[M] Chapter 18 (1/1)

Of course he remembered the head-strong eight-year-old who had always aspired to be like him and Doojoon. The boy who was determined to look after everyone and be considered just as brave and as big as his hyungs. He gasped and more tears dripped onto the floor. Junhyung clutched onto him and cried too. Yoseob wiped his eyes and stared at Gikwang.“He has exactly what Doojoonie hyung had. I was screaming  in the night from some nightmare and Seunghyun-ssi told me to shut up, but I wouldn’t. Seungho became the oldest when you left and so he stepped in to protect me and ended up being beaten totally black and blue with cuts all over him. He was forced to spend two nights in solitary and.. well you know what happened next..”“Oh, Yoseob.. Hyunseung, Junhyung.. I’m so sorry.. This is all my f-fault..” Gikwang wept.“We lost Doojoon and then we lost you so soon after. We can’t lose Seungho too.. we j-just can’t..” Junhyung stuttered, the  only thing he had said the whole time.“Where is he now?” Gikwang asked, composing himself.“They put him back in solitary because he kept moaning in the night from the pain. He’s been in there for over a day.. W-we don’t think anyone is l-looking after him and I’m so scared it’s already too late..” Hyunseung explained. Gikwang opened the door immediately and sped out, walking straight past a confused Dongwoon and being followed by three equally confused young teenagers.“Hyung, where are we going?” Junhyung called timidly, struggling to keep up with Gikwang.“We’re going to solitary to get Seungho out of there.” The young man replied, turning the corner with the other four in tow. If there was one thing Gikwang remembered the way to after all of these years, it was the solitary confinement cell.His memory was indeed accurate, as hestood outside the huge daunting door to the small room in mere minutes. Gikwang paled at the sight of it, shivering slightly and breathing shakily, hating the thought that Seungho was inside there on his own, most likely having not been looked after at all. He inspected the door and noticed something rather obvious he didn’t remember being there before. There, in the middle to the top of the door was a long, thin window, just big enough for the person inside to look out of, but not big enough to attempt any sort of escape. Gikwang’s heartbeat sped up and he rushed closer to the door, peering through it to see if there was any sign of Seungho.To his dismay, his scared eyes fell upon the broken down heap of an unnaturally thin boy on the floor in the corner of the cell. His breathing became erratic as he assumed the strong boy he had always known as a young leader was dead in front of his eyes.The sound of quick footsteps  and heavy breathing behind Gikwang didn’t even register to the young man as he shook, trying to figure out what to do. Yoseob, Junhyung, Hyunseung and Dongwoon had finally caught up and were looking at Gikwang with confusion. The young man at the door grabbed onto the door handle and tugged it desperately, trying to use as much force as he could possibly muster in order to open the door.“No.. no not again.. please not again..” he whispered, tears spilling from his eyes as he pulled the handle until his knuckles went white. Yoseob’s sharp ears picked up Gikwang’s furtive burbling and he gasped, trembling more than he ever had.“H-he’s d-dead?” Yoseob choked out, clutching onto Hyunseung as his legs began to lose feeling and become weak. Junhyung buried his face in Hyunseung’s shoulder and the tall boy held onto them both, closing his eyes as he cried silently.“Lunch is nearly over.. we don’t have enough time to reach the key w-without being p-punished..” Yoseob sobbed. Gikwang’s ears pricked up at that.“There’s a key?” he demanded, looking at the young boy intensely. Yoseob nodded and pointed to the top of the door, where a key was tied and suspended by the top of the window.“Seunghyun-ssi l-leaves it there s-so whoever’s inside can see the key but not reach it.. It was one of his new methods t-to torture us even further. P-people have tried to grab it before to set their friends f-free, but there’s never enough time and it’s too high for us to reach, so b-by the time we’ve found something to stand on to get it, one of the wardens is already there..” Hyunseung explained, sighing. Gikwang’s eyes fell shut as more tears ran down his cheeks. He couldn’t leave Seungho in that room, no matter what he  had to do to get him out, but it seemed more impossible than he had first suspected. Just as he was starting to give up hope, Dongwoon walked up to Gikwang and kissed his cheek lovingly.“I think I can reach.” He said. Gikwang’s eyes shot open and he looked at Dongwoon expectantly. The children looked up from the floor to the tall man. It was true, he really was much taller than the children and Gikwang. He was definitely above average height and it did indeed look like he could make it. He stood in front of the door and reached up, standing on tip-toes and steadying himself with his other hand palm flat on the door. His fingers brushed the rope the key was tied up with and he grabbed on, gritting his teeth together as he one-handedly undid the double-knot.Eventually, he tugged just the right part and the rusty key clattered the floor. Gikwang grabbed the key from the floor and shoved it into the keyhole haphazardly, just wanting to get to Seungho as quickly as possible. The children looked at each other in astonishment and gave Dongwoon an amazed look before they all rushed into the small cell.Seungho was curled up into a defensive ball, his almost skeletal arms covering his face and his wiry legs brought up to his chest, knees digging in painfully where he had tried to conserve body heat to stay warm. He was dressed only in his underwear, his destroyed back cut to ribbons and on show for the other boys. Even his skin colour was off, his usual pale caramel skin now white and pasty- even more shockingly white than the other boys- and covered in goose-bumps.“Seungho..?” Gikwang murmured, crouching by the boy’s side and holding him in his arms. Yoseob’s head was spinning due to how hard he was crying and Junhyung couldn’t bear to look at Seungho in such a state. Hyunseung, to his own surprise, held onto Dongwoon’s arm and wept softly.By this point, the five of them were almost totally sure Seungho had died from his illness. He had wasted away so much that he didn’t even look like himself; but Gikwang would always recognise him for his full lips and tightly-knit eyebrows as he seemed to scowl even in this state. The young man felt guilt stab at his every nerve and he hid his face in his hands, unable to take the fact that this was all his fault.“I’m s-so sorry.. S-Seungho.. If only there h-had been another way..” he whispered.The sick boy stirred slightly, flinching at the feeling of salty tears dripping onto his back. He opened his eyes slowly, the action obviously taking a lot of energy to carry out. Gikwang felt him move and his eyes widened, turning him gently towards him so he could see that he really was alive. Dongwoon rubbed Hyunseung’s shoulders comfortingly and smiled through his own tears, relieved beyond belief even though he hadn’t known Seungho personally.“Seungho hyung!” Yoseob cried, rushing over to his hyung and flinging his arms around the frail body. Seungho groaned at being handled so carelessly and shot Yoseob a small glare, though it was clear he didn’t really have the heart to be really angry. He attempted to raise his hand from the floor enough to give the younger boy a small comforting pat, but grimaced and gave up after thirty seconds of trying.“You’re so weak, hyung..” Hyunseung noted sadly, crying all over again. Seungho frowned at this, not liking to be called weak, despite it being very true for his current situation. He opened his mouth as if trying to say something, but his throat was so dry and sore that nothing would come out. He slammed his head back down and tears of frustration pricked at his eyes. Gikwang pushed Seungho’s dirty black hair out of his face and held onto his hand, totally speechless.“We have to get him out of here, Kiki. He may be alive right now but if we don’t get him somewhere safe right away he’s going to die. Let’s take him back home- eomma will know what to do. Seunghyun clearly has no desire to let Seungho live, so we have to take this into our own hands. He needs immediate medical attention.” Dongwoon spoke up seriously. Gikwang met his lover’s eyes and nodded in agreement.“You’re right. Seungho, you have every right to hate me for how much pain I have caused all of you, but I’m here now and I’m not letting you die. Please trust me; we’re going to help you.” He said gently, stroking the teenager’s skinny hands. Yoseob looked up at Gikwang, this time with only pleading in his eyes, not a single trace of anger.“Make him better, please, Kiki hyung.. I’m begging you.. we need him..”“Yeah.. I’m sorry we were so angry earlier, hyung.. we are just so terrified about hyung’s health and you just turned up out of nowhere after so many years.. we r-really need you this time, Gikwanggie..” Hyunseung added apologetically. Gikwang waved his hand in dismissal, managing a small smile.“Seungho is all that matters right now. You have my honest word that we will do everything we can to help him. I will be back this time.” He promised, giving Yoseob a kiss on the cheek before slowly getting up, supporting Seungho in his arms as he did so. “Seungho, we need to get you up and take you back to our home. Dongwoonie’seomma is a nurse and Narsha is there too. We have to leave quickly before your health can deteriorate any more than it already has. If I hurt you, I really am sorry, we just need to do this fast, ok?” he explained to the teenager. Seungho mouthed ‘yes’ to show he understood. Dongwoon walked to Gikwang’s side and helped support the teenager, though he was really so light that Gikwang could have quite easily done it alone.“Can we come with you?” Junhyung piped up, eyes big.  Gikwang shook his head sadly and held his free arm out to the young boy. Dongwoon held Seungho, fully picking him up like a baby when he began to fall down from how weak his legs were. In his arms, the teenager fell asleep instantly, his body shutting down as it was the only thing it knew how to do with the tiny amount of energy it had to work with. Gikwang pulled Junhyung into a cuddle.“Junnie, it’s too dangerous if you come with us. You’re already running out of time before you have to go to work. I’d love nothing more than to take the whole orphanage back home, but we have to go about this in a clever way. If you three are late to work, you’ll get punished too and I can’t have you getting sick as well. I know I haven’t been very reliable lately, but I will be back to help you- every single one of you. It’s just going to take some planning.” He explained firmly, ruffling the boy’s hair and cupping his cheek affectionately. Junhyung nodded.“I trust you.” He whispered. Yoseob nodded.“I do too, Kiki hyung.”“And me!” Hyunseung piped up. “Just help Seungho. Do whatever you have to.”Gikwang nodded. “Now, you three better get back before Seunghyun notices. I will see you again soon, ok? Seungho will have the best care we can give him.” He reassured. The children wiped their eyes, thanked Gikwang and Dongwoon for helping their hyung and each gave Seungho’s hand a squeeze before rushing out of the room to slip back to work, each one hoping and praying that Gikwang’s word was trustworthy this time. They didn’t know what they would do if Seungho didn’t make it. When the children had gone, Dongwoon and Gikwang left the room, the younger man locking the cell behind him and taking the key so that nobody could be put in there for a while at least. They made sure to leave the building quietly and hid behind walls when they saw an approaching maid or warden so they could flee unseen. Luckily, they managed to get out without a single problem and ran straight to the train station to get home as quickly as possible. Dongwoon paid for their tickets and the pair tried to ignore the strange looks they were accumulating from the other passengers due to having the unconscious teenager still cradled in Dongwoon’s arms.   A/N: back again~~~ XD I don't give enough time for you to miss me, do I? XD anyway enjoy! <3 *gives teddy bears*