“I don’t see the point in another manager, what does he know that our current ones don’t” Hanbin said as the rest of them nodded in agreement but YG had already made up his mind, “he’ll be of extra help, it’s good for you, now stop complaining, don’t you have practice?”

Hanbin nodded in resigned understanding and stood up while the rest of them followed him out of the conference room, “I hope he’s not annoying like Hyungmin hyung” Junhwe mumbled as they made their way to the practice room and Jinhwan slapped him on the back of the head, “behave” he said pointedly but his amusement could be heard.

When they got to the practice room the managers were already there, including the new one and they all stood in a row before doing their usual greeting before introducing themselves separately, their new manager smiled at them and bowed before introducing himself as “Choi Bongpal” which they tried very hard not to snicker at because what kind of old-fashioned name is Bongpal?

After their introduction they started practicing for their song Apology just to jog their memory of the dance and practice was going just as usual nothing out of the ordinary, until they were called for a weight check up. They weren’t completely unheard of, actually they were pretty common, but usually they’d get some sort of notice beforehand. It was at the end of the practice so as soon as you’d been weighed you were free to leave the practice room, so naturally, Hanbin went first. He’d gained some muscle so he weighed slightly more than before which he was complimented on, and so was Jiwon who had buffed up quite a lot lately.

Yunhyeong and Donghyuk had lost some weight which they received great praise for and a clap on the back which they seemed very happy about, Junhwe had also gained some muscle mass and their new manager laughed “the fans will love that, June” and Junhwe laughed with him and decided that maybe the old guy wasn’t so bad. Next was Jinhwan who weighed next to nothing because of his short height but had managed to gain some muscle as well from all the training he’d been doing with Jiwon.

And last but not least, Chanwoo stepped onto the scale, the room was empty besides him and their manager and he was ready to be praised like the others for gaining or losing some weight, whatever he had done, but what he wasn’t expecting was to hear a disappointed groan from the manager as he looked down at the number, “you weigh quite a lot,” he pointed out and Chanwoo frowned and retorted with, “I’m tall,” but the manager would have none of it.

“Tall doesn’t give you the right to be fat, you should work out some more” and then he reached out to grab at the boy’s stomach and pinch, “maybe do some crunches, get rid of all that fat,” and a hand around his arm before stating “they’re kind of flabby, how did you not notice?”

Chanwoo who was at loss of words stared at him for a few seconds before shaking himself out of his head and mumbling, “hyung told me it’s baby fat” he remembered how he’d asked them once if they thought he should lose some more weight and they had all cooed at him and told him that he was just a bit round and cosy because he was still young, and that it would go away as he got older.

“Baby fat is still fat, Chanwoo, you have to take care of your image, understand?” he said and Chanwoo wanted to retort and tell him off for being rude but the man in front of him was their manager now and he couldn’t just stand up to and elder like that, so instead he nodded solemnly and said, “I understand.”

And then he was stepping off the scale and grabbing his stuff before basically running out of the practice room to the car where his hyungs were waiting for him, “hey, what took you so long?” Donghyuk asked as he opened the door for the younger and Chanwoo faked a smile and said “we just had a little chat and got a bit carried away, sorry hyung,” Donghyuk smiled at him and ruffled his hair, “I’m glad you’re getting along.”

Getting along my , Chanwoo thought as the car started up.

***

Next time the manager said something that hurt Chanwoo was during their recording of one of their new songs, WYD, he was recording his part while the others were having lunch, he was supposed to eat with them but the manager wanted him to sing his part again and again...and again until it was perfect and he’d now been there for an extra hour and he was still not satisfied.

And neither was Chanwoo, his throat was starting to hurt from the overuse which of course made his singing worse and his voice quite hoarse which the manager did not like one bit. The final straw was when his voice accidentally cracked from being used too much and the manager turned the music off and turned the intercom on, “are you tone deaf? You sound horrible, how are you even in the group?” he was seething and to be honest Chanwoo was quite terrified, “I’m sorry but my throat really hurts and I-”

“Is that you excuse? A little sore throat? That’s not good enough, some idols are out there performing flawlessly with broken limbs and here you are and you can’t even record an 8 second long part because your throat hurts, get your act together” he hissed and Chanwoo bowed deeply more in fear than respect. Their new manager was so different to him than the rest of the group, with them he was so kind and laughed with them but with Chanwoo all he did was glare and spew insults.

When Chanwoo stepped out of the booth to grab his jacket and go grab some lunch he was stopped by the manager who stepped in front of him, blocking his way, “where are you going?” he asked and Chanwoo frowned in confusion, “to eat” he mumbled and the laughter that met his response made him cower in fear, “oh no little one, do you want to gain even more weight on top of not being able to sing?” Chanwoo certainly didn’t want that but, he was smart and knew that he wasn’t that fat, and his singing wasn’t that horrendous, the manager was exaggerating and he decided to stand up for himself, “how am I supposed to get through dance practice later if I don’t get to ea-”

His words were cut off my a sharp pain his in cheek, the manager had just slapped him! “Don’t you dare mouth off to me, kid” and this time Chanwoo was truly scared, the manager had hit him without any hesitation, what if Yunhyeong would mess up at dance practice next time, would he be hit too? He couldn’t let that happen.

And like the manager could read hus thoughts a hand was on his cheek again but this time in something that he assumed was supposed to be some sort of comforting touch that just left him feeling dirty, “I won’t hit the others, little one, if you stay quiet, can you do that?” and Chanwoo knew right then and there that he was trapped, the man who’d only known him for a couple of weeks could already read him like an open book, and he knew that Chanwoo would do anything to protect the others.

“Can you do that, Chanwoo? Can you keep quiet?” he asked once again and when Chanwoo nodded he smiled wickedly and ruffled his hair, “good boy” he said and then he was pushing Chanwoo back into the recording booth and putting on the music, as soon as Chanwoo heard the beat build up to his part he ignored the pain in his chest and the feeling of sandpaper rubbing the inside of his throat as soon as he swallowed, he could do this.

***

The third time something happened he was already quite bruised from the different types of beatings he’d received in the past few weeks and he was feeling lethargic and slow and trying his best not to show how truly exhausted he was.

But it was during dance practice where he kept messing up even the most simplest steps that the manager suddenly paused the music and asked them all to step out, all except Chanwoo. “Wait outside, Chanwoo and I have some things to discuss,” he said harshly and the others frowned in confusion, they’d thought  practice had been going pretty well so what could have made their manager so mad with their youngest?

But nonetheless they stepped out quietly but left the door open for a bit so they’d still be able to hear them, “Chanwoo, what’s going on with you today?” their manager asked the youngest and to their surprise Chanwoo seemed to hunch his back and hide his face, “nothing, I’m sorry” he whispered which seemed like a good apology to them.

But their manager did not seem happy, “I thought our last talk would have been enough to discipline you, seems like I was wrong” he said and only then did Chanwoo look up, but not in wonder, in fear. He looked terrified, beyond terrified and the hyungs were at a loss, what was going on?

“No! I promise I’m okay, I’ve just been a bit distracted but I’ll work harder” he fumbled for words as he tried to convince the manager not to hurt him again, he was already so sore and so, so tired and all he needed was a bit of rest and then he’d be just as good as new again.

“Something’s wrong,” Yunhyeong mumbled and the others nodded in agreement, their makane seemed so scared because of a simple off day at practice and they knew it meant something else, something bigger than this.

“Will you really work harder? Or do I have to-”

“No, I will I swear. I’ll practice later than the others and-” the slap to his face was so unexpected that even the hyungs who were watching didn’t react at first, “what have I told you about interrupting me, little one” the man hissed and the younger boy held his cheek as he tried not to let the tears fall, “I’m sorry” he whispered and only then, when they heard the broken tone of their maknae did they shake out of their shock and barge right into the room. Jiwon, Hanbin and Junhwe going straight for the manager and the rest to Chanwoo, “what the hell do you think you’re doing!” Hanbin yelled as he ran at the man who stared at them in shock.

“Have you completely lost your mind!” he screamed at the manager as he tried to come up with a good excuse for his behaviour, “I was just teaching him a lesson” he tried but Jinhwan was having none of it, “a lesson does not give you the right to hit him you son of a !”

“We’re leaving” Jiwon said coldly all of the sudden and the ret stared at him, “why, we should report him and-”

“We will. But if we don’t go right now I swear I’ll beat him to death,” he said and only then did they take notice of his clenched fists and his heavy breathing and realized how mad he truly was, “okay,” Jinhwan said and that was the final word uttered in the practice room before Chanwoo was practically dragged out of the room by Donghyuk and Yunhyeong closely followed by the rest of the gang, leaving their manager behind.

As soon as they were outside of the building and heading towards their car Jinhwan burst into tears and enveloped the youngest in a bear hug that squeezed the breath out of him, “Chanwoo, hyung is so sorry, we didn’t know” he mumbled but Chanwoo only pat his back, “it’s not your fault hyung, and besides, I’m fine.”

“You call this fine?” Junhwe asked as he poked Chanwoo’s tender cheek and as he winced at the pain he realized that he just answered junhwe’s question, maybe he wasn’t so fine after all. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled as they entered the car, they were supposed to wait for their manager so he could drive them home but no one was ready or willing to meet him and so Jiwon climbed into the front seat and started up the car, “don’t apologize, Chanwoo, it’s making me even madder than I already am” he mumbled and Chanwoo lowered his head, he hadn’t meant to make his hyungs upset.

When Jiwon realized his mistake he mentally hit himself for being so stupid and bad with words, “I didn’t mean that I’m mad at you, baby, I’m mad at that disgusting piece of-”

“Jiwon,” Jinhwan interrupted and Chanwoo couldn’t help but giggle at the exchange, it almost felt like a normal day, except for the pain in his body and the heavy feeling in his chest.

“Chanwoo,” Junhwe mumbled and he looked at the slightly older sitting across from him, this was the first time he’d spoken since everything, “why didn’t you tell us?” he asked and then all the attention was on him and he felt a bit cornered, “well, he said he’d hurt you too and I didn’t want that,” he answered and Donghyuk pulled him into a side hug, “baby, we appreciate you caring about us, but this was too far, I mean he slapped you!” Donghyuk exclaimed but Chanwoo only shrugged, “I’ve had worse” he said casually before quickly realizing his mistake and wishing for them to forget he ever said anything.

“Worse?” Yunhyeong asked in a fearful voice and Chanwoo hesitated before nodding slightly,”what has he done?” Hanbin asked with a lump in his throat and his fists clenched in anger, how had he not known that his makane was hurting?

“I mean,he’s kicked me before but that was only once and then he’s thrown me into a table and he’s-” Chanwoo was cut off by Jinhwan letting out a quiet sob and Hanbin stating coldly that “he’s dead.”

The others stayed quiet, they couldn’t believe that so much had happened without them knowing and that they’d been so blind.

When they arrived back at the dorm Donghyuk clung to Chanwoo as they entered and wouldn’t let him go even to take their shoes off, and then they were on the couch in the living room and everyone was quiet, until Yunhyeong broke the silence, “can we check?” he asked and Chanwoo frowned, “check what?” he questioned truly confused but then Yunhyeong gestured to his body and Chanwoo understood what he meant.

“Hyung I don’t think that’s a good idea, I don’t want you to be upset,” he said but Yunhyeong only shook his head and smiled sadly, “I just want to check that you’re okay” he said and after a moment of hesitation Chanwoo finally nodded.

Yunhyeong kneeled in front of him and grabbed the ends of his shirt, “can you lift your arms?” he asked quietly and Chanwoo nodded before doing so, the gasp that filled the room as his shirt was pulled over his head was so loud and the tension was hard enough to cut with a knife, “Chanwoo-yah” Jiwon mumbled sadly as he looked over the youngest’ black and blue torso filled with handprints. “I’m okay hyung” he smiled sweetly at the elder and reached out to grab his hand, “it’s just a couple of bruises, nothing a few weeks of good sleep won’t heal” he chuckled but no else seemed to want to joke in that moment.

“That’s not just a couple of bruises baby, look at yourself, I’ll be surprised if none of your ribs are broken” Junhwe the forever empathetic person stated and Jinhwan smacked the back of his head, “he’s only hurt me a couple of times” Chanwoo mumbled and Donghyuk grabbed his hand, “what did he do when he didn’t hit you?”

“Mostly just spew insults and tell me to lose weight or something, not too bad,” he said and Hanbin sighed deeply, “he abused you, baby, mentally and physically” he said and dragged a hand through his hair in distress, before suddenly perking up and reaching to grab a hold of one of Chanwoo’s hands, “Chanwoo-yah, please be honest with me, okay?” he said quickly and quite fearfully.

“Okay…” Chanwoo said in confusion, “did he...hurt you in any other way?” he asked slowly and the others caught on to what he meant and held their breath as they awaited an answer, “um...he didn’t let me eat sometimes, but that’s-”

“Horrible, disgusting behaviour, but what we wanna know is...did he...touch you?” Jiwon said and Donghyuk squeezed his eyes shut as he was afraid of what the answer to the question would be.

“No, no not like that hyung. I wasn’t ,” he stated firmly and sighs of relief filled the room and murmurs of ‘thank god’ could be heard. “Okay,” hanbin murmured and moved so that he was kneeling in front of Chanwoo as well and placed his hands on his thighs, “why don’t you go rest some, and we’ll wake you when dinners ready?”

Chanwoo knew they wanted to discuss some things in private about their situation, so he nodded and kissed Hanbin’s cheek, “okay hyung.”

Hope you enjoy <3

Sorry about any mistakes! I'll fix them soon, please leave a comment, it makes my day :)