(No surprise to me) You're classless, clever and free (3/3)

[berryboys]

Luhan had overestimated the amount of recovery time Minseok would take, even without medicines. Although his wounds were still fresh, he didn’t have a fever anymore, and the infection on most of them had almost disappeared. Minseok was conceited about it, pointing out that they had survived worse illnesses when they were young, and that they had a lot of defenses to survive. He reminded Luhan too that he was the one in danger, the one who had received medical attention and, therefore, whose body would have lower immunity to fight an infection by itself.

It didn't worry Luhan, having into account he lived within four walls. At least, until Minseok was strong enough to manage both of them, and for some strange reason decided he could take Luhan out by himself. He hadn't complained at the change, of course, because it wasn't the same to hold hands with Minseok than with Jongin, and also because they weren't so awkward with each other anymore.

It was true Luhan looked for him in the darkness of the nights, but so was it that Minseok welcomed him with open arms in his embrace, one pressed against the other until the morning came and they had to part before someone discovered them. They didn't talk about it, not usually, and less about how Minseok had offered sex while he had been recovering. It was crazy, in Luhan's opinion, and it should have returned them to the state of being enemies.

"Don't you dare to talk back to the merchants again," Minseok warned him as they skimmed through the streets, taking advantage of the early morning to find the best food.

"Not my fault," Luhan complained, although he couldn't get mad with Minseok's rough hand around his. He didn't feel the cord that tied their wrists anymore, and he hadn't done so during the last two weeks. "He said I talked weird."

"Because you talk weird."

"No, you all do. I talk just fine." Luhan rolled his eyes, even if his smile was impossible to restrain. He always had to wear the mask outside, anyhow, so Minseok couldn't catch the gesture.

"I talk just fine."

"So funny, Minseok, your ability and diversity to mock people astounds me," Luhan retorted, finally getting a laugh from the boy.

Minseok led him through the first stalls, where everything was too expensive for them, as he added, "I also have an ability for much better things."

This wasn't commentary that Luhan hadn't heard before. Minseok was shameless with him, regardless of Luhan's reservations. He had sneaked his hands into parts of Luhan's body that he wasn't accustomed to, but he had never gone further than touching or stroking. Luhan allowed him, because nights were peaceful periods in which Minseok's hands heated him up, in which everything was a secret that would be kept safe.

"Can you not mention sex for five minutes?" Luhan muttered, embarrassed, almost in a whine.

Minseok stopped in front of a stall full of dead rabbits and rats, but his gaze was fixed on Luhan's face. He bit his lower lip, thoughtful, and remarked, "Maybe if you entertain me for five minutes."

That was the last thing Luhan heard before the explosion, thundering and filling all their senses. Screams replaced Minseok’s voice, a choked alarm that Luhan wasn’t able to hear, and as he turned to the direction of the blast and Minseok tried to impede it, he discovered where it was coming from.

Everyone had dropped to the ground for instinct, except Luhan and Minseok, the latter just because he was tugging Luhan down. It was unnecessary though, because the explosion hadn’t been anywhere close to them, not even in the Suburbs.

Kyungsoo had talked about this. He had assured them this would happen, not very affected even if Luhan was horrified, and this had had him in paranoia for months, thinking about if the other organization would attack and what place they would choose. Right then, Luhan could do nothing as he observed the tallest building of the university collapsing slowly, a cloud of fire and smoke around it, and the thunder of its fall invading the whole city. It was the first hour of classes, and the students were going down with the structure.

Then, Luhan felt a hit in the back of his head and the world disappeared before his eyes.

He woke up in the worst state he had ever been since he had been in that house, and therefore, the worst in his life. There wasn't serenity inside the house, but the complete opposite. Not even Jongdae was sleeping, and the group's voices mixed with each other's, everyone talking at the same time, anxious, scared and with overflowing adrenaline.

"We need a Mobiward," Baekhyun was saying, and in the background several boys were arguing about another, different topic.

Instead, it was Kyungsoo who interrupted with enough strength to make the rest shut up, "For what?"

"If they attack us back, they'll make some kind of announcement first," Baekhyun explained in a hurry. Luhan sat up as slowly as he was able, ears perking up at the discussion, yet he became dizzy anyways. "Not explicitly, of course. It'll be a warning about to stay at home so that the upper class doesn't have any risk of being harmed."

Right then, memories went back to Luhan. The graireds had attacked the university, and perhaps more places after Luhan was knocked out; it didn't matter that they were a specific organization of graireds acting on their own. What mattered, however, was that Junmyeon could be dead.

Luhan wasn't sure how he managed to reach the other room, because he was barely conscious of screaming, hardly breathing as though he had been punched on the chest, lungs and throat burning. He didn't distinguish anything until Minseok held him, carefully guiding him to the ground since Luhan's knees wouldn’t respond.

"Breathe, Luhan," Minseok told him, silence settling among the rest of the boys. He cupped his cheek with one hand, but the other was surrounding Luhan's waist in a protective gesture. "You're having an anxiety attack."

"You-" he attempted to say, cut by an asphyxiating intake of breath. "Jun-Junmyeon."

There was a connection between them that Luhan hadn't recognized until then, when, despite Luhan's nonsensical pleas, Minseok knew exactly what he was asking for. And not only that, he didn’t hesitate to grant it. "I'll look for him, I'll check if he's alive."

Nevertheless, Jongin gripped his brother's hair and pulled him back, furious. All the calmness Luhan had received one second ago evaporated, and a part of his mind whispered that this was it, he needed Minseok.

"No way!" Jongin yelled. "You aren't putting yourself in danger for his brother! We are at war now, they'll control the graireds who go into the houses and work for them, and you'd be caught and murdered in a blink."

"Minseok, it's not the time for this," Baekhyun agreed, much to Luhan's shock. "We have to talk things out and get into the basement before they bomb us."

With Minseok right in front of his eyes, he was able to spot the panic crossing his features, the realization that even if he wanted to, he couldn't help Luhan. Junmyeon might be dead or he might be alive, and Luhan would never know as long as the conflict continued.

Baekhyun managed to get a Mobiward during the week, undoubtedly stolen from an upper class bag, and right away he broke it up to extract the location chip, which canceled almost every use of the device. The notifications, however, were still being sent.

They didn't tell anything to Luhan, but the tension within the house was unavoidable. Minseok still whispered calming words when no one could hear them, assured him that he would search for Junmyeon later or sooner even if that was a stupid decision. Luhan believed him, although deep inside he knew it was a lie; for some reason Minseok couldn't bear with an affected Luhan, and he wasn't sure all the consolation was to make Luhan feel better or if it was to feel better himself.

Next thing Luhan knew, Minseok woke him in the middle of the night, house completely empty including Jongdae, but no noise was needed to perceive the commotion.

"What's happening?" Luhan asked without missing a beat, holding onto Minseok's arms.

"A warning in the Mobiward."

Luhan's heart quivered. Minseok's voice was calmer than ever and it frustrated him, because he should run for his life. Maybe other graireds were worthy of dying this way, but Minseok was different. "They're bombing us?"

The boy, who was starting to gather the sheets in his arms, dropped them at the question. He stared at the floor for several seconds before drifting his gaze up to Luhan, where he obtained the same shocked expression he had himself. The realization hit Luhan harder than ever, all his own actions coming to an end like a revelation that he had been ignoring before: for months he had been living with graireds, snuggling Minseok when it was safe and, at some point, he had started to talk, act and think like them.

“Us?” Minseok whispered, lips parted disconcertingly.

However, Luhan had no strength to deny it anymore, just able to breathe out and deflate. And all of a sudden Minseok crawled over the floor towards him, agitated, and held his face between his rough hands. It was Luhan though who closed the last inch of distance, searching for the lips he had been thinking about non-stop. They were much softer than Minseok was, much more loving and careful as Luhan drowned in them, and definitely disturbing enough to force Luhan to support himself around Minseok’s neck. It was within a second that Minseok hugged him against his lap, not allowing him to detach himself from the moment. And it was then, when Luhan felt secure in the other’s arms despite being in the gravest danger ever, that he understood why one would renounce their family for someone else.

“Do I stop?” Minseok murmured against his lips, granting short kisses between.

“No.”

Minseok didn’t right away, but his lips stretched into a mischievous smile after Luhan’s resolution, and Luhan kissed the smirk away, hands entangled through his hair, until the boy turned serious once again.

“We have to go to the shop’s basement,” he said then, but the hand stroking down Luhan’s back said otherwise. “I bet you don’t want to die like this.”

Perhaps graireds preferred not to talk about death, yet Minseok didn’t seem to care about it. It was almost scary how peaceful Luhan was at the mention of dying, just because it was Minseok who mentioned it, or just because there was nothing comparable to Minseok’s arms around him.

But it was insane, and Luhan kept it for himself.

Luhan wasn’t sure what he had expected from a bombing, but he couldn’t describe it with a simple scary. Minseok hurried him into a hidden basement under the shop, through a trapdoor that was covered by the countertop, and Luhan was sure the other boys would be there even if a basement wasn’t the best protection. However, only Jongdae was enclosed in the basement, and as Luhan turned around in indignation, it was too late, because Minseok had already fastened close the trapdoor.

“Where are the rest?” Luhan demanded to know. He didn’t mention Baekhyun, the only person he was worried about, but Minseok was smart enough to realize.

Instead of answering, he responded with a blank facade, “We aren’t cowards.”

The first urge Luhan had was to glance at Jongdae, who was standing in a corner with his arms crossed, considering that maybe he would find this unacceptable. However, the guy had his eyes set on his brother, and Luhan felt the fury rising within him. “What you call your family is out there during a bombing and you’re like this?”

All he got was silence, both brothers ignoring him as though he was a bug buzzing around them. Luhan didn’t understand, as much as he tried, how they could accept that their brother and friends were out during an attack, doing what? What was there to do? He didn’t want to stay in either, waiting for the moment a bomb fell right on top of them and a basement wasn’t enough, and he definitely feared coming out the next morning and finding Baekhyun’s body lifeless.

Nevertheless, Luhan forgot he had gotten angry as soon as the first explosion shook the foundations, a wave that sent him directly to the floor, and when he raised his head again, he found Minseok’s worried eyes on him. If he had been rational at that moment, he wouldn’t have crawled towards the boy, nor would have he sunk his head in Minseok’s chest, arms around him in an attempt to stifle the noise of the bombs.

“Is he okay?” Jongdae muttered during a long silence.

Luhan felt Minseok’s neck moving in a nod, and then he stroked Luhan’s hair out of his face, searching for confirmation. When he dared to look up at him, he discovered both anxiety and a false, self-protective mockery in Minseok. “He’s just being a baby.”

“You can’t be serious,” Luhan murmured back, skeptical.

“Yeah? This scares you?” A sigh escaped from his mouth afterwards, as though he regretted having Luhan there at all; it was no place for him and, above all, Luhan wasn’t ready to face a war without the security the government would have given him in other circumstances. “This isn’t the scary part. It’s next morning when we’ll have to go out and collect the bodies. When we’ll have to go out and decide that we can’t help people who are still alive because it’s useless to even try.”

“That’s if we make it through the night,” Jongdae added from the other corner of the basement, avoiding staring at them.

Minseok scrunched his nose in disapproval. “We will, don’t be a fool.”

But it was clear he wasn’t so certain of it, given the lack of conversation throughout the bombing. Sometimes an hour passed without any attack, and Luhan fell asleep in Minseok’s embrace until a new one was discharged. Jongdae ended pressed against them too, the three of them covered by the dust that descended from the roof every time the basement trembled. When morning came, it was Minseok who woke them up, dark circles and eye bags from not having gotten a minute of sleep.

“You’re letting me out?” Luhan questioned in disconcert as Minseok helped him through the trapdoor.

Jongdae opened his mouth to, evidently, express his discrepancy, yet Minseok’s gaze was enough to quiet the other two. He analyzed Luhan carefully, with a hint of mistrust, and explained, “I wanna see where your fidelity is now.”

“My fidelity?”

“If running back to your people is your first thought when you go out… instead of helping, or looking for your friend…” Minseok took a deep breath, as though the idea was tough to bear with. “Then you deserve nothing but to be burnt down with your class. Then I’ll burn you down with your class.”

That was final, since Minseok swung on his heels and strode to the exit, and Jongdae lingered inside for a moment before following behind. Luhan, on the other hand, was frozen on his spot. He had kissed Minseok last night. No, Minseok had kissed him, and Luhan had welcomed it. But the reality was that Minseok would still destroy him, because he was an enemy until he proved otherwise; and Luhan wished he could do it, although that meant to renounce himself from his family.

It wasn't a problem because once he put his feet outside, thoughts of freedom dissipated. Minseok didn't even glance back at him, like he didn't exist, and somehow Luhan was only able to process the dead bodies everywhere. The blood and the dust and the lack of oxygen, and as they walked through the Suburbs, adults and kids that were still alive, but too dead. Luhan had never seen a corpse, and all of a sudden, during these hours, he had to touch them, to drag them, to place them in a chain of bodies for the posterior recognition.

There were dozens of persons around them helping too, yet the silence was deeper than ever. If it hadn’t been, Luhan wouldn't have heard the low moans from some victims, or the weak murmurs asking nonsensical things, absorbed in hallucinations.

"Go back home." Minseok's voice grew behind him, and Luhan knelt down, subdued by the exhaustion. The boy was next to him in no time, caressing his hair as Luhan kept his head lowered; and the mere gesture, Minseok's fingers giving him comfort and affection were enough of a sign of acceptance.

Luhan wasn't a graired and he would never be one. In his eyes, Minseok wasn't either. And with all that, Minseok had managed to make him feel like he didn't belong to his old home anymore.

"Go back home," Minseok repeated and, this time, he assisted Luhan to stand up.

Luhan stumbled for a second, rough hands keeping him still by the waist, and then he leaned towards Minseok, who had blood on his hands and his face, and kissed him anyways.

The rest of the boys didn't appear until the night was deep again, and the routine of long absences ensued for weeks. Luhan wouldn't have been bothered by it if it weren't because Minseok had to pass more time outside, more time uncovered in the middle of a war while Luhan sat back in the house.

Jongin noticed right away what was happening between them, and lost no time in shoving Luhan against the wall and threatening him in front of everyone. Minseok had laughed at Luhan's face, and once he had been freed, Minseok had kissed the worry away, assuring him that his brother was a hypocrite and that he couldn't make decisions for Minseok.

"Jongin knows Minseok gave you the chance to run away," Baekhyun confessed one day, gaze fixed on the Mobiward. "He isn't going to tell you this, so I'll do it for him: thanks."

"I don't even know why I'm doing this," Luhan answered, instead of acknowledging the gratitude. "For him? I'm not sure. For the rest? No.”

“For Minseok, I’m pretty sure.” Baekhyun set the Mobiward aside, the words ‘Enigma’ still shining on the screen, and let out a sigh as Luhan moved his head in denial. “Which I would say it’s not enough of a reason, but I did the same. And now I’m happy.”

Luhan bit off the first answer that attempted to come out, just murmuring instead, “Happy?”

“Crazy, right?” Baekhyun almost challenged him, reading his mind. However, one of his dazzling smiles had popped out, and it felt so weird to Luhan, so honest. “Living in misery and with miserable people, but I’m still happy. I’m free and alive, and able to be with whoever I want, say whatever I want.”

Before Luhan asked more, they were interrupted by Jongin and Minseok, who had just returned from a, supposedly, first contact with the group that had bombed the university. Both boys stared at them in wonder, but then Minseok swayed his head from side to side, and Luhan knew they hadn’t won anything from it.

“We thought about going to the river,” Minseok proposed then as Jongin lay down his head on Baekhyun’s thighs. “It’s time to wash our clothes, even if we’re going to dirty them when they bomb us again.”

It was the first time Luhan went out somewhere else besides the market or a simple stroll around the houses, and he had never been so scared. His lungs still hurt for the amount of dust in the air, and he kept quiet all the way to the river, tied to Minseok by their fingers instead of by a rope. It was odd to watch Baekhyun and Jongin ahead of them, joking and laughing, loud voices although they were crossing streets where corpses were still waiting to be recognized. Luhan didn’t look at them, trying to distract himself with Minseok’s words.

And when they arrived at the river, the boys didn’t hesitate to scatter their clothes around and jump into the water. Minseok was tossing his shirt aside when he caught Luhan standing on the same spot, eyes on the ground and giving no sign of wanting to undress. Graireds, unlike him, were used to seeing each other as nature had built them; Luhan was told to preserve his body even from his family’s eyes, to make love in the darkness as clothed as possible, and to not observe any person that wasn’t properly dressed.

“Luhan?” Minseok called him, and his eyes sparkled in both realization and amusement. “Going to wash with clothes on? I bet you want to wipe off the blood and make sure you do it right. ”

The boy just blinked, wide eyed as Minseok approached him from behind. Minseok grasped the hem of his shirt and pulled it up softly, and Luhan couldn’t help but lift his arms to ease it; shirtless, he received a tender kiss on his shoulder blade, Minseok’s bare chest compact against his back.

“I’ll wait for you,” Minseok whispered, hidden laughter in his voice, and then walked to the river while taking off the rest of clothes.

Luhan delayed the moment, staring at Baekhyun and Jongin while they swam upstream, just because he wasn’t ready to observe Minseok in his whole nudity. And then, dubiously, he started undressing slowly, since Minseok’s eyes were on him full of expectation. It disturbed him to be observed this way, so he sunk into the cold as fast as he was able, water only reaching his waist and eyes casting down to his own body. However, within a second Minseok was by his side.

Luhan had anticipated it, but it wasn’t less of a shock when Minseok hugged him from behind, hands stroking down his abdomen. His muscles clenched at the touch, a soft gasp on the edge of his lips, and by the time Minseok was fisting his cock, arousal had taken over Luhan.

“You know why I brought you here, right?” Minseok asked, lips grazing under Luhan’s earlobe, tickling his neck.

Luhan shivered, but he knew the answer. “To fuck me?”

“Big words for such a little boy.” Minseok laughed, making him turn around. Facing him, Luhan was too overwhelmed at the way Minseok observed him to respond, and also too embarrassed at his own hardness. “Always wondered how it would be to fuck one of you.”

Minseok pulled him into a kiss before Luhan could even feel offended, about to point out that the joke wasn’t funny. He knew it was a game, a reminder that Luhan was betraying his own blood, being disposed to spread his legs for a graired, and it was too late to retreat. Not because Luhan wasn’t able, but because he didn’t want to either.

A low moan emerged from Luhan’s throat when Minseok gripped his ass, lifting him without problems thanks to the water, and the boy held onto him with his legs, too weak to stop it. His cock was fully hard, so the friction against Minseok’s abdomen made him close his eyes in pleasure. He heard Minseok’s heavy breathing for a second, right before he was sucking onto his neck, forcing Luhan to rub their bodies together one time after the other.

“Wait,” Luhan almost pleaded, logic sweeping through him drop by drop. “Baekhyun and Jongin.”

“They’re going to be busy for a while too,” Minseok murmured. “And they’re smart enough to not come back this way.”

Luhan believed him, whether it was a lie or not, because he wished to think they could really be alone. That whatever they did, Luhan wouldn’t have to regret it later; that Minseok respected him enough to make of this moment something private, not in the house, in the room next door where everyone would hear them. He wouldn’t be capable of it, as it was already hard to understand that Minseok was going to take him in a river during the daylight, no chance for Luhan to hide himself from his own needs.

Luhan drowned his face against the crook of Minseok’s, stifling whines until he was arranged on a compact, wet surface. He opened his eyes and realized they were out of the water almost completely, his back resting against several rocks as Minseok wandered his hands up along Luhan’s thighs. His skin lightened there where he was caressed, but Luhan’s attention was on Minseok’s nakedness, in the way he was so comfortable with it meanwhile Luhan was fighting the urge to cover himself.

He gasped faintly when Minseok pushed his inner thighs apart, but the boy didn’t acknowledge his signs of fear. Drops of water fell from Minseok’s hair and onto Luhan as he climbed the rocks to adjust himself between his legs, and Luhan couldn’t help but grasp his wrist in alarm, “We’re going too fast.”

There weren’t questions in Minseok’s eyes when he stared at Luhan, just the usual darkness that rarely disappeared. It didn’t scare Luhan, because that was a part of Minseok too, because he wasn’t laughter and jokes, and he never failed to return Luhan to reality and out of his imaginary fairytale. “That’s because we don’t have time.”

Luhan nodded, and then Minseok’s free hand played along the cleft of his ass. He thought that it was going to hurt; Minseok wouldn’t go soft on him. Even so, he released him and nodded, aware that the arousal hadn’t died down, but on the contrary. Minseok massaged him for a few seconds before one of his fingers slipped into Luhan. It was just one finger, but Luhan was beyond nervous, so the pain automatically shot through his body. Minseok didn’t retract it, a dry laugh as Luhan’s body arched, and demanded, “Calm down.”

Luhan gasped, though he didn’t do anything besides lying down again. A crooked smile expanded on Minseok’s lips, another finger pressing to enter, and a shared kiss that didn’t last long.

Luhan tried to follow his advice, breathing deep as the graired scissored inside him, deciding to abandon himself to Minseok’s will. He wasn’t careful enough, but at least did the minimum not to make Luhan cry out loud; instead he ripped hisses and curses from Luhan, ones that he had learned only during his time with him. It amused Minseok, who hovered over him to plant a kiss on his sternum, “Does it hurt?”

The fastest answer was a moan, words caught in his throat because Minseok’s tongue was licking his chest, tracing a slow, torturing route to his nipple. For a moment he thought he wouldn’t be able to take much more, but as Minseok reached his nipple, wet and warm awakening Luhan’s senses, he barely perceived the third finger.

“Touch yourself,” Minseok whispered, eyes flicking upwards to observe him.

He obeyed right away, conscious that Minseok was trying to distract him from the pain. Anyhow, he panicked when the fingers were gone, and his hands instantly flew to grasp Minseok’s neck while the boy supported himself on the rock, just to be able to find him in another kiss. This time his lips were hungry, feeding on the boy’s desperation and anxiety, and his hard dick brushed against Luhan’s.

“Legs up,” Minseok ordered, panting. “I’m going to fuck you so good, so good.”

Even though Luhan was frozen to respond, he had no option when Minseok grasped his thighs and pushed them against his chest, leaving him so exposed that he couldn’t help but to shy away. The tip of Minseok’s cock teased against the entrance, but it was just for a moment, a game that Minseok wouldn’t play. So, with a long stroke, he entered Luhan at once, not stopping at the cry the boy released or at the muttered plea that left his lips. It burned inside him, up to his spine and clouding all his senses, and everything around him danced without stability. He heard Minseok moan, head falling on his neck, and a general goosebump kicked him back to reality.

Minseok pushed inside him once more, but this time the worst stretching was already done, and Luhan rutted against him in approval. It caught Minseok off guard, as he panted desperate to be as deep into him as possible, and before Luhan processed anything else, Minseok was grasping him by the hips to regain control. Left without a chance to move, he took hit after hit, head thrown against the rock and backbone scraping over the surface, and heat invaded his whole body.

“Look at me,” Minseok told him, and Luhan was suddenly aware that he had closed his eyes. He listened, just to discover Minseok reaching for his chin, seizing it as his thumb forced Luhan’s lips to open. He bit on the finger obediently, but the moment he did only a litany of moans emerged, unable to stop now that the boy kept his mouth open. Minseok’s hips stuttered a few times, as though he was too aroused by it, and then he groaned a low, “I want to see the mess you are when you come.”

Luhan’s will was to comply, not that he could deny anything to Minseok when he looked like this, strands of wet hair covering his dark eyes and a possessive gaze that Luhan had never seen before. He let Minseok fuck him brutally against the rocks, not noticing they were sliding down bit by bit, until Luhan came untouched, grabbing a hold of Minseok’s arms. He was slightly trembling by the effort, but just a few more moves and he was coming too, strength disappearing right away as he crashed down onto Luhan.

It took him minutes to be able to support himself again, and while Luhan’s legs were still shaking, Minseok pulled out and patted him on the thigh, like he was rewarding him for behaving. “Go wash yourself, pretty.”

Luhan was used to being called pretty, beautiful and so on, yet they were compliments that only his class gave. Hearing it from Minseok, however, was different. It was intimate, a secret, because Minseok was not supposed to recognize beauty or anything that reminded him of the breach between them; he ignored that he was prettier than Luhan, prettier than anyone, for that matter.

“Where are you going?” Luhan asked, unsure, watching how Minseok picked up his wet, but clean clothes and started dressing.

“To see if my brother is already decent,” Minseok joked, and Luhan hugged his knees together, realizing that they weren’t especially decent either at the moment. “That’s if I find them.”

Luhan observed Minseok leave, feeling emptier and emptier as his figure disappeared among the trees. And then, getting into the water to clean himself, he became aware of his own loneliness. Right then, after months of confinement and coercion to stay by Minseok’s side all the time, he was free again. Alone, free, the owner of his acts and decisions. And he thought that maybe it was a signal, a silent trick from Minseok for him to do what he was dying to do, so he hurried out of the river clumsily, put his gray clothes on, and ran.

There was blood in the wall, a hole right where Jongin had sunk his fist into after the news. He and Baekhyun e had arrived to the house much later than Minseok, and had found a situation worse than chaos. Luhan had escaped. Minseok had lowered his guard, had softened and gotten distracted, and by the time he had wanted to search for Luhan, he was gone. Him, and his clothes, and all the trust and faith put on him.

Minseok was crying as they stepped into the house, and that was all Jongin needed to understand. He was muttering apologies, barely breathing in choked sobs, but no one was really paying attention to him. The boys were ready for something like this, moving around and collecting the little things they owned. Baekhyun, on the contrary, was the only one who knelt beside Minseok, caressing his hair and bringing him into a hug that, in Jongin's opinion, was useless. He loved his brother, but he had warned him about this: an upper class boy, one that wanted his brother back, on top of that, could never be someone to rely on. He loved Baekhyun, but he didn't comprehend that his friend was their death sentence right now. That was, of course, if Jongin didn't kill him first: Luhan had used his brother, betrayed him, and put his loved ones in danger. Jongin had just one type of answer for that.

"We have to sleep in different houses," Jongin announced when everyone has gathered at the door, surrounded by weapons and sheets. "I'm staying with Baekhyun, Minseok and Jongdae, and you can choose whoever you want as long as it's safe."

Jongin didn't wait for approval from the rest, taking a crying Minseok by the arm. Jongdae and Baekhyun followed them in silence, although Jongin was able to feel the silent plea from them: not to torture Minseok anymore, not to remind him he had been wrong about Luhan.

The next bombing, if it happened, was going to land directly at their house or at their shop, because Luhan knew exactly where it was located. They had little, and that traitorous, manipulative excuse of a person had taken it away from them.

They ended up in one of the northern quartels, a place where they would be completely exposed against a bombing, but it was the best they had now. When Baekhyun slipped by his side that night, looking for signs of weakness that Jongin wasn't disposed to show, he realized that if Baekhyun died after all, he was going to follow his fate without hesitating a moment.

"You should be talking to Minseok," Baekhyun whispered to him, eyes shining both with patience and fondness. "Jongdae is getting sick again too, so you're the only on-"

"Stop it," Jongin interrupted him. Even though his tone had been harsh, Baekhyun wasn't affected for it. Jongin's hand cupped his cheek and he leaned against it, eyes closed, and he knew he shouldn't press him with the topic. "I'm so lost right now. I can't believe I allowed this to happen."

Baekhyun's eyelids fluttered open again, a delicate frown blooming. "It's not your fault. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine to begin with. Because I chose this path, and Luhan decided I was worth the effort. I brought him to you."

It was evident Jongin wasn't content with that reasoning, but he didn't express it apart from an exasperated sigh. Much to his shock, Baekhyun let out a shaky, happy laugh at his reaction, and Jongin noticed that even in the most dangerous of moments, Baekhyun's laughter lightened him whole.

Although Jongin got an insignificant amount of sleep, he jumped right away when alarmed voices rang out inside the quartel. However, Baekhyun was a heavy sleeper, so he had to shake him off carefully before running to the entrance. His two brothers were already there, next to one of their instructors, a tall man called Changmin that once had broken Jongin's arm during a fight. He still remembered how mad his parents had gotten, believing that Jongin would cure the bad way and he would be disabled for the rest of his life.

"The boy is back," Changmin explained as soon as he appeared, still half asleep.

Minseok was crying, again. Jongin panicked within, astounded at the meaning of this, but a part of him still wanted to destroy Luhan. Why was he back? Why had he left then, if he planned to stay in the Suburbs either way?

"Where is he?" Jongin asked, drawing Minseok's eyes towards him.

"Don't hurt him," his brother said, wiping his tears as though no one had seen him crying. "He didn't hurt us."

A bitter smile emerged right before Jongin replied, "Not yet. You can't be sure of that." And then, turning to Changmin once more, he repeated, "Where is he?"

"In your house, waiting. We have the place surrounded just in case it's a trap."

Deep inside, Jongin felt reticent to go back home so soon. It didn't give him good vibes, as if he had already accepted he wasn't going to live there again. He didn't remember at which point his priorities had changed, when protecting Baekhyun and his brothers had transformed into the most important task, instead of deluding Baekhyun to be their leader and forcing him to become the driving force that would change everything from within the government itself. He had lost years of training in a moment, since his first urge wasn’t killing Luhan for being a traitor; he considered his brother’s feelings.

Minseok didn't allow him to part without waking Baekhyun up and telling him first, and of course, the guy insisted that they couldn't go without him. Jongin prayed to the gods that it wasn't a trap, because if it was, there would be only two options: they would die, or they would lose Baekhyun because he would be rescued.

And with all that, nothing happened when they appeared at the house, except for the fact that Luhan was tied and gagged, Kyungsoo's shoe restraining his head against the floor. Nevertheless, Luhan’s eyes darted automatically to Minseok when he crossed the door, and then the silence spread like venom among them.

Minseok shouted something at Kyungsoo, who hurried to remove his foot from Luhan's head, and a second later Minseok had helped Luhan to sit up again, slapped him in what could have been a punch too, and crashed against his chest in sobs.

But that became just a noisy background, Jongin's eyes falling on the other person he hadn't noticed before: another upper class boy, not tied, hunched in the corner over a backpack. Everything about him was unsettling, from the way he clutched the backpack to how all his care was on Baekhyun’s silhouette, lower lip wobbling as if he was about to break into tears.

Jongin didn’t wait a second, walking to him and grasping the boy by the hair. He yelped like a dying animal, but Jongin didn’t soften at it. “Who are you? What’s in that backpack?”

No one was expecting though that Baekhyun would go forward with an alarmed gasp, trying to push them apart. The reaction made Jongin release the boy within a second, flabbergasted, but then Baekhyun was calling out a foreign name, taking the stranger in his arms in a way that Jongin knew, just knew that this guy shouldn’t be here. “Junmyeon, no, no, no,” he screamed, and then, turning to Luhan. “Why did you bring him? Are you crazy? Do you want him dead?”

“He wasn’t safe there!”

“He was safer than anyone here!” Baekhyun’s rage was something unusual, however, it died down as soon as Jongin pulled him back, far from a terrified Junmyeon who sat down to grasp his backpack again.

“It’s done. There’s no use in arguing,” Minseok cut in. His voice made everyone stare at him in accusation, and although he knew that defending Luhan’s mistakes would be considered a betrayal, he didn’t withdrew his words. “Open the backpack. If there’s nothing dangerous, we don’t have a reason to punish them.”

When Jongin opened the backpack, the silence was deafening. Dozens of little medicine packages spread over the floor, ones that graireds were seeing for the first time in their lives, and none of the guys knew how to react at that.

Luhan had brought another enemy to their territory, but he had risked getting caught too to get Jongdae some medicines. Of course he couldn’t be sure about what was making Jongdae ill, so he had decided to bring as many medicines as possible, opting the most for the possibility that he had some kind of parasite inside him.

“We’re going to start with this one,” Luhan announced that morning, pushing two little pills out of the tablet. Jongdae still frowned at him, like he had been during the last hours, because he claimed that it was impossible he had an animal inside him. That was until he had caught Jongin sobbing in a corner, Baekhyun giggling and trying to cover him so that he didn’t embarrass himself, and had given up on his hot-headed attitude. “You have to tell me every little change you notice, and if there isn’t any in a long time, we’ll go with something different.”

As a response, Jongdae opened his mouth and let Luhan drop the pills inside it, and then snarled, “Heard yourself? You don’t talk like you anymore, not even a bit.”

Luhan was conscious of it. The realization had engulfed him while talking to Junmyeon, who had kept asking him to repeat words and full sentences, besides telling him that he had to speak slower, much slower. At last, he had decided to stop asking questions, but the questions accumulated in his mind during the next few hours, so when the boys left that afternoon, he turned to his brother with an uncertainty that was new to both of them.

“How much time?” Luhan inquired, trapped between wanting to know and wanting to live in ignorance.

Junmyeon stared at him for a few seconds before lowering his gaze to the dirty floor. A negative jerk of his head, and Luhan’s guts writhed.

However, he ignored the advice, insisting, “More than a year?”

“More than a year,” Junmyeon confirmed then, and as he looked up at him, he read all the reproach that Junmyeon had against him. “At least since Baekhyun left.”

Too many months on his own and, if it had been difficult to deal with Baekhyun’s absence, that couldn’t be comparable to a brother’s disappearance. Though in all honesty, a part of Luhan, the one that had been sharpened by Minseok’s words and treatment, wished to remind Junmyeon that he had pushed Luhan to do it.

It didn’t matter anymore, thus Luhan kept his words to himself. He had brought his brother here for a reason, and even if everyone thought he was foolish to believe he was safer in this place, Luhan had no doubts about it. They could always come back, or at least Junmyeon could. Luhan was given freedom now, since he had no more motives to leave them - Minseok - and he discovered that the problem wasn’t the fact that he had been a captive all this time. The problem now was that he didn’t want to leave.

It was two days later, however, when Junmyeon created a fight within the house. Luhan was laying with Minseok, tangled in sheets as the latter talked about how he had gotten his first shoes (Jongin had stolen them from Baekhyun, though that was apparently something that the president’s son never noticed, owning too many shoes), when the noise rose up from the other room. Both of them ran to it, just to find Junmyeon over Jongin, hitting him, and Baekhyun with his arms around Junmyeon’s neck in an attempt to separate them.

The reason for Junmyeon’s outburst was that he had spotted Jongin kissing Baekhyun. Luhan had forgotten the admiration Junmyeon used to feel towards Baekhyun, one that wasn’t entirely healthy, or not entirely admiration, so it took him by surprise that his brother was disposed to come to blows. It was then when Jongin gave Luhan the first warning, and also the last. They didn’t have time to worry about petty jealousy, and if Luhan was unable to control Junmyeon, they both would have to leave.

Later on, Luhan would think they had been rather lucky, that it could have been worse, for example, if they had been caught with all the boys inside the house. But in the moment it happened, it didn’t seem like it could get any worse.

They were intercepted at night, when most of the group was out. It was unfortunate it was the first night that Baekhyun and Jongin rested instead of working, because that meant that the authorities had hit the jackpot. Two graireds, one who had been a servant in the president’s house since he was little, and three upper class boys, Byun Baekhyun, the golden ticket, among them.

Luhan didn't understand anything at first. He was pulled out of his dreams by a yank of his hair, strong arms that hauled him over the floor as he screamed. The screams weren't coming only from him, but it took him a while to realize what was happening, why everyone was being forced down by guards except Baekhyun. Luhan suspected, at the beginning, but then the surprise - the apparition of a miracle - was evident in the guards' faces, and Baekhyun looked too confused and hurt, eyes bulging towards Jongin, to be guilty.

"Don't!" His voice startled the several guards inside the house, and the big man that was holding him back couldn't do anything but obey, given that, even disappearing for more than a year, Baekhyun was still his superior.

Baekhyun knelt by Jongin right away, pushing the guard away, but he was smart enough not to give any sign of attachment. Seconds later, Luhan felt how he was being freed too, guards that recognized him and Junmyeon; on the other hand, Minseok was a prisoner. And it was in that exact moment when the panic invaded Luhan, the realization that Minseok wasn't registered in the data base. That he had made sure not to exist to the government, an illegal decision that converted him into a criminal.

"They did not do me any harm!" Baekhyun continued, and it was surprising that, despite being in such a situation, he managed to sound like he didn't belong to the graireds. Elegant, calm, fake. "They helped me and Luhan to escape. They contacted Junmyeon so that he searched for us without spurring a rebellion. I was scared. I was-"

"Sir." A guard placed his hand on Baekhyun's shoulder, as though he concluded he needed it. For a fleeting second, Baekhyun looked disgusted at being touched, and Jongin wrapped a sneaky hand around his wrist as to stop him. "They must give us their names. We must bring you home safely."

Luhan glanced over at Minseok, still terrified because of what was ahead for him. They were upper class boys and they would be okay returning to what everyone thought was their home. Jongin had been faithful to the government all his life, and now Baekhyun would testify anything for him, so he wouldn't have much trouble either. But Minseok was outside of the law, and neither Baekhyun nor his father could save him from paying.

Baekhyun was blank for a moment, unsaid words in the air. "How did you find us?"

No one noticed the rage behind the question, at least not the ones who should have. It was necessary to know that Baekhyun had grown roots here, that he didn't want to be found, that he would have killed all those guards without remorse if he had had the chance.

But then again it didn't matter, not when one of the guards flashed a grin towards his Sir, and very proud of himself, announced, "Kim Junmyeon. He still has his Mobiward."

Chances were that Minseok would be beheaded. It wouldn't the first time that, once an unregistered graired was found, he would be accused of some unresolved crime. Because it was the perfect excuse, a “we did not manage to find the criminals because they weren't recorded in the database” fit the citizens’ thirst for vengeance. It wasn't possible to catch a ghost, until it was possible. Luhan had just led the way.

We are honored to remind you that the Ceremony of Succession will take place today at 11:00 p.m. in the Square. Attendance is optional, yet highly encouraged.

“Luhan?”

Minseok’s voice startled him, his old Mobiward slipping from his hands and onto the couch. It was odd that, regardless of the last few months that Minseok had gone through, he could still sound so authoritarian. It was strange that, even though Luhan had to take care of him and his wounds, he still felt like Minseok was the one who protected him.

He thought he didn’t deserve Minseok, and that he should know. Minseok, who had forgiven his mistakes even though they could have cost his life. Minseok, who had tried to go back to the Suburbs after his punishment, until Luhan had literally forced him to stay.

“Are you okay?” Luhan asked instead, so much tension in his jaw that it hurt to talk.

Minseok’s frame stood out against the light coming from the bedroom, obscuring any expression in darkness, so Luhan could only listen to his voice when he answered, “It’s cold. The scars, they hurt.”

Luhan always grasped the consolation that Minseok was still alive. Baekhyun had kept him this way, in exchange of a session of lashing. It had seemed a good idea back then, when Luhan was selfish enough to beg Minseok to accept the law, when he promised him that someday people wouldn’t have to endure that kind of humiliation. But it was thanks to Baekhyun, thanks to the heroic characters he had built for the three brothers, that no one had dared to ask for Minseok’s death. And as much as it affected Minseok’s pride to admit it, the fact that he was strikingly beautiful and that they had studied his genome and discovered that he shouldn’t have been a graired anyhow had eased the process.

Minseok sat by him, bare, pale legs catching Luhan’s attention for a moment. Then he reached out for Minseok’s back, pressed his fingers against the wounds just enough to check if they were inflamed. They weren’t, but the pain drew a hiss from the boy anyways. “Take you painkillers,” Luhan muttered, aware that Minseok usually avoided doing it.

(He accumulated the painkillers instead. Luhan had discovered the box under their bed, but when he had confronted Minseok about it, he had responded with a defensive, “No one knows when I will be kicked out to my class again. I have to be ready.” Luhan feared that the reason was he would abandon him sooner or later).

Minseok narrowed his eyes at the Mobiward, where the notification still shone bright. “Will you go?”

“No.” Luhan wanted to see the Ceremony of Succession, but Baekhyun had ordered him not to, claiming that he would assist to a fake speech and a false friend taking the power he had always despised. “Will you?”

He shook his head. “Jongin won’t either. I asked him yesterday, and he sounded upset about it. This is not what we wanted for Baekhyun, but it’s the first plan we were trained to do. Somewhat, it’s like we succeeded.”

His words didn’t come out like they were from a winner, and Luhan didn’t hesitate to lean forward to wipe away the sad grimace. Minseok bit his lower lip, closing his eyes, and stroked Luhan’s jaw to make him go further. Luhan had been extremely careful since the whipping, a tenderness that Minseok wasn’t accustomed to or needed, and that had pushed them to a game of interests every time they were intimate. Minseok was the one who initiated the kisses, while Luhan was the one who was worried Minseok would get hurt; he couldn’t lay on his back for Luhan to climb over him, so he always managed to pin Luhan down instead, hiding that his wounds opened with certain movements. When Luhan scolded him the next morning, he would flash a satisfied smirk towards him, choosing silence.

Luhan wasn’t able to say no. Intimacy was what they had missed in the Suburbs, moments which they could spend alone, and when Baekhyun had offered them a room in his home, they had no strength to refuse it. Even the bathroom was bigger than Minseok’s whole house, and Luhan was happy that even if he couldn’t get Minseok a house for himself, they had the chance to live there for a while.

“You’re so beautiful,” Luhan murmured after breaking the kiss.

Minseok scowled, confusedly diverting his eyes to the ground, and Luhan let a smile bloom as he insisted, “So beautiful. Not only outside.”

The boy didn’t answer, because wording his thoughts wasn’t as vital as before. Now they enjoyed the silences, the time passing by without making them feel ill. It wasn’t a countdown, not anymore, when Minseok undressed him and touched him with patience, as though he wished he would have done it earlier.

They hadn’t planned on talking to Baekhyun the night after the Ceremony of Succession. They had switched off the television and the Mobiwards, although the windows weren’t thick enough to muffle the music and the joyfulness. It was when the darkness came that the surroundings rested in silence again, and they got ready for bed until a knock on their door alarmed them.

It didn’t strike them as strange that it was Jongin, with his servant’s uniform, whom Baekhyun had sent. “The very stupid president wants to discuss stupid things at this hour of the night,” he announced, and Luhan cracked a grin at the bitterness in Jongin’s voice.

“It’s because you don’t do a good job distracting him,” Minseok jabbed at him, quirking an eyebrow.

Jongin scowled at his brother, offended. “Mind your own business. Or mind Jongdae, who has been whining to me about how you’re ignoring him all the time.”

However, Luhan was already putting his shoes on, and Minseok imitated him, not wanting to lose the opportunity to nose into whatever Baekhyun planned to say. “Did Jongdae go to the Ceremony?”

Jongin nodded in disinterest, though Luhan supposed that would be the response anyways. Baekhyun had made sure to paint Jongdae as another hero, but just like Jongin, he wasn’t given the chance to change from the class he belonged to. They didn’t have the right genes for it. He had just become Baekhyun’s servant, even if he did anything except serve him.

“How’s Baekhyun?” Minseok asked as they walked through the halls, Jongin ahead of them.

“Grumpy. Serious. The bad kind.”

“He will be a good leader,” Minseok said, as if he could read his brother’s fears. “He’s not going to fail us.”

Much to their surprise, Jongin passed Baekhyun’s room without a mere glance, guiding them somewhere else. It was then when Luhan noticed Jongin’s strained shoulders, the mouth pressed in a thin line, and knew they weren’t going to have a pleasant chat.

Nevertheless, Baekhyun was waiting for them inside a baby’s room, blue and orange walls and a huge crib that was definitely not empty. Minseok’s hand fisting the back of his shirt held Luhan from voicing out his confusion, but the way Baekhyun eyed them showed he knew. He was wearing his pajamas, bare feet, and he looked just like a kid, not like someone who was supposed to take his father’s place, to rule a whole country and not crumble in the process.

“I need Minseok,” Baekhyun spat out without previous consideration.

Luhan wasn’t sure of agreeing, but Minseok overtook him with a clear, “For anything.”

Baekhyun approached him with several nods as Jongin walked over to the crib. Even though Minseok had his gaze set on Baekhyun, anticipating the orders and the explanations, Luhan couldn’t help but observe Jongin, arms getting into the crib to take a tiny baby from it.

“I need you as a proof of how this system doesn’t work,” Baekhyun continued. “I need you in my campaign, in my strategy, in my house and my work. I need your face on the streets, in the conferences, at public events, everywhere. They must think about you all the time, about the errors of the system and its consequences. And I want them to see your scars.”

“No,” Luhan immediately replied, though he was aware he wasn’t the person to decide it.

Baekhyun’s glare flew towards him for a second, warning him that he was being a nuisance, that he didn’t understand and that he had never understood, and then peace took over his features as he spoke again, “They understand beauty, so the only thing that can horrify them is beauty being destroyed. They need to see how the system has messed up your body, and they need it now.”

It didn’t matter how much Luhan was apprehensive to the idea, Minseok had the right to do whatever he pleased with his own life and body. He wasn’t sure how much Minseok was affected by his scars, but somehow he suspected they had different views on the topic. Perhaps because as Baekhyun had said, Luhan had been taught to value beauty, meanwhile Minseok didn’t appreciate his outer skin, not even a little.

“Luhan, you’re the only man with power that I trust,” Baekhyun told him after a long pause. There was something similar to pride on his face, a way of staring that was new to Luhan. A way that misplaced Luhan from his past self, eyes that reminded him of how deeply he had fallen in love with a graired, how there was no turning back for him. “I can’t commend this to Junmyeon because, if he realizes what our aim is, he might turn his back on us.”

Before Luhan could ask, Jongin had pulled the baby into his arms, bringing him to Luhan. The boy stared at the baby for a moment, an infant that wasn’t older than a year, and then welcomed him in hesitation. The baby fisted his hands against Luhan’s chest, and his mouth became dry as he inquired, “What is it?”

“He will be yours,” Baekhyun answered, and Luhan was about to laugh, to make fun of the joke, until he registered the guys’ faces: no one else seemed humored by the statement. “He will carry your last name and you will tell everyone he’s an adopted graired. But you must keep him where no one sees him, ever. No one should see his face for the rest of his life.”

Next to him, Minseok stopped breathing. A chill ran over Luhan’s back, yet he didn’t dare turn his head and read what had shocked Minseok so much. “Baekhyun,” he mumbled instead. “You’re scaring me.”

A soft frown appeared on Baekhyun’s face, but that wasn’t what troubled Luhan. It was the weight between his arms, a living creature that had emerged from nowhere and had been shoved towards him. Luhan didn’t understand anything.

However, it was Minseok who spoke this time, as though he needed no more clarification to get the plan. “A rebellion will only happen if there’s a successor to take his place, and we shouldn’t give them that option.”

As Luhan gazed over at Minseok, he only feared. He would do anything as long as he was allowed to be by Minseok’s side, he would be a pawn of the game if that meant he would get to love him in peace, without barriers.

“A successor?” Luhan gulped, uncomfortable, and he put his attention on Baekhyun once more. They hadn’t talked about murdering the baby, at least, but prohibiting him to live a normal life was no better either. “You can’t hide your family away like they’re criminals, they-”

“Look at him carefully, Luhan,” Baekhyun interrupted him right away, uptight. Minseok reached for the baby’s hand, fingers touching fingers, and Luhan noticed Minseok was trembling like he had never done before. “He’s not my brother.”

Luhan observed the baby. His eyes, his nose, the way his mouth curled up into a smile when Minseok caressed him, and a great dread blurred his vision. It wasn’t necessary anymore, yet Baekhyun still added, “It’s me. Again.”