Leo didn’t think he’d ever seen Ahjumma so furious in his life. She stormed right over to him and got right in his face. “You boy, are lucky I’m letting you back in the house. Just what were you thinking?? Do you realize the consequences of—”

Leo was spared the rest of her lecture by his name being called and him being brought to the back for an X-ray. They sent him back to the waiting room for several hours before being given the results. Luckily, Ahjumma seemed to realize that the middle of the Emergency Room wasn’t the best place for a lecture and Leo could see her holding out on her tirade until later.

His knuckle wasn’t broken, merely sprained and badly bruised, and they splinted three of his fingers together and gave him an ice pack with warnings not to strain his hand for at least a few weeks. Good thing I’m ambidextrous.

After being discharged, Leo climbed into Ahjumma’s car and they drove back to the house where several of the other boys were just getting home from school. Leo kept his head down as he walked past them with Ahjumma but they whispered amongst themselves regardless of if his face was visible or not.

He was about to head up the stairs, but Ahjumma pulled him into her apartment and closed the door. He turned to face her and the lecture began.

“I can’t understand you Taekwoon. I truly have no idea what was going through your head when you decided to nearly kill that boy.” Her voice was rising. “Do you realize that his father might sue you or me or anyone for what you did today?? I cannot afford that, I cannot afford anything else but keeping a roof over you boys’ head, do you understand me? Believe it or not, you and your friends are not the only ones here; I have eighteen other boys to feed, clothe, and give shelter to.

"I’m sorry Sanghyuk got himself killed, I really am, but if you keep on doing this do you know where all of you are going to end up?” Oh so it’s his fault now? She stabbed her finger at the window and her voice rose to a shout. “Out there! On the streets! Do you want to see Taemin, or Jinwoon, or Dongho, or Kyuhyun fending for themselves out there??” Kyuhyun would do okay. Leo kept his expression neutral. “Answer me, dammit!” She suddenly slapped Leo across the face and he stumbled backwards in surprise, bringing his uninjured hand to the red mark on his cheek. “Don’t just stand there staring at me like an idiot, SAY SOMETHING.”

Leo opened his mouth like he really would say something but he just couldn’t make himself do it.

"Tell me, pretty boy! Tell me what you said! Say something!”

A punch and a lot of pain. “Sanghyuk! His name is Sanghyuk and you’d better stay away from him!”

His voice caught in his throat and Leo closed his mouth again. No matter how angry Ahjumma was with him, she would not make him say a word. Ahjumma threw up her hands in resignation.

“Fine, fine! If you want to go nowhere with your life, then keep doing exactly what you’re doing. We have a meeting with the headmaster tomorrow morning to discuss what they’re going to do with you and you’d better hope and pray with everything you’ve got that they don’t expel you. If you’re smart, you’d lie low for the rest of your life.”

Leo hung his head again and recognized his dismissal. He exited the room and headed toward the stairs, passing N and Ken going the other way. They both opened their mouths to say something to him, but he just walked right past them without acknowledging their presence. He saw them glance at each other but continue on their way without saying anything. For some reason, this made Leo feel lonelier than ever. Why can’t they at least try?

He entered their room and found that one of them had brought his backpack home with them and it was waiting for him on his bed. Ravi was at the desk as usual, hunched over a science textbook, and Hongbin was reading on his bed. When the door opened, Hongbin glanced up, widened his eyes, and jumped down from his bed, hurrying out the door and shutting it with a loud slam. Great. Now even Hongbin is scared of me.

Leo felt suddenly exhausted. He couldn’t face the homework sitting in his backpack and besides, if he was going to be expelled, it didn’t matter if he did it anyway. He lay on his back and stuck his uninjured hand behind his head. He felt his eyes slipping closed and he entered a world he never, ever wanted to be in again.

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Sorry for the filler chapter. *hands out muffins* And the nice little cliffhanger since I love doing that. Thanks for reading!