Emerging from the trees, Jongin was grateful to see light coming from the windows of his home. He had expected everyone to be sleeping at this time of night. He opened the door to find Yoo Jeong sitting with her betrothed, laughing at his jokes, while Suho sat on the side adding his own commentary. Their heads turned automatically to the sound of the opening door.

     “Hey! We were wai-." Yoo Jung's faltered at the sight of their appearance. Jongin could only imagine what they looked like. Tired. Beat up. Dirty. Shaken.

     Jimin quickly shot up from the couch to help Lena bring Jongin to the couch. “Oh God, what happened to you?”

       “I…I’m fine. I just-.”  Jongin squeezed his eyes shut and grimaced when he sat down on the couch.

   “You’re obviously not fine.” Suho rolled his chair over to his younger brother and put his hands to the latter’s bruised face, examining it.  He turned his attention to the flustered Lena who stood by the edge of the couch with tears in her eyes.

     “I’m sorry. I…He was trying to help me. I don’t know what I was thinking. It was just…just-.” Lena started, her voice was barely above a whisper.

       “Hyung. Leave her be.” He gently pushed Suho’s hands from his face and turned towards Yoo Jeong who offered him a glass of water. She pushed a box into Suho’s hands that held their family’s medical supplies.

      “You think that we aren’t going to continuously ask you what is going on even if you keep pushing away the subject? Why are you like this? What happened?!” Yoo Jeong shouted at her brother and turned around when Jimin put his hand on her shoulders to calm him down.

      “I think what’s more important at the moment is to make sure that he is okay. That they are okay.” Jimin walked over to Lena, who was still standing by the couch with shaking hands that had dried blood still on them. Her body was covered in dirt and her beautiful dress had drops of blood on it. He handed her a wet towel and led her to the bathroom.

      Jongin felt a surge of guilt go through his body at the sight of his friend. He had been such an idiot! Leaving Lena alone in the middle of the night with completely drunken strangers dancing around her. He knew he shouldn’t have left her for so long. He felt so sorry.

       The image of her frightened face remained in his mind as she looked at him with the knife in her hand, dripping with blood. With Scar gone, reinforcements would be after them soon. And Jongin knew that the punishment for murder was …severe.

       And his secret. They had seen his eyes change despite having his ring. They knew that he was Gifted. That alone was a higher offense than being a murderer. And there was no way to prove his innocence either. His word against a soldier in the royal army.  

      “And as for you,” Suho looked over at his brother with a more serious expression, “are you hurt anywhere else? You had trouble walking in the doorway earlier. Let me see.”

       He lifted the side of Jongin’s once white shirt to see his side covered in black and blue bruises. He turned his gaze from Jongin’s bruised ribs to his face and slapped the back of his head.

      “Ow! Hyung!” Jongin looked angrily at his brother.

      “That’s the least of your problems right now. You’re fine, right? Your ribs are bruised, you’re sweating like crazy and you’re telling me that you’re okay?! Lena hasn’t stopped shaking since you guys walked in the door and you guys both refuse to tell us what is going on, but you want me to believe that you’re okay?!”

         “Hyung-.” Jongin’s eyes widened as he heard Suho’s voice rise. His brother was rarely angry with him. Such a rarity was never missed since it wasn’t in Suho’s nature to get angry. But when he did, Jongin instantly felt bad.

                Suho retracted into his chair and put his head in his hands. “How is it that I can’t protect you like I should? How is it that I feel like I’m at such a disadvantage in life?”

        “Hyung-. Please. I just don’t want to upset you. Besides the bruised ribs, I’m not in terrible shape. I’m still alive, aren’t I? You’re going to wake Ma up. And then what?” He hated hearing his brother talk badly about himself, but it seemed like whenever something went wrong Suho would find a way to place  the blame on himself.      

    Jongin knew how much it pained Suho to be stuck in his wheelchair all the time and while Suho did so much to help out, he felt he wasn’t doing enough. His inability to his use his legs discouraged him and made it hard for him to find work. Knowing that Jongin was the main breadwinner despite the fact that he was the youngest made Suho feel bad and Jongin, despite his efforts, couldn’t make Suho see that he didn’t see Suho as a weak person. He was one of the strongest he had ever met. He had endured so much. If only he could see that himself.

                Jongin placed a smile on his face and tapped Suho’s arms. “Come on. Hyung, what disadvantage do you have? I couldn’t ask for more. So cheer up. Am I gonna have to bandage myself?”

~

      Sehun woke up with an unearthly throbbing in the back of his head and it made him want to vomit. The air was hot around him and he half expected to be lying outside in the grass next to bottle of alcohol with his guards surrounding him like magnets. Instead he was sitting on a large sofa.

      "Ah, yes! You're awake. I didn't know whether or not to wake you up so that you could eat this soup, but you were sleeping so soundly that I would have hated to disturb you."

      Baekhyun plopped down next to the younger and placed a tray of food on the table in front of them. Sehun stared hesitantly at the soup in front of him. He rarely ever had authentic homemade food before. Just food made from staff in the castle. But that was never the same as having food made from someone close.

        And while he was feeling unusually glum today, Baekhyun was his usual cheery self.

       "Ayyyyeee. What were you dreaming about? What got you so creeped out? Huh huh?" Baekhyun nugged Sehun's arm playfully only for Sehun to shrug him off.

             "Quit it, Baekhyun. My head hurts." Sehun leaned over and held his head with his hands.

            "Ah, you big baby. That, my friend, is the work of alcohol. Stay clear of it since it obviously doesn't suit you. But that is why I put in my heart and soul to make this soup for you." He tapped the bowl with his fingers and smiled  a wide grin at the latter who sat with a concerned look on his face.

          "But....there's ...there's green stuff floating in it. And are you sure this is soup and not water?" Sehun picked up the spoon and started playing with the soup, flicking the green pieces to the side. 

            "What? No. It's soup. It's an herbal soup actually. It's made from the Everest herb that is really good for headaches and hangovers. Actually, that reminds me." Baekhyun sat back and laid his head on the sofa's edge. "This really nice guy just so happened to come along when I found you in your little drunken stupor. He was kind enough to bring you here since there was no way I could carry your royal here all by myself. He was going to go and pick up the Everest herb last night, but I guess he couldn't find it. He didn't come back."

           "Ah I see..." Sehun said still playing with his food. He had thought it was a dream, but he briefly recollected being carried on  someone's back. The person had made such great care not to drop him. It was so comforting. 

        "Sehun! Are you going to eat it? I know I'm not the best cook, but don't be so picky! Just try it."

       Sehun put the spoon to his mouth and tried a mouthful. He clenched his eyes. Yes, it was obvious that Baekhyun was not much of a cook.

       "It tastes great, hyung."

       "See! I told you!  Not too bad for my first time making it." 

       Sehun took a few more silent mouthfuls.

       "You know, I never get to have homemade food. It's always food made by the palace chefs." He spoke thoughtfully. "It's actually kind of nice someone close to me make me something."

     "That's why you should come over more with Kris. Speaking of, he should be coming over for you soon."

      At the mention of his brother’s name, Sehun placed his spoon down frowning. Quickly getting up, he gave a curtteous nod to Baekhyun. "Oh. Well I guess I'll be making my leave now."

      "Sehun, don't." Baekhyun sat up, grabbing his arm. "Whatever is going on with you and your brother will pass. I know it. I may not know why you were so depressed last night, but I know Kris is a good guy. He wouldn't do something to you with bad intentions. And you know he cares so much about you." 

            Baekhyun stretched his arms in the air and met Sehun's face that