I hoped, beyond all hope, that he hadn’t heard any of the conversation that had gone on in between Taemin and I, but I knew it was useless. I sat up slowly, and while Taemin looked scared, there wasn’t much I could do to comfort him. I carefully moved him off of my lap, and my father leaned on the doorframe, just waiting to see what I would do next.

“Can I help you?” I asked, my voice low, submissive. He pushed himself off the opening to the bedroom, his arms crossing.

“I came to see why you were ordering take out so much. I thought you had bought a chef so you could stop doing that. I didn’t realize it was because you were letting them run rampant.”

“They do as I say.” I replied. “If I decide I want to eat out, that’s my business.”

“I suppose it is.” He said, his eyebrow going up. “But you are my business, so it’s my business what you do. Like letting that half breed lounge around in the guest bedroom. That would certainly attract some attention if anyone were to hear.”

“He’s sick.” I said softly.

“If he’s too sick to work then put him down.” He said, his tone harsh. I cringed.

“He’ll be fine once he recovers.” I said. My father shook his head.

“I should have picked your slaves for you. I knew you wouldn’t be able to handle even that simple of a task, but I still let you do it anyway. I must have been very tired that day.” He said. His words put me on edge.

“Tired or not, I already purchased these ones.” I said, a small hint of defiance in my tone. I didn’t miss the flash of surprise on his face.

“Finally growing a set of balls, are we?” He asked. I didn’t answer, and he moved closer to the bed, his hand reaching out. I expected him to hit me, but instead he took hold of Taemin’s face. “This one doesn’t look like he’s good for a damned thing. He was probably premature, right? They should have drowned you.”

Taemin was shaking so badly I could feel it through through the mattress. My father released him roughly, tossing him back on the bed and shaking his head.

“No muscle, am I right? So he’s not good for manual labor.” He said, then shoved Taemin’s shirt up. I felt my temper rearing up as Taemin tried desperately to stay still. “He’s nothing but skin and bones.”

“It’s just his body type.” I said through clenched teeth. My father shrugged.

“Even using him as a pet would be a waste.” He said. “He’s too delicate. Weaker than even you, and yet you claim to love him?”

“You don’t know anything about love.” I muttered, and he turned his sharp eyes on me. I could have kicked myself for how stupid I was being.

“Perhaps not.” He said, stepping back. Taemin didn’t make any move to cover himself, so I reached over and pulled his shirt back down without comment. “There’s a town meeting in two weeks. You have until then to get rid of them, or I’ll be starting a petition to have them all put down, and you locked up.”

He turned then, walking out without looking back. I looked over at Taemin, seeing that he was still very shaken by the whole encounter. I pulled him into my arms, and he held onto me tightly. I didn’t bother to get up and shut the door - I knew the others would come soon enough to see what had taken place, but in that moment my main focus was Taemin, who was twitching and trembling in my grasp.

“That...is why I was acting the way I was.” I finally whispered, and he nodded slowly, his lips trembling as he fought to hold in his tears.

“I’m sorry.” He forced out, and I watched the tears beginning to fall like rain from his dark eyes. I rubbed his back gently, trying to come up with a solution to the whole mess when a very tired looking Key, being supported by a wary looking Minho, came into my room.

“What?” I asked, no venom in my voice. Key stared at the floor silently for a moment.

“Was that...your father?” Key asked softly. I nodded. “That’s why you were asking me all those questions the other day.”

“Yeah.” I said, not even trying to deny what I knew was coming.

“You knew.” He accused. I nodded, my focus still on Taemin, who was currently soaking the front of my shirt. Key was silent for a long time, and when he spoke again his tone was low, understanding. “You were trying to keep us safe.”

“Yeah, Key. I was.” I said, rubbing the pads of my fingers against Taemin’s scalp. He tightened his grip on my shirt, taking deep breaths as he tried to calm down.

“Are you going to let us die?” Minho asked, surprising me slightly. Taemin tensed.

“Do you think I’m so heartless that I would let you guys go without a fight?” I asked, my voice low.

“Does that mean you have a plan?” Key asked. I shook my head.

“I have an idea.” I said. “But I really need to research it more before I’ll know if it’s doable.”

“I can help with that.” Key said quickly, and Taemin looked up.

“Me too.” He said. “I’m not a very fast reader, but three is still better than one, right?”

“Yeah, it is.” I said, his hair. “What about you, Minho? Can you read?”

“No sir.” He said softly. “Onew can’t either.”

“It’s fine. I’ll think of something.” I said, feeling like my head was going to burst. “For right now, everyone just needs to calm down.”

“Calm down? I’m sorry, but how do you expect us to do that?” Key asked. “He wants us d-dead.”

“I know what he wants. He wants you to be fertilizer in the back yard. Four bumps in the grass, and I know he won’t stop until he sees it.” I said. “But I just can’t give him the visual that he wants.”

“W-well...why not?” Taemin asked. I turned to him, my eyes wide.

“Taemin...” I said, shocked.

“No, listen.” He said. “Dig up four holes in the back yard, then throw in some big rocks, and bury them. He’ll never know the difference.”

I stared at him in absolute shock. How was he so god damned smart? I pulled him against me, squeezing tightly, then pulled back and kissed him. I heard Minho gasp, and even as I pulled back I heard Key saying something along the lines of ‘I knew it.’

“Minho, you and Onew start digging tomorrow, ok?” I said, and he nodded eagerly. “Key, I’ll get some books out for you later on tonight, and we’ll start looking. Can you write?”

“Y-yeah, my mom taught me.” He said, nodding. I wondered if they could see the relief on my face.

“Good. For now, if you don’t want to wait around, start teaching Onew and Minho. At least how to write their names, ok?” I said. He nodded, looking at Minho.

“Do you have a notebook?” He asked. I nodded.

“In the library, there should be a few. Just start with that.” I said, and he started tugging Minho out into the hall. He seemed a lot more energetic, and I felt a small weight lift off my shoulders. I could do this. We could do this.