I felt sick as I looked down at the two mounds of dirt in the back yard. Collectively, I had worked with Minho, Onew, and the new kid, Joon, to lug the biggest rocks we could find from the woods the night before. We had then tossed them into the holes, Minho jumping down to rearrange them in the correct shape of a body, then scrambling out just as quickly to fill in the holes with us.

There were still two half-dug graves, and it freaked me out to look at them. Even with no one buried there, I insisted that Jinki plant flowers to show respect. It had to look as convincing as possible, and I knew that if something did happen, I wouldn’t have been able to leave them in an in unmarked grave.

Once we were finished I went inside, heading to one of the spare bedrooms way in the back of the house that was never touched. I had hidden Taemin and Key away there, and they knew they couldn’t come out. I pushed the door open and instantly Taemin was on me.

It was hard to hold him like that, knowing I would only be able to see him for brief moments throughout the day. I didn’t want to think about the nights I would be spending alone, without the little ball of warmth beside me. I knew he was just as upset by it.

“Onew and Minho will be in here with you tomorrow.” I told them, and while Key looked kind of excited by the idea, Taemin just looked more upset.

“Will you come here, too?” He asked, and I pulled him against me.

“I can’t stay in here, Taemin. You know that.” I said, kissing his forehead. Tears welled up in his eyes, and I shifted my gaze to Key before I could give in. “Have you found anything?”

“Kind of.” Key said. “There’s a place where you can go with your...possessions. There, you can do pretty much whatever you want. We would still technically belong to you, and you would still be able to boss us around, but if you chose not to, no one would say anything. They...they even allow freedom, if the owner is willing to give it.”

“Find out everything you can.” I said, feeling a strange little leap in my chest. “Where it is, the laws, stuff like that.”

“Yes sir.” Key said, and I turned back to Taemin.

“How does that sound? Freedom.” I said to him, and I was surprised when he shook his head.

“I don’t want it.” He said. My eyebrows went up so high I was surprised they didn’t launch off of my face.

“What do you mean?” I asked. He sniffled, burying his face in my chest.

“I don’t want it.” Taemin insisted. “I just want to be with you.”

“You could still be with me.” I told him, but he shook his head.

“I don’t want it.” He repeated for the third time, and I decided to let it go.

“Alright. I won’t force it on you.” I relented, and he just pressed himself closer. “Taemin?”

“How long do we have to hide?” He asked. I swallowed hard.

“I’m..I’m not sure, Taemin.” I admitted, and he gripped my shirt.

“How are you going to pull this off?” He asked. “People will notice if you’re spending a lot of money on food for two people.”

I stayed silent, realizing he was right. I didn’t have much time to pull this off. Taemin suddenly let go of me and went to sit beside Key, who handed him a book without question. He seemed to be getting better and better at reading, and I could only hope that was the case. I knew I wouldn’t get too many questions about spending a lot of time in the library myself, but if certain books were missing long enough for someone to notice...it could be bad.

I walked over to them, wrapping an arm around each of them and squeezing softly. Neither commented on it, seeming too into their reading to say much, but I knew better. They wanted to be left alone, and I couldn’t really blame them. I pressed a small kiss to Taemin’s head, then fluffed up Key’s hair before walking out.

I went out to the main area, where Minho was sitting with Onew and Joon. His eyes seemed to be getting bigger and bigger as the day went on, and I wondered if my last fit had caused more damage than I thought. I tentatively took a seat beside him, and I felt slightly relieved when he didn’t run off.

“I need to go to the store.” I said to him, and he looked a bit confused.

“A...alright.” He said, nodding slowly. I rolled my eyes.

“I need you to come with me.” I explained. “I need to figure out how to get enough food for six people, while making it look like I’m shopping for two. Unless you guys plan on eating the mattress?”

“No!” Minho said, shaking his head. I rolled my eyes.

“Then let’s go.” I said, and he nodded as I stood up. He got up fairly quickly, but he took a long moment to look down the hall toward Taemin and Key’s general direction. I knew he hated being apart from them. “You’ll be able to stay with them soon.”

“I know.” He said, nodding quickly and turning away.

I bit my lip, feeling a bit guilty for taking him out when I should have been flaunting Joon around town. It would have made my father happy, but happiness wasn’t something my father deserved.

We pulled on our shoes by the door, and I left some money and a take-out menu on the counter, telling Onew and Joon to go ahead and order out if they got hungry. I had a feeling it was going to be a long shopping trip.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know it's been a really long time since I updated this, and I'm sorry. I've had such bad writers block on this, but hopefully what's coming up will make you guys forgive me :3

Also, if you like my writing and my style and everything, you should check out some of my other fics. I work hard on them. :3