The principal contacted them. They found out about me and Tao. They found out about the vandalism in school. They're going to take me away. Sehun's thoughts kept filling up his head with worries, one after another, as he was running back to his apartment. His parents were back and they hadn't even given him a two days notice. Something was very, very wrong.

So the last thing he expected when he opened the door was to find his parents comfortably sitting on the couch and chatting about some movie.

"Oh", his mother said once he noticed him, "finally, you're here. Put on your suit, we have an event to attend to".

"An-... An event", Sehun repeated, unable to understand the words. "That's-... That's all?".

His father giggled. "Sehun, why else would we be here? Now hurry up, we're already late".

However, the boy didn't move. He didn't move an inch. Why else would they be there, really? What was he expecting? Parents who cared about his education? Or maybe parents that cared about him in general? Just then he realized, he was wishing they were there to scold him, punish him even, because that would mean they gave a damn.

"What a ing joke", he snickered and his parents stopped chatting and slowly turned towards him.

"What did you say?". His mother seemed uncertain whether she should get angry or not.

"I said", Sehun repeated loud and clear, "that this is a ing joke. Parents who buy their son a luxury apartment and dump him there, only to visit when they need him for their image, that is such a ing  joke. You know, because I still had a tiny glimpse of hope that my parents actually cared for me". His sarcastic tone was slowly disappearing and tears were now framing his fake smile. These thoughts had been tormenting him for years.

"Sehun", his father begun saying but his strict expression made Sehun even angrier.

"What? Are you going to scold me? For what?! Telling the truth? Well then, go ahead but don't expect me to listen". And without giving them any time to reply, Sehun let out a final scream of frustration and slammed the door behind him.

He was running again but this time he was heading back to Jongin's place. He could barely feel his body moving, like he wasn't the one controlling it, as if it had the strength to act on its own. He was still crying and he was certain he allowed himself to scream a few more times before completely concentrating on running. For some reason, he thought that running with all his might could actually help him run away from his problems.

When he reached Jongin's house he was out of breath and thankful that the lights were still on. The shouts and the laughter weren't as loud as before but Sehun could still hear Chanyeol arguing with someone, probably Baekhyun. The voices seized when he knocked on the door persistently and only when he announced himself, the door opened and a very distressed Jongin let him in.

"So?", Baekhyun asked nervously once Sehun reached the living room. "What happened?".

The boy didn't reply immediately; he first fell on the couch and allowed Tao to crawl under him. The tried to to calm his wild heartbeat by softly rubbing his chest.

"I escaped", he mumbled while taking deep breaths.

"You what?". Chanyeol's confused expression made Sehun burst into laughter. Why was he crying before? He finally did it! He finally told them everything! He finally-...

"I escaped!", he shouted and stood up, raising his hands victoriously and scaring Tao. "I told them everything! And then I ran away! They couldn't do anything to stop me!".

After a few seconds of silence, everyone started cheering. First Baekhyun and Chanyeol, then Jongin started laughing and clapping as hard as he could and finally, Kyungsoo and Tao, the ones who were less familiar with the whole situation and decided it was best to clap as well.

"I knew it!", Baekhyun shouted and ruffled Sehun's hair. "I knew you'd stand up to them one day!"

Chanyeol wrapped his arms around Sehun's waist and lifted him as high as he could. He didn't say a word, just let out a victorious scream, something that made Sehun laugh even harder.

When the cheering stopped and everyone calmed down Kyungsoo stood up and after congratulating Sehun with a sincere smile, he said his goodnights to everyone except from Tao, who weirdly enough followed him outside after kissing Sehun's cheek.

"Where are you going?", Sehun whined and held him down.

"I'm giving my champion some time to rest", Tao said and smiled softly.

"Well, the champion wants to rest with his amazing ninja".

"You're cornier than I thought". However Tao's pleased expression didn't match his words. "Let's go on a date during the weekend, okay? I promise, everything will be solved by then".

Sehun wanted to ask him what he meant by that and why was he leaving with Kyungsoo but he was just too tired. So he simply nodded and watched the two of them exit the house, knowing he was going to spend the night at Jongin's place without even asking.

"Well then, we're off as well", Baekhyun said and forced Chanyeol to stand up.

"Yeah, yeah, goodnight", Jongin mumbled and Sehun murmured something that sounded like "Bye".

"What, you're not going to make us stay? I'm sorry we're not your ninjas, nope, just your childhood friends", Baekhyin said while laughing and barely managed to dodge the pillow Sehun threw at him. Before he knew it, him and Jongin were alone in the house and the thing he wanted to do the most was to fall asleep but he couldn't. He had decided he wasn't going to follow his friend around. According to his recent experience, honesty is the best policy.

"Are you cheating on Kyungsoo?", he asked without opening his eyes and heard Jongin choking while drinking his water.

"What-...? Me? Cheating?! Why on earth would you think that?", Jonging nearly yelled while coughing his lungs out.

"I don't think that, Kyungsoo does. He says you've been quiet and distant or something like that..."

"Wait, I'll call him right now", Jongin said and tried to grab his phone but Sehun got to it first.

"No, you can't!", he shouted, finally awakened.

"Why not?".

Sehun swallowed hard before speaking. "Because... Well... Let's say, hypothetically speaking, that a friend of yours made a deal with your boyfriend because he's not very good at dealing with things. How would that make you feel?"

Jongin remained silent for a few moments and then started laughing, nearly hysterically. "Are you trying to tell me that my boyfriend is blackmailing you?".

"It's not blackmailing!", Sehun rushed to explain himself. "It's a deal, okay, we have a deal".

But Jongin didn't seem to care about Sehun's words anymore. "God!", he exhaled, "I sure love that guy. What does he have against you?"

"I-... I can't say right now".

"You know what, it's fine. If it was something serious Kyungsoo would have told me. Oh, and no, I am not cheating on him. Just play along for a few more days and don't worry about a thing, it'll all be solved. However", Jongin continued and Sehun's relief vanished once again, "I am worried about your boyfriend".

"Wait, Tao? Why?"

"You saw them leaving together, right?", the dark skinned boy asked and continued when Sehun nodded, still confused. "Well, a few minutes before your glorious arrival Tao got a text and here come's the weird part. When he opened it, he became pale like he had seen a ghost or something but he didn't say anything. He showed it to Kyungsoo and they were about to leave when you came in".

Sehun heaved a deep sigh and dropped his head back on the sofa's pillow. "Can we please deal with this tomorrow? We're skipping school anyway, right?"

Jongin smiled and lightly patted Sehun's chest. "Sure. Now help me clean the living room".

"Oh, come on!", Sehun protested and waved his hands like he was trying to get rid of a bug. "I'm a guest, you have to treat me respectfully!".

"I'm sorry, this is the place where guests are treated like . If you are not pleased with our services, feel free to leave", Jongin replied and forced him to stand up while laughing.

Sehun was tired and moody but washing dishes with Jongin seemed like a better alternative than returning home to his parents.

Hell, even cleaning the toilet seemed more enjoyable at that moment.