First I'd like to start this off with a very sincere apology for not updating in months, I know I can't blame it on school because it's been summer break so instead I'm gonna blame it on the fact that my anxiety has been skyrocketing for the past few months and it has effected my life very deeply. I've been constantly nervous and almost unable to put any effort in to my writing lately, which is why this chapter is the shortest and probably worst chapter I've written so far but I've seen all the comment I've been getting bot on this story but also on my personal tumblr and messages, and I am truly sorry for updating for so long. I really am. I hope you can forgive me a little and enjoy this short chapter that will hopefully help me regain my interest and will to finish this story.

Thank you so much for being so patient with me!!!! I love you all so so much <3 <3 <3 <3

Chanwoo wakes up with an immense pain in his neck but warmth in his hand and when the memories of the night before and the blood and Junhwe hits him he curls his hand tighter around the limp one in his. It’s a lot warmer than it was before which is positive because it means that Junhwe’s getting back some warmth into his body after all that blood loss but it’s still limp meaning that he has not yet awakened.

Chanwoo sits up carefully and rests his head back to let some pressure off his neck, the room is dark, not a light to be seen and there are no windows so there’s no way for Chanwoo to tell the time. He stretches a bit more in the uncomfortable and stiff chair as he thinks over the events only a few hours back in time, all from Junhwe grabbing his hand to lying in the back of the car to shards of glass cutting his face as bullets penetrate the car, the groan of pain from Junhwe and the crash that smashes his foot.

The fall upon the grass, the crawl toward the front of the car and the blood, the blood is what he remembers the most, so much red, too much red for one person and the shaking in his hands as he dug out the bullet from Junhwe’s flesh. He lets go of Junhwe’s hand like he’s been electrocuted and stands up even though his foot and his entire body protests, he stumbles back and the chair falls but Chanwoo feels so sick and gone in that moment that any sound or movement goes unnoticed. He needs to find a bathroom quickly unless he wants to throw up on the floor and so he runs in the opposite way of Junhwe’s bed in hopes of finding a door somewhere in the dark and he does, he finds the nob and exits the door straight into a warm lit corridor with the smell of food in the air that only makes him feel sicker.

He totters his way to a door that looks like the bathroom and luckily enough it is, he falls to his knees in record time and heaves up whatever is in his stomach, which isn't much since it hasn't been long since the last time he threw up. No matter how much his stomach protests he continues to heave into the toilet painfully until his throat is worn out and sore, only then does the heaving stop and he can relax against the wall behind him with a heavy breath.

When he has calmed down enough to actually look around himself he gets a quick look of himself on a small mirrored surface and immediately thinks that if he thought he looked bad the true reveal is much more horrifying. Deep, dark and purple bags hang under his eyes and his mouth is as dry as sandpaper, the cuts all over his face aren’t helping either and he sees that his hair has been cut in a place giving him a small bald spot that proudly shows off 5 stitches in his scalp, attractive.

He runs a hand through his hair and down his face despite how much the action hurts as he sighs heartily and leans back against the wall, he feels so worn out despite being asleep for multiple hours, but maybe it’s because he’s been shot at and been in a car accident.

A throat clearing by the door alerts him and he straightens up only to see Touka in the opening, she’s wearing pyjamas with cute little ruffles and holding a tray with a bowl and a glass of what looks to be some sort of juice. “Are you alright?” she asks quietly with a worried look and he knows he must be quite the image to see, he nods his head slowly so that he won’t make himself dizzy and Touka frowns but doesn’t question him on it further. Instead she sets the tray down by the door and enters the bathroom carefully, Chanwoo hears the flush of the toilet and reddens in embarrassment at forgetting to flush his own vomit but Touka doesn’t laugh at him, in fact, she doesn’t say anything.

She grabs a towel from the cupboard over the sink and holds it under the water for a few seconds before kneeling next to Chanwoo and placing it on his forehead, it’s cool and really really nice and before he can say thank you she’s up again and grabbing something else from over the sink, she rummages through the cupboard for some time before he hears a small ‘aha’ and then she’s back to kneeling next to him. This time with some sort of salve in her hands that she applies to his stitches on his head and on the cuts on his face, she dabs carefully over his face and around his mouth but when she reaches his neck he grabs her wrist to stop her mid motion. She startles and looks at him wide eyed and Chanwoo’s gotta admit he’s pretty surprised himself for having the courage.

“What?” she questions timidly and blinks slowly as she waits for his answer, but the words are stuck in his throat and he struggles to speak because he doesn’t really know what to ask first. He closes his eyes for a few seconds to gather his thoughts and when he opens them she’s still looking at him with those doe eyes that matches his own a little bit, except for the slight blue bruise and the cuts.

“Where are we?” he asks hesitantly and loosens his grip on her wrist, it’s like he never grabbed her because she returns to her task of applying the salve to his wounds without a thought, “a safe house” she answers vaguely and Chanwoo wants to inquire more and demand answers but he falls silent instead as Touka gets the last of the cuts on his neck and collarbones.

When she’s done she stands and puts the salve back in it’s place before offering him a hand, he looks at her doubtingly but eventually grabs it and lets her haul him onto his feet, she’s surprisingly  strong for being so small and pulls him up without effort. He’s a bit shaky on his legs, like Bambi on ice, but he manages to walk out of the bathroom before having to lean against the corridor wall. Touka picks up the tray she placed on the ground and looks at him carefully, “if you are not ready to eat with the others you can eat in your room,” but Chanwoo shakes his head before she’s even done talking. He wants to- needs to see the others.

“Please, I need to see them,” he says urgently and Touka nods her head and gestures for him to follow her. She walks slowly down the warm corridor so that he can keep up with her pace and she stops whenever he needs to. His foot hurts and his body feels heavy but he's never wanted to see the others more than he does in this moment.

When they reach the end of the corridor they're met but a heavy looking door that looks like it could probably withstand a nuclear blast. But since Touka did call it a safe house maybe that is exactly what it's there for.

She knocks hard on the cold metal surface and awaits for any answer. The door is so thick and heavy that you can't hear anything through it from the other side so Chanwoo wonders if they even heard her, but then something on the side of the door starts spinning and ticking and suddenly it's opening itself like a bank vault.

Touka gestures for him to follow her inside and he does carefully so, he some of jumps out of his skin when the door closes behind them but Touka doesn't seem worried so he guesses it's normal. Only a few meters into the cave like room he can hear voices speaking and he quickens his pace despite the pain in his foot. Touka notices because she puts a hand on his shoulder and says, “we've got time, don't hurt yourself” and no matter how painful it is to walk at a snail's speed at least it's a bit less painful for his foot.

The first thing he sees is Hanbin’s side profile and he almost cries with how happy he is to see the leader. He must let out a whimper of sorts because Hanbin’s head turns to him and his face shows immediate shock before it turns into something much softer and he moves towards Chanwoo with his arms outstretched.

Chanwoo stumbles into his arms but Hanbin doesn't seem to mind as he only grabs the boy and hugs him tighter, “hyung” Chanwoo mumbles and Hanbin his hair and hugs him, Hanbin's a man of few words but his presence is enough to calm the youngest. When Hanbin lets go of him he can’t help let out a tiny whimper from the loss of warmth but Hanbin only grabs his hand and leads him to a couch where Donghyuk is sitting. He’s a bit stiff as he sits on the couch but it all disappears when Donghyuk’s arms wrap around him and he’s filled with warmth again.

“How are you feeling?” Donghyuk whispers with his arm wound tight around the younger,  and it’s only when Chanwoo takes a closer look at him that he realizes that he didn’t come out of the fight uninjured either, there’s a jack over his brow and his hand is bandaged pretty heavily. “I’m okay but, hyung, you’re hurt,” he answers and takes a look around at the others to see that they’re just as hurt or more than he is, he suddenly feels very weak for passing out and crying over his foot.

“It’s nothing, we’re used to it,” Jiwon says and Chanwoo wants to say more but knows that, it is true, they are in fact used to this, he’ used to pain as well but not very good at handling it emotionally. He has his father to thank for that.

“How’s Junhwe?” Hanbin asks and Chanwoo almost blushes at the mention of the older boy’s name but catches himself before he can, he’s not really ready to venture into that discussion just yet.

“I...eh….he’s good I think, I mean, he’s still asleep but...um” he doesn’t know how to string together a sentence so instead of finishing up what he was about to say he switches topic quickly and turns to Hanbin, “who were those men?” he asks and the surprise is as clear as day on the leader’s face. Did he think Chanwoo just forgot about why they were here in the first place?

There’s a pregnant pause where everyone seems to hold their breath and Chanwoo really wants to know what’s gotten his brave mafia badass hyungs so quiet. Hanbin takes a deep breath and his brows furrow before he leans back in his chair, “Exo” he says and if possible it becomes more quiet than before in the room and Chanwoo feels stuck in the suffocating silence.

Hanbin doesn’t say more than that and Chanwoo assumes that not more is needed because the name Exo clearly speaks for itself, even though he doesn’t know the full extent of the name, but they clearly do and it’s clearly not good.

************

It takes almost a day for Junhwe to open his eyes and escape from the darkness and when he does Jinhwan’s there to wipe the sweat off of his face and Yunhyeong’s looking after his wound, he coughs roughly and Jinhwan soothes him, “it’s okay,” he whispers and Junhwe groans because everything really hurts. He falls asleep a little while later but no one says anything because it’s clear he’s still not completely ‘there’.

When he awakes a few hours later the room’s not as light as it was before which his eyes gladly accepts as he opens them, there’s also no Jinhwan wiping his forehead or Yunhyeong redressing his abdomen, in fact, there’s no one. At least not as far as he can see.

He doesn’t know if they’re outside or if they’re all the way down the corridor behind the vault door but he takes his chances still and lets out a raspy “hello” that echoes slightly through the seemingly empty room, “hello” he says again a little bit louder and something moves on the floor. His first thought is to grab a gun and shoot but he’s unarmed and quite incapable of moving so instead he just lies there and accepts his fate, he awaits the strike of a blade or the piercing feeling of a bullet but what touches him is far from what he expected.

It’s a hand on his chest, a warm hand that doesn’t seem like it’s getting ready to strangle him, and when he looks up in wonder he sees a ruffled mop of hair and a pair of drowsy doe eyes. Chanwoo, his brain supplies him with.

“Hyung,” Chanwoo whispers quietly like he’s afraid to disturb him, “hm,” he answers because he’s still a little taken aback by the fact that no one else is there except Chanwoo who he hasn’t exactly been the nicest too.

“Are you okay? Should I get Yunhyeong hyung? Are you in pain?” he fires off question after question and if Junhwe wasn’t basically stuck to the bed he’d be reaching up and slapping the crap out of him, but perhaps in a little nicer way than that.

“Shut up,” he settles for which probably wasn’t the best either but Chanwoo doesn’t seem too bothered by it, no he almost looks like he was expecting a lot worse, how mean has he been to the kid? Really? “You’re giving me a headache,” he mumbles and the sound of Chanwoo in a breath like he has to force himself not to talk is actually, weirdly enough, kind of cute.

‘Can you get me some water?’, ‘can I have some water please?’, ‘would you be so kind to hand me that bottle of water?’...nah…

“Water” he says roughly and slaps (more like nudges) Chanwoo’s arm to get him moving, Chanwoo quickly stands up and grabs a water bottle from the desk on the other side of the room and a straw to make it easier from Junhwe to drink from it. When he returns he uncaps the bottle, sticks the straw down and places it near Junhwe’s mouth. The act doesn’t  seem to sit well with Junhwe because his face scrunches up and he shakes his head, “I’m not a child,” he mumbles and it sounds so childish that it almost makes Chanwoo laugh, not that he does, he wouldn’t dare.

“I know, hyung, but you’re injured, please, let me help you,” he says and he can see the wheels turning in Junhwe’s head, like he’s weighing ‘soothe his burning throat’ against ‘keep my pride’, luckily enough he puts his needs first and nods slightly.

Chanwoo holds the water bottle against Junhwe’s mouth and helps him drink from it, it’s a little hard since he’s basically lying down but they manage, for a while that is, until Junhwe accidentally takes a little too big of a sip and it goes down the wrong way and causees him to cough. In Chanwoo’s panic to help him, he hurries forward scoops his hand under Junhwe’s head to bring him up a bit so he can breathe properly, but the stretch causes him to lose a bit of his footing and he falls forward only enough to land with his face centimeters away from Junhwe’s face.

Junhwe’s coughing comes to an extreme halt and Chanwoo’s afraid he’s stopped breathing but that doesn’t seem to be the case, in fact, he seems to be breathing more heavily than before with his eyes open wide and staring directly at Chanwoo. The young boy doesn’t know if he should keep staring or look away from the other’s intense gaze.

“What are you doing?” Junhwe questions quietly and Chanwoo draws away like he’s been burned, “I-I’m sorry I didn’t mean to I….I lost my footing and I’m so so sorry” he hurriedly says as he backs away and lets go of Junhwe.

He places the water bottle that is still in his other hand on the nightstand and moves away from the bed, he doesn’t dare to meet Junhwe’s eyes after what just happened so instead he settles his gaze in his lap and on his intertwined hands. “Can you get Hanbin for me?” Junhwe says quietly and Chanwoo looks up to see him looking at him with pleading eyes, it’s only then that he remembers the picture that he saw of the two, maybe they’re together, maybe that’s why he is so uncomfortable with him.

That kind of hurts.

He doesn’t trust his voice in that moment so instead he just nods his head slightly and stands up, “can I get you anything else?” he asks quietly and he’s thankful that he doesn’t sound too weak, he doesn’t even have a legitimate reason for feeling weak. It’s not like he likes Junhwe, right?

“No, no I’m good,” and with that Chanwoo’s out the door and hobbling down the corridor to the vault where the others are, the door’s open this time and he wastes no time getting inside, “Hanbin hyung,” he calls gently so that he doesn’t alarm the elder and he looks up at him in wonder, “hey, where’ve you been?” he asks as he lays down a card of some sort in front of him which must be good judging by Jiwon’s sour face as he checks his own cards.

“Junhwe’s asking for you” he states and every movement in the room stops at his words, “he’s awake?” Yunhyeong half shrieks and Chanwoo nods his head calmly while Hanbin stands up, cards long forgotten.

Hanbin looks happy to hear that the younger is awake but also quite conflicted because of the way Chanwoo’s acting, is something wrong? “Is he alright?” he asks and the youngest’ gaze flicks up to meet his, “he’s fine, he’s just asking for you,” he mumbles and then he’s hobbling out of the corridor to his room without another word.

It leaves the others in silence for a while until Donghyuk can’t hold his excitement no longer and half sprints down the corridor to see Junhwe, the rest follow close by but Jinhwan and Hanbin stick to the back of the group as they think over Chanwoo’s weird behavior. “Do you think something happened?” Jinhwan says and Hanbin turns to him lethargically, “I’m not sure”.

Thank you all so much for reading!

I hope you have a wonderful day and that you take care of yourselfs! :)