"Hyuk," Hakyeon said with a sigh, interrupting the youngest one's concentrated reading. "Stop reading all of that."

Hyuk gave everyone in the room an apologetic look before stuffing his phone back into his pocket. "Sorry," he muttered in apology.

"Don't get upset with him," Jaehwan said to the oldest one. "He's just curious. We all are. We've never seen what happens to people once their liver is cirrhotic. We have to be prepared for Taekwoon's sake."

Hakyeon remained silent. All of them were now sitting in Taekwoon's bedroom. They had insisted that all of them came here, even though the distraught boy was begging all of them to go home. He gave up after several minutes, and after the others gave him another opportunity to cry some more, he eventually fell asleep, his head still resting on Hakyeon's lap.

Even though Taekwoon had been asleep for a while, his face still showed signs of his distress. His eyebrows were furrowed together, his red cheeks had tears stains, and he still looked like his sleep wasn't as comfortable as he would have liked it to be, especially with the way he was tossing and turning every once in a while.

"He's right, you know," Wonsik said, pulling Hakyeon from his thoughts. 

"I know," Hakyeon pinfully admitted. 

"The article I was reading," Hyuk spoke up again. "It said that even though there's no cure for cirrohsis, you can slow down its effects if you take care of yourself correctly," he said, hoping to brighten up the mood a little. He knew it didn't help that much, but he figured that it was worth the effort.

"How do you even get a cirrhotic liver?" Hongbin asked. "I thought only people with alcohol and drug problems get that."

There was silence in the room. All five boys looked at each other, giving each other questioning looks, until all eyes fell on Hakyeon, figuring that he would have some answers.

"His father isn't an alcoholic, is he?" Jaehwan asked Hakyeon after he noticed how the oldest one had suddenly grown silent.

"If you know something, Hakyeon," Wonsik spoke up. He also had a pretty good idea of what the answer to Jaehwan's question was, since he had speculated Taekwoon's story with Halyeon before. "You have to say it. You know we never have secrets between us."

Hakyeon sighed, seeing the point in Wonsik's words. "Okay," he finally said in defeat. He didn't exactly have all the facts, so he didn't want to say anything the wrong way and possibly worry the younger ones unnecessarily. "I...honestly wouldn't be surprised if Taekwoon's father is an alcoholic or something."

Hyuk gave him a confused look. "What makes you say that?" he asked, secretly begging Hakyeon to continue.

Hakyeon bit his lip, giving all of them worried glances. He really didn't want to continue talking about this. "After that night when we saved Taekwoon, I was curious about the injuries all of us saw on his body." He sighed again. "So when we met up, I confronted him about it. I told him that I knew that all of those injuries weren't just from Dohoon. I asked him if it was his dad that had hurt him."

"What did he say?" Hongbin asked.

"He started panicking," Hakyeon immediately answered. "He was so scared. I'd never seen him like that before. He said his dad had never hurt him, but the way he acted said enough." 

Wonsik sighed. "Oh Taekwoon," he said, shaking his head. "I can't believe he's always dealt with this."

"I can believe his father is an alcoholic or a drug user," Hakyeon said, almost sounding angry. "There's no way that a person in his right mind would want to hurt Taekwoon like that. He's already fragile enough as it is."

Taekwoon stirred, causing Hakyeon to freeze. He released a moan, one that sounded so painful, before settling down once again.

"He talks in his sleep," Hakyeon added quietly after he was sure that Taekwoon was still asleep. He started running his fingers through Taekwoon's hair. Hakyeon shook his head. "He's always begging for help...or forgiveness. I've always known that those dreams involved his dad. And even when I pointed that out, he insisted that it was all in my head."

Hyuk sighed. "I don't get it," he admitted, shaking his head. "If Taekwoon's father mistre