They all sat in the cold hospital waiting room with head in hands. The manager just paced on the floor screaming into the phone about how they were going to hide the accident. They were numb. They felt nothing. That’s what years of training and molding had done to them. It turned them into emotionless robots. Suho sat in his chair unable to shed tears. He knew that every part of his body was screaming at him to do something. Anything, but his brain knew better than to act out.

Sehun gently tugged on Luhan’s arm. “Hyung. Is Yixing going to be alright? There was a lot of blood.” Luhan didn’t smile or reassure him that Yixing would be ok, he just simple put his hand on top of Sehun’s and gave it a squeeze. Sehun winced, but said nothing and just went back to staring at the floor.

The doors opened and a doctor walked out.

“Is the guardian of Zhang Yixing present?”

All of the members stood up but the manager was the one who stepped forward.

“Please come with me.”

The members sat holding their breath as the stared at the closed doors. Finally they opened.

“He’s going to make it. However, there was extensive damage to his waist area and they said that it would be a long recovery for him to dance again. Damn it! You idiots! What were you thinking?! Do you really think that we can afford to have one of our main dancers injured in a hospital?! Get back to the studio and run through every dance you know at least 5 times then come meet me back at the dorm. You know what’s coming, but you also know that you deserve it.” With that their manager stormed out the hospital with a loud slam of the door.

Tao reached out to Kris with shaking hands, “Ge, we’re going to get punished aren’t we.” He asked as more of confirmation to something that he already knew.

Kris didn’t even bother to answer.

The all silently got back into the van and headed to the studio. The entire way they sat in silence dreading what the future held for them. They got back to the studio and were quickly shoved into a practice room where their instructor immediately put them to work. Every little mistake was caught and fixed. They were barely able to stand by the time they were done. Every ounce of their energy was put into dragging themselves into the van.

They opened the door to their dorm to find their manager sitting at their table with a bamboo branch in hand.

Suho saw the pale faces of his frightened band members and stepped forward, “Hyung. We’ve all had a long and stressful day. Don’t you think that they’ve suffered enough?”

The manager kept a cold look on his face and stood up. “Is that so? Is that what you think?”

Suho just nodded.

“Alright. Then you can go first. Hands on the wall.”

Suho felt the color drain from his face as his hands began to shake. “Please Hyung. Don’t do this.”

The manager grabbed him and shoved him against the wall. “10 each. Shirt off.”

Suho shakily pulled his sweat soaked t-shirt over his head.

Immediately the branch was brought down on his back and he winced, each lash burned and stung. Tears streamed down his face, but he refused to cry out. He saw the frightened faces through his tears and told himself that he was their leader and that he needed to be strong. After what seemed like an eternity the lashes stopped.

“Next.” He heard the cool voice of his manager say. Catching his breath he tried to take s step, but collapsed to the ground. Xiumin reached forward and helped him to his room. As he was disappearing down the hallway he saw Luhan’s pale back dripping with blood. Xiumin left as soon as he helped Suho into bed. Suho could hear the cries of the other members through the thin walls and was about to cover his ears with a pillow when he realized that he deserved to listen. His punishment wasn’t over.

So Suho lay there listening to the cries and shouts of his friends. Finally they stopped and Suho heard the door slam closed. Gathering his strength he walked out to the living room to find his band mates. Most of them were on the ground clutching their backs while other still had enough strength to stand, but were leaning heavily against the wall.

“I…I’m so sorry.” Suho whispered as he slid down the wall. Yixing was his beam of support. No matter what, Yixing could always put a smile back onto Suho’s face. But Yixing wasn’t there. Suho was alone and he hated it.

Eventually they all made their way to their respected rooms. Suho however was left alone in the dark. He lay on his side because his back was sore and stared at Yixing’s empty bed.

Baekhyun sniffled for the thousandth time. Chanyeol was currently wiping off his back with a wet rag and it hurt. He winced as the rag dragged across his open wound.

“Don’t worry Baekkie. I promise it doesn’t hurt once I’m done. Just be strong.” Chanyeol murmured.  

 Baekhyun just nodded and closed his eyes.

“You know that the doctor told me I need to lose more weight?” Xiumin said quietly as Chen wiped off his back.

“More?! You’re kidding! You look like you weigh less than I do.” Chen said as he stared down at Xiumin’s boney back.

Xiumin pulled his shirt back on and got under the covers. Chen got in next to him. They stopped sleeping in separate beds a long time ago. Chen his side and Xiumin’s cheek. “You’re perfect the way you are. Don’t change.”

“It’s not my choice. I have to do what they say or they’ll kick me out.” Xiumin said emotionlessly as he stared back with cold eyes.

Chen sighed, “Don’t think about it. Just get some rest.”

Xiumin’s eyes closed and soon he was asleep.

Chen however stared at the ceiling, ‘It’s what you have to do, but is it worth it?’

Kris growled as Tao cleaned his back.

“Ah sorry Ge. Are you ok?” Tao asked quietly as he looked at Kris with wide eyes.

Kris gave a small smile, “I’m fine. Just keep going.”

Tao nodded and continued to clean each wound with a small cotton swab, then he put a bandage over it and moved on to the next. Soon they were all done and Kris heaved a sigh of relief.

“Damn that really hurt.”

Tao snuggled into Kris’s side and buried his face into Kris’s shirt.

“Is something wrong?” Kris asked.

Tao shook his head.

Kris knew that something was up when Tao was quiet.

Gently, he nudged Tao. “Tao.”

Tao slowly looked up at Kris with teary red eyes.

Kris frowned, “Oh Tao.”

Mindful of Tao’s back, Kris wrapped his arms around Tao and pulled him in.

“I know it’s tough, but it will get better. We all knew that this wasn’t going to be an easy journey right?”

“I know, but I didn’t know it would hurt this much.” Tao said quietly. “I want to go home.”

Kris didn’t know what to say. He just lay there clutching Tao and wishing that the pain would go away.

“Jongin let me clean your wounds.” Kyungsoo said for the 6^th time.

“No.” Kai was stubbornly lying on his bed with his back away from Kyungsoo.

“Stop being immature. It doesn’t hurt that bad. Besides it might get infected if you don’t do anything.”

“That’s fine with me.” Kai said as he crossed his arms and frowned.

Kyungsoo sighed before shouting, “Kai! Let me clean your back!”

Kai sat up and growled, “I told you not to call me that.”

Kyungsoo smiled, “I know. But I will keep calling you that until you take off your shirt and let me clean your back.”

Kai struggled internally for a few seconds before giving in and easing off his shirt. Laying on his stomach, he watched as Kyungsoo pulled up a chair and began to clean.

“Ouch! That hurts!” Kai squealed as the disinfectant hit his back.

“I know. It will be over soon.”

Jongin pouted as Kyungsoo worked quickly.

Finally finished Kyungsoo put the supplies back into their kit, shut off the lights, and collapsed into his own bed. He could feel the hot lashes on his back and he squeezed his eyes shut trying to forget the pain.

“Hyung?” Kai’s soft voice whispered in the dark.

“mm”

“Can we sleep together tonight?”

Kyungsoo got up and shuffled his way over to Kai’s bed. Looking down he could see the whites of Kai’s eyes glowing in the dark and it surprised him how young and vulnerable he looked curled under the covers.

Kai scooted over to make room and Kyungsoo slid in next to him.

“Hyung?”

“Yes?”

“Why can we never do anything right? I work my hardest. I train for hours. I do everything in my power to be good, but it’s never enough.”

“I know Jongin. I know you do your best.” Kyungsoo said as he held Jongin’s hand.

Sehun and Luhan were already lying in their beds with the lights off. Sehun couldn’t sleep. He was staring at Luhan through the dark thinking of the previous events. He watched as Luhan cried out from the harsh beatings. The bamboo stick stained red with the blood of his friend. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to forget, but he couldn’t.

“S-Sehun?” Luhan’s delicate voice swam though the dark.

Immediately Sehun was at Luhan’s bedside.

“What is it? Does your back hurt? Did you have a nightmare?”

Luhan just shook his head in reply. Through the dark he could see Sehun’s worried face and he felt undeserving of such a caring friend. Tears began to stream down his face and he couldn’t stop them.

Sehun saw them glistening in the dark and gently wiped them away with his thumb, “Lulu, why are crying”

Luhan just closed his eyes.

Sehun frowned and tried again, “Why is my princess Lulu crying?”

Luhan opened his eyes to the sound of his nickname.

“Can I sleep with you tonight?” Sehun asked reading Luhan’s mind.

Luhan nodded and slid over to make room.

“I know that it hurts, but we can be strong. We can make it through because we are one right?”

“S-Sehun… today when we were backstage, the saesang called again. I tried to be strong at the airport. I tried to hide my fear, but I’m scared. No, I’m terrified. I’m afraid that they’re watching me when I sleep, when I eat, even when I’m alone I still feel like they are there somehow. I don’t know what to do anymore. If I tell the company they’ll just get me a new phone, but they’ll find out the number and this will continue until I go insane. I just… I’m so afraid.” Luhan was shaking and tears were spilling out of his eyes.

Sehun watched as his friend broke down. Gently he cupped Luhan’s face in his hands, “Luhan. No matter what I will protect you. If you feel scared, come to me. If you feel alone, come to me. If you feel weak, come to me. I will do anything to keep you smiling Luhan. Don’t forget that.”

Luhan was sobbing now so all he could do was nod. Sehun gave him a small smile before pulling him into his chest.

‘My poor baby deer. How can someone so pure be so broken?’

Chapter 4 done! I hope you enjoyed it. 

Disclaimer: THIS IS FICTION I have no idea if Exo's manager would ever hit them. I really doubt it. I hope not, anywho just in case you didn't know that this is a fictional story. 

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