Saturday. Taemin stared at his phone, his eyes wide as he realized that it was now the weekend. Those critical first 48 hours had been wasted, and he felt a choking sensation in his chest and throat that he was slowly becoming familiar with. It would be nothing short of a lie if anyone said he hadn’t been having spontaneous tantrums over the last three days. The worst of it was that he could feel it coming, like when you know you’re going to throw up, but he couldn’t calm himself down.

Inevitably, he ended up waking up Key and Minho with his muffled screaming in the middle of the night. He had woken up at around 2 AM, and the tantrum had begun. He’d pressed his face into the pillow and tried just about everything he could think of to calm down, but what it came down to was simple. His emotions were more powerful than he was, and that fact was proven when Key had to collect him up into his arms, even as he tried to fight off the urge to kick and scream.

He had slept between the two older boys, still stuffed into Minho’s bed that was, in reality, not big enough for them all, plus the two dogs who had forced their way into the pile of bodies. Minho jumped slightly at the sound of the maknae’s screams, and it wasn’t long before Jinki and Luna came rushing in as well. Key seemed to have it covered this time, though, and Taemin clung tightly to him as he rode out the overwhelming emotions. He just wanted his hyung to come home.

It wasn’t too long after that that Taemin settled down, drifting slightly back into the realm of dreams. Sometimes his tantrum-like-attacks were more closely relatable to waking night terrors, and he often just needed some attention to calm himself. The only thing that concerned them, really, was the fear that they might continue after Jonghyun returned home.

They were all very careful to avoid the word “if” when discussing the boys return. It was always when. They needed to hold onto that hope, or they would surely go insane. Hope was a hard thing to grasp sometimes, but it was all they had. Their family wasn’t complete without strong featured youth, and the house was entirely too quiet without him.

By the time everyone reawakened later in the day, Jinki was more than a little anxious. He wanted to make the call right away, but he knew he had to wait until a time when someone might actually be there to answer. He figured 7 AM was late enough in the day, and so, even though he had been unable to return to sleep since the maknaes fit in the earlier hours, he sat in the kitchen with a cup of coffee, staring at the clock as it ticked down the final minutes.

Waiting until Monday wasn’t an option for Jinki. His son was missing, and had been for three days. Every second that passed with them sitting idly by, waiting for some glimmer of good news was too much for the man. He wanted to be out looking, breaking down every door that stood in his way, but he knew better. It was hard enough for Minho to stay calm without a bad example to follow - already he had broken a few things. A picture frame, a plate, his cell phone, he had even put a small hole in the wall. He hadn’t done it intentionally, but between the never-ending tremble that encased his fingers, and the obvious anger that fueled every jerky move it was inevitable.

Luna came to sit beside him, her expression just as lost as his own. She had been a godsend over the days that had been spent in despair, but there was only so much she could do. Taking care of the boys had brought her further into the family than she had ever imagined she would be, and while she loved spending time with the boys, she wished it was under better circumstances. She reached up, rubbing his back and seeing him relax under the small, comforting touch. She leaned over, kissing his cheek softly, and he offered her a sad smile.

“I’m sorry I put all of this on you so suddenly.” Jinki said. “But...I really...I can’t do this by myself.”

“I know.” Luna said, because she truly did. She had been watching him run himself into the ground the last few days. With all of the responsibilities he had, there was no way he could shoulder it all himself. “I’m glad you trusted me enough to call.”

“You’re the only one I trust to be around my kids.” Jinki said, looking her in the eye. She smiled softly, then pointed to the clock.

“Make that call. Hopefully, this is all we’ll need.” Luna said. Jinki smiled back, mostly at the word ‘we.’

He dialed the number, then pressed the phone to his ear. When he got an answer, he got up and began walking around. Luna let him go, instead going to check on the boys again. She found Minho in his room, staring at the most recent thing he had managed to damage - his bed. She stepped up beside him, then tilted her head as she tried to figure out how he had managed to bend the metal frame the bed rested on.

“I kicked it.” He admitted softly after a long moment. “I...I didn’t think I hit it that hard...I just...”

“I’m impressed.” Luna said, nodding slowly, and Minho looked at her like she had two heads.

“I broke my bed.” Minho said, as if she didn’t know. Luna just nodded again.

“When my parents died I destroyed the whole living room. I threw the recliner through the window.” Luna said. “The recliner was fine. Actually, not much was damaged beyond superficial tears and an overturned coffee table. The window shattered, of course, but other than that, it was pretty low-key.”

“You picked up a recliner?” Minho asked, his eyes wide.

“De. If you tell anyone, I will kill you.” She said, nodding. It was clear that she was only teasing, but Minho still had the decency to flinch.

“You’re a little scary.” Minho mumbled, and she waved him off.

“You do such small things, but it makes a much bigger statement than my tantrum.” She said. “I was spoiled rotten, I always got what I wanted. When my parents died, it was all about me.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Minho asked softly. She shrugged.

“Because I wish I could have kept it together, realized that other people were affected by it too.” She said. “You try so hard to keep it together, to not upset anyone more than they already are. In a way, they’re trying to follow your example. You’re clearly the most dangerous one to upset, and the small things you do do to show your anger are far more impactful than you realize.”

“Luna.” Minho said suddenly, his deep voice startling her. “It’s not really my business, but I’m going to overstep my boundaries here for a moment.”

“Alright.” She said, slightly wary.

“Be good to my appa, arasso?” Minho said. Luna seemed slightly surprised, but she nodded. “He’s a better man than I could ever hope to be.”

Luna stared at the boy, surprised by his words. She had never heard a child speak like that, and it floored her. He went over to the bed, grabbing the busted frame and trying to bend it back in place. He gave up a minute later, upon realizing he had only warped it more, and then took a seat on the bed. He seemed more than a little surprised when it tilted, and he slid down on the floor. Luna giggled behind her hand, then helped him up.

“Maybe you ought to switch beds for now.” Luna suggested, and Minho shrugged.

“Is...is appa busy?” Minho asked. Luna looked thoughtful.

“I’m not sure. He was making a call when I came up here, but he might be done by now.” Luna said. Minho bit his lip, then nodded, heading out of the room.

Luna headed across the hall to check on Taemin and Key, though they had gone to take a nap because Taemin had been incredibly cranky following his second tantrum of the day. She pushed the door open slowly, and saw Taemin curled up on top of Key. She smiled softly, closing the door and heading down the stairs to see if Jinki had made any headway.

She walked into the living room, her eyes going right to Minho, who looked guilty and apologetic. Jinki wasn’t on the phone anymore, but he didn’t seem like he really wanted to wait for Minho to spit it out, so Luna stepped in and touched Minho’s shoulder softly. He sighed, glancing up at her, then back at the appa.

“I broke my bed.” Minho mumbled, and Jinki sighed.

“How?” He asked. Minho’s eyes fixed on the floor.

“I figured it was better than kicking the wall, so I just kicked the side of the bed. It’s metal - I didn’t know it was going to bend that easily! I only did it once...I was trying not to break anything.” Minho said, and Jinki had a hint of a smile on his lips.

“It could only be you.” Jinki said, shaking his head. Minho glanced up. “Mr. Nice-guy, always in control. Of course you’d be the most destructive.”

“M-mian, appa.” Minho mumbled, and Jinki leaned forward, kissing his forehead.

“We’ll talk about it later.” Jinki said. “If the cops show up, I wrote the address on the whiteboard in the kitchen.”

“Address?” Luna echoed.

“De. I think...I hope she wasn’t lying.” Jinki said, turning and heading out without another word.