'Please tell me where Sungmin is.' Hae kept begging as he even kneeled down to the floor and bowed completely in front of his principal and Mr. Kim.

The two grown men shared a look. Leeteuk sighed.

'Donghae, get up.'

'Not until you tell me.' Hae's voice sounded muffled as he stayed into position.

A knock was heard on the door.

'Enter.' Leeteuk said.

'You called us in, sir?' An all too familiar voice sounded.

Hae froze as he felt anger rage through his body.

Hyuk noticed him right after he spoke, his eyes grew large. Kyuhyun yielded a pained expression before he looked away. Nothing went unnoticed by the perceptive eyes of Kim Heechul.

'As you can see, boys, we are having an issue.' Heechul spoke lazily as he pointed his hand in the general direction of Hae.

'Lee Donghae, get up! I'm losing my patience!' Leeteuk said annoyed as the tension in the room increased.

'Where is my best friend?' Hae remained stubborn.

'Okay, that's it. Boys, drag him out.' Leeteuk ordered.

Kyu waited to see what Hyuk would do.

'S-sir, I don't think it's appropriate...' Hyuk started

'What am I? Chopped liver? I'm your damn principal, now do as I say, for crying out loud!' Leeteuk snapped.

Hyuk got startled by the outburst and in a reflex he grabbed Hae's upper arm.

Donghae lost it, right then and there. He was at his wits' end, worrying about Sungmin. And now the lowlife that had hurt his friends was touching him. He hit Hyuk as hard as he could with his fist.

The sound of the knuckles hitting Hyuk's face echoed through the room just before Hyuk cried out in pain and flew back, landing on his .

'Don't you ever touch me, you bastard.' Hae spat. He turned his head towards the principal. 'If you won't help me, I'll do it by myself, as usual. So you!' Hae growled as he turned around and took off.

The four people were stunned and left in silence. Hyuk's hand was still covering his throbbing cheek.

'H-he hit me.' He whispered.

Heechul placed a calming hand on Leeteuk's tensed shoulder. 'I'll go find him'. He said calmly. He gave Kyuhyun a piercing look before he left the room.

'Hae hit me.' Hyuk said, completely in shock. 'He never hit me before.'

Kyuhyun, still shaken by that judging look from Mr. Kim, slowly helped his friend up. 'Come on, Hyuk, I'll take you to the nurse for an ice pack.'

'He hit me, Kyu. Donghae hit me.' Hyuk mumbled.

'I know.' Kyu just said as his heart ached even more than before.

'I'm sorry, Mr. Lee, but your friend has been taken by social services.' The bored police officer said, not even looking Donghae in the eye.

'And how can I contact them?' Donghae tried.

The officer just shrugged.

'What the is this? The police is here to help? Isn't that your slogan? Then why the aren't you helping me?' Donghae screamed.

'Listen up, young man, I can arrest you for...'

'I apologise for my student, I'll take him away.' Mr. Kim suddenly appeared.

The policeman still looked pissed but nodded.

Heechul grabbed Donghae and dragged him out. 'I thought you were smarter than this, Donghae.'

All energy seemed to have left the boy and Heechul had to support him.

'Hey, don't be weak now, I'll help, okay?'

'It's all my fault.' Hae sobbed. 'Everything is always my fault.'

Heechul brought the younger to a small cozy cafe. He ordered hot chocolate and waited for Donghae to calm down.

'So?' Heechul inquired.

'Minnie...' Hae's voice cracked. He coughed and started over. 'Sungmin, my best friend, he's in trouble.'

'What kind of trouble?'

Hae hesitated.

'Donghae.' Heechul's voice was unusually warm. 'Please, trust me.'

'It's not my story to tell.' Donghae finally said.

Heechul stared at the boy and then nodded. 'Okay, so how can I help?'

Surprise washed over Hae's face. 'I'm not sure. We need to find Sungmin. Fast.'

'Okay. Let's think who would know where he is.' Heechul said. His eyes narrowed as he saw the boy's gaze drop and lose focus. 'Donghae, who?'

Hae bit his lip. 'I know someone.'

Heechul waited.

'He has connections everywhere.'

'Let's go meet up with him then.'

'I-I...can't'

'Another story that isn't yours to tell?' Heechul asked friendly.

'Ugh, you probably know most of it anyway. My dad, go meet up with him. You know where to find him, right? Since everyone knows.' Hae said quite hostile.

'I know he's in prison.' Heechul forced himself to appear as calm as he could as he saw so many heartbreaking emotions in front of him.

Hae looked away, his head low.

'Will he talk to me?' Heechul inquired.

Hae looked his teacher in the eye, shocked. 'You mean you would do that?'

'Of course. But would he talk to a stranger like me?'

Hae frowned, thought about it and defeatedly shook his head.

'Then accompany me?' Heechul said softly.

'Took you long enough to visit me, you brat.' Mr. Lee said, the smile in his eyes contradicting his words.

'Sorry, sir.'

'You don't look good, what's wrong?'

'I-I euhm I' The boy looked down.

'Lee Hyukjae, you come here every month and everytime it's the same thing. You just sit here and stutter.' Mr. Lee said.

Hyuk shrugged.

Mr. Lee's gaze intensified. 'How's my boy? How's Hae?'

Hyuk froze.

Now Donghae's dad was getting worried as he saw the colour leaving the boy's face. 'Is he alright? Hyuk! Talk to me!'

'He's physically fine.' Hyuk said softly.

'And mentally?'

Hyuk started biting his fingernails. 'Fine.'

Mr. Lee squinted. 'Emotionally?'

Hyuk stood up, quickly handed over the elder's favourite dessert, bowed and took off.

Mr. Lee sighed. 'Kids these days, they get weirder and weirder.' He opened the box with strawberry pie and smiled. 'Acting all tough, yet caring so much.'