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19. Adapting

It had been a few weeks since they had been staying at Taeyong's place. It was new and different but Yuna and Da Reum gradually settled into a routine.

Doyoung was tasked with accompanying Da Reum whenever he left the house, which was usually only to school. Da Reum got along well with all the others, and actually was beginning to enjoy their presence. However, when they were out, Doyoung treated him just like Yuna would, babying him and nagging him about everything. Having spent his whole life with Yuna had prepared him well, though. It was annoying but tolerable.

When Doyoung wasn't nagging, he was always teaching him about something. He was a know-it-all, but Da Reum liked it. It was as if he had suddenly gained a mom, brother, teacher and clone of his sister all rolled into one. It was the same with the others, in fact. He'd gotten close with them all and even started to understand their respect and devotion to Taeyong, though he still couldn't get used to the cringey mushiness he and his sister displayed, even if they did try (and failed miserably) to keep it discrete.

Yuna, on the other hand, was not adapting as well as her younger brother. She too had gotten close with everyone, though she always seemed to be on edge, nervous of some impending disaster. It was Jaehyun who was responsible for her safety when she left the house. He was polite and quiet, but sweet and easy to talk to. It was a bit of an inconvenience to have him around all the time, though. Not because he was always around, but more because of the attention he drew from her friends, peers and basically everyone. He was pretty good looking and when he suddenly showed up every day to drop Yuna off at class and wait for her outside, girls started sticking to her, wanting to know who he was and swarming all over him to get a glimpse of his dimples when he smiled before and after classes.

The story they decided on was that he was her cousin, who just moved to town. Yuna wondered if that story was a mistake that incidentally pinned him as fresh meat to every woman in his vicinity, but he didn't seem to mind the attention, though he was outwardly modest and a bit shy.

Taeyong was often busy with Ten and Winwin, but to his credit he did his best to be home whenever she was. She wasn't sure exactly what he was busy with and was hesitant to ask, but he made sure to continuously reassure her that they were taking care of whatever threat was lurking and she would be completely safe soon enough. Though he nor Jaehyun would admit it, he called Jaehyun frequently to check on her and make sure everything was ok, while sending her cute and playful messages like everything was fine. She appreciated his effort to try to hide the extent of his concern to make her feel better, but at the same time, knowing the concern existed at all made her uneasy.

The few nights after they came into the house were difficult as well. The fact she had inadvertently wandered into several guns' line of fire and was very nearly shot and killed had really begun to sink in after the first day. She could mostly distract her thoughts and mask her feelings about it during they day when there were things to occupy her, but at night when it was dark and quiet, her mind had never failed to drift back to that moment.

What didn't make sense at the time was ultra clear in the present. The people running and yelling, the whirring that passed by her ears like a bee in the hot summer, the breaking glass near her and the pings of metal that sounded from the car that was parked behind her. It played in her head on a constant loop. In her memory, she analyzed and obsessed over every sound she heard and how close it actually came to her. The image was even clearer when she closed her eyes, so she stared at the empty blackness, trying to think of anything else.

Her efforts were in vain, however, because the only other thing she could think of besides the fact that she almost died was what would have happened if she did die. Who would take care of Da Reum and how would he manage on his own? She tossed and turned at the never ending turmoil bubbling in her head. If it wasn't for Taeyong, sleep would have been a mere fleeting wish.

As she adjusted herself in bed, she would catch his eyes watching her. She would apologize for waking him but he would only respond by wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. It was during these nights that she realized that he had a rare, keen perception that somehow knew and understood her very well. He never asked her why she couldn't sleep, but always knew that it didn't seem like the right approach. Instead he would talk in a quiet and soothing voice about random things as he held her against him and played with her hair or lightly traced lines along her skin until her eyes drooped and unconsciousness took her. Sometimes he would quietly hum a song or distract her with pleasure until exhaustion overcame her. The thoughts that kept her from sleep had been pushed aside enough that they eventually just stopped showing up.

She would wake up to them clinging to one another and as she watched him sleep, she couldn't help but feel thankful that he had come into her life, even if danger followed. Even in the face of uncertainty and the ever present feeling that something bad was going to happen, she had never felt more secure.

Taeyong's experience during this time was also new and strange to him. He grew up with the four other men he lived with and he cared about them, took care of them, gave them guidance and taught them what he could. He loved them as if they were brothers born of the same blood. Even more, he loved them as brothers that have suffered with him and struggled with him. But the basis of his family was love created from loyalty, not simply love for the sake of love.

As much as he cared for the safety and wellbeing of his brothers, with Yuna it was different. He was not just watching over her but protecting her, who was like a delicate baby bird that had fallen from her nest. Something small and fragile that could be broken in an instant. Right now, the delicate baby bird was standing just at the edge of a tornado waiting to get sucked in and all he could do is cover her eyes and ears and try to shield her. It made him anxious. It made him doubt himself.

It was a tricky task to balance the desperately bloody thirsty nature of the Taeyong on the outside with soft Taeyong that cradled the wounded baby bird on the inside, but both were necessary. He tirelessly hunted down the men from their rival clan, but every time he thought he'd catch them, he seemed to have just missed them. It was strange. The longer it took to find them, the more his anxiousness grew because he knew they had plenty of time to devise a strategy that could completely devastate him.

Still, he would come home and see her face and only be compelled to smile, despite his worries; to be close to her and to touch her and soothe her wounded state. In turn, she made him feel needed, not for what she could gain from him or what power he could bring her, but just him. A priceless feeling that he had only experienced a taste of before leaving her months prior. Never expecting to be given the opportunity to experience it again, he was constantly in awe of her presence.

"Hyung, are you listening to me?" Ten chided. "Maybe we should go to another room."

Taeyong's head rested on his palm in a daze as he stared across the room at Yoona, curled up near the window reading a book. The sunlight cascaded over her. Her downcast eyes created shadows along her cheekbones from her long eyelashes. Her expression changed minutely every once in a while reflecting the sentiment of everything she read on her face. A faint furrow of her eyebrows at something she didn't like, a tiny twitch upward of the corner of her lip at something funny, a fractional widening of her eyes at something suspenseful and a slight pout of her bottom lip at something sad.

"Hyung!" Ten nearly shouted again. This time both Taeyong and Yoona lifted their heads and turned their attention to Ten. "I said we found one of the guys from the alley."