mingi curled up even further into the ball he'd shaped himself into, trying his best to stay strong and hold back his tears.
but it was almost impossible. first of all, he was scared. scared of what his "new life" would turn out to be. would he be raised differently and become a different person? would he be abused? would he have to try to leave again? he didn't know. secondly, he hated the idea that he would possibly never see hongjoong, seonghwa, or any of his siblings again. he was worried if his note had been enough to trigger them into looking for him.
but how would they find him? they don't even know who mingi's parents even are.
when hongjoong and seonghwa had found mingi alone at the mall, they didn't know his backstory. later on in their lives, mingi told them he was too young back then to remember much of what happened. he told the parents that he thinks he was abandoned there deliberately by his biological parents.
but he was lying. he knew deep down why he was alone at that mall, it was because he left. he ran away from home, at under four years old. it was a long story that didn't really make sense if he tried to explain it. all he knew was he was very unhappy there, and so he left as soon as he figured out how to.
but now, he had no idea why his biological parents suddenly wanted him back. they'd hidden away for over a decade, but now they wanted him?
it didn't make sense. all mingi hoped for was no pain (which that wish was already shattered).
wooyoung leaned against the wall, stressed because of his brother's disappearance. he and yunho were currently at dance class, getting ready for their recital. they were almost taken out of class, but not only had hongjoong already paid for the full classes and didn't want to waste money, but it kind of distracted the two from the situation. well, they thought it would.
"alright, let's go over the chorus. start by practicing wooyoung's chorus-entry flip. do it a couple of times, especially if you mess up." the teacher instructed.
wooyoung, after being lifted by some teammates, went in to do the backflip he was practicing to do.
when he landed, he fell over, the force of the move making him lose his balance. he sighed and stood back up, as the teacher told him to try again.
this time, he knew something was going wrong.
as soon as he left the teammate's arms, he knew something wasn't right. he tried his best to pull himself around fully, which didn't work completely, but he managed to get his left foot in line.
but, as soon as he hit the floor, everyone heard a loud crack, which made their jaws drop.
wooyoung cried out in pain, falling immediately to the floor and clenching his foot.
"hello?" "hi, is this hongjoong? kim hongjoong?" "this is he." "hi, this is mrs. lee, i teach your two sons, yunho and wooyoung, dance. wooyoung was doing a stunt that was part of the dance, and he landed very wrongly and weirdly, and seemingly broke his left ankle. he was transported to the seoul, in room 256. yunho went with him. we urge you to go see them." the caller said.
hongjoong thanked her, then running out the door to go see him, leaving san, yeosang, and jongho alone at home, as seonghwa was at work.
once the father arrived at the hospital, he was quickly directed to where his children were, and he went right into the room with no hesitation. when he saw wooyoung sitting on the bed with a big fat cast on his leg, he felt horrible.
((trigger warning :/ ))
the next day was monday, which meant school time.
"jongho, why are you wearing that? this is gym class, you shouldn't be wearing a hoodie." the gym teacher said. jongho sighed and threw off his hoodie, leaving him in a white t-shirt.
