The day began like any other.

Yifan arrived home at dawn, looking around before he slipped under the broken fence, through the gap that was just big enough for Beagle to go through. He cursed and swore when his arms once again got scraped by the jagged wood and some nails that jutted out, hoping that tetanus would not be the cause of his early death.

It had been another night at the docks, waiting for shipment and making sure all the transactions would go smoothly. He could have easily sent Kyungsoo for the job, but Yifan knew how he hated being out in the dark by himself, cold and with nothing to do but watch, watch and watch.

He glanced around one more time, making sure he wasn’t being followed, before he walked through the short and narrow alley that led to what seemed to be the most derelict building in this part of town.

The row of townhouses was ideal for a small group such as theirs. Most of the units next to theirs were empty as it was one of the older, cookie-cutter establishments in the area; four stories high and the ground floor was set up for whatever small businesses the tenants decided to venture in. Theirs was a chicken take out place that Dopey insisted was the perfect cover for the actual operations they were involved in. He had been reluctant, Beagle had laughed and Sehun just shook his head when they first started talking about it, but what started as a joke had actually taken off when Kyungsoo’s seasoned chicken became a neighborhood popular.

The metal shutter was still padlocked (‘will make us look normal, locking up with a stupid thing like that’ Dopey had said), so he opted for the door on the side. He punched in the code, there was a beep and the lock clicked and he pushed the door with his shoulder. The stair landing was bathed in soft light and he smiled. It was a silly rule that Kyungsoo had started, the light fixture stays on until every single one of them was home. He toed off his shoes and lined it neatly with all the other pairs inside the cabinet by the door.

The flight of stairs led to another door that opened to the second floor where his room, living room and kitchen were. After a year of nothing but work and having dinner on a makeshift table made from boxes of class AAA replicas of the Louis Vuitton S/S 2013 collection, the whole building was finally renovated and equipped with all the security and surveillance equipment that could put a bank in Switzerland to shame. It had to be done in stealth so as not to alert the neighbors and the police that were sometimes hot on their trail, but it was worth it when it was done, especially now that Kyungsoo had a decent place to cook their meals.

He shrugged out of his leather jacket and padded towards the living room. It was dark, save for the light coming from the flat screen mounted against the wall.

They had all agreed on sleek, minimalist designs, with clean lines. The furniture were sturdy and comfortable, colors (or lack of it) in varying shades of black and gray. No picture frames, knick knacks from travels or anything that gave sign that people called this space their home. The only splash of color in the room was the lump on the couch. Beagle was in his yellow pajamas and gave him a small wave, his head resting on a pink pillow. A pair of fluffy, purple slippers were on the floor, a pile of dvd cases next to it.

“Did you sleep at all?” Yifan asked.

Beagle sniffed and shook his head. His sloped eyes and nose were red. “I was waiting for Dopey. He said he’d be back before midnight and I still haven’t heard from him.”

Yifan frowned. Dopey mentioned that he was going to meet a supplier last night. The materials for making passports have been getting hard to come by, especially with all the security measures that state departments have started to use for their documents recently.

“Did you try to call? Everybody else home?” Yifan sat next to him on the couch and rubbed the smaller man’s leg. It was never good when Beagle was upset, he would always refuse to eat or get out of bed, and tended to get sick.

“Of course I tried to ing call,” Beagle whined. “Sehun and Kyungsoo are still sleeping. Oh, Yixing called,”

“I hope you told him we’re not interested in that kind of market,” Yifan interrupted.

Beagle stared. “Of course I told him that. But for someone who’s high as a kite half the time, he sure doesn’t know when to give up,”

Yifan let out a sigh. “Go to bed, I’ll ask Sehun to go check on Dopey-“

There was shuffling outside and the door swung open. Beagle almost fell face first on the floor as he untangled himself from his sheets, knocking Yifan to ground with him in the process. There was a loud oomph when Beagle launched himself at the tall man who just came in and his snapback fell to the floor.

“You stupid, stupid idiot!” Beagle half-screamed and half-cried, “What did I ing tell you about letting me know where you were, huh? I was up all night thinking you were dead!” He was throwing weak punches at Dopey who was half-heartedly avoiding them, a smile on his face that showed all his teeth. His ears was sticking out of his messy bow-cut hair, and his laughter resonated in the room, deep and hearty.

“Hey baby,” Dopey easily scooped up the smaller man in his arms and buried his face in the crook of Beagle’s neck, “I’m sorry, I’m alive, ok?” He added, laughing.

“You guys are disgusting, please try not to have with your clothes on in front of me,” Yifan said from his spot on the floor, his arms crossed in front of chest.

Beagle shot him a glare before hugging the life out of Dopey again. “Would you rather we strip here and dirty the couch?” Yifan let out a choked cry as he pulled at his freshly dyed blonde hair, and Dopey laughed while he repeatedly slapped his thigh. “He’s right though, babe. Carry me upstairs so I can punish you,”

“Beagle,” Yifan moaned “Please get out and do your in your own apartment,” The two males laughed and made their way to the stairs.

The duo was in charge of documents, their lab and living quarters on the fourth floor. Passports and diplomas were Beagle’s favorites, while Dopey always undertook the requests for birth and marriage certificates, an obsession that could be traced back to the fact that at the age 23, these were things that he wanted the most. Beagle always tried to pacify him that they did not need a piece of paper to validate how they felt about one another, but Yifan knew that it was more because Dopey always wondered how it was to have legitimate documents to his name.

He let out a tired sigh, picked himself up and walked to the kitchen. There was a note taped on the fridge that said ‘cleaned for 2 hours, make a mess and I will end you xoxo K’ Yifan laughed and took a long drink of water from one of the narrow glass pitchers inside, complete with slices of lemon and torn basil leaves. There were containers of food that he could heat up, but fatigue won over and half an hour later, he was peeling off the face mask that he had haphazardly slapped on when he got to his room and fell promptly asleep.

---

“Duizhang, duizhang,”

Yifan could have sworn that he had only closed his eyes a few minutes ago. Now he was being jostled awake and he tried to push whoever it was that was manhandling him. His eyes felt like they were covered with a layer of fine sand and he furiously rubbed at them with the heels of his hands.

“Go ‘way,” He groaned.

“Someone’s looking for you downstairs!”

The frantic note in Sehun’s voice made him sit up so fast his head swam. The last time the boy had come to his room and woke him up like this, it was in the middle of the night and he found Dopey on the floor of their living room, his blood making maps on the industrial gray carpet. Kyungsoo’s hands were trembling as he tended to the gaping wound on his shoulder blade, trying to remember the things he learned in medical school while Beagle wailed at the background. The blood stains wouldn’t come off days after that, and they decided to just put another rug on top of it.

Sehun took a drag from his inhaler, his eyes darting to the door and back to Yifan again. The boy’s bleach blonde hair wasn’t gelled like it usually was. His tie was askew, sleeves of his white starched shirt folded up to his elbows.

“You’re supposed to be in school,” Yifan deadpanned.

“I swear I was gonna go but I was checking the cameras this morning to see if anything got tripped and there was this girl-“

“What girl?”

“The one that’s looking for you,” Sehun pursed his lips and brushed the hair out of his eyes. “Looks an awful lot like you, only her face is smaller and-“

Yifan didn’t hear anymore as he ran to the chicken stall downstairs in breakneck speed.

---

Sehun was right. She looked exactly like Yifan. Her heart-shaped face was definitely smaller and her well-defined eyebrows less severe, but the differences end there.

The dark pixie cut defined cheekbones that could make a supermodel cry in envy, and the sharp eyes that took everything in with quick, observing glances were framed with thick, dark lashes. Fingers that tapered like candlesticks grasped onto a bulky and tattered backpack, short nails painted in black polish. She stood by the door and she towered over Kyungsoo, who was standing right next to her, his eyes wide and questioning.

Everything about her appearance screamed trouble, from the multiple piercings on her delicate ears, to the jeans that were as distressed as the backpack, creamy skin peeking at the torn places. Her cuffed, lace-up boots were caked with mud and he could see Beagle eyeing them, dismay and approval flitting on his face. Amidst the plethora of rings on her finger, was an intricate golden band mounted with a lavender jade the size of a quail egg. The gemstone was held in place by tiny snakes.

Sehun was wheezing, and Kyungsoo walked over to start rubbing his back. The younger boy’s mouth was set in a tight line, his brows dipped while he furiously tapped and scrolled on his phone. He took another long drag at his inhaler and before Yifan could scold him if he had been hanging out at the pound again, the boy voiced out the question that he had been hoping to ask the girl in private.

“What did you say was your name again?”

Her eyes flicked to Sehun before boring straight to Yifan’s own dark ones.

“Wu Ying Fei,”

It was admirable, the way she carried herself and the stoic way she fended off the stares and unspoken questions that hung heavy in the air. Yifan knew better. This girl was terrified and confused as hell like he was.

“Why are you here?” His voice came out sharper than he intended, but there really was no point in beating around the bush. The tension was so thick he was certain he could swim in it. The faster they got this over with, the better.

Or so he thought.

“Ge,” There was small smile that tugged at her full, pink lips, as if Yifan didn’t just ask her a question that would turn most people away. “Your hair, I like it,”

“There’s nothing on her. Birthday?” Sehun frowned when the girl just looked at him. Kyungsoo slapped his arm when he tried to take a picture.

“Not now,” Kyungsoo said.

“Ge,” The girl said again. “I’ve been looking for you.”

Time froze and Yifan wondered if he was the only one who could see the pleading in the girl’s eyes. Kyungsoo cleared his throat and motioned for Sehun to pull the shutters down.

“Why don’t we go to the kitchen for some tea-“

Ying Fei shook her head. “I need to talk to you,” She dragged white, even teeth over her chapped bottom lip and threw all caution to the wind with her next words. “Alone.”

“I don’t think so, little girl,” Beagle’s perfectly groomed eyebrows shot up, “You can’t come barging here like that and demand to talk to duizhang in private when this definitely concerns the rest of us too.”

“Babe, she’s probably a head and half taller than you are-“

“Shut the up, Dopey, I’m not talking to you!”

Dopey rolled his eyes. “I was only saying she probably wouldn’t like it if you called her little girl-“

“So what if I’m short! You never complain about how easy it is to bend me in half when you’re ing my brains out-“

“Guys-“

The click and a flash led to a momentary silence when they all turned to Sehun, tongue sticking out while his thumbs brushed against the glass surface of his smartphone. It only took a half a minute.

“Nothing, even with a picture-“

“Sehun, I told you not to!” Kyungsoo shouted.

“Guys-“

“But she’s not in any of the databases-“

“You idiot, shut up,” Kyungsoo hissed.

Yifan rubbed his temples. Beagle and Dopey were now arguing at the top of their lungs, as if they just hadn’t made up hours ago. Kyungsoo was still berating a very distracted Sehun. The younger boy was about to take another drag at his inhaler.

“Sehun! That will be the third time in less than an hour, quit it,” Yifan roared.

“I can’t ing breathe, what am I supposed to do!”

Kyungsoo whacked the back of his head. “Don’t yell at him, and listen to me. We’re all older here than you are-“

“I know but my throat feels like it’s closing up and I’m really stressed out right now-“

“I hate you, I hate you!” Beagle screeched, trying to claw Dopey’s face off. The latter picked him up with ease and threw him over his shoulder.

“Right, you guys figure this out,” Dopey winced when Beagle pulled at his ears, “And I’ll bring this little sweetheart upstairs and try to calm him down,”

Yifan felt like his head was about to burst. He looked at the girl by the door, her knuckles white from gripping her backpack too hard. Their eyes met and his heart sank when he realized that it was almost as if his mother was staring back at him. He was really hoping this was just a bad dream, and he would wake up and his crazy life would be back to what it was.

“I have nowhere else to go,” She said softly.

The effect was instantaneous. Beagle stopped punching Dopey’s head, whose eyes softened and gently put his boyfriend down. The smaller man didn’t struggle when Dopey pulled him close. Kyungsoo unconsciously started to rub small circles on Sehun’s back once again, the younger boy’s arms limp on his sides and his eyes on the floor. As for Yifan, he felt like his heart was being crushed in a vise.

They all knew what it felt like to not have a place to call home.

“Kyungsoo, how about that tea?” Yifan asked. He let out a long sigh. “Then we can talk.”

---

Her voice was steady, but her hands; that’s what Yifan stared at. They trembled like a leaf that fought with the fierce winter winds that threatened to rip it from the stem it was attached to. He was worried for a moment that her cup would come crashing down to the floor and her strong façade would break along with the china.

The trepidation that stifled the atmosphere earlier was now mixed with anger and disbelief as she told them of the circumstances that led her to their doorstep this morning. Beagle stood up and left when Ying Fei came to the part of her story where their aunt’s lover tried to sell her to the highest bidder. After a quick apologetic duck of his head, Dopey stood up to follow him.

“You can’t really deny the fact that she could almost pass as your twin,” Kyungsoo started. “But I hope you realize that the holes in her story are as plain as the fact that Dopey is a bottom ,”

Beagle had come back down with Dopey, armed with pillows and blankets and a small neon pink tub filled with all sorts of toiletries. The smaller of the two and grabbed Ying Fei’s arm and dragged her to the room just across Yifan’s, all the while barking out instructions at Sehun to stop staring and help the new girl move in.

“Why didn’t you tell us you had a sister, duizhang? And her Korean is flawless,”

“Our father- he insisted we learn at least 3 languages. And don’t start on me, it took you two years to finally admit me to that you’re still madly in love with that danseur that ed you over when you were interning at the hospital,” Yifan said.

Kyungsoo laughed. “I still have my pride, I can’t just go around telling people I’m still pining over him. Finding him and the girl next door with her legs up in the air on our bed was traumatizing, after all,”

The silence was deafening and there was an added weight to the guilt that settled heavily at the pit of his stomach. “Soo, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I just don’t know what to do. It’s been what, 7 years? Ying Fei and I, we can’t be together in the same house,”

“So she is your sister?” Kyungsoo asked, pointedly ignoring the apology. He took another sip of his tea.

Yifan his lips and nodded. “She’s changed a lot, though. And I didn’t expect her to be living with our aunt. When I left, she was with our parents,”

“Where are your parents? And why can’t you be in the same house? The girl has nowhere to go, Yifan. We can’t just throw her out in the cold,”

“I didn’t say we should, but she needs to live somewhere else,”

“She already made the trek from Beijing, don’t be unreasonable-“

“Kyungsoo, it’s not safe. We can’t be at the same place, at the same time,” Yifan stressed out. “Dongguan, of all places, there are eyes and ears all over, ok?”

“You’re not making any sense,” Kyungsoo said.

“I know, but we can’t keep her here,” He insisted.

“Then what do you propose we do??”

“I’ll figure something out. But she won’t be staying with us for too long,”

Kyungsoo frowned at him. “How can you not want to keep your sister safe with you, after what she’s been through? Our family’s made of strays you’ve picked up left and right and yet your own flesh and blood…” Kyungsoo trailed off.

It wasn’t an accusation, but Yifan could not satisfy Kyungsoo’s curiosity, at least not now. “I’ll tell you all, but that story will be for another day,”

Kyungsoo stared at him. “Just make sure it wouldn’t be too late, and you won’t get any of us hurt or killed because I will ing rip your balls off.”

Yifan let out a nervous laughter. “What makes you think-“His words died in his throat when he saw how serious Kyungsoo was.

---

What he thought started as an ordinary day turned out to be the longest and most stressful in Yifan’s life.

In spite of his protests and arguments with Beagle, they helped his sister settle in like she was going to stay for a long, long time.

His office was cleared in record time, a spare mattress that he didn’t know they had was now covered up in crisp, white sheets and tucked in the corner (only after Sehun, of all people that Beagle would ask to do the job, was finished vacuuming. Kyungsoo had to fire up the nebulizer for him afterwards). Fluffy pillows and a duvet covered in matching white covers were placed neatly on top and the room now faintly smelled of lavender.

“Beagle!” He yelled.

He was completely ignored when he continued to rant about the loss of his work space and Kyungsoo silenced him with promises of setting up a cubicle downstairs. His entire crew; jaded, life-hardened criminals in their own right, were all busy trying to make his sister as comfortable as possible with her indefinite stay.

“I can’t work on my stuff in the open!” He hissed. Kyungsoo just laughed and mentioned something how the space in the second floor apartment that he shared with Sehun would have to do.

He thought he felt his blood pressure shot up when Dopey brought down the huge flat screen he just bought recently, wires and Beagle trailing closely behind him, yelling at him to be careful. Sehun was at the rear of the odd procession, his tool box grasped tightly in hand. The idiots even had the gall to close the door of what is now going to be his sister’s room in his face.

The final straw though, was when Kyungsoo sat Ying Fei down and laid down the house rules for her.

“For you and Sehun, curfew is 8:30. I know it’s early, but we’re already being lenient letting you kids stay out there after dark. We share chores, I do the cooking and the groceries, Beagle and Dopey are in charge of laundry, Sehun does the dishes but you can share with that now. For the general cleaning, we just try to pick up as much as we can and then whoever’s got free time just does the wiping and vacuuming and stuff. Your brother does absolutely nothing when it comes to housework, but then again he’s an idiot, so-”

“Kyungsoo-“

“Just a minute Yifan. There are a couple of other things that you need to know while you’re staying with us. You’re aware that our, um, ventures are not exactly on the legitimate side, right?” Ying Fei nodded. “Ok, good. So that means we don’t talk much to the neighbors- not that we have much, and keep your eyes peeled and your ears open. Never answer the phone if you don’t recognize the number on the caller id, all the people that should know the base number are already recorded, and even then, ask me or Yifan to answer. If neither of us are here, just ignore it.”

“Kyungsoo, she doesn’t need to-“

Kyungsoo continued as if Yifan was just a fly that needed to be swatted at because he was flying way to close to his ear. “Sehun still goes to school. How old are you?”

“You really had no idea I existed huh?” Ying Fei glanced at Yifan, the hurt in her eyes evident. “I’m a senior this year, I’ll turn eighteen in three weeks,” She said quietly.

Kyungsoo threw Yifan a dirty look and reached over to pat Ying Fei’s head. It was comical, seeing someone so tiny with narrow shoulders trying to comfort his sister who had legs that went on for days.

“We’ll have to remember that so we can have a party. For now though, why don’t you go get cleaned up and rest in your room. I’ll send Sehun to call you when it’s time for dinner,”

“Thank you, Kyungsoo.”

“Another rule, you will call everyone here oppa or ge, whatever you prefer, even that over there,” Kyungsoo jabbed his thumb in Yifan’s general direction.

Ying Fei didn’t bother to hide her amusement and her laughter tinkled. “Ok. Thank you, Kyungsoo oppa,”

Kyungsoo just ignored Yifan who he groaned. He went to his own room and plopped on his bed, and fell into a fitful sleep filled with dreams about dragons swimming in a sea of pearls.

---

Everyone seemed to accept Ying Fei’s presence like they were a long stretch of parched soil and she was the rainstorm that everyone had been waiting for.

---

It crept on everyone slowly, beginning with Beagle, who was the most sensitive of them all. The two would gossip like those old women in the wet market, and it was refreshing to see another person coax those eye smiles from him other than Dopey. Ying Fei let Beagle practice putting make up on her pale, unblemished face, and Yifan could tell that Dopey was more than happy to have someone else take that place in his life.

“Beagle oppa, what’s your real name?” Ying Fei asked as he snipped at her hair. It had gotten longer and she wanted it trimmed, but Yifan had restricted her trips outside the house. If anybody found it strange, nobody said a word.

Yifan felt like his blood turned to ice. “Ying Fei!”

“I’ll tell you, someday,” Beagle gave her a gentle smile.

Snip, snip, snip.

Yifan would never admit it, but he felt a pang of jealousy when he heard. He was Beagle’s friend first, after all, but the latter had never once budged to reveal what his true name was or why he was adamant that Dopey, the only one in their group who knows, to never use it.

“It’s enough that you know I’ll take a bullet in the head for you, duizhang.” Beagle once said when he insisted to know.

And that was that.

---

Dopey was happy if Beagle was happy. Ying Fei made Beagle happy, so Dopey spoiled Ying Fei like no other.

Yifan was not happy about that.

“So pretty,” Ying Fei gushed at the new pair of high top sneakers that Yi Fan recognized as the real deal, and probably worth almost three thousand yuan. Dopey grinned his face off and ruffled the younger girl’s hair.

“Dopey, you can’t keep on buying her stuff that she doesn’t even need,” Yifan complained. “Half of her room is now full of clothes and shoes and she hasn’t even gone through half of it. Just last week you bought her a phone when she doesn’t even need it!”

Dopey ran his hand through his recently dyed red hair, and took a long drink of water. He placed the glass back on the counter and let his eyes stray towards the living room where Ying Fei was in her pajamas, parading her new shoes in front of a giggling Sehun.

“The only family I knew before I met you guys was Baek- I mean Beagle. When we were kids every night I’d hope against hope that somebody, anybody at all- would tell me and Beagle that we’re gonna be ok and things will work out. Nobody ing did. Those were scary times.”

“Ying Fei- when she talks about how she wants her family back? I feel that she’s not just saying it to connect with me, but because she’s trying to tell me, tell you, that she needs someone. She’s terribly lonely and insecure,”

“I want to be family for her, Yifan. She would never say a thing but your sister is scared out of her wits because she knows you’re still thinking of sending her away,”

“Dopey-“

“Plus she makes Beagle laugh, ok? You know I live for that.”

Yifan almost wished that Dopey knocked his teeth out instead of having the talk they just had.

---

Kyungsoo carried on like nothing has happened, but Yifan knew better.

He smoked less and he even let the young girl help in the kitchen to prepare dinner. They would fold laundry together, watch dramas and animes, and experiment on new recipes and bully poor Sehun into tasting their creations.

Yifan once found Kyungsoo showing her a picture. It was Kyungsoo wearing scrubs, eyes bright and his heart-shaped lips stretched into a smile. Right next to him was tanned male, his profile sharp. The man’s arm was wrapped around Kyungsoo’s narrow shoulders, and the look of tenderness in his eyes as he gazed at Kyungsoo made it hard to believe that said man was a two-timing bastard.

“I loved him,” Kyungsoo said. Yifan held his breath and continued to hide in the shadows. “Screw that, I still do,” Kyungsoo laughed a little.

Ying Fei hugged her favorite oppa (Yifan tried not bristle every time she joked about that during dinner) and Kyungsoo leaned against her touch.

“Where is he now?” Ying Fei asked softly.

“In Korea,” Kyungsoo sighed. “He’s famous now, I heard that this winter his face will be all over the billboards in the city, to advertise for Swan Lake,”

“We should go visit him. I know Wushu,” Ying Fei joked.

“Love is a wonderful, wonderful thing, Ying Fei,” Kyungsoo said, his eyes staring at nothing. “But it broke me so bad sometimes I wish it didn’t happen,”

“Don’t say that,” Ying Fei chided. “Sometimes…people that we love make mistakes and I’m not saying that’s ok, but maybe, you know, they deserve another chance?”

“Maybe,” Kyungsoo gave her one of his sad smiles.

Ying Fei sat up. “Oppa, where did you meet my brother?”

Kyungsoo replaced the picture back in his wallet. “In Seoul. That’s where he, um, escaped for a while after he left your family. He saved my life. Although,” Kyungsoo laughed, eyes crinkling, “if you ask him that he’d say otherwise. Either way, it works,”

“He’s a good guy,” Ying Fei nodded, as if trying to convince herself of something. There was a long stretch of silence and Yifan was about to slip away, unnoticed when Kyungsoo spoke again.

“You should give him a chance, you know?”

“I looked for him, didn’t I?” Ying Fei said. “He’s the one who refuses to let me be a part of his life.”

Kyungsoo didn’t have anything to say to that, and the guilt that clawed at Yifan’s chest did not go away for a long, long time after eavesdropping on them.

---

If there was someone Yifan was worried about, it was Sehun. The boy practically worshipped the ground that his sister walked on.

“She’s not staying, you realize that, don’t you?” Yifan frowned at the younger boy.

Sehun had come home, wheezing like life was being squeezed out of him by Death himself. He was carrying a box filled with books, and when Yifan had questioned him about it, the boy only hesitated a little before admitting that Ying Fei had been bored, and he had offered to look for the books that she had been wanting to read.

“Then let her,” Sehun said, defiance dripping in every syllable.

It wasn’t the first time that Sehun had done something out of the ordinary since Ying Fei had come to their lives. He had stopped hanging out at the pound where he petted the cats and puppies until the volunteer in charge chased him away or when his asthma attacks became too much, whichever came first.

He’d also started paying more attention to his studies and it was actually kind of hilarious when Sehun would preen like a peacock when Ying Fei squealed about an exam that he had aced. The boy also never lazed around in his boxers or cotton harem pants anymore, a far cry from the teenager who liked to rub it in their faces that he had the biggest among them all.

Their second youngest has also started talking about maybe, just maybe, going back to Korea to claim what was his. When Dopey had asked him about the sudden change of mind, Sehun just stared at Ying Fei who was chopping vegetables for Kyungsoo. “If I get my money and position back, I can get us all out of the underground,”

Mealtimes were now the perfect opportunities to as well.

“Sehun, are you sick?” Kyungsoo asked.

“No, why?”

Beagle laughed, a sly look on his face. “Because usually, you’d be gobbling breakfast up like we don’t feed you enough-“

“I’m a growing boy!” Sehun protested.

“-but now you wait until a certain someone is here and you even bother to use utensils like the hotelier prince that you really are,” Beagle finished with a cackle.

Sehun blushed. He rarely did that, but now that Yifan thought about it, Sehun blushed a whole lot with Ying Fei around.

---

Anger, jealousy, confusion, longing, guilt and all sorts of emotions fought their way to dominance in Yifan’s heart as he watched the family that replaced the one he left fall in love with his sister. He doesn’t know how to handle them, and Ying Fei isn’t in a better state.

So they fight.

---

 “No! Absolutely not!” He shouted. Beagle rolled his eyes and Ying Fei just stood there, clad in what he thought were poor excuses for clothes. “She’s barely covered! And too much make up, Beagle! No, she’s not going out like that,”

“Ge-“

“Get changed or you’re staying home,” Yifan said through gritted teeth.

It ranged from mild disagreements to full-blown shouting matches. Yifan doesn’t quite remember when they first started butting heads, but tonight seemed to be one of the worst so far. Beagle insisted that they all go for a night out in town. Yifan had already been skittish about someone recognizing him and his sister and Dopey’s reassurances that it was an underground club whose clientele were mostly university students and young urban professionals didn’t help calm his nerves.

Beagle cocked a hip slightly to one side and folded his arms. “She’s wearing jeans and a damned t-shirt. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Yifan let out a derisive laugh. The pair of jeans that Beagle was talking about was way too tight and was torn in so many places he was surprised it was still in one piece. The t-shirt was made of clingy material that hugged all of her curves and was tied up in a knot just above the waistband and it showed the white strip of her skin whenever she as so much breathed.

“It looks like her jeans are held together by spit!” Yifan said.

“Why are you so concerned all of a sudden?”

All heads turned to Ying Fei, and Yifan was taken aback by the fierce look in her eyes. Her hands were clenched into fists.

“I don’t want to have to worry about college kids hitting on you, ok? We don’t have time for that ,” He spat.

“Oh, ok then,” Ying Fei turned around and marched to her bedroom, taking care to slam the door extra hard.

Yifan felt Dopey’s big hands clap onto his back with such force he almost fell face first to the ground. “Well done, asshat,”

Beagle and Sehun walked past him wordlessly and headed to Ying Fei’s room. Kyungsoo turned a page in the medical journal he was reading.

“Was I wrong?” Yifan asked, exasperated.

Kyungsoo sighed. “I understand that you’re trying to protect her, but she was trying to match your outfit, idiot,”

“What?”

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow at him. Yifan looked down at his own tattered jeans and the cotton t-shirt he was wearing. “The scoop of your neckline is so low I can almost see your man s,”

“I hate my life,” Yifan said. Kyungsoo just laughed at him.

Beagle and Sehun managed to coax Ying Fei out of her room and after a forced apology from Yifan, was convinced to finally go out with them. He seethed with how the situation was turned around. It didn’t help that when they arrived at the club, it was crowded, hot and too loud. Kyungsoo joked that Yifan was getting old and places like this one were supposed to be like that, but he ignored the jibes and headed straight to the restroom.

“Where are the kids?” He asked with a frown. He found Beagle, Dopey and Kyungsoo at the bar when he returned, heads moving along to the beat, each with a drink in their hands. He cursed in his head when he realized he was now officially the designated driver.

Beagle nodded towards the general direction of the dance floor. “Over there, having fun!” He shouted over the din of the crowd. Yifan squinted his eyes and felt the pounding when blood rushed to his head when he spotted Ying Fei, her back flush against Sehun’s chest, and he snapped when he saw the boy’s fingers skimming along his sister’s bare waist.

“Hey! Hey, Yifan! , stay here! They’re just dancing!” Dopey yelled.

He didn’t hear anymore and he wondered if he’d get in trouble if he broke Sehun’s nose right here, right now. He ignored all the glares that were thrown his way as he squeezed through the sweaty throng, glaring back when people didn’t move fast enough. Yifan calmed down some when his sister’s laughter floated against the thick smoke that permeated the atmosphere, it sounded like a girl having fun and not a woman by wandering hands of a boy with raging hormones. That didn’t stop him from dancing his way in between the two.

“Watch it, -” Sehun shouted. Yifan tried so hard not to laugh when Sehun’s eyes almost bugged out of their sockets when he realized who it was. “Oh, hey Yifan hyung,”

“Having fun?” He asked. Ying Fei just stared at him, her eyes livid.

“What are you doing?” She hissed. Sehun was now awkwardly standing right next to them, being moved side to side by the tight crowd that was moving along to the loud noise that was giving Yifan a raging headache.

“Dancing?” He asked innocently. Ying Fei groaned and pushed him aside. Sehun followed, shaking his head. Satisfied with himself, he walked (or squeezed his way) back to the bar where the rest of his friends were staring at him like he was the devil incarnate.

“What?” He asked.

Beagle flicked his forehead. “You’re a jerk, you know that?” He said.

“And a horrible dancer, too,” Dopey quipped.

“You’re one to talk!” Yifan answered heatedly.

Kyungsoo just laughed. “Nah, you’re definitely worse. It was as if the zombie apocalypse just happened and you were one of the first to get bitten,”

“What even, zombies move slowly!”

“Yeah and imagine them trying to dance? That’s how you looked like.” Kyungsoo said. “Well done, by the way, your sister is now thoroughly convinced that you’re a of a brother,”

“I hate you all,” Yifan groaned.

“We love you too,” Beagle cooed.

---

He may or may not have offended Beagle and Dopey when he blew his top that one afternoon. Dopey had been teaching Ying Fei a thing or two about counterfeit bills and medical certificates. In his anger, Yifan had dragged her down to the kitchen, ignoring Dopey’s protests that she was just watching while he finished up on a pair of passports for a couple who were thinking of migrating to America.

“If you had wanted to learn how to lie, cheat and steal, you should have stayed home and-“

“That was a ing whorehouse, not a home!”

“Watch your ing mouth!”

“Or what? You gonna hit me?”

“What? No! Hey, did they hurt you there? Ying Fei, come back here! I’m talking to you!”

Sehun watched him over his glass of orange juice. “What?” Yifan bit out.

The boy scowled at him, which he had been doing lately, and that did not sit well with Yifan. Sehun had idolized him, followed him around like the puppies that he used to visit at the dog pound, and now the boy just looked at him like he was something the cat threw up on.

“You really should be nicer to her,” Sehun said. He drained his glass and tried to coax the pulp by tapping his fingers against the bottom of the glass.

“I am nice enough to let her stay here, and I swear I am so close to just kicking her out,”

“You always say that, but it’s been what, six months? Surely with all your contacts…” Sehun trailed off.

“Do you want me to make her leave now?” Yifan felt a little sick at the satisfaction that he felt when Sehun blanched.

“No! But, she’s bored...She said she felt like a burden when everyone had stuff to do,”

“Well she is a burden!” Yifan spat out. It took a moment for him to realize that Sehun was staring at something over his shoulder, mouth slack and eyes wide.

Yifan sighed. “She’s behind me, isn’t she?” Sehun nodded and there was the loud slamming of a door again.

“Well done, hyung,” Sehun clapped slowly and Yifan had to fight the urge to strangle him right then and there.

“I care about her, you know,” He said in a whisper.

“Well, you sure have a really interesting way of showing it.”

He watched Sehun walk away. It was one of those days when he felt like he was done trying, and it was time to up and leave again.

---

“You must be out of your damned, stupid mind,” Beagle said.

His voice was shaking and so did his hand. Yifan felt a bead of sweat roll down his temple. Beagle was holding a butcher’s knife, choosing today of all times, to help Kyungsoo in the kitchen.

“Look, I’ve been really generous, it’s already been almost a year. She needs to go,”

“Generous? Are you listening to yourself? She’s your sister!”

Yifan took a deep breath. “Dopey. There’s so much more to this than you guys think. This isn’t anything about Ying Fei and I not getting along and the rest of you thinking I’m an because I don’t let her get away with a lot of things,”

“That’s beside the point,” Kyungsoo said. “She’s not going over to Yixing’s, you’ll have to get through me,”

Yifan rubbed his temples with his fingertips. “Kyungsoo, please,”

“Because if this is about that time you found her sleeping in Sehun’s room that was because he was sick, ok?”

“That doesn’t make it okay for them to always be touching!” Yifan roared.

Dopey stared. “They’re in a relationship, of course they’d want to touch each other. Just because you haven’t been getting some doesn’t mean the rest of us here-“

“I’m offended,” Kyungsoo deadpanned.

“Sorry, Soo, but you’ve got legit reasons, dickhead here does not,” Dopey said, nodding in Yifan’s direction. “Hey, dude, you look like you just bust a vein, you ok?”

“Where is Sehun?” Yifan asked, his voice quiet.

Beagle put down the knife and whacked Dopey upside the head. He walked closer to Yifan and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Now, now, let’s all calm down and talk about this-“

“I can’t ing calm down, Beagle! My sister has been having ! Under my roof! She’s just a kid!” Yifan shouted.

“Then why are you going to send me to Yixing’s?”

They all turned to the source of the voice. Ying Fei looked tired, there were dark circles under her eyes and her lips were dry and chapped. Sehun held her close, a glint of challenge in his eyes when Yifan looked at him.

“This is your last chance. Let her stay, or we’re going to run away,”

Yifan thought it was admirable how Sehun tried to sound brave. He also thought how the boy would look like with a split lip. “You can’t give me ultimatums in my own house!” He shouted.

“You know you won’t be able to find me if I refuse to be found,” Sehun continued. “I can erase all of mine and Ying Fei’s traces-physical and on the net. It will be as if we didn’t exist, and we could just go fly somewhere and start anew.”

Yifan stared. There was absolutely no way Sehun could get away with this on his own, aided with nothing but sheer determination. His stomach dropped and he turned to Dopey. “You didn’t?” Dopey just raised his chin and just folded his arms.

He took a deep breath. “Ying Fei, go to your room, we need to talk.”

Kyungsoo had to pry Ying Fei from Sehun’s grasp, and Yifan’s ears were ringing with threats from Beagle to not do anything crazy or he will wake up without his family jewels. Yifan almost laughed but the glint in Beagle’s eyes made him feel just a little afraid for his posterity.

He sat on the swivel chair by the desk in a corner of the room. Ying Fei walked in, her face drawn, looking like all the fight had left her. It was big contrast from the girl that arrived in their doorstop so many months ago, determined to win her brother’s heart and to fight her way through to a more decent life than the one she was born into.

Yifan had survived the underground because he used his mind and trusted his instincts. He didn’t dwell on his emotions. Watching his sister cry as if her heart was breaking was a different story, and he was at a loss on what to do. He was desperate to the point of calling Beagle when Ying Fei finally spoke.

“Why do you hate me?”

“I don’t hate you,”

“Then please don’t send me away,” She begged. “We can move away, like what Sehun said before-“

“It’s not that easy,”

“But is it worth it?”

Yifan stayed up many nights thinking that maybe it is.

---

It was a quiet night and everyone was home. That happened a lot lately, and though no one would admit it, all coming up with excuses that work was done really quickly or that certain deal wasn’t worth it, he knew that they were all drawn to his sister like moths to a flame.

Beagle was curled up on Dopey’s lap on the love chair, and Kyungsoo, who was sitting next to Yifan on the couch, had barked at them to keep their hands to themselves as he would like to keep their furniture free from bodily fluids. Sehun had laughed with Ying Fei. They were sprawled on the floor, nesting like kittens in a bundle of quilts and blankets and Beagle’s puffy pastel throw pillows. The noise from the movie blared and the smell of buttery popcorn filled the air.

Yifan had been watching them like a hawk. He cared about Sehun and would rather lose an arm before letting any harm come to the boy, but Yifan would rather that he stayed out of his sister’s pants. Even someone as dense as Dopey had noticed how close the two had become.

“Ying Fei,” Yifan barked, “Sit here next to me,”

Sehun sighed and clung to Ying Fei’s ankle and the girl struggled to get up. She laughed when Kyungsoo nudged Sehun’s shoulder with his foot, urging the boy to let go. “Fine,” Sehun grumbled. He reached out to tug at the hem of Ying Fei’s shirt to (or to rile Yifan up, most likely) and that’s when Yifan saw red, red, red.

The shirt that she was wearing was stretched out around the neck and it was about three sizes bigger, and when Sehun’s fingers clutched at the fabric and pulled down, a smooth, white nape and the top part of an intricate tattoo was revealed. Beagle air through his teeth like he was burned and Yifan could feel Kyungsoo’s eyes boring onto the side of his face when he all but ripped the shirt off of his sister. There was a collective intake of sharp breaths and Dopey swore. Sehun withdrew his hand from the hem of Ying Fei’s shirt and scrambled to get up.

“,” Sehun said.

It started at the little dip in between her shoulder blades, a dragon in swirling colors of midnight blue, ruby, flaming orange and green as dark as emeralds, a flaming black pearl clutched in one of its five claws. It covered the top half of her back, the tail of the dragon curling to her side and ended just above her slim waist.

There was deathly quiet for a few seconds. “,” Sehun said again. He stood up and threw a blanket around Ying Fei and pulled her up to her feet.

“Come on, babe, let’s get you another shirt,” Sehun shot a dirty look at Yifan. “ you.” He bit out.

They were all too stunned to reprimand the younger boy like they usually did when he was being rude and Yifan was trying to breathe as the boiling rage consumed him.

---

Yifan was eighteen when he left.

He liked to think that it wasn’t just that one event that set him off and made him turn his back on his then eleven-year old sister who begged for him to stay. It became a habit to convince himself that it was a series of unfortunate- but not accidental- events that led to the very life that he wanted to run away from in the first place.

Ying Fei was all knobby knees and long arms then and her hair hung a few inches below her waist. She was an innocent little girl who saw the world in rose-colored glasses, free from piercings and the worries of the real world, and there was definitely not a stitch of any damning tattoo on the white expanse of her shoulder blades.

“Why did you let them?” The anger that laced his voice rattled Ying Fei, and she shrank back a little.

“What do you mean why? All Dragons get it, I just didn’t wait until I came of age. Things were getting messier and I needed to have proof that I was-“

“You didn’t need to do it!”

“Father said I did! I knew that I had to leave soon and I was worried that if I didn’t have it you wouldn’t take me in,”

He looked up and his mouth hung open in disbelief. “How could you even think that?”

“You left me once and you weren’t exactly waving a welcome banner in my face when I showed up!”

“Do you want to know why?”

His words were like a rampage that destroyed the relationship that they had carefully and painstakingly tried to rebuild over the past months; he went on and on about their father had ordered his men to drug him on the eve of his eighteenth birthday so that the clan’s tattoo artist could dirty him with a similar design. His was the half-sleeve kind, and only in black pigment. He hated himself every time he saw it in the mirror.

Yifan did not choose the life of a crime. It was the other way around, when he was born to one of the biggest and most powerful underground families of China.

His words were like vomit, and Ying Fei could only listen, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief when she found out that her father’s clan was not like the Yakuza of Japan that helped those in need and valued family in spite of the bad light that they were cast in.

“Our family kill and steal, Ying Fei, and I did not want that!” He spat out. “Drugs and ion, gambling, bribes, you name it, the Dragonlords do it,”

“Then why did you leave me on my own?” Ying Fei’s voice was hollow.

“I didn’t think that father even considered to get you involved in any of this. And our mother-“

“She left right after you did. Then father decided to leave me with his sister so he can focus on looking for you,”

“What?” Yifan asked.

“You heard me. The heir to the throne must be found, so he left me there in that whorehouse-“

“Did anybody touch you?” He growled.

“As if. They would rather cut their own than set their eyes on the Black Pearl,”

Yifan shuddered at the name. “Ying Fei. You need to tell me what really happened. Nobody tried to really sell you, is there?”

“Someone tried. Aunt asked her men to cut him up and fed him to her dogs,”

“Then why-“

“I ran away. I didn’t want to be there anymore,” She said softly.

Yifan’s head swam Ying Fei was the princess of his father’s den. “How?”

“Huang Zitao.”

He froze at the mention of the name. “Is he-“

“He's fine and he hates you,” Ying Fei laughed a little.

Yifan dragged his hands down his face. “This is…we don’t have a choice. Now we really have to leave,”

“I’m sorry. I’ll go to Yixing. It will make things easier for all of you,”

“No!” Yifan took a deep breath. “I mean, I can’t let you go to our cousin now. I trust him, but…with that thing on your back? It will be too much of a temptation for him. You’ll have to come with us now,”

“I’m sorry-“

“Stop apologizing. Your life is going to be very different from now on. I hope you’re ready,”

“That’s ok. I didn’t really like the one I had before I found you again, anyway.”

---

“The ing Black Pearl!” Beagle spat. He was pacing up and down the living room. Dopey had tried, but only got his face hit, to calm him down.

Ying Fei’s face was buried in Yifan’s chest. It was odd, to be the one comforting his sister after being the cause of her misery for so long. She had refused to come out of her room, but now that their secret was in the open, he decided that it was time to see who would stay on deck and who would decide that this was the end of their journey with him.

It was hard to watch, when they came out to the living room and 4 pairs of eyes raked at his sister from head to foot. He supposed that he couldn’t blame them. They had endangered the lives of their friends, if only because of the circumstance of their birth. Everyone knew that the Silver Dragon’s children were sought after, the son, the daughter, even better if it was the pair.

“How could you hide something as big as this, Yifan? Or should I call you the Black Dragon?”

“Beagle, please,”

“Are you going to kill us in our sleep? Or poison in our food? Is that why Ying Fei would wait until we’ve all swallowed our dinners before she would take the first bite?”

Yifan smiled. Leave it to Beagle to notice the little things. “Beagle,”

“Is this funny to you? Here we were thinking that we were so good, keeping our noses clean and still making a living in the underground! But all this time, it was because no one in their right minds would even look at you because your daddy will be after them!”

“You’re one to talk, Beagle, I don’t even know your real name,”

Dopey stood up and grabbed his boyfriend. He eyed Yifan and took several calming breaths before he spoke. “Let’s go, Beagle,”

“So what, you’re going to leave now? It’s not convenient anymore?” Yifan shouted.

“We just need to think about it, ok?” Dopey said, leading Beagle away. The smaller of the two hesitated for a moment before he turned around and looked at Yifan.

“Byun Baekhyun.”

Yifan lifted his head and stared at him. “What?”

“Beagle,” Dopey hissed.

“It’s okay, babe. Yifan wants names, we’ll give him our names,” Baekhyun aka Beagle, said.

Dopey nodded and looked at Yifan, his face blank. “It’s Park Chanyeol. Nice to meet you all,” The smile he gave everyone was too stretched out, unlike the warm ones that was usually on his face. They both started to make their way to the stairs when Baekhyun turned around again, Yifan felt like he was punched in the gut when he saw the tears in his eyes.

“I was fourteen then, in the orphanage. One of the-“His breath hitched, “one of the social workers was…touching me. He whispered my name over and over and over,”

Baekhyun swallowed and closed his eyes. “Chanyeol walked in on us, and he beat the guy unconscious. There was blood everywhere and his arm was at an awkward angle, his face a messy pulp. That’s when we ran away. We haven’t looked back since-“

Chanyeol let out a humorless laugh. “Would’ve burned the place down if it weren’t for the other kids in there,”

“Beagle, I’m so sorry,” Yifan breathed out.

“Call me Baekyun from now on. No more lies, Yifan. We can’t play around with our lives like this,”

---

Yifan inspected the backpack with precision, making sure that each compartment was clean and that Ying Fei only packed what was absolutely necessary.

“You need to get rid of the ring,” He said.

Ying Fei shook her head. “Mother gave it to me,”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and sighed instead. “I know. The women in our family have that. The lavender jade would give you away,”

“Let me loop it in a necklace, please, it’s the only thing I have left of her,” She pleaded.

Yifan looked around his sister’s room. It had been two days since the truth about their parentage have been revealed to their friends. The once happy home was now blanketed in mute, but definite doom and gloom. He nodded at his sister.

“Fine. Finish packing, let me just talk to the rest. The sooner we leave, the better,”

“I love Sehun,” Ying Fei blurted out. Her eyes were bright and quivered.

Yifan could only smile. “I know, mèi mei. I can’t make him come if he doesn’t want to, though,”

“Do something!”

“I can’t, he doesn’t even want to look at me or-“He had to stop himself from saying that after Sehun helped her get dressed again after her tattoo was revealed, the boy refused to be even in the same room as either of them. It was heartbreaking, seeing Ying Fei follow the boy with her eyes, her nails making crescent marks on the flesh of her palm. Ying Fei was longing personified.

“He hates me now, doesn’t he?” She asked quietly. He wasn’t even surprised anymore that her face was once again shining with tears. Yifan shook his head and held her hand.

“It was just too much information, you can’t really blame him,”

“I know. He told me everything about himself and he had to find out about who I really was in that way,”

“I’m sorry, this is all my fault,” Yifan said.

“It’s not anybody’s fault. Things are just really ed up right now,”

Yifan raised his eyebrows. “Language, Wu Ying Fei,”

“Sorry,”

They laughed and looked at each other. Yifan had decided that it was time for the two of them to move on. Together, they were like a time bomb that was ticking, ticking and they couldn’t afford to explode with their loved ones around. He wasn’t sure where they would go, but it isn’t exactly the first time that he left what was familiar and comfortable so he’d be able to do what was right. It was terrifying, but now he was glad that he wouldn’t be alone.

“You want to come with me? Or do you want to stay here while I talk to them?”

“I’ll come. I can’t let you do that by yourself,”

“Cover me when Beagle starts hitting,”

Her laughter rang in the room and Yifan found himself laughing again, in spite of the dull ache in his chest.

---

“I hope you know that I’m with you guys, no matter what. But I would like to wait if Beag- Baekhyun and Chanyeol are coming,” Kyungsoo said.

“We haven’t got much time, Soo,” Yifan said.

“I know. It’s been quiet out there though, Sehun’s been checking,”

Ying Fei just listened and watched with baleful eyes. Sehun had avoided everyone after that night, a constant scowl on his face whenever she was around. His eyes were glued to his laptop and his phone.

Yifan sighed. His phone rang and he cursed when he saw who it was. “Yixing, I was hoping by the 13^th time that I missed your call, you were going to give up already,”

“You’re hiding something from me, cousin,”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why didn’t you tell me our little Ying Fei was appointed by uncle as well? I thought it was just you!”

Yifan’s blood ran cold. “Yixing, this has nothing to do with you,”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was- it’s not exactly something I was willing to let other people know,”

“ you and your trust issues. I swore a damned oath, I would cut my own hands before I let any harm come to the either of you-“

“What-“

“I promised your mother I would make sure you were both safe, now because of your stupidity there’s not much that I can do!”

“My mother? Where is she? Yixing?”

“You better start running now, Yifan. As fast as you can, burn everything that you’re not taking-“

“Yixing-“

“Shut the up. People are listening as we speak. I want you to take the Black Pearl out of the country, hey! Are you listening? The Golden Phoenix’s involved now. Do not contact me, I’ll find you both.”

“The Golden Phoenix? How? Yixing? Yixing!”

Yifan’s hands were shaking. They all stared at him and waited for him to say anything. He didn’t notice that Beagle and Chanyeol were standing by the counter, both fully dressed. Both had bulky backpacks and the shorter of the two clutched a fat manila envelope in his hands.

“Yifan, what is it?” Kyungsoo asked.

“. , , ,” Sehun’s face was even paler than usual, his fingertips flying over his keyboard. “75 million. In U.S. dollars,” He whispered.

“What?” Yifan asked. He should have agreed to the swear jar when they first moved in.

“The bids for your ransom have started. The Red Dragon and the Golden Phoenix are fighting for the top spot, 75 million. That’s almost as much what Walter Kwok’s parents paid for when he was kidnapped in ’97,”

“Sehun, this isn’t helping-“ Yifan began.

“Like hell it isn’t! We need to leave. Now, if we can!”

“Hey, calm down,” Kyungsoo said, but his face said he was anything but.

“It’s 75 million per head, Yifan hyung,”

There was a loud thump on the table when the manila envelope landed on it and they all looked at Baekhyun.

“Passports, complete with working visas and a student one for Ying Fei,” His voice sounded raw. “All we need are plane tickets to wherever we decide we’d go,”

Chanyeol cleared his throat. “I, uh, took the liberty of wiring the place up when we renovated two years ago? Just a click from this-“He waved a small remote control. “And bam, this place will be blown to smithereens, not a trace that we were here,”

“What the hell?” Kyungsoo screeched. “We’ve been living inside a dormant time bomb box?”

“Calm down, I only worked on the configurations last night,” Chanyeol rolled his eyes.

“The neighbors?” Ying Fei asked in a terrified voice.

“I can’t guarantee there will be no injuries, but it’s a risk we’ve got to take. Explosions are concentrated on our machines though. We do wipe ups with laptops every other day and we have tons of cloud storage, so we’re set,”

“Sehun?” Kyungsoo asked.

The boy looked up. He got out of his seat and grabbed Ying Fei and headed to her room. The protest died in Yifan’s throat when Baekhyun growled at him. “Let them talk,”

After what seemed like an eternity, Ying Fei and Sehun came back to the kitchen. Yifan willed himself to calm his breathing when he noticed how red and swollen his sister’s and Sehun’s lips were, but Ying Fei looked more alive than she had in the past few days.

“We’re ready,” Sehun said.

Yifan could only nod. He couldn’t help but notice how Sehun had grown from the lanky, scared 16-year old to the self-assured tall young man in front of him. His fingers were entwined with Ying Fei’s and Yifan his lips, biding time- something that he didn’t have much of. He couldn’t find the strength to tell them that they can’t be together on their way out of China.

“Sehun, please know that I trust you, but we’re dealing with my father’s men. We need to split up. Ying Fei will be with Kyungsoo-“

“Chanyeol, Ying Fei and I would go together,”

They all stared at Baekhyun. Ying Fei started crying and let go of Sehun’s hand only to fling herself against the smaller man. Chanyeol laughed and wrapped himself around the two. Murmured words of apologies and promises of sticking together no matter what never sounded so beautiful and sincere to Yifan’s ears until now.

“So you’re coming with us?” Yifan asked, still in shock.

Baekhyun pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know why we should though, you’re so stupid, I can’t even. Ugh!”

There was more laughter as they finished packing. Each just carried a backpack with a couple of changes of clothes, their documents and in two hours, they were all standing in front of what seemed to be the most derelict building in this part of town. The streets were quiet, as what was expected at 3 in the morning.

“Well, this’ll be the last time we’ll lock her up guys,” Chanyeol said as he leaned down to secure the metal shutter, “Say goodbye!”

“I liked this place,” Kyungsoo said and started when he remembered something, “Oh . Mrs Lu will be so pissed when we don’t open tomorrow. She always serves her family my chicken for dinner on Thursdays,”

Chanyeol laughed. “She’d curse your descendants all the way to hell,”

“This was fun,” Sehun said. He had his arms around Ying Fei, a wistful look on his face.

“Time to go, kids.” Yifan said. He turned to Sehun. “Can I borrow my sister for a minute?”

Sehun coughed and turned beet red. “Uh, yeah, sure,”

Yifan pulled Ying Fei to a corner and placed his hands on her shoulders. Her eyes betrayed nothing, but they shone and asked a thousand questions that he was hoping with all his heart he would have the chance to answer. Ying Fei laughed when he tugged on the straps of her backpack and made sure that her shoelaces were tied.

“You have to promise me that you won’t die,” Ying Fei said.

“I’ll try,” Yifan said.

“I’m serious. We have so much to talk about and I-“She twisted her head and looked at the rest of their group. “I really, really like this new family that we have. You have to promise I won’t lose this one this time,”

Yifan ran his thumbs along her cheeks to wipe away the tears. “Listen to Baekhyun and Chanyeol-“

“Promise me,” She insisted.

“We’re running away, not going to battle,”

“Same difference,”

Yifan pursed his lip and grabbed his sister close. “I’ll see you in Seoul.”

Here are the author's notes.