“Changmin…Changmin-ah… Answer me, please… Don’t be like this…” Jaejoong pleads as he held Changmin’s now cold body to his chest. His brother is not dead. He’s Changmin, the kid who’s feared by his entire school, yet none of them saw his true self. He’s the boy who loves to eat and tease his brothers.

             He could feel Yunho cried his heart out just beside him, but he didn’t want to care anymore.

                Jaejoong closed his eyes as he sobbed into Changmin’s hair, not wanting to let go. He couldn’t hear anything that happens around him. He just wanted to stay like that until his brother opens his eyes and greet him with his rare smile.

                He knew he failed. He didn’t try his best. He can’t even protect his own brother, how the hell does he suppose to do anything right? When their parents died, Jaejoong didn’t cry. He didn’t even shed a tear at their funeral, which was attended by hundreds of people dressed in suits that looked highly suspicious. They don’t have any relatives coming to the funeral, not that they even have one to begin with. To be honest, Jaejoong didn’t even want to be in the funeral. Yunho have to half-dragged him to the funeral house because he said that it’s disrespectful not to attend their own parent’s funeral. No, it’s not that he didn’t love them. No matter how many things they hide from them, they’re still his parents. Maybe it was one of those moments when you were just so sad you don’t even know how to cry anymore. Or maybe he was just didn’t want to leave Changmin alone at the hospital, because he had promised not to ever leave him alone as he woke up.

                He broke that promise. And he broke the one he made after that too.

                And at that moment, as he held the lifeless body of his brother close to his own and his mind was filled with nothing but for Changmin to be okay, he felt a warm surge of energy flooded him. Despite the unbearable feeling of loss that clouded his mind, he felt something warm surrounded his body. And then he heard Yunho’s voice frantically telling him to let go.

                “Jae… Jaejoong-ah!! Let go…!!”

                Jaejoong opened his eyes as he heard a loud cough near his ear. He looked around for Yunho, but Yunho’s eyes was wide, looking at another direction. He followed Yunho’s sight and his own eyes fell upon Changmin, who was coughing as if he was choking on something. Stunned, Jaejoong just hold him close as his little brother trashed wildly in his arm.

                Then after five minutes that felt like eternity, Changmin coughed out a small metallic tube out of his mouth and drew a deep breath as he tried to get air back into his lungs.  Dumbfounded, Yunho took the tiny object and almost dropped it again when he realized that it was a bullet that only a moment ago killed- or almost killed- his brother.

                “Cha… Changmin-ah… Breath… Just take a deep breath…” Jaejoong said, unsure of what to do as he pulled Changmin into a sitting position and soothed his back.

                All the while Kyuhyun and Eunhyuk just watched from the side, almost as dumbfounded as the other three.

                “Wha…” Kyuhyun didn’t even get to finish his sentence.

                As Changmin got his breathing rhythm back to normal, he slumped against Jaejoong’s chest, feeling more tired than he’s ever been all his life.

                Jaejoong on the other hand, tried his hardest to make sense of what he just experienced. He was pretty sure that Changmin was dead for a moment back then. His heart stopped, he stopped breathing, but then how could he come back from the dead realm just like that?

                But then he looked at Changmin’s brown eyes. Though there were some clear confusion and fear in his eyes, at least it was opened and other than his slightly bluish lips and pale skin, at least he was breathing. And that was enough for Jaejoong to stop questioning everything for a while.

                “Hyung…” Changmin’s voice was laced with fear and perplexity, as he weakly tried to sit up only to be pulled back down by Yunho’s arm; offering his own body for support. Being in the state he was, Changmin couldn’t do anything but to obey. He lay back down obediently, but not before he saw his own blood-soaked shirt. Then his eyes widened in fear as he looked at his brothers, demanding for an explanation.

                “You’re okay…” Jaejoong said. It was a statement, Changmin noticed, and the next thing he knows, Jaejoong’s face was buried in his hair as the older sobbed quietly.

                They stayed like that for a moment until Changmin broke the silence.

                “Hyung… “

                “Anything hurts? Can you breathe just fine?” Yunho’s voice cut him before he could say anything. He cupped Changmin’s face in his arms and checked him for any sign of pain, which he didn’t find.

                “I… I’m fine…” His youngest brother’s answer got him pulling the boy into a hug as he let out a relieved sigh.

                “God, I thought I lost you. I’m really sorry, Changmin-ah. I couldn’t do anything… ” He whispered only for Changmin to hear.

                “It’s not your fault, hyung,” Changmin, though still confused, returned the hug.

                “Stay here, okay? I need to discuss something with a few people…” After a while, Yunho let go of Changmin and let him rest on Jaejoong’s shoulder.

                Yunho stood up and approached Eunhyuk and Kyuhyun, silent rage was apparent on his eyes.  He then grabbed Eunhyuk’s collar and shoved him to the nearest wall.

                “Hyung..!” Jaejoong exclaimed while Kyuhyun tried to pulled them off.

                “You are going to explain to us what is happening right now or else we’re walking away,” Yunho said in a low growl.

                Eunhyuk seemed to look so small under Yunho’s threat and he seemed to have realized that he had messed up to some extent, so he just nodded obediently.

                “Okay… alright… we’ll explain to you. On the way. Please, it’s not safe here. The barrier I put is thinning and the police will be here in a couple of minutes. After that, it’ll be out of our jurisdiction. My car is just over there and I promise on my life that we’re taking you somewhere safe,” Eunhyuk said.

                Yunho didn’t seem to be convinced by Eunhyuk’s words. His grip is still tight on Eunhyuk collar, until Kyuhyun stepped up.

                “Yunho-hyung, Changmin is going to need some proper medical care. He might be okay, but we just need to be sure,” Kyuhyun explained softly.

                “The two of you keep talking about taking us somewhere. Where exactly is this place you keep talking about?” Yunho asked again, his voice still coated with anger.

                Kyuhyun looked around anxiously; he could hear the faint sound of police siren from afar. The barrier that Eunhyuk put must’ve been thinning very fast with everything that happens. He needs to do something, and fast, before those polices got to them. But it’d be very hard to convince Yunho if not with the truth. He, they, can’t lie anymore.

                “Eunhyuk and I, we came from an organization called ACE. You surely must’ve heard about it a couple of times; your parents were two of our best agents. All of us, including your parents, are a part of Ext, whose existence the government have tried to cover all of these years. Why? Well, Ext’s are not exactly ‘normal’. We’re a part of the government, and yet we’re not at the same time. Since your parents died a couple of years ago, we have been watching you, protecting you from the same threats that killed your parents. If you want to know the whole truth about your parents and the whole reason why we’re here right now, and who those men are in blacks that have been chasing us; come with us. We are the best chance you got of getting out of this mess alive. And believe me, we never meant any harm. Not now, not ever,”

                What Kyuhyun said seemed to have worked because Yunho slowly let go of Eunhyuk’s collar while the later let out a relieved sigh.

                “Alright, just this once,” Yunho said quietly as he retreated back to his brothers and helped them stand up.

                “One question though; what had just happen? Because I swear Changmin was…” Jaejoong couldn’t bear to finish his question as he tightened his arms around Changmin, who just held it gratefully.

                “We’ll still need to confirm this later, but I believe that we have a healer here,” Eunhyuk said, his cheery tone started to come back though not fully.

                “Healer…?” Jaejoong mouthed; confused.

                “Well, hyung, I think you had just saved Changmin’s life,” Kyuhyun showed a thin smile.

                “How is that possible?” Jaejoong’s voice was high by then as he tried to find some logic in the whole situation.

                “Just as much as this is possible…” Eunhyuk said as he open his palm and sparks of lightning started to appear in a spherical form, dancing on his hand as Eunhyuk moved it up and down, and then flicked it to the closest branches, turning it into ashes in a millisecond.

                “I told you we’re not exactly ‘normal’,” Kyuhyun showed his usual smirk as he guided the three open-mouthed brothers to Eunhyuk’s car.

I'm EXTREMELY sorry for not being able to update for more than a month. University life is HECTIC -love it though- and I haven't been able to squeeze some time to write. I've had the idea for this since i update the last chapter but then university started and BAM, all hell breaks loose. so, i can't promise that i'll update as fast as when i'm in my holiday, but i'll try to update on a more regular basis. I hope you'll like this chapter. Thanks for reading ^^.