As soon as Key was in the safety of his own bedroom he realized that it wasn’t actually all that safe. Even though he told Jonghyun that what Changjo said didn’t bother him when in reality it did. He got into his bed and wrapped himself into the comforter in the hopes of making himself feel better. It didn’t. What he needed was Jonghyun. He needed to be wrapped in Jonghyun’s arms and coddled. He needed to be told that everything was ok and that he wasn’t like his mother but right now he didn’t have that. Key didn’t know where Jonghyun was and he didn’t want to get up and look for him in fear of running into Changjo. He couldn’t hurt his son anymore.

            You’re only going to keep hurting him because you’re just like your mother. The voice in his head said and he tried hard to block it out. “That’s not true.” Key whispered into his comforter holding it tight.

            Really? How many times have you hit him? One? Two? Should I keep going? “He…He just made me so mad.” Key whimpered out.

            What are you going to hit him with next? It won’t always be your hand. “Shut up, shut up, shut up.” The voice wouldn’t go away and he didn’t know what to do. “Alcohol. That will help.” He murmured to himself.

            You’re still trying to say you’re not like your mother. Let’s just turn to alcohol when things aren’t going well. I wonder who that reminds me of. Oh right, YOUR MOTHER! You might as well just leave before you really end up hurting Changjo.

Key couldn’t take it anymore and decided to follow the advice of his conscious and leave. It was for the best. So he quickly found his large duffel bag at the bottom of the closet and proceeded to toss clothes into it. When he felt like he had everything he needed, he took a peek outside of the room, and with no sign of Changjo or Jonghyun made a dash out of house.

            Key didn’t know where he was going but he knew he just had to get away. It would be better for Changjo if he wasn’t around. He kept driving around while having seconds thoughts of simply returning home and talking it out with his family. Family. I’ve never really had a real family and it seems like when I do get one I just run away from them when things get hard. It’s for the best though. Key thought to himself and soon he found himself in front of Soohyun’s apartment.

            I’m running away from my family yet I come to my brother’s place. Whatever I just need a place for one night.

Subconsciously Key knew that this was the only place he could go without being sent home immediately. Plus Lay wasn’t in the country currently so he wouldn’t have to feel bad for interrupting the couple if they were up to anything. So he knocked on the door and it soon opened revealing a tired looking Soohyun.

            “Hyung? What are you doing here?” He asked as he tried to run his fingers through his tangled bed hair.

            “I need to stay here for the night.” Key said jumping straight to the point as he walked inside with his bag.

            “Why? And why do you have a bag with you?”

Key was just about to answer him when his phone rang, starling them both. He slowly pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the caller id to see Jonghyun calling. He hesitantly answered the phone only to hear Jonghyun loud worried voice in his ear.

            “Key! Where are you?!”

            “I’m out.”

            “Out?! It’s nearly 12am and you’re just going to tell me you’re out! Please Key just tell me where you are so I can come and get you!”

            “No Jonghyun. I’m…I’m not coming back.”

            “What do you mean you’re not coming back?! Key please come home! Let’s talk about this!”

Before Key could respond Soohyun snatched the phone from him.

            “Jonghyun hyung? It’s me, Soohyun. Kibum hyung’s here.”

            “Soohyun?! What is he doing there? Is he alright?!”

            “Yes he’s fine. He’s just going to spend the night here and I’ll make sure he gets home in the morning.”

            “Thank you so much Soohyun!” Jonghyun said and Soohyun hung up the phone before handing it back to Key.

            “Why did you do that? I’m not going back.”

            “Hyung, what’s wrong? Why do you not want to go back?”

            “You won’t understand Soohyun.”

            “Try me. I mean you already woke me up, plus I don’t have work tomorrow.”

Key let out a sigh before they both went to sit on Soohyun’s couch. Soohyun looked at his hyung intently waiting for him to start.

            “You remember me telling about my mom and I’s relationship right?”

            “You mean how she was an abusive that should’ve been locked up for treating you the way she did.”

            “Yea…well I’m no better than her.”

            “What are you talking about hyung? You’re nothing like her.”

Key shook his head. “No, I’m just like her. I…I hit Changjo.” Soohyun didn’t give him a reaction but simply asked him “Why?”

            “Because he made me mad.” 

            “What did he do?” Soohyun asked trying to piece together what actually happened.

            “Well first he was refusing to go to school this morning because I grounded him because of the way he was acting at this party I let him go to on Friday. Then he had the nerve to say that I don’t know how to have fun because I’m too busy walking around with a stick up my .”

            “Wait! He cursed at you?!”

Key nodded his head. “So what did you do?” Soohyun asked.

            “I smacked him. He called me out on child abuse and I left.”

           “He really said that?! Why that little…Just wait until I get my hands on him!” Soohyun said riling himself up.

            “No! You can’t! He was right anyway. I mean I should have never laid my hand on him.”

            “No, he should have never said that to you!” Soohyun let out a sigh to calm himself down. “I’m sorry Kibum hyung. Anyway is that all that happened?”

Key shook his head. “He came home on the back of the motorcycle of some guys’ bike at almost 8pm when he should have been home at 6, at the latest. Then when I told him to go inside he called me a child abuser again…”

            “And where was Jonghyun hyung during all of this?!” Soohyun cut him off.

            “He was right behind us.”

            “And he didn’t do anything?!”

            “No, he ended hitting Changjo then.”

            “See, so if Jonghyun hyung even had to hit Changjo don’t you think he was the one acting out of line and you were only disciplining him?”

            “I still shouldn’t hit him. It just shows how I’m like my mother and don’t know how to properly handle my own child.”

            “Yet he is the one acting completely out of line. Hyung there is nothing wrong with you. Heck if it was me and he was acting like this I would have probably gotten a belt and beat him.”

            “Were you ever hit as a child?”

            “Tons. Mostly when I told my mom no. She didn’t like that at all but I also didn’t like it when she made me do things that I didn’t want to do.”

            “I don’t know…”

            “Alright hyung how about this. You stay here for the night to clear your head and then in the morning you go home and at least have an actual conversation with Jonghyun hyung.”

            “I’ll think about but can I just go to sleep now.”

            “Sure.”

Soohyun pointed Key to the guest room and let him settle in for the night. Key felt slightly better after talking to Soohyun but still wasn’t sure if he would be able to face Changjo in the morning. Maybe after he slept it off he would feel better in the morning.

            After Jonghyun had left Changjo’s room he heard his appa looking for Key. From what he was able to hear it seemed like his Key appa left them.

This is all of my fault. Changjo thought to himself. If he wasn’t acting like a spoiled little brat, then his appa wouldn’t have left. Maybe I should go and spend the night at Ricky’s house. He decided that he would and packed up his backpack with his books and extra clothes for tomorrow before quickly sneaking out of the house.

            When Changjo arrived he went straight to Ricky’s window and knocked on it. After a couple of minutes a tired looking Ricky came and opened the window.

            “Changjo? What…What are you doing here?”

            “Can I sleep here tonight?”

Ricky looked at Changjo like a bucket of water had just been splashed on his face and he was wide awake.

            “You want to stay here, after you’ve been ignoring my texts and calls all weekend. Plus all of today.”

            “Please Ricky! I can’t go home right now.” Changjo begged and gave him his sad face. After about a minute Ricky gave in.

            “Fine but be quiet because my mom is home tonight.”

            “Ok.” Changjo climbed in the window and gave Ricky a big hug that he shook off. “Ricky what’s wrong?” He asked confused as to why his friend was acting like this.

            “I don’t know. Oh yea, why have you been ignoring me?”  

            “Ignoring you? Oh no. I’m technically grounded so I got my phone taken away. That’s why I wasn’t in school today.”           

            “And now you’re lying to me. Zelo told me he saw you in school today but you got a text from that guy and ran off to be with him.”

            “Oh…Well that’s because I ran off from home earlier and took my phone as well. So…”

            “Just stop. I’m tired of your excuses and we have school tomorrow so let’s go to bed.” Ricky said as he slid back into his bed. He knew that he was treating Changjo unfairly but it really hurt to think that his best friend was tired of him and moving on with his life without him.

Changjo decided to just get changed and get into bed. He was just going to go to sleep but he couldn’t while knowing that Ricky was ignoring him. So he turned so that he was facing Ricky and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into a back hug.

            “What are you doing? Let go and go to sleep.”        

            “No…I’m sorry Ricky.”

Ricky let out a sigh but stayed quiet so he could continue. He felt like he had more to say anyway.

            “I shouldn’t have ignored your calls today but please don’t ignore me. I love you too much and it hurts when you’re mad at me. You’re my best friend and I don’t want you to leave me too.” Changjo said and unconsciously started crying.

Ricky felt a slight wetness on his back and turned around to see Changjo crying. He pushed him away slightly so he could get a better look at his face and wipe away his tears.

            “Why are you crying?” He asked confused. He knew that him ignoring Changjo for at the most five minutes wouldn’t make him cry like this.

            “My…My Key appa left us…” Changjo whimpered out.

            “What do you mean left?”

            “He ran away from us. It’s all my fault Ricky!” He exclaimed as he clung onto his friend again and continued to cry. Ricky didn’t know what to do so he just laid there and let his best friend cry in his arms until he calmed down. Once he did, Ricky decided to try speaking again.

            “Changjo, why do you think it’s your fault that your Key appa left?”

            “Because of the way I was acting. I called him a child abuser for hitting me. My Jjong appa came to me though and told me he was actually abused as a child, so I made him feel really bad. Plus I kept cursing at him.”

Ricky couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This wasn’t the Changjo he knew. The Changjo he knew would never speak to either of his fathers in a disrespectful way.

            “Why would you do that?”

Changjo shrugged his shoulders lightly. “I don’t know, because he made me mad.”

            “That’s not a very good reason but I bet he’ll be back in the morning.”

            “What makes you so sure?”

Ricky wasn’t sure. His own father had left him when he was three but for some reason he felt like Key wouldn’t be able to stay away from Changjo for too long.

            “I just know ok.” He said as he lightly caressed Changjo’s cheek. He didn’t even notice how intimate the action was until Changjo placed his hand on top of his and leaned into the feeling. Ricky stared at Changjo’s face and all he wanted to do was lean in and plant a kiss on his lips.

            Not like the way they had kissed before though. He wanted to kiss him the way that Changjo kissed Yongguk on Friday. He wanted to make Changjo his but he knew he couldn’t do that. Especially when he was so vulnerable; so he pulled his hand away and lowered his gaze from Changjo’s face.

            “Let’s sleep now Changjo. It will help you to not think about it anymore.”

Changjo nodded slightly as he lightly wrapped his arms around Ricky again. He needed to be comforted still and Ricky got the hint. So he slowly wrapped his arms around Changjo and they both fell into a deep slumber.

            Jonghyun on the other hand was currently freaking out because he had no clue where Changjo was. After calming himself down from Key’s sudden disappearance he wanted to go and check on Changjo before going to bed. When he went to check he wasn’t there, so he immediately picked up his phone to call him.

            Every call went straight to voicemail and Jonghyun felt like he was going to have a heart attack. So he called the police but they told him that Changjo had to be missing for at least 24 hours for them to do anything.

            “He can be dead by that time!”

            “I’m sorry sir. Those are the rules. Call back after 24 hours have passed.” Was all that the officer said before hanging up. Jonghyun had no clue what to do. First Key leaves and then Changjo. Was it him? Did he stink or something? He just couldn’t understand why everyone kept running away from the house.

            “I can’t tell Key about this.” He said out loud when he realized that if Key found out he would freak out. He was just hoping that Changjo would be back before Key got home. That’s all he could wish for.

Here's the next part that I promised! It took a while for me to type it up because I kept getting distracted but it's finished! Plus it is officially my 20th birthday as of about five minutes ago. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I will see you all next time!

~Lolo