Jonghyun shot out of the car and ran into the house, not even caring that his phone was still sitting on the seat of the car. Minho had replied back almost instantly, asking where he had been, but he opted not to answer. He couldn’t tell Minho he had been cowering away in the darkest corners of his mind, praying that something would happen to make everything right.

Jonghyun went right into Taemin and Key’s room, not bothering to knock. Key was sitting on his bed, playing on his computer quietly while Taemin and Eve played on the floor. Jonghyun sat on the floor silently before leaning on the youngest. Taemin looked up in surprise, not having heard the door open, but when he saw Jonghyun’s expression he hugged his hyung tightly.

“Are you ok?” Key asked from his place on the bed. Jonghyun shook his head, but didn’t offer an explanation. Key got up, moving toward Jonghyun with careful movements. He ran his fingers through the boys hair, his eyes widening when Jonghyun whimpered as his fingers brushed the lump on the back of his head. “Jonghyun...did something happen at school?”

Jonghyun’s head bowed immediately. Key took a seat on his other side, rubbing his back gently as he ran through the only scenario he could think of in his head. Someone had attacked Jonghyun at school...but why? He was such a sweet boy, and even with his anxiety he just came across as shy. Who would pick on the quiet kid? Everyone was there for the same reason - to pass a test. Who would look for the time to corner him? He leaned over, kissing Jonghyun’s head softly and getting up to look for Jinki. He found him in the living room.

“I think someone attacked Jonghyun.” He said, sitting down heavily. Jinki’s eyes widened.

“What?” He asked.

“What time do you have to be back at work?” Key asked.

“Jonghyun said he needs me at home, so I’m at home.” Jinki said, sighing. “Why do you think someone attacked him?”

“I was playing with his hair...and I found this bump on the back of his head.” Key admitted. “I could tell it hurt, appa.”

“Oh my god.” Jinki said. Key nodded, looking pretty upset himself.

“I think that’s why he’s acting this way all of a sudden.” Key said.

“It’s not sudden.” Taemin’s voice joined the conversation, surprising Jinki and Key.

“What do you mean?” Jinki asked. Taemin sat beside Key and sighed.

“Think about it. The Sunday after Minho left that guy showed up and scared the crap out of him.” Taemin said. “Then he went to school for the first time, and there was a stranger watching his exam, and Jonghyun said the guy was really grumpy.”

“So what?” Key asked. Jinki glanced at Key, then back at Taemin.

“So his anxiety is getting worse...and I didn’t even notice.” Jinki said. Key shook his head.

“No, you knew. There’s something else.” Key insisted. Taemin shook his head.

“Think about it. Everyone’s been babying him, treating him like he’s made of glass.” Taemin said. “Then he meets new people who are mean to him, so he’s going to think that everyone he meets is going to be like that. He isn’t prepared to go out in public.”

“So, what? We start acting like nothing’s wrong?” Jinki asked, his tone showing how much he was against it. Taemin shook his head.

“It’s not going to help at this point. Appa, don’t go back to work today, ok? Even if you have to make up an excuse to Jonghyun, don’t leave him alone today.” Taemin said. “We won’t be enough, especially if someone actually did hurt him today.”

“I’ve missed every single sign.” Jinki said, shaking his head. “I’m not going back to work today. He’s got too much going on, and he told us on Saturday he felt alone...is he alone right now?”

“Ne..” Taemin admitted, looking regretful. Jinki groaned.

“Where is he?” He asked.

“Our room, I think.” Key said, and Taemin nodded in agreement. Jinki pressed his face into his palms, then stood up and started heading toward the stairs.

“Don’t leave him alone anymore, ok? I want him to sleep in your room until Minho gets back.” Jinki said, pausing in the door frame. ”Should I just take the rest of the week off?”

“I think so.” Key said, nodding slowly. “It’s too empty here with you, Minho, and Roo all gone. And with Jonghyun being so quiet...it would be better if you were here.”

“Alright.” Jinki said, nodding slowly. He headed up the stairs to where Taemin and Key’s shared room.

He pushed the door open, surprise taking over his face as he saw Jonghyun laying on the floor. He had Eve curled up beside him as he wiped at his eyes, and Jinki moved closer to him automatically. He rested his hand on Jonghyun’s arm, just to get his attention, but when Jonghyun jumped at the simple touch Jinki began to worry. Jonghyun had a lot of suppressed memories from when he was a child, and Jinki didn’t want all of that coming back before he was ready to handle it. Jonghyun moved quickly, moving closer to Jinki.

“I’m going to stay home the rest of the week, ok?” Jinki said softly. Jonghyun nodded, leaning on his appa silently. Jinki rubbed his arm gently. “Key thinks you’re getting bullied at school.”

Jonghyun tensed slightly. He didn’t want to tell them the truth, but he didn’t want to lie. This was about as close as he could get to that, so why not go with it? He nodded slowly, and Jinki hugged him close. He couldn’t figure out for the life of him why Jonghyun wouldn’t have told them, but then again, it was Jonghyun. He didn’t always do the logical thing.

“I’m going to see if we can reschedule the second part of the test, ok? I’m not going to let you argue your way out of it this time.” Jinki said, and Jonghyun looked up at him with questioning eyes. “If you can take it a different time then maybe this won’t happen again. Those kids will be gone, and you’ll be able to bring Roo with you, too. I think that’s the best thing.”

Jonghyun nodded, his tears splashing out again. Relief came over him, but so did some more anxiety. What if they couldn’t reschedule? What if Sangho found out and showed up at the next exam? Why did he want Jonghyun to talk to his mother so badly anyway? He was perfectly happy where he was. He was fine, as long as people left him alone.

“Do you want to come down and eat something?” Jinki asked. Jonghyun bit his lip, then nodded again.

Jinki helped him up, bringing him down the stairs and into the living room. Jinki decided to let them eat in the living room, not seeing any reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to. He watched what each boy ate, noticing right away that Jonghyun was barely picking at his food. He did eat some of it, but he just didn’t seem to have much of an appetite, and eventually he just pushed it away. Jinki’s eyebrows went up, and surprise took over as Jonghyun curled up on the couch, his head resting in Key’s lap.

Key didn’t even glance down, instead just moving his hand to Jonghyun’s back and rubbing it gently. It wasn’t too long before Jonghyun’s eyes closed and his breathing evened out. Jinki was slightly relieved to see him getting some sleep, even if it was in the middle of the day. He knew Jonghyun hadn’t been sleeping well, so they were at the point where they would take what they could get - until about an hour later when he started whimpering in his sleep.

Key looked down at him immediately, then looked up at the appa with concerned eyes. It was just the softest of sounds, but Key wasn’t sure what it meant. Jinki bit his lip, not wanting to wake Jonghyun up if it was nothing, but really not wanting him to be stuck in a nightmare. The content of the dream was made clear a moment later when Jonghyun started squirming around, asking in his sleep heavy voice for someone to stop. It took Jinki maybe a second to reach over and shake him gently. Jonghyun’s eyes opened quickly and he pushed himself up off of Key in less than a second, looking around at the others until his brain caught up with the situation.

“Jjongie, you ok?” Jinki asked. Jonghyun nodded sleepily, and Jinki looked unconvinced. “Do you want to go up to bed?”

Again, Jonghyun nodded. Taemin popped up, grabbing Jonghyun’s hand and pulling him up. He lead him out of the living room and up the stairs to the room he shared with Key, tucking him into the bed by the window. He sat on the edge looking slightly uncertain, before finally moving his eyes to meet his hyungs.

“Do you want me to stay?” He asked, and after a long moment, Jonghyun nodded.

Taemin slipped under the covers with his hyung, and the two cuddled close to each other. Taemin knew Jonghyun needed the comfort, and he wasn’t going to abandon him when he needed the attention the most. Jonghyun was always one for skinship - it didn’t matter who it was with once he’d gotten comfortable with them all. He would even cuddle up to Jinki if he felt the urge, but lately he seemed to be pushing everyone out again. Taemin had seen it happening slowly over the last week, and now he was determined to try to turn the situation around.

For now, that meant holding onto his hyung, and being there for him, even as he slept.