A general sense of aching intruded on Byunghyun’s slumber, needling him awake as the pain in his chest and foot became increasingly insistent.  Wincing at coming around, he pried his eyes open reluctantly and groaned in the back of his throat, futilely trying to swallow around a mouth that felt like cotton.  Immediately, he held very still when he realized something was wrong.  It was entirely too quiet.

                “Byungie?” a soft, familiar voice questioned before Byunghyun tilted his head to the side and noticed Chanhee limping towards him with a curiously happy expression on his face.

                “Yeah,” he responded by rote, answering the question without thought.  Still somewhat confused, his brows scrunched together and he tried to sit up, coughing when pain tugged at his chest and into his abdomen.

                “Easy,” Chanhee soothed, getting close enough to press his shoulders back to the ground with a quick glance around.

                “What happened?  Where’s everybody else?” Byunghyun asked, glad for the demand to rest because really, he hurt a helluva lot more than he remembered getting injured for.  Yet.  He glanced down and noticed mostly clean bandages peeking out from under the tattered blanket lying atop him as Chanhee answered.

                “It’s alright.  They went back to finish checking on the house,” Chanhee explained, keeping his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

                He knew Byunghyun well because the injured man tried to sit up again, coughing at the strain before he let his head fall back to hit the ground.  “Why the hell did they do that?”  His eyes narrowed again and he didn’t give Chanhee a chance to even respond before he ran over his question with another.  “Changhyun?!”  Another knee-jerk attempt to get up was stopped before it could even start.

                “Byunghyun!” the lame young man beside him muttered under his breath, placing both hands on his shoulders as he started to get annoyed already.  “Look,” he murmured, nodding with his head towards the other side of Byunghyun.  When he turned to shift his attention warily, Byunghyun could see an apparently exhausted Changhyun curled up into a little ball only a foot or so from him, his hands clasped lightly in front with what looked like dried tear-streaks on his dirty cheeks.  “He’s fine,” Chanhee sighed in a relieved tone.  “Thanks to you.”

                For a long moment, Byunghyun just inspected Changhyun’s face, making sure for himself that he was breathing and otherwise unharmed.  He was his responsibility after all, the hopeless little bugger.  He cringed when moving his arm hurt his chest muscles too but he didn’t care as he reached over to rest his hand lightly atop Changhyun’s beanie.  The boy whimpered in his sleep and curled up further, making Byunghyun smile with a hint of sadness.  He wiped the expression off his face immediately when Chanhee started speaking again.

                “When the couch fell through the second and first floor inside, Minsoo ran in to see what happened,” he explained, keeping one hand on Byunghyun’s shoulder as he continued to listen and pretend he wasn’t looking at Changhyun.

                “So it was a couch?” Byunghyun murmured, running back through what had happened before he’d gotten injured.  “Why did Daniel call out for-”  Before he could say the name, Chanhee interrupted deftly.

                “Jonghyun almost fell through with it but the kid’s amazing with those damn knives,” he snorted.  Byunghyun looked over in confusion, very much out of the loop.  “Yeah.  Would you believe he actually caught himself on the floor by stabbing them into the wood long enough for Daniel to haul his up?”

                Byunghyun chuckled in amused disbelief, a wry but relieved smile twisting his lips.  “I bet it was his heavy that caused it in the first place.”  He was either close or Chanhee was humoring him when the other boy just laughed along.  “So they’re good then?  All of them?”

                “Yes,” Chanhee confirmed.  “Jonghyun was a bit scraped up but Daniel and Minsoo are fine.  We were more worried about you, idiot,” he grumbled, raising a fist like he was going to hit Byunghyun in the head.

                “Hey!” he retorted, groaning when he picked his hand up defensively.  “I’m the injured one here,” he cough-laughed, bringing his hands to his chest pitifully as he pouted and completely played up his potential invalid status.

                Rather unaffected by the display, his companion rolled his eyes and sighed.  “Yeah well, that’s what happens when you step on a nail and take your own weapon to the chest.”  Byunghyun glared at Chanhee who just raised a brow at him and huffed, “I thought it bit you!”

                Byunghyun gestured at his gauze covered chest and grumbled, “This isn’t bad enough?  Ow!” he winced when Chanhee did smack him in the head with an open hand for that one.  “Why are you so mean to me?” he whined in a subdued tone.

                “Why are you such a stubborn brat?” Chanhee retorted, exhaling again to shift around, retrieving his hammer as he returned his focus to their surroundings, obviously playing the defensive guard.

                Still muttering under his breath, Byunghun lifted his head enough to get a better glimpse of their location.  It looked like they were simply on the outskirts of the neighborhood, far enough away that they could still see the mostly whole house, but close enough that they weren’t officially in the wastes either.  Another glance at his person made him shiver.  He felt rather without his shirt and pulled the blanket up close, chirping when he heard Changhyun stir again.

                “Byunghyun?” the boy whispered, opening his eyes surprisingly fast as he noticed Byunghyun lying awake beside him.

                “Oh!  Changhyun,” Chanhee murmured, twisting back around to see them both.

                He might as well have not spoken for all the attention the younger man paid him.  “Are you alright?” Changhyun asked, pushing himself into a hasty sitting position so he could scrabble that much closer with his hands clutched guiltily in his lap.

                That question was familiar and Byunghyun laughed when he vaguely remembered why.  Changhyun apparently thought it was something against him and a brief flash of worry crossed his face before Byunghyun grabbed his wrist and held firm.  “I’m fine,” he assured him, managing the ghost of a smile.

                “But you were hurt so bad,” Changhyun whispered, taking the contact as permission to grab his hand in both and hold it tight.  “And it was my fault,” he sniffed, obviously still feeling guilty.

                Byunghyun could feel Chanhee watching them and he cringed at being scrutinized but spoke, “Hey!”  Changhyun jumped slightly and looked at him with wide, teary eyes.  “Didn’t I tell you I kick the of all the things?” he grumbled dryly, keeping his voice low and making sure to take shallow breaths.

                “But-” Changhyun started to say.

                “Feh,” he interrupted with a wave of his other hand.  “This is nothing,” Byunghyun snorted in false bravado, rolling his eyes as he determinedly braced himself against the ground and pushed up with an ugly grimace, getting stuck halfway with a painfully chagrined expression.

                “Byungie…” Chanhee sighed, shaking his head.

                “What?” Changhyun asked, perplexed.  When Byunghyun barely nodded his head forward with a small grunting sound in the back of his throat, Changhyun gasped.  “Oh!”  He reached behind and gave the injured male a little help in getting up the rest of the way, keeping his hands where they were on his while he leaned forward to see into his face better.  “You okay?” he asked worriedly, glancing away when Byunghyun looked at him with a slightly cross expression, lips pursed into an annoyed thin line.

                Caught off guard when a small piece of debris smacked him in the side, Byunghyun grunted and awkwardly drew the blanket about his shoulders for greater protection against his friend and the chill in the air.  “Chanhee!” he groaned, swiveling his head to see the lame man actually wink at Changhyun, who then had the audacity to giggle.  “I give up,” he exhaled, too sore and outnumbered to care.  “Where’s my shirt?” he asked instead, rubbing his arms with his hands reflexively.

                “Buried over there somewhere,” Chanhee waved dismissively, his attention focusing in the direction of the house.

                “Eh?” Byunghyun whined, hanging his head dejectedly.

                “It was covered in blood,” Changhyun explained apologetically, biting his bottom lip as his brow furrowed impressively.

                Mutely, Byunghyun peeled the top part of his bandage away enough to see just a teensy bit of the damage his chest had sustained.  He grimaced when he noticed the bruising coloration already spreading out from under the hastily applied patch of cleaner cloth that hid the worst of it and helped staunch the blood flow from various puncture wounds.  He sincerely hoped his tetanus shot was up to date enough…  That thought looped in his head when he peeked at his similarly bare foot that was also covered with mostly clean wrappings.  Stupid nails.

                “Oh!  Is that them?” Changhyun asked, perking up while he pointed towards the house in the steadily deepening gloom of the day.

                How long had he been out for?  Byunghyun didn’t know and it didn’t really matter but it was good to see the guys returning: all three of them.  They looked moderately weighed down by… stuff too.  From this distance, he really couldn’t make it out, but he was hoping it boded well for them.  Especially after his rather embarrassing accident in the back.  He tilted his head to the side and squinted thoughtfully as he counted the figures with his finger, pausing on what had to be Jonghyun and frowning harder.  What the hell was hanging around his shoulders?

                “You guys made it,” Chanhee practically beamed as he got to his feet and hobbled to join them while they made their way in, giving weary smiles in response.  Byunghyun was ersely pleased when Changhyun remained by his side instead of getting up to greet them as well.

                “Sorry for the delay,” Minsoo chuckled with a nod back at his two companions.

                “We found so much stuff!” Daniel exclaimed excitedly, grinning as he bounced in place, shedding makeshift bags and what looked like a dusty jug of emergency water.  He didn’t free his hand fast enough, strands of cloth wrapped around it and the handle to help keep the item secure, and nearly managed to send himself tumbling to the ground.  “Yah!”

                Awkwardly, Minsoo caught him with one hand and a wry shake of his head before he laughed and set the rest of his own burden down, including another water jug.  He scanned the group and noticed that Byunghyun was conscious, which prompted a small nod and a smile, but he didn’t say anything before he turned to sorting stuff out.

                “Hey!  Byunghyun’s awake!” Daniel pointed blatantly, making the downed man sigh and pull the blanket around his shoulders further.

                “Daniel.  Can you give me a hand?” Minsoo asked, waving the slightly taller male closer as Chanhee joined him to start pawing through the stuff.

                “Whoa!  Is that what I think it is?” Changhyun gasped, grabbing tight to Byunghyun’s arm, making him wince, as he stared at the approaching Jonghyun.

                “Seriously?” Byunghyun snorted and shook his head in disbelief.

                Looking only a little more scraped up than usual, all things considered, Jonghyun flashed him an amused grin and let the heavy, deadweight of a rather large snake fall off his shoulders with a sigh of relief.  “You know.  A funny thing happened when we were checking around the back,” he started, nudging the body with his toe as he gave Changhyun a reassuring look.

                “Yeah?” Byunghyun prompted, humoring him with a knowing twinkle in his eye.

                “Yeah,” he responded, dropping the other bag off his shoulder which had a strange protrusion sticking out of it.  “We saw this bastard trying to slither away, only it couldn’t,” he chuckled, hearing his brother laugh once in the background.

                Guessing where this was going, Byunghyun laughed himself while Changhyun stared in wide eyed awe.  “Why not?” he asked, hovering ridiculously close to the injured male, as if he was afraid the snake would suddenly come to life again and attack them.

                “Well,” Jonghyun responded, reaching down to grab the odd protrusion and hefting it into sight.  “It had this,” and he raised Byunghyun’s nail bat into sight, “stuck in its mouth.”

                He couldn’t help it.  Byunghyun had to laugh at the absurdity of it all and he doubled over in honest amusement until he had to stop because it hurt too much.  “Ow, ow, ow,” he hissed, placing his hand against his abdomen and chest.  “Leave it to you to make me look like an amateur,” he snorted, giving Jonghyun a bemused grin.

                “Eh.  Technically, you bagged it for me,” he shrugged, smacking the thick body with his hand.

                Byunghyun nodded once in appreciation and then glanced over to watch Changhyun draw close with a curious expression on his face.  “How did it get so big?” he asked, daring to reach out and poke the skin with one finger.  A weird expression crossed his face then and he looked between Jonghyun and Byunghyun in confusion.  “It’s not slimy.”

                That made them both laugh and Byunghyun actually fell over when a wad of cloth pelted him in the face, launched by a mischievous Daniel who leaned away from Minsoo after the attack.  Muttering under his breath and refusing to get up again, he inspected the projectile from the ground as Jonghyun responded to Changhyun’s inquiry.

                “People just think they’re slimy and this one’s a constrictor.  See the mouth?” he pointed out, obviously reaching for the head to show Changhyun the set of short, back curving teeth, some of which were missing.

                “Yah!” both Changhyun and Byunghyun yelped at the same time.  The latter continued when all eyes focused between them, “This is a girl’s shirt!”

                Daniel snorted and answered before anyone else had the chance, “Everything else was too big for your scrawny frame.”

                “Shut up, beanpole,” he muttered, glaring ferociously at the dark blue, women’s tee.

                “It’ll work for now.  Won’t it?” Minsoo asked reasonably, tilting his head to get a better glimpse of the downed male.

                Byunghyun didn’t deign to give him a response but he did ball the shirt up and promptly try to get back into a sitting position with just as much trouble as before.  A steady steam of muted curses filtered through his teeth and he was mildly surprised when he heard Changhyun hurry over to help him again.  “Thanks,” he murmured in embarrassment, ducking his head to quickly don the stupid shirt so he at least had something else on.

                “Of course,” Changhyun smiled, making an effort to scrub his cheek clean where salt had crusted on the skin and was probably itchy.

                “Here,” Daniel offered, moving closer with a chagrined expression and a waterskin in his hand.

                Nodding gratefully with a hesitant smile at the considerably taller man, Byunghyun accepted the offering and asked, “Just a sip?”  It seemed almost cruel considering how dry his mouth was but his eyes lit up when Minsoo answered instead.

                “You can take your fill this time.  We found more than we expected,” he confirmed, rapping his knuckle against the jug.

                He was oh so tempted to drain the container in one go, but even with permission, water was still too precious to waste that way.  With a sigh of relief, he took a small sip to at least wet his mouth and clear it of the dust therein before he took another draught and savored the tepid liquid.  Absently scratching at his itchy chest, he glanced at Changhyun and handed the skin off to the younger male whose eyes lit up excitedly at the prospect.

                Daniel sat down heavily beside Byunghyun and watched the two before he fixed his sight on the injured male.  “I’m glad you’re alright,” he finally admitted stubbornly.

                “That makes two of us,” Byunghyun snorted in amusement.  “Ow!” he winced when Daniel smacked him in the arm with an open hand.

                “Don’t do that again, shorty,” he grumbled pointing at him in an accusatory manner.  “Ack!” he groaned and fell over when Byunghyun retaliated by actually punching him in the shoulder.

                “Now children,” Chanhee teased in wry amusement from his vantage near Minsoo who only sighed at their antics.

                “It’s his fault,” Byunghyun grumbled, accepting the waterskin back from a wide-eyed Changhyun who didn’t know what to think about the exchange.

                “Is not!” Daniel wailed, sitting up to flail in his defense.

                “Alright guys,” Minsoo interrupted abruptly, standing up so he could grab all their attention with ease.  “We’ve got a choice,” he explained as all eyes focused on him.  He gestured towards the horizon, which was continuing to grow darker by the minute.  “We can bunk down out here for the night or we can head inside,” he went on, nodding back towards the house they’d ransacked earlier.

                “Is it safe?” Byunghyun had to question, despite the fact he knew Minsoo wouldn’t even mention it as a possibility if he didn’t think so.

                “With a little work,” Minsoo responded evenly, treating the question as valid.  It was something Byunghyun had come to respect about the older man.  Whereas most of them were quick to tease and throw derisive responses at each other, Minsoo had a knack for not making you feel dumb the majority of the time.  Mostly.

                “Can we stay inside?” Changhyun asked in a quiet voice, looking around the group with hopeful eyes.  He shrank in on himself when everyone turned to look at him.  Byunghyun reached over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

                “It did have a fireplace,” Jonghyun added with a nod towards the snake.  It had a lot of bones but the meat really did taste pretty close to chicken and they could all have their fill in relative safety.

                “Do we need to vote or is it unanimous?” Minsoo questioned, making sure to consider everyone’s opinion on the matter.

                “I want to be inside if possible,” Chanhee raised his hand and looked at the house wistfully.  A subdued chorus of agreement followed his comment and he smiled.

                “Inside it is,” Minsoo nodded, reaching down to give Chanhee a hand up.  “Let’s get moving,” he urged, patiently repacking what they’d just unpacked.

                “Ugh,” Jonghyun groaned good-naturedly as he stood up.  “This damn thing’s heavy,” he complained in a joking manner while he reached to pick the snake back up and sling it over his shoulders again.  It was long enough to almost reach the ground on either side and Jonghyun wasn’t exactly short.

                “Tell me about it,” Byunghyun sighed, getting to his feet with a little assistance from Changhyun who continued to… hover.  Damn he must have really felt guilty about the whole attack thing.

                “Maybe next time you should move out of the way,” Jonghyun winked, making sure Byunghyun caught it before he picked up the bag he’d discarded earlier.

                “Har har,” he muttered back, making a face and biting his tongue when setting weight on his injured foot hurt a lot more than he expected.  “…” he exhaled, standing on one leg.

                “Here.  Lean on me,” Changhyun urged, shifting to the injured side so he could act as a makeshift crutch.

                “Wouldn’t it be better if someone just carried you?” Daniel asked, pointing to the house which was only a short distance away.

                “No!” Byunghyun shot back immediately.  Of all the indignities, he was not going to subject himself to that if he was still capable of walking, albeit poorly.  “We’ll be fine,” he grumbled with a glance at Changhyun while he shifted as much weight as he dared to the younger boy.  Mutely, Changhyun forced a smile and gave a thumbs up in agreement.  “See?” he shrugged, almost daring Daniel to challenge him.

                “Eh, they’ll be fine,” Minsoo chuckled, setting a water jug down next to Daniel with enough force to startle him.  “Come on,” the elder smiled, clapping his tall companion on the shoulder, prompting a relieved laugh.  “Jonghyun.  Go ahead and take point.  You know the safe spots,” he waved, catching the nod from his sibling as he shifted back to Chanhee.

                “Let’s do this,” Byunghyun laughed forcefully, testing just how much freedom he had to place his impaled foot on the ground.  Where the hell had his shoe gone?  Not that it mattered since wearing it now was just a bad idea, but he would want it later.

                “It’s alright.  I’ve got you,” Changhyun nodded determinedly, doing his best to hold Byunghyun upright with one of the injured man’s arms over his shoulder, fingers gripping tight around his forearm.  His other arm supported Byunghyun around the waist, keeping them close.

                “Daniel.  Bring up the rear?” Minsoo asked, loading himself up so he could offer Chanhee a supporting hand as well.  He was okay to walk when necessary but it was hard going and having someone to hold onto helped considerably.

                “Yeah, yeah,” Daniel waved with a heavy sigh as he helped clean up the rest of the stuff.

                Byunghyun felt bad about not carrying anything but it was hard enough to walk as it was.  At least it kept him from worrying about how much his chest itched.  The group moved at a considerably slower pace, matching Byunghyun and Changhyun which the former felt guilty about.  He hated being a liability; it honestly galled him to no end.  But, it did get him out of actually doing anything when they settled inside taking refuge in one of the ground floor bedrooms.

                The one window was easy enough to blockade with the box frame of the bed, leaving them the mattress to rest on during the night; it was a perk all of them were looking forward to.  Daniel found some candles hiding in a secret compartment under the staircase which had been jarred open by the couch falling through the interior.  With those in hand, they were able to light the room up while Minsoo went out with Chanhee to help Jonghyun in gutting the snake.  With a full kitchen and a fireplace, they could actually cook the meat in a pan.  Or just choose to roast it as they usually did, but they had options!  Someone simply had to keep an eye on the hole in the floor which they could only cover so well.  Stupid couch.

                “You guys good?” Daniel asked Byunghyun and Changhyun as he finished up making sure the lighting was secure.

                “Yes,” the injured male answered with a nod on the bed.  It felt distinctly odd being on something so soft and cushiony again.

                “I’m gonna go see what else I can find in this place,” he grinned, dusting his hands off before he took his golf club and nodded.  Someone else had mostly ransacked it early on but there were bits and pieces left over that could be salvageable.

                “Try to find Changhyun a weapon if you can,” Byunghyun called out, surprising the younger boy beside him.

                “Eh?” he blinked, pointing at himself.

                “Will do,” Daniel saluted, twirling the club and flushing in embarrassment when he nearly whacked himself in the head with it.

                “Idiot,” Byunghyun snorted.

                “Shorty,” Daniel shot back, fleeing before the other male could find something to throw at him.

                “I don’t know how to use a weapon,” Changhyun explained hurriedly, obviously worried.

                “I know,” Byunghyun nodded matter of factly.  “Super soakers,” he rolled his eyes and waved a hand dismissively.  “But you’re gonna learn,” he pointed a finger in Changhyun’s face.  The prospect was apparently daunting if the younger boy’s expression was any indication.  “Just… after dinner,” he amended, placing a hand over his stomach which let out the strangest grumble he’d heard in a while.  Well, that was what happened when you didn’t eat all day…

                “I guess?” Changhyun responded hesitantly, mouth pulling to the side in a nervous grimace.

                “You’ll be fine,” Byunghyun assured him, distractedly itching at his chest again before he flailed and forced himself to stop.  It hurt and it didn’t do any good.  But he was also mildly concerned because he didn’t know if it was healing or something else.  Considering how nasty his weapon looked, as he confirmed with a glance at the rusty, stained thing nearby, he could only hope it wasn’t getting infected.  God that would .

                “Do you think this is a boy’s room or a girl’s room?” Changhyun asked, looking around the interior curiously.

                Byunghyun took a second to get a better glance himself and shrugged.  “Probably the parents’ room.  I don’t know many kids who get the master suite with a king size bed,” he chuckled, noticing the closed off doors for the bathroom and the closet.

                “Oh,” Changhyun nodded, getting to his feet to carefully approach the closet.

                “What are you doing?” the seated male asked, blinking curiously.

                “Checking to see if there are any more clothes,” he smiled back with an energetic nod.

                Byunghyun glanced down at his women’s shirt and grimaced.  “See if you can find a guy shirt in there too.”

                “I was going to,” Changhyun responded, opening the door with wary caution.  Well that was unexpected.  Byunghyun smiled at Changhyun’s thoughtfulness and placed a hand to his chest, letting a worried frown pull at his mouth.

                Was he just warm being inside or did it feel hotter than usual?  Rubbing his fingers over the fabric of his chest lightly, he took a shallow breath.  He’d have to ask Chanhee or Minsoo to help him check it out later.  Testing, he placed the back of his hand to his forehead and grumbled under his breath.  He never could tell if he was running a fever or not.

                His concern was briefly pushed to the back when Jonghyun opened the door with a plate of steaming meat and a huge grin on his face.  “Anybody hungry?”

(a/n:  Hah!  See?  I wasn't trying to kill anybody off.  lol  But I know it was a decent scare there.  ;)  Now we get to see a bit more of their group dynamic at work.  Hopefully this one was a bit nicer than the previous one and we'll see where it goes from here. haha  Thanks for reading and please look forward to the next update!)