It took one look. Just one glance at his son's face to suppress the overwhelming joy Mr. Lee felt as he saw his son sitting across the table.

'Tell me how I can help.' Mr. Lee said, knowing his boy through and through.

Mr. Kim raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

'Minnie...' Hae croaked out. He rubbed his tired eyes and kept avoiding contact.

His dad tensed at that name. He forced himself to remain calm. 'Hae, spill it, I'll do whatever I can...'

'Yeah, I know. That's what you do. You play the hero and then you get taken away from me!' Hae suddenly snapped.

'I wouldn't change anything that I did that night.' Mr. Lee said softly.

Tears appeared into Hae's eyes.

'I know you know there was no other way, kiddo. I wasn't about to let your best friend be killed.'

'Well it's all ruined now anyway. The police have found out about Minnie.' Hae said deflated.

'Let me guess...Hyukjae had something to do with this?' Mr. Lee said, shaking his head.

'Don't mention his name!' Hae shouted.

Mr. Lee sighed. 'I knew one day he'd break.' he mumbled.

Heechul looked from one to the other and cleared his throat. 'Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?'

'Aaah, Mr. Kim Heechul. I bet you had no idea what you were getting yourself into when you put those two together, huh?' Mr. Lee smirked.

'How do you know...'

'Who you are? I know a lot, too much.' Another smirk. 'Sungmin and my boy go way back. Well not as much as Hyuk and...'

'Shut up, dad.' Hae snarled.

'Fine, fine. Sungmin is the sweetest kid, really. Always a joy to have around. A couple of years ago, he started retreating within himself. He started hiding, literally. He grew his hair long and in front of his eyes, wore clothes three sizes too big. Donghae told me Sungmin had lots of bruizes suddenly... So yeah, it doesn't take a genius to know what was going on. Just one encounter with the boy's stepdad confirmed it. Abuse. One night it got out of hand. The bastard went too far and...'

'He got into a fight and died.' Hae quickly interrupted. 'Social services came to take away Sungmin, since his mum was out of the picture already. So we lied and said he had an aunt that would take him in.'

'And I guess that lie surfaced now and you don't know where they took him.' Mr. Lee said softly.

Hae nodded.

'Where was Sungmin staying for all these years?' Heechul asked.

'In his own house, next door to us. He didn't want to move in with us but my mum keeps an eye on him.' Hae said.

'But he's still a minor so they took him away, I see.' Heechul sighed.

'I'll snoop around and instruct you who to contact.' Mr. Lee said. 'It will be fine, Hae. We'll fix this too.'

'Thanks.' Hae mumbled and got up.

'Hae?'

The teenager froze as he heard the tenderness in his father's voice. 'Mmmm?'

'Don't be too harsh on others. People do silly things when they are emotional. Don't give up on people.'

'If you are talking about Hyukjae, I'm done with him, dad. I detest everything he stands for.' Hae spit out and quickly left.

Heechul noticed the sad look in the older man's eyes.

'Mr. Kim. Please take good care of my son. And of Lee Hyukjae. That boy needs all the help he can get.' Mr. Lee said.

'Your son is a good kid.' Heechul started.

Mr. Lee laughed loudly. 'My son is too nice for this world. He'd rather be hurt himself than let anything happen to others. He basically hates himself, not Hyukjae. He hates that he can't help that boy, that he can't make him happy. Hae just wants everyone to be happy and together. He loves that boy to death. And Hyukjae? He's in for one hell of a roller coaster if Hae takes away his secret support.'

Heechul frowned. 'What?'

'You haven't noticed? Donghae has an entire system in place to keep Hyukjae as happy as possible. But now my boy is fed up and god he's stubborn. Be ready with lots of tissues and bandages. A storm is coming.'

'You won't be looking down on us now, right? Nerd!' Another blow against Hyuk's stomach rendered him almost unconscious. He was in too much of a shock to comprehend what was happening. The day started out like any other day but as soon as he reached school,  he was attacked by bullies who never had approached him in the past.

'Not much of a big shot now, huh?' Another guy kicked against his shoulder.

'Hey! Leave him alone!' Kyuhyun yelled as he ran towards them.

The bullies shrugged and left after one more mean kick.

'Kyu...'

'Hyuk, can you get up? I'll bring you to the nurse.'

'Kyu, what's happening?' Hyuk breathed painfully.

'I don't know.'

'Donghae? Please pick up your phone, I'm sick of your voicemail.' Minho said. 'Hae, come to school. Things are weird. Oh and some kids beat the crap out of Hyukjae. Can you call me when you hear this?' Minho hung up and shook his head towards Taemin.

'He must be busy with finding Sungmin.' Taemin said.

'I wish he would let us help.' Minho mumbled.

Hae deleted the message after hearing it. He buried his head in his pillow. He was waiting for his father to contact him with some info. He had no time to care about school or anyone there. He simply had no time to protect Hyuk anymore. Not when others got hurt because of his weakness. He should have left Hyukjae behind years ago. Cut him loose. Be free. Donghae never knew freedom could taste this foul.