Jongin yawned, stretching his tired limbs after a long day of guarding the Galaxy, the place they'd come to think of as home. None of them remembered anything prior to their arrival via the cold metal box, surrounded by nothing more than some clothes, a pillow, and a blanket.

"Three minutes until closing!" yelled Tao.

He rolled his eyes. Just because he believed that he had the power to control time didn't mean that he could tell time without a clock. Which, of course, they didn't have. But Jongin stepped back into the confines of the Galaxy anyways because while they had no definite way to tell time, Tao had never been wrong. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck outside for the night alone.

"How long has it been since the last delivery?" asked Chanyeol, walking in with Jongin.

"A month? It'll probably come today or tomorrow," Jongin replied, scratching his arm.

"It's today," Tao voiced from the garden. "Let's not let Mr. Happy Virus scare them to pieces this time, okay?"

Chanyeol huffed indignantly. "I didn't scare Baekhyun."

"His girly scream said otherwise."

"I DO NOT HAVE A GIRLY SCREAM!" yelled Baekhyun from the door of the kitchen.

Xiumin dragged Baekhyun back into the building, ladle in hand, by the hood of his sweatshirt. If anyone asked, Baekhyun definitely did not scream.

___

"The curry is on the stove and cooking!" called out Xiumin.

The aroma of the dish wafted out of the open windows to the scattered boys, waiting on the benches in the garden. Their mouths watered, but no one dared to go into the kitchen to sneak a taste of dinner. Not with Xiumin heading the charge.

"Oh!"

The ground of the compound rumbled as this month's special delivery started rising from the depths of the dark hole. Unlike the weekly deliveries of food and supplies, which came in a rectangular box, this "live catch" arrived in a hexagonal container. The box came to a rest at ground level with a resounding boom. The roof slowly creaked open, disappearing into the ground right beneath their feet. Dirt fell in, piling into little mounds along the sides of the metal cage.

All eleven boys crowded around the opening of the box, waiting to see who it held. The final rays of sunlight poured in, illuminating a porcelain-skinned boy with full red lips and a shock of raven hair, lying with his head on a pillow and a disturbed expression on his face.

"Hello?" called Luhan after a minute of waiting.

The boy made no move, as if he hadn't heard Luhan. The rest of the boys looked to each other, unsure of what to do. All the other deliveries had brought boys who'd awakened within minutes of arriving at the surface of the compound.

"Chanyeol, why don't you go and retrieve him?" asked Kris.

"Yeah, you're great at first impressions," scoffed Baekhyun.

"For the last time, I didn't know you were ticklish!" argued Chanyeol.

"You had the creepiest grin on your face!!"

"That's how I normally smile, you over-eyelined diva!"

The others took deep breaths, knowing from experience not to interfere with their quarrels. Jongin peered in again as Tao brought over the ladder they had built using dead tree branches, tied together with vines.

"I'll go in," voiced Jongin, grasping the ladder and dropping it in.

"We'll be right here if you need anything," said Xiumin, patting him on the back.

"Be careful," warned Junmyeon. "He could be like the last one."

"It's too bad that she didn't last more than a few hours," mourned Jongdae.

"It'll be okay. I can tell. This one is different."

One foot at a time, Jongin carefully made his way down to the cool floor of the enclosure. Silently, he walked over to the slumbering boy. For a few moments, he gazed at the newest member of the Galaxy before kneeling down by his head and gently shaking his shoulder.

The boy's troubled expression faded at Jongin's touch, and his eyelids slowly fluttered open, revealing dark pupils. Seemingly unfocused, he blinked slowly, like a butterfly testing its wings for the first time, before realizing that there was still a hand on his shoulder. He jerked as if he'd been struck by lightning, grabbing the owner of the hand and pinning him against his chest in a headlock.

Jongin gasped, flailing against the tight grip around his neck. The hold wasn't life-threatening, but he didn't enjoy things being flush against his collarbones, much like he disliked having socks confining his feet. Vaguely, he registered that the body beneath him was smaller than him, but colder as well.

"Who are you?" breathed a hoarse voice near his ear.

Jongin shuddered, but for what reason, he didn't know. "I'm Jongin."

"Don't worry, hyung! I'll save you!" yelled Tao.

Kris grabbed onto Tao's leg as he made to jump into the box, causing him to land on the ground where his feet had been only a moment ago. Tao coughed, turning to glare at the elder.

"Don't do anything stupid like jump into a box."

___

It only took 3 minutes and 27 seconds for the boy, who they came to learn was called Kyungsoo, to release Jongin, allowing him to breathe in the suddenly sweet oxygen that his lungs craved. Though he'd just been held in a scary position, Jongin only managed to scoot off of Kyungsoo's chest, choosing his new resting place to be Kyungsoo's forgotten blanket.

While massaging his neck, he managed to croak out, "Are you an assassin?"

"No," came the curt reply.

Kyungsoo stood up, somewhat unstable on his wobbly legs. Bending down, he attempted to pick up his pillow, but his foot caught on his blanket, causing him to fall into Jongin and knocking the boy's head into the wall.

"You know what?" asked Chanyeol. "I take it back. I'm glad I took my turn and woke you up, Baekhyun."

"OH MY GOSH, IS HE BLEEDING?!" cried Junmyeon.

"Junma, that's just the color of the blanket."

________

Eff, I'm rusty. It's been too long since I've last written an actual update for a fic of mine. It hasn't been too difficult to write so far, so I'm thankful. ^^ I hope that this update has been worth the wait (even though it's rather short ; u;). Regardless of if you think it has or hasn't been, I hope that my future updates will exceed this one!

A lot of stuff has happened this month, and even before this, I had trouble finding the time and motivation to write. But I know that a lot of people are anticipating updates for them all, including this new fic, so I didn't want to let you guys down. Please do tell me what you think of it so far~

Edit: /awkward laugh/ I'm sorry this was bad enough for someone to unsubscribe.