Donghae, Siwon, Sungmin and Leeteuk hailed a cab to go to the café where they are about to meet the rest of the group. They all heard what happened and rushed toward the café where they normally hang.

When all of them were gathered together, Kangin immediately said, “What happened to Ryeowook? Did his stepbrothers beat him up again, those guys will pay.”

“Worst things could happen to them.” Heechul added.

“Chill guys, no one hit Ryeowook, he was not beaten or anything, he actually inflicted the damage to himself this time. He attempted to take his own life by drinking isopropyl alcohol.” Kyuhyun stated.

Donghae, Siwon, Sungmin and Leeteuk, being the last people to arrive listened to the story quietly, without making any comments.

“I told him to let everything go and just to chill, listen to upbeat music whenever his down, call me or one of us if he needed to talk to someone. But I guess he didn’t listen.” Said Yesung.

They saw Kibum and Hankyung on their way with their drinks.

Kibum, “Guys, have some slushy to calm your nerves.” “You two…” pertaining to Kangin and Heechul, “… Have the biggest ones, you guys are so hot headed that you might break something here. And what? You expect me and Hankyung to pay for the damage again.”

Eunhyuk and Shindong laughed in unison. “Like you won’t pay for it.. Ahahaha!” blurted Eunhyuk.

“Yeah as if you guys are not afraid of old mom and dad.” Shindong added.

“Shut up you hog, give me your drink, 1 sip and you’ll pay for it this time.” Hankyung stated madly.

Immediate, Siwon with an authoritative voice, “Guys, this is serious, we know that Ryeowook has a lot of problems lately but any of you thought that he would attempt to do such a thing?”

Everybody agreed.. Among the 12 of them, no one saw this coming… Well except for one, Yesung.

“He actually told me that he is sick and tired of his mom and stepdad’s bickering everyday. He asked me once if he can stay over but we were about to go out on a trip that week, I asked Kyuhyun if Ryeowook can stay over but he had exams.” Yesung said to everyone. “I feel kind of responsible for what had happened.”

“Me too.” Kyuhyun added.

Donghae feeling sorry for his two friends said “It’s nobody’s fault, Ryeowook made the decision on his own. Nobody’s to blame.”

“I think we should wait for him and hear the whole story.” Eunhyuk said seriously. “Siwon, since you’re the most responsible one, Shindong and I command you to pick up Ryeowook.” Eunhyuk added, now back to his old self. Shindong and Eunhyuk laughed in unison.

Although it was meant to be a joke, everybody agreed.

Siwon together with Donghae hailed a cab, off to Ryeowook's place.

At the café, the remaining people were still discussing what had happened. “What’s the worst thing that can happen to Ryeowook with what he has done?” asked Leeteuk.

Kyuhyun, being the smartest among the group immediately responded, “He’ll have a bit of a burn in his throat, but aside from that nothing more harmful.” Sighs.

Kangin now mad and disappointed at Ryeowook, “I’ll give him a piece of my mind once he arrives.”

“Chill man, the kid had been through a lot this past few days, cut him some slack. Besides, let’s make things lighter for him, we need to let him know that we are here to support him. Remember the promise that we made last summer, we are not just friends we are brothers.” Blurted Sungmin.

Leeteuk remembered the campfire they had last summer. The 13 of them were on a beach, surrounding a bonfire, they were sharing each and everyone’s hopes and dreams. While Leeteuk was rekindling those memories, Siwon and Donghae arrived followed by Ryeowook at the back of them.

Sungmin ran through the door and hugged Ryeowook. Tears kept falling in his eyes. All Sungmin could say is “It’s ok, we’re here bro. We’ll help you through this.” Then he accompanied Ryeowook to join the others.

Heechul being the bully that he is said, “You little sun of a gun, why did you do that, you had us worried sick. Just let me hit you once”

Then Kangin uttered, “Make that the two of us.”.

Two make things lighter Shindong immediately said, “Good thing you didn’t get drunk by drinking alcohol. Does it have the same effect as Soju or Vodka.” The rest couldn’t help but laugh. Even Ryeowook broke a smile with the statement.

“But seriously, tell us what happened that made you do it.” Donghae asked.

With a heavy heart, Ryeowook told the story of the night before.

“My mom and stepdad had an argument about me. My stepdad being the bum that he is, I think he cannot accept the fact that my mom is the one who has the pants in the house. When I asked for permission if I can come with you tonight, he shouted that I can’t and that it would be too expensive to go out and party, the money that I’ll be using will just be a waste. Then my mom said that I can go and that I won’t be bringing too much since I’ll just be hanging around with you guys. I guess my stepdad didn’t like the fact that my mom disagreed with him so he slapped her right away. I was about to do something, but my mom did not want be to be engaged on their argument and told me to go to my room. I can hear them shouting and I even heard glasses breaking from the outside. Worst part of it is, my stepbrother from the other room shouted, “Why don’t you do anything about their fight, you’re just like you’re father, you run away at the most inappropriate time.” You guys know how much I hate being compared to my father. I had enough. Around 10 in the evening I heard that the noise had subsided so I went out and saw my mom at the kitchen corner sobbing. I asked her why can’t we just leave them and start a new life with just the two of us. My mom said that she cannot live without him. I asked her if she were to choose between me and him, who would she choose. She said that she cannot make that decision, then I reminded her about her promise that she won’t let anyone hurt me, but I am hurting, every time she is beaten up, I am hurt. I think her words only showed that she cannot make the decision for herself so I decided to make it for her. I thought that if I am gone, she won’t have to choose, hence she won’t be hurt anymore. So I did it. I didn’t know that it would inflict her more pain. I am so ashamed of myself. I didn’t even want to see you guys today, if this two (pertaining to Siwon and Donghae) didn’t show up at my place.”

Everyone was quiet after Ryeowook’s story.  

Then Siwon broke the silence by saying that “Your mom loves you, it’s just that the love that she feels for you stepfather, may be something that none of us can understand. Do not attempt to do anything foolish in the future. If you think that no one is there to support you, then you are dead wrong, there are 12 people that you can always count on. I mean if the first one won’t be available, I highly doubt that no one among us is.”

Everyone didn’t feel like going out anymore.

Eunhyuk feeling the sadness of the group said “Ryeowook, if in case you wanted to do it in the future, call me and I’ll join you, but instead of drinking alcohol, let’s just drink soju instead.”

Everyone forced a smile.

“Let’s jut go to our place have a camping at our backyard. Let’s have a barbeque party instead of going out. I think it would be more fun if it’s just us 13.” Sungmin suggested.

Almost everyone agreed except for 1. “I need to go home and run some errands, I’ll try to follow guys don’t worry.” Yesung said.

“Ok just give us a call at Siwon’s place if you’re going to drop by.” , Donghae.

So everyone went their separate ways to get their stuff for that night. Ryeowook went to Leeteuk’s place together with Sungmin. He still has some things at Leeteuk’s, since he has been crashing at his place the past few weeks.