Luhan sighed as he looked out longingly towards Taemin's mansion that stuck out from the other side of the city. He sat on the railing of the balcony leading to Minho's room, swinging his legs over the edge without a single thought of how easily he could fall. Instead, all his thoughts were nostalgic. He remembered growing up in the compound, playing basketball with Taemin and Jongin as a child, and when he'd met Stripes, his furry companion. As the memories flooded his mind, tears flooded his eyes. He didn't even realize he was crying until the collar of his shirt became damp with the tears that had rolled down his cheeks. "End my suffering Minnie... It hurts too much....", he whispered into the still night air as he silently sobbed for a good hour. All the despair in the world had gathered within him, crushing him inside, because Luhan had done something no person should ever have to do.

"I.... I killed him....", the words left Luhan's lips shakily, as he finally came to realize the true impact of what he'd done. " He'll never grow up to experience all the wonders of life. I'll never be able to teach him like how the compound taught me.... You would have loved him so much Minnie. He was so sweet and precious. His name was Jay, because he loved to sing. And.... I killed him. I killed Jay. I killed my sweet baby boy, my son.", Luhan hung his head in shame as he finally admitted to what he'd done aloud, gripping his hair tightly in anger and frustration with himself. As he looked down he so desperately wanted to jump now, but he knew he never could. He promised Taemin that he wouldn't do away with himself. Should he really force Taemin to take his life though? Luhan began to think about how he felt when he lined up the barrell of his gun with the back of Jay's innocent head. Could he really put Taemin through what he had gone through? If he did that he would only be transferring this crushing guilt, pain, and depression onto his best friend. He shook his head and wiped his tears away with his sleeve. There was no way he could ever even wish a portion of this pain onto another person.

Taemin had stood beneath the balcony, pacing back and forth nervously as he tried to think of if there were any words better to say to Luhan that would make his beloved rush back into his arms. He stopped as he heard Luhan's voice, thinking it was in his head at first, but then as he heard his soft whispers amongst the dead silence he realized it was the real Luhan. His heart sank as he listened. Luhan had a son? When had this happened? And why had he killed him? Millions of questions buzzed in his head, but he knew that was not what Luhan needed right now. He didn't need an interrogation. Luhan needed comfort. Taemin jumped up to grab the bottom of the balcony, climbing up over it quickly so he wouldn't fall, but ended up landing harshly on the floor of the stone balcony.

Luhan gasped with surprise when Taemin suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Minnie! You can't be here!", Luhan screamed in a whisper. He pulled Taemin up to his feet by the hand, then gestured nervously over to the sleeping Minho that was back in the bedroom. "If he sees you I'll be in trouble....", he said softly, quivering a little with fear and panic, more tears streaming down his cheeks uncontrollably. 

"Come home with me. I love you Luhan. I always have, but only now have I realized how stupid I've been. Every time you needed me all I've done is leave you, but now I will stay. I swear to it. I'll be there for you", Taemin whispered back as he looked in his eyes with the upmost sincerity. 

Nearly speechless, Luhan hugged Taemin tightly. "Take me away...", he said softly. Then he sobbed heavily into Taemin's shirt, gripping it tightly. Taemin rubbed his back gently to comfort him for a while. Suddenly, Minho shifted on the bed as if he was slowly waking up. Panicked a little, Taemjn scooped up Luhan in his arms and they leapt off the balcony together, landing on the back of Luna, Taemin's tiger. Both of them held on tightly as Luna took them back to Taemin's mansion.

Once there, both of them relaxed on Taemin's bed, staring up at the ceiling. They both were so emotionally exhausted at this point they were glued to the bed. "Luhan.... What happened when Ieft the compound?", Taemin eventually asked after several minutes of silence between them.

Luhan rolled over closer to Taemin, resting his head against his chest. He began to tell his story softly after, "After you left every day I felt lonlier than the last. My training never ended, and it grew harder as the days flew by. They became harder on me after you and Kai left, since no one was there to stick up for me or back me up anymore. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore. I left the compound, and since I had no idea what anything was of where to go I wandered around for a couple years. I found a boy who had been living with all kinds of strange animals. He was maybe seven or eight years old when I found him. The boy was in very bad condition. He was quite malnourished, but that didn't seem to drown his spirits. I gave him food every day until he was healthy enough that I couldn't see his ribs anymore. Strangely, he couldn't talk. He hadn't learned how to speak properly yet, so every day I would teach him little things. I named him Jay, because when I found him he was singing tunes back and forth with some birds. I don't know if they were some kind of jays, but it reminded me of them, so that's why I chose the name. I stayed with him for a while, taking care of him as we lived out in the wasteland together. He called me Mama, one of the maybe five words he knew before I came along, because of how long my hair was back then. I must've looked like a woman to him. When I tried to correct him he only got confused, so I ended up just letting him do it. One day, he got sick. He had gotten into my backpack while I was asleep, and got into some of my assassin's tools that I took from the compound for protection. It was all my fault Minnie.... He got into some poisonous powder.... It was slow acting, and a painful way to go. I knew he had only about four days left at the very most. It would be too painful for me to watch, and too painful for him to feel. I didn't want him to feel the slow pain of all his organs shutting down one by one. So, I shot him Minnie.... I shot him right in the back of the head as he sang so sweetly, not knowing the end was so near. I made it quick for him, but that doesn't excuse what I've done... I've killed so many people, so many bad people, but this was the first innocent to ever have been slain by my hand. That's why I asked you to kill me that night. After Jay, the one pure, sweet, innocent thing in my life was gone, I didn't want to live anymore. He became my son in those few years we were together, and I loved him so dearly. Without you, Kai, or Jay I had nobody now. When you refused to, I went out looking for something to drown my sorrows in. I met Minho that way, and then here I ended up....", at the end of his explanation he closed his eyes.

Now that he knew the cause of Luhan's pain and strange behavior all Taemin could think of was how he should've taken him with him when he had left the compound all those years ago. Then none of this would've happened. It was okay now though. They were together again, safe in each other's arms. As they fell asleep together there was finally moments of peace in their lives that they treasured, not knowing the end was so near.