Kris sighed as he unlocked his front door. School, if it could even be called that anymore, had been a mess despite it being the first damn day of the semester. Two transfer students coming in – not a problem. That D.O. er going around and beating other people’s minions up – didn’t have anything to do with him. Lay raging about petty things – he was used to it. Hell, he was hardly expecting the walking neutral zone to show up with a bump on his head, busted lip and a glare that had his own little band of merry men cowering in a corner – but he dealt with it. The dark apartment that greeted him however was the final straw, and he found himself searching almost frantically for the silver cross that he always wore around his neck, fishing it out from under his shirt to clutch tightly as he squatted in the hallway.

“In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Dear Lord, see me through these hard times.” He mumbled through half-gritted teeth. “In these troubling times, I am filled with unspeakable fears. I reach out my hand to you now, and ask you to walk besides me. I cannot carry all my burdens, but I know you can, and will. Please walk beside me. Please guide me. Please help me hold on strong, through the trials and storms. Help me hold on to my faith, in even the darkest hour. Stay with me Lord, and show me your way. In your love and Holy Spirit I abide. Amen.” He in a deep breath, held it, and then let it out, finally having calmed himself. He stood slowly, flipping the light switch, and merely sighing at the sight of the cold and empty apartment. He had to admit that he was starting to get used to being on his own; the problem was that accepting it didn’t make it less lonely. He had the Lord of course, but the guy wasn’t really one for talking.

Sometimes Kris found himself wondering why everything had to be so complicated. He was sick of all the fighting and arguing, sick of not being able to express himself properly and utterly fed up with being seen as the leader of it all. The prayer he said before had become virtually a daily routine for him since the start of his third year, but he’d been convinced that things would’ve calmed down until this semester started. He couldn’t believe how wrong he’d been.

Contrary to people’s belief he actually held back in school, restraining himself to the point where he was ready to explode and tear the place apart when he reached home. Praying helped, most of the time, but then the frustration turned into simple emptiness. He had nothing real to cling to; no real, honest friends; no lover to call his; no warm home and family to return to. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a family; as far as he knew they were all alive and kicking, but they were just too far away. Not to mention they were hardly the warm and welcoming kind. Quite the opposite; they found Kris to be too lenient and naïve to take over the… business as they called it. This was the sole case where he’d admit they were actually on the same page – he had no intention to succeed his father; that job was more suited to his dear older sister and brother-in-law. Shame his father wouldn’t have it.

With a heavy sigh he forced thoughts of the future to the back of his head, kicking his shoes off and making his way inside. The place was stylish but too neutral, everything but the dark brown floor going in black, white, and grey – it made him cringe every time he stepped inside. He quickly made his way to the state-of-the-art kitchen, which he hardly ever used since he was too lazy to cook anything, and grabbed a single apple from the fancy fruit bowl that had been filled to the brim. Oh the reasons he had for never bringing his ‘crew’ over.

He didn’t spend a second too long in the living room, only flipping on the TV for a few minutes to watch the news. When they were over he busied himself with meticulously peeling an orange before finally making his way to his own bedroom. When he passed the door to the guestroom however he had to stop and stare; there was someone on the bed. In his apartment. Where he lived alone. The figure turned a bit in their sleep, and Kris didn’t hesitate to turn on the lights, to which the person groaned and covered their eyes with their arms. There was something strangely familiar about the boy.

“Make it stop…” The stranger whined, and Kris instantly recognized the voice.

“Suho?” He asked in disbelief and took a few careful steps inside.

“It’s Suho-hyung to you.”

“We were born the same year.” Kris retorted and rolled his eyes. But why was the other here? Did that mean-

“I transferred in today, sorry I couldn’t come see you at school; I ran into trouble.” He knew better than to believe the elder’s words, especially as he saw that very recognizable smirk adorn the other’s face. “That Lay kid is pretty interesting, but he’s too quick to let his guard down.”

“I should’ve known… what did you even do to him? He wouldn’t calm down for two seconds to tell me what happened you know?” The way the second-year had come barging onto the roof where he’d been enjoying the weather had pissed him off at first, but when the boy had started alternating between muttering stuff under his breath and cursing someone out loud he’d decided to ignore it and let him get it all out. Maybe he’d been able to hear his current visitor’s name mixed in somewhere if he’d just listened a bit.

“Nothing much, I just borrowed some money is all.” Kris knew that couldn’t be it.

“And?” He urged the other to continue, and watched with a frown as Junmyeon brought his arms down, wiggling his eyebrows in an almost suggestive manner. “Suho!”

“Alright, fine, I just let his friend in on his hideout that’s all!” The boy threw his hands up defensively at his serious tone, and he sighed as the answer sunk in.

“That friend didn’t happen to be Luhan, did it?”

“Oh, you know him?”

“There’s no one in that ing asylum I don’t know about.” Kris seethed – he had a very bad feeling that unless he did something very soon, something that was very effective, he’d get caught in the middle of an extremely energy-consuming conflict. Problem was he’d never had to talk Lay out of getting back at someone before, and judging from the way the younger had acted earlier it wasn’t going to be easy.

“What’re you thinking about?” He glared at Junmyeon, causing the other to flinch.

“I’m trying to figure out how to even things out between you and Lay without unnecessary bloodshed.” The other, to his great annoyance, merely laughed at this.

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad. Besides I can handle myself, right?”

“You know what, maybe you think you can, but you don’t know how things work. You don’t know how that kid’s mind works. He’s behind a third of the yearly drop-outs, has been since he first came, and I frankly don’t think you could hold your own against him.” They started at each other defiantly for a minute, and Kris could practically feel the steam rising from his body.

“Fine, you go ahead and waste your time, it’s not my problem.” Junmyeon grunted suddenly, lying back down on his back and closing his eyes stubbornly. The guy hadn’t changed at all since they were younger. With a sigh of resignation Kris sat down on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees and forehead leaning against his closed fists.

“Can you at least tell me what you’re doing here? I mean how did you even get in?” He asked quietly.

“Well, I got kicked out of school when they found my stash, and your folks helped me get in to St.’s. By the way, you might want to get a more secure lock on your door – it’s easy as to pick open.”

“You… don’t you have any other place to go?”

“What? I thought you’d be happy that I decided to pay you a visit! And actually I’m in the middle of looking for my own place; I’m staying at the Inn right now.” Kris almost choked on the air that was meant to sustain him and snapped his head towards the other. He was staying there of all places?!

“I thought you didn’t want anything to do with that ?!” He asked in complete and utter shock. Junmyeon just pouted without so much as a glance in his direction. “Suho?!”

“Oh for God’s sake-“ The other had sat up abruptly to say something, most likely a random complaint about Kris’ worrying, but his disapproving glare apparently made him change his mind and lower his head in slight apology. “Look, I have nowhere else to stay right now – I used to live in the dorms and my folks moved to Hong Kong over a year ago, remember?” Kris did remember, but deep down he knew that what bothered him wasn’t that his old friend was interacting with the group.

“So… why didn’t you come to me right away?” It was barely a whisper, but he knew the other had heard him perfectly. He didn’t like himself at all for sounding so ridiculously pathetic, almost like a kicked puppy, but he couldn’t help it; his own childhood friend, whom he’d been together with ever since they first crossed paths before they’d even started school, had chosen the others over him. It hurt.

“…I just thought you wouldn’t want to see me… You know, you just seemed so angry when I left and I didn’t want to make any selfish assumptions.”

“Damn right I was angry; they were making me go to a school full of monsters and you were disappearing to some fancy boarding school! What the hell was I supposed to feel?!”

“Sorry Yifan…” Kris softened involuntarily at the use of his given name, immediately feeling guilty for snapping.

“It’s not you I’m mad at, you know that, right?” He tried to force a smile, but stopped when he received a hard smack on the back of his head. The smile on Junmyeon’s face when he grabbed Kris’ hair was eerily familiar.

“Then you should’ve answered my calls, don’t you think?” Now he remembered why that was.

“S-sorry Suho… hyung. I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time.” The older boy’s smile widened a bit, his teeth just barely showing as he leaned in closer, grip tightening on Kris’ blonde locks.

“For two and a half years? You weren’t thinking clearly for two and a half years?” The last part sounded more like a hiss.

“I’m sorry Junmyeon-hyung, I just got really busy, and when I got home at night I was exhausted and could only think about the next day and-“ A sharp tug on his hair made him purse his lips. The few seconds he waited for the other’s verdict were mental torture, and he knew that squirming wouldn’t make things better.

“Alright. I’ll let it slip this time, but never again.” Junmyeon snickered at Kris’ relieved sigh. He truly hadn’t changed one bit. “And you thought I couldn’t hold my own – if you’re the strongest kid in school I won’t have any trouble at all.” Kris silently agreed, but knew he’d better tell the older that there was one problem with that theory.

“To be honest I’m not the strongest… there’s a first-year who’s just, ugh… damn him.” He had no pleasant thoughts to share about the sharp-eyed crazy person who’d given him a proper beating half a year back. In fact, he’d rather not be talking about the guy at all, but it’d be bad not to warn Junmyeon of the possible danger. The other simply cocked a brow at this.

“You mean you don’t rule the school?” He questioned, to which Kris had to frown.

“To be completely honest I’ve pretty much been sharing that responsibility with this guy called Yongguk. The first year,” He had to force himself to spit the name out. “Tao, doesn’t have any desire to boss over people, apparently it’s all good as long as they don’t trouble him. There’s another first-year as well, D.O…. he’s nothing but a brat, but if the other hadn’t knocked him out before Yongguk and I turned up to deal with their rebellious stunts he might’ve been on the top with us as well.” Junmyeon just stared blankly at him, and then suddenly burst out laughing.

“Oh my God Kris, you’re telling me a big bad guy like you can’t even control two pesky brats?”

“Yah!” Kris wasn’t sure which he was more upset about – the fact that his friend was clearly mocking him or said friend’s unfitting use of a certain deity’s name. The elder eventually calmed himself and shook his head pitifully at him.

“Look, I’ll give you a hand there once I’m settled.”

“Settled?” Kris didn’t particularly consider the first-years an issue as long as they didn’t cause trouble for him and his group, but he didn’t dare tell the guy that and so focused on the other matter instead.

“You know, once I’ve unpacked here and made myself at home, found my place at school and settled things with that Lay fellow, told my parents and yours about everything…”

“Not everything, right?” If his parents found out about the situation at school he’d never hear the end of it, and if push came to shove he might even be forced to move back to the Inn himself. That was an option he’d never want to consider. And Junmyeon knew this.

“Well, I suppose I could leave some of the details out… possibly. See, I think this room is a bit too small for me after all-“

“No.” Kris cut him off, feeling his face contort into an ugly grimace. His bedroom was the one place where he felt at home, and no matter what hell the other decided to put him through he wouldn’t give it up – even if in extension it meant that he’d have to leave later on. “You get every other inch of the place, but my room is off limits.” He snapped, and for a few seconds locked glares with his friend.

“…Relax Kris, I wasn’t being serious.” Junmyeon finally scoffed, but Kris remained uncertain about the honesty of the statement for another moment.

“If you’re lying to me Suho so save me God I’ll-“

“Oh please, you don’t have the guts to do anything. Seriously Kris, you became a freakin’ giant since I last met you but you still don’t have it in you to act like a mobster.”

“That’s because I aren’t one.” Kris retorted sharply, fairly fed up with the mockery he was being exposed to; especially since he couldn’t deny that part of everything Junmyeon told him contained a speck of truth. Almost subconsciously his hand moved to the cross resting on his chest, and he played with it mindlessly.

“You know I really won’t talk to your parents about anything? Really, it’s a promise.” He flashed a crooked smile to his friend, who seemed to have gotten off his high horse for a few seconds, before peeking at the alarm on the bedside table. It was getting pretty late, and for months now he’d been able to maintain his morning routine.

“That’s good, thanks. I’m going to bed so if you’re staying up make sure to keep it down.” He instructed the other before starting out the room.

“…It’s only ten.”

“…”

“Are you kidding me?!” Junmyeon asked explosively in disbelief, but Kris merely waved him off and continued down the hall, closing his bedroom door gently behind him as he flopped onto the soft covers that awaited him. After a minute’s slow breathing to calm himself he slid down on the floor and got on his knees, arms resting on the edge of the bed in front of him. Today had just been too much; especially the short reunion with the freeloader-to-be.

Kris had just opened his mouth to speak when a loud noise cut through the air. Groaning in exasperation he grabbed the phone from his pocket, and was about to turn down the call and throw the thing away when he noticed the name on the screen.

“Yeah, it’s me.” He answered, and tried to make sense of Yongguk’s words when said other spoke in a hurried manner. “They did what? That’s- Damn it! Alright, look, we’ll deal with it in the morning. Yeah, just leave it for now.”

For a few minutes Kris stayed silent with his eyes shut tightly, trying to think of some way to handle the situation, yet ended up giving in eventually. With a sigh he decided that the best way to deal with it for now was to say his evening prayer and go to sleep – he was going to need the energy tomorrow.

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A/N: Phew~ There we go, one more chapter - check! I think this turned out a little bit longer than the others because I'm just that biased but I guess that's just because I wanted to cover some things... And I enjoy scenes with Suho in them a bit too much atm. For mystery's sake you don't get to find out what Yongguk was calling about so it's not because I have no idea what the problem is! Ha. *evil cackle*

But really, I feel like parts of this chapter just turned out...nmnnmnnmaagragraack... ugh... just no. But I suppose it's fine~ hakuna matata. 

A~nyways, thank you all my lovely subscribers! <333 And comment...ists...? Love! <333 

Now then,  I'll be off to tie everything together and start weaving a neat little web~ This is where it all begins~! *does la crazy laughter and prances off with a basket full of rainbows* 

Tata~!

~Fi