There are things people don’t expect in the world. Such as cats and dogs raining from above, or the dead raising for a tasty snack, or even cartoons coming to life for no good reason. However, within my forced relations with GOT7. I have come to expect the unexpected. Yet, something as simple as waking up in my own room, has me in pure shock. Go figure that such a mundane thing has turned into the biggest deal.

I look around my room slowly. Is this a dream? Maybe those s designed the classroom to look just like my room in order to confuse me? Okay, actually that sounded stupid as hell. I’m really just in my own room.

I wince as I sit up, way too many questions swimming inside my head. However, no one to throw them at. I sigh deeply. Why the am I so disappointed that I wasn’t kidnapped by GOT7 again? Jeez, I really have some issues.

I drag myself from my bed slowly in order to get dressed for school. It takes longer than usual due to my current handicap and it really makes me wonder who the hell was dressing me yesterday me for school before. I shudder at the thought of Bambam, or even Junior playing dress up with my unconscious body.

Besides that, there is another unexpected thing. Everything goes by normally, and I mean everything. I walk outside. I meet Taeil. We then meet the others and even bump into Youngji on our way to school. Min Noona is the happiest seeing as she won’t be the only girl in our little groups of misfits, though, I never remember calling us that, nor saying Youngji was my friend.

Everything continues to be normal. It’s nice and surprisingly peaceful. However, one question keeps floating into my head. Why the hell is everything going by so normally? It was starting to make me feel as if I had dreamed up the last 2 weeks. That is, until I wince at the pain that spreads all over my body when my book bag bumps against my sore back. I knew I wasn’t crazy! Everything did happen. So where the hell are those demon children?

“Mark?” Taeil pops a lollipop into his mouth and gives me a concerned look. I look at him with a blank stare. “Are you okay? You seem quieter than usual…and that’s saying something.”

“Maybe he’s daydreaming about his six boyfriends?” Wooyoung Hyung jokes and when I have no comeback, not even a simple shut up, everyone stops laughing and becomes concerned.

“Do you have a fever?” Min Noona comes forward and feels my forehead. I move away from her. “He does feel a little warm.”

“I have some medicine, do you want some?” Youngji comes forward with a whole handful of stuff. I shake my head.

“I’m not sick. I’m fine.” I walk a little faster than everyone else.

“I don’t think I’ve seen Mark like this before,” Jo Kwon Hyung whispers somewhere behind me “doesn’t he seem totally out of it?”

I can hear you. I sigh inwardly. Somehow I do feel a little out of it. Why am I so distracted by the random disappearance of those guys? I should be rejoicing the heavens and thanking whatever higher being granted me this honor. Why am I so…down?

I look at the smooth ground as I walk and grip the strap of my book bag that hung on my good shoulder. I turn to look at everyone who continued to whispers about my change in behavior.

“I’m going to go ahead. See you guys later.” They all gives me weak smiles as I walk away. When I end up behind the school, I look at my surroundings. No one is near me so I dig into my bag for the fancy and horribly complicated walkie-talkie. I turn it on. All I can hear is white noise, it’s loud and I can’t hear any voices come through.

“Mark to GOT7. Mark to GOT7. Is anyone there?”

The line is quiet, excluding the white noise. I feel a weird sense of dread overcome me. Maybe I do feel a little feverish? I slump down so that I am sitting on the floor. I know it’s going to be hell to get back up with out any help, but I don’t care. Even though it hurts like hell.

I bring the walkie-talkie to my face, I turn it off.

“Seriously, where are you guys?” I whisper to no one.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“If you’re feeling sick Mark, you should head home. You’re in no condition to push yourself.” Taeil informs me as we head to P.E.

“Taeil’s right. If you were to faint in your current condition you could get worse.” Youngji adds. “Do you want me to take you to the nurse’s office?”

“Wouldn’t I be the one to take him? How can you carry him?” Taeil gives her a look of disbelief.

She sends him a glare. “Don’t you pay attention to the news going on in this school? I’m the fencing club’s captain. I’m much stronger than you think.”

“Oh, my bad.” He chuckles toward her. “I’m new actually. Look at the Mark, aren’t you lucky to be surrounded by two strong people?”

I roll my eyes. Though I would say my luck sure has been impeccable lately. I just happened to befriend another strong weirdo without even trying.

“I’ll be fine, worry about yourselves.” I huff. Youngji leans forward to look at me. I avoid eye contact with her at all cost. This woman is sharp and can probably tell what I’m thinking. I better not let my guard down.

“What’s that Mark?”

“Nothing important.” I walk faster, gripping tightly to the silent walkie-talkie in my hand. Youngji and Taeil rush to keep up with me.

P.E passes slowly. I can’t do anything so I have to watch Taeil as he plays basketball and Youngji as she plays tennis. It’s torture not being able to move. I feel like complete today. It also doesn’t help that my mind is all over the place. I roll the walkie-talkie in my hand and with a deep sigh, I turn it on again.

This time however, the line is fully active.

“I said to double check his usual spots!” Im Jaebum yells harshly over the line and a few people look my way. I sheepishly smile and make my way to my feet. It hurts. I then head as far away from people as possible.

“I told you, he’s not there!” Junior yells back. I think this is the first time I’ve heard them yell at one another. “What the do you won’t me to do? I can’t just make him magically appear out of thin air!”

“Let’s not argue, we have better things to do.” Jackson says in a serious tone.

“Jackson’s right. I checked at school. He isn’t there either.” Youngjae informs the rest. A few groans come through. Are they looking for someone? It can’t be me, right? I go to answer, but stop when Yugyeom’s voice comes through.

“You don’t really think Bambam will do anything stupid right?” His voice shakes and I could tell that whatever moment I came into, was far more serious than I had thought.
Bambam? They’re looking for Bambam? Also, what in the world happened?

“We all know how he gets on this day, don’t underestimate him.” Im Jaebum sounds like a true leader on some secret mission. That’s when I finally decide to make my entrance.
“If you’re looking for Bambam, I can help.”

The line goes dead for a few seconds. “Holy . I forgot we gave Mark Hyung a walkie-talkie.” Junior panics.

When the line goes dead again. I could only imagine what Im Jaebum might say. Maybe something like ‘it’s none of your business,’ or even ‘stay out of this Nerd, you’re unless in that state,’ or even –

“That would be helpful.” Im Jaebum’s voice is sincere and what the hell, I didn’t expect that. Well there goes another thing to add to my list for the day. “You’re at school right?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait, are you sure about this JB Hyung?” Jackson chimes in. “I’m all for Dimsum helping, but this….”

“We need to find Bambam. I don’t care how or who does.” Junior says sternly.

“They’re right.” Youngjae yawns. “I’m at school so I’ll go pick Mark Hyung up.”

“After that, we’ll split.” Im Jaebum adds and the others make a noise to agree. I try to ignore the fact that Yugyeom stopped talking as soon as I did, but it hurts. , not again. I even said I would wait. I’m such a liar.

I head back toward the basketball courts and Taeil is sitting where I had been before. He smiles at me.

“Hey! I was wondering where you went.”

“I gotta go, tell the others I’ll be back later.” I rush passed him as he gets to his feet.

“Wait, what? Mark!” I can hear him call after me, but I just keep speed walking away. My head still feels clouded. I take a deep breath. I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay.

It clears a little. Awesome. Now to find Youngjae.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The mission fails, and fails miserably. There is no trace of Bambam anywhere. Granted I didn’t exactly know where to look and my current condition didn’t make searching any easier. With a call from Im Jaebum we all head back to school. The day is almost over, but they all suggest we should head back just in case. Still no word from them, so I’m guessing Bambam hasn’t reappeared.

I sit back in my chair. Jackson has his head hidden in his arms. The failed mission was a serious blow to everyone in GOT7. Even I couldn’t help but be effected by the horribly grim mood everyone was in. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them look so pained, even Yugyeom couldn’t suppress his worry. I really wish I knew more about the situation, but all I know is Bambam ran away because today is an important day. Why it’s important, I have no clue.

I nudge Jackson with my good arm. He slowly gets up to look at me. His face looks as if he had not slept for days, even though Bambam only went missing this morning.

“We’ll find him.” I reassure him even though I wasn’t too sure we would, well not today anyway. “We can look after school if you want?”

Jackson shakes his head and makes his way to his feet. Everyone in the room looks at him, even the teacher stops talking. I stare at him as he looks down at me, eyes threatening to spill tears.

“I’m going to head back.” He heads to the front of the classroom, stopping in front of Taeil. “Look after him, okay?”

Taeil nods and the class bursts out into their usual GOT7 uproar. I sigh deeply. Where in the world could Bambam even be? Usually that kid is all smiles and trying to get in my pants, I can’t imagine what could of upset him this much.

Class ends and Taeil and I head back home. It’s a quiet walk back and I feel bad for making the atmosphere so depressing. However, Taeil doesn’t say a word about it at all so we head back in pure slience.

“Hey, can we stop in that store real quick?” Taeil’s voice is softer than usual. I absentmindedly nod. It’s a cute little bakery with a large assortment of colorful cakes in the front.

I try to get my mind to focus on something else but I can’t help but think of the little runaway brat. The ringing of my cellphone pulls me from my thoughts and I struggle to take it out of my front pocket. Taeil, who was close by, notices my struggle and helps me out, putting the phone to his face.

“Hello? Oh, it’s Taeil. Huh? Okay, I’ll let Mark know. Okay, bye.” Taeil smiles and hands me my phone back. I give him an annoyed look.

“I could’ve answered it by myself.”

“You barely can hold up your own hand, as if I could trust you to hold up your phone. If you drop it, your mother will kill you.” He teases well aware I could move my free hand quite well, even enough to hit him. “Oh yeah, speaking of your mother, she was the one on the phone.”

“What did she say?” It’s rare for my mom to call when she knows I’ll be home soon.

“She said your friend came over and that you should hurry up and go home.”

“Friend?” I think for a second as Taeil shrugs and the only person that comes to my mind is Yugyeom. I feel a strange surge of happiness spread throughout my body. “I’ll be leaving then. See you tomorrow Taeil.”

He waves good bye as I rush out of the store. The walk back to my house takes me five minutes and I nearly break down my front door to get in. I wonder if Yugyeom is still depressed over the Bambam issues? Who am I kidding, of course he is.

“I’m home.” I announce and my mother rushes from the kitchen and over to me. She makes a side glance toward the stares and I look at her confused. Usually when my mother appears and Yugyeom has been here waiting for me, he appears right beside her, however… “Is something wrong? Where’s Yugyeom?”

“He’s not here yet Sweetie.”

“Then who’s my friend that’s he – ?” My eyes widen and my eyes dart toward the stairs that my mother was eyeing earlier. Bambam is looking at me with a face full of pain and anguish. Tears are spilling one after the other and it almost breaks my heart looking at him. “Bambam…”

“He’s been here for hours. He won’t tell me why he’s crying though.” My mother whispers toward me but I only move away from her and head up the stairs. I go up slowly, as if I thought he were a wild bunny in a bush. One wrong move and I would never see that bunny again. He greets me with a slight bow, wiping his eyes roughly with his arm.

“Come with me.” I say softly and he follows without a second thought. We head into my room and as he takes a seat on my bed I close my door and lean against it. It hurts, but I ignore it. I feel extremely relieved, but at the same damn time I’m so angry I could punch him in his face a few times.

However, he’s still crying.

“What happened? You went all MIA on us. Everyone’s been looking for you.”

He chokes on a cry and digs into his pocket. He pulls out a folded piece of old paper and holds it out toward me. I walk over and as I take the old folded paper, I take a seat beside him on my bed. The old folded piece of paper turns out to be a lengthily letter in what I’m guessing is Thai. My eyes glance over to Bambam who seemed to be in a trance, eyes glued to the paper.

“What is this?”

“It’s the letter I came with when I was put up for adoption.” He laughs, but it isn’t a laugh full of joy at all. He wipes his eyes again. “On this day, 7 years ago, I was given up for adoption by my so called mother, who wrote that letter.”

“Wait, so the important day…today…it’s your adoption day?” I mumble more to myself, finally piecing everything together. No wonder the others didn’t say anything to me. It’s an extremely personal topic. It also explains why the others were so frantic and wanted to find him as soon as possible. They probably fully understood what he was going through, what thoughts he may have. “Why would you run away from your brothers?”

Bambam stays silent and I figure that’s not what he came here to talk about. He came here with something else in mind. I rub my thumb across the aging paper in my hand. “What does the letter say?”

He gives me a soft smile and takes the letter back. “My mother was a single parent…and she was struggling to raise and support me and my two older brothers. The government offered her support. However, it was an offer that saw the exchange of her children for money. For each child she gave up, they would send her 700 dollars.”

My eyes widen as I look at the defeated look on his face. “She only gave me up.”

I can see that just uttering those words hurt Bambam more than he would care to admit. I reach out and rub his shoulder. He doesn’t look at me, eyes locked on the letter again.

“That woman, how dare she call herself my mother? What kind of mother gives her child up for money? If we were going to suffer…why couldn’t we have done it together? Weren’t we a family?” He’s crying again and it hurts my heart in the worse way. I need to think of a way to comfort him, if not, I might end up crying as well.

“Maybe she wanted you to have a better life? You were the youngest…she probably knew that younger kids got adopted easier than older ones.” I rub his arm and he looks up at me with piercing eyes, ones that could probably rival – no, even beat Im Jaebum’s.

“Better life? What bull! Do you even know what hell I went through? How many homes I jumped in and out of? Do you know how many people…hurt me?” He takes a deep breath and it reminds me of the way Im Jaebum tries to calm himself down. I guess it’s no surprise that he mimics some of his older brothers habits. “That woman, she only cared about the money. She never cared about me at all.”

I have nothing to say back. Bambam’s words are as sharp as his eyes, and that’s when I realize that I am an outsider to their world. He’s right. I don’t know anything about the struggles they’ve gone through, nor can I fully understand them. Sure my mother was also a single mother, but she stood by me no matter what.

I squeeze his shoulder tightly and I can feel him start to relax. “You’re right. I don’t know anything at all. I’m also sorry that I can’t offer you any comforting words, but I do know five people who can.”

“They wouldn’t understand.” He huffs and shoves the letter into his pocket. “All those guys…they don’t care about where they came from. I’m the only one who still stupidly cries over this crap.”

“Even if that’s the case, your brothers are still really worried about you Bambam. You should talk to them about this. They wouldn’t make fun of you.”

He sighs and falls back onto my bed. He closes his eyes and that’s when I notice how horribly puffy and red they look. He must have been crying for hours, even before I got here.

“You should head home.”

He shakes his head. “Let me sleep over Hyung.”

“Eh? Go home you damn brat! If the others find out you’re here and not at home, they’ll kill us both.”

Bambam moves so that his back is facing me. He shakes his head again and I give up. I’m not in any state to fight him nor throw him out. “Fine, whatever, but you better go back home tomorrow.”

I move to get up, but his hand comes out and grabs ahold of my wrist. I look at his swollen eyes and take a seat. I really wish I knew how to comfort this kid. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to take the suffering of another person away this badly in my life. Why did he have to go through such a thing at such a young age?

“Hyung?” His soft voice takes me from my thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“The one that Yugyeom visits…is you right?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” I can feel my heartbeat increase ten fold and I gulp. , I mean it wasn’t like it was suppose to be a secret…but somehow I can’t bring myself to admit it.

“I’m not stupid. I realized that Yugyeom would sneak out of the house at random times with the excuse of a walk. He’s not the type to lie or even explore places alone. He never keeps secrets from me, but somehow he kept this from me. It was like he was trying to keep you all to himself Hyung. It must be nice to be loved like that.” Bambam whispers and I can feel my face get red.

“Love my . Stop talking nonsense. If Yugyeom says he’s going for a walk…then he’s going for a walk. Also, you are loved. Very loved to be honest.”

The room gets quiet again and I’m scared he might continues to ask me question about Yugyeom. I take a deep breath. Don’t panic.

“Hyung?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think…I’m horrible for saying I never want to see my mother again?”

I look at him and his eyes are glued to mine. I shake my head and he can’t help but show how shocked he is. His eyes water and he looks away from me.

“Why would you be horrible? You have the right to feel the way you do about her. You don’t have to meet her, but it doesn’t mean you never can.”

The room gets quiet once again and I notice a small smile across his lips. It makes the sad expression on his face looks worse. Like he would erupt into silent tears any minute.

“You know, my mother was really beautiful…I think I took after her. She also used to love to sing lullabies to me and my brothers. Do you think you can sing me a song Hyung?”

“I sing as well as you do.” I roll my eyes and I can hear him laugh. It sounds much more genuine this time.

“Hyung?” Bambam sits up and I look at him. “Do you…think it’s wrong of me to miss her?”

That’s when I realize that Bambam had been lying earlier. He actually loved his mother very much. Even though he felt abandoned by her and even deeply hurt by her…this child does not hate her. He loves her so much that it even pains him to admit it. , I really think I might cry. I pull him into a one armed hug, It makes me wince since he comes forward with more force than anticipated, but I don’t push him away. I run my hand through his hair.

“Bambam, I know I have no place to say this to you, but you should go see your mother.”

Bambam is completely still in my arms. It takes a few seconds, but then he is crying into my chest as hard as he can. I can’t help but think that he has always wanted to hear those words. The words he did not have the courage to speak on his own. The words he was afraid would destroy the happy little family he gained and grew up with 7 years ago.

“Go see your mother Bambam.” I say softly this time and he chokes on a cry as he nods his head.

“Thank you Hyung.”

“Yeah, yeah. Now stop getting your snot all over my uniform."

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UPDATE. I really wanted to update this on the fourth of july, but eh its close enough!

sorry its a much more sad chapter this time around! ENJOY

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