"Daddy, Mommy-please!" Tears streamed down the young boy's face as he clutched desperately at their legs, a patchwork of bruises and cuts decorating his chubby face.

Blank stares.

Cold stares.

Disappointing stares.

Without a word they simply kicked him off of their clothes, scoffing at the child's condition and blending into the darkness again. Leaving him once again.

"S-S-San...." An even younger boy hiding behind a tree at his brother's words crawled out as well, hugging his older brother will equally painful tears.

The sky seemed to mourn with them, letting go with its tears and surrounding them with a beautiful mirage of water  tumbled around the remaining pieces of their family.

They were completely and utterly alone.

"A-Are w-we going to be o-okay?" His gorgeous doe eyes seemed to waver as his body trembled from the sheer loss of his whole life much less the freezing cold.

San lifted his head from his hands slowly to look at his brother who was on his knees and as beaten and bruised as him.

Both brothers had suffered and failed repeatedly. They should've given up. But no.

"S-Soob-soobin-I p-pr-promise-I will make sure e-everything will be okay. I will love you like they never did. I will find you wherever you. Ev-Everything will be ok-okay." San hoped his voice projected the amount of confidence and love he wanted to feel. 

He wanted everything to be okay.

As okay as okay could get.

No.

BETTER.

Soobin deserved only the best.

He would make everything Soobin wanted to be the best, the strongest, the prettiest-

Only and only....

For Soobin.

...

"Do you think he'll be mad?" Yeonjun's anxious face peered up as he nervously bit his soft yet chapped lips. His foot tapped rapidly against the steps as he glanced at the door again fearfully.

"You guys literally got lost in the city. I had to call the police. THE POLICE." Hyunjin pointed out, his voice straining to hide his amusement.

Soobin ignore Hyunjin giggling maniacally."Relax Junnie, I got this. I've been with him my whole life, everything is gonna be GREAT." Soobin took a deep breath. 

Then in one fluid motion he strode up to the door and banged it open for stage purposes.

"Saaaannnn we is home!" Soobin yelled at the top of his lungs, his impossibly loud voice echoing across the small apartment as he nearly fell on his childish face from the weight of the bags. 

An amused smirk crossed the two standing in the shadows as they watched him clumsily fall and try to cover it up by posing quite unnaturally.

"Oh yo-you're here. Where's the groceries?" San asked, completely distracted as he made his way over to them  bumping into a dresser, table, and a wall on his path there.

"On my head." Soobin rolled his eyes and Yeonjun and Hyunjin who were casually leaning in the door frame laughed.

"Shut up and set them down on the table, I'll put them away." San sighed and reached for them as Soobin gave a wide smile in return.

"You got new furniture?" Hyunjin observed coolly, his eyes sliding from each corner of the room as he observed everything down to the smallest detail effortlessly. 

"Or, " Yeonjun squeezed past the elder and stood in the middle of the room proudly. "San just moved everything around again at three a.m."

"DING DING DING!" Soobin grinned and pointed towards his best friend. He winked, showing that his plan worked perfectly. "WE HAVE A WINNER!"

Smack-

San threw the watermelon at both of them with surprising accuracy and watched in satisfaction as the young shrieked and shot out of the apartment, their yells and laughs following their path.

"HEY COME BACK SOON-" San desperately called to them, his irritation at their utter stupidity ebbing away as soon as it had appeared. 

Hyunjin chuckled softly and brushed his delicate hand through his smooth hair. "Chill San they're not little kids. They'll be back soon."

San sighed. "Oh they better-"

.

.

.

"Chan hyung....where are we?" The younger boy's voice trembled, his fear slipping free as he shivered in the cold wind that was hugging them hungrily.

Dry leaves scurried across the strange floor, hurrying past the boys as if they too had a place to be.

"I-I don't know Jeongin..." The oldest was at a complete loss of words. They were just at home, what happened? Where were they? 

He wanted to provide something to reassure his family, keep everyone safe and happy but his throat was dry and scratchy. His feet felt like they had been walking an infinite amount of miles. His heart was beating unnaturally fast.

"Chan we have to find some place to sleep." 

He turned to hear Seungmin's quiet, thoughtful voice. His body was rigid however, his nose was bright red, and he wasn't his usual puppy self.

Looking around it seemed like everyone else was freezing and shivering as well, dazed and homesick.

The myriad of the place and problem finally seemed to dawn on him. Everyone was frigid to their bones, their noses bright cherries, their cheeks white, and fingers unmoving. It would be torture and absolutely inhuman to force them to keep walking just so they could find home. 

Chan turned back to the strange light, the weird black hole that had spit them into this eery reality. 

"Alright. We'll find someplace to sleep."

"Chan are you crazy?! We can't go there we just came out of there!" Lee know scoffed, instantly speaking up as he knew exactly what Chan was thinking.

Chan shrugged. "Why not?"

Lee know stared, clearly disgusted by his response. "Alright fine." Giving zero fricks he took a deep breath and ran right past the rest of his friends and, with a mighty scream jumped into the black hole.

"LEE KNOW-" Jisung screamed, his arms dropping as his eyes went wide in shock.

"DON'T YOU DARE HAN JISUNG-" Changbin screeched.

Jeongin's mouth dropped and Felix stared.

Without a second thought Jisung jumped after him, yelling and failing completely but a brave act nevertheless.

Changbin sighed and rubbed his forehead.

Felix grinned crazily and waving a cheerful 'bye' to Chan, he did a cartwheel into the black hole.

Jeongin's mouth was still open.

Seungmin exhaled with clear disapproval. "Oh well, all for one and uh three for four or whatever." Calmly like a civilized gentlemen he walked smartly to the black hole before diving head first into the hole of nothingness.

"We're gonna die." Changbin confirmed as he threw his hands up in the air. 

"ME NEXT!" Jeongin squealed and yeeted into there as well.

Chan turned to look at Changbin with a wide grin. Then he bowed mockingly. "Ladies first-"

"Oh shut up-" Changbin shot back and laughing Chan followed him into the unknown.

.

.

.

3 months earlier

"We could go to the zoo."

"The zoo is lame we should go watch a movie."

"No we should study-"

"But the zoo is so much better!"

"Yeah there are so many animals!"

"We have those at home- movies are cool!"

"Yeah and there's food!"

"You guys I really think we should study-"

"You know what Kai you can go study."

"THANK YOU-"

"Hey Yeonjun?" Soobin fiddled with his fingers and his head was down.

"What's up beach?" Yeonjun asked while dancing around randomly with his head thrown back.

"Can I talk to you privately?" His voice turned low and he was shuffling his feet unnaturally.

"Yeah sure." Yeonjun stopped and grabbed his drink as he followed Soobin to a secluded and much quieter area.

The two best friends left Jeongin, Felix, and Jisung to fight while Seungmin and Kai calmly finished their homework.

"So what's going on Soobinnie? You okay?" He turned to look at his best friend with a concerned expression. The birds were quiet and the occasional yells from people downtown arose into the sweet melodic air. They decided to sit near some red blossom trees that hadn't yet fallen.

"Well...you know...Hyunjin....?" Soobin casually asked as he stretched out and drank some water.

"Yeah kinda tickles my memory, Hwang Hyunjin the most popular guy on campus with girls lining up every block for him but he only hangs out with us or more specifically just you or the Hwang Hyunjin the non existent nerd?" Yeonjun questioned as he observed his beautiful nails.

Soobin punched Yeonjun in the arm with a blushing face. Yeonjun smirked but didn't say a word as he waited for him to talk.

"Well...I sorta maybe kinda slightly have a...crush on him?" Soobin scrunched up and nervously watched his best friend's reaction through his lashes.

"Okay and so what did you want to tell me?" Yeonjun pressed on, completely oblivious to Soobin's recent confession.

"I like Hwang Hyunjin..." Soobin slowly added as he wondered if his friend had lost brain cells.

Yeonjun froze. "THAT'S IT?!"

"What do you mean that's it-I like a BOY!" Soobin yelled back with the equivalent volume.

"SOOBIN I DON'T CARE IF YOU LIKE A BOY OR A GIRL-I DON'T THINK OF YOU ANY DIFFERENTLY! AND EVERYONE KNOWS YOU LIKE HYUNJIN, YOU MAKE IT SO OBVIOUS!" Yeonjun screamed until he couldn't anymore, eventually choking and having to drink a severe amount of water.

Soobin stopped and stared in wonder at his best friend. "You really don't think of me any different right? You don't hate me right?" 

Yeonjun's heart broke at his friend's hopeful expression. "You idiot of course I still love you! Why wouldn't I?! Now, let's talk about this very intriguing Hwang Hyunjin."

Soobin giggled and grabbing his drink off of the pavement he stood straight with his signature adorable smile. "Come on let's go to the zoo I'll tell you everything there."

.

.

.

In the darkness a low laugh rumbled, vibrating through the polluted air that it had been breathing for years. 

The midnight liquid wrapped itself around the figure like a clingy girlfriend, pulling him back into the mass of gooey coal.

Anger erupted from it's chest and poured out of his own mouth, spitting and thrashing with fury. Then just as it had started it stopped and a smirk crept up those scarred and bloody cheeks.

"Soon...soon....soon Soobin will be mine....soon..."

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