Hi guys! Hope you like it! I haven't thoroughly edited this chapter so there might be some grammar mistakes.

Jisoo didn’t exactly know what to expect when he walked into Jihoon’s apartment; just that he’d been ignoring all his texts and calls all day. But he certainly didn’t expect to find Jihoon with a shirtless boy in his bedroom and him half-wearing a jacket he’d mysteriously picked up the other night, leaving his scars, his self-proclaimed weaknesses, on display. He recognised the shirtless boy as the boy who’d carried Jihoon to them on his back in the club, the one his small friend didn’t want to leave, and the same boy that had showed up on Jihoon’s doorstep the day before, right before he’d kicked all his friends out on his doorstep. And so Jisoo did what any good, slightly motherly, friend would do; he demanded to know what the hell was going on while giving Jihoon the best “You’re in trouble, Mr” stare he could muster. He’d known this stare to insight fear in many, mainly his friends, and make him the most bad- pacifist, whose nickname happened to be Jisus for various reasons, anyone hoped to ever meet. At least that what he thought of himself as, his friends thought he was an easy hyung with an oddly “mum-ish” side who sometimes grounded them in the place of their parents.

Jihoon was frozen on the spot, embarrassed. ‘Hyung, it’s not what it looks like! W-we were just kissing!’

Now Jisoo raised an eyebrow, kissing? He could see the now-not-so-shirtless boy sneaking up behind Jihoon, obviously nervous. It was quite amusing seeing him try and hide behind a boy who was about a head shorter than him while giving him a back-hug, but he was struck by the way the boy held him, close and like he was the most precious thing in the world. Jihoon reciprocated the gesture, his hands resting on top off the boy’s, which were on his waist. Oh god, his babies were dating before him! He’d had a hard enough time with Wonwoo and Mingyu, the lovable idiots who were clearly smitten for each other but refused to admit it. Now his little Jihoonie, the shyest of the bunch next to the precious Minghao, was dating!

Whatever had happened had clearly occurred in the last 24 hours since he’d last seen his friends, based on the rather fresh hickeys on each of their necks. Oh, he had something to say about that, but he wasn’t going to do it while Jihoon was there. Jihoon knew how protective his friends were of him, but he didn’t understand why and therefore, wouldn’t appreciate Joshua going ape on his boyfriend, if that’s what they were. Hell, they better be, or someone’s gonna get a major -kicking; no one plays with Jisoo’s kids.

And so, Joshua calmed himself down and told Jihoon to go take a shower.

The small boy looked at him weirdly. ‘What?’

‘I told you to go take a shower; I wanna have a talk with this guy. Alone,’ he said, gesturing towards the boy who was still attached to Jihoon’s back like an oversized monkey.

When he didn’t move, Jisoo pointed to the bathroom door sternly. ‘Shower. Now.’

The boy then scampered off to the bathroom, looking over his shoulder to give his boyfriend an encouraging look before shutting the door behind him.

Now that Jisoo and the boy were alone together, he pointed to the couch and said in the same tone as he pointed to the couch, ‘Sit.’

The boy immediately obeyed, still looking quite nervous, tugging at the hem of his shirt. ‘Um, you’re Jisoo hyung?’

Jisoo stood opposite to him, arms folded across his chest. ‘Depends how old you are, kid.’

The boy continued fiddling with his shirt, not looking him in the eye. ‘I’m in the same year as Jihoon, so I assume you’re older than me too?’

He paused when the older nodded, but started again, talking fast and in a rush. ‘I’m Soonyoung, and, uh, I’m Jihoon’s boyfriend. I mean, I only met him a few days ago but things sorta happened and I stayed over last night. but, we didn’t do anyt-‘

He was cut off by Jisoo. ‘Kid, I’m not gonna eat you or anything. I was just making sure you weren’t playing around with my friend. He’s too sensitive to get his heart broken and you’re the first guy he’s ever had around to his house but us, his brother and his brother’s friends. So don’t blame me if I was a little suspicious.’

Soonyoung nodded along, still a bit intimidated by the boy in front of him. ‘I know he’s sensitive. We’ve only known each other for a few days, but we both care about each other. I’m not playing around with him.’

He said this with such conviction that Jisoo believed him at once, even warming up to him a bit. There’s nothing better than a kid with conviction.

He sat down beside him, relaxing the other slightly. ‘Okay, kid, I believe you. Anyway, Jihoon must trust you a lot to let you touch him like that, he never lets anyone do that but people he trusts.’

There was a faint smile on Soonyoung’s face. ‘He’s so adorable, I’ve thought he was since I saw him at the club, but now I know more, he’s even more so. It’s like he’s magical, with his smile that brightens up the room, his face which goes the cutest shade of red I’ve ever seen, his absolutely adorable height, and the most contradictory person I’ve ever met.’

Jisoo recognised the look on Soonyoung’s face to be something more than simply “liking someone” and that it was completely sincere. Well, Jihoon might have to keep this one, ‘cause he certainly wasn’t one you let go off lightly.

He patted the boy’s shoulder kindly and his tone was soft as he asked, ‘So you know about the scars then?’

‘Yes,’ was the only answer.

‘Do you know the story behind them?’

Another “Yes” was given.

Jisoo leaned back into the couch, sighing. ‘You know, it took him at least two years to tell us, his friends. If he’s told you after only knowing you a few days, then you must really be special. He doesn’t like to talk about them even now, after so many years. Of course, it’s not helped by school.’

He was startled when Soonyoung turned to face him directly. ‘What happens at school? He told me he doesn’t like it, but we didn’t get around to why.’

Jisoo sighed again, unhappy with the memories the question conjured up. ‘He’s not bullied exactly; at least not while I was there. It’s just sort of like he’s… ignored. The whole school found out about his scars when someone wanted to know why he wouldn’t change in the boy’s changing room for P.E and some idiot forced him to take his shirt off. Now they just avoid him like the plague, occasionally jabbing some insults here and there. I seriously think he would’ve resorted to drastic measures if he didn’t have us as friends; there’s nothing we can do to stop it but we’re there for him and that’s what matters to him. I was a bit worried that things might change for the worse once I graduated, but he’s doing fine, making friends with some new students.’

There was silence before he carried on, ‘He still hates it though, people whispering behind his back, but he refuses to ask to change schools because he doesn’t want to bother his brother and leave us as well. He’s such a loyal little guy, even if he’s a bit snappy.’

Soonyoung had listened seriously throughout Jisoo’s explanation but laughed towards the end. ‘Yeah, I already know not to get him angry, he whacked me this morning.’

‘Well, you can get used to that,’ Jisoo laughed with him.

----------------

Meanwhile, Jihoon was finished showering and getting dressed when he caught sight of himself in the half-fogged up mirror. He slowly traced the scars on his abdomen and back, remembering the feeling of Soonyoung doing the exact same thing. He didn’t usually look at himself in the mirror, not liking what he saw, but this time it was different. He didn’t feel ashamed for the first time in years and for whatever reason, he felt that he was more than just the boy who had the scars, the boy whose parents died while he survived.

And for the first time in a very long while, Jihoon smiled at his reflection, knowing that at least someone liked what he saw when he looked at Jihoon. And at this moment, that someone was probably being traumatised by Jisoo in the lounge. Should he go save him? Well, if he got scared off, there wouldn’t be anyone to kiss anymore, so probably.

He smiled to himself as he walked towards the door, pulling a fresh t-shirt on. If Soonyoung could at least survive Jisoo, kisses and more would be well deserved; he’d known his friend to scare even the fearless Seungkwan when he had the unfortunate luck to swear right as he walked in. No one could escape Jisoo and his endless scoldings.

So, when he saw that Soonyoung hadn’t run away like many would’ve, he sat between him and a strangely peaceful Jisoo and gave Soonyoung exactly what he deserved. No, it wasn’t a whack up-side the head. This time it was a short chaste kiss on the lips.

Hs boyfriend looked at him adoringly while pulling the other closer to him, intertwining their fingers and hooking his arm through his. ‘What was that for?’

Jihoon let his head come to rest on the other’s shoulder, smiling. ‘Just for being here.’

“If that’s what I get from it, I’ll always be here. Even if your friens lecture me about me giving you hickeys,’ Soonyoung said playfully, twisting some of Jihoon’s pink hair round his fingers with his free hand.

The other boy blushed as he contnued, whispering into his ear, 'And even if you were the one that gave me more hickeys.'

All the while, Jisoo was watching this with the calm eyes of someone who knew when not to in and just stay quiet. It was so nice to see his small friend so happy for the first time since he’d known him. It was like all Jihoon had missed out on in life was suddenly taking a much needed u-turn, realising that a truly deserving person was so unhappy and in need of some good. And that good had come in the form of a boy with odd, Einstein-like hair who completely adored the small boy with pink hair and rosy cheeks.

And Jisoo had to believe in miracles, for one was right in front of him, cuddling with the other miracle in his life. Okay, one of the many, sometimes slightly annoying, miracles in his life.

Did you like it? I was totally blocked for a long time but it worked out in the end. I sometimes struggling with closing my chaps, so please forgive me if this was a little too over-explained. Please comment your thoughts, I'd really love to hear from you! Next Sunday I'll update again, or maybe sooner if i finish early, so bye until then! Also, I might get told off for this, but Jisoo has always reminded me of a Golden Retriever or just a dog in general. I've always associated certain people's faces with animals, so don't blame me! Anyone agree?...