The first time they all meet, it’s a crowded classroom with restless teenagers.

“Did you finish the history homework, Jae?” asks Daehyun, leaning over his friend’s shoulder.

“Of course. Did you?”

Daehyun snorts. “Of course not.”

“Well I’m not giving to you.”

“Awww, Jae!”

“Don’t worry, you can see it from me,” Jongup says kindly, pushing his binder towards Daehyun who accepts it happily.

“You’re never going to learn that way, Dae,” Himchan warns him.

“It’s not like you don’t copy Youngjae’s bio homework,” Daehyun shoots back, starting to copy down the homework.

Himchan grins, unabashed. “Touche.”

“Where’s Yongguk hyung and Junhong?” asks Jongup, looking around the room. It’s packed with other students but he can’t spot his two friends anywhere. It’s not uncommon for them to be late but the bell’s going to ring any minute and they’re always here before then.

“Guk just texted me-hang on.” Himchan fishes his phone out from his pocket and swipes across the lock screen, reading the message.

The blood drains from his face.

“What? What is it?” Youngjae asks, worried at the sudden change.

“What’s wrong?” adds Jongup. Daehyun looks up from where he’s copying the paper, his hand stilling as he senses something serious is happening.

“We have to go,” is all Himchan says before getting up. The other three quickly follow, unsure what’s happening and just watch as Himchan whispers to their teacher who nods.

“What’s going on hyung?” Jongup asks as they leave the room, the eldest striding with a purpose towards the parking lot. They’re all surprised their teacher let them leave-that never happens-so something must be wrong.

“Yongguk and Junhong were driving to school together,” Himchan starts out and the others nod. They know that. Yongguk and Junhong live in the same neighborhood so naturally they carpool.

“Yeah. And?” Daehyun’s still stuffing his pencil pouch back in his bag as he struggles to keep up with Himchan’s fast pace.

“They were in an accident.”

“What?”

“They’re okay right?”

“What happened?”

“They’re at the hospital now. Yongguk’s okay but Junhongie-” Himchan can’t finish. The others don’t expect him to.

They get in Himchan’s car solemnly. It’s going to be a long drive.

“What’s happening?” is the first thing Himchan says when they arrive. The nurse had directed them to the third floor and Yongguk had been waiting for them in the lobby.

“They won’t let me in.” Yongguk is distressed, a few bandages on his face and a couple bruises. He’d been lucky, the other car had hit the passenger side a lot harder than where he had been driving.

“You don’t know anything?” Daehyun’s gripping his backpack so tight his knuckles are white.

“They just told me to wait here and I’m just- if I had only been more careful and I- why did it have to be Junhongie-”

“It’s okay, hyung.” Youngjae pats him in reassurance but they’re all still on edge.

“He’ll be fine.” Jongup’s smile is missing from his face. “He needs to be. He has to.”

“Do his parents know?” Himchan grasps at anything to distract himself.

Yongguk nods. “I called them after I texted you. They said they’d be here as soon as they can but...I don’t know, I just had to tell you. He needs

someone, I need someone and I…” he puffs out a sigh, not sure what else to say.

There’s nothing else to say.

“Yongguk-ssi?”

They look up to see a doctor standing there, a clipboard in his hands.

“Yes?”

“You’re Choi Junhong’s guardian?”

“Yes. His parents aren’t here yet.”

“You need to come with me.”

Yongguk leaps up, the others following. The doctor side-eyes them. “I’m sorry but-”

“They’re with me.”

The doctor raises his eyebrows but nods and leads them down clean, white hallways, them becoming more on edge with each step.

“He’s in here.” The doctor opens the door-a door that looks like every other door on the hallway-and they file in, hesitant as to what awaits them.

It looks different from a typical hospital room and they realize it’s an operating room. Junhong is lying on the tiny bed, his limbs almost too long. He’d always been insecure of how tall he was. His face is pale and he’s covered by sterile, white sheets. The heart monitor is beeping monotonly next to him.

“Will he...will he be okay?” Daehyun asks, a catch in his throat. Junhong looks fine from the outside-there are a few scratches yet nothing more-but they all know that’s not where the problem is.

“I’m afraid not,” says the doctor and suddenly the room is too small.

“What?” says Youngjae, hoping he heard wrong.

“We tried everything but the damage is too much.”

This can’t be real.

“Then try more!” Himchan almost screams.

“There’s nothing more we can do. I’m sorry.”

It sounds like the doctor is speaking underwater, everything is slow to understand.

“He’s...dying?” says Jongup and all hell breaks loose.

Among the screaming and crying, no one notices the monitor flatlining completely.

The next time they meet, they’ve been living on the streets for years.

“Alright boys, here’s the next mission.” Yongguk slams down a rolled-up paper on the table and the other five gather around it.

“Ten thousand? That’s not too bad,” muses Daehyun, looking over Yongguk’s shoulder.

Himchan wrinkles his nose. “Why do we have to be the middlemen?”

“Because Namjoon doesn’t want to be bothered,” answers Yongguk. “It shouldn’t be too hard. Go in, deliver the money, get out. Piece of cake.”

“I want some cake,” says Daehyun, wincing when Youngjae elbows him in the side.

“We know.”

“Focus guys,” cautions Himchan.

“This is so boring,” complains Junhong, perching on top of the table. The others have no idea why he insists on doing it since he’s already so tall but they let it go. “When are we going to do something exciting?”

“Better boring and safe than exciting and dead,” Jongup reminds him, turning the paper around so he can read it better.

“Oh, why do you always say that?”

“Because Yongguk says it.”

“He’s right, Junhongie,” Yongguk says. “You didn’t go through all that sh-t just to die doing something stupid, did you?”

Junhong scowls and looks away. His hyungs are right, as usual, but he doesn’t like admitting it. “Whatever.”

“Alright, get some sleep boys, it’ll be a long night tomorrow.”

Well he wasn’t wrong. It was a long night but not for something that any of them had thought.

It started out innocent enough. They arrived, money in hand and ready to make the trade. They weren’t getting a whole lot for it but enough to make it

worth it and that was fine.

Apparently betrayel wasn’t part of the deal.

“These f-cking bastards,” pants Himchan, managing to shoot one right in the chest. “I can’t believe it. So this is why Namjoon bailed.”

“What a b-tch,” agrees Daehyun, dodging a few shoots and crouching behind one of the stone columns. Of course they had wanted to do the exchange in

a train station, what could be better?

“Is this exciting enough for you, Junhong?” asks Jongup teasingly and the maknae just grins at him, turning quickly to a look of horror.

“Hyung!”

They turn to see Youngjae staring at them, face frozen.

“What are you doing?” Yongguk frowns.

Then he sees the blood.

“Youngjae!”

“Hyung!”

But then he falls and it’s too late, they’re too late, they can’t do a thing.

The blood doesn’t wash off for a long time.

It’s different this time when they meet. They’re not exactly human anymore.

“I don’t want this,” gasps out Junhong, slumping near the wall as he tries to control his shaking.

“I know Junhongie, I know. Just hang on for a little bit, okay?” Himchan tries to comfort him from the cell next to his but it’s hard to be reassuring through steel bars.

“It’ll be fine. Just breathe Junhong, just breathe,” says Daehyun from across the hallway and Junhong tries to obey, covering his face with his hands and curling his legs beneath him.

Yongguk stares at him sadly. He’s been here the shortest and is the youngest, so of course he’s not used to it yet. He’s been here only a few months- Yongguk’s been here a few years.

It doesn’t make it better.

They’re all from different places, every single one of them. Yongguk’s from a distant planet called KO-35. It’s a peaceful place, unfamiliar with resentment and power and Yongguk never knew he could possess hate until now.

Daehyun’s from a smaller planet called Matoki, a jungle-like place. They’re a resourceful people but Daehyun couldn’t come up with anything to get them out.

Jongup was born of moonlight and stardust. He didn’t come from anywhere specific and didn’t know where he wanted to go either. He had been drifting before meeting the others.

Youngjae didn’t talk of home. The others didn’t ask after the first few days and Youngjae didn’t give anything away. It was better to let it go.

Himchan’s been wandering. He had finally settled down on Mars- a rather nice place, he said- before this. He didn’t remember his home or even his parents. It’s like he’d been wandering his whole life.

The youngest, Junhong’s, who’s been here only a little while, is from a place called Earth. The others thought it sounded nice-their technology was far advanced and Junhong had told them stories of the sky and the sea, of having deserts and jungles and snow all on the same planet. It’s fascinating and Junhong had promised to take them-if they ever got out.

“When we get out,” corrects Jongup but Junhong had only smiled wearily.

“When we get out.”

Daehyun had gotten out first. But not the way any of them had wanted to go.

The box begin dragged across the floor hinted at that. Youngjae had screamed and Junhong had cried and Jongup became an empty shell. Yongguk didn’t know what to do because he didn’t think they’d actually be killed, didn’t think they’d act on their threats, didn’t think they would be leaving this place one by one.

They all cried themselves to sleep that night.

Junhong blinks his eyes sleepily, not wanting to wake up just yet. But then there’s a tap on his shoulder and he groans, opening his eyes fully.

A familiar face is above him, grinning down. Four others are behind him and even in the bright sunlight, Junhong can recognize them if only by their shadows.

“Ready for breakfast, Junhongie?” asks Daehyun. And all is right with the world