The room was silent, frozen in time.

Wooyoung fell to his knees, shocked at what he saw.

Lily had twisted just enough, bringing her arms forward to help drive the knife down into her father's chest. She pushed. Once, twice. The entire blade disappeared into his skin.

Her father reached up, grabbing her jaw so hard she thought he would break it. He laughed. The light left his eyes.

Lily screamed into the tape still covering her mouth, then Wooyoung was there, turning her from the sight and pulling her into his chest.

He slowly guided her to the back of the room and sat in the corner. He pulled her into his lap and rocked her back and forth.

She didn't know what she was feeling right now. It felt like all the emotions flew through her head at once. Relief, anger, sadness, joy, fear, pain, sorrow, confusion. There was no one word to describe why Lily cried.

Wooyoung reached down and worked the tape off her mouth slowly. She whimpered as it pulled against her skin, then buried her face into his neck as soon as she was free.

He shushed her, still rocking her back and forth while running his hand down her hair and back.

After a few minutes, the door opened and Hongjoong ran in, followed by several police officers. He paused, wide-eyed, as he took in the room. He looked to the others, wanting answers, but they were still speechless.

Finally, San moved and picked up a jacket that had been discarded on the ground and brought it to Wooyoung to wrap around Lily. He sat next to them, placing a comforting hand on Wooyoung's leg.

The last person to arrive was the boys' manager. He quickly started speaking to the police, then turned to come and kneel in front of the three in the corner. "I'm getting this taken care of. Try to keep her calm, they are going to want to speak with her."

"Make sure they send someone to bring my father in too. He had a hand in this as well."

The man nodded then left the room.

Still crying, Lily saw the others standing awkwardly off to the side. She raised a shaky hand in their direction, and they rushed over to her. Just as before, they all found some place to lay a hand on her so she could feel their presence.

When a man in a trench coat entered the room, Hongjoong was the first to greet him.

"Son." Said the taller man. He quickly pulled a badge out of his coat. "Can you tell me what happened here?"

"Can you assure me that you don't work for the man laying over there? We've been deceived by the police before." He crossed his arms.

The man nodded and flipped his badge over. He was from a detective agency a few cities away.

Satisfied, Hongjoong signed and rubbed the back of his head. "It's a long story, where do you want me to start?"

"Let's start wherever is most comfortable for everyone. I'd like to speak to you all at once to try and make this easier, but let's move into another room, shall we?" He looked back at the people photographing the scene.

San helped Wooyoung lift Lily up so he could carry her. She clung to him, still crying, but it was silent tears now.

They moved down the hallway into what looked like had been set up as an employee lounge. Wooyoung sat in the middle of the biggest couch and the other's crowded around him so they could still be in contact with Lily.

The detective looked over the group, his hard face faltering when he saw Lily. "Ok... We are going to try and get this done at once. I know you've been through a lot tonight. My only ask is to not talk all at once and do your best to give the accurate truth." He pulled up a chair and grabbed a tape recorder from his pocket.

When he nodded, the boys started into their tale, realizing just how crazy it really sounded.

They spoke of how they met Lily, how she was, how she acted. Of Wooyoung entering her house and how they wanted to help her. Of the bruises they found. They spoke of when they found Lily for the first time, chained to the wall. Of how they bonded and performed at school, then of her attempted kidnap. Of how San was shot. Of how Lily left, and they searched for her. They spoke of Wooyoung's father tricking him to go to the strip club, of Lily's rescue, then the reappearance of his father and how he kidnapped Wooyoung to trade for Lily. Of her being shot protecting Mingi. Of the events that happened tonight.

Lily also told the detective her story. The adoption, Carol's death, her father's decline, the death of her friend...

Many tears were shed, but the detective was patient. If he hadn't seen the scene in the other room, he might not have believed it. Lily had even been willing to show him her current injuries, which caused San to swear and run from the room to find something for her gunshot wound. The detective couldn't believe his eyes. When he thanked her, she immediately covered herself in the jacket and the boys shifted around her too, resuming their comforting touches.

"Thank you." The detective said quietly, bowing to them. "I know this was not easy for you to re-live, and I regret to say you may have to do it again if we have any further questions." He then directed his gaze to Lily. "Would you like a paramedic to come in and examine you?"

When she didn't say anything, Wooyoung nodded to the man.

The medic did her best to patch Lily up and gave her some medicine for the pain and to help her sleep when they got home.

When they were dismissed, everyone piled into the bus and their manager drove them home. San and Yeosang ran into the house first and met them in the main room with a mountain of blankets and pillows, as well as some clothes for Lily.

They all went into the studio and set up a giant bed on the floor so they could all stay together that night.

Lily could feel the medicine starting to kick in. She nuzzled Wooyoung's chest with her nose, curling into him. He returned the action by rubbing his cheek against the top of her head.

She felt one hand reach for hers and recognized Yunho's soft touch. Seonghwa laid behind her, running his fingers gently down her back and singing softly.

Home.

Safe.

Loved.

---

The next morning, Wooyoung woke her up early to bring her upstairs into the bathroom to clean her up. Lily sat on the side of the tub again, watching Wooyoung fuss over her new wounds. He let out a long string of curse words when he got to her bullet wound. She just smiled at him, so glad to be with him again. It was strange, she didn't feel any pain when he pressed on anything.

He worked quickly to change the bandage, making sure to apply disinfectant cream first.

"Thank you." She said softly. Wooyoung looked up at her and faltered when he saw the slight smile on her face. He had been expecting her to form her shell again, but the soft twinkle in her eyes brought tears to his own.

She lifted a hand and wiped the tears threatening to roll down his cheeks, then kissed the top of his head. "Thank you for coming for me. And, thank you for loving me."

Wooyoung pulled her into his arms, "D-don't say such s-stupid th-things."

Lily held him tight, savoring his touch. Part of her thought she'd never get to feel him again, but she never gave up hope.

"Thank you for saving me." She said, she could feel him shaking against her. "I managed to get through this because of you. Whenever things got worse, all I could think about... was you, Wooyoung."

They sat there for a long moment, thankful to be together again.

Too soon, they made their way back down to the studio to join the others.

The group of friends only left the room to use the bathroom and get food. Otherwise, they did the best they could to try and keep the mood light by playing games or telling jokes.

Wooyoung never let go of Lily, not that she wanted him to. He anchored her. She often found herself pressing her face to the side of his neck just to breathe him in and remind herself that she was safe.

Home.

Safe.

Loved.

The boys' manager came to check on them that evening, also informing them he had postponed their next concert by another two weeks to give them time to recover. He apologized to Lily several times for letting this happen to her when they had tried to warn him about her situation.

She shook away his apology and told him not to worry about it.

When he left, she felt Wooyoung's breath against her neck and he started to nibble on her ear.

She tried to pull away and burst out laughing.

The other boys turned to them in shock, and then joined in. Jongho pulled her into his arms in a way that said he was trying to 'protect' her from Wooyoung. The others held Wooyoung back as he laughed and called for the youngest to come back.

He held Lily to him and spun in a few circles, making a ridiculous face the entire time.

Somehow this turned into a game of keep-away as the boys, being careful to be gentle, passed her between them while Wooyoung ran around the room yelling at the top of his lungs.

They were quite the sight to see, but it was the happiest Lily had been in a long time. When they finally got tired and Wooyoung managed to get her back, he placed her in his lap and surrounded her with both his arms and legs, glaring playfully at his friends.

---

Lily's next big test came a few weeks later. She was resting on the couch, designing a new outfit, when the detective dropped by to give them a visit.

He sat with her, asking how her recovery was and how she was doing with everything.

"I'm doing... ok. I don't really know what else to say about it. It's still a lot to process."

"And I'm sure you'll never truly get over it, unfortunately... But I did want to come by and go over a few things with you. Your... ah, father, never left a will. But because there are legal adoption papers, the state has decided to give everything to you. The house, the club, all his assets. They are yours."

Lily stared at him, her mouth opening slightly.

At that moment, Wooyoung stepped out of the studio to come check on her and rushed over to her side. He looked her over once, then turned to the detective. "What's going on?"

"Ah, I'm glad you're here. I need to speak to you too."

"About what?" He wrapped an arm protectively around Lily.

"Well, your father has been arrested. We were able to bring him in when we found his name on the lease to that club. And once we were able to investigate further, we unraveled all his secret dealings. He is going to be in jail for a very long time."

"Good."

"That being said," He glanced at Lily's still frozen face. "Much like what I just told Lily... His fortune, what we know of at least, is yours. I don't know what happened between you two, but he still had you listed as his successor in his will."

"I don't want it. Any of it." Wooyoung said quickly. "I never have. I'm surprised I'm still listed."

"And what about you?"

Lily swallowed. "I... The only request I have is that the club is shut down and all those people are freed. Other than that, I don't want anything either. I got what I wanted. My freedom." She looked at Wooyoung for those last words and smiled.

"There is a lot of money in this for both of you..." The detective hesitated.

"I don't care." They said at the same time.

"Give it to charity." Lily said. "To the foster homes, and to help kids in need so hopefully they never have to go through what I did..."

Wooyoung felt his lip tremble at her words, then nodded in agreement.

The detective nodded, smiling slightly. "I'll get the paperwork drawn up and have it brought by for you to sign later this week." He stood to leave, then paused. "Oh, there's one more thing." He looked back at Lily. "Do you... what do you want us to do with his ashes? When we completed investigating everything we needed to, we cremated him..."

Lily looked down for a long moment, then closed her eyes. "Will you... Will you bury him... Next to Carol?"