Chapter 28 Fixing Wounds and a Whole Lot of Pumpkin

"Donghae, where's Hyukie?" Changmin asked.

"That's what I was going to ask you," Donghae said.

"But he's always with you!" Changmin said.

"I tried to see if I could catch up with him after he left but I got to my house and he wasn't there. I went to his house and I never came across him. I just thought maybe he'd already gotten home," Donghae said. Donghae had these horrible feelings swirling within the pit of his stomach. How could he be so stupid as to believe Eunhyuk had gotten home safely? Now that he thought about it, Eunhyuk couldn't have gotten home so quickly. He began to run towards the school exit.

"Donghae where are you going!?" Changmin yelled.

"I'm going to go find him!"

Changmin simply stood in the middle of the hallway watching as Donghae disappeared through the door at the end of it.

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Donghae ran, looking in ever direction for some sign of Eunhyuk. He picked up his cell phone and began calling him. The phone rang over and over but it kept going to voicemail. As Donghae desperately looked around he kept redialing in hopes that he would pick up and tell him that he was alright, that he'd just felt sick and didn't go to school. He wanted to hear that he was so angry at him he didn't want to see his face today and didn't go to school. He wanted to hear Eunhyuk's voice.

Donghae stopped to catch his breath but continued dialing. Apart from the ringing in his ear from his phone he heard something else. Just as the call went to voicemail it stopped. He dialed again and the other sound began as well. He tried to follow it and it grew stronger. He arrived at an alley and there he found it, Eunhyuk's phone full of scratches and mud playing the pop-ish ringtone. He bent down to pick it up.

'Where could Hyuk be?!'

He kept running to the other side of they alley and began to look around, desperately trying to find him. He finally arrived at the nearby park. He began to look there too but he it was fruitless.

'The usual spot!'

Donghae ran to their usual spot where they go together just to hang out. He finally arrived there out of breathe and he saw someone sitting in one of the corners.

"Hyuk?"

'What are you doing here? You should be in school," Eunhyuk said with his head lowered.

"The same to you. You didn't show up today and I didn't know whether you went home or not so I came looking for you. I found your cell phone in an alley. Are you okay?" Donghae asked handing the phone to Eunhyuk.

"Go away," Eunhyuk said.

"Don't ask me to do that. I looked EVERYWHERE for you!"

"Just leave, leave me alone!"

Donghae went up to Eunhyuk and grabbed his arm but Eunhyuk winced and pulled his arm away.

"You're not okay!" Donghae went down to look at Eunhyuk. Eunhyuk kept his head lowered so that Donghae couldn't see. Donghae stretched his hand out to raise Eunhyuk's head up. There was a bruise on his left cheek and another near his lip, dry blood still there.

"Hyuk what happened?" Donghae asked cupping his face in his hands while looking directly into his eyes.

"Just go," Eunhyuk said.

"Come on, we have to take care of your wounds—"

"No!"

"YOU'RE HURT DAMN IT!"

Eunhyuk's eyes drooped towards the ground.

"Now come on," Donghae said trying to pick Eunhyuk up.

Eunhyuk winced in pain as Donghae tried to grab a hold of him.

"I'm sorry," Donghae said.

"Don't be sorry. It's just that I can't go," Eunhyuk said.

"What do you mean?!"

"I can't stand up, it hurts too much." Eunhyuk's voice was shaky, cracking up.

Donghae turned around. "Climb on my back."

"No," Eunhyuk said.

"Do it!" Donghae commanded.

Eunhyuk tried to put his arms around Donghae's neck with a lot of effort because of the pain it was creating. After making sure Eunhyuk was secure Donghae stood up. He was light.

"I'm taking you to my house," Donghae said.

Eunhyuk couldn't protest or do anything; he simply rested his aching head on Donghae's back. Donghae carried Eunhyuk to his home in silence. When he arrived at the front porch he pulled out his keys to open the front door and he entered the dark living room and closed the door behind him. He slowly went up the stairs that led to his bedroom. Once inside he gently put Eunhyuk down on his bed.

Eunhyuk's uniform was tattered and dirty with spots of blood.

"I'll go get something from the medicine cabinet," Donghae said. He went out momentarily and returned with antiseptic, cotton, a bowl with water and a cloth. Eunhyuk didn't have the strength to do anything. He just lay there, immobile.

"Let me remove your shirt," Donghae said reaching over to unbutton Eunhyuk's white school shirt. He gently picked Eunhyuk up to remove his blazer and shirt. There were bruises all over Eunhyuk's arms and chest, especially on his sides where he'd been kicked.

"I'll have to bring ice or something for these bruises and some pain medication for you," Donghae said getting up to go get them.

Eunhyuk's hand barely reached up to grab Donghae's shirt sleeve. "Hae, am I broken?"

Donghae couldn't bear seeing his best friend like this. He went over to Eunhyuk, sitting on the side of the bed he cupped Eunhyuk's face. "No, you're not broken."

"What if I am? Will you leave me?"

"No, I wouldn't leave you," Donghae said brushing Eunhyuk's hair from his face.

Tears began to stream from Eunhyuk's eyes.

"Don't cry. It's all my fault. I should have gone with you! If I had—"

"You would have been hurt too," Eunhyuk said. "I was so stupid for running off like that. I don't even know why I was angry."

Donghae brushed Eunhyuk's cheek with his thumb. "I'll go get you that pain medication so that it goes away and you can rest." Donghae stood up to go to the medicine cabinet again and got some water. He quickly returned.

"Here you go Hyuk," Donghae said putting two capsules in his mouth and raising his head up to give him water.

"I'm being very troublesome."

"Shhh, a friend is never troublesome," Donghae said. "Look, I'm going to get you some clean and comfortable clothes to get you into." Donghae went over to find Eunhyuk something to wear and returned. He began to undo Eunhyuk's pants and slowly slipped them off, being careful not to hurt him. "Your knees, they're bloody." Donghae took a cotton swab and put antiseptic on it to dab at Eunhyuk's scrapes. Eunhyuk barely winced from the pain as it was too much effort. "I'm sorry if it stings." Donghae continued until the scrapes were clean and he began to put shorts over Donghae's boxers. "This should be better. It'll let your wounds breathe a bit. He gently helped get Eunhyuk into a sitting position and once he had Eunhyuk propped up he slowly began to slip one of his school shirts onto one of Eunhyuk's arm and then the other before putting him back down. "I'll be right back." Donghae went downstairs to the kitchen and took some ice from the freezer, wrapped it in a bag and paper and took it back upstairs. "I know that this is a little late but it might help lessen the pain, especially on your ribs."

"Thanks Hae," Eunhyuk said softly.

"No problem." Donghae took some more cotton and dipped it in the water and began to clean the blood off of the corner of Eunhyuk's mouth. Once he was done he took the cloth and began to clean the dirt off of Eunhyuk's face and then his hands. "I'm really sorry all of this happened. It's all of my fault. I promise I won't see Sungmin again."

"You promise me you won't see him again? You make it seem like I'm your jealous girlfriend," Eunhyuk said trying to laugh a little.

Jealous. That word. Donghae paused at the word for a few moments repeating it over and over in his head. He felt like there was something in the word but he couldn't quite grasp it at the moment so he shook his head as if to shake it out of his thoughts.

"You hungry Hyuk? I can make you something quick," Donghae said.

"No thanks. I just want to sleep."

"Well I can leave and let you rest," Donghae said.

"Don't. I'd rather you stay." Eunhyuk moved over a little bit further to his right and tried to pat the empty area on the bed. "Stay here with me."

Donghae gave a slight nod and lay down next to his best friend. Eunhyuk's eyes began to shut themselves and Donghae just watched him until he himself felt sleep overtake him an hour later.

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Changmin dialed his phone for the nth time but once again he had hung up only redial the number of the person who wasn't picking up his phone.

"Donghae, answer me!" Changmin said out loud while nervously pacing the living room floor in between the sofas. He was down to one bar on his cell phone but he still continued dialing over and over again. He'd been trying to contact Donghae since he got out of class but 4 hours later had proven no luck.

There was a knock at the door and Changmin flew to it, nearly slamming into it as he had nearly forgotten to stop to open it. Changmin noisily unlocked the door trying to open it and making a huge commotion with turning the knob.

"DONGHAE! EUNHYUK!"

"Were you urgently expecting them?" Sungmin asked.

"Uh, come in, it's just..." Changmin paused for a few seconds to take in a deep breath before speaking again at the speed of light. "Today Eunhyuk didn't show up to class so Donghae went out to find him and he hasn't called me or sent me a message or anything!! I've been calling him since I got out of class and for the past 4 hours Donghae hasn't answered his phone at all!! Something might have happened to them I..."

Sungmin put his arms around Changmin in a comforting manner, "Shh Shh, calm down, breathe!"

Changmin inhaled and exhaled to try and get himself to calm down but his heart was still beating fast at the worriment and his cheeks were red after having said so much without even a breath.

"There you go, much better!" Sungmin said letting go and then bending down to pick up what looked like groceries.

Changmin had only just noticed that Sungmin had brought something with him. He'd been so wrapped up in his inferences of the worst possible things that could happen to his friends that details of his surroundings didn't exist before then.

"I know exactly what you need to make you feel better!" Sungmin said heading over to the kitchen.

"It's not about feeling better! Donghae hasn't answered!! I have no idea where he is!!"

"I'm sure they're fine!" Sungmin said optimistically.

Sungmin began to set up in the kitchen and Changmin ran up to him. "Wait! What are you doing!?! You can't come into Joongie's kitchen!"

"Why not? I'm going to cook. That's what kitchens are for, cooking," Sungmin said puzzled.

"But it's Joongie's kitchen!! No one else can use it without his permission!" Changmin said in a slightly irritated voice.

"Did you try the pie I brought you yesterday?" Sungmin said catching Changmin off guard.

"No..." Changmin said guiltily.

"Where is it?"

"In the refrigerator," Changmin replied.

Sungmin went over to the refrigerator and pulled out the pie then went over to get a fork and uncovering it he unceremoniously forked out a piece and almost violently tried to shove it in Changmin's mouth. Changmin somehow had forgotten to react so the piece of pie was staring him right before his lips and then he opened it, allowing the sweet pastry to touch his tongue. He closed his lips on the fork and Sungmin slipped it out. Changmin began to chew slowly before reaching out for the pie and the fork and going over to the table to eat it.

"I'm glad you like it!" Sungmin said, not getting a response at all from the busy Changmin. Sungmin saw this as an opportunity to continue what he was doing before Changmin realized that he was defiling his "Joongie's" kitchen. He wouldn't be rude though. He'd clean right after he was done.

It wasn't long before Changmin had devoured the entire pie by himself and had stood up to throw the empty pie tray away and see what Sungmin was doing.

"What are you doing? That's all I have left to say since you ignored me telling you not to use Joongie's kitchen," Changmin said.

"I'm cooking something for you!" Sungmin said enthusiastically.

"Cooking for me?" Changmin asked surprised.

"Yep! Now go back and sit down while I finish preparing this," Sungmin said.

Changmin complied with Sungmin's words and went to sit down at the table.

A few moments later Sungmin showed up with a bowl of what looked like soup in his hands and a spoon.

"Waaah! It smells good!" Sungmin said. "What is it?"

"It's pumpkin soup!" Sungmin said.

Changmin tried it and began to devour it. By the time he was done there was a ring in the kitchen and Sungmin stood up and disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a tray of oddly shaped cookies that had expanded while baking and had stuck to each other.

Changmin saw the messy looking cookies and chuckled a bit. "Hyung, you need to take some lessons from Joongie! His cookies never stick to each other."

Sungmin pouted.

Changmin reached out to tear off a cookie even though it was still hot but managed to not burn himself while blowing air at it to cool it down. He bit it. He blew more at it and began to chomp away.

"Hyung, these are good! The soup and pie were good too! However, you need to lay back on your pumpkin obsession it's just weird."

"You're saying I'm weird?" Sungmin pouted with a hurt expression on his face.

Changmin laughed," Yep, that's exactly what I said."

"Then maybe my cookies and I will go elsewhere," Sungmin said grabbing the tray.

"I didn't say they were bad, just that you were weird," Changmin said holding onto the tray and pulling several cookies off the cookie sheet. "What's next? Pumpkin juice?"

"No."

"Ah okay, well then I'll get some milk to go with these."

"Don't worry, I'll get it for you," Sungmin said.

"Minnie, I felt something..." Yoochun had just left Junsu's room and paused at seeing Sungmin as he came out of the kitchen.

Changmin paused, cookies filling his mouth. He could see the tension between the looks that the two gave each other. Something wasn't quite right.

Yoochun went up to Changmin and whispered into his ear, "Can I talk to you in private for a few minutes."

"Okay..." Changmin said not quite understanding.

Changmin stood up and followed Yoochun to Junsu's room. Junsu stood up and walked up to them when they entered.

"What's up?" Junsu asked.

"Minnie, who's that guy?" Yoochun asked.

"He's a friend of Donghae's, why?"

"Because he's my kind," Yoochun said.

"He is?!" Changmin asked surprised.

"So that's why you had that strange feeling?" Junsu asked.

"Yeah, it was him all along."

"Well, if he was a bad guy don't you think he would have already attacked Donghae or me?" Changmin asked.

"You've got a point there but I still don't trust him. This could all be an act you know. Maybe someone sent him," Yoochun said.

"Well if that were to be the case it's better safe than sorry. You have to be more careful Min and stay away from him from now on or not be alone with him. You never know," Junsu said.

"He's really nice but if that's what you guys want then I'll stay away from him and be really careful," Changmin said.

"Good, now let's go back and I'll deal with him," Yoochun said.

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Sungmin watched as Yoochun and Changmin disappeared into the room at the far end of the hallway. This was his chance. He took this as an opportunity to slip into Changmin's room and take what he needed. He didn't have to search long because the book was right in front of him, sitting on the bedside table. He took it and slipped it into the bag he'd brought with him and slipped back out of the room himself.

Sungmin waited a while before Yoochun and Changmin emerged from Junsu's room. In the meantime he'd been cleaning up before Changmin had another fit of "that's Joongie's kitchen you've made a mess of". Yoochun went up to talk to Sungmin.

"You're my kind."

"Does it really matter? It's not like I'm here to do anything bad? You're the same like me, why are you here with a mortal family?" Sungmin asked.

"Just stay away from Changmin okay," Yoochun said.

"I don't want to cause any problems so I'll just head out. Really, I mean no harm and I think Donghae has known me long enough to believe that I'm just as good as you are." Sungmin picked up his back and headed towards the door.

"I'm glad you like it!" were Sungmin's last words before he exited the door waving at Changmin who waved back.