When Suho went to visit him, Lay was the same as always; sleeping. The drugs he had given to Kris had apparently worked just fine, and Lay's body recovering was all part of the process. Suho just hoped that Kris was as good as they said he was. 

Tao wasn't in the same room as Lay anymore, seeing as he was completely healthy. In fact, the latter had moved out of the hospital altogether. Tao was now staying in his own little apartment at university in dreams of becoming a dentist. 

He had plans with Suho that day to visit someone special and dear to them. Tao stood outside the hospital, waiting for Suho to walk out, and sure enough, only two seconds later the older walked out. 

"How's he doing?" 

Suho gave Tao a weak smile. "He's holding up. Kris said that he should wake up in a few days, if not two weeks at the most."

The younger gave Suho's hand a squeeze, "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Let's hope so."

-

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Chen stood under the running water for as long as he dared, not caring if it was cold. It was better than what he'd just been through. According to his master, his last client liked him so much that he booked another appointment. 

Chen closed his eyes, hoping that would take the disgusting feel from him. But instead it was worse. He was reliving each nightmare, again and again.  So he opened his eyes, and his mouth, spurting water everywhere. 

He stepped out of the shower, shivering cold and . He quickly grabbed his towel in fear of seeing his own scarred body. As he dried himself, he realised how skinny he'd gotten lately. He could easily count each of his ribs, and his arms were bony as ever. 

His master really had been over booking him.

Chen considered bringing this up at his next meeting, but decided against it. It wouldn't be fair. He wasn't the only one suffering. There were others in that house with him. 

-

-

Kai and Sehun had been dogged all week, back and forth between clients houses, even staying the night at some. When they arrived home, they knew they would be rewarded for their work that week. Maybe they'd get dessert today, or maybe they'd get to go to school the next week. It was quite exciting.

"Maybe he'll let us use the monitor for an hour." Kai exclaimed

"Or he'll let us make our own sandwiches." Sehun said in reply.

Their master called them to his study where he told them that they would be attending school for the rest of the month, only if they were supervised by their brother Chen. It was a reward, yet a demand at the same time. Everything that came from Master's mouth was demand. That's just how it was in the household.

Kai and Sehun happily obliged and were sent to the 'big room', the only room that clients weren't allowed to occupy. Their brothers and sisters were there and they welcomed the boys back warmly. 

Kai beamed when he found a familiar face, running to his bedside. "Chen!" 

-

-

Kris shook his head as he examined his next patient. Apparently the guy was brought in by some angry driver, wanting to sue the guy, but obviously that wasn't happening, seeing as he was out drunk. 

Kris read the name of the man on his records, and it seemed awfully familiar to him. 

Park Chanyeol | 16

Underaged.

He frowned, not sure why it felt familiar. Maybe he knew someone with a similar name. He continued to tend to the male, taking the normal tests, even though he was half asleep. 

It was only when he was checking his body for bruises or breaks when the male started to stir. And even though the emergency room was filled with bustling noise and beeping monitors. Kris heard the words which Chanyeol muttered desperately under his breath. 

Baekhyun.

-

-

Sitting at the table without Chanyeol was weird enough, but without Luhan was even weirder. Xiumin swore that soon, the table would be completely empty, leaving it for the juniors to take over. 

Xiumin had never felt so alone in his life. Of course, he wasn't really sad about it, but more like pissed. Chanyeol had gone out drinking probably, and Luhan was probably ditching. Again.

Geez, the kid was a real nut job. Xiumin thought to himself.

So Xiumin just sat there, alone, staring at his plate of food. In all honesty, he wasn't even hungry. He'd eaten a fairly large breakfast that morning, which pretty much set him up for the rest of the day.

That was when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find Chen's wide, empty eyes looking back at him. "Uh...Are you going to eat that?" 

Xiumin frowned, then realised what the latter was talking about. Pointing at his plate, Xiumin replied. "This? No...why?"

Chen gulped and scratched the back of his neck, as if embarrassed. His eyes skirted away for a second before he stuttered. "B-Because I-I didn't bring m-my lunch today a-and—"

"And you're hungry?" Xiumin asked, finishing off his sentence for him, a cocked eyebrow. Chen nodded in reply, and he could feel the grumbling in his stomach already. 

Chen thought the boy would repel at the suggestion, or embarrass the fellow, but he did neither. Instead, Xiumin pushed his into Chen's hands and stood up saying, "Take it. It's yours." 

No thank you, no goodbye. Just a large plate of food. 

Chen was awestruck. He felt the urge to cry. He'd been so hungry, and so had Kai and Sehun. This plate of food. It was enough for all three of them. He felt he owed the jock something in return, but he didn't know how to repay him. 

But that didn't matter at that moment—what Xiumin had done—could wait. What couldn't, was the food and his brother's growling stomachs. Chen quickly hurried over to his juniors and the three delved in happily. 

-

-

Kyungsoo, beloved class president, sat there wondering how beautiful one could get. He'd always watched Chen from the beginning, it was his duty. The kid looked underfed most the time and he saw bruising on his legs. He always kept an eye out for him. 

But when he brought two other pupils with him, one looking vaguely familiar, and another looking—well—hot, Kyungsoo took more interest. He soon figure his name was Kai, and was in the year below him. How did he never notice him?

Kyungsoo was sure that the guy had never shown his face on the school grounds. He checked the school roll for any transfers, but zero names came up. So...why was he there? 

Was he perhaps a spy? No. That was the most absurd suggestion. He looked the exact same as Chen. Skinny, underfed and walked in a weird, yet similar way to Chen's. So did the other student (Which Kyungsoo found out to be Sehun). From time to time, Kyungsoo would spot the odd birthmark, or what looked like a birthmark on Kai's neck. 

Or maybe they were bruises? 

Kyungsoo wasn't sure. But by the third day they all arrived together, Kyungsoo was sure something was up. Kai had a white bandage sporting his knee, and Sehun a plaster across his cheek. Were they abused? 

The idea made Kyungsoo's blood boil and he had to contain any anger he was feeling. No, that couldn't be. They couldn't possibly be abused. Heck, Kyungsoo didn't even think they had the same parents. 

For all he knew, they could live under completely different roofs. But that didn't seem right to him either. Kai and Sehun treated Chen like their father, or older brother. They followed him everywhere, except during class, entered and exited the school gates with him. As if they were a...family. 

But Kyungsoo didn't feel it was his business to investigate, nor question. He could be completely wrong in his suspicions, and they could just be walking accidents. Yes, that was it. They were just clumsy. It was possible that they could live under the same house, since adoption was quite popular these days. 

They could be anorexic, which could explain their thin build, and as for their birthmarks. Well, god just gave them more than they asked for.

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