It had been only the third day of his wrenching poignancy, and Jeongguk couldn’t endure it any longer.

He spent every minute in his room, lying in his bed, and often crying his heart out since he already missed his baby bear beyond measure.

The first day, he ate nothing at all and only came out of his room to use the bathroom. He made sure to be completely soundless since he didn’t want his parents to notice him. Although he knew he could lean on them and cry on their shoulder, he preferred to be alone.

They regularly visited his room, but the door was always locked, something that made them sigh every time in despair. They talked to him nonetheless through the door, despite that they rarely got a reply.

Even when he lost a match, he would at least eat properly and answer when his parents talked to him. But the situation was severer than they thought it would be.

They were at a sheer loss about what to do and restless to the hilt; knowing their son was suffering so much and they couldn’t do anything to help him was unbearable.

Chang Wook had informed them about the events that took place that day when he drove the younger home, and they immediately tucked him in his bed. Even though he was conscious, it was as if he couldn’t see or hear anything.

The next day, they expected a slight change in Jeongguk’s behavior, but everything stayed the same. The only thing that happened was that Jeongguk asked for food once, and that was it. Even his friends who came to visit him didn’t manage to make him open his bedroom door.

And when the next day came and the younger remained locked up in his room, Seungjo and Jisung couldn’t take it anymore.

It was almost noon when they fretfully stood outside of his door, contemplating what to say or do to make him come out of there.

“Bunbun,” Seungjo began, tears already dripping down his cheeks as he laid a tentative palm on the door. “How about you let us see you today, hmm? We miss you so much, baby.” He inched closer and attached his ear to the door, seeking even the slightest noise, but the dead silence reigned over his hopeless entreaties.

“Kookie, please.”

The boy palmed his ears as tautly as possible then; whenever his parents used that nickname, a churning of chaotic emotions blustered throughout his enfeebled body.

That nickname had been connected with Taehyung since the moment he called him that, and with his wounding absence, he couldn’t bear anyone to address him like that other than him.

“You don’t have to talk at all, and we won’t talk either. We just want to see you,” Jisung resumed talking after he swallowed the lump that rose up his throat.

“Yes, bunbun, we just want to sit with you and give you some hugs.”

Despite their desperate efforts, they received no reaction from him, and as silence fell over the entire house, Jisung seemed to lose it completely.

“We are your parents and you have to listen t-to us, y-young man.” His shaky voice cracked as his eyes bristled with tears, something that rendered not only his husband shocked, but their son too.

The times Jisung had cried in his life were few and far between. He always knew how to handle his emotions and not let them get the best of him.

But that was one of the rare situations he was unable to do that.

“We love y-you, Jeongguk, and you have to let us at least be t-there for you. We’re not leaving until you open this d-door, do you h-hear me?” His voice rose in volume as he slapped his hand against the door, breathing heavily.

At any time of the day, Jeongguk was on the brink of crying, and hearing his father’s choked, broken voice brought a stream of tears to his eyes that cascaded down his face at once.

He untucked his head from the thick blanket and crawled out of the nest of self-hatred and sorrow he had created. With a frail endeavor to pull himself to his feet, he held onto the bed for support until he adapted to the standing position.

His tiny steps were halting, wobbly, as he drew nearer to the door. He stretched a torpid hand to unlock the door and let it collapse to his side again.

A few seconds of stillness rolled by until the two older men became aware of the situation. Jisung cracked the door open, and the pace of his tears increased upon seeing the boy’s burned-out face, his sunken, drowned in tears eyes, and the dark pouches beneath them. “Oh, baby,” he croaked out as he enclosed him into a bone-crushing hug with Seungjo joining them right after.

Their weeping didn’t falter even after a few minutes passed, but their caresses didn’t either. They led the shivery boy to the bed and helped him lie down before they slipped under the covers and cocooned him in their hug once again.

Seungjo whispered sweet, mollifying nothings to him as he stroked his head, and Jisung clutched his hand while giving soothing caresses on his shoulder.

“Don’t... D-don’t cry, dads,” he rasped through his muted sobs as he vainly fought to stop his tears.

“Okay, bunbun. If you can stop, we can stop too.”

“I-I can’t.” He wanly shook his head as he squeezed his eyes shut. “It hurts so much, dads, it—it hurts so much.”

“We know, love,” Seungjo uttered, placing a few sugary kisses on the back of his head.

“We’ll help you, Kookie, we’ll—“

“Don’t“—a choked whine left his lips—“call me that.”

Jisung’s watery eyes widened at his request, but he wordlessly nodded. “We’ll help you as much as we can, okay? Don’t shut us out. We’ll get through—” He fell silent once the doorbell was heard ringing on repeat.

“It’s probably Sejeong. I’ll go get it.” Seungjo pulled the blanket to the side and stepped out of the room.

Jisung stroked the boy’s hand as he offered him a heart-soothing smile. “We’ll get through this together. We won’t leave you alone in this, so don’t push us away from now on, okay?”

The younger slowly nodded as he rubbed his eyes with his fists and then fastened his arms around him, burying his face into his chest.

A few moments later, Seungjo returned and sat on the edge of the bed. “How about you come outside for a bit, hmm?” he asked in a honeyed tone as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“I don’t want to see anyone,” he muttered, unmoving.

“Just for a moment, bunbun.”

“No.”

At the boy’s stubborn answer, Seungjo sighed as he rose to his feet and exited the room once more.

“It’s been three days, Jeonggukie. You have to at least start seeing your friends and eat properly, okay? You’ve already lost some weight,” Jisung worriedly said as he resumed caressing his head.

“It doesn’t feel like three days,” Jeongguk mumbled as he pulled back to swipe a palm over his soaking wet cheeks.

“It feels longer, huh?”

“No. It feels like it happened a few minutes ago. Like I’m still there, stuck in that moment and I can’t get out. I’ll never be able to get out.”

Jisung was ready to answer when his eyes flickered to the door that opened again.

“Bunbun. Get out of bed for a moment.”

“I told you I don’t want to see anyone.”

Everyone stayed still as silence enshrouded the room, a silence Jeongguk couldn’t fathom nor find its meaning.

“K-Kookie?”

His heart pranced at the voice, at that velvety, beautiful voice he thought he would never hear again, and continued hammering against his chest so madly he could hear it buzz in his ears.

The first thought that crossed his mind was that he was imagining things; his sadness was just messing with his head. There wasn’t any other reasonable explanation. Why else would he hear Taehyung’s cherubic voice call his name?

“Dad, I—I’m hearing t-things,” he frantically sputtered as he dug his face into his chest, his whole body flailing.

“You’re not, baby. Just turn around.” Jisung kissed his head and untucked it, collecting his tears with his thumbs.

Jeongguk contemplated his words that didn’t make any sense, but heaved himself off the mattress and sat straighter in the bed. He twisted around at a glacial pace, and his quivery mouth opened and closed in a mixture of shock, confusion, and relief with no sound coming out except for smothered whimpers.

“I-I ran away, Kookie,” he said through his stifling wail as he stayed stock still, afraid of being rejected since he hurt him so much. “The thought of not seeing you ever again gave me a panic attack. They had to give me an injection to calm down. We were supposed to leave two days ago, but he changed the flight to today, and as the day came closer, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t—I can’t part from you. I can’t do this. I can’t leave, I can’t not see you. I missed you so damn much, and I’m so sorry for everything.

“I’m sorry for not saying the truth. I’m sorry for choosing to leave. And I’m sorry for not saying I love you back. Because I do. I love y-you so, so much. I need you, I want y-you, I’m crazy about y-you. Please don’t h-hate me, I’m begging you, don’t—don’t hate me.” His knees buckled under the harrowing weight of remorse in his heart and the thought of Jeongguk hating him or throwing him out, leading him to drop to knees and screw his eyes shut.

Jeongguk scrambled to get out of bed, stumbling and almost falling in the process, but he held onto the nightstand and managed to steady himself. He barely made it until the boy and crumbled in front of him, ready to muffle him in his hug, but halted every movement abruptly. “Where—where does it hurt, baby? Can I h-hug you?”

If it was even possible, Taehyung bawled harder at his words. He paid no mind to whatever pain in his body as the one in his heart was by far greater, and draped his arms around his Kookie he had missed so much.

“I’m so sorry for—for everything, please forgive, Kookie. Please forgive me,” he repeated in a choked whisper as he clung to him for dear life.

“I can’t forgive you, baby”—Jeongguk noticed how his body started convulsing against his embrace the moment he spilled these words and continued in haste—“because you didn’t do anything wrong. You were scared, and I understand it. I just couldn’t accept I would never see you again.”

“Oh, Kookie.” He sobbed as he cupped his crying face, wiping his cheeks. “I thought you wouldn’t want to see me anymore after the way I hurt you.”

“You didn’t hurt me. That fucker did, not you, baby, you’re my sweet baby bear. You could never hurt me.” Jeongguk mirrored his moves and then pressed their lips together multiple times, tasting their salty tears in each kiss.

They took a moment to simply gaze at each other as Jeongguk brushed his hair back and Taehyung rubbed different patterns on his back. “You look awful, Kookie.”

The sadness in his tone was evident, but Jeongguk brushed it aside in need to see his baby smile. “You’re the one to talk,” he teased, knowing he would elicit even a tiny giggle from Taehyung.

And he was right. Taehyung choked out a sweet giggle as he tossed his head down. “Even in a moment like this, you can make me laugh. How is this possible?”

“I told you many times, baby. I hate to see you cry.”

“I hate it too,” he whispered as he wiped a few more tears that escaped his eyes, his gaze unrelenting and filled with fondness.

“I can’t believe you’re here. It hurt so much when I thought I lost you forever. Why did it hurt so much?” Jeongguk questioned below his breath, more to himself, as he carefully caressed his still bruised cheek.

“Because you love him.” Seungjo’s crying voice was scarcely heard then and made the two boys glance in his direction.

They were sitting on the edge of the bed, side hugging, and both crying at the heartfelt and overemotional sight in front of them.

When they realized the two younger boys were staring at them, Seungjo sniffled and made a dismissive hand gesture. “Don’t mind us.”

They glimpsed at each other and chuckled, blissful smiles decorating their weary faces. “If we don't stop crying, they won’t stop either,” Jeongguk uttered as he swiped a thumb over his cheeks with delicate moves, and then quickly rubbed his face to stop his tears. “Let’s get you out of the floor.”

Taehyung grabbed his hands, and he helped him stand up, but a gleam of blackness flashed in Jeongguk's vision the moment he rose to his feet. If Taehyung wasn’t there to hold him, he would have fallen in a heap.

“What—What's wrong?”

“Don’t w-worry, baby,” Jeongguk stammered as he blinked a few times, feeling the sudden dizziness dissolve. “I just haven’t been eating much.”

“By much he means at all,” Jisung ratted on him without a second thought, something that caused Jeongguk to hang his head and Taehyung gasp.

“Kookie!”

“Don’t Kookie me, I know you haven’t been eating either. Look at you, you’re so skinny.”

“I was skinny before!”

“Not so much,” Jeongguk mumbled, his bottom lip jutting out in a pout.

“Are you saying whatever just so you can get away with not eating properly?” Taehyung crossed his arms and asked with raised brows, trying not to break at the sight of Jeongguk’s endearing pout.

The boy locked eyes with him as he slowly nodded his head. “I’m sorry. You’re not so skinny, and you know I love your body, angel.” He swathed his arms around him.

Taehyung yielded into his embrace as a soft sigh seeped through his lips. “Well, you’re not actually wrong. I wasn’t eating that much either, but I’m used to it and I don’t lose weight easily.”

“It’s okay, love. I’ll make sure you eat plenty of food from now on. And Seungjo won’t let you skip meals even if you beg.”

“We have to ask your parents if I can stay here first—“

“We wouldn’t let you go anywhere else, Taehyung,” Jisung cut in as he approached them with his husband. “I’m sure Jeongguk has already done that, but we want to promise as well that we’ll protect you.”

“And give you all the love in the world,” Seungjo added with a grin.

Taehyung felt uncontrollable warmth sprawl through his chest at their words and stepped forward to wrap his arms around them, pulling Jeongguk with him.

The older ones welcomed the two in their hug, and they spent a while savoring the heartwarming moment.

“Thank you, all of you. It doesn’t feel like I deserve your kindness,” Taehyung muttered as he drew back, but everyone shushed him right away.

“You deserve every good in this world. And it’s time for you to have it.” Seungjo caressed his head as he smiled soothingly.

“How about we make something to eat as you two catch up, hmm?” Jisung suggested, and everyone seemed to agree. “Is there something you don’t eat, Taehyung?”

“Um, I can’t handle too spicy food. I’m okay with everything else.”

“Great!” Seungjo chirped, his smile unfaltering.

After they hugged the two boys once more, they exited the room, feeling the most relieved in their entire life.

Taehyung held his hand and led him to the bed, instructing him to lie down, and perched next to him, facing him. “I missed you so much.” He slipped an arm around his waist and attached their lips.

“I missed you too, baby,” Jeongguk said between the kisses, running a hand up and down his back. “Tell me everything. What happened after I left the hospital?”

“When my doctor returned to the room and told me you left, I had a panic attack as I said before. They kept me there overnight, despite Jongwon’s protests. The next day, he came to take me first thing in the morning, even though I was barely able to walk since I was still weak. The next day, he made me pack my things, and since I did as he said, he didn’t touch me, thankfully. And today he told me to get ready to go to the airport, and I just... I flipped.

“I couldn’t leave you. I couldn’t stand the idea of not seeing you. So I ran away. I found a moment when he was in his room and just ran out of the house. I was so scared he would catch me I didn’t take my suitcase with me so I could run easier, faster. I only took my phone, my wallet, and my notebook. I ran to the subway and then took a bus to come here. He’ll kill me if he finds me.”

“Shh, I won’t let him touch you, love, don’t worry.” Jeongguk left soft kisses on his fearful face. “Wonʼt he go to Japan, anyway?”

“No. I know he won’t. He won’t leave without me or without killing me at least.”

“Look at me.” He held his head, making the boy comply with his request. “As long as you’re with me, I promise I won’t let him touch you ever again, you hear me?” His gaze contained something decisive and reassuring that didn’t leave any choice to Taehyung other than believing his words. “We’ll go to the police station first thing in the morning tomorrow. I just want to spend this day cuddling you, and I promise we’ll put an end to this tomorrow. How does that sound?”

Taehyung nipped at his lower lip as a timid smile surfaced on his face. “Sounds perfect, Kookie.”

Jeongguk beamed at his sheepish behavior and smothered him with endless kisses, evoking dulcet, hearty giggles from his baby.

When all that was left was warm smiles on their lips, Taehyung brushed his knuckle against his temple, all the way to his chin with tender moves. “What did you do when you left the hospital?”

“I don’t remember leaving the hospital, actually. I don’t know how I got home, but I guess Chang Wook drove me here. I stayed in my room since that moment, thinking about you and crying my eyes out. I only got out to use the bathroom and asked for food once. Other than that, I didn’t talk to anyone, I just... cried. A lot.”

“I’m sorry.” A mournful expression bloomed on Taehyung’s features as he shut his eyes, feeling ruefulness overtake him.

“Don’t apologize. It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t want to leave either. You didn’t want to leave me, baby. You were just scared.” Jeongguk pecked his lips, wiping his pout off and replacing it with a faint smile. “What happened... that day? Why did he beat you so much?”

“He told me they offered him a job in Japan and he took it. He told me to pack my things, and when I asked why I had to go too, he said he wouldn't leave me here whoring around as I want. I told him I didn't want to go and... you know the rest.”

“That piece of shit,” Jeongguk gritted out as his jaw clenched. “I should have beat him more when I had the chance.”

“Well, you broke his nose at least. And his face was worse than mine.”

“He deserves a lot worse. He made you suffer for years.”

“I know.” Taehyung snuggled his face into his chest, drawing a few kisses there as well. “Thank you, though. For saving my life. If I hadn’t met you, I wouldn’t care about it, but now... I didn’t want to die because I wouldn’t be able to spend more time with you. And I want to spend lots and lots of time with you. I love you so much, Kookie. I’m so in love with you.”

Jeongguk heaved a long sigh as he peppered kisses on his head and pulled back to lay his eyes on him. He twiddled with his hair, gazing into the deepest parts of his soul that didn’t seem so blackened anymore.

“No more thinking about disappearing or dying or giving up. I want to spend lots of time with you as well, and we will, angel. Especially now that you’ll stay here. And don’t forget you can stay as long as you want, okay? Jisung said it himself, if you’re worried about my parents not wanting you here. Although you should know already that they love you as much as I do. After everything that happened, I really want to smother you with happiness. And I’ll try to do that every day. That’s all I need to be happy. Thank you for coming back to me—actually, you never left. Thank you for choosing me, for trusting me, for loving me. I love you too, angel, so, so much.”

They linked their lips into a loving kiss that expressed even more emotions than the words they just said did. The drag of their tongues against each other was unhurried, savory, as their grip tightened a notch, squeezing their bodies together.

They spent these two and a half days parted from one another, crying their hearts out, drowned in misery. But they had so many brighter days ahead of them to make up for the extreme sorrow they went through that anything else already felt like history.

⚜✳⚜

How was this chapter? I spent almost all day yesterday to finish it because I didn't want to make you wait. I hope it turned out good enough for you guys💜