Six weeks later

                “Come on Fishy! The movers will be here any moment. It’s no good second guessing your decision now. You’re the one who said he wanted a change of scenery.” Heechul sounded exasperated as he attempted to pry Donghae from where he was curled up in a ball on his couch.

                “I know, I know, it’s just, maybe I should’ve tried harder?” Donghae’s eyes were red and swollen once he finally rolled over to squint up at his brother, who now looked worried and pissed off at the same time.

                “My . You were only fired out of spite. They were stifling you anyway. I’ve known since you were in kindergarten you were capable of more than that bland, cookie-cutter garbage that stupid publisher was making you churn out. It’s not like you’re going to starve or end up on the street while you hunt for a company that will actually appreciate you and your talent. Moping isn’t going to make it happen any faster, and that bastard has hurt you more than enough. Now move! Or I’ll get a bucket of water.”

                Donghae sighed. “I understand why you’re moving. You’ve got a great part in that musical, and it happens to be closer to the person who, and I quote “knows exactly the best way to tear my apart.” I’m happy you’re willing to give Jungsoo and Leeteuk a chance at a real relationship. But…” He trailed off at that point.

                “But nothing. There’s nothing for you here anymore, and didn’t you say you really liked it when you hung out with Kyuhyun and Henry? I’m not saying you have to become a regular at Feed Your Demons, but wouldn’t it be nice to be able to see them more often? And you never know. You might meet someone, or find that inspiration you’ve been looking for. Be the brave Fishy I know you’re capable of.”

                Any more arguing between the brothers died when the bell rang. It was the movers, four big, burly (for Koreans) guys who hardly said a word except to ask if there was any particular way the two wanted their things loaded. After saying there wasn’t, Heechul finally managed to pry Donghae off the couch and the two spent the next two hours rechecking everything for missed items and trying to stay out of the moving men’s ways. For a couple of bachelors, they had collected quite an amount of stuff in the luxury apartment they shared, mostly Heechul’s clothes and Donghae’s collection of toys.

                Eventually, the apartment was stripped bare, save for the brothers themselves and Donghae’s pet goldfish Jack and Rose, and frogs, Truth, Beauty, and Love who had been transferred to a smaller, plastic aquarium for the trip to their new home. He had no intention of letting strangers handle his pets, so hoisted their travel quarters into his arms while Heechul rechecked one final time, locked up, made sure the movers knew where they were going, and headed down the elevator to turn in their sets of keys.

                Donghae was fairly quiet on the trip to their new home, holding the aquarium in his lap and humming every now and then to the radio, while Heechul drove and kept up a steady stream of chatter his brother only grunted at or occasionally answered with a yes or no.

                Moving was nothing new to the pair. Heechul went where the jobs who wanted him were and Donghae could write anywhere, but they’d lived in the same place for over three years while the older had a steady recurring role in a soap opera and could still pick up theater work or bit parts in movies, and the younger had hoped to finally be putting down some roots. He’d missed having a house to grow up in and someplace he could call his hometown. Heechul didn’t seem to really care, even after his character had been killed off for ratings, but it bothered Donghae. If he hadn’t been worried Heechul was moving too fast no matter what he said about Jungsoo and Leeteuk, and disliked being by himself so much, he might have stayed put, even after getting fired. He liked traveling, but wasn’t crazy about feeling like a vagabond, even a well-heeled one. He wanted somewhere he could really call home.

                Donghae was startled out of his thoughts when Heechul suddenly parked and nudged his elbow. “There it is Fishy, the new Casa de Kim-Lee.” He looked up and blinked, thinking at first it was some kind of joke. The two had always rented fancy high-rise apartments, but this was an actual Western-style house, with a yard and a porch swing and what looked like a two-car garage.

                “I thought you might like to try living in something different. It’s still a rental, but if things work out and one or both of us decide to stay, there is an option to buy. Do you like it?”

                “It’s, it’s, I don’t know what to say Chullie!”

                “Wait til you see inside.”

Eunhyuk was worried about Hyukjae, even more so than usual. Master hadn’t taken them back to his house and had been exceptionally cruel to them lately, barely feeding them at all and giving almost no time to heal before “requiring their services” for himself and his friends. They were now blind, and so weak they could barely walk at all, mostly slowly crawling wherever they needed to go, feeling around and having to rely on their hearing and the little incubus’ keen sense of smell to know where things were.

                Or rather Eunhyuk did. With his sense of time being off with being unable to see, he had no idea really when the last time Hyukjae had been in charge of their body. He seemed to be in some sort of coma, possibly as a protection from what was happening to them, and Eunhyuk didn’t like it. It wasn’t that he wanted his human to know what was going on, but it couldn’t possibly be good for him to never be in control of what was his body in the first place. He had to figure how to get them out of their situation as soon as possible, but he had no idea how. He couldn’t before, and now they were more helpless than ever.

                Eunhyuk finally got his chance one, he thought it was night but he couldn’t be sure. He hadn’t been able to feel any sun from the windows for what seemed like quite a while, but it had been raining so much he wasn’t surprised. He was yanked off their blanket and flung onto a table before a new man he didn’t remember meeting before “took the goods for a test drive,” leaving the blind little incubus and by extension his human bleeding and what felt like with internal damage, although he had no idea how much.

                You weren’t kidding about how tight it is. Why on earth would you ever give up something this fantastic?” New man asked Master, whose reply made Eunhyuk sick to his stomach.

“The cops have been sniffing too close lately, and I can’t risk being caught with an illegal slave incubus. He’s so well broken-in, helpless and compliant and knows to keep his mouth shut, just your type. I’ll miss how tight he is, but I can always capture another once suspicion dies down, if you decide to keep him and I can’t persuade you to sell him back.”

“You do raise a good point. I’ll take it. How much was the asking price?”

After being sold like they were a used appliance, Eunhyuk and Hyukjae were wrapped in their blanket so tightly it was hard to breathe, and flung over New man’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried out to some kind of car before being tossed in the backseat, which loosened the blanket just enough Eunhyuk was able to wiggle one arm free. He’d made his decision, as hard as it was. Their body and minds couldn’t take being a object any longer, and if he couldn’t protect his human or get them free, he’d get them out another way and face whatever consequences there were for his kind for his actions. He only had to wait until they got some speed, and prayed to whoever looked out for incubi that the car door didn’t have child locks engaged.

Eunhyuk’s chance came sooner than he expected. They were on some kind of highway or at least busy street, judging by the traffic noises and the way the car felt as though it was going fairly fast. Slowly, he wiggled their body until he could touch the door with their free hand and d around until he felt the handle and what he was pretty sure was a lock, which he pressed before yanking at the handle and pushing, relieved when he was able to get it to open a little. Summoning what little remained of their strength, the determined little incubus hunched up as much as he could, digging their toes into the seat before launching himself and his human onto what he was hoping was the path of a semi or at least something large that wouldn’t get too damaged when it ran them over. He had a vague sensation of falling and hitting asphalt, before he knew no more.