There was a polite knock on the bedroom door, the sound ringing through the otherwise silent bedroom, and Minghao sniffed once. Despite himself, the blond boy found himself turning over to face the bedroom door and stared at it with swollen eyes.

The tears that had flowed so freely and easily just now had dried on his cheeks, making his face tight, and Minghao was certain that he looked like a mess. He wasn’t even sure how long he had laid in the bed, crying pathetically to himself after he had chased Junhui out.

Has it been an hour? Two hours? Minghao wondered dejectedly in his head when there was another knock emitting from outside. His earlier fury had abated to a dull annoyance but he still had no desire to see Junhui’s face. Minghao kept quiet and made no response in hopes that the elder would take the hint and leave him alone.

Except he didn’t and there was another knock on the wooden bedroom door with another one following quickly behind. Damn you, Junhui ge. Minghao swore even as his weak resolve crumbled. No matter what he claimed to say, Minghao still wanted to see Junhui. Irritatedly, Minghao wiped his nose roughly with his hand before finally letting out in exasperation, “come in!”

There was a slight pause before the bedroom door swung open to reveal an apologetic looking Jisoo. Trailing behind him with his head bowed low was an abashed Wonwoo and his eyes met Minghao’s briefly in shame before hastily diverting to the floor. The taller, dark haired boy closed the bedroom door behind him once he was inside.

Half surprised and half disappointed at the sight of the two older boys, Minghao shoved his feelings of dismay down as he hastily sat up on the bed. The blanket got tangled around his lanky limbs as Minghao hurriedly turned to face them.

A small part was taunting him, why would Junhui ge come see you? He won’t come back. Not after you yelled at him to get out of his bedroom. Tears of disappointment and regret pricked at the back of his eyes but Minghao blinked them back before they could fall. He didn’t want to break down and cry in front of them, especially Wonwoo.

“Jisoo hyung, Wonwoo hyung.” Minghao greeted quietly, his voice slightly shaky from his earlier waterworks.

“Oh, Minghao,” Jisoo burst out as he quickly crossed the short distance between them. His arms automatically went around the younger boy, enveloping him in warmth that Minghao didn’t know that he needed until then. Yet, even as he was embracing Jisoo, Minghao couldn’t help but think of another boy’s arms.

Instinctively, Minghao hugged the ginger haired boy back just as tightly. Again, tears threatened to fall but Minghao held them back stubbornly. As Jisoo embraced him, Minghao inadvertently locked eyes with Wonwoo again but this time, the elder held his gaze.

I’m sorry, Minghao, Wonwoo’s dark eyes seemed to relay but Minghao blinked once and looked away.

The pain of the whip, the bruises from the punches, the agony of the stab... Minghao thought he no longer recall the suffering he had went through but now, everything came rushing back upon laying eyes on his perpetrator. Everything were suddenly vividly clear in his head and Minghao felt a flare of fury at Wonwoo for inflicting the torment on him.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Jisoo was whispering into his ear as his hand Minghao’s back comfortingly. The genuine concern in his voice soothed Minghao’s antagonistic feelings. “I really had no idea Jihoon would go that far! You poor thing, it must have been traumatizing for you.”

The blond boy leaned back, away from Jisoo, with his face vulnerable with mistrust. “Really? You had no idea of this, Jisoo hyung?”

Jisoo didn’t hesitate to reassure the blond boy. “I didn’t. I knew Jihoon was going to give you a test — a test that everyone had to go through — but I didn’t know what exactly he was going to do.”

“You didn’t,” Minghao breathed out a sigh of immense relief as his heart swelled with love for the older boy. He couldn’t bear the thought of sweet, kind Jisoo agreeing to the inhumane test. Right from the beginning, it was Jisoo who has always been caring for him with no hidden motives or confusing actions and it would have hurt a lot if he had been aware of the test’s exact contents.

“But I did,” Wonwoo confessed, drawing the two boys’ attention. His voice was full of regret as he apologized with sincerity, “I’m sorry for putting you through it, Minghao.”

Minghao opened his mouth to snap out a sharp reply but then the remorse evident on Wonwoo’s face made him think twice. Instead of yelling at him, Minghao quietly asked, “why? Why me? What did I ever do to deserve all that?”

“I don’t think Jihoon was being personal, Minghao,” Jisoo quickly piped up, sensing the implication behind his words. His eyes darted from Minghao to Wonwoo as he continued, “he probably has reasons for it. Jihoon’s not the type of people to torture others unnecessarily.”

“Well?” Minghao curtly asked, eyes fixed on Wonwoo.

Hesitating, Wonwoo glanced at Jisoo once before admitting, “Jihoon told us that he wanted you to learn a lesson so he made the test slightly more difficult than usual.”

“Slightly more difficult?” Minghao echoed in absolute disbelief, his eyes wide with incredulity. How in the world was my test slightly more difficult?

“Learn a lesson?” Jisoo repeated at the same, face confused. “What lesson did Minghao need to learn....”

His voice trailed off into silence as everything fell into place. Minghao turned to stare at Jisoo expectantly but the older boy was staring at Wonwoo with a look of realization and dread on his face.

“What was Jihoon thinking?” Jisoo hissed in a low voice, sounding furious for the first time Minghao knew him. “Seungcheol already pardoned Minghao.”

Wonwoo was clearly uncomfortable but he gave a weak shrug, defending his friend. “He just wanted to be certain Minghao learnt his lesson and wouldn’t repeat his mistake again.”

“Who is he to decide whether Minghao did or not?” Jisoo retorted back, his voice sharp as knives. He got to his feet abruptly and started to make for the door. “I’m going to have a talk with him.”

“No, wait!” Minghao cried out, baffled, as he grabbed hold of Jisoo’s wrist. He was so confused by everything and he wanted nothing more than answers. He pulled Jisoo back to the bed and demanded, “I don’t understand. What lesson? What mistake?”

Wonwoo ran his fingers through his hair before explaining, “Jihoon felt that Seungcheol hyung went too easy on you. He was afraid that you would disobey him again and make contact with your family if you didn’t know how dire the consequences can be.”

“So he had Wonwoo cast an illusion on you.” Jisoo picked up, resting a hand on Minghao’s arm. “The illusion was to show you what could have happened that day when you called your parents. Jihoon wanted you to experience first hand the consequences so that you wouldn’t ever disobey Seungcheol again and endanger us.”

“That’s — That’s ridiculous!” Minghao blurted out angrily. “I would never put all of you guys at risk. And the lesson was too cruel and inhumane.”

“That was my fault,” Wonwoo jumped in quickly. “I let the illusion got out of control. It was supposed to stop the moment the man threw the first punch but it went on and I couldn’t stop it.”

Something Junhui said earlier pricked his mind and Minghao slowly stated. “Junhui ge said that it was my fault for that. He said that I was too frightened so my fears took over the illusion and made it worse.”

Wonwoo looked even more uncomfortable with each passing second as he admitted. “I can’t deny that’s not true but it was mostly my fault for being unable to control the illusions.” He locked eyes with Minghao, his gaze unwavering, and apologized for the third time, “I slipped up badly and you suffered for it, and for that, I’m sorry.”

Mingha