Interaction with the twelve demons had been awkward since she found out the truth. Try as she might, Mi Sun was having trouble getting over the fact that they had completely abandoned her. What if their plan hadn’t worked? What if the people who killed her dad had found her? And what about everything she had gone through at the orphanage? All the undeserved punishments she had to endure? Good reason or not, she felt angry and hurt.

“You ok?” Yong Guk asked as the pair sat at the kitchen table, waiting for the rest of their family to join them.

“Yeah,” she nodded, trying to act convincing, “why do you ask?”

“You’re eyes are bloodshot,” he replied, “so either you’ve been crying or you aren’t getting any sleep.”

“That cop just kind of got me thinking,” she partly lied, “about my life before meeting you and Himchan oppa.”

“Don’t worry about it so much,” Yong Guk patted her head, “focus on the present, not the past.”

“Would you be able to do that?” Mi Sun asked, “You know what happened to your family. I don’t know. If you didn’t know, would you be able to forget about it and move on?”

“This must be really bugging you,” Himchan said as he joined the pair, “normally you just shrug this stuff off and do the whole “I have a family with my oppas and dongsaeng, my really parents don’t matter” speech. Did the cop’s questions bother you that much?”

No, she wanted to say, what the twelve demons living under our roof said bothered me. But she couldn’t say that, not to her oppas, so she just nodded.

“You still have that demon contract thing, right?” Yong Guk questioned, “Why don’t you try looking up the names on it. That might give you some answers.” Again she nodded, but looking up her mother and father wouldn’t answer her questions.

“And you’ll always have us,” Himchan added, “The seven of us are a family, just as much as anyone connected by blood. No matter what we’ll always love you, Mi Mi. So keep that in mind if you find anything.” She nodded and gave the pair a small smile. Honestly, she only had a couple of questions about her family and the answers lay with the twelve demons, not the internet.

“Suho?” she found herself asking a few hours later after the youngest boys had left for school with Himchan and Yong Guk had locked himself up in his office.

“Yes?” the immortal replied, trying not to sound too happy that she was talking to him.

“Did my parents love me?” Mi Sun said after a pause. It might not be the best way to start the conversation, but she needed to know. Had they loved her at all, or had her family been more than happy to see her go? Clearly the twelve demons cared – she wasn’t stupid – but what about her umma and appa?

“Your father adored you,” Suho smiled sadly, “he was so proud that he had a little girl. When you were a baby and people would comment on how cute you were, he’d get this huge grin on his face that would last for days. And he was always bragging about you to everyone.”

“And my mother?”

“She loved you so much,” he replied, taking note of the tears starting to form in the young girl’s eyes, “she hated leaving you even for a second. When your father was killed and we realized we had to send you away for your own protection, I think a part of her died. She spent days trying to convince us that you were safer with her. When it came time to give you up, she had to be locked in her room so she didn’t run off with you. She was gone before I got back.”

“What were my parents like?” Mi Sun asked, sitting down on Suho’s bed and he joined her moments later.

“Your mother looked a lot like you,” he smiled, “her hair was shorter and her face didn’t look as young as yours does, but otherwise you’re almost a perfect mirror image of her. Your personalities are very close, too. She was never one to worry about the little things either. But she never would have handled this kind of situation as well as you have. You have your father’s eyes. He was always smiling, kind of like Jongup, and he was always willing to help someone in need, like Yong Guk. Actually, he was a lot like Yong Guk in a lot of ways.”

“They sound nice,” she smiled sadly, trying not to cry at the knowledge that she would never get to know these people. Suho talked about them with such respect, he clearly felt proud to have known such great people.

“You take after them,” he smiled, patting her head, “my brothers and I are happy about that. You’ve grown into a wonderful young woman and we’re only sorry that we didn’t get to see it happen.”

“What were they like?” Mi Sun asked, “Your brothers, I mean. When I was little.”

“They loved playing with you,” Suho laughed, “Xiumin was always using his powers and his baozi cheeks to make you smile. Luhan, Sehun, Tao, and Kai were always the ones who would play dress up and tea party with you. The rest of us would play those games, too, but those four would always drop whatever they were doing, no matter how important, just for you. Every night before bed, Kris would read you a story. In fact, you insisted on it and wouldn’t go to sleep until Kris read you a bedtime story.”

“He said he used to do that for his little sister,” she remembered several nights before when she’d caught Kris reading out loud. She’d gotten the feeling he wasn’t telling her everything, but now she knew the full story.

“I would always end up being the one to give you a bath,” Suho gave a hearty chuckle at the memory, “maybe it was because of my power, but that was always my job. I think the pair of us combined got more water on the floor then in the tub.”

“I kind of remember that,” Mi Sun smiled slightly, vague memories of water being splashed onto the floor while she yelled for a man – Suho – to make the water do another trick filled her mind.

“The only one of us you would ever sit still for was Lay,” he kept going, hoping that his words were jogging her memory a little, “almost every time you were worked up, all Lay had to do was start talking in that calm voice of his and you’d sit down and stop running around. Baekhyun was always the first one to wake up when you had a nightmare and comfort you by using his power as a nightlight.”

“I remember that,” she smiled. Mi Sun couldn’t make out the full detail of Baekhyun’s face, but that could be equated to the lack of light in the dark room and all the years that had gone by. Otherwise, she remembered this kind of event perfectly.

“Chen and Chanyeol insisted on being the ones to take you out to the park to play,” Suho recalled, “sometimes, they wouldn’t let the rest of us come too, complaining that they wanted alone time with you and the rest of us kept hogging your attention. And D.O was always making sure your mother made the healthiest meals for you and your room was organized. He probably would have done both himself, but your mother insisted she have something to do for you when we did everything else.”

“My mother must have hated you guys for doing her job,” Mi Sun laughed lightly, trying to picture it in her mind.

“We’re so sorry for giving you up,” Suho finally said, trying in vain to stop himself from crying, “we didn’t know how else to keep you safe.” He would have kept going, but Mi Sun pulled him into a hug and he started sobbing into her shoulder.

A/N: I honestly can’t fault Mi Sun for being a bit angry at EXO. I mean, I know I would be in her place. Anyway, she’s got some closure now, so let the bonding begin!!!! I’d originally intended for this update to be a little sooner, but I got busy taking care of my semi-new kittens (they’re at the exploring stage and the three of them can be a bit of a handful). Please comment (love reading them!) and thanks for subscribing!!