handwriting.  I’m just going to leave this here.”  She removed a carbon copy of the paper and left it on the bedside.  I’m going to go so you can get dressed.  Did the Doctor already talk to you about keeping the stitches cle—”

“Yeah,” Yesung cut her off, looking in confusion at the neatly folded pile of clothes she’d gestured to a moment before. His own clothes had been ruined of course.  He had no idea where those had come from. 

Nodding with a sad smile, the nurse said, “Okay, then, take your time, but when you go to leave just take that paper to the front desk, they’ll sign you out and give you your prescriptions okay?”

Another nod. 

“Alright, honey, be healthy and we’ll see you again to take out those stitches in a two weeks.” 

The nurse flashed him a smile and then left the room.  Yesung stayed in the silence for a while, and then got up.  It was time to go home.

Yesung took an especially long time as he got dressed, not just to avoid aggravating the stitches in his side, but also in case someone was going to show up.  He knew that since yesterday afternoon, someone had been there the whole time, either Heechul or Leeteuk, but now they’d both disappeared.  As he awkwardly tried to tie his boots, which someone had thankfully thought to save for him, he looked up at the clock.  He watched it ticking for a while but even though 20 minutes had passed, he was still alone.  Sitting back to the relief of his now aching side, he debated waiting for five more minutes, but thought better of it.  He could get back home just fine on his own with the bus.  Annoyingly, a voice in the back of his head asked if that’s where he really wanted to go. 

Grabbing the paper off of the bedside table, he stood back up, now very aware of how often he used his abs to function, and walked hesitantly toward the door, feeling like walking was a new experiment.

He twisted the handle and opened the door hesitantly, peering out into the empty hallway.  Stopping, he realized he had no clue where he was supposed to go. 

“Going somewhere?’

Yesung spun around and regretted it, as he pulled at his side. 

He flinched and someone grabbed him by the elbow to keep him from falling. 

“Jumpy much?  Were you trying to escape or something?”

Yesung looked up at the man holding onto his elbow.  It was Kangin.

“Um…I—”

Kangin rolled his eyes and gestured with his head down the hallway.  “Come on, it’s this way.”

“Oh, you don’t have to…”

“Don’t thank me yet, I just want to get out of this place as quickly as possible.”

“Me too.”

“Good, then let’s go home.” 

“You don’t have to go with me,” Yesung assured.

“And by home I mean the apartment.” 

“Oh, then you really don’t have to…” Yesung immediately protested.

“You don’t have a choice,” Kangin said sternly, “you can try to run, but I will carry you if I have to.”

Yesung stopped fighting for control of his arm and actually felt a small smile threaten to cross his face, understanding Kangin’s non-existent joking tone. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

“Aish,” Kangin sighed, but there was a hint of a smile in his eyes, pleased that Yesung was not looking at him in terror and had actually understood he was kidding.

                ---

                “You definitely cheated.”

                “I did not!  You can see for yourself.”  

“Coming through,” Leeteuk warned, shifting the laundry basket higher in his arms as he crossed through the room, standing on his tip toes as he tried not to step on Donghae, Yesung, or their board game. 

“Leeteuk, Yesung totally cheated!”

Deciding that if this was going to turn into a conversation, he should put the laundry basket down, Leeteuk placed the rickety plastic bin on the couch and turned to take in the faces looking up at him from where they sat on the floor.  Donghae looked insistent as if this was a matter of immediate importance.  Yesung on the other hand had a smile on his face.  It was odd, because while the smile didn’t reach his eyes, Leeteuk was pretty sure it was a genuine smile.  He decided that like everything else about Yesung, it was just a bit different. 

Making a quick assessment of the Monopoly set currently taking over the walking space in the living room, Leeteuk said, “Well, that’s what you get for letting one of the players be the banker.  Always have a third party banker.”

Donghae frowned at Yesung who was still smiling and pointed his finger.  “You offered to be the banker.” 

“You’re just mad I beat you,” Yesung cheerfully shot back, adjusting his position so his back rested higher against the TV cabinet.  Observing this careful motion, Leeteuk was glad to see that as the week had passed, the stiffness with which the younger man moved had subsided significantly.  He seemed to be recovering well enough.

“Will you be the banker?” 

Blinking out of his thoughts, Leeteuk made the mistake of looking Donghae in the eyes before he tried to refuse the request.  Caught up in the bright enthusiasm in those brown eyes, Leeteuk sighed, “Maybe when I’m done putting the laundry away.”   

“You already folded it, though, can’t someone else just do the rest?  What about Kangin?” 

Leeteuk only had to raise his eyebrow and Donghae laughed.  “Right…” 

“Speaking of which…” Yesung began, looking over at the corridor where Kangin had just appeared.  Kangin paused, hands stretched between the walls as he noticed the eyes on him.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Leeteuk insisted.

“Yesung’s a cheater,” Donghae told him. 

Kangin fell forward a bit as Heechul pushed him from behind.  The larger man shot him a look, but Heechul ignored it as he advised, “Yesung always cheats.  Don’t let him anywhere near the money.” 

“I knew it,” Donghae declared triumphantly.

“Where are you two going?” Leeteuk asked, noticing the way his roommates were dressed.

“Out,” Kangin said with a light tone.  Understanding exactly what they meant by ‘out,’—as in, to a bar—Leeteuk gave them what he hoped was a very displeased look.

“Oh come on, we’re just going to have a friendly night out,” Kangin insisted.  “We’ll have a few, discuss the jobs—”

                “Complain about our boring wife who doesn’t know how to have fun.”

                 Neither Leeteuk nor Kangin seemed to appreciate that comment while Yesung and Donghae were looking at each other and trying not to laugh. 

                “You’re welcome to come,” Kangin said to move the conversation along, even though he already knew the answer was: 

                “No, I think I can find better ways to occupy myself here.” 

                “So you’re going to be our banker?”

                Putting a hand to his forehead, Leeteuk said exasperatedly, “Donghae, the only thing more boring than playing Monopoly is watching other people play Monopoly.”

                “Not the way we play it.”

                Simultaneously intrigued and concerned, Leeteuk was quiet long enough for Heechul to say, “Yesung?  How about you?” 

                The dark haired young man tilted his head like he was thinking about it and then said, “No, that’s okay, I’m having a good time here.” 

                Heechul nodded, but he moved his gaze poignantly to Leeteuk before he turned and hit Kangin’s arm.  “Come on, if we stick around any longer we might end up all domestic like this lot.” 

                “Don’t overdo it,” Leeteuk called a warning after them as they both headed for the door.  

“You’re the one who’s always talking about family bonding!” Heechul laughed, spinning before he pulled the door shut behind them.

                As soon as the door was shut, Leeteuk picked the laundry basket back up, shaking his head.  “I’ll be back after I finish putting this stuff away, okay?”  

                Looking up cheerfully, Donghae asked, “Can I help?”

                “Sure,” Leeteuk affirmed, trying not to smile.  Despite everything that had transpired to actually get them all to this point, things felt amazingly normal.  The past week had made quick work of making them feel like they had always lived like this.  Leeteuk could remember a time before Donghae had stared living there, and he could easily recall a time when Yesung hadn’t lived there, but it felt like those times were just leading up to this.  Gesturing with his head for Donghae to follow, Leeteuk led the way out of the living room, leaving Yesung counting the Monopoly money like it had real value. 

                Leeteuk went down the hallway, smiling at the sound of Donghae’s footsteps behind him and pushed open the last door with his shoulder.  Heechul’s room, as always, wasn’t necessarily messy, but every available surface was cluttered with all manners of things. 

                As soon as he’d put the basket down on Heechul’s bed, he heard Donghae’s voice behind him, “Leeteuk?”

“Yeah?” he wondered, picking out the most colorful pile of clothes and turning to hand them to the boy.

“Why doesn’t Yesung leave the house?”

                Surprised by Donghae’s perceptiveness, Leeteuk countered lamely, “What do you mean?”

                “You and Heechul keep asking him if he wants to go somewhere and he always says no.”

                Thinking quickly, Leeteuk said, “Well, he’s still a little sick, so…”

                “He’s not really sick, though, he was stabbed.”

                Leeteuk cringed a little hearing Donghae say that.  Kangin had told him everything he’d said to Donghae about the situation and then they’d had a small talk together so he knew Donghae knew what had happened, but just hearing Donghae use such violent terms made Leeteuk uncomfortable.  He didn’t want Donghae near that world.  It was kind of an unspoken agreement they had with Yesung that he wasn’t allowed to bring up that old world he’d occupied.  He’d been amazingly successful at keeping that promise but regardless, Donghae was right:  Yesung hadn’t left the house.

                Heechul had noticed it first, and he’d brought it up to Leeteuk recently.  Leeteuk started to notice it was true after that and now went out of his way to invent opportunities for Yesung to go with them.  Yesung was always making excuses for why he wouldn’t leave, but Leeteuk suspected it was fear.  Yesung was acutely aware that he could potentially still be in danger, even if he didn’t mention it.  Leeteuk was okay with Yesung being around all the time, it wasn’t like he was annoyed, but for Yesung’s sake, he wondered how long it would last.  He couldn’t hide out inside for forever.  Suddenly becoming aware of Donghae’s eyes still fixed on him, Leeteuk tried to find the right words.

                “I think that Yesung is just a little afraid of being hurt again.” 

                Donghae tilted his head, his mouth parted in thought.  “Like I was afraid of you guys disappearing.” 

Leeteuk agreed, “I think that’s a good way of thinking about it.”

                “Maybe I can try asking him.  I think I could get him to go somewhere for me.  He’s a good hyung.”

                Endeared to Donghae’s thoughtfulness, and pleased to hear him using hyung to refer to Yesung for the first time, Leeteuk said, “I think that might work.  There’s no harm in trying.” 

                Finally taking the pile of clothes out of Leeteuk’s hand, Donghae confirmed, “Good.”

He started over toward Heechul’s dresser and Leeteuk watched him in thought for a moment.  He could see it already, though it hadn’t happened quite yet:  Donghae was going to start growing up.  He guessed school had something to do with it.  He selfishly wished that Donghae would remain young and innocent forever, but he guessed that was an impossible request.  

 “Are you actually going to play with us?”

                “I don’t know, Donghae.”

                “Hyung,” the boy whined, an extremely effective pout on his face.  Okay, maybe he wouldn’t be growing up too fast.  

                “I will,” Leeteuk conceded, “if you explain how your Monopoly is more interesting than normal Monopoly.” 

                Beaming, Donghae explained, moving his hands like he was giving a presentation, “you know how in normal Monopoly you have the cards which tell you who owns what property?” 

                “Yes?”

                “We don’t use them.” 

                Almost disappointed by how anticlimactic this answer was, Leeteuk pressed, “That’s it?”

                “Think about it, though,” Donghae insisted, “it’s like…you don’t know who owns what.”

                “So?”

                “So,” Donghae continued like it was obvious and he shouldn’t have to explain, “if someone tries to buy something you already bought or doesn’t pay the rent before their turn is over, they have to do whatever you tell them!” 

                “Are you telling me that if you fail to pay your rent in your version of monopoly that you basically get to enact slave labor until they pay off their debt?”

                “Neh!” Donghae laughed.

                “Wait, what have you guys had to do?”

                “For starters Yesung had to drink pickle juice, I was only allowed to speak backward, OH and Yesung had to slap himself whenever he passed GO,” Donghae finished with a laugh. 

                “Why on Earth—!”

                “And I’m not even going to tell you about what happens when someone lands on a railroad.”

                Leeteuk hesitated.  Part of him knew he shouldn’t be encouraging this kind of behavior, but at the same time, he definitely wanted to encourage this kind of hilarious behavior.  “I will be your banker as long as I don’t have to participate in your twisted idea of fun,” he said, maintaining his disapproving façade.

                “Deal,” Donghae agreed.

                A few minutes later they returned to the living room.  Donghae went and sat down across the Monopoly board from Yesung.  Leeteuk paused for a moment, trying to figure out why the image of Yesung still studying the Monopoly money was so striking.  It occurred to him that it was because Yesung, having been a forger, had probably dealt with fake money on a much grander scale than this. 

“Come on,” Donghae said up at Leeteuk, gesturing to the empty space next to him.  After Yesung finally looked up from the Monopoly money and smiled, Leeteuk went over and sat down cross legged on the carpet.  With a deft motion he snatched the colored paper out of Yesung’s hand, receiving only a slight noise of protest as he explained,

“Here are the rules:  If I’m the banker, I have to approve any and all replacement rent agreements.  There will be no destruction of property and replacement rent agreements may be exchanged for a more fitting one at my discretion.” 

 “Leeteuk, you’re taking this way too seriously.” 

“This is Monopoly, Donghae, there is no such thing as too serious.”  Catching the playful glint in Leeteuk’s eye, Donghae grinned and then turned a set expression on Yesung. 

“How about we make this interesting?”

“Can you actually think of a way to make this more interesting?” Yesung asked the younger boy with genuine surprise.

Picking up the little silver dog piece and flipping it between his hands, Donghae proposed, “If I win you owe me ice cream.” 

Yesung faltered slightly.  He managed to keep a half convincing smile and said, “What if instead I clean your pit of a room.” 

Brushing the offer aside, Donghae said, “No, if I leave it long enough then Leeteuk won’t be able to stand it and he’ll take care of it.”   

Scoffing in disbelief, Leeteuk countered, “Is that what you think?”

Smiling sheepishly in a way he knew was very effective, Donghae back-peddled, “Sorry, hyung, I was just making a point.”

“Sure you were,” he frowned disapprovingly, but then he actually caught Donghae giving him a look.  It was the same kind of look Heechul often gave him and reading the expression, he realized that this was a part of Donghae’s plan.  He opened his eyes a little wider in a cautionary way to the boy, but let him proceed. 

“Anyway, what do you say?” Donghae directed the question to Yesung again.

Squirming slightly, Yesung said, “I’m still not feeling 100 percent yet,  I’m sorry, I just can’t really...”

Without warning, Donghae launched across the Monopoly board and collided into Yesung, throwing his arms around his neck.  If the older hadn’t been right in front of the TV cabinet, he probably would have been knocked over, but as it were, he just half caught Donghae, looking completely taken off guard.  Leeteuk had scrambled backward at the unexpected action.  He met Yesung’s confused gaze until Donghae drew their attention again, saying,

“That’s okay, we can go another time.”

Looking completely and utterly stunned and moved, Yesung was at a loss for words. 

Donghae returned back to his side of the Monopoly board and spoke like he hadn’t nearly tackled their new family member.  “Plus, you’re going to have to come up with something when I totally destroy you this time around.” 

Dragging out his old dark smile that Leeteuk was actually happy to see again, Yesung responded, “We’ll see about that.” 

Returning to his former position, Leeteuk was soon passing out the money. None of this was normal.  Leeteuk tried to figure out what normal actually was.  Never in a million years would he have guessed that he’d be harboring a forger, breaking the law, looking after an orphan, heck, more than one orphan.  They were all orphans.  Well, he thought, smiling as Yesung and Donghae started bickering good-naturedly:  not anymore.  
 

A/N  But you said no more flashbacks!  I said no more out of STORYLINE flashbacks.  XD  <3  So, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry for taking so long to update.  I do not know what has come over me.  I will not give up writing this don't worry, but man I am taking a long time to update.  Anyway, though, just a few things this time: 

One:  Yesung has awful handwriting in real life.  Just look at his signature:  https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSJeIpoOW7mX-PYR-Pb8jwYFSvEmMEYmaw0Hs4sLhb2yiK8nqp48Q   Do I even have to say it?? XD  Oh our awkward turtle Yesung.  I put that in because he's a forger in the story. 

Two: The drinking age in Korea is 20.  You can pretend that Heechul forgot or that I'm using their "non-Korean" ages (add a year) or you can say what ACTUALLY happened which is I am lazy. XD

Three:  ...Darn it, I've forgotten the other things.  XD  I'll probably remember them later and then edit this if need be. 

And just thank you all so much for sticking with this and being patient.  I know this isn't my best work, but hopefully I'll fall back into the swing of things soon.  I can never seem to strike the right balance between moving the plot and actually developing relationships between people. XD  <3 

Anyway, Subscribe if you like this story like No Other, Comment if you feel like a Man In Love, Asks questions if you...okay, I'm just being ridiculous now. XD I love you all so very much!!!  <3  

P.S.  I can't say if the next chapter or the one after that will be the reveal with Siwon, but as a heads up, two chapters after that one I think will be new character time!!!   Anyway...that's in the future though.  O.o   XD