[CONTENTID1]CHAPTER TEN[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]I'm only posting this chapter because I felt very sorry for all the readers. It took me a very long time to write this chapter and then I didn't even post it and went straight on hiatus. Sorry, mates. But anyway, here it is!!

P.S.+S. Y'all are awesome. For chapter9 I got over 30 subs, which is mind-blowing. I'm glad y'all like it. And also, is there anyone who enjoys doing graphics??? Because I kinda really want to re-new the cover for this story~

My shoulder was shaking with a gentle grip on it; a clear indication that someone was persistently trying to get me awake.

I grumbled and tried to forcefully open my eyes as they did not plan to open up by themselves, sat up and then was quickly pushed back down into the fluff pillow of a bed that definitely was not mine: my bed was never fluffy. "You shouldn't be moving much for a bit. I'm going to call Jin." called out an unknown male voice from, what seemed like, a doorway.

"Yeah." a low male voice answered, this one just to my side. As the footsteps of the mysterious someone faded down the corridor, the voice close to me spoke again. "So will you tell me what happened or will I have to question Jin for them answers?"

I had to cough to clean my throat of the dryness. "He won't tell you anything; neither am I." I stumbled out before my throat started to perch for water.

The voice sighed and there was pressure on the bed that I was laying in. "I'll help you sit up and you'll slowly sip on the water." and just as he said that, my shoulders were lifted up and behind my back there was a pillow to support my weight.

Bringing my hands up to my eyes I tried to rub the sleep off, also cracking them open in the chain of actions. "Thanks, TaeHyung." I whispered when he turned back to give me the white cup of water, bringing it up to my lips.

"Though you don't want to talk about this, there's a pretty nasty cut on your back and I want to know what caused it." he brought up without blinking an eyelash, he also did not look into my eyes while saying that and only stared at the tilted cup at my lips. "JiMin's pretty shaken, he was near crying when calling Jin and you don't want to know what his face looked like when Jin uncovered that bruise." he informed me and took the cup away from my hands after I was finished.

"My plan was to keep it away from your group of friends, because I knew that you will dig deeper even if I protested against it." I whispered with a frown on my face. "I was obviously right, seeing as you want to ask me questions and I don't want to give you answers."

"But why? Aren't we friends?" he asked and this time looked me straight in the eyes. Unfortunately for him, however, I closed mine as to prevent the meeting our eyes were about to have. I knew that right now I needed someone to talk to, and if I saw TaeHyung's hopeful stare, I would spill everything that was on my shoulders to him, only further troubling him.

"There are certain things that even friends don't know about each other." I answered him and rubbed my temple to get rid of the annoying ache that settled there.

He kept quiet and it was becoming bothersome because I did not see what he was doing. When my eyes trailed over his frowning face, I sighed again. "I would have called the police if it weren't for Jin. He obviously knows something that none of us do." he preached, his hands rubbing his long legs. "You do know that cuts this severe don't just happen. Something must have caused it, so in order for me to not call the police, I would plead for some answers, MiRan."

I stared at him in pure disbelief upon hearing his words. "That sounded more like blackmail rather than reassurance, TaeHyung." I hissed, my face twisting from shocked to frowning. "What kind of friends use blackmail against each other?"

"The concerned ones." he answered without sparing a breath.

He quickly stood up from the bed and took the cup with him after hearing a couple of knocks on the wooden doorway of the room. "Am I interrupting something?" the soft voice of SeokJin asked. I heard TaeHyung sigh and then saw how he shook his head upon walking out of the room. "Good." SeokJin smiled and walked towards me after giving TaeHyung a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

There was a minute of awkward silence as SeokJin just stood in the middle of the room in front of me and stared at me and me trying to avoid his judgemental stare. "Thank you." I whispered quietly, unable to take the man's mental pressure. "I really did not want to burden you, so I am as sorry as I am thankful." I said honestly, my head lowered from shame to stare at the white sheets of the bed.

He sighed and walked closer to the bed, now being just at the foot of it. "You're really God damn stupid, MiRan." he scolded me and quickly leaned down to pinch my leg as if making sure that I was paying attention. "You should have just said everything at the part-time, honestly." his hand flew up to mess up his hair and he moved to walk towards my side.

I gulped and tightly closed my eyes, expecting more scolding to come from the troubled man, but all I got was a warm hug and a pat on my head. "SeokJin...?" I asked, completely flabbergasted about the man's actions.

"Is this the reason why I know so much about you? So that you could hide such important facts from me? This is even worse than those cuts and bruises you got earlier. Don't you understand that I worry about you?" he chastised with a heavy voice, as if tired of my nonsensical actions.

"I am sorry." I tried to apologise. Not just for today. For everything that I had said that caused him trouble. "I really should have just kept my mouth shut, shouldn't I---"

SeokJin pulled me away from the hug and glared into my eyes, the glare quickly dissolving and turning into a concerned frown. "No, MiRan! You should speak out more! Tell me everything that is troubling you! I will be there for you like you are here for me!"

Lifting my hands up I gripped his arms as no words could portray how I felt at this current minute. Apparently, my grip on him had told everything that I, myself, could not and so he smiled in response to my actions while bringing me back into his comforting chest. "Thanks... Again." I chuckled heavily, trying to hide the fact that I was bothered by how much I must have trouble the older man.

He shook his head that was rested on my shoulder and laughed. "If you're thinking that you're bothering me right now, I swear I'm going to be very angry." he informed and drew back from me, standing up from the bed and staring at me with intent, the small smile still playing on his lips. Cocking my head to the side I stared up at him and mouthed a soundless `What?` to what he replied, "I'm going to check on your wounds, so if you please, show me your back." he instructed and spun his index finger in circles to show what he meant.

I turned around and lifted the white t-shirt, that was replaced from my school sweater, up to my shoulders and lay down in the bed on my stomach. There was a tingling sensation from when I had to move my back muscles when lifting my hands up, but it was quickly subsiding from SeokJin's cold touch as he rubbed a medicine of unknown origin onto the splotches of red around the main bruise.

"You know... I really don't understand why you always come back there when you have a safe house." he muttered quietly and gently traced the irritated skin of my back with the ointment. "You should just live there. I mean, it was pretty bad usually, because there were a lot of cuts, but this time I really thought twice when TaeHyung wanted to call the police. This is horrendous. It makes me think what if the next time, there will be no next time at all." his movements stopped and I had to bury my face in the pillow to keep my tears at bay. "That man's mad, MiRan. There is no knowledge of what he might think of to do to you."

"But you know that I can't live---" I was beginning to talk my muffled speech when there was an abrupt yell from the doorway.

"Well that's a nasty looking cut right there!" the same unfamiliar voice from earlier yelled and when my eyes wandered to the man's figure I sighed. I knew that they knew each other, but not to the extent for this man to be in his house.

"Oh, Jackson." SeokJin confirmed, a surprised expression on his face. "What are you doing here?" he asked and quickly pulled the bed sheets over my exposed back. Sending me a sympathetic glance as an apology in advance, SeokJin turned back to face Jackson again. "Don't tell me you got lost again. You practically live here." the older man sighed, as if tired of such a childish behaviour. "NamJoon must be a man of great patience." he also whispered, much more quiet this time, trying to keep this comment secret to Jackson.

"Oh, no, no. I was just walking to the toilet and then heard that you were talking. So I came in. Obviously I shouldn't have, but what's done is done." he defended with the simultaneous shake of his head and hands.

My brows furrowed and I clicked my tongue in annoyance. "Don't talk about these matters so lightly. If you know you shouldn't be here, then go." I said with a hiss and a glare.

The surprise on Jackson's face was obvious, but I ignored it and only stared at him to retreat. "I'll... Go, then." he murmured and started to retreat with cautious steps, as if waiting for me to spit some more mean words.

"Please do so, Jackson. And sorry for her behaviour. She's in a rotten mood, apparently." SeokJin tried to patch things up and sent another sympathetic smile, this time towards Jackson.

Again, Jackson shook his head and denied SeokJin's words while replying, "No, it's okay. I'd be pretty mad if someone did this to me." and thus pointing a finger at my covered back.

When the man was gone from my visage, I sighed, burying my face in the pillow once more. "Why am I like this?" I questioned myself out loud.

I heard SeokJin laugh at my words and then he ruffled my hair. "Do you want to talk with the others? I promise they won't ask any questions." he tried to console me in his own brotherly ways and surprisingly enough, it was working. Staying in this closed up space with no-one to talk to, or listen to, was driving me crazy.

"Who're the others?" I asked when my face was moved away from the pillow, trying to abandon it.

SeokJin pouted his lips in thought before replying. "Well, there's me..." he drawled on, a small smile appearing on his lips. He was trying to lighten the mood, and I was thankful. "There's also HoSeok and NamJoon. We share this apartment; YoonGi as well, but nobody knows where he went." he provided with his brows furrowing for a second before the smile came back. "Then, there's also TaeHyung, though I think he left for JeongGuk's because JiMin's there; they're going to try and console him or something like that." he said it off-handedly, though with the crease between his brows, I guessed that he was pretty bothered by such events. "And then there's Jackson." he sighed animatedly, making a chuckle emit from my throat.

"My back's sore, though. How will I walk there?" I asked after my chuckle had faded into the emptiness of the room.

He snorted quietly and rolled his eyes. "You won't die, MiRan, so get your up and I'll help you." he