Three days after the mission had been completed. Kyuhyun, Yoochun and Sunggyu were forced to stay bedridden till their wounds had at least closed up. Jaejoong however went into work the next day to file the appropriate paperwork needed for the destruction of the HQ despite his injuries being one, if not, the worst out of the group. Yoochun had received and earful from Junsu as soon as their van pulled into the driveway of the mansion. Upon seeing his lover in such a state, he cried out before getting annoyed and then back to being worried.  Changmin had never seen Junsu change so fast but once the other noticed the younger was alive and unharmed; he breathed a sigh of relief.

“You don’t need to come here every day, you know.” The assassin sighed as he put his book of Agatha Christie’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ down onto his lap. Little noise was made in the background as the T.V was playing in the background on a low volume. The university student froze for a bit, eyes widened over the fact that it was the first time in three days since Kyuhyun had spoken a word to him.

Since their arrival at the Cho’s family mansion, Changmin refused to leave the other, tending to him as much as possible, making sure Kyuhyun was all well. Unexpectedly, Kyuhyun had broken out into a high fever on his way to the mansion which freaked Changmin out. There was nothing he could do to help the suffering assassin but watch as Kyuhyun squirmed in pain. The only thing he could do way pray that their got to the mansion as quickly as possible. Maybe it was because of that but Changmin didn’t allow Kyuhyun out of his sight for even a second.

“I-I just want to help.” Changmin stuttered, looking down at his own hands in embarrassment. Kyuhyun sighed again, going back to his book. The university student’s heart was beating against his chest with loud thumps and the worry of Kyuhyun hating him for his constant presence was worrying to him. He didn’t say anything so I thought it was ok to continue… he thought to himself. Maybe it was alright after all. Maybe Kyuhyun really didn’t like him. After contemplating for a moment, Changmin decided it was best to leave. Slowly, be bought his body up from the seat he was sitting on which was on the side of Kyuhyun’s bed. What he heard next was unexpected to say the least.

“Whatever. Do what you want.” It was small, the voice that is but Changmin heard it loud and clear. For a second he thought it was his mind playing tricks on him but once he looked over to seeing Kyuhyun shuffling uncomfortably, he knew the voice was real. A huge smile plastered in his face as he began to sit back down again. He grew in courage and leaned in towards Kyuhyun, hovering over his shoulder and looking into the book he was reading.

“So what‘s this book about?” He asked cheerfully, causing another sigh from the assassin. This time however, Kyuhyun answered back.

‘In other news, the scandal of the century has been uncovered after a tip to the police found themselves looking at years’ worth of homicides and planned assassinations of important figures in multiple industries. The victims were murdered in cold blood by their competitors or those who just wish them gone. The organisation has now been removed according to our Ministry of Justice. However, the leader of the organisation, Jung Yunho is still at large. Anyone who has any information about the man, please come forward as soon as possible. He is identified as a threat and will act upon any danger.’

Their conversation had died down, with the concentration fully on the news. For the past three days, the news was reporting about the case nonstop. According to Jaejoong a rat had told the media about the incident which lead to them getting hold of the information a lot earlier than the police force had expected. They were rushed in for an emergency meeting to address the public and it was only today, they were able to reveal the Master’s full name. One that Kyuhyun had never heard before. To him, he was always the master and nothing more. Now that the demon had a name, it made Kyuhyun sicker than before. Changmin seemed to notice that and quickly switched off the device before they could get further into the story.

“You-“

“I heard that Sunggyu ssi and Woohyun ssi have managed to work things out again! Myungsoo ssi confessed to Sungjong ssi and now they’re going out. Isn’t this great?” It was true; Woohyun and Sunggyu managed to talk things out and were willing to start anew again. They weren’t to be engaged right away but instead start from square one to make up for lost years. Despite that, Woohyun is sure that Sunggyu will say yes to a proposal sometime in the near future.

After they were announced as free men, L had revealed his real name, shocking almost everyone. Sungjong however remained indifferent as the man had already told him when they first met in hopes that the younger would open up to him a bit more. It took a lot of courage but Myungsoo confessed to the maknae and was overjoyed when the answer was yes, much to Hoya’s dismay who promises to protect the boy from behind.

“Yeah, that’s great.” The good news made Kyuhyun a lot sadder than he expected. It only made him realise that while everyone else was moving on, he was still in the same place. A knock from his bedroom door broke the awkward atmosphere. For once Changmin was actually glad that he was interrupted.

“Come in!”  Kyuhyun called.  The door opened slightly before Sunggyu and the rest of the members came pouring in one by one. They stood there, in a line of seven in front of the end of Kyuhyun’s bed. A small smile was plastered on all of their faces and Kyuhyun didn’t miss the interlocked hands of Sunggyu and Woohyun while Sungjong kept it light by holding on Myungsoo’s bicep.

“How are you feeling Kyuhyun ssi?” Sunggyu asked, clearly worried for his senior’s wellbeing. While Kyuhyun was forced to stay in bed, Sunggyu was able to roam around the mansion with the help of his lover. Staying in was boring and Sunggyu couldn’t agree more but Woohyun was one step ahead, forcing the elder to explore as soon as he was well enough to sit up.

“I’m a lot better, and yourself?”

“Great!” The former rank 2 replied. Sunggyu looked over at the other members, each giving each other some sort of eye contact message that only they knew the meaning of. Kyuhyun waited, knowing that there was something they wanted to discuss with him. Changmin looked over to other to see if Kyuhyun would like him to leave but a shake of the head told him he was free to stay. After a nervous paused, Sunggyu spoke, not before biting the lower lip of it.

“We want to tell you something. We’ve had a chat and we thought it was time for us leave. We don’t want to overstay our welcome, you see. Jaejoong hyung has already sorted out our accommodation so we’ll be able to move in immediately.” He said with sad eyes. It wasn’t that he didn’t like staying in the Cho mansion but they were finally free and they didn’t want to waste another day indoors like criminals.

The leader explained how Myungsoo and Sungjong wished to go back to education, Hoya and Dongwoo wanted to open up a dance studio since that was the only thing they excelled other than assassinating people. Sunggyu and Woohyun wanted to open up a consultation company to help companies who don’t know what their next step is, carry on. It was a risk for all of them but they were determined to make it work. One thing wouldn’t change and that would be the fact that they would like to live together in case anything were to go wrong and they would have to go into hiding again.

“Of course not! Don’t ever think that way. I would tell you to stay longer till your wounds are fully healed but I can tell you’ve already decided something I cannot stop you all from doing. I wish you all the best in the future and please, do keep in touch.” Kyuhyun said, erasing any sort of doubts and worries the seven others had. Changmin gave them a reassuring smile while unconsciously rest his hand above Kyuhyun’s. Sunggyu noticed that but said nothing, only eyeing the action for a short while before looking back into Kyuhyun’s eyes.

“And you too Kyuhyun sunbaemin.” Myungsoo said, smiling from ear to ear. Sungjong ran over to Kyuhyun, throwing his arms around the other’s neck in a light sob.

“I’m going to miss you hyung!”

“And me too Jongie.” It was true; he was going to miss all of them. Though they didn’t have a lot of time spent together in peace, the time they had was enough for Kyuhyun to think of them as lifelong friends. After all, they did save his little sister and protect her as he forced them to promise him. Shame they were to leave but Kyuhyun knew they would eventually go their separate ways.

Their move was quick but not painful as their new apartment would be a 20 minute drive from the Cho mansion. It took a few days and Kyuhyun even promised to help them but they all turned him down, telling him to rest. Kyuhyun swore it would be a matter of time before he got annoyed at people telling him to stay in bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oppa?” Victoria’s voice came through the bedroom door of Kyuhyun’s. Jaejoong and Kyuhyun stopped talking, looking up to see Victoria shyly standing by the door.

“Yes Victoria?” His voice was light. It was a voice only reserved for his forever kid sister and Jaejoong held in a smile when he first heard it. It took all of the energy in his body to not break but he managed to get through it.

“Can we talk?” That was all Jaejoong needed to know that he needed to leave. He stood up with a smile and bowed at the two before leaving the room without a word. Kyuhyun watched him with slight panic that was hidden from everyone else. The detective took one last look at the girl when the crossed paths, a sad smile coming to his lips as he left. Once Jaejoong was out of the room, Kyuhyun patted down on the empty space of his bed.

“What wrong?” He asked her as she took her seat beside him on the bed. She looked at him for a bit, tears pooling in her eyes.

“Wh-what’s wrong? Did someone bully you?!” Kyuhyun panicked, wrapping his arms around her to comfort. He was freaking out inside as it was a first in a long time that he needed to comfort someone. Seeing his beloved sister cry made him feel sad but guilty at the same time for a reason he did not know. Maybe it was true. Maybe his talk with Jaejoong was really what he felt.

“No… I just missed you so much.” Victoria cried in between sobs. She lifted her head to meet Kyuhyun’s and a smile radiated on her tear stained face.

“There’s just so much I wanted to tell you!”

“Well, I’m here now.”

Jaejoong had left Kyuhyun’s room only to bump into Changmin moments later. The student looked shock from their encounter but greeted the elder with a smile none the less.

“Lady Victoria is currently in the room with him. Is it urgent?” He asked, noticing Changmin’s reluctance in entering the room. At that information, he quickly backed away, hands up in the air while shaking his head.

“Ah! No, it’s not anything important. I just wanted to check his condition.” Changmin muttered while looking at the floor. They stood there for a bit, Jaejoong watching Changmin intensely. Jaejoong had thought he would have to speak out first but the younger had surprised him with a sudden request.

“Jaejoong ssi, is it alright if we talk? In private?” There was no reason for the detective to say no and quite frankly, he wanted to have a chat with the other as well. It was for the best for him and for Kyuhyun after their chat a little moment ago.

“Sure, shall we move to the balcony?” The younger nodded, following Jaejoong closely behind as the elder guided them to the end of the hallway. There, large double doors were slightly opened to reveal an open balcony. The raven opened it wider and stepped outside. The wind felt cold on his skin as it was already evening but he didn’t mind the cold so much as he did before. His father would probably scold him if he knew but right now he was probably preparing for Kyuhyun’s future events as the successor of the Cho group Empire.

“What is if that you would like to talk about?” He asked, leaning forward onto the concrete fence as he overlooked the front gardens.

“It’s about Kyuhyun…”

“Yes?” He turned to see Changmin looking down in an almost ashamed manner. He hid a frown, knowing that any expression might trigger the boy to hiding what he wanted to say.

“I…Victoria wants to go back to the apartment, our apartment. We had a talk and I don’t know. I don’t want to leave her but at the same time; I don’t want to leave Kyuhyun. I think…I think I like Kyuhyun.” There was a silence as a gust of wind blew over the two. Jaejoong kept his eyes locked on Changmin until the boy finally got enough courage to look at the elder in the eyes. He didn’t know why he went to Jaejoong for this as Yoochun and Junsu were currently in their rooms probably arguing about some game. He knew that they were going to go back to their apartment in the next couple of days but that didn’t mean he couldn’t speak to them.

“You think or you know?” No, he knew very well why. It was because Jaejoong was like family to Kyuhyun which is why Changmin decided to go to him. The wait wasn’t as long as Changmin answered almost immediately. His mind was cleared with worry as the eyes of Jaejoong only came across as pure and sincere.

“I know I like him.” Unlike the first, he was more confident in himself and that made Jaejoong pleased.

“And how about Victoria.” He felt as though he was invading Changmin’s privacy but he needed to make sure. He had to make sure of the younger’s choices before he allowed him to get with Kyuhyun. Jaejoong didn’t want to see his beloved little brother get hurt. He had seen it once with Sunggyu and he wouldn’t allow it with Kyuhyun.

“She’s more of a little sister to me.”

“Then I have nothing else to ask for. Now, you just need to tell them.” 

For some reason, chapter 23 was hidden.... Well, I've changed that so it's all good now!

CONGRATULATIONS TO MONSTA X FOR THEIR FIRST WIN!