“How have things been, Sehun-ssi?”

“Worrisome.”  Sehun replies, sighing as he slumps down on the seat offered to him.  “I wish that everything would just be over soon.”

“I think it will be.”  The woman behind the desk in front of Sehun replies, voice reassuring.  “Given that nothing more will happen.”  She finishes, shrugging.

“That’s where the problem is.” Sehun begins, checking to see if he has any new messages on his phone.

“You think something’s going to happen?”  The woman asks, back straightening at the younger’s reply.  Sehun eyes the neatly arranged items on the desk in front of him, eyes lingering on the nameplate displayed at the desk’s exact center.  The sounds of phones ringing, papers flipping, and pens scratching against paper wash over him and he almost doesn’t hear the owner of the office he’s currently in.

“Sehun?”  The woman asks and the younger looks up at her immediately, lightly shaking his head in the process.

“It’s not that I think that something’s going to happen.” Sehun begins, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.  “I think… no, I know that something’s happening, we just don’t know what exactly.”

Chanyeol sighs as he closes the door right behind him.  Not even bothering to turn on the lights, he plops down on his bed, feet dangling.  The sound of his Minseok hyung preparing their dinner downstairs almost lulls him to sleep, but a familiar voice snaps him awake.

“Hyung.”  With a single word, Chanyeol shoots up, attempting to sit on his bed but his previous position does not allow him to do so.  Instead, he slides down on the floor, eyes wide in an attempt to see in the dark room.  With the help of the moonlight streaming through the bedroom’s windows, he sees a pair of eyes staring intently at him.  A bit of light is caught on the other’s blond hair, making it look as if it were shining.

“Sehun-ah, you’re here.”  Chanyeol says, voice breathy, and the other sits up from his Minseok hyung’s bed and plops down beside him on the floor before hugging Chanyeol’s right arm.

“Hm.”  The younger hums, placing his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder.  The elder also hums in reply, before placing his head on top of the other’s and closing his eyes.

“CHANYEOL?!”

He can clearly hear the frantic voice calling his name from the now opened doorway, but he’s too busy staring at the intense brown eyes of the person holding him down.

“Wh-what…”

“You shouldn’t be up.”  The person says, his slight lisp bringing a feeling of familiarity to Chanyeol.  “You still need rest.”

Outside, Chanyeol can hear the thundering footsteps—no doubt the footsteps of his Yunho hyung, Minho hyung, and Minseok hyung, now running after being alerted by his Kyuhyun hyung’s calls—but he can’t bring himself to spare them even a glance, not when he’s being stared at so intently.

“I don’t understand.”  He replies instead, fully conscious of the feeling of the other’s hands around his wrists.  Footsteps stop outside the bedroom door, and a collective gasp can be heard from its general direction.

“SEHUN?!”  Minho’s voice rang in the still room, loud and clear.  This causes both boys to finally look away from each other and face the others.

“Hyung, I need your help.”  Sehun says.

“What kind of help?”  Chanyeol asks, voice now firm.  Sehun looks back at him before replying.

“I need a place to stay.  I’ll be skipping school for a few days because I have some business to finish, and I don’t want to disturb my roommate because my schedule will be weird.”

“Okay.”  Chanyeol immediately replies, surprising the others.

“Chanyeol, wai—“

“But before anything else,” Chanyeol continues, cutting off Kyuhyun, “let go of my wrists.  If this continues, I’m going to bruise.”

“Have you been resting well, Sehun-ah?”  Chanyeol asks before frowning.  “I know that our apartment’s not really that big and there’s five of us and we don’t really have a guest room and my bed’s not really that big considering there’s the two of us—“

“Hyung, it’s alright.”  Sehun replies, tapping Chanyeol’s arm for good measure.  “It’s more than I could’ve asked for, really.  When I went here, I was actually aiming for the couch.”

“How could I let my favorite dongsaeng sleep on the couch?”  Chanyeol asks and this time, Sehun hits his arm playfully.

“I’m your only dongsaeng!”  Sehun exclaims with a little laugh.

“Still.”  Chanyeol replies, a small smile on his face.  “You haven’t answered my question yet, though.  You look really tired, you know.”

A knock on the door interrupts their conversation.

“Come in.”  The woman replies, and a familiar figure enters, surprising Sehun.

“Lee seonsaeng-nim?!”  Sehun exclaims, eyes wide at the newcomer.

“Sehun goon.”  The newcomer replies, acknowledging the student with a short nod before turning to the other occupant of the room.  “Boa seonbae-nim, I have the latest report from Cho seonsaeng-nim.”

“Bus accident?”  Boa replies, frowning.  “But Park seonsaeng-nim has already reported to us about the last victim, Donghae-ssi.  Plus, we’re going to have a briefing tomorrow.”

“Ah, but I wasn’t talking about the bus accident, seonbae-nim.”  Donghae replies before stepping into the room and closing the door behind him at Boa’s signal.  “I was talking about the Lee Jinki stabbing case.”

“But why?  I believe that the stabbing is just an isolated case.”

“We have reason to believe that the stabbing case is connected to the bus accident.”  Donghae replies, stopping beside the chair Sehun is sitting on.

“And why is that?”

“We think that the person responsible for the stabbing and the bus accident is the same person.”  Donghae replies, causing both Sehun and Boa to raise an eyebrow.

“Take a seat then, Donghae-ssi.”  Boa replies, gesturing to the seat beside Sehun.  “We have a lot to discuss.”

“Today was tiring.”  Sehun replies, a small frown on his face.  “How about you, hyung?  You also look tired.”

“Ah, it’s just orchestra practice.”  Chanyeol replies, waving his free hand in a dismissive manner.  “With the performance tomorrow, we had to practice a lot today.  My hands are really tired.”

“Ah, that’s tomorrow?”  Sehun replies, frowning.  “It’ll still continue despite what happened to Lee Jinki?”

“Yeah.”  Chanyeol replies with a small nod.  “The show must go on, Kim gyoh-soo-nim said.  Besides, it’s a party that caters to the hotel’s partners.  There’s no way it can be cancelled when the investors and stockholders have already given their RSVPs.”

“Who’ll be there?  Anyone we know?”

“Kim Joonmyeon, probably.”  Chanyeol replies, shrugging.  “But will you be able to go, Sehun-ah?  It’s still in the evening so you can do whatever you’re doing during the day and attend at night.”

“I don’t know, hyung.  I really want to go, but I’m not sure when my schedule will be over.”  Sehun replies.  “But I thought it was a party for the investors and stockholders only?”

“There’ll be an open concert before the party starts, so anyone with a ticket can enter.”  Chanyeol replies.  “But we’ll still be in the party after the concert because we’ll be serving as the night’s accompaniment.  So, what do you say?”

“Still not sure, but just save a ticket for me, hyung.  You never know, I might actually make it.”

“Minseokkie, you have to take care of your sister no matter what, okay?”  His mother asks, and a five year-old Minseok nods his head, unsure of what’s going on.

“But umma, what about—“

“It’s alright, Minseokkie.  We’ll take care of it.  Just go upstairs and look after your sister, okay?  Appa and I will take care of everything else.”

“B-but—“

A familiar wail cuts off Minseok’s sentence.

“Your sister’s crying, Minseok.  Go upstairs and take care of her, okay.”  His mother says, coaxing him with her words.  His sight roams around their living room until it lands on the doors leading to his father’s study.  He can hear voices from inside, steadily rising in volume.

“Minseok, just go.”  His mother says, turning him around and pushing him to the direction of the staircase.

He takes a few steps before a loud wail, this time coming from inside his father’s study, causes him to stop and turn around.  His mother does the same, staring at the wooden double doors, before once again turning around to face him.

“Minseok, please.”

Tears form in his eyes, eyes never leaving the double doors.

“Minseok, just go!”

Minseok’s head shoots up from where it was previously nestled on his arms, eyes wide.  He can feel tear tracks on his cheeks, and he wipes them away furiously along with the last traces of sleep.

“Minseok?”  A voice from the dining area’s entrance startles him, and he sees Yunho standing, still wearing his office attire.

“Hyung, I—“ Minseok replies, trying to talk and wipe away his tears at the same time.

“What’s wrong?  Why is it so dark?”  Yunho replies, taking the crying boy into his arms.

“Why is it like this?”  Minseok asks, voice slightly muffled by Yunho’s chest.

“Minseok, it’s okay.  Calm—“

“Why can’t I remember, hyung?  Of all the things that happened, why this?”  Minseok asks, voice almost close to a shout.  “Why can’t I remember anything?!”

“Minseok…” Yunho places a hand on his dongsaeng’s hair, it gently.  Tears threaten to fall but he holds it back, Minseok’s comfort taking precedence over his own emotions.

“I can do so many things, but why can’t I remember?!”  Minseok asks once again.  Yunho can feel the other trembling in his embrace, causing him to further tighten his hold.

“Why?”  Minseok sobs, voice now dying to a mere whisper.  “Why can’t I remember?  Why can’t I remember?”

A/N: I'm back!

First off, I would like to apologize for not updating this for so long.  It's been what, two months?  As previously said, I have duties to attend to, so I had to stop updating for a while.  But!  I'm back now... with a very ty chapter. OTL

I'm free for a few weeks before I have to start working again so, hopefully, I'll be able to update quite a lot.  And I'm really really excited to write the next chapter because interesting things will be happening. *evil laugh*

Once again, feel free to comment about anything in this chapter, it'll be a great help. 

Thanks! :D