KyuHyun's P.O.V

"SungMin? Why are you here?"

I stood straighter and watched Min's reaction. I did not like the tone the old ladies were using, but I didn't think I had any rights to interfere. Not now, anyway.

SungMin, on the other hand, completely tensed up. The children hanging around his compressed form stopped laughing and the whole group went quiet, wondering what suddenly happened. When he did not respond for a whole minute, I reluctantly opened my mouth.

"Pleasure meeting yo---"

"Halmeoni!" A deep voice rang from behind me, and instantly the two women's faces lit up. "Minnie is back! Aren't you guys happy? I know I am," I sighed internally. I knew who this was. Freaking annoying, Min-stealing peasant. "O-Of course," The women's faces dimmed back to suspicion, slapping fake smiles on their faces. "Well, it's quite chilly out, so let's all come in, shall we, baby?" The peasant cooed, putting an arm around Min. I wanted to punch him in the face, but managed to contain myself as the old women separated to form a small gap in between them. The children filtered through, and I was about to follow behind Min and the annoying fly when he ran out of the trash's arm and into mine.

"K-KyuHyun-ssi, let's go in. You might catch a cold if we stay out for too long." He mumbled, tucking himself under my arm, as if embarrassed that he shook off a good friend. I, on the other hand, radiated freaking sunshine. I caught the glare sent my way and I smirked smugly at the rubbish's direction.

The piece of sh*t went ahead of us, grumbling the whole way. The old ladies trailed behind him, leaving me and Min alone. I could feel him in a breath, and I held him tighter. "Hey, it'll be alright. I'm here. I won't let them hurt you," I whispered to the top of his head, and when his shoulders relaxed, I managed a small smile before pulling him into what seemed like a living room.

Tea was served, and when the women made sure everyone except me and Min received it, the speck of dust---what was his name, honestly?---and I suddenly remembered Min's nickname for him: Sunggie. I shuddered. His real name... YeSung? Well, to his credit, though, he got mad and rushed to get us both warm cups of tea.

"Sorry about that," He glared at the two ladies, who flinched visibly. "Now then, let's talk about SungMin here." His voice ran deeper and his tone got cold. I didn't think a guy as playful as he seemed could be so serious. I felt Min snuggle closer to me and I wrapped an arm around his waist.

"I-I don't know what you mean," The first old woman spoke. The children were eerily quiet, munching on the little biscuits they were given. "Exactly. There's nothing to talk about." This second woman had a much stricter face with a more condescending tone. "Shin Young halmeoni, Yu Jin halmeoni." He addressed the two women by name, and both their expressions stoned.

I looked at the duo and realized that ShinYoung has a chubbier face, gray hair cut into a short bob. She looks more guilty and shameful about---what I'm guessing---allowing Min to be taken away. Whereas YuJin was much thinner, the outline of her every bone prominent against her thinly stretched skin. She had high cheekbones and a sharp face, long hair pulled into a bun at the top of her head. She seemed to feel more fear than guilt when YeSung focused on them, only anger shown on his face.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, ShinYoung caved. She was sitting in seiza, her fists clenched in her lap as she allowed her head to fall. "SungMin-ah... I... We're sorry for what happened. We didn't mean to sell you out, but you already know that we need the money. The kids, SungMin. Remember the kids---" One of the oldest girls wailed at that moment, running into SungMin's lap. He guessed at what was happening and wrapped his shaky arms around the child. Soon, the others started to join in, some even hugging me instead. I would have been pissed that their snot and tears were staining my ensemble, but I found myself not minding, even going as far as using my folded scarf to wipe their bodily fluids. 

"WE'RE SORRY, MINNIE HYUUUNGGGG! WE'RE SORRY WE SOLD YOU TO THOSE MEAN PEOPLE---" The kids wailed, and as if realizing what they just said, they all turned to glare at me, some even growling. I went rigid as a plank, not knowing what to do. Thankfully, Min spoke up. "No, no! This here is KyuHyun-ssi; He saved me before the mean people managed to hurt me. Be nice to him, he has been nothing but good to me," He explaned, looking up at me with wet eyes as he finished talking. I smiled back, and the kids, although still suspicious, stopped glaring and more started to sit on me.

From the corner of my eyes, I could see YeSung's shoulder slump down, and I wondered what happened. I seemed to have stared for too long, as when he looked up, our eyes met and I tensed just ever so slightly. He was overly cheerful back in the supermarket, why was he suddenly acting so down? To my utter surprise, he flashed me a sad smile and took a few deep breaths before continuing the conversation, his voice holding just a hint of tremble in them. "Halmeoni, we all know why you sold SungMin. It wasn't for the kids, was it? Perhaps---" He snuck in the last word quickly when he saw one of the women trying to protest, "---But that wasn't the main reason. I have seen all your check books. That much money---4 million dollars, was it?---" He smirked when the women averted their gaze."---where are they now? There's only one quarter of that money left, and I've seen a few apartment contracts lying around." The women gulped. Min went stiff in his spot, and I pulled him to me, closing the gap between us, surfaced when the children jumped in.

YeSung slammed the table at that instant, his whole being exuding authority. I admired that he took control despite the slight tremble in the tips of his fingers. I knew how that felt--- when I first took over my father's academy, I was in that exact same position. I looked around. The children were all stiffling their sobs, the women's back bent, as if they had the world's burdens piled on top of them. Min, my main focus, looked perfectly normal. His eyes were red around the rim, but otherwise he was completely strong. That's my Min. 

I wiped the smile off my face and went back to the ongoing conversation. I must have missed a lot, because as soon as I turned back, a pillow was being chucked at YuJin's face. I gasped; did this YeSung kid have no manners? Apparently, mannerism wasn't the main focus in this household, as all YuJin did was peel the pillow from her face, her expression pained. "It's not what we intended, but Sunggie, we're old now. You, SungMin, and all these kids have a bright future in front of you. Even you, um, KyuHyun-ssi. Whereas ShinYoung and I are feeble. We cannot go a day without heaving, and no one would want to hire people like us. We have been taking care of this orphanage, of you, for our whole lives! We've spent every penny on all of you, and now it's time to save up for ourselves."

To say YeSung's growl was wolfish would be understating it. It was more like a devil's cry, as he jumped over the small circular table, his hands pulling YuJin by her collar. He shook her back and forth a few harsh times before spitting insults her way: "Every one of us who grew up worked. Everyone who found their families went away. Whatever the case, all of us sent money back. It may only be a few thousand wons a month, but that's more than enough for our little house. I have seen the both of you keeping changes in your pockets, buying the more expensive snacks whilst the children live on porridge everyday. I have seen you two using a new heater, hidden behind your closet, while the kids shiver underneath their torn blankets. I wanted to stay here and work because of SungMin, but... but I knew that I couldn't really leave this place. Not when there are so many kids here, not when the people taking care of these kids are you. Since I've started working I had bought enough materials to patch up the corners of the house, the blankets and the clothes. I have sorted out donations so the better clothes were passed to the children instead of you. There is so much flaw to the way you use the money we receive, and I was adamant not to leave the children alone. What more could you need? So much of the money we receive goes into your pockets. You already have so much. Why do you have to be so greedy?! How can you afford to be so selfish?!"

At this point I wasn't even paying attention to the drama unfolding. I watched as Min's expression changed from stoic to realization. He bit his lips when his name was mentioned, and a few tears slid down his red cheeks when YeSung finished shouting.

"Is... is this true? Halmeoni...?" His voice was tiny and fragile, and this was the most broken I've seen him. Even when he first arrived at my house, he didn't seem as defeated as he was at this moment. The ladies in question started to cry, silently weeping into their sleeves, and Min bit back a half-emmited sob. My heart throbbed, which was odd, because I felt as if I was in more pain than Min himself was. I promise myself that I would never let him feel that way ever again. Holding Min's hand, I stood up slowly as the kids got off of us. Min followed suit, though his form was weak and he seemed to be mindlessly following me instead of wanting to escape, like I did.

"Please excuse us. I'll bring Min back soon." No one replied, everyone either crying or trying not to cry. I left, pulling Min close.

Going by instincts, I managed to find the back door and dragged Min outside. For some reasons, I felt that he did not want to cry in front of the children, so I brought him out. The cold wind hit us as soon as the squeaky door opened, so I took off my long coat and draped it across him. He inhaled a large gulp of fresh air, and the colour was gradually flowing back to his cheeks.

For some time we simply stood side by side, leaning on the roughened wooden walls of the old house. The silence was broken when Min gasped. I whipped my head in his direction, wondering what happened. "Aren't you cold, KyuHyun-ssi?"

I looked at him, eyes wide. I was stunned, and you can't blame me. Here he was, realizing that all his hard-earned savings was used for the wrong reasons, wondering whether him being bought truly did any good to his only existing 'family', but all he cared about was me being cold. I was wearing layers of wool underneath my coat and he's asking me if I'm cold.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. I gave a hearty laugh that seemed to resonate throughout the village and my full-toothed smile stayed when I saw how confused he look. "Sorry," I started, eyes twinkling. "So much is going on in your life right now, but all you can think about is me being cold. I'm so sorry, but I find the contrast extremely funny." I chuckled once more, and a smile I couldn't control bubbled up to the surface.

He didn't seem to understand what I was talking about, but he smiled simply because I was smiling. That was more than enough to improve my mood.

"No, I'm not cold. But like I said, don't worry, okay? I'll make sure they don't hurt you." We shared a smile, and nodded at each other. "I know. Thank you, KyuHyun-ssi." He melted into my right arm, and I was more than happy to accomodate him. I rested my head atop his and sighed. I was going to protect him, even if it's the last thing I do.

SPPV212: That's a bit too extreme, don't you think, Kyu? I mean, no one's going to hurt him.
Kyu: HAVE YOU SEEN HOW THEY TALKED TO HIM? I will not allow that.
SPPV212: Awwwwwwww you squishy wittle couple
Kyu: *Smirks*
Min: Mm? What are you guys talking about?
Kyu: Nothing, Min. Go back to sleep. We've got a lot more chapters to go through.
Min: Mmmm... Okayyy. //Paddles away//
Us: *Squeals*
SPPV212: You lucky bastard, you.
Kyu: Now then, let's stop steering the topic away. Why did you take this long to update?
SPPV212: Oh, I was busy. No, I mean it. KYUUUUU
Kyu: *walks away* Whatever you say... whatever you say.