anguish [ˈaŋ-gwish] n. - Agonizing physical or mental pain

“Are you still pouting, Baekhyun?” Mihyun chuckled as she entered the cage to see Baekhyun sulking in the corner. “It’s been two days since Kris has left.”

“How could Hyung not say goodbye to me?” Baekhyun whined childishly as he flailed his limbs in the air. “That is such a mean thing to do! I would have said bye to him if I was leaving.”

Mihyun sighed and turned to Chanyeol who was sulking in the corner adjacent to Baekhyun’s. “And you, Chanyeol? Why are you pouting?”

“Because all Baekhyun cares about is Kris!” Chanyeol growled as he pointed an accusatory finger at the said boy. “I don’t get what’s so great about Kris anyways! I’m just as tall as him, and I’m just as handsome and my voice is just as deep!”

“It’s not the same, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun snapped with narrowed eyes.

“Yeah it is,” Chanyeol shot back, crossing his arms as he did so. “You’re just being dumb.”

“They’ve been like this the entire day,” Jongin sighed as he entered the cage with Kyungsoo at his side. The smaller boy quickly made his way over to Mihyun before latching himself onto her side, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist as he buried his face into the side of her neck.

“It’s nice to see you too, Kyungsoo,” Mihyun chuckled as she patted the boy’s head lightly. She glanced around the room to look for the other two boys, and frowned at their absence.

“Sehun and Luhan were called out to do something but they’ll be back soon,” Jongin explained as he patted her reassuringly on the back.

“Has Jaemin interfered with anything?” Mihyun asked with narrowed eyes.

Much to Mihyun’s relief, Jongin shook his head. He curved his lips into a slight frown as he recalled the events that had occurred earlier that day. “Actually, it was the exact opposite.”

Mihyun arched an eyebrow of confusion.

“There were these guards that were trying to pick on Kyungsoo,” Jongin explained, a dark shadow casting over his eyes as he recalled the memory. “But Jaemin came in and told them to knock it off. He even asked Hyung if he was alright, afterwards. It was… strange.”

Mihyun frowned at the information she had been relayed. It was rather strange indeed. What exactly was Jaemin trying to play at? She knew people couldn’t change that easily over night, so what was he trying to achieve by expressing his sudden kindness. “Be cautious around him until we know what he is after,” Mihyun warned Jongin in a low tone.

Jongin nodded his head immediately, “You don’t have to tell me that.”

She was about to respond with further words, but was interrupted by the sudden entrance of Sehun and Luhan. She turned at the sound of a squeal of delight, and smiled when Luhan quickly engulfed her into his arms.

“It's rather comforting to know that you are so excited to see me, Luhan,” Mihyun chuckled softly as she gently ran her fingers through the other’s blond locks.

Luhan nuzzled his head affectionately into the crook of her neck before pulling away with a broad smile. He jerked his head over to Sehun who was standing awkwardly near the entrance of the cage, and plopped down happily next to Kyungsoo.

Mihyun turned to the taller with a small smile etched into her face, and was about to speak until she was interrupted by a quiet knock. She and the other Noyes turned to the front door to see half of a face staring back at them, the rest of his body hidden behind the door.

“H-Hi,” the male spoke quietly, his visible eye darting around the room to gauge the reactions of the others. He ducked from sight when Sehun let out a low growl, unhappy to have had his reunion with the girl cut extremely short. He jutted out his bottom lip into a pout when Mihyun shot him a warning glare, and sighed dramatically before he moved over to sit next to Luhan.

“Hello to you as well,” Mihyun smiled warmly as she stepped towards the stranger. “What brings you here?”

“I… I wanted to help you,” the boy murmured in a voice so soft Mihyun had to strain her ears to hear.

Mihyun arched an eyebrow at those words, wondering exactly what the male had come to propose. “Help with what?”

“Your plans,” he answered as he slowly stepped into the room to reveal his entire appearance. He glanced bashfully down at the ground as he kicked the dirt at his feet. “I wanted to help you with the rebellion.”

Mihyun, as well as the other Noyes were surprised at the words the other spoke. Plans of the rebellion had drifted into the ears of many Noyes by now, but not a single one of them had stepped up to help. They hadn’t expected any of them to, to be quite frank, so it was rather surprising that somebody had stepped forward – especially somebody as tiny and meek as this male was.

“Why would you?” Baekhyun asked with an arched eyebrow of suspicion. He wasn’t too open to accepting new helpers, especially when their plans had already developed so much. “Who are you, anyways?”

“My… my name is Minseok,” the boy responded bashfully as he rubbed his arm. He glanced up at them with round, hopeful eyes. “I live in the cage next door, and… and I’ve heard some of your plans.”

“You mean you’ve been eavesdropping?” Chanyeol scoffed with crossed arms.

“Oh get off it,” Jongin rolled his eyes as he nudged Chanyeol with his elbow. “The walls are gaping bars, for heaven’s sake. He would hear us even if he didn’t want to.”

Minseok glanced gratefully at Jongin for coming to his rescue. “Would… would you mind an extra helping hand?”

“You know what will happen to you if you get caught, right?” Sehun asked with narrowed eyebrows. He wanted to be completely sure that the new comer knew exactly what he was getting into rather than chickening out mid way through.

Minseok nodded his head enthusiastically. “I know, I’ve heard everything you all have said!”

“Maybe we should be a little more discreet,” Baekhyun murmured as he scratched the back of his head.

 “You don’t need to worry, we don’t have any neighbors until you move a few cages down. It’s just me in mine,” Minseok reassured him.

“Just you? Why haven’t we ever noticed you?” Jongin asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I… I keep to myself, most of the time,” Minseok murmured quietly as he fiddled with his thumbs. “I don’t… I don’t really like interacting with other people.”

“Then why are you choosing to talk to us now?” Baekhyun asked suspiciously, his arms folded for good measure.

“I… From what I’ve heard you are all very good people,” Minseok smiled shyly, sneaking peeks at each of their expressions. “I want you guys to succeed.”

Chanyeol glanced at Baekhyun at those words, who then glanced at Kyungsoo, who glanced at Jongin, and so on and so forth until Mihyun finally trained her gaze on the new male.

“We’d be happy to have you, Minseok,” Mihyun smiled warmly as she placed a gentle hand on the boy’s shoulders.

Minseok’s eyes lit up at her words and a small squeak of excitement escaped his lips. He flushed a bright red from embarrassment at the sound, and gave them all a shy, thankful smile for accepting him.

Luhan shoves the grumbling Sehun over and pats the ground besides him to signal Minseok to sit down. The other male eagerly does so, cowering under the glare Sehun shoots over at him. Luhan carves a few words into the dirt ground before nudging Minseok gently to read them. Just ignore him, he’s very friendly once you get to know him.

Minseok gives Luhan a small smile, but it’s rather obvious that he doesn’t believe that just yet.

How old are you?

“I… I’m not sure,” Minseok admits as he scratches the back of his head. “I’ve lost track of the days.”

Luhan nods his head understandingly, for many Noyes eventually forget meager details such as dates and hours when stuck in a place for so long. How long have you been a Noye?

“Only… maybe two months, now?” Minseok murmured as he scratched his head. “It wasn’t very long ago.”

“Only two months and you’ve already lost track of the days?” Chanyeol asked with furrowed eyebrows. “Man, you must have an even worse memory than me!”

“Ah… it’s not really that,” Minseok murmured with flushed cheeks as he pulled his knees up to his chest. “I haven’t… I haven’t really been keeping track of the days for a long time now.”

The cage fell silent at his words, some because of sympathy, others because of confusion.

“Why not?” Chanyeol asked as he scratched his head. “How do you not keep track of the days? Don’t you need to live?”

Minseok flushed an even darker red at his words, and he clamped his lips together with no sign of continuing.

“Great job, idiot,” Baekhyun muttered under his breath as he smacked Chanyeol on the back of his head. “You really have no social skills.”

Chanyeol pouted at the scolding and mumbled a quiet sorry to Minseok before proceeding to sulk in the corner.

With a glance down at her watch, Mihyun figured that it was about time to return. Her father certainly hadn’t been giving her kind looks these past few days at her late returns home, knowing that her tardiness was because of the Noyes. As if right on cue, her phone vibrated in her pocket to signal that Jaesuk had arrived and was waiting outside to her back

After biding the Noyes a reluctant goodbye, she departed the Noye house to head towards the car. She was met with a grim faced Jaesuk, and she immediately knew that the news he was about to deliver certainly wasn’t positive.

“Your father wishes to see you the second you arrive home,” Jaesuk informed her with a tense face as she climbed into the car.

“Is it about…?” Mihyun asked cautiously.

Jaesuk nodded his head, and his grip on the steering wheel tightened. “He’s not happy.”

Mihyun took in a deep breath before letting it out rather slowly. “I haven’t assumed that he has been.”

 “It’s serious, Mihyun. I haven’t seen him this furious in quite a while,” Jaesuk responded with a concerned expression. There was a crease in between his furrowed eye brows as he recalled the livid state her father had been in when he had demanded for Jaesuk to pick her up.

“It was about time,” Mihyun responded rather calmly. She knew he façade fooled neither one of them, however, for on in the inside her heart was beating much too quickly to be normal.

The ride home ended much too quickly for her liking, and Mihyun took a deep, steady breath before finally climbing out of the car.

“I’ll be right at your side,” Jaesuk whispered reassuringly as he led her up the steps to the front doors of the house. “Stay calm, you know he will take it out on the others if he's angered even more.”

“I am always wonderful at keeping my calm, Jaesuk,” Mihyun gave him a dry smile. “You know that.”

Jaesuk gave her one last look before he pushed open the doors to enter the house. The entire mansion was rather eerily quiet, and Mihyun squeezed Jaesuk’s hand a final time as a boost of confidence.

“You’re home,” Chando announced in a flat voice as he appeared from around the corner.

Mihyun forced a pleasant smile onto her face, and she bowed her greeting to her father. “Yes, just as you’ve requested, father.”

“I assume you understand why I’ve had Jaesuk fetch you?” Chando asked with a raised eyebrow. He nodded his head expectantly when Mihyun answered with a soft yes. “Good, I will discuss this with you later. Good night.”

With those as his final words, he departed up the stairs and down the hallway to his master bedroom.

Mihyun stared at the closed door, her heart now beating twice as fast as it had before.

“Well that went rather smoot—”

“He’s planning something.”

“What?” Jaesuk asked with raised eyebrows of confusion. “What do you mean he’s planning something?”

“He’s planning something, I know it,” Mihyun responded as she bit down hard on her bottom lip. “I recognize that face, that tone of voice – he’s planning something.”

Jaesuk frowned at her words, but didn’t question them. Mihyun was the person who knew her father best, so he knew that she must have been right. “What do you think it is?”

“I’m not sure,” Mihyun whispered in a dry, horrified tone. “But I know it’s not going to be good.”

Mihyun decided the next day that it wouldn't be safe to visit the Noye house in case it would send her father on another rampage. Instead, she sent Jaesuk to inform them of her absence, and that she would visit them as soon as she got the chance to. She spent the entire day attending meetings and finishing up all the work that had been built up over the last few days, making sure to send her father hourly updates to assure him that she was hard at work.

“Do you think he’s calmed down?” Mihyun asked uneasily as she stepped out of the car. She glanced up at the seemingly peaceful house before her, and dreaded what could possibly be found within.

“I haven’t seen him the entire day, but when I had spoken to him over the phone he seemed relatively calm,” Jaesuk answered as he walked besides her. He patted her reassuringly on the shoulder, reminding her that she had done a great job that day. "There's nothing that could have increased the anger of your father."

“You’ve sent him the project advancements, right?” Mihyun asked as they slowly ascended the front steps to her home.

“Yes,” Jaesuk confirmed. “Every one of them. He seemed rather happy with the progress, so I don’t think he is upset with you today.”

Mihyun nodded her head in relief, happy to know that she must have delayed the actions of her father’s plans – whatever they were.

“Do you know if he’s returned home yet?” Mihyun asked as she removed her shoes after entering the house. “Perhaps I’ll offer to meet him out for dinner or something. I think he’d like that.”

“From his schedule, it doesn’t look like he’s left the house at all,” Jaesuk answered as he helped her remove her coat. “He’s probably upstairs in his study.”

“Will you go see him? I’m sure he’ll ask what I’ve been up to if you do, so be sure to add all the details as of the day,” Mihyun smiled to herself. “Make sure to say that I’m about to finish the project for President Chou right now.” She frowned as she listened to the subtle thwacking sound coming from somewhere in the house. “Before that, could you ask whoever is making that sound to quiet it down a little? I think it’s probably the gardeners out back.”

“Sure think,” Jaesuk smiled as he gave her a small two salute. He gestured up the stairs and  jokingly ordered her to get to work before he left to find the source of the disturbance.

She wasn’t all too happy that she hadn’t gotten to see the boys today, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make as long as she could keep them safe. Although she wouldn’t like to admit it, the person she feared most in the entire world was actually her father. Her father was a rather powerful man politically, and it was because of the reputation he has built that allowed her great leverage over other competitors.

Similarly to how others feared her family name for the power that was behind it, she feared her father. She knew that as clever as she was, she wouldn’t be capable of defeating her father if they were ever to fight against one another.

“Just a little bit more,” she whispered quietly to herself as she tied her hair up into a leisure bun. Just a little bit more until they could spur the first steps of the rebellion. Just a little bit more until she’d be able to see the warm faces of the others on a daily basis, free from the dirt and grime that caked their skin, free from the timely constraints of her father, free from the cold air that circulated the metal cages.

“Agashi, I’m coming in,” Jaesuk’s rushed tone sounded as he flung the door open. His eyes were wide with horror and he was slightly out of breath from the sprint he had made to her room.

Mihyun quickly stood up from her seat, and she stared at him with a racing heart, “What is it, Jaesuk?”

“Agashi, your father has brought them here, to the mansion!” Jaesuk cried in a hushed tone as he wrapped his hand around the girl’s wrist to yank her forward.

“What are you talking abo..." Mihyun's voice trailed off as she quickly realized who exactly Jaesuk was refering to, "Sehun? Is that who you mean? Sehun and Luhan?” A horrible feeling captured her chest as she watched Jaesuk nod his head in distress, and she immediately tore out of her bedroom.

“Where, Jaesuk?!” she demanded as she sprinted down the staircase, nearly tripping over the last few steps if it wasn’t for Jaesuk. “Where are they?! What is he doing to them?!”

“The noise,” Jaesuk responded quietly, his eyes filled with sadness and pity. He shifted his gaze away from Mihyun, not willing to stare at the dread and pain that would soon form in her eyes.

Mihyun froze mid step, and her head whipped around to stare at Jaesuk in confirmation. “The… noise?” she repeated dryly, her arms falling limp at her sides as she processed the underlying meaning to those words.

“They’re in the workhouse in the backyard,” he nodded his head, giving her a light push forward to get her moving.

Mihyun swore she had never sprinted faster in her entire life than she did in that instance. She shoved the maids out of her way, not even sparing the time to toss apologetic expressions over her should to make up for her rudeness. The loud whipping sounds pounded in her ears, growing louder and louder as she neared the workshop her father had created in the backyard many years ago.  She nearly ripped the door off of its hinges as she entered, her eyes widening with devastation at the heart breaking sight before her.

“Touch them again and I’ll kill you,” Mihyun let out a growl so low it sounded as if it had come from another person. Her fists curled at the sight of the puddles of blood that dripped onto the ground, and tears automatically sprung to her eyes at the sight of the two people she held dear.

“Mihyun,” Sehun whispered in a hoarse voice, a small smile spreading across his face as he used all of his remaining power to lift his head.

Luhan laid still at his side, his back a raw red from the countless number of whips he had earned to his backside. His arms were twisted awkwardly over his head as a pair of metal cuffs chained his arms to the roof. His once delicate face was covered in angry marks of red with tracks of tears dried over them. Sehun was in an even worse state, and Mihyun was sure that he had requested to take more beatings if they were to spare his Hyung.

“Ah, Mihyun, you’ve arrived home, have you?”

Mihyun slowly turned around to the sound of her father’s voice. She stared at the man with pure hatred, the only thoughts going through her head consisted of how much she wanted to murder the man on the spot.

“Why?” she asked in a quiet voice, worried that she would break into a rampage if she were to say anything more. “Why did you do this?”

“To teach them a lesson,” he shrugged nonchalantly. “And to teach you a lesson.” He glanced over her shoulder to examine the state of the Noyes, and nodded his head approvingly. “You may go now; you will receive your bonus on your way out.” The man who had been in charge of the torture, placed the whip down at his side before bowing to Chando. As he walked out, he gave a rough kick to Sehun's torso for good measure, smirking pointedly at Mihyun as he passed.

She made sure to engrave his face into memory.

“It looks like now you won’t need to waste your time at that dump anymore, now will you?” Chando smiled victoriously with crossed arms. His eyes flashed a dangerous color, and he nearly snarled his next words, “Take this was a warning, Mihyun. Visit that place again and you’ll find your other precious Noyes in a similar state.”

Mihyun’s heart clenched tightly in her chest, and there was a flood of angry words trying to break down her gate of restraint. She swallowed them down, however, knowing that anything she was to say now would only grant her momentary satisfaction, but would result in a punishment for the other Noyes in the future. She knew her father well, and the one thing she knew the most was that he never made empty threats.

A burning pain shot up her arms as she dug her nails into the palms of her hands to let out some of the overflowing anger. She waited until she heard the fading steps of her father, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her break down.

“He’s gone,” Jaesuk whispered quietly at her side. “I’ll call the doctors right away.”

That was enough to prompt her to sprint forward to examine the state of the two. Her mind entered a state of frenzy when she got a look at how much blood had been lost, and she dropped to her knees to cup Sehun’s face gently into the palms of her hands. She couldn’t even apologize to the boy, for such feeble words could do nothing to relieve the other’s pain.

She didn't have to say anything, for Sehun understood how sorry the girl truly was from simply looking at her face. He didn't even have to forgive her, for he didn't blame her even the slightest bit in the first place.

“Don’t cry, please,” Sehun whispered as he reached out to wipe the tears that Mihyun had unknowingly shed, ignoring the pain the rippled through his body at the motion. “Please.”

“I’m not crying,” Mihyun responded as she stared straight into the eyes of the male. He was rather good at withholding his expressions of pain after building up endurance from all of the years as a Noye, but his mask wasn't strong enough to deceive her. “I’m not.”

Sehun’s cracked lips stretched into a small smile, “You…y-you lied. G-Guess you can’t say… can’t say that you always say the truth any- anymore.”

The only sound that echoed through the four walls of the room was the shattering of Mihyun’s heart.