A stricken body that was tossed in the bed trembled by choked sobs, unbearable pain perforating his bleeding shoulder and right ribs.

It was going to be a sleepless night, and he knew it; even if he wasn’t scared to the core to fall asleep, the pain prevented his mind from shutting off.

The tears were unending, and the only thing that boy could do was pray for the pain to stop, even though he knew the one in his heart would never cease.

The recent events played in his head like a broken record unwittingly until the very moment his lifeless body stopped quivering, and he passed out.

. . .

After Jeongguk dropped him at his house, Taehyung walked to the door and opened it, already dreaming about his warm bed. He yawned as he removed his jacket and turned on the lights, only to see his hyung sit on the couch.

“Where the fuck were you until this hour?” he slurred his words a tad, clutching the bottle of beer he was holding.

“Why are y-you still a-awake?” Taehyung spluttered, his back now pressed against the wall as he felt too terrified to move, his jacket slipping off his fingers.

“Answer the damn question!” he bellowed in a burst of fury as he snatched an empty bottle and threw it at his feet without even contemplating it.

An agonizing outcry spewed out of Taehyung’s mouth while his slim body shrank, and he slid to the floor, placing his hands on each side of his head. Tears coursed down the petrified boy’s cheeks in just a few seconds, his breath uneven, heavy, as he ventured to peek at the older.

“H-hyung, you—you’re d-drunk, let’s talk tomorrow, hm?” he croaked out, but he got a grunt in response and another bottle shattering almost next to him.

“Shut up, you worthless cunt! I hate you, I fucking hate you. You disgust me, you fucking whore. You’re a disgrace to this family, a worthless, whiny piece of garbage!”

While he continued with his brutal speech, Taehyung squeezed his overflowed with tears eyes shut and covered his ears, rocking his trembling body back and forth as he mouthed ‘I’m not’ repeatedly.

He could hear Jongwon’s voice getting louder by the second, and without realizing it, what he only mouthed before petered into actual words until he screamed from the top of his lungs at him, “I’m not!”

A moment of wrenching silence enveloped them as a silently crying Taehyung observed through blurry eyes a fuming Jongwon shaking from rage. When he comprehended that he started moving, a blaze of terror infiltrated him, and his sole thought was to run.

With owlish, hunted eyes and a body that quivered like a leaf, he fumbled to pull himself to his feet and barely held onto the door handle before he was pulled back by a ferocious grip on his hair.

A second later, he felt acute pain shooting up his shoulder that made his eyes pop and his breath stop momentarily. He was unable to realize what just happened even when Jongwon punched him with full force on his side and kicked him at the same spot afterwards, sending him to the cold floor.

He was wailing as he rolled to his back and drew his tremoring hand to his right shoulder, tracing with his fingers a big piece of a type of glass that was jabbed into his skin.

He didn’t have time to mull over it more as something cutting his airway came to his senses, and it took him a few seconds to perceive that Jongwon’s fingers were wrapped around his neck, clenching it in an iron-like grip.

“Next time you’ll raise your voice at me, I’m gonna stab you in your fucking throat,” he growled and slammed his head against the floor before he retreated to his seat.

In that wrecked state, Taehyung found himself asking for the one who gave him a glimmer of hope, of happiness, to come and save him, but he knew that wouldn't happen, and maybe that was what wrung his already blackened heart more.

His tears didn’t cease in the slightest; he bawled his eyes out like no other time as he pulled the piece of glass out, instantly feeling a wave of blood ooze out of his wound.

Everything after that was clouded in the boy’s mind as he felt his body weaken, but somehow he managed to go to his bedroom, and he fell in a heap on his bed.

🥀

Bloodshot, turgid eyes traveled the world-weary features on his face as the boy stood in front of his bathroom mirror.

His hand moved at a glacial pace as he reached for the iodine and poured some on a cotton ball. He clamped his teeth in his bottom lip and squinted his eyes, drawing a chest-swelling breath to prepare himself for what he had to do.

A string of muffled whines emitted from his mouth the moment he dabbed the cotton ball at his wound on his shoulder, his drained eyes bristling with tears he strained to choke back.

Inhaling a few more slow, calming breaths, he finished the torturous task and started another one; to bandage the deep cut, something that was tricky with only one hand.

The wound was still bleeding and that only made his task trickier, leading the boy to break down to tears as despair filled him to the brim.

He sloppily wrapped the bandage around his shoulder, crying a ton by now, and dragged his feet to the kitchen to cook lunch for the person he had to call hyung but was only his tormentor.

Jongwon didn’t say a word to him as he passed by the living room, but Taehyung wasn’t surprised by that. He was drunk yesterday, and just like every other time, he didn’t remember anything, or else he would have questioned him again about where he was last night.

After finishing everything he had to do, without using his right hand since it ached with the slightest movement, he took his things and left the house.

All he wanted was for Jeongguk to comfort him, engulf him in his hug, and never let him go again. But he couldn’t let him know what happened because Jeongguk would be furious, and he was sure about that.

 
Arriving at the cafe, Taehyung broke into a wan smile upon seeing the cherry-haired boy wave at him as he walked closer. “Hello.”

“Hey, Taehyung. Are you okay?” Chang Wook asked, his brows creasing as he discerned that something was off with him.

“Yes. I’m gonna go change since I came a little late today.” Taehyung gave them a smile, a rather fake one, and stepped away.

“Hey.” Jeongguk followed him, and he was ready to drape his arm over his shoulders, but Taehyung seized it before he could and instead intertwined their fingers.

The smile on his face faltered at his actions, and even though Taehyung tried to seem as if nothing was wrong, he failed miserably. “What was that?”

“Nothing.” He secreted his awkward actions with another faint smile as they trudged towards the changing room.

How could Jeongguk believe him? Maybe he knew that boy for only almost a month, but just by looking him in the eyes, he could understand if something wasn’t right. And something definitely wasn’t right that day.

He brushed it aside for the time being since Taehyung clearly didn’t want to talk about it and continued their way in silence.

Taehyung slipping into the bathroom to change his shirt confirmed his dreadful thoughts since he only did that when he had bruises to hide from the other employees.

He waited, restless, for the boy to come out while tapping his foot against the floor, and when he did, Jeongguk trod to him and gently enfolded him in his hug from behind.

The moment Taehyung felt arms surround his shoulders, he shrank away with a wince, sucking in a sharp breath.

A startled expression bloomed on Jeongguk’s face as he jerked his hands away and slowly lowered them. “Baby,” he breathed out, feeling a profound need to nestle the boy in his hug, but he didn’t know if he should, judging from his behavior. “Are you in pain? Talk to me.”

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” Taehyung plastered a brave smile on his lips despite the stinging pain, and he twisted his head to look at him, his eyes glittering by his unshed tears.

“Stop lying to me please,” he said, desperation radiating from his gaze as he lifted a wary hand and tucked a tuft of hair behind his ear. “What happened?”

A cry crawled up his throat then, but he thickly swallowed it, not wanting to break down again in front of him. “He was drunk when—when I got home yesterday,” he murmured, abstaining from making eye contact with him. “And he’s aggressive when he’s drunk, even if I d-don’t do a-anything.”

“What did he do?” A fog of sternness swept over his features at light speed, rage piling up inside him at his words.

“He s-smashed two bottles of b-beer close to me, and I got really scared at some point so I-I tried to—to leave, but he grabbed me and stuck a p-piece of glass into my s-shoulder.”

Jeongguk’s whole body grew as stiff as a rock, his jaw went slack, and a quiver of something awful, appalling, rippled through him. “He stabbed you?”

Seeing his glazed gaze and the tightened cords in his neck, Taehyung felt a flicker of panic in his heart and extended his hand to cup his face, but he jolted back.

“He fucking stabbed you?” He raised his voice a notch, unable to strangle the fit of wrath that inundated him.

“Jeongguk, please—Jeongguk!” he cried out when the boy walked past him, grabbed his bag, and scurried upstairs. He dashed behind him, tears trickling down his cheeks as he called his name, but to no avail. “Chang Wook-ssi, stop him!” he whisper-yelled just in time for the boss to yank his hand and immobilize the ranting boy.

“Let me go!” Jeongguk gritted out, a scowl engraved on his traits as he tried to free himself.

“You’re making a scene in front of our customers, and you need to stop right now!”

“I don’t give a shit, just let me—“

“Jeongguk, please,” the fluffy-haired boy choked out through his quiet sobs, placing a hand on his forearm.

Noticing his torn-apart, crying face, Jeongguk stopped fighting as sorrow struck his heart, tears welling up in his eyes. He let Chang Wook drag him to his office and throw him inside when they arrived.

“What happened?”

The two younger boys sat on the couch, and while Jeongguk couldn’t even look at him since he felt as if he let him down and let him suffer alone, Taehyung couldn’t take his eyes off him.

“Taehyung, what happened?” the boss asked with a low voice as he stood in front of them.

His voice drew Taehyung's bleary gaze to him, and he wiped his cheeks as he sniffled. “My h-hyung was drunk yesterday and he—“

“Stabbed him,” Jeongguk whispered, a faraway look in his tearful eyes. He raised them, gazing into Chang Wook’s now shocked ones. “He fucking stabbed him in his shoulder.”

“T-Taehyung,” he said under his breath, unable to believe what he just heard. “That’s too dangerous. We have to do something.”

“We can’t do anything,” Taehyung muttered, too tired to even wipe the river of tears that ran down his face.

“You can just move out. I told you I’ll protect you from him!” Jeongguk exclaimed, his hands clenching into fists as he turned to look at him. “I can’t fucking protect you if you stay there, Taehyung, so please move out. Please move out.”

“I told you I want to wait until my parents return, Kookie.”

“You can be dead until then! He stabbed you—“

“Jeongguk,” the boss interrupted in an austere tone. “If you want to talk to him, calm down first.”

“I’m fucking calm,” Jeongguk said, hastily brushing his eyes with his sleeve. He held the still crying boy’s hands in a gentle grip as he laid his gaze on him. “Baby, you can’t wait that long. What if he does something worse next time? I don’t even want to think about that. I can’t lose you. And I can’t see you like this anymore.”

“You think I want to stay there?” Taehyung asked, voice choked and dejected, suffocating sobs seeping through his mouth as he wrenched his hands away, filtering out the sharp pain in his shoulder. “He’s capable of killing me if I leave!”

“He’s capable of killing you even if you stay!”

Taehyung rolled his head back, letting out an exasperated sigh, and rose to his feet, making the cherry-haired boy panic.

“Where are you—baby, please.” He managed to hold his hips and stop him, unsure about where he could touch him. As Taehyung didn't seem to be in pain, he delicately pulled him in his hug, pressing his back against his chest. “Don’t leave. Don’t leave... me,” he uttered against his ear, feeling the boy’s body shake with his stifled sobs.

“You don’t get it. No one does.” Taehyung curled his fingers around his hands and pushed them away feebly. Keeping his head bowed, he slouched to the door and disappeared.

Jeongguk’s knees felt weak at his words, causing him to crouch down, tugging his hair as despondency overran him.

Feeling powerless to help the boy stung awfully a lot. It broke him, brought unending tears to his eyes, made his heart fall, and split it open.

He couldn’t remember the last time he was in so much pain, but when he thought over it again, he realized why; he had never felt that immense amount of pain before, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

⚜✳⚜
 
 

☹