Skipping school was a faintly ludicrous idea, but Taemin and Jonghyun didn't have to stay, and Jinki hyung couldn't go out like he is now. That was his excuse. 

 

But we're here in the empty desolate park near his house, because his mother decided today was the best day to work at home.

 

I kept a wary eye out for anyone as well as constantly having my gaze fall on to Jin hyung.

 

"Hyung." 

 

"Hm?" he raised his head just barely, eyes still pinned on his book, before it slowly slid to mine.

 

"You won't show me who they are."

 

It wasn't a question, more of a statement. He smiled at me, something he seemed to do even more often than usual. It's less stretched at the edges, softer, almost expressing undefined relief. A picture taken with the depth of the photo being completely shallow.

 

He flipped the page of the book with his forefinger before I could stop him, the paper slitting across the fair skin of his fingertip. Red stained and ran downwards, curving around to run down the back of his already bruised hand.

 

"It's safer." He fished something out of his wallet. "help with the plaster?"

 

I wrapped it tightly around the finger,  shutting his book with a determined thump.

 

"On the other hand, explain why Taemin came out of the room red eyed and clinging to you?" he nudged me over to slide across the bench. He dumped his book into the bag and pushed up from the grassy ground to sit on the bench next to me.

 

"Told him something I shouldn't have bothered to mention." I muttered, remembering how he freaked when he woke up to find me missing when I was just in the attached bathroom.

 

"Tell me?" 

 

I slide my jacket zipper up and down. Worried about his reaction if he knew. I suddenly imagined him completely ignoring me for my own supposed safety. 

 

Or glueing me to him. Which might be better. To be honest.

 

"How is glue better?"

 

"huh?" I stared at him. "You read minds hyung?" 

 

"Yes Minho, I run off when you all are sleeping to take mind reading classes which by the way, leaves me no choice but to get hit everytime I make a mistake."

 

Huh. Must've said it out loud then.

 

"Just tell me." he rolled his eyes impatiently.

 

"It might not even hold anymore..." I mumble.

 

"Minho..." he takes out his phone, and I see him pressing 3 for speed-dial, listening as the speaker produce Taemin's recorded voice where he squeaks out "Taemin's not number 3 in your heart right hyung?" to notify him that he's going to call Taemin, if he dials 3.

 

He'd recorded that eons ago, each of us personally. 

 

"Okay okay!" I hurriedly slipped the phone out of his hands.

 

"It's just that... Like before I told you to be safe. You know. They told me they'd come for me. I mean, because I did get to leave because one day they were punishing me for not splashing that other kid with juice and my parents found out and I've been having nightmares for so many years but it stopped and now it's back and I told Taemin but i went about a stupid way to do it so he's scolding himself and I didn't want to tell you because you'd avoi-" my breath was cut off as he tackled me, hugging me tight.

 

"Our emotions are all on the high, so it's okay. It would almost be stupid to leave you for your safety. I'd never leave, ignore, or avoid you, kay? As a matter of fact, yes you were right, I'll now glue you to me officially." 

 

He pulled away almost as swiftly, this time his hand curling around my fist that I had unconsciously clenched, unfurling my fingers gently like it was broken glass. 

 

"And I mean forever." he repeated, squeezing my fingers, his words were soft, like they were wrapped in flannel.

 

I looked up at him, his stare so intense that I couldn't look away. It was so intense that it contradicted his gentle tone, but that was him. So full of contradictions and ironies yet so... 

Correct.

 

"Don't stare at me like that. That's Jjong's job." 

 

"Harhar." I smile slowly.

 

"You know we really should work out this glue thing. Maybe when I say glue you have to come to me straight away?" 

 

"Is that an idea from that drama."

 

"Yes, but it's pretty fun. Let's make strength levels!" he starts to play with my fingers, him scooting downwards till his head rests on my lap, hand's thumb rubbing soothing circles on the back of my hand.

 

"Super glue, white glue, water glue..." I chuckled, my worries washed away.

 

"Water glue shall mean you have to bring me water." he states seriously, his eyes creasing in a sweet smile.

 

"In your dreams." I use my other hand to play with his necklace.

 

"Okay, seriously though, lets make water glue as to you staying near and next to me... White glue, behind me?" he frowns in concentration, fingers slowing to a stop with mine.

 

"Does super glue entitle me to your hand?" 

 

"You've got it." 

 

"Jonghyun hyung is going to be so..." I trail off.

 

"He hasn't realized this, but he knows the least of all of you, and it'll probably start to occur to him."

 

"I don't want you to get hurt anymore."

 

"I can't Minho, and you guys will either go back to my house earlier than me, or I go earlier than you guys. Mum won't see a problem because I'm on my last year in school, so my schedule is definitely more conflicted with you guys." 

 

"Still..."

 

"I'll be fine."

 

"Mm..." I hum.

 

"Hey Min."

 

"Mmhm?" I hummed a little higher.

 

"I still want water glue for you to bring me water."

 

I ignore his cold joke, fingers moving again. I feel my throat has become dry again, and I'm feeling a little numb inside.

 

"Forever?" I murmur.

 

"Promise." his eyes roll back up to lock with mine. 

 

 

Taemin POV:

 

We has bought the loaf and escaped to the small garden no one knew about that was behind the field.

 

I leaned my head on to his shoulder, yawning as I tore off the plastic.

 

I tear the bread loaf into strips, passing one piece to Jonghyun hyung before popping another into my mouth. 

 

"Can't believe they got to skip." he grumbled, chewing.

 

"Well if you knew how to change bandages..."

 

"We all do! I mean that compulsory first aid course.."

 

"Hyung, you slept through every session. You barely passed. I got a B. Minho got distinction. Minho is second to Key hyung though."

 

"He better know it." 

 

I choked as hyung coughed and scrambled for the chrysanthemum tea bottle we were sharing.

 

I shot up, the chain link fence crashing together with a horrid noise. Jonghyun hyung screwed the bottle cap back on and grabbed onto my jacket as support, pulling me up,

 

"Hey guys. Glad you didn't change our usual hang out spot." 

 

I whirled around to see Key hyung grinning at us from the other side of the fence.

 

"Hyung?!" I yelped, throwing myself over the fence.

 

He pulled me in for a hug, and I inhaled the familiar scent of that ridiculously posh American shampoo he always used and the slight lemon scent of his skin.

 

The warmth was locking me down, the knowledge that was him softening me. It horrified me that I was tearing up, and I realized it was because I was scared. 

 

"Your best timing to comeback ever, Key," I heard Jonghyun hyung's muffled voice.

 

"Why are you suddenly looking so stricken. And Taemin, Taemin... Why are you shaking?" 

 

Oh his voice. 

 

"If I told you we're all emotionally unstable right now, it'd explain some things and finish up the rest of it when you see Jinki hyung." Jonghyun hyung's voice was thick and superficially calm.

 

I want to say something, but the words taste like clouds, barely there and almost intangible. 

 

"Jinki hyung... Minho hyung..." I whisper, knowing that I shouldn't tell Jonghyun hyung about Minho. Minho had told me he'd tell Jinki hyung, and Jonghyun hyung can't know.

 

"What is it, Taem." Key hyung softly murmurs.

 

And so I tell him everything, my stupid words to Minho and my selfishness, hushed and quiet, glad that Jonghyun hyung was on the other side of the fence.

 

I'd just finished, tears streaming down and soaking his jacket when the sharp clang of the fence resounds, and I pull back. To see the confusion on Key's hyung face, because what I've told him can't possibly make any sense till he learns about Jinki hyung.  To see Jonghyun hyung frown at my tears and pull me to him from Key hyung, his thumbs curling around the edge of my jawline, his fingers gently swiping the tears away.

 

"Hyung wouldn't want to see that now would he." his eyes held a question, his tone a fact.

 

I smiled. Against what I felt I smiled. 

 

"Let's skip too." he grins, and I stick my tongue out at him.

 

"You're not officially back right?" he asks Key hyung.

 

He shakes his head, and tugs at my hand. 

 

"Let's go." 

 

We grab our bags from the other side of the fence, and we slip behind the bushes as Key hyung talks to the guard as distraction. 

 

"This wouldn't really be skipping since there's only one hour left for the day." Key hyung mused.

 

"Let's go and get some stuff first." Jonghyun hyung muttered, pulling out the paper Minho had stuffed into his pocket last minute.

 

"His handwriting is still as horrible as ever." Key hyung wrinkled his nose, plucking the paper from Jonghyun hyung's hand. 

 

"Antiseptic... Butterfly clips... Wrap... tweezers... Cotton wool...What?"

 

"We just get it first, okay?" I silently slide over to Key hyung, looping my arm with his.

 

"내 곁에만있어, 우리 함께 crazy~" he grinned at me. 

 

"너 아니면, 안돼는 걸~" I followed up with another song.

 

"내 앞에 이 길이, 이토록 아름다운 이유~" Jonghyun hyung laughed as we reached the store.

 

I grabbed the basket and Key hyung threw the things in as Jonghyun hyung read them out again.

 

Key hyung payed, and we looked up at the sound of the shop's door chime.

 

"Oh e." Jonghyun hyung hissed, Mr Jin, aka hanja teacher from hell coming into view. 

 

We were out of the door in the split second he looked up, running.

 

 

Jinki POV:

 

"Shouldn't we be getting back soon? Class should be almost over." I asked, looking away from my phone up at Minho.

 

His eyes were shut, his mouth just barely open. 

 

"They told me they'd come for me."

 

I pulled myself upright. Jonghyun must be coming home with Taemin now, I might as well get going.

 

"Hyung?"  I turned back to see him stirring.

 

"Super glue." I whisper to him.

 

I watch as his hand feels for mine, before I brushed mine against his, his fingers curling into mine.

 

"Drying." he opened his eyes, grinning at me.

 

"C'mon. School's over." I smile, pushing back any rogue thoughts.

 

We walk back slowly, trying to drag out the time to a suitable timing to come back. We spot Jonghyun and Taemin ahead, and we both wave, letting go of each other. Minho jogs ahead, ridiculously fast, and I laugh as he scoops Taemin up and spins him around. 

 

I'm still far behind, and as I pass an alley, a shadow falls across my path and a voice hums out.

 

"Boo."

 

Before I could think, I had already moved, and I pressed my forearm against his throat, my breath harsh with shock and reflexive adrenaline.

 

"Stay the fu-" I started to ground out, the darkness hiding his face. 

 

"Hyung let him go, let him go!" Taemin was suddenly beside me, Jonghyun on the other side. 

 

"If it's the people who've been hurting hyung why should he." Minho defended me from afar, walking slowly, respecting my wishes about him not knowing.

 

"It's ing Key." Jonghyun yelped, his fingers dancing over my arm holding supposed Key.

 

The person was coughing, hands curled around my other hand holding my arm up.

 

I drop my arm, and I back up, feeling Jonghyun sigh more than hear as he wraps his arms around my waist, pressing the side of his face into my back. I knew it was both affection and restriction.

 

"Maybe you guys could explain now?" he rasped out, stepping out into the light to show his face.

 

I jolted when I realized it was Key.

 

"Ki-Kibum? I'm sorry, oh I'm so, it's just..." I stutter out, reaching my hand out.

 

"If you'd explain first, maybe I'll hug you."

 

"Home first." Minho snaps out, staring at Key.

 

"Yeah I heard the forever sleep-over idea. Not too bad but I don't have your explanations. And you, Choi Minho, better explain why Taemin was..." he stopped himself, shooting a glance at Jonghyun who had let go of me.

 

Jonghyun made a move as if to speak, and sparing us any drama, I pressed two fingers to his lips, shushing him. He raised his eyebrow at me, and I shook my head. I turned to Taemin and I smiled weakly at him, imperceptible to Jonghyun.

 

"Let's go... Home." I moved away from Jonghyun, hooking arms with Taemin and pushing Minho forward.

 

 

Key POV:

 

I rubbed my neck, staring at Onew hyung's back as he dragged Taemin and pushed Minho forward.

 

"Don't hold too much against him, he has very valid reasons." I ignored Jonghyun, pulling my jacket with a sharp tug closer to my body.

 

"Mum?" I heard Onew hyung's voice echo back to us.

 

Taemin had run up to hug Onew hyung's mum, and that's when I realized she was shaking, and bleeding in the temple.

 

Jonghyun beckoned at me and we ran up, and I halted at the sight of the house door and hallway.

 

Graffiti was scribbled all over the door and glass shards were thrown into the hallway, paint and scratches curling in vicious lines along the wall.

 

Minho by then had approached her, and he was stopped by the police officer that appeared suddenly.

 

"Are you all her sons?" he asked, surprised.

 

"I am, but the rest of them might as well be too." Onew hyung stepped up beside Minho.

 

"Well, we can't find anything that would lead us to the people that did this, especially since there's no cameras. As to how they got in, they broke the key lock, and after finishing their work, before they manage to leave, they scared your mother when she came down the stairs by throwing the glass at her."

 

"I'll be sure to change the locks, thank you." Onew hyung murmured, getting a strange look from the officer.

 

The officer slipped past us and got into his car, driving off.

 

"Mum, do you want to rest? I'll help patch up your forehead." Taemin piped up.

 

I frowned at the affectionate call, and Jonghyun smiled just barely, whispering to me.

 

"We've been staying over for not a long time, but we hang out here almost everyday. You forget. The rest of us just calls her auntie most of the time though."

 

Onew hyung slips a soft hug to her, pressing light fingers around the cut. He stepped towards us, visibly keeping a distance from me.

 

"You guys go up to Minho's room, I'll call some people."

 

He flicks the standing lamp in the corner on to view the wall better, and as the light falls on his arm, I notice the white bandage, on the arm he had pinned me with, peeking out from under his sleeve.

 

"Erm... Onew hyung.." I say, stopping everyone in their tracks except Taemin and hyung's mum to look over at me.

 

"Your arm..." I stare as fresh red seeps into the snow white bandage.

 

"Just go." he glares at me, seemingly upset that I had pointed it out, and he pushed Minho towards me, shaking his head.

 

Minho pulls me by the arm. He was rough, but the emotions he was exuding was more calm.

 

"I'm glad you're back." he says, not looking at me.

 

"It kinda that my welcoming wasn't so good with the other half of you," I shrug. "But according to Jjong, you all have a good reason."

 

I push down my disappointment and complete hurt at the cold shoulder I was receiving from Onew hyung.

 

"He was so cold just now."

 

"He said sorry, but you chose to be snarky, hyung." Taemin sidled up to me, shutting the door behind him.

 

"It's just, reflexive, okay?"

 

We enter our designated room, Jonghyun already there, darting around, as Minho takes the bag that was hooked on Taemin's elbow the whole time, the things we bought.

 

Taemin reaches under the bed and pulls out the foldable table, settling himself and his school bag infront of it. 

 

Minho opens the wardrobe door, taking out a non-suspicious looking brown leather case, before dragging the near-by bean bag to the bed and seating himself and the case on the bed. Taemin shifted himself nearer to Minho and the bean bag, and Jonghyun comes out of the bathroom with a bowl of steaming water.

 

Taemin doesn't even look up as he takes his pencil box off the table and shifts his books to the side to leave a square space, and Jonghyun settles the bowl into that space. He himself then takes his own books from his bag, and places it infront and opposite of Taemin. 

 

My eyes dart to Minho as the sound of wrapping scratches the silence of the efficient routine.

 

The routine seems almost too... Resigned, fluid, purposeful.

 

"Key, you could sit on the bed, or on the arm chair there. We can't do much till Jin hyung is here." Minho directs me gently, ruffling Taemin's hair.

 

"Aren't you going to do any homework like those two?" I tentatively ask.

 

"I usually do my homework in class the moment the teacher gives it out and goes on with the lessons."

 

"You didn't use to do that.." 

 

"It's easier this way." 

 

I open my mouth to ask, but then the door clicks open, and Onew hyung steps in, looking ruffled and tired. 

 

"They're changing the locks to card swipe. It's something new, and exactly as to what I specified. It jams if you try smash it, and obviously smashing through the door is a little too loud." 

 

He sits next to Jonghyun, who turns his attention away from the books to him.

 

I avert my eyes as Jonghyun pecks him on the lips, and I hear Minho and Onew hyung chuckle.

 

"You know it's not going to make the pain any lesser." Onew hyung teases, pressing another kiss onto Jonghyun's forehead, before moving onto the bean bag.

 

"Key hyung, your explanation has just arrived." Taemin calls, still seemingly unaffected by what was going on around him.

 

I glance up as Onew hyung removed his shirt, and I froze.

 

I stared as Minho peeled off the gauze and wrapping, watching the red, no, blood-soaked piece that wrapped his wrist and half of his lower arm practically flop away onto the newspaper Minho had put next to the case.

 

I in a breath when I noticed the bruises that littered his skin, noticed the distinctive shape of a human fist on his stomach, the bruise already yellowing. My eyes fell to the gash in his forearm, healing but now leaking from his attack on me.

 

The air had gone solid around me and I couldn't for the life of me drink it in.

 

"Yeah." Onew hyung mumbled, his eyes watching me cautiously.

 

"Someone is....to you?" I hissed, my lungs still finding it hard to work.

 

"People." Taemin corrects, looking up and then turning his head at me. I bite my lip as I realized that he was holding back his tears again, except they were fierce tears burning in his eyes. "Some people."

 

"You can't just leave this be!" I exclaimed, slipping over next to Minho, facing Onew hyung at a closer proximity. 

 

"Not if I want you all to stay safe." he mutters stubbornly, using his foot to nudge Jonghyun.

 

"Don't pass the heavy work to me!" Jonghyun yelps, and Taemin laughs along with Onew hyung and Minho shakes his head in amusement.

 

Jonghyun proceeds to explain, but I had already zeroed out, realizing how abnormal, how commonplace they seemed to have started to regard Onew hyung's hurt. It was even more heart wrenching, to see that their laughs, never quite exactly reached their eyes. 

 

It's funny how things change within a few months.