Unlocking his door and hanging his coat on the rack he stopped and rethought his lights and television being on.

"Hoshi what are you doing here?" He walked over to the edge of the couch and propped his torso up with his arms, looking down at his blond friend.

"I was wondering when you were going to come back, you're home too early to have brought Minghao out on a date." He pointed out, sitting up and causing Jun to move back. He walked around the couch and sat next to Hoshi, leaning his head over the edge.

"I didn't bring him out on a date, I didn't even tell him I was the one that sent the flowers." He ran his hand through his hair and turned to see Hoshi's confused face.

"Why didn't you ask him out? Still scared?" Hoshi turned serious, turning the volume down and giving his full attention to Jun.

"A little, yeah," Jun admitted, moving his arm to prop his head up.

"Why won't you just trust me on this?" Hoshi said defensively. "I think that Minghao is a really good person that won't do the same thing Mingming did."

"How do you know for sure?" Jun countered, "He told me, just before I came up, that he wasn't always like that. All helping and nice, he said he was completely different when he was younger. People change and they can change back Soonyoung. How do you know that Minghao won't change back on me?" He watched Soonyoung swallow the previous words he was going to say.

"Please, just trust me on this." Jun groaned and rubbed his face dramatically.

"How do you have so much trust in Minghao? Why do you have so much trust in Minghao?" Hoshi opened his mouth to answer but nothing immediately came out. He didn't really have one.

"I just do okay? My instincts have never failed me." He proudly stated, getting the smallest of grins to appear on Jun's face for the first time since he walked into his house. The owner of the grin stood, heading towards the bathroom.

"I'm going to bed, you can stay if you want, you've been here enough to know where everything is. I'm trusting you not to burn down my house while I'm sleeping." He stretched an arm up and rubbed his eye with the other, yawning at the same time. "Night Hosh."

Hoshi waited for the door to close before heading out of the apartment. He test turned the door nob just to make sure it was locked before pulling out his phone and heading towards his car. The line rang 3 times before his boyfriend's voice came through the receiver. "Where are you?"

Hoshi moved the phone away from his ear when the irritated voice came through, making sure nothing would be able to damage his eardrum he slowly brought the phone back to his ear. "I was at Jun's didn't you just get off of work a couple minutes ago?" He held his phone between his shoulder and cheek, fishing for his keys.

He dropped them on the floor and cursed, his phone picked it up and sent it to his boyfriend. "Soonyoung," the voice threatened, making said man drop his keys again.

"Okay Jihoon," Soonyoung assured, "I'll be home soon I promise, but I need to go somewhere first." He successfully opened his car and slipped inside to start it up.

"Where?"

"Do you know where Minghao lives?" He hesitantly asked he brought the phone away from his ear again, expecting the screams. He took the chance to attach it to the stand and pressed speaker before taking his car out of park.

"Kwon Soonyoung why in hell do you want to go to Minghao's house?!" He winced at how loud Jihoon's voice came through and turned the call volume down 3 times.

"It's to help Jun!" He defended, he heard Jihoon sigh over the static and bit his lip.

"He lives on Jie. It's the house with the tire swing in front, you'll know. If you don't, just call me again." There wasn't any other sound from Jihoon's line after that but Soonyoung knew Jihoon was just covering the mic of his phone. It was something he did when he was worried Soonyoung was mad at him or hiding something important. He did it a lot in the beginning of their relationship.

"I love you Jihoonie~ no one could ever replace you. I promise I'll come soon okay?" He could almost hear the relieved sound Jihoon gave out before the line officially went dead. Sometimes Jihoon was the cutest person ever.

He made a wrong turn at first and had to take a U-y. He thought about calling Jihoon like the other suggested but he was already mad about it enough. Eventually, he made it to the correct street and slowed his mileage to look for the tire swing.

He found it a couple houses down and wondered where he could park, across the street or in front of the house. Shrugging, he parked next to he curb and locked his car before heading up to the doorstep.

He rang the doorbell once and wondered if he actually got the wrong house. He was about to head back to his car but the door opened, revealing Minghao in joggers and a plain white shirt. Soonyoung smiled at him and asked if they could talk for a while.

"Uhh..." Minghao looked back to the inside of his house, Soonyoung spotted the flashing colors on the walls and started apologizing. Minghao laughed, explaining that it was fine. "They're watching Inside Out, we've watched it 100 times before, I can miss a few minutes. What did you need?" He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his joggers.

"Yeah... Let's see... How do I word this?" He looked at Minghao, who shrugged. "You need to go on a date with Jun." He cut to the chase, unable to find another way to phrase it. Minghao's eyes widened and Soonyoung was about to beg but Minghao's laughter cut him off.

"You don't want to?" Hoshi bit his lip, he was so sure-

"I will if he asks. I'm not the type to ask people out but if he asks I'm not refusing. He's... cute" He said that last part more to himself. Hoshi made a noise and Minghao blushed, watching him jump up and down excitedly. He cleared his throat to get Soonyoung back to reality.

"You two are so perfect for each other!" He squealed, shocking Minghao and making him blush a little more. "He'll ask you out soon, don't worry." Minghao nodded slowly. "Y'know I wanted him to ask you out today but he was scared."

"Scared of what?" Minghao pipped, tilting his head to the side. "Scared of me?" He pointed to himself in disbelief.

"In a way," Soonyoung scratched the back of his head, "yes, but it's not because he thinks you could hurt him, well-physically." He jumbled up his words and Minghao held in his laugh.

"He's just scared of heartbreak and being taken advantage of." Minghao thought back to the sentence Jun said earlier and nodded.

"I could never. If he caught me earlier in life I might have but I've changed for the better." He hadn't held back in telling Soonyoung until he realized he said it. Covering his mouth he moved back towards the door, memories coming back to him. Soonyoung tilted his head to the side but Minghao was breathing a little harder than usual.

"Are you okay?" Soonyoung asked, moving closer to Minghao.

Nodding his head furiously, Minghao turned the door nob and fell on his into his house. He looked up at Soonyoung and rushed to get up.

"S-sorry, I just... I think I should go back inside, it's cold out here and you should get home too. Thank you for coming and I'm sorry we couldn't talk for longer bye"

"Minghao-" Soonyoung reached out to stop the door but it was too late, he didn't knock. He had a feeling Minghao wouldn't answer anyway. He stared at the door for a little while longer, thinking about Minghao's behavior, he had to ask Jihoon about it. His boyfriend wasn't going to like it but he needed to know at least a little bit.

He walked to his car and drove home, wondering what Jihoon was doing.

When he got to Jihoon's house he had to pat down his pockets for the right key. He wasn't having luck with locks today was he? He whistled as he walked in, spinning the key in his hand. When he spotted Jihoon slumped over the table, breathing softly, his whistle turned into air blowing out of his mouth. He washed up before coming back to rest his face in the pink hair. He kissed the small swirl on the top the other's head before shaking his shoulder.

"Jihoonie~ I'm here" He heard a groan coming from the smaller and chuckled, turning the swivel chair around and catching him before he fell to the floor. Soonyoung easily brought him to the bed and tucked both of them underneath comfortably.

"You're here" Jihoon finally woke up enough to acknowledge the other. He moved closer to Soonyoung and hid his face in his neck, ready to fall back asleep. Soonyoung brought his hand up to run his fingers through Jihoon's hair and just cradle him for a moment.

"Jihoon?" He whispered, not wanting to wake the other up if he was already sleeping.

"Mph?" Jihoon sounded from his neck. Soonyoung swallowed and mentally prepared himself for the consequences of his question.

"What was Minghao like when he was younger?" Jihoon made another noise and tried to get away from Soonyoung, pushing the other's chest away and pulling on the blankets.

"Soonyoung, stop talking about Minghao!" He managed to get out of Soonyoung's hold and wrap himself in the blankets, leaving Soonyoung out.

"I promise this is the last question! It's for Jun! I just want him to be as happy as we are. C'mon, don't be jealous! I love you Jihoonie~" He came up and hugged the bundle of blankets, hoping his boyfriend would forgive him. "Jihoon~ I promise, I love you and only you."

When no reply came Soonyoung took drastic measures and pounced on the soft bundle, pulling the blankets down to show Jihoon's face before leaning down to kiss his cheeks, forehead, nose, chin, and finally his lips.

He pulled away slowly, leaning down again for another peck, then another, and eventually Jihoon had gotten over a dozen and pushed Soonyoung off. He was blushing and out of breath, blankets tangled from kicking his feet and trying to get Soonyoung off him. Speaking of Soonyoung, he was getting up again to kiss Jihoon more when a hand was at his throat.

"I'll kill you if you speak about him anytime after this." He squeezed the throat in his hand slightly before letting his arm drop to the bed again. Soonyoung nodded and began to fix the blankets.

"I promise I'll do anything you want tomorrow." He hopped underneath the comforters and hugged Jihoon close again, getting them back into their previous position. His chin rested on the pink hair and he felt hands wrap around his middle.

"He used to cause a lot of trouble. Now go to sleep and stop asking me about him." He said, shifting so that he could feel Soonyoung's chin on his head.

-

Minghao took a deep breath from the other side of the door, trying to calm himself down. His heart was pounding in his chest and he made his way towards the staircase. He remembered 3 times today.

"Minghao where are you going?" His sibling called from the living room.

"To check on Mom and Dad, see if they need anything." He answered truthfully. He made his way up the stairs, stumbling over a step and hitting his knee. He hissed at the pain but he was still able to move. He relaxed for a moment before continuing over to his parents room.

He cracked the door open to see them sleeping and he smiled, relaxing his whole body in relief, they were there. He closed the door softly, turning the nob so there wasn't a clicking sound. Once the door was safely closed he made his way downstairs again.

When he got back into the living room it was the part of the story where Joy and Bing-bong were stuck in lost memory and Minghao thought about his own mind.

He knows what his core memories are, they're controlled by anger, fear, and sadness. He smiled bitterly to himself and zoned out the rest of the movie as a different scene took over his brain.

-

"GET BACK HERE!" The wrinkly old face scrunched up in anger as Minghao got a glimpse of the tan fist.

"Heh, you'll never catch me, old man!" He stuck his tongue out like the 12-year-old he was. Hands were quickly blocking his vision, forcing him to twist his body around if he didn't want to be caught.

Suddenly the ground was coming closer and pain spread across his knees. Extending his hands in front of him, the metallic taste of blood spread across his tongue and pain was painted on his palms as well.

Lucky enough, he didn't see anyone chasing after him. Sitting on the curb, he spit the red liquid out of his mouth and wiped the residue with the back of his hand.

"Tch," He mentally scolded himself for getting hurt, how would he explain this to his parents? Examining his palms, he dusted the dirt off on his pants, hissing at the added pain.

"If you keep doing that, they'll get infected." A heavy hand landed on his shoulder and he turned to see pearly whites. Blinking, he listened to the next few words. "Come with me, my friend and I can clean you up."

Without Minghao's consent, he picked him up by the armpits and got him to his feet, leading him towards some building.

"What's your name?" Minghao stayed silent, if he figured out everything, his parents would worry again.

"Oh, okay, well I'm Seungcheol... How did you get all scratched up?" Silence followed the question again. Seungcheol laughed nervously and ushered him into the building, talking about the place they were going to.

"My parents aren't home, they went out on a date. It was really my idea, I wanted the house to myself for today. They told me I'm still too young to be watching horror movies, but I'm 17 now. I only got a few dollars so I could only get one movie. Do you like Spongebob?"

Minghao avoided the stares, daggers digging into the side of his face and cold chilling his bones. He's seen all of them before, chasing after him for something he did.

He himself didn't know why. He had a wonderful family, two parents that were nowhere near getting a divorce, a nice roof over his head, he had everything he needed. Maybe it was simply because he was bored. Bored of how nothing was interesting, how he could go through life not being noticed.

"Who's the kid?" Minghao watched the door close.

"I... don't know his name." He heard the man respond and felt one of his hands leave his shoulder.

"Then why is he here?" Minghao finally turned to look at the other person in the room. He didn't look much older than Minghao, at most 2 years. They made fierce eye contact, daring each other to look away.

"He's hurt." Seungcheol pointed to his own palms and knees, making Jihoon the first one to look away.

"Pff, whatever" Heels turned and a door closed before Seungcheol was kneeling in front of Minghao.

"That's Jihoon. He likes you, don't worry. If he didn't, he would have argued more. So how did you get hurt again?" Minghao stared, watching his wounds get cleaned. Sneaking out tomorrow morning was a must, but first, he had to get out of the apartment.

"I know it hurts," Seungcheol kept his hands in place, wrapping more bandages over the wounds, "but they need to be cleaned properly, sit down so I can clean your knees."

Minghao opened his mouth to refuse to let the 'n' sound come out. Seungcheol's head snapped to look at him faster than how he ran away earlier. He shook his head, Seungcheol smiled at him softly and a scream bubbled up in Minghao's throat.

Swallowing it down, he listened to Seungcheol and let his fall to the floor.

Just as the bandages were put into place, the guy from before came back into the room, "Come here," he strode towards Minghao and pulled him up by the arm. "Go to the first room you see, doesn't matter which, just stay in there till I get you." He pushed him towards the hallway, Seungcheol's protests were shushed by Jihoon.

"People are coming, you need to convince them that the kid isn't here." Just then, the hollow knocks of skin hitting wood reached their ears.

"Yes?" A soft breeze brushed through the air as the door opened. "Mrs. Hana, what brings you here?"

"Well, your parents went out right? You need a babysitter." Making her way through the door, panic flooded Seungcheol's veins.

"Why is all this medical stuff out? None of you are hurt right?" She lifted Jihoon's arm to check.

"You two are too old to be playing doctor" She looked around again, smiling when she heard the shuffling of feet in another room.

"" Jihoon cursed under his breath.

"Language, Jihoon." The warning came as she made her way through the hallway.

"Mrs. Hana, we can really manage on our own so you don't need to-" The loud screeching from door hinges echoed and Minghao stared from on top the bed like a deer in headlights.

"Why are you hiding a boy. Come here boy" A waving motion caught Minghao's attention and he looked to Seungcheol.

With the nod, the climbed off the bed and shuffled over to the woman.

"What is your name?" The gentle question came. Minghao shook his head, staring at the brown wood.

"Come on, what is your name?" She crouched down to his height, forcing his attention on her. "You cause a lot of trouble don't you" he ripped his hand away from her grip, come of the cuts opened in the result of his fists closing.

"Okay, well I can take care of one more child, but no more trouble." She tapped his fist again.

When they got out, Minghao went straight to the door. As he got his fingers around the brass a loud bang shocked him to the core.

"Where are you going?" The sweet voice asked again. Minghao closed his eyes, willing her to go away.

'She's going to keep him here forever, I'm never going to see Mom and Dad again...'

"Please let me go" his voice wavered, eyes still closed.

"Hmm, okay. No more trouble, though." The rustling of clothes and footsteps moving away from him got him running down the hallway in milliseconds.

-

At 9:30 that night knock came at the door. Minghao brought himself to the top of the stairs to eavesdrop.

"Hello, Ma'am. Where's your son?" Minghao's fist tightened on the railing when he saw the golden badge. Newly formed scabs opened again.

"My son? Why do you need my son?"

"He's caused a lot of trouble today and needs to be justified."

He thought back to what he did, went into a store and knocked down a couple of things, it wasn't too bad...

"He's just a young boy, you can't take him to jail!" Minghao's father heard his wife's scream from the kitchen and immediately came running.

"What's this talk about bringing our son to jail?"

"Your son has been in several situations where we could have easily put him in jail, he's been in countless fights and vandalized various stores, including the one today, we've let it go before, with your speeches about how he's too young. He's 12 now, getting older and should be developing a sense of what is right and what is wrong." 

Minghao swallowed the lump in his throat, anxiety flushing over his body. He was going to be taken away. He closed his eyes and bit his lip, reopening another wound from earlier today. He felt the unhealed cuts on his skin pressing against the wooden columns supporting the stairs and himself.

It wasn't the first time the police came to his house, they came before, the time he played a prank on the convenience store, and the time he caused a commotion at the movie theater, then there was the time he started a fight with another boy at the park, and another fight at school, the one a few weeks ago...

"Please, give him one more chance, I promise he'll stop the bad habits. I'll talk to him, convince him to stop it." Her voice broke the same time the tears from Minghao's cheeks dampened a spot on his shorts.

'I don't want to go' He took a broken breath through his nose as the officer continued to explain the situation.

"We can't do that, it'll only be a night, it won't even go on his record, just giving him a taste of what might happen if he chooses to continue these actions. We cannot let his behavior slide as he gets older, it would lead to him becoming even more dangerous and we know you don't want that for your son."

"Do you really have to take him?"

Minghao was smearing tears on his face and wiping the residue on his shorts.

"Yes Ma'am, he needs to know the consequences of his actions."

Minghao made his way down the stairs, watching the steps disappear behind him. He went to far, this time, he never wanted to be taken away. Two doors shut behind him, two thousand tears ran down his face, he looked back at his house and spotted his parents staring out the window together.

'No More Trouble' He promised to himself.