THE FIRST DAY

Each young man stood nervously in front of the table, not knowing what to expect or where to sit.  Suho entered the room, and took charge like he had always wanted to do.  "My name is Kim Joonmyeon, but you can call me Suho.  You can all take a seat wherever you'd like, and let's introduce ourselves."  He seated himself at the head of the table.  (Farthest to the left in the picture)

Tao was the first to sit down along with Suho.  He sat in the chair directly across the table from Suho, boldly.  The other boys (apart from Xiumin and Sehun) were intimidated by his appearance, with dark circles underneath his eyes and obvious muscle mass.  Xiumin was confident with his skills and Sehun didn't care enough to notice.  The fear dissipated as he spoke.  His voice was fairly high pitched, sounded stuffy, and had many pronunciation/grammar errors.  "I'm Huang Zitao, but call me Tao.  I'm from China, so please forgive my errors.  Also, does anyone have bubblegum?"  Suho laughed and slipped him a piece of trident.  As Tao thanked him and began chewing happily, the next boy sat down.

Sehun sat to the right of Tao, (Upper right in the picture) sighing.  "I'm Oh Sehun.  You can call me by my first name if you want."  ('That's it?' Thought Suho.  He knew that there were troubles to come, but looked forward to the challenge.)

Xiumin spoke next, sitting directly next to Sehun.  "My name is Kim Minseok, but everyone has always called me Xiumin, because apparently I look Chinese.  I am very protective and will protect you all in the future.  Please take care of me."  ('Man, this guy is caring, polite, and tough!' Thought Suho.)

Chanyeol and Kyung-soo looked at each other, each trying to get the other to go first.  Chanyeol finally stepped forward, but was met with a dilemma.  (Should he sit next the scary looking one to save the scared looking boy from terror, or should he sit next the the calm-looking group leader and sacrifice the other boy?)  Deciding that it wasn't his fault, and that the other boy could've went first if it mattered, he sat next to Suho.  "I'm Park Chanyeol!  I'm soooo glad to be meeting you all!" he said, forming a 'V' with his index and middle fingers.

Finally, Kyung-soo was the last one standing.  In a voice almost inaudible, he introduced himself.  "I-i'm Do Kyung-soo.  I lived in Busan until several years ago.  Please take care of me."  (He really regretted willingly joining the group at that moment.)  "Your last name is Do?  Can I just call you D.O. then? Please please please?  It would be a lot easier than saying Kyung-soo everytime I speak to you!" Chanyeol begged, wanting to be able to memorize the names easily.  Kyung-soo shrugged,and then nodded, not knowing exactly what to think of his first nickname.

"Okay, so we know eachothers' names." Suho started, "Now let's hear eachother's stories."  He looked at the five faces in front of him, knowing that they were hesitant.  "Everything shared here will be kept strictly between us, with no harsh judgements. D.O., would you please go first?"

Kyung-soo wanted to die, but he knew that he'd been through worse, and that he'd endure.  'Maybe this will help me,' he thought to himself.  Mustering as much courage as possible, Kyung-soo spoke as loudly as he could.  "Well, I was apparently adopted from an orphanage when I was 12.  I don't really know though, because I dont really have any memories of life before the age of 15.  I woke up in the hospital, I guess I had been near death, remembering next to nothing.  My parents didn't tell me anything about what had happened.  For as long as I can remember, I have been verbally abused by my father.  He always flaunts my flaws and insecurities, and he hits me about twice a month.  Every time he hits me, I dont know what to do, except accept the beating.  I'm really sorry for telling you some of my troubles." He said, breathing deeply when he was finished.  Unexpectedly, he was surrounded by tears and applause.  (Except for Sehun, who felt bad for him but wasn't used to empathy.)  Suho told him how brave he was for saying that and thanked him for sharing, a few tears slipping out.  Tao was sobbing loudly, feeling bad that he thought his life was horrible.  Sehun basically had a "Oh for 's sake" look on his face, but he applauded, and sighed.  Xiumin looked pissed off, with manly looking tears slipping down his face.  The one that surprised Kyung-soo the most, however, was Chanyeol.  At the moment Kyung-soo finished, Chanyeol had grabbed his arm, put his head down, and silently wept.  Before Kyung-soo knew it, he was in tears as well, joining the cry-fest.  Everyone was still bawling when Chanyeol finally lifted his head, still snuggling D.O.'s arm, before sharing his terrible life story as well.  

Without himself realizing it, Kyung-soo had used his other arm and clung with both hands to Chanyeol tightly.  They looked at eachother's tear-filled eyes, and felt an unspoken bond.  Without really ever speaking to eachother, the two could understand what the other felt.  While the other members of the club were sniffling and crying. 

Xiumin told his story next, describing vividly the pain that he had felt.  When Xiumin's story ended, Sehun's eyes began to water.  He felt so much pity and admiration for those in front of them, wishing that he had his own distinct personality as well.  Tao, the last sad story, was barely able to speak amongst his weeping and speaking troubles. In the end--the others got the gist of what he was saying and Sehun patted him on the back. 

Sehun spoke about how he hadn't had many emotions for his entire life.  As he talked, one tear after another left his eyes.  His gaze said, "Please help me find who I am!"  Tao, still comforted by the pat on the back that Sehun had gave him, stood up, throwing his arms around Sehun.  "Sehun-ge, I'll help you find things to like!"  While Sehun was startled, he snuggled into the unfamiliar embrace, feeling an emotion that he had never felt before--Thankfulness.

Suho was surprised by the sad stories of those around him, and knew that his troubles paled in comparison.  He swore internally that he would be the one to guide the boys into recovery.  "Guys, I know we don't know eachother well yet, but after sharing these stories, I think a group hug is called for.  Bring it in!"  At that moment, the shy boys, the broken guys, the confused young men, all closed together in a group hug.  None thought of how silly they might look, crying and holding onto eachother for dear life.  None felt embarrassed that they had told their story.  None regretted going to the meeting.  What they all felt was relief, and a sense of belonging.  FINALLY, they had made thier story heard.  Finally, they had people that they could unload their troubles on.  And FINALLY, they felt real hope.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+AFTER THE FIRST MEETING+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

After the first meeting, the boys met twice per week for the remainder of the school year.  They shared more and more, got to know eachother more with every meeting.  Kyung-soo eventually came out of his shell, and started to feel slightly more confident in himself. Chanyeol had people who understood him, and laughed at his jokes.  Tao had people who were cheering for his return to his beloved Martial Arts.  Sehuh grew to care for the other boys greatly, finally feeling emotion.  Suho felt as if his life finally had purpose, that he was significant.  Xiumin had found those that he needed to protect--especially Kyungsoo. 

D.O. and Xiumin had found that they were neighbors.  Each time the fighting got too intense, or he had a chance to escape the beatings, he would crawl out his window and into Xiumin's.  Minseok would hug him tightly and tend to his wounds, telling him that it would be over someday.  On multiple occasions, Xiumin had gotten into fist-fights with Kyung-soo's father, winning each time.  After each warning, however, the abuse didn't stop.  All that Kyung-soo could do was thank Xiumin for all the help.  (And Minseok secretly thanked D.O. for letting him protect him.)

Chanyeol and D.O. became the best of friends, able to tell each-other anything.  Despite their extremely different personalitlies, the two became inseperable.  Chanyeol had told D.O. about his adoptive "father/brother" Leetuk.  He had begged Kyung-soo to let him tell Leetuk, but D.O. responded with a "Please don't, everything will work out," each time.  It really irritated Chanyeol that he couldn't get justice for Kyungsoo like he had gotten for himself, instead, he spent as much time with D.O. as possible, decreasing the time that the boy spent at home. 

Sehun had started feeling, and finding small interests.  Tao became Kyung-soo's gaming buddy.  When D.O. was able to get away, he'd escape to Tao's house for hours to play video games, just talk, or even sing songs together.  Tao, as promised, went out with Sehun all of the time, both of them finding wonder in the things that they had never cared to find out. 

The members eventually realized that they shared one particular trait--their love for music.  By then, it was the end of their senior year. 

Everyone in the Youth group became great friends, the supporting backbone, the second family.  Suho felt pride in how far each of them had come.  They all decided to go to college together, at the same University.  They were even able to move into a Suite Dorm Room together, with 3 bedrooms.  Sharing rooms were Tao and Sehun, Suho and Xiumin, and Chanyeol and Kyung-soo. 

The day they moved into their new dorm, they were all in elated moods.  Each member was one step closer to acheiving their dreams.  (But Kyungsoo didn't even remember his biggest dream.)

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Their first day at college will come after the story of Kai and his group of friends.  Please look forward to it!  Sorry for all of the errors.  I now have a headache from binge-writing for the past 4 hours or so.  But I'll be writing more tomorrow anyway. :) Please comment with any feedback and subscribe for updates.  Thank you!