Hoon glanced at the door then tightened his grip on Terrah’s hand. She could tell he was scared of telling her. “I might have killed someone…” She looked at him stunned. She couldn’t believe that Hoon could ever kill someone. He glanced at her face and looked like he was going to cry. She smiled sadly at him and remembered the first time she had killed someone. Woosang was there for her, now she decided to be here for Hoon. “Tell me what happened.”

-Three Weeks Ago-

                Hoon was sitting in a café, minding his own business. Suddenly his phone went off. A text from his best friends’ younger sister popped up on his phone. ‘Hoon! Eli left again. I’m worried that he is fighting… Do you know where he is??’ Hoon immediately texted her back ‘Don’t worry, I will get him. Do not go after him.’ He ran out of the café and took off down the street.

                He turned down a few back alleys till he reached a warehouse that had a bunch of cars parked outside. He took a deep breath and went inside. It was crowded as usual. The center of the warehouse had a square blocked off by ropes. There were two guys inside fighting, neither were Eli.

                He searched the crowd for his best friend and soon found him. Eli was running full speed and passed right by Hoon without noticing him. He was being chased by two guys and Hoon immediately ran after them.

                Outside he found Eli had been cornered and they were yelling at him about money. Hoon ran over. “Eli, what’s going on here?” He demanded as he got between his friend and the guys threatening him. One of the guys looked him up and down. “Your friend here lost his fight and needs to pay up. He says he doesn’t have enough to cover it.” That was when Hoon noticed Eli’s face was all cut up and his lip was bleeding.

                Hoon smiled at the threatening guys. “How much does he owe? I will pay it for him.” Eli sighed and turned around and punched the wall behind him, breaking open his knuckles even more than they had been. The taller guy smiled and nodded. “He collectively owes the house $2000 for his past four losses.” The smaller guy kept his eyes on Eli the whole time. Hoon nodded and smiled. “Then let’s go back inside and settle this like business men.” The taller one snapped his fingers at the shorter one who immediately started walking towards the building. “Follow us.”

                In the office, Hoon forced Eli to sit down and keep his mouth shut. Hoon easily settled the money problem for his friend and the guys let them leave the office with no problems.

                In the crowd Hoon grabbed his friend. “Eli, what are you doing fighting here? You know there are safer ways to get money. If you need something that badly, I can help you get it.” Eli groaned and nodded. “I know that. I don’t want you to pay for my things though. That’s not why I became your friend.” Hoon nodded and smiled. “I know that but friends help each other. Your sister is worried about you. You need to quit.”

                Suddenly a large man came up behind them and grabbed Eli’s shoulder. “What are you talking about? One of my main fighters is leaving me? I don’t think this is a workable option for me.” Eli froze as Hoon looked at him confused. The large man laughed and motioned for the same two guys from before to come over. “Boys, it seems that our Eli is going to be quitting on us. I would like you to show him and his friend the way out.” The two guys nodded and each grabbed one of them.

                The smaller one had grabbed Hoon’s arm and the taller one had grabbed Eli. They lead them out the back door. It was an alley with only one way out besides back through the door they came out. The guys pushed the two friends against the back wall. The tall one spoke again. “Eli, you know the rules. You aren’t allowed to leave once you begin fighting here. It’s too large of a risk for us.”

                Hoon now understood why his friend would come back even when he had no money. The man nodded towards the smaller one. “You teach his friend and I will take Eli.” Both boys prepared themselves for a fight.

                Eli threw the first punch and sent his opponent into the door before he retaliated by punching him in the stomach. Hoons opponent went for the face first and hit Hoon in the jaw.

                Hoon no longer paid any attention to his friends fight and tackled the man who had hit him. The shorter guy kneed Hoon in the stomach and stood up and kept repeatedly kicking him in the side. Hoon managed to pull him back down to the ground and sat on his chest and kept punching him in the face until he lost count.

                Suddenly Eli grabbed Hoon’s arm and yelled “Hoon!! Stop it! Look at him!” Hoon blinked a couple times and looked down at the man. His face was open and bloody and there was blood pooling around his head. He looked at his hands and realized by the blood all over him that he did this. He had never beaten someone like this in his life.

                Eli lifted him up and wiped the man’s blood off Hoon’s fists with his own shirt. Eli grabbed him by his shoulders and looked him directly in the eyes. “Run. Go home and clean up. You didn’t see me today. I did this. I took down both of these guys. You never even came here. Leave and don’t look back.” He pushed his best friend away, down the alley.

                Hoon ran as Eli yelled after him. “YOU WERE NEVER HERE!”

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                Hoon had started crying as Terrah listened. She really hadn’t expected that. She pulled her hands out of his and pulled him into a hug. When Woosang had comforted her after her first kill, he kept saying things like ‘it will be ok’ and ‘nothing can hurt you now’ and she didn’t like any of those things. She stayed silent as Hoon cried into her shoulder. Unlike her, he was just a rich kid who made a mistake when trying to help his friend. He was never mentally prepared to kill another human being.

                Kwangmin came in to check on Terrah and saw Hoon sobbing in her arms and immediately turned back around and left. Terrah gently put her hand on the back of his head and smoothed down his hair. She could tell that he had been trying to hold back his tears but had failed horribly. He had ended up crying himself to sleep, using her as a pillow. His sleeping weight was making her rib hurt but she didn’t move him.

                Jonghyun came in and smiled sadly when he realized what had happened. He gently lifted Hoon off of her and covered him up with the dinosaur print blankets. He motioned for Terrah to follow him into the common room. The twins were sitting on the couch but he sent them out and locked the door so no one could come in.

                “I’m assuming Hoon told you the real reason he is here? Also, that his name isn’t really Seunghoon, its Hoonmin.” She nodded. “I’ve known you weren’t cousins since the first day I was in storage.” He smiled and sat next to her. “I was hoping that he would eventually talk about it with someone who could comfort him. All I could do was hide him till he was ready.” He sighed and rested back against the couch. “You don’t seem scared of him. He killed someone.”

                She nodded and smiled. “He may have killed someone but he isn’t a murderer.” Jonghyun grinned and hugged her gently. “Thank you for believing in him too.” She nodded. “Are we the only two who know?” He let go of her and nodded. “Yeah, everyone else thinks he is my cousin. Even Ren, who knows everything, doesn’t know this.” She was very relieved to hear that.

                Jonghyun went and unlocked the door and the twins were sitting on Ren’s desk. “Ren would kill you if he saw you two.” They immediately got off the desk and went to check on Terrah. “Why was Hoony crying?” Kwangmin asked immediately. She just smiled and shook her head.

                They all just stayed in the living area and watched movies. It was getting late and Terrah really needed to call E.Den. Hoon was still asleep in the bed she was supposed to be using now. The twins had already gone to bed; they had to work in the morning with Heechul. Jonghyun handed her a blanket. “I can go wake up Hoon for you if you want me too.”

                She shook her head. “It must have taken a lot out of him to tell me that. He can stay there. Your bed can fit like a million people. He will be fine.” Jonghyun laughed and nodded. “Well then if you are going to sleep with Hoon in the same room as you, then I don’t need to sleep in here. If he tries anything, don’t hesitate to attack him like you did to me.” He laughed as he went back to what used to be her room.

                Terrah went into her new room and locked the door behind her. She didn’t want to risk Ren coming in. She reached into her shoe and grabbed her ear piece and called E.Den while watching Hoon the entire time for any sign of waking up. “This is E.Den.”

                “E.Den, Hoon told me why he is here. Was there a fight resulting in one dead by the hands of a guy named Eli right before he went missing?” There were a few moments of silence. “Oh, here it is. There was a guy named Eli Kim who got into a fight with two guys. Eli and another one were treated in a hospital for few scrapes and bruises. The third guy was in critical condition when he got to the hospital, which is why we were called in. He went into surgery and was in a coma for a week but woke up. He isn’t dead. Why?” Terrah gasped. Hoon never killed anyone. “Eli is Hoon’s best friend and covered for what he did. He is here because he thinks he killed that man. This is how he is punishing himself.”

                She could hear E.Den reciting it to someone close by. “How should I proceed?” Terrah asked. She heard a bunch of noises; the phone was given to someone else. Woosangs voice came through the ear piece. “Terrah, now you only need to investigate why Amber and Ren had you attacked and where they are getting all of their tech. You are now off the missing persons case and just on official BTSA business.” She smiled as Hoon rolled over on the bed. “I understand. I need to go now. Hoon is asleep in my bed. He might wake up and hear me.” She laughed and she heard Woosang clear his throat awkwardly.  “I understand.” She hung up on him before he could ask any questions.

                She sighed and laughed to herself as she put the earpiece away. She crawled into the bed on the side that had the most space between her and Hoon and relaxed. It had been the longest, most eventful birthday ever. Hoon rolled back over and she could feel his body heat. She quickly fell asleep.