Much time had passed since those fateful days; an entire month actually and Kangin had barely left the village since. He had done his best to try and take over Leeteuk’s job to the best of his abilities but it was no where near the same level of efficiency that Leeteuk accomplished his tasks.

Heechul had had to leave a few short days after the incident but still stopped by every chance he could to check on Leeteuk and Kangin. He would play with the children for a bit and help Kangin around the house, complaining the entire time but regardless he still did it.

The children, especially Yesung, were a completely different story. Henry had quit talking to anyone but Zhou Mi, Ryeowook clung to Yesung wherever he went. Kibum, though silent before, never uttered a single word anymore. Sungmin and Shindong were inseparable now, too scared to part in fear that if the soldiers came again they would either die alone and be alone. Siwon had tried to take over Leeteuk’s role but he knew he couldn’t do it as well but he still gave it his all, wore a smile one his face, prayed for everyone, and watched over everyone but when Kangin made the rounds at night he would always check on Siwon first to make sure that the child slept and he would always shut off the alarm that was set to go off at 5 every morning.

Just like Leeteuk’s.

Eunhyuk and Donghae were now like ghosts. They didn’t play pranks, they didn’t joke around or play all crazy like. They didn’t adventure anymore and always stuck close to home. They came whenever they were called and followed every instruction given to them. But the one that worried Kangin the most was Yesung.

Yesung had changed the most out of all the children.

Before the incident Yesung would keep to himself and keep his temper in check. In fact he never lost his patience, he was always calm and caring. He would walk around and interact with the other children and play with them. He would always cook with Ryeowook and go explore with Eunhyuk and Donghae. He would listen to Siwon when he would talk about his religion. He would always eat a sandwich Shindong in the afternoons and they would joke around. He would always take Zhou Mi out to the gardens with Henry, and would play tea part with Sungmin and sometimes all of them would join in. He would read a book with Kibum and help  him with his writing skills. Yesung was the one that they all went to when they couldn’t go to Leeteuk.

That was all gone.

Yesung was usually found in either his own room, alone, or Leeteuk’s room, by his side but no where else. Ryeowook was the only one who could go near the boy now. They wouldn’t speak but neither spoke as much to begin with. He never cooked with Ryeowook anymore, didn’t even eat with them. He didn’t leave his room or go with Eunhyuk and Donghae but would tell them to be back by 6 sharp and if they were even a minute late he would scold them harshly and make the two cry before he went back to his room, alone. Whenever Siwon spoke of religion now Yesung would snort, ‘What god’ and would leave, leaving a very upset Siwon behind. He didn’t even speak to Shindong that much anymore, he barely ate so he never ate a sandwich with him anymore and he didn’t joke around with him again. Zhou Mi would take Henry and go to the gardens just to get out of the house and away from him and Yesung would always tell them to come home soon, usually by 6 and would scold them if they were late as well. As for tea parties he would scowl at them when he saw them and ask what they were doing, being so relaxed. Sungmin would tear up and put everything away and then go cry in his room. When it came to Kibum if Yesung ever helped him out, he would push him harder and yell at him for even the slightest mistakes. Kibum got to where he didn’t even pick up a pencil anymore and they never saw him holding an open book but whenever he passed one, he would stare at it longingly like you would something you denied yourself of.

Kangin had often approached Yesung to try and calm him down but the boy refused to listen to him about anything. He told him he was watching over his family, that he couldn’t afford for anyone else to be hurt because of him.

Kangin had stayed awake that night pondering how such a young boy could stand such a huge burden. Leeteuk was at least a grown man but still, no one should have to bear that burden; let alone a child.

Kangin had tossed and turned but gave up trying to get even a wink of sleep. He looked over to the clock on his bedside and saw that it was 2 am so even if he slept now he would only get about three hours of sleep and that was not worth anything here. He sighed and decided to go talk to Leeteuk. He quickly put on his shirt and quietly tip toed down the hall and to the end where he saw the door slightly ajar with lamp light pooling out of the crack.

Kangin furrowed his brow and reached for the gun he always kept in his back pocket. ‘I didn’t leave that light on or the door open.’

As he neared the door small, broken sobs met his ears. He peeked through the cracks and saw Yesung leaning over Leeteuk’s still form, sobbing uncontrollably.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! P-please! Come back, they need you, Kangin needs you.”

Kangin’s heart broke at the sound of the boy’s pleads but he couldn’t stand it anymore when he saw Yesung look up at his hyung’s face to kiss his cheek.

“I need you. Please hyung, come back to us. I, I know what I’m doing is wrong but I don’t know how else to do it. I don’t know how else to protect them! I know they all hate me…but I deserve it. I caused all of this, I let this happen to you.”

Yesung lowered his head again and this time unleashed a choked cry.

“I wish I had died then instead!”

Kangin pushed the door open and Yesung shot around to meet Kangin’s horrified stare. He quickly brought his hand up to wipe away the tears angrily but Kangin had already seen them. He quickly stepped forward and pulled the boy into his arms. Yesung thrashed around and tried to get away but Kangin just held him tighter to himself, not letting him go even an inch. Yesung finally gave in and just cried into Kangin’s chest.

Kangin soothed him for a moment before he felt a burning rage in his chest. He wrapped his hands around Yesung’s upper arms hard enough to bruise, he knew they would. He pushed the boy away from him an arms length and stared straight into his eyes.

“How could you say that?” He shook Yesung violently. The boy stared up at him with wide, frightened eyes.

“Do you think Leeteuk could have lived with himself if you had died? Do you think he would have been able to bear it? Do you think he could have-”

“Quit talking about him in past tense! He’s not dead!” Yesung screamed.

Kangin froze and stared down at the boy. Yesung stared back just as readily. He was scared of Kangin yes, the man was at least 3 times his size and it wasn’t fat, that was all muscle, but he wouldn’t let anyone talk about his hyung like he was dead. His hyung hadn’t left them. He swore he wouldn’t!

Kangin steeled himself and gave Yesung an even stare. “Then why do you want to die?”

Yesung merely looked down, “It was supposed to have been me that was killed. I know I couldn’t have withstood a bullet wound and especially not from close range but instead of me, Leeteuk-hyung was injured.” Yesung clenched his fists. “It’s always hyung that is hurt even though he has done nothing wrong. I hate it! He doesn’t deserve any of this!”

Yesung screamed at the top of lungs and he shoved Kangin away from him. Kangin, caught off guard, let him go but didn’t make a move to go after him as he ran out the door and away from Kangin.

The door slammed and Kangin faintly heard the front door swinging back and forth on its hinges. He sighed. Part of him knew he should run after Yesung but what then? Kangin wasn’t the one he needed at his side; Leeteuk was the one Yesung needed. Leeteuk was the one they all needed. Kangin glanced over at the pale man on the bed.

Over the month his hair had grown a bit and Kangin made sure to shave his facial hair so he didn’t look like a caveman but he was always careful with the knife. He made sure none of the kids were ever around to see any kind of weapon around the house. Kitchen knives duh, they had to use but pocket knives and guns they had no use for so he always made sure to keep them away from the children so that none of them were hurt when he wasn’t around.

As much as Kangin would love to believe that he was perfect, he knew he wasn’t. He couldn’t watch over every kid every second of every day. It just wasn’t physically possible so he did the next best thing he could and made sure that he didn’t have to be there for them all the time but he could be there when they needed him.

He sat down on the bed and grasped Teukie’s hand in his own. The skin was cold, like ice. If Kangin hadn’t seen his chest rising and falling he would have assumed Leeteuk was dead. In fact it always scared him when he came in here because all they could do was look at his chest and you could only see that if you looked very carefully. If someone was just passing by the room it would look like they kept a corpse in the room.

Over the month Leeteuk had made progress. He hadn’t made a lot but he had made enough for them to know that he was fighting for them. Kangin admired that about Leeteuk. He was always fighting for his kids, never for himself. Kangin knew that the children meant everything to Leeteuk and he would do anything to make sure that the kids saw that gorgeous smile again and heard that loud, contagious laughter.

Sometimes Leeteuk’s eyelids would flicker to make it look like he was going to wake up or he would shift slightly but those times were few and far between. But that was enough for Kangin at the moment. All he needed to know was that Leeteuk was indeed trying to come back to them.

He gently brushed his knuckles against the cold flesh of Leeteuk’s cheek and was surprised to see a flicked of movement under Leeteuk’s eye. There was a soft groan and a scrunching of eyebrows. Kangin’s breath caught in his throat and tears began to fall from his eyes.

His Angel was coming back to him!