The first time Hyungwon came to school with a broken bone was in the second grade.

"This is so awesome," Hoseok gushed, his eyes lit up by a new adventure as he clutched his sandwich between his tiny fingers, pressing too hard and leaving fingerprint-sized indentations in the bread.

"I guess so," Hyungwon agreed uncertainly, his eyes looking a little duller than usual as they flitted around the surrounding faces at his lunch table. The '93 and '94 liners shared the same lunch hour, which meant that most of Hyungwon's friends weren't in his grade, but that was okay. He didn't need a lot of friends in his class anyway.

"Now everyone is friends with you," Minhyuk said with a grin. "Look, even Hyunwoo-hyung signed your cast, and he barely talks to anyone."

"Yeah," Hyungwon said, looking down at his cast-enveloped arm to spot the familiar signature from the hyung in his gym class. "That was nice of him."

"You're so cool now," Jooheon said, looking impressed, which was big, for Jooheon. Jooheon was pretty popular in their class, and all the other boys were always straining to gain his approval. Hyungwon didn't see the point. "I bet you're even cooler than Changkyun."

Changkyun was a '96 liner who had skipped a grade, so he was one year below Hyungwon and Jooheon. While Hyungwon had gym with Hyunwoo, Minhyuk, and Hoseok, Jooheon had his gym hour with Changkyun and Kihyun. Hyungwon had never met Changkyun, but Jooheon made him sound interesting.

"Ah, I don't know about that," Hyungwon said, scratching at the back of his neck before reaching for his juice box with his good hand.

"Here, let me help you," Hoseok said, taking Hyungwon's juice box in his hand before Hyungwon could reach it and adjusting the straw's angle before holding it up in front of Hyungwon's mouth.

Hyungwon blinked several times, surprised, before opening his mouth and closing his lips around the straw, taking several sips before pulling back and nodding at Hoseok to set it down. "Uh, thank you."

"You're welcome," Hoseok said with a smile before Minhyuk threw an arm around Hoseok's shoulders and rubbed at his head.

"He's just trying to get close to you so he can be popular too," Minhyuk accused. "Don't be fooled, Hyungwon!"

"Okay..."

"No, Minhyuk's lying to you! I was just being nice, which is something that Minhyuk could learn from!"

"All right..."

The two went on bickering, eventually drawing Kihyun into their argument, and even though Hyungwon's arm hurt, he was happy that everyone else seemed excited about it. It was kind of nice.

--

The next incident was just a year later. Hyungwon and Jooheon were in the same class that year, but they no longer had lunch with their friends, which meant that when Hyungwon came in with a broken leg and a pair of crutches, Jooheon was the first and only one of Hyungwon's friends to know. Although they now had lunch with Changkyun, so he found out too. But Hyungwon didn't really know if Changkyun was his friend or just Jooheon's friend that sat with them.

"Does it hurt?" Changkyun asked at lunch, taking a few bites of his sandwich while looking up at Hyungwon for his reply.

"Um." Hyungwon looked down at his leg as though trying to remember. "A little, I guess. Not so much anymore as when I broke it."

"How'd you break it?" Jooheon asked, bumping shoulders with Changkyun. "Everybody was making up wild stories."

"Like what?" Hyungwon asked, genuinely curious as he looked back and forth between the two of them. He didn't talk to many of their classmates, so hearing them talk about him was odd in a sense but intensely fascinating to him.

"Someone said you kicked a '93 liner in the face so hard that you smashed his face in and broke your leg all at once," Changkyun started, scanning Hyungwon's face for his reaction.

"No, I don't really want to hurt anyone."

Changkyun seemed a little disappointed by Hyungwon's statement, but Jooheon spoke up next.

"All right, what about you were learning to skateboard and went down that giant hill behind the school and it went too fast and you fell off and broke your leg?"

"No, my parents don't let me skateboard. They say it's dangerous."

"Dang it," Jooheon said, sighing as he slumped down, his back curving out as he propped up his face with his fists. "That one would have been really cool. Are you sure I can't just tell people that's the truth? It would make you look super awesome and I would look awesome because I'm your friend."

Hyungwon just shrugged, looking down at his lunch, but he didn't have much of an appetite. Everyone already thinks you're awesome, he wanted to say, but what came out of his mouth instead was "You can tell people whatever you want."

"Really?" Jooheon asked, immediately perking up with a grin on his face. "Sweet! We're going to be the most popular kids in our grade! Just wait, Hyungwon. Soon all the dongsaengs will look up to us, and all of the hyungs will want to be our friends!"

"I like the friends we had," Hyungwon mumbled, picking up his sandwich in an effort to motivate himself into eating, but when he was staring at it and still felt nothing encouraging from his stomach, he sighed and set it back down, sealing up the plastic bag so he could eat it later, maybe.

Jooheon, sensing Hyungwon's mood change, shot a nervous look at Changkyun before leaning in a little closer. "Hey, it's all right, Hyungwon. We'll be in their lunch hour next year. And besides, you've got me and Changkyun until then."

"I know," Hyungwon said, feeling guilty, so he looked up and smiled at the two of them. "You're really good friends." And Hyungwon meant what he said, only sometimes he felt like they were too good of friends for each other, and Hyungwon felt a little left out. They just seemed to match up so well. Hyungwon knew that Changkyun would have broken his leg doing something cool. He felt a little lame next to the two of them.

--

Two years later, they were all in middle school together, and because everyone had lunch at the same time, they all got to sit together.

"You broke your arm again?" Hoseok asked incredulously, looking less excited than he'd been three years ago at the same occurrence.

"Yeah," Hyungwon said, trying not to look at the new cast, but it was like an itch in the back of his mind. Still, he resisted, forcing himself to look over at Hoseok instead. He had missed his hyungs, Hoseok especially.

"I can't even remember Hyungwon without a cast," Kihyun joked, and the whole table laughed in agreement, as Hyungwon always seemed to be injuring himself. Hyungwon laughed along but with less certainty.

"Didn't you ask anyone to sign it?" Minhyuk asked a few moments later, looking down at the blank surface.

Hyungwon shrugged. "I didn't really feel like it this time. Too much work."

"Well can I sign?" Minhyuk asked. "It looks so sad when it's blank."

Hyungwon shrugged obligingly, and Minhyuk dug around in his backpack for a minute or two before pulling out a Sharpie and doodling a bit. Everybody else wanted to sign it as well, including Changkyun, who Hyungwon had decided was a friend not just of Jooheon but of himself.

Soon, his cast was covered in names and jokes and poor drawings, and Hyungwon smiled down at it, finding Minhyuk's words to be true since it now looked less sad and pathetic.

Hoseok signed last, adding a large smiley face next to his name, but he found himself unable to mirror the smile. By the time he realized that he'd forgotten to ask how Hyungwon had broken his arm again, lunch was over, and it was soon forgotten.

--

Years passed, and by the time Hyungwon was in his second year of high school, he'd broken his left arm three times, his right arm twice, and each of his legs once. The excitement from second grade all those years ago had worn off, and by that point, it just seemed normal.

For once, however, Hyungwon was all healed up, not a cast to be seen. The boys were taking the rare occurrence as an opportunity to all get together and play kickball. They waited until school ended for the day before meeting out back near the soccer field.

"All right, so for teams-" Minhyuk began before Kihyun pushed him to the side, interrupting.

"Hyunwoo-hyung and Hoseok are team captains. Hyung, you pick first," Kihyun instructed.

Hyunwoo looked over to Hoseok to make sure it was okay for him to pick, and after Hoseok smiled, Hyunwoo scanned the group before choosing Jooheon.

Hyungwon, instead of listening for the picks, looked at the ground, tracing the toe of his shoe in the dirt. He knew he'd be the last pick since he was the weakest out of all of them. Even Changkyun, who was as lazy as Hyungwon if not more so, was stronger than Hyungwon, probably because Hyungwon had missed out on years of sports.

"Hyungwon!" Kihyun called, and Hyungwon whipped his head up, blinking fast.

"Sorry, what?" he asked, his voice low. It had been getting lower for the past several years. The other boys had made fun of him for it until Changkyun's voice had dropped even lower. Then they all shut up.

"Hoseok picked you," Kihyun reminded him, rolling his eyes.

"What, really?" Hyungwon asked, looking over at Hoseok with questioning eyes. "Hyung, you know I suck, right?"

"But we never get to play with you," Hoseok said, his smile gentle and warm. "Please? Be on my team?"

"Yeah, all right," Hyungwon said, looking down again, but this time with a smile on his face.

The teams were finally picked, with Hyunwoo, Jooheon, and Changkyun on one team and Hoseok, Hyungwon, Minhyuk, and Kihyun on the other. (They'd agreed to give Hoseok's team four players since Hyungwon didn't really count for anything.)

Hyungwon caught on pretty quickly but, as expected, was a weak kicker, although he was fast. On one play, he kicked the ball over Hyunwoo's head and sprinted, rounding first base and coming up on second, only Jooheon was waiting for Changkyun to throw in the ball. His foot was out, and Hyungwon only realized it as his own foot hooked on Jooheon's and he went falling face-first into the ground.

His hearing went out for a moment, but when he opened his eyes, Jooheon was looking down at him with a concerned expression, Hyunwoo beside him, and Changkyun had just run up, panting slightly with the ball in his arms.

When sound began filtering back in, Hyungwon heard Jooheon say, "Hey, man, are you okay? You fell pretty hard."

Hyungwon groaned before rolling over to find his hand down on a base. "I'm safe, right?" he asked, looking up, and the three of them blinked before laughing.

"Fine, you win a double for your fall," Jooheon agreed before sticking out a hand to help him up.

Hyungwon winced but thanked Jooheon, getting to his feet and looking back at home plate, waving to his teammates to show them he was okay.

They played past dusk, the score remaining pretty even, until Hyungwon looked up at the stars just beginning to appear and gasped.

"What's wrong?" Hoseok immediately asked, looking over in concern.

"I missed my curfew," Hyungwon mumbled, hurrying over to the sideline and grabbing his bag. "My parents are going to be furious..." He reached into his bag and rummaged around for a moment before pulling out a cell phone and calling someone.

A loud voice picked up on the other end, and Hyungwon winced before turning away from Hoseok and lowering his voice. "I'm sorry, I lost track of time...no, I was- we were playing a game- kickball- I know but- I'm sorry- I know, I said I'm sorry-" He sighed, his head dropping. "I will. Okay. Love you, bye." He stared at the phone for a moment before dropping it back in the bag.

"Hey, I'll walk you home and explain," Hoseok offered, but Hyungwon shook his head, worry in his eyes as he looked at the ground near Hoseok's feet.

"No, I'll- it'll be fine, I'll see you tomorrow, hyung," he said, already dragging himself away into the night.

Hoseok watched him go with downturned eyes. "He'll be okay, right?"

"He'll be fine," Jooheon said, resting an elbow on Hoseok's shoulder. "His parents are just super uptight about everything."

"Have you ever met his parents?" Hoseok asked, looking over at the other, who paused, tilting his head as though trying to recollect.

"No, I don't think so. I might have seen his mom once, I don't remember though."

"Hmm," Hoseok responded, looking back at the street, but Hyungwon was already gone.

--

He showed up the next day with a broken ankle.

"Hyungwon!" Hoseok exclaimed, staring down at Hyungwon's ankle brace as Hyungwon leaned his crutches against the lunch table.

"It's fine," Hyungwon mumbled, dark circles beneath both his eyes. "It was just an accident."

"Hyungwon, what's going on?" Hoseok demanded, but Hyungwon just looked away.

"Look, can we talk about this some other time? I had a long night and I'm really tired," Hyungwon said, and Hoseok hesitated before nodding, settling down as the others approached the lunch table.

"It felt like something was missing," Kihyun said with a slight chuckle. "Now everything's here."

"I don't know, I think we jinxed it," Minhyuk said, sighing as he looked Hyungwon up and down.

"But Hyungwon, you really need to stop being so clumsy," Kihyun added, pointing at him disapprovingly.

"Yeah," Hyungwon agreed easily, not wanting to discuss it any further, and their lunch continued on without conversation from Hoseok and Hyungwon.

Hoseok decided to let it go for the meantime, although he couldn't help but feel as though something were off. A week later, they were all sitting at their usual lunch table when a supervisor came over and spoke with Hyungwon, gesturing to the cafeteria doors.

Hyungwon frowned but nodded and got up gingerly, sliding his crutches underneath his arms before lurching his way to the doors.

Hoseok's eyes followed him, and through the glass, he could see a middle-aged woman talking with Hyungwon, only he wasn't saying much of anything, just staring at the ground. At one point, he looked up and appeared to argue with her, but she spoke back more firmly, and then he was staring back at the ground and nodding.

A few moments later, Hyungwon was making his way back to the lunch table.

"Was that your mom?" Hoseok asked, trying to sound upbeat, but he was worried by Hyungwon's upset expression.

"I'm leaving early," Hyungwon mumbled, avoiding his question as he rested his weight against the bench, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and sliding his other arm through the loop. "Bye."

"See you," Jooheon dismissed, and then Hyungwon left, reappearing outside the doors and following the woman who Hoseok presumed to be his mother away from the cafeteria. She reached out a hand to take his backpack, but he shook his head, not meeting her eyes. And then they were gone.

"Did that seem weird to you guys?" Hoseok asked, looking around the table. When he got stressed out, his eyebrows furrowed up, causing lines to appear on his forehead, and in that moment, the lines were rather prominent.

"What do you mean?" Changkyun asked, looking up from a comic book he was reading underneath the table. "What was weird?"

"Just- Hyungwon, and his mom, if that was her. Didn't that seem, I don't know, strange?"

"Strange how?" Minhyuk asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Well, he looked like he didn't want to leave with her," Hoseok said. "And isn't it weird how he's never mentioned his parents? In fact, he doesn't really mention anything about his personal life outside of school. Isn't that weird?"

"That's just how he is," Jooheon said, glancing over at the open page of Changkyun's comic and skimming a few panels. "He's never been much of a talker."

"All right, but isn't it weird how he broke his curfew and came to school with a broken bone the next day?" Hoseok pressed.

Kihyun frowned, leaning closer in as though magnetically drawn to drama. "What are you getting at here, Hoseok?"

"I just- I think it's weird, and...I'm worried about Hyungwon. I mean, he's had so many injuries over the years. And whenever we asked, he always said they were just clumsy accidents. But...what if..." Hoseok closed his mouth, frowning deeply. He didn't want to speak the words into existing, knowing that just saying them would imply some ounce of truth that he really hoped didn't exist.

"You think someone's beating on him?" Minhyuk whispered, leaning in closer, the only one of them to understand Hoseok's concerns.

Hoseok froze up, not wanting to nod, but he didn't want the issue to pass over unnoticed as it had for the last ten years. "I- maybe, I don't know, I just...it's not normal, I think something's wrong..."

"He would have told us," Kihyun stated, crossing his arms.

"But would he have?"

It was over a week before Hyungwon came back to school looking more exhausted than before. Given their recent conversation, none of them wanted to bring it up, so they all avoided the subject in his presence, but as soon as Hyungwon got on his crutches to go to the bathroom, Jooheon leaned in, an uncharacteristic frown lining his face.

"When we were changing for gym, I saw some bruises on his arms," Jooheon announced. They all took the news in solemn silence before looking over at Hoseok.

"What can we do?" he asked, biting his lip as he looked down at the lunchroom table. "He obviously doesn't want anyone to know about his home life. Who do we even tell?"

"I'd say his teacher," Kihyun advised, frowning at the thought of his thin friend's arms being littered with blue and purple dashes. "They can contact the authorities and try to get him into safe custody. It's better than going straight to child services. We don't know what would happen to him then. The school will at least try to take care of him and keep him here."

"So we're in agreement?" Hoseok asked, looking around the table apprehensively. "We tell his teacher in private?"

A chorus of nod's just as they heard the distinctive sound of Hyungwon's crutches growing nearer.

"Uh huh, I remember that," Kihyun said in a loud voice, forcing a laugh as Hyungwon sat down and looked over.

"What are you guys talking about?" he asked, tilting his head.

"Oh, just...remember the end-of-the-year class party for fourth grade? Where we got to go to the zoo?" Minhyuk said quickly, saving the rest of the table. "We were just talking about how much fun we had. It's too bad we weren't all on the same trip."

"Oh," Hyungwon said before looking confused. "Zoo trip? I don't remember- oh, that's right, I didn't go that year."

"Why not?" Changkyun asked, taking the opportunity to study Hyungwon's face and wondering why Hyungwon couldn't trust them with his problems.

"My parents wouldn't let me go," Hyungwon said, pushing his bangs off his forehead. "They didn't think it was safe."

Kihyun looked over at Hoseok behind Hyungwon's back, his words just another alarming reminder that they needed to speak with his teacher, quickly.

Hoseok nodded back.

Today, after school.

--

As discussed earlier, Jooheon escorted Hyungwon out of their classroom, and Hoseok slipped in after the last student had poured out.

The teacher, a soft-spoken man who looked to be in his late thirties or early forties, turned to Hoseok in surprise. "I'm sorry, were you looking for someone? They've all left already..."

"Actually, I was looking to speak with you," Hoseok admitted nervously, swallowing as he approached the older man. "It's about Chae Hyungwon."

A small furrow appeared in the man's brow as he set down his folder on the desk. "He's a student of mine, yes. What about him?"

"Well, I'm his friend, and I'm worried about him. He's been missing a lot of school recently and coming to school with severe injuries..." Hoseok's eyes flicked down in concern before he looked back up at the teacher. "Sir, I think he has problems at home, and I'm scared that he isn't safe with his parents."

The teacher's frown deepened as he set his steepled fingers on the desk. "I understand that you're concerned about your friend; I am as well. But, this is a very serious accusation to level against his parents."

"I'm tired of seeing him come in with new broken bones and bruises," Hoseok said in a soft voice. "I understand that it's serious, and I'll take full responsibility if I'm wrong, but his safety is the most important thing to me."

The teacher stared at Hoseok for a long moment, reading the sincerity in his face before he looked down at the desk with a blank gaze, thinking hard. Finally, "All right," he said quietly. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you, sir," Hoseok said, bowing twice before leaving. It felt wrong for him to even let Hyungwon go home tonight, but he knew that he needed to be patient for his friend's sake. He could wait a day if it meant Hyungwon's safety for the rest of his life. He was just upset that it had taken him so long to come forward about it.

--

The next day, Jooheon looked on as the teacher asked Hyungwon to stay after class. Hyungwon hesitated, caught off guard, but he nodded as he slipped back in his seat and waited for the room to empty.

Jooheon, meanwhile, hovered outside the door and peeked through at an angle that neither the teacher nor Hyungwon would see. He watched as the teacher waved for Hyungwon to wait there before pulling up a chair in front of his desk and talking, too quietly for Jooheon to hear. He gestured to Hyungwon's ankle, and Hyungwon leaned forward, saying something and waving with his hands, looking distressed as he shook his head. Then the teacher said something else, and they both remained still for a moment before Hyungwon gave a delayed nod and rolled up the sleeves on his arm, looking away as the teacher frowned at the bruises.

Hyungwon tugged the sleeve back down before protesting once more, his hands raised up defensively as he spoke quickly. The teacher nodded, his own hands raised to calm Hyungwon down.

The two talked for several more minutes before the teacher slid over a sheet of paper and a pencil, gesturing at it, and Hyungwon sighed before nodding and scribbling something on the paper. He slid it back toward the teacher before gesturing toward the door, and the teacher nodding, folding the paper into fourths before pocketing it.

Jooheon hurriedly moved back to lean against the wall, and a moment later, the door swung open, and an upset Hyungwon limped out. He stopped once he saw Jooheon, tilting his head to the right. "Jooheon, you're still here?"

"Yeah," Jooheon said, putting on a grin. "Thought I'd carry your bag for you since you're still on crutches."

"Oh. Thanks," Hyungwon said, wanting to refuse, but he felt bad given that Jooheon had been kept waiting this long.

"What'd the teacher need to talk to you about?" Jooheon asked, looking straight ahead so his face wouldn't give anything away.

"Nothing really," Hyungwon mumbled. "My grades aren't that great. That's all."

"Uh huh," Jooheon said, biting his lip. "Well, do you want to study at my place then? You can spend the night since tomorrow's the weekend."

"Thanks for the offer," Hyungwon began, "but my parents-"

"Wouldn't like the idea," Jooheon finished with a nod, frowning as they exited the school and started walking towards their homes. "Your parents really don't let you do anything, huh?"

"It's for my safety," Hyungwon defended, but his eyes were hooded, and he refused to look over at Jooheon. "Look, I don't like it either but-"

"Let me help you then," Jooheon pleaded, throwing out a hand and catching Hyungwon's elbow, stopping him in his tracks.

"You can't help me," Hyungwon said, looking down before breaking out of Jooheon's grip and moving forward again. "It won't change anything."

Jooheon bit down on his lip to keep himself from saying anything that would make Hyungwon mad at him. He needed to talk to Hoseok, and they'd figure out what to do next. In the meantime, the best thing he could do was just to be a good friend. Because he knew he hadn't been one before.

--

Hyungwon was called down to the office in the middle of class the next day. The teacher nodded at him, having been notified in advance, and Jooheon watched as Hyungwon left the room.

He was still gone at lunch, and all the others were quieter than normal.

"He's been gone since first hour," Jooheon said. His own lunch bag was sitting in front of him on the table, unopened. "He's in the principal's office."

"I thought I saw his mom and dad in the hallway," Kihyun offered. "I think they're having a meeting."

"What do you think will happen to him?" Minhyuk asked, looking around the table. "We didn't make things worse, did we? What if they take him and put him in the foster system or an orphanage or something? What if we just destroyed his life?"

"We didn't," Hoseok said, but he was growing less sure by the second. "Besides, we have to do what it takes to get him safe. If we just stand by when we know what's going on, then we're just part of the problem. And I can't- I can't just stand by as he comes in with a broken collarbone next week, knowing that the people who are supposed to protect and raise him hurt him and I let them-"

"Okay," Minhyuk said, stopping Hoseok before he continued. "I just- I needed to know that we're doing the right thing. It just feels wrong. Like we're betraying him."

"We aren't," Hoseok said, rubbing Minhyuk's shoulder. "We're doing the right thing."

Changkyun gestured for them all to shut up as he saw Hyungwon approaching the cafeteria doors. It took another minute for him to get to the table, but once he did, he didn't sit. Instead, he remained standing, looking around the table at each of their faces.

"Did you guys...did you tell the school that my parents have been beating me?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

Hoseok froze up, not having expected Hyungwon to confront them directly. "We..."

"Because I had the fun job of trying to tell my teacher that I'm safe at home, and he called my parents, and my mom has been crying for an hour, ever since she got in," Hyungwon continued, staring at them with a frown entrenched on his face.

Hoseok turned around to face Hyungwon, taking responsibility. "Hyungwon, I just thought-"

"But why? Why would you think that?" Hyungwon asked, his eyes hard as he tried not to look upset.

"You're always getting hurt," Hoseok sputtered. "And- your arm, the bruises-"

"Aren't from abusive parents," Hyungwon cut off, growing angrier at the accusations. "Speaking of that, the only way someone would have seen those-" He turned his gaze to Jooheon, "-was if someone were spying on me when I was changing for gym."

Jooheon shrank back from his stare. "I'm sorry, Hyungwon, we were just worried and-"

"I don't like feeling like you're all spying on me behind my back," Hyungwon said, his bottom lip quivering, but he didn't look away. "And I get that you're worried, but- my parents haven't done anything and my mom's really upset and I don't- I've just had a really sucky week and this just-" He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath between his teeth.

"Hyungwon-" Hoseok began, but Hyungwon shook his head, already turning away.

"I'm going home for the day," he said, pushing his crutches ahead of him and making his way out of the cafeteria.

Hoseok watched him in terror-stricken silence, his mouth hanging open as he waited for his voice to call out to Hyungwon, to explain, to...

"I guess we weren't doing the right thing after all," Minhyuk said softly.

--

Hoseok got a text later that night from Hyungwon, apologizing for snapping at them earlier and asking if Hoseok wanted to come over. Hoseok jumped up from his bed, throwing one of his arms into a jacket as he texted Hyungwon to ask for his address. Five minutes later, he was hopping in the driver's seat of his car and putting his shoe, laces still untied, on the gas pedal.

Twenty minutes after that, he was looking between his phone and the building in front of him to see if he had the right address. He shut off the engine but left the lights on, texting Hyungwon to ask if the address he'd sent was correct.

He said it was.

And so Hoseok got out of the car, shutting the door gingerly out of an odd respect for the setting, and walked up to the front door, hesitating on the sidewalk out front before walking through the revolving doors. He took a moment to look around, trying to take in everything, before heading over to the help desk.

"Um, I'm looking for, uh, his name is Chae Hyungwon..."

"Do you know which wing he's in?" the nurse asked, looking up at Hoseok before looking down at the computer and pulling up a search program.

"No, I just-"

"Hey, Hoseok," came a voice from behind him, and Hoseok spun around to see Hyungwon, still on crutches, only wearing a thin hospital gown. The bruises on his arms stood out against the pale fabric. "You came."

"Hyungwon," Hoseok said, scrambling to keep his thoughts in order. "You're- you-"

"Yeah," Hyungwon said, looking down awkwardly. He hadn't really thought the whole thing through. "Um, do you want to go up to my room?"

"Your room?"

"Like...my hospital room. The one I'm checked into."

"Oh, sure, yeah, okay, yeah," Hoseok said, nodding repeatedly and following Hyungwon's slow pace to the elevator and then to his room. "So...um...are you...uh..." Hoseok scratched at the back of his neck. "Is this where you tell me that you're dying or something?" He tried to force a laugh, but he found none to spare.

"I'm not dying," Hyungwon said, sitting down on the bed. "Or at least, not any more than you or anyone else is. I just have a disease, is all."

"What disease?" Hoseok asked, settling hesitantly into an uncomfortable hospital chair. It felt weird to approach the topic at all. It felt like something that could be thought but not said out loud.

"Hang on a sec, I'm sure there's a cheap hospital pamphlet in here somewhere," Hyungwon mumbled, leaning over toward the side table and ruffling through drawers before pulling out a folded piece of paper and holding it out to Hoseok, who leaned forward and took it from his grasp.

"Osteo....osteogen-"

"Osteogenesis Imperfecta," Hyungwon provided easily. "Brittle bone disease. My bones break really easily, is all. Nobody's abusing me. Except my own body, of course."

"So you're...not dying?"

"Not really."

"And you aren't being abused?"

"Not really."

"So you're fine?"

"Not really." Hyungwon cracked a small smile, leaning back on the bed and using his arms to prop himself up. "But I'm fine enough. I get to go to school with my friends. My mom – she has the same condition – she couldn't go to school when she was younger. But my condition is a little better than hers. When my condition gets a little shaky, I stay at the hospital for a bit, and they hook me up with an IV, hence the bruises. But that doesn't happen too often. Usually, I'm able to attend school just fine. She still doesn't like it, though."

"Is that why..." Hoseok hesitated, licking his lips lightly because his whole mouth felt dry. "Is that why your parents are so strict? About curfew, about not letting you do things?"

Hyungwon nodded. "Too many risks." He laughed, looking up at the ceiling tiles as he recalled an event several weeks ago. "And when my mom found out I broke my ankle playing kickball-"

"That's how you broke your ankle?!" Hoseok protested, immediately standing up and waving his arms aggressively. "Hyungwon! You should have told us! You said you were fine!"

"But I wanted to play," Hyungwon said, drawing a knee up to his chest and resting his head on it, hugging his knee. "I never get to play games with you guys. I still think it was worth it."

"Why didn't you just tell us?" Hoseok whispered, wanting to fist several chunks of hair and pull at them. The whole situation was stressing him out in a major way, but he couldn't afford to break down in front of Hyungwon.

"I just thought it would make things weird," Hyungwon mumbled, looking down. "I remember when you were all so excited when I got my first cast. I didn't want to ruin that."

"Well...first of all, that's stupid of you to put us above your own health but...speaking of everyone...can I...can I tell them? About you? About..." He waved his arm vaguely. "This?"

"Sure, I don't really care," Hyungwon said, grabbing a bunch more pamphlets from the drawer and tossing them to Hoseok. "Knock yourself out. I just don't want this to change anything. I don't want to be treated fragilely."

"That's going to be hard not to do when I now know that your bones are basically made out of glass," Hoseok joked before growing more serious. "And...I'm sorry. About thinking that your parents were bad. I was just worried about you, and I thought that I was responsible for doing something."

"I know," Hyungwon said, smiling softly at Hoseok. "And I appreciate the concern, really. But I'm okay. Believe me? Please?"

Hoseok nodded, biting his lip before shoving the dozen or so pamphlets into his jacket to distribute to the others later. "All right." He stood, shoving his hands in his pockets, and his fingers brushed against the paper. "And, Hyungwon...thank you. For sharing this with me, for trusting me."

Hyungwon gave a single nod before smiling, and despite the dreary setting, his smile was bright. "There's no one I'd rather tell."

--

Lunch was normal, ish. Despite their efforts to not treat Hyungwon too delicately, they all found themselves being nicer than normal to him, going out of their way to make sure he was comfortable before seating themselves. Whenever they played games, they always made sure to invite Hyungwon so he didn't feel left out, but they forced him to sit on the sidelines. At first, he was upset because he couldn't join them, but he grew to be a great cheerleader. And every now and then, they'd let him play, only it would be a very gentle game where everyone collectively let Hyungwon win. He pretended not to notice (or he took advantage of it and cheated recklessly, knowing they were too afraid of breaking him to stop him).

But lunch was pretty much back to how it always was. Hyungwon, never much a fan of being in the limelight, was content to listen to the others rant about school and complain about girls and gush over the newest comics and video games.

But some things had changed a little bit. Or rather, had gone back to how they were in the beginning.

"Say ah," Hoseok commanded, jabbing the straw of the juice box against Hyungwon's closed lips.

"Hoseok, what are you-"

Hoseok used the opportunity to jam the straw between Hyungwon's parted lips, smiling in victory.

Hyungwon rolled his eyes before taking a few sips. Then he pushed the juice box away with both hands. "I'm not an invalid, Hoseok. Look, both my hands are fine!"

"I know," Hoseok replied cheekily. "I just wanted to."

Hyungwon rolled his eyes once more, grumbling about being taken advantage of, but he smiled like he was a second grader who had just gotten his cast signed by his favorite hyung.