Chapter Text
When Yeosang woke up, it was after a fitful night of sleep . Recently, especially after his court date a few weeks back, Yeosang had been sleeping very peacefully. Cuddled up under his blankets with Shiber, Yeosang was able to fall deep into slumber without the threat of looming fear or life-altering decisions.
Today, he woke up groggy, anxiety eating away at him for the entire night. He opened his eyes after the little rest he managed to get, seeing the orange hues of the rising run outside the window. He went limp against his pillows with a sigh. Deciding sleep was not in the cards for him this morning, he stood and made his way out of the room.
Yeosang started to beeline for Hongjoong and Seonghwa’s room, stopping abruptly halfway through as a thought popped into his mind. Instead, he veered off course and stepped quietly over to the doorway to Wooyoung’s new room, pushing the already-open door open a crack to peer inside.
He was checking to see if Wooyoung was awake, not wanting him to overhear his conversation with the adults. What he found, however, was not only an asleep Wooyoung, but an equally-asleep Mingi pressed right up against him. Yeosang could only assume this was Mingi’s doing, Wooyoung likely an unknowing victim to the other’s obsession with skinship.
Smiling softly, Yeosang stuck with his original plan and moved over to the adults’ room. It was a gamble on whether they were awake, but Yeosang didn’t know how much longer he could just sit with the events of last night.
He knocked lightly, not expecting an answer. When he didn’t get one, he creaked open their door, first peering around the corner before taking slow calculated steps over to the bed.
The two of them were still asleep, Hongjoong shirtless and nearly covering Seonghwa with his body, making it hard to see the taller very well.
Yeosang stepped closer, reaching for Hongjoong’s shoulder that was close to the edge of the bed, shaking it gently to try and rouse the man.
After a few tries, the man lifted his head up slightly, awareness filling his expression once he took notice of the child.
“Sangie?” he breathed out, voice weak from slumber, “s’ everythin’ ‘kay?” he asked gently, barely managing to lift his head from the mattress as he spoke.
“Yeah, sorry,” Yeosang whispered.
Hongjoong shook his head, “don’ ‘pologize. Should I wake Hwa up?” he asked.
Yeosang nodded hesitantly, fiddling with his hands as the other turned to shake the still-sleeping man.
“Sangie’s here, something’s up,” he heard Hongjoong mutter to the other man, causing him to sit up fairly quickly.
“Hey, honey,” Seonghwa cooed, hair matted and pressed up in different directions, “What’s wrong?” his voice was soft, like always.
“I just,” Yeosang started, trying to keep his voice quiet, “Wooyoung came into our room last night, with me and Jjongie,” he explained, getting nods as he spoke, “and he… well, he showed us these bruises that he had all down his side. He said the ‘big kids’ did it, and that’s why he tried to get in a fight with Yunho.”
“How bad were the bruises?” Hongjoong asked, more clarity coming to him with the story.
Yeosang shrugged, “looked pretty bad,” he said, “but he told us not to tell anyone, so don’t mention them or anything!” Yeosang said quickly, eyes wide.
“We wont, honey,” Seonghwa spoke up.
“I just wanted to tell you the thing about Yunho, just in case it happens again, so you kinda know why,” Yeosang said.
“Thank you, Sangie, we really appreciate your help,” Hongjoong smiled.
“Actually…” Yeosang said, “I wanted to talk to you about something else?”
“Oh?” Hongjoong asked, Seonghwa shifting over so they were both looking at the boy earnestly.
“You know… my parents lost custody…” Yeosang trailed, looking at his socked feet.
Hongjoong hummed, waiting for the other to continue.
“I was just, wondering if there was a process if I were to get adopted– if… if you guys wanted to adopt me, maybe,” he muttered, keeping his gaze low.
“Oh,” Seonghwa breathed out.
“Sangie,” Hongjoong cooed.
“Honey, we’d love to, but that’s something we have to really talk about. Maybe after school today?” Seonghwa offered gently.
Yeosang nodded quickly, “yeah, I just… figured it throw it out there,” he whispered.
“Hey, we’re not saying no, hon, just let us talk a little,” Hongjoong reassured. He reached up towards the clock on his bedside table, “It’s almost time to get ready for school, honey, why don’t you wake up Jongho and we’ll get the others,” he said.
Yeosang nodded, moving back to his room, being less careful with his steps as he moved.
He walked over to Jongho’s bed, only needing to move the boy’s blanket from his body for his eyes to blink open.
“Time to get up,” Yeosang smiled at the younger.
Jongho hopped up, the two of them going through the motions of getting ready for school. Vaguely, Yeosang could hear the other boys getting ready, San grumbling and Mingi humming happily. The smell of breakfast wafted up the steps and into each of their rooms, encouraging them to move a little faster downstairs.
As they sat at the breakfast bar, Seonghwa and Hongjoong packed each of their lunches while they ate, talking to them about the plan for the day.
“Wooyoung, are you ready to go to school?’ Seonghwa asked.
Wooyoung nodded, still eating quickly.
“If you get nervous, you can stick with Yeosang. He knows what he’s doing,” Hongjoong smiled.
Yeosang leads Wooyoung in through the front doors of the school. Wooyoung’s body froze as they took a few steps in, clearly overwhelmed by the amount of people.
“It’s alright,” Yeosang assured the boy, reaching back to grab his hand in his own, “It’s only like this in the morning,” he smiled.
Wooyoung returned the gesture, allowing Yeosang to lead them around the building.
He showed him to each of their classrooms, as well as the bathroom, nurse, and front office. Wooyoung calmed down the longer they walked, taking in the area and becoming more familiar with it.
Yeosang walked the two of them into a corner, opening his mouth to ask how the other was doing when a shout interrupted him.
“Wooyoung!” a loud voice echoed out.
Wooyoung’s head shot up and Yeosang whipped around to find the source of the call.
He took notice of another boy, their age, who was looking right at them with a smile. He was shorter than him or Wooyoung, but he held himself with a lot of confidence.
“Changbin?” Wooyoung asked, pushing lightly past Yeosang and meeting the other boy in the middle.
The two spoke quietly to one another for a moment before Wooyoung remembered where he was.
“Sorry, Yeosang. This is Changbin, from my last house. Changbin, this is Yeosang, I live with him now,” Wooyoung introduced them.
This was the first time Yeosang had seen Wooyoung smile more than just politely. His eyes glowed and he looked the most relaxed he had in the last few days.
Changbin waved excitedly to Yeosang. Yeosang waved back shyly.
“Hey, where did they put you?” Wooyoung asked, leaning closer to the other boy.
“Oh, I’m in a home with two other boys: Felix and Seungmin. Felix is a little guy, like a lot younger than anyone we ever lived with. Seungmin's only a little older than me,” Changbin explained easily.
“Good?” Wooyoung asked quietly, Yeosang almost didn't hear it.
“Yeah, Woo, I’m good,” Changbin looked into Wooyoung’s eyes meaningfully, “Promise,”.
“Maybe you can come over to my house sometime,” Wooyoung said excitedly, breaking the tense tone.
“I’d have to ask Minho and Jisung, they’re in charge of me,” he explained, “Actually, you might be able to meet Seungmin today,” Changbin explained.
Wooyoung tilted his head curiously.
“It’s something called “Mentor Day”, some of the older kids come down from the middle school to come teach us,” he said cheerily.
“Oh, I totally forgot,” Yeosang jumped in, “Sorry, Woo, I would’ve warned you,” he grimaced slightly.
“Do we know anyone coming down?” Wooyoung asked.
“Well, it’s only a handful of older kids, there’s some kind of contest maybe? I’m not sure how it works,” he shrugged.
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud shouting at the end of the hallway.
“Oh, Woo, we gotta start heading to class,” Yeosang acknowledged.
“I’ll see you around?” Wooyoung turned to his friend.
“Of course!” the other said loudly.
Wooyoung turned to follow Yeosang down a short hallway, stopping in front of a large wooden door.
“Let’s just put our bags away for now, we’re probably heading right to the auditorium,” Yeosang led the other to the back of the room, placing his backpack on a coat rack and waiting for Wooyoung to do the same.
“Attention, students!” A calm voice rang out from the other side of the room. “If you can hear me, put your hands on your head,” she sang out playfully.
Wooyoung watched as Yeosang put his hands to his head quickly, turning to look at the woman standing in front of everyone.
Everyone was quick to follow, until all of the students were looking at the woman with hands on their heads. The woman smiled before continuing to speak, “I know we are excited to see the older kids. Some of your brothers and sisters will be here, and I hope I can meet some of them,” she smiled pleasantly, “But before we head down to meet our new big kid friends, we have a new friend in our own class we have to meet,” she explained.
She looked over to Wooyoung, gesturing for him to come over to her.
Wooyoung moved slowly, looking over at the faces of other kids as he moved across the room. When he got to the woman, he looked up to find her smiling at him, “Can you tell everyone your name and one fact about you?”
He looked back at the sea of faces, “Uh… My name is Jung Wooyoung… and, um…” he looked around confused. “I like to dance?” he added unsure.
“Everybody say ‘Hi Wooyoung’,” she guided.
A chorus of hellos rang out and Wooyoung felt his skin flush at the attention. He looked back over to Yeosang and, after a cursory glance back to the teacher, rushed back over to his friend’s side.
“Okay, once you put your bookbags away, line up at the door so we can head down,” she instructed, the children moving quickly afterwards.
Yeosang grabbed Wooyoung’s hand again, leading him into line and pushing him to stand in front of him. As the line started moving, Wooyoung walked in pace and looked around at the rest of the school he hadn’t seen yet. Murals lined the walls, partially blocked by the other students making their way to the auditorium.
Once inside, the teacher sat everyone down in rows, the school doing their best to fit hundreds of kids in this basketball-court sized room. Chatter started up almost immediately as students waited for the assembly, the last few groups of students trickling in.
After only a few minutes, a tall man walked out onto the front stage with a microphone. The speaking died down to whispers that quickly faded away to silence.
“Good morning everyone!” the man greeted, “Some of you may not know me, but my name is Principal Son, and I work over at the middle school. We have a little treat for you today, some of my best students will be coming down here this morning to hang out with all of you,” he said excitedly.
After a list of rules and a group promise to be on their best behavior for the older kids, all of the students filed out by class out the back entrance. The event would be taking place on the field, where several stations have been set up for the older kids to teach what they were best at.
As Yeosang and Wooyoung walked out, Wooyoung turned to the other, “Hey, keep an eye out for Binnie for me,” he asked.
Yeosang internally made a weird face at the nickname. This was so not the same Wooyoung he had met yesterday. Instead of voicing this, he simply nodded, peering over to see if he could find the other now.
As they got closer to the field, the large group that they were in dispersed as kids flocked to whatever interested them the most.
“Where do you want to go?” Yeosang leaned over to ask, “There’s some sports stuff, some games,” he offered.
“Wherever,” Wooyoung said distractedly before jolting harshly, “Binnie!” he cried out.
Wooyoung quickly grabbed at Yeosang’s wrist before pulling him over to the boy.
“Hi Woo, hi Yeosang. I was looking for you guys. Seungmin’s just over there, if you wanted to say hi,” Changbin offered.
“Oh, uh,” suddenly all of Wooyoung’s earlier excitement seemed to leach out of him. He shifted back and forth on his feet as he looked around, avoiding either of the other two’s eyes.
Yeosang looked confused over Wooyoung’s shoulder at Changbin, who nodded confidently to the other.
“Woo, it’s okay, really. If he was like the others, I wouldn’t want you to meet him. You don’t have to be afraid,” he comforted, “We’re out. And we’re not going back,” he whispered.
Wooyoung nodded numbly, taking a deep breath to steady himself before forcing a smile back onto his face, “Lead the way!”
Changbin led the two of them to the batting cages, where a few of the older kids were hanging out. Two were already with a group of students, helping them pitch and bat. The last big kid was ducked down by the benches, sorting through bags. He had short black hair and was dressed casually, unlike the baseball uniforms of the other two.
“Seunminnie,” Changbin whined annoyingly as they closed in on the boy. He lifted his head tiredly.
“What do you want,” the boy said harshly, though the fondness in his tone took away any threat.
“To show you my new friends. Or well, one new friend and one old one,” Changbin climbed the bench until he was sitting in front of the kneeling boy.
Seungmin looked up at the others, “Hello,” he said politely.
“This is Yeosang, I just met him this morning,” Changbin pointed to Yeosang, “And this is Wooyoungie, from my old house,” Changbin said happily.
Seungmin tensed slightly, looking back up at Wooyoung warily, “You two came from the same house,” he asked carefully.
“Yeah, Woo practically kept me alive in that place,” he joked, though the wound was maybe a bit too fresh still. Wooyoung winced.
Seungmin looked at him for another moment or two before snapping his attention back to the ground.
“Well, if you’re looking to play baseball, you gotta join one of the other groups, they’re not letting me play,” Seungmin explained.
“Wonder why,” Changbin muttered, Seungmin sticking his tongue out in retaliation.
Changbin looked over to Yeosang and Wooyoung, “Minnie had a bad accident playing baseball. Doctors said to rest for a while,” he explained, though Yeosang got the feeling there was more to that story.
“Wait, you can’t even play baseball?” Wooyoung asked, “Why are you here then? Principal Son said you guys were the best students he had.”
Seungmin sighed, standing back up, “Just between us, he’s mostly lying. This whole event is for kids who aren’t very good at school to make us feel useful. We really are good at baseball, just not a whole lot else,” he shrugged.
“So everyone here is here because they’re not a good student,” Yeosang confirmed.
“Pretty much. Either they’ve got bad grades like me, some of us are here for behavior reasons, like Choi over there,” Seungmin gestured into the crowd, though there were too many people to know who exactly at, “Heard something happened to his mom a few weeks back, he kinda went crazy for a little bit. I think he’s getting better now, though,” he said offhandedly.
“San’s here?” Yeosang guessed.
“Oh, uh, yeah? You know him?” Seungmin asked.
“He’s my brother. Kinda. Not really, I guess,” Yeosang tried to explain.
“Oh,” Seungmin looked sheepish, “Can you not mention to him that I called him crazy?”
“Yeah, I’ll cover for you this time,” Yeosang teased.
“Well, if you know someone here, we should go meet them too,” Changbin said cheerily.
Before Wooyoung could say anything, Changbin was already walking away from him, leaving him to speed walk to catch back up. Yeosang seemed to stay behind, talking to Seungming for another minute.
They walked up to San’s station, though it was a bit nondescript, it appeared to be some kind of math game. There was a line of kids waiting for their turn as San and the girl he was with explained the rules to them.
Wooyoung waited for a break in their speech before he interrupted, “San” he said loudly, waving over to the boy when he looked over. San nodded to the group in response, his attention going back and forth from the line in front of him and the two boys.
Changbin took the initiative to walk closer, clearly eager to meet (and maybe size up) Wooyoung’s new friend.
“Hi, San. My name is Changbin,” he introduced himself loudly.
San looked the boy up and down, “hi” he responded.
The line in front of the older boy seemed to clear up quickly, now leaving the rest of them in somewhat privacy.
Wooyoung felt the need to jump in for his friend, “San, this is my friend Changbin. Binnie, this is my friend San,” he introduced them again.
San scoffed from behind him, “We are not friends,” he said hostilely.
San was quickly called by his partner, dragging his attention away for the moment, but that did nothing for the sinking feeling of Wooyoung stomach, nor the hot flush that was spreading from his ears down to his face.
Wooyoung laughed awkwardly, trying to play off his embarrassment. If it was working, he couldn’t tell, only focusing on the sound of blood rushing in his ears. Thankfully, Changbin managed to grab him and drag him away, saying something about talking to Seungmin again.
The two only made it halfway to the batting cages when Changbin veered the two off over by some bushes, turning to face the other.
“What was that?” he asked seriously.
Wooyoung shrugged, the humiliation still tugging at his heart.
“Is he always like that– I mean, he’s not like…” Changbin trailed off.
“No, he’s not hitting me,” Wooyoung answered the other boys unspoken question, “I don’t– I don’t know why he would say that,” he added defeatedly.
“It’s okay, Woo. That guy’s a dick,” he assured his friend, laying an arm across his shoulders as they walked back to their other two friends.
Wooyoung didn't talk much the rest of the day, going through the motions of the school event before grabbing his unused backpack from his classroom and walking outside with Yeosang.
As they waited for Hongjoong to pick them up, Yeosang started talking.
“So how was your first day of school?” he asked genuinely.
“Fine. Good,” Wooyoung responded.
Yeosang sent him a weird look, “You good?” he asked.
Wooyoung simply nodded, not taking his eyes away from the concrete below him.
Hongjoong’s car pulled up to the curb and Yeosang and Wooyoung hopped in quickly.
“Hey, kids, how’s it going?” he asked energetically.
“Good,” Yeosang answered for the two of them, “Some of the older kids came down to hang out, we saw Sannie for a minute,” he explained.
“That’s fun. Woo?” he looked back in the rearview mirror.
Wooyoung shrugged.
Yeosang noticed whatever was going on with Wooyoung and swooped in, “Woo met up with one of the kids from his old home. They seemed really close,” he explained to Hongjoong. He turned back in his seat to look at Wooyoung, “Must just be sad to leave him again, right?” he said, giving a knowing look to Wooyoung, knowing that wasn’t his problem.
“Oh, Woo,” Hongjoong cooed, “I’m sure you’ll see him again soon,” he reassured.
The drive home was calm and quiet, Yeosang doing most of the talking until they ended up in the driveway.
As Hongjoong parked the car, Wooyoung felt a feeling he couldn’t place wash over him. On one hand, he was nervous to see the other boy again, the memory of just a few hours ago resurfacing, the dagger to the heart along with it. On the other hand, he was hesitant to show any weakness around the other, so used to fighting back that avoiding the problem seemed counterintuitive.
The sound of Yeosang opening his car door only made the feeling sink deeper, he would have to walk into the house and let fate decide what happened next.
The three of them walked in together, Yeosang taking off his backpack before taking Wooyoung’s off of him while he worked on his shoes. He glanced over towards the living room to find San and Yunho on the couch with Mingi, though San’s eyes were already locked on Wooyoung’s. Wooyoung froze in place, unsure of what to do under such an intense gaze.
Deciding for him, San stood from the couch without a word and quickly made his way up the stairs, the sound of his door closing echoing through the quiet house behind him.
Yeosang, unbeknownst to Wooyoung, watched the entire exchange quietly, slowly putting pieces together in his brain.
“Yunho, what are you doing?” Yeosang called out into the next room.
“Documentary about birds,” he answered.
“Cool!” he called back, “Woo, you wanna join him?” Yeosang asked.
Wooyoung shrugged.
“Go ahead and save me a seat, I’m gonna grab a blanket from my room,” he suggested, waiting until Wooyoung had sat down on the couch before ascending the stairs.
At the top of the steps, Yeosang turns away from the door to his room and moves towards San’s instead. Knocking lightly, he pushes it open without waiting.
San was lying face-down on his still-made bed.
“San?” he asked, moving closer. A muffled grunt could be heard from through the boy’s pillow, “What’s going on? Did something happen with you and Woo?”
San sat up, “No.” he said curtly. Yeosang looked at him for a few seconds, watching his resolve crack quickly, “Is he upset?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t know, he’s hardly talked to me all day,” Yeosang answered.
Yeosang could almost swear San whimpered, but the boy made no acknowledgement to it if he did, “What happened?”
“This stays between us,” San growled.
“And Wooyoung,” Yeosang stated.
“And Wooyoung,” San added meekly, “Wooyoung came over to my table before you did, with his friend,” he started, “he tried to say hi to me and he called me his friend. And I just– I don’t know how to feel about him, with how he treated Yunho and all. So, I said that we weren’t friends,” San explained.
Yeosang gasped, “San,” he scolded, hitting the other’s leg.
“I know, I know,” San fell back against the mattress, “And I said it super harsh too. I didn’t mean to but it was like I couldn’t stop it,” he whined. Yeosang had to hold back a laugh at the dichotomy.
“Why would you say that?” Yeosang asked sincerely.
“Ji told me it was like a fight or flight thing, where if I get anxious or stressed or… I don’t even know… like my instincts kick in to protect myself and I just say mean shit and I hurt people and I can’t stop it,” the boy sounded on the verge of tears.
“Well, you have to at least apologize,” Yeosand said.
“I don’t know how. I’ve never really had to apologize before,” he explained.
“You could always break your other arm,” Yeosang said snarkily, earning a slap on his thigh, “Sorry, sorry. I can help you, y’know, apologize to him,” he offered.
“Like tell me what to say?” San asked.
“Like give you some direction,” he added.
Wooyoung had been sitting with Yunho and Mingi for a little while now when he heard Yeosang yell from upstairs, asking if he could come up.
“Maybe he’s having a really tough time with that blanket,” Yunho teased as Wooyoung walked past him.
Wooyoung walked up the stairs and into Yeosang’s room. Except, Yeosang wasn’t in there, instead, San sat at the foot of Jongho’s bed, wringing his hands together.
Wooyoung turned to leave as quickly as he came, but San yelled out behind him, “Wooyoung, please, just… let me… apologize,” he grumbled slightly.
Wooyoung stopped in his tracks, taking a few moments to think before he turned back around.
He gave San an unimpressed look and walked further into the room, shutting the door behind them.
“Uh… look,” San started, looking down at the floor, “I… um… I’m really sorry for what I said… and… ah.”
“I don’t care,” Wooyoung cut him off, crossing his arms in front of him, “I don’t care if you don’t like me, but you can’t talk to me like that,” he said bravely, a hint of vulnerability cracking into his voice.
San squared his shoulders, “Wooyoung. I’m really sorry,” he took a deep breath, “I did not mean to hurt your feelings, sometimes I can’t control myself and I do things that hurt people,” he said earnestly.
“You embarrassed me in front of my friend,” Wooyoung said.
“Well, you can tell him I apologized, and that we can be friends. Better yet, I’ll record a message, you can show it to him,” San tried to joke.
“Well,” Wooyoung said, kicking at the ground beneath him, “I forgive you, but don’t let it happen again,” he said sternly.
“I’m working on it,” San answered sheepishly.
“Can I ask you something?” Wooyoung asked.
“Um, sure,” San answered.
“What happened to your mom?” he asked.
San’s face hardened, “Where did you hear–”
“It doesn’t matter. I just heard it, what happened,” Wooyoung asked again, walking further into the room to join San on the bed.
“Nothing,” San said through gritted teeth, likely holding back harsh words.
Wooyoung breathed for a second, leaning back against the bed, “In my old house, the older boys would hit us,” he admitted, “They knew the adults wouldn’t do anything about it and they liked having power over us, making us scared,” he explained. He looked over at San to find the other looking at him with a curious expression. “That friend from today, Changbin, he was with me there. I kinda had to look after him. Like I was trying to look after Jongho last night,” he said.
“I… I would never hurt you, not on purpose, not… not physically,” San almost whispered.
“Yeosang and Jongho have reassured me, trust me, I looked everywhere for bruises on them,” he responded.
“Do you have bruises?” San breathed.
Wooyoung lifted the side of his shirt a little, the bruises from a few days ago mostly yellowing out, only a few bad ones left.
“My mom is great,” San said in response, “She… she’s really sick. I was taking care of us for a few years, but things just kept getting worse. One night, I got home with dinner and… she was really bad. Her friends, they… they practically dragged me out of the house, didn’t want me to see her like that,” he explained.
“I’m so sorry,” Wooyoung answered, “Is that… have you…?”
“I’ve seen her since, she’s doing a lot better now, but she doesn’t think she’s able to take care of me right now. So I’m here instead,” he said.
A long silence filled the room. “I’m glad you’re here,” Wooyoung said quietly.
“I’m glad we’re all here,” San said even quieter.