Re-uploading the last two chapters, even if they might be recovered later. I simply don't have the patience to wait anymore...
I am so, so sorry for the super-late update guys! But now I'll repost chapter 4 & 5 + 6 and I have 7 and 8 finished as well, so they'll all be up within a few days ^^
 

A lot of things happened in the following few days. Zelo went completely back to his still and silent self, two new boys began in their school and added to their group along with a third, Yongguk had to begin protecting Zelo’s ears from the noises Heechul and Hankyung produced at night, his parents came to visit, Kyuhyun was turned into a lovesick puppy, and… Yoseob broke up with Yongguk.

At least two of the events had to do with the adding of Yoon Doojoon and Chinese exchange student Zhou Mi. The two immediately caught the eyes of Yongguk’s two friends.

As it turned out, Zhou Mi was in the same year as Sungmin and Doojoon was in the year just above Yongguk and Yoseob. It didn’t take long until Zhou Mi was completely isolated from everyone except one, cheery little boy named Henry — all of this was the result of Kyuhyun’s obsessed research.

Yes, Kyuhyun had fallen for Zhou Mi the first time he saw him. Yongguk had immediately slapped the back of his head and told him to stop drooling.

“He’s way out of your league anyway,” he said. “He’s probably more in league with Sungmin or something.”

It was true. Zhou Mi was really tall, even taller than Kyuhyun and that was saying something. His hair was dyed an interesting color of orange-brown and he liked dressing in expensive brand clothes that only emphasized his good looks.

“No,” Kyuhyun said, suddenly frowning. “I don’t think Sungmin will like him.”

Yoseob and Yongguk both turned to Kyuhyun, a little surprised. They were even more surprised as  a blush began creeping up Kyuhyun’s neck.

“He’s my neighbor okay. Sungmin, I mean,” he muttered. Yongguk and Yoseob laughed, shaking their heads at each other.

“Okay. Why don’t you think he’ll like the Chinese one, then?” Yongguk asked. Kyuhyun shrugged, finally turning back to his own food.

“I don’t know, he’s too… Girly. Feminine. Gay in Sungmin’s eyes,” he murmured, staring down at his plate as he shoved his food around.

Yongguk and Yoseob could only stare at each other as they realized how much there was about their older friend they did not know.

“Hm, what about the other boy?” Yongguk asked after a few moments in silence. Kyuhyun looked up, one eyebrow slightly arched.

“What other boy?” he asked. Yongguk snickered.

“That Doojoon-guy,” he said, pointing over to where the guy was making conversation with his new classmates.

He looked over to Kyuhyun and Yoseob to see their reactions — through all of this, Zelo had kept eating with his eyes on his food — and while Kyuhyun simply nodded in acceptance, Yoseob was staring with his eyes opened wide and lips slightly parted.

Yongguk was going to ask Yoseob why he was staring like that, but Doojoon and one of his classmates had abruptly stood up and started walking towards them. While Doojoon wore the expression of someone who’d been scolded, a little scared and shy, his classmate looked… Disgusted, Yongguk settled on.

“You guys are all fags, right?” Doojoon’s classmate asked.

“If that’s how you want to put it, airhead,” Kyuhyun coolly replied, barely even glancing at the guy.

“Then you can take care of this one, too,” he said, ignoring Kyuhyun’s comment and shoving Doojoon in their direction. Zelo stopped eating but didn’t look up. The other three just stared.

“Um… Hello,” Doojoon greeted, a little nervously. “My name is Yoon Doojoon. I… Apparently your school doesn’t like gays, huh?”

He chuckled, but it was laced with nervousness. Yongguk decided the guy was nice enough and offered a nod and a smile. Kyuhyun shrugged and went back to eating. Yoseob kept staring. Zelo seemed frozen in position.

“I guess I’m the one introducing us again…” Yongguk sighed, kicking Kyuhyun under the table. Kyuhyun looked up and stared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes, as if saying childish.

“I’m Bang Yongguk, and this is Yang Yoseob, my boyfriend. We’re both fourteen. Cho Kyuhyun is sixteen. The little one is Zelo and truthfully, I don’t know how old he is. He’s mute, by the way,” he introduced them quickly. Doojoon’s eyes widened.

“Oh,” he let out softly, a small smile spreading on his lips. “That’s… Interesting.”

Yoseob was finally knocked out of his stupor and let out a giggle, nodding fervently. Yongguk glanced at him. Why was he behaving so weirdly?

Doojoon quickly became their friend and he cared as much for Zelo as the rest of them. Yongguk was grateful that he, too, was so accepting, but there was still something nagging at his mind — Yoseob was becoming more and more distant.

He wouldn’t answer his texts in an instant anymore, like he used to, and sometimes he’d say he had to study when Yongguk called and asked if he wanted to hang out. Yongguk was confused. Had he done something wrong? Was Yoseob mad at him? Kyuhyun wasn’t any help either. Whenever he asked, the older just smirked and said they had to figure themselves.

At least Zelo’s education was progressing. He’d rejected all kind of help from Heechul, Hankyung, Doojoon and Yoseob, so only Yongguk and Kyuhyun were allowed to carry on.

“I think I know why,” Kyuhyun said one day during lunch.

“Hm, why?” Doojoon asked, watching Zelo closely for a moment before turning his attention to Kyuhyun, who was smirking.

“Me, because I’m clever and Yongguk…” he paused, turning to stare straight into Yongguk’s eyes. “Because he trusts you.”

Yongguk stared at Kyuhyun for an infinitely long moment before giving a short nod.

“I won’t let him down,” he murmured. Kyuhyun’s smirk turned into a smile expressing something like sympathy.

“It’s not me you have to convince of that,” he said, surprisingly softly.

~~

About two weeks or so after Doojoon and Zhou Mi had started school, no other than Lee Sungmin went up to their table, an expression of disdain on his face.

“What’s up,” Yongguk said in a teasing voice. Sungmin’s expression became even sourer. Yongguk thought he should get a medal for it.

“Could you please take care of that Mi-something-guy,” he said with annoyance in his voice. “He’s getting on my nerves.”

“First,” Kyuhyun said, standing up to his full height and successfully towering over Sungmin. The whole cafeteria was silent as all eyes were on Sungmin and Kyuhyun. The smaller man’s eyes were wide and innocent-looking, even as they bore an expression of annoyance as he stared into Kyuhyun’s admittedly rather intimidating eyes.

“His name is Zhou Mi. Second, we don’t ‘take care of’ people like they’re garbage.”

Sungmin snorted, seemingly not caring at all about Kyuhyun’s words. His face was a stone mask, but Yongguk had become so good at reading people after living a few months with Zelo that he could see the chaos in his head — he just didn’t know why it was there.

“Can you please step away from me,” Sungmin said coolly. “I don’t want to be infected by whatever virus you’re carrying.”

It happened so quickly that no one had any time to react — Kyuhyun lifted his hand and slapped Sungmin right across his cheek.

Sungmin in a gasp as his head turned and he stumbled a few steps backwards, almost falling to the floor.

The silence became even tenser, even more compact. The first one who moved was, surprisingly, Zelo. He moved forward quickly and gave Sungmin the final push needed for him to lose his balance. Once Sungmin was on the ground, Zelo kneeled in front of him, staring deep into his eyes.

“What?” Sungmin whispered. No one could deny the way his voice was quivering, how wide his eyes were, how they were slowly becoming teary.

Zelo continued to stare into Sungmin’s eyes, slowly moving closer. Sungmin did not move back. When Zelo was close enough for his breath to bounce back to himself against Sungmin’s skin, he parted his lips. For a split second, Yongguk thought he was going to speak.

He didn’t.

You are disgusting, Zelo mouthed before standing up and moving back to his seat, continuing to eat as if nothing had happened.

Sungmin stared wide-eyed into space for a few moments before he scrambled off the floor and went back to his friends, who welcomed him with open arms and helped him brush the mostly imagined dirt off his clothes. Yongguk had a feeling nothing would be the same after this.

“Thank you,” a quiet voice behind them said. Yongguk, Yoseob, Kyuhyun and Doojoon turned around so quickly they all grimaced from the slight pain they got in the neck.

Zhou Mi was standing in front of them, staring at a spot right in front of Kyuhyun’s shoes, chewing nervously on his lower lip. Next to him was a shorter, smiling by Yongguk had never seen before.

“A-ah… Y-you’re welcome,” Kyuhyun stuttered in a murmur, obviously just as embarrassed. Yongguk felt the urge to facepalm on his friend’s behalf.

“I’m Yoseob!” Yoseob said brightly and Yongguk felt the need to hug him. Yoseob always was the better of them at breaking the ice.

Zhou Mi finally looked up and offered them a slightly awkward smile along with a tiny bow.

“Nice to meet you,” he said. It was just the right amount of words for Yongguk to notice his slight accent.

“You’re from China right?” Yongguk said as he pulled a chair out and offered Zhou Mi to sit. Zhou Mi’s eyes widened slightly, but he sat down nonetheless when Yongguk, Yoseob and Doojoon just smiled at him. Kyuhyun didn’t even look at him and had his head bent low, but Yongguk could see the blush creeping up his neck once more.

“I’m Henry Lau,” the other boy introduced himself, settling in Zhou Mi’s lap without hesitation. He had an accent as well, but it was different from Zhou Mi’s.

“I’m from Canada, but my family is Chinese, so I speak Chinese, too,” he explained as he saw Yongguk’s confused face.

Henry turned out to be a really interesting, talented boy. He spoke two types of Chinese as well as Korean, Japanese, English and French. He played the violin, the guitar and the piano and he was very, very friendly.

He was the only one of them who was straight — Yongguk had decided not to think anything of Zelo’s uality until he was old enough to tell them himself — and he even had a girlfriend.

“Her name is Amber,” he said, eyes shining, lips grinning. “She’s in the US now, but she said she’ll come back to Korea soon. Then I’ll introduce you guys!”

Henry turned out to like talking. A lot. Occasionally he’d bicker a little with Zhou Mi, who actually won most of the arguments, but then he’d continue talking. The only way to really shut him up was to feed him.

“… You look like a squirrel,” Kyuhyun commented a few hours after they’d first met. They were hanging out in town and Henry and Zhou Mi had a bet on how many pieces of candy Henry could fit into his mouth.

Unfortunately, the comment made Henry laugh and while half of the candies landed on the ground in front of him, half of them went down his throat. Zhou Mi glared at Kyuhyun as he thumped Henry’s back while he coughed, but the effect was ruined by the laughter he couldn’t control.

There were only two people, apart from Zelo, who couldn’t really see the amusing in the situation — Yongguk and Yoseob. As for Yongguk, he was still trying to figure what he’d done wrong to make Yoseob so distant, but he had no idea what was wrong with Yoseob.

The answer came later that day, in form of two short text messages.

From: Seobie-yeobeo
To: BangBang

I’m sorry, but it’d be really unfair to you if I kept pretending.

Yongguk was thoroughly confused by the words, but he’d barely read it through when the next message followed.

From: Seobie-yeobeo
To: BangBang

I like someone else.

Yongguk stared at his phone, still just as confused. Then it clicked. He wasn’t even surprised — he was only surprised that he hadn’t figured before. He must really be as dense as Kyuhyun kept telling him he was, huh?

He didn’t wait for the hurt and anger to follow the insight before he dialed Yoseob’s number. He needed to talk to the other while he was still calm.

“It’s Doojoon, isn’t it,” he said as soon as Yoseob picked up, before he could even say anything. For a moment, the only sound Yoseob emitted was the soft sound of his breathing. In, out, in and out.

“Yes,” he said finally. His voice was soft, submissive and apologizing. “I’m sorry Yongguk.”

Thoughts and feelings tumbled around inside of Yongguk like a tornado. There were too many of them, hence he neither thought nor felt anything in particular.

“It’s okay,” he managed once he realized Yoseob was still waiting for his reply. “I understand.”

Then he hung up. He stared into space for a minute or so before he sank to his knees. He didn’t know how long he sat there when warmth suddenly enveloped his back. All he needed was the feeling of breathing against his neck, a silent hug, and he understood that it was Zelo.

“Thank you, Zelo,” he murmured, a little surprised that his voice was shaking. He sat down properly and turned around so he was facing the boy, offering him a smile. Zelo’s silent it’s alright was all he needed for most of the feelings to clear up.

He was left with a feeling that everything was back to the way it should be.

~~

As Yongguk and Zelo met up with Kyuhyun, Zhou Mi, Henry, Doojoon and Yoseob by the school gates the following morning, Yoseob took him by the elbow and pulled him away from the others.

“Do you want to tell them, or… Should they figure themselves?” he asked. He didn’t look at Yongguk, but rather kept his eyes on the ground.

“They’re our friends, Seobie,” Yongguk answered. He felt a little surprised at his own lack of feelings — shouldn’t he be hurt, sad, heartbroken, happy, relieved… anything?

“Of course we should tell them.”

Yoseob squirmed a little for a moment before he suddenly put his arms around Yongguk’s waist and enveloped him in a tight hug, nearly knocking him off his feet.

“Are you sure it’s okay? We’re not gonna be weird or anything? I still want to be your best friend, you know,” Yoseob mumbled against Yongguk’s chest.

Yongguk chuckled and brought one hand up to brush through his soft hair, the other resting securely around his waist.

“Of course. I’m a little surprised myself, actually, that I’m not… I’m not as sad as I thought I’d be,” he answered. Yoseob looked up at him, small eyes opened wide. Then he grinned.

“Awesome, we’re still best friends!” he said with a little giggle as he let go of Yongguk, leading the way back to where the others were waiting impatiently.

“Hey guys, we have something to say,” he spoke up.

“Have you lost your ity?” Kyuhyun drawled. Yongguk had the sudden urge to slap him. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“We broke up,” Yoseob replied, one eyebrow raised as he stared at Kyuhyun with a rather degrading look on his face. Kyuhyun’s smirk was exchanged for wide eyes and slightly parted lips.

“What? Why?!” he exclaimed, looking between Yongguk and Yoseob.

“There aren’t gonna be awkward feelings, right?” Zhou Mi asked nervously, also observing the ex-couple nervously. Yongguk and Yoseob shook their heads at the same time.

“Of course not, we’re still best friends,” Yongguk said, slinging an arm around Yoseob with a grin. Yoseob just nodded, smiling as well.

Nothing set apart from the usual happened that day; Kyuhyun was being his usual snarky self, Yoseob was giggly and bright, Zhou Mi and Henry had random arguments in Mandarin, Doojoon went into random bouts of soccer-fanboying only Yoseob would listen to, Zelo was silent and Yongguk tried to learn more of Zelo’s silent language.

When the weekend arrived, Yongguk thought he had done a good job at observing Zelo who, ironically, was also an observer. He’d observed the observer’s silent language and caught up on a lot of things he wouldn’t have noticed but that Zelo surely didn’t miss either.

Yongguk was rather happy when he walked home Friday afternoon, swinging his and Zelo’s linked hands in between them and relishing in the silence.

His contentment did not last for long as a rather unpleasant surprise awaited him at home.

“Heechul-hyung?” he exclaimed in surprised when he stepped inside and was met with a serious-looking Heechul.

“Your parents are here,” he murmured and Yongguk froze. Wide-eyed, he looked up at Heechul.

“In the kitchen,” his cousin added. Yongguk nodded before jerking his head in Zelo’s direction. Heechul seemed confused for a moment before he understood and grabbed a gentle hold of Zelo’s shoulders, leading him unseen past the kitchen and into Yongguk’s room.

“Hey mom, dad,” Yongguk greeted rather stiffly when he entered the kitchen, nodding politely to his parents. As he looked at them, he realized they were strangers to him now. He hadn’t spoken to either of them for weeks and he hadn’t seen them around town, either.

There had been a time when he sometimes cried himself to sleep because he missed them. Now he wanted them to leave, so things could go back to their normal order. So he could observe Zelo and continue tutoring him. So he could joke around with Hankyung-gege and call Heechul a in every second sentence.

“Yongguk-ah,” his mother said softly, looking at him intently. Yongguk jerked. His name sounded weird, coming from .

“We… I… I miss you,” she continued, just as softly. Yongguk stared at her. He could see in her eyes that she was speaking the truth. He could also, merely by casting a quick glance at him, tell that his father did not agree to this. He was a little surprised himself at how good he’d become at reading people.

“Okay,” he said, unsure of how he should respond. His mother’s eyes widened a little and she leaned back, a hand over . He’d shocked her.

“Don’t you miss us, too?” she asked after a moment. Yongguk managed to resist the shrug, because it would surely look rude in their eyes and most likely start an argument between Heechul and his father.

“I used to,” he replied truthfully, causing her to in a gasp. Even his father looked surprised now.

“We’re moving,” he said, voice as indifferent as Yongguk’s. Maybe it was a little colder. “Your mother wanted to take you with us.”

“Well, I don’t want to go,” Yongguk replied, staring deep into his father. A sneer unknowingly made its way to his lips. “I guess we finally agree on something, father.”

Then he stood up and left the kitchen, going for his own room. His dad had not changed in the almost full year Yongguk had lived with Heechul and it wasn’t likely he was going to change any time soon, either. He did feel sorry for his mother though, as she’d always sided with him.

“My parents,” Yongguk informed Zelo as he sat down on his bed. “They’re kind of… I don’t know. Mom’s okay, really, but dad’s another story.”

Zelo said nothing, just looked at him with those beautiful eyes of his, but Yongguk understood that Zelo understood. He gave the boy a wry smile.

“We’re kind of weird, aren’t we? We have our own language, kind of…” he said, smile growing to a grin when Zelo’s lips twitched.

“Aw, come here,” he said, stretching his hands out in an invitation to a hug that Zelo happily accepted.

“You and I,” Yongguk murmured into Zelo’s hair as he hugged the boy tight, inhaling his scent. “We’ll never be apart, right?”

Zelo stayed silent, but the barely noticeable tightening of his arms around Yongguk’s waist was a crystal clear yes.