“Click”. A heavy light brown pine door swung open as Yoochun entered the hallway with Junsu strung across his back. The man had brought the boy to his own home, the house that even his organization is not aware of, his own private haven.

Chucking his keys into the key holder and dumping his thick coat onto the small stool nearby, the man sulked as he let the limp boy slip off his own wide shoulders and flop ontot the couch in the living room.

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POV from Yoochun

I have decided to make my way home, straight from the place where I found the boy. I even called in busy so no one will get suspicious. Junjin has been notified that I would be busy for the whole of today… and he even offered to help, thinking that I was having a handful with this boy. I had to lie to him that the boy is already dead. I don’t usually lie to him though…

Then after making the phone call, I loaded the boy into my car and drove all the way to my other apartment on the other side of town… the one that is not registered in my resume or profile. The only place I can hide him. Damn… this is so troublesome!

I don’t even know why I am so considerate for him… or so conscious of his presence. He is just a big hindrance! A stumbling block! I should just kill him right? With this sudden determination, I quickly reloaded my gun and pressed it at his forehead again, preparing for a sure kill, before I change my mind.

“Bam!” I ended up throwing the gun aside again… instead of shooting him. I just can’t do it when I look into his face! I would somehow, pry my finger off the trigger and fling the gun to the far end of my room before I can do anything. It is starting to become clear to me that I have fallen under his “spell”… and this is so frustrating!

Is it because he is looking so damn vulnerable and defenseless? Is it because he looks so damn pitiful? Or maybe because he is suffering even though he has done nothing to deserve this? Aish… it must be because of that too damn beautiful face!! I think it is because of everything!! I don’t know anymore!!

What I do know, is that everything about him tugs at my heartstrings. I was able to get rid of helpless women before, and I have never pitied anyone under the same circumstance, even when they have begged me for mercy. You can say that I have always been inexorable in my pursuit for the 'special ones'… eliminating them like I am a pest-buster busting pests… but this boy is able to stop me in my tracks. What is he?

I face palmed myself and sat down beside him on my couch, right onto a puddle of warm sticky liquid. Apparently, his wound had soaked through the temporary dressing, and the blood is trickling onto the leather surface of my couch. Damn… I have to do something soon… he will die at this rate! Wait! Wait a minute! Why do I even care?! Won’t that be better?! I wasn’t even the one who shot him! I don’t have to feel guilty if he dies!

“AISH!” I heard myself bellowing in frustration as I got up to dismantle my first aid kit promptly.

Then I tore apart his pants carefully… starting from the hole the bullet had made. The process had stained my hands with his warm blood… but his skin feels really cold. I quickly reinforced one more layer of tourniquet and held it in place with a tape while I move on to preparing the area.

My furniture and carpets caused me a bomb, and I can’t afford to soil them. Ripping apart a piece of poncho from my storeroom and shoving it under him, I got down to work on his injured side. Making sure that he is unconscious before I begin, I spreaded out the sterile dressing set neatly onto the floor and doused my blades in flames with a lighter, before placing them into the disinfecting solution. Then, at last, I prepared my stitching kit by estimating the length of thread I need. The thing is… I do this often for my men, when we were in training… we get shot at a lot.

Moving on to him, I quickly emptied the remaining disinfecting solution onto his wound and started digging into it for the bullet. He is really skinny… and though there is hardly any flesh, the bullet is deep. I realised that I couldn’t get it out without opening him up a little more. Using my feet to pull the standing lamp closer for better lighting, I concentrated on lacerating the surrounding flesh and stuck my forceps in, pushing as far in as I could… swimming around for the bullet. Then I finally felt it! The scraping of the steel forcep on the supposed bullet's surface. I am pretty sure we don't do hip implants in my sector.

“Ummmmphhhh…” The boy twisted his body a little as he grimaced in pain. He had writhed so suddenly, without warning, causing me to lose the bullet that took me so long to locate!! DAMN IT! “Don’t move!” I heard myself hollering at him again as I used my free hand to grip onto his hip tightly. I know it must hurt like hell… but what does he suggest that I do? I don’t have any anesthesia with me at the moment… so he will just have to bear with, it if he actually wakes up that is.

Pressing him down in place, I worked facilely with my fingers and managed to dig out the bullet with the forceps. Then I took the tray filled with disinfectants and poured it into the gaping wound. The hemorrhaging was worsening as well, so I had to use a thick wade of gauze to staunch it before stitching him up.

His entire hip region is already starting to bruise as well… turning his pale skin an ugly purple and pink. He is also moving a lot more now… as if starting to wake up. At least his hands and feet are bound… so I don’t have to worry about having to fight him. However, it will definitely hurt… I have to hurry! Wait! Why am I so considerate again?! Aish…

I worked my deft hands and closed him up really quickly… thanks to my many years of practice. After I am satisfied with the neat stitches, I dabbed dry the wound again and covered it with a pressure bandage before clearing up the bloody mess on the floor. Wrapping up the soaked gauze and soiled sets inside the poncho, I discarded everything before making my way back to him. He is still stirring… but not yet awake. Good job Yoochun!

Then while I was on my way to clean myself up, I subconsciously reversed and made my way back to my room, digging out the shirts and pants that I have outgrown. All along, thinking only about how I will clean him up before taking a bath myself. Aish… here I go again! I have to stop considering about him in everything I do…

“You lucky boy! You should be dead!” I muttered to him while I wiped him clean with a towel. I know he can’t hear me… but I still want to say it!

Then I dressed his body with the clothes I have found. They look to be too big for him though… the shirt could make a dress without the pants! I think I will go shop for some clothes later… Aish! …

Oh… now that I actually have to time to look at him… I can notice how appealing he is… with that translucent milky coloured skin. HE is truly a breathtaking beauty… even though this body bear obvious signs of long term maltreatment…Why the heck am I admiring him now? 

Stopping myself from staring at him altogether, I wrap him up with the remaining piece of clothing and retie his hands and feet. Then I positioned him laterally, so that his wound would not be affected… stuffing all the pillows under his back to hold him in place… he had gone limp again by now… is that a good thing?

Anyhow, I told myself not to be too bothered as I made my way to the bathroom for a long hot shower. I don’t know why I can’t stop thinking about the marks on his body whenever I look at the tattoo on my wrist… that tattoo was my c0dest “birthmark”. It is a grim reminder of our differences, and the cruelty we had displayed towards them.

I am at the giving end while he is at the receiving end. What changed?

The kid had been through 5 years of debilitation, yet he is still alive. I can’t help but wonder about the thing that kept him going… the thing that gave him the intention to run away after so many years of submitting… I think I have really underestimated him! What was his name again? Jun… Jun… Su? Never mind the name! I will just call him “the kid”… since he is so much younger than me…

I ended up spending more time showering than I have intended to, and found out that it is already dark outside when I exited the bathroom. Switching on the lights to check on him again, I saw that he had not changed position since I left him alone… but his entire body is shuddered visibly… Is he feeling cold? I was sure the heater is left on at 26 degrees… I feel fine…

I went over and checked the heater again… but there was no indication of a malfunction. Don’t tell me he is having a fever?! I quickly took the blanket from my bed and went over to him… just in case he is really just cold… but as I was nearing, I can feel the heat emitted from him before even touching him. He was still alright a while ago…

“Hah... hhhmmmhh..” His forehead and neck was burning up… and he was so pitifully as well. Then he stirred a little as I placed a hand on his neck, as though reacting to my presence… dear god! He can set the couch on fire with this temperature! Aish! So troublesome!!

I quickly took his temperature and stuck a fever patch on his forehead before removing his shirt… hmmm… 40 degree Celsius… that’s just great… With this, I quickly went over to the heater and lowered the temperature. Don’t get me wrong though… I am not trying to freeze him to death or anything… I am just trying to bring down his body temperature! Then I took a bowl of lukewarm water and tepid sponged him for another hour.

I am starting to feel like a mother now… more like a nurse… taking his temperature every hour and trying to control his fever. God! He is such a nuisance!

I spaced out a little as I though back about my grandmother… how she had done this for me when I was sick. I miss my grandmother… but not so much anymore… time had faded my memory of her.

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Flashback

“Yoochun! Your grandmother is in the hospital! Hurry! I will bring you to her now!” I was just finishing up my graduation assignment when the ahjumma next door came rushing into my house and dragging me along with her to the hospital.

After arriving, the policeman waiting there for me then told me that grandma had been grievously injured in a shoot out at the bank she was at earlier today. She had gone to the bank to withdraw the money for my final examination fees. I was graduating from my university course and she would not allow me to work part time, saying she wants me to concentrate. I was practically living off her.

I heard that the next door ahjumma was with her at the bank when a brazen man attempted robbery. The ahjumma kept blabbering on and on about some supernatural occurrences, explaning how the man was able to deflect the bullet and how those small metal fragments ended up in my grandma’s spine. I thought she was delirious at first… but I kind of knew better.

I was initially confused and upset… and then the surgeon finally came out of the theatre, telling me that he had tried his best. I was so grief stricken that I was rendered speechless. The staff had pushed grandma out shortly for me to see her, but I was not even able to cry at that moment. Grandma looked so lifeless, lying on the cold trolley… and that was when my heart went cold as well.

I could only blame myself for her plight… after all, I was the reason she had made the trip to the bank. Then I blamed myself for not being a filial child… and also, for not being able to protect her even though I was already 20 odd years of age. I regret not giving her a comfortable life before she had left… I regret causing her to have to work so hard in order to bring me up over the years… So much regret!!

Then the ahjumma told me not to blame myself too much… she told me that I should blame that man instead… and you know what?! She is right! This is all that man’s fault! The police did not even manage to catch him!! Bastard!! I swear I will catch him! And I will not catch him to serve him justice! I will catch him so I can make him pay!!!

I believe that when the ahjumma said that the guy is alien… she meant that he was one of them. You see… I studied genetics in my university, so I know he is not some supernatural being. He is one of them! The “special ones”. And from then on, I swore that I will have my revenge on them for taking grandma away from me!

Those bastards think they can do whatever they want just because they are special? They think they are one notch above us?! Well, they are wrong to think that!! I think I will accept the job offer from c0dest! With the help of c0dest, I will be able to hunt them down one by one!!

I initially thought of c0dest as an evil bunch of scientist and officials out to harm those harmless special beings… and since grandma was against it, I had turn down their first job offer. However, now that I know they are far from harmless! I will join forces with c0dest and exterminate these beings! Create a better world for normal people like us! Those creatures don’t deserve our pity!!

End of flashback

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“Hah ah… hah…” I was knocked out of my trance upon a soft moan and slight movement of the body beneath my palm. The kid’s face was contorted with pain now… and the blindfold could not hide the pain reflected on his forehead… eye brows tightly knitted together.

“Yah. Kid! You alright?” I asked as I shook his shoulder gently. I didn’t know if he is awake or not… but he is moving a lot more now… writhing around… making a series of piteous cries and pathetic jerking movements… getting me all worried.

“Dark… pain…” He whispered suddenly… throwing me into disarray. He talked?! Then he started shivering again and I can actually hear soft sniffling sounds now… Is he crying? Great! What do I do now?! He does look uncomfortable… but I am hesitant about getting too close to him… will it be dangerous if I had untied him?

I moved closer to him anyways and untied him… then I also took off his blindfold. The truth is, I am not even sure why I had done that… Since when have I become so irrational?!

“Hyung?…” He whimpered as he looked at me with those big brown eyes… so exquisite… so damn exquisite! My view of his face was obstructed by his hair so I actually, subconsciously, reached over and push it aside, to expose his eyes. They were now glistening with tears as he looked at me… not blinking.

“Hyung… Suie miss you very much” Hyung?… He is definitely delirious… very delirious! He then rolled over and lay on his belly as he snuggled up onto my lap. I can feel that he is still burning up as he continued with his gibberish… saying how much he missed me… how he will behave and not make me angry again. Had he mistaken me for some hyung he knows?

I tried pushing him off, but he just shuddered again as tried to curl up closer to me… yelping in pain as he moved his injured side. Did he forget that he has a bad injury to nurse? How delirious can he get?

Then I had pulled the blanket away from him as he tried to crawl under it again. The cool environment is there to help his temperature subside! He didn’t get mad or anything, just gazed at me with a pout and slumped his head back onto my lap… as he started to doze off… breathing erratically. I think I have to give him a dose of antibiotic… his fever is not subsiding… and I can’t have him burning up for too long… This troublesome kid!

I quickly laid his head onto the pillow as he dozed off and made my way to the storage room in search for the medicine box. I have many types of tablets in it… they are all my stock… just in case I got sick. I always self medicate… since I do have medical qualifications after all…

After digging out a sachet of antibiotic tablets, I quickly poured a cup of water and broke the tablet into half, before heading back for him. He had already fallen into a deep slumber by the time I return… I could even rouse him, no matter how hard I push or shake him… so I have decided to just give him an intra venous dose before he really burns up my couch.

I hopped off my couch again and head off to prepare the antibiotic. Returning with a syringe and needle, I took his hands and was looking around for a vein when I noticed now many needle marks were present. There were bruises all over… both old and new… also; fresh and old needle entry wounds. I could feel my heart aching and I found myself rubbing at his ante-cubital region subconsciously… as if it will disappear if I did.

After a long moment of hesitation, I finally proceeded to palpate and locate a vein I can use. His hand is so thin that I don’t even need a tourniquet… I just squeezed his forearm as I insert the needle in and emptied the content of the syringe into his thin bluish vein. He did not even flinch to the needle prick at all! My only guess is that he is too used to having needles stuck into him… this is probably nothing…

It was already nearing midnight by the time the antibiotics had worked its magic, and I can finally get some sleep, but I need to tie him up first. This time though, I think I will just anchor his hands to the bed rails… since it will be too uncomfortable for him to sleep with his hands behind his back. Also, this will be the last “all so considerate Yoochun” for the day!

I took a piece of soft rope from my store and tied both his hands to the bed rails before blindfolding him again, just in case he messes up my room when he wakes up. He is special after all.

TBC

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