EIGHT

He could feel the blood pounding in his ears. Just seeing Ten with someone else was making him feel absurdly jealous. Even more absurd was, that he was jealous because of his brother. He tried to calm his racing heart by taking a deep breath, but it was almost impossible for him to tear his eyes off of Ten and Jaehyun. He was just too used to it – to monitor Ten and his interactions  with others... 
 

"What are you looking at?" Taeyong jumped up – startled, upon hearing his father's deep voice.

Thankful for his quick reflexes, Taeyong grabbed the sleeve of his father's jacket, pulling him further away. "Nothing's dad. Just saw one of my classmates in the crowd." Technically, he wasn't lying, but he was just hoping his father couldn't recognise Ten in here. It would make the matter even worse. 
 

"What is the name of that friend?" Once again, question that caught him off guard.

Boy's breath hitched a little, he couldn't think of any other name at the moment. "Jaehyun." 
 

"You never mentioned such name before." His father asked, clearly scanning the expression of his son's face.

Taeyong decided to play with it. "As if you ever cared about me and  my friends." 
 

Without saying a word, his Mr. Lee only took a deep breath and walked away, leaving his son alone. 

* * * * * * * 

"Now I can see why you're so beautiful." Jahyun said into Ten's ear as they were swaying from side to side, dancing with the others in the centre of the dance floor.

Ten got the idea what his friend was driving at, he lowered his head to hide the flush on his face. 

"She's beautiful, isn't she?"

Jaehyun didn't say anything, he only tightened the grip on Ten's  hand that was linked with his all the time as they were dancing. 
 

"Uhm-" Ten cleared his throat, looking back at his friend, to his surprise when he looked up, Jaehyun was already looking at him. "I need to use bathroom." Or better, I need to flee. All these touches and looks Jaehyun's been giving him. Ten started to feel uncomfortable. As if he was... Ten denied the thought right away. That was simply not possible.

"Sure..." Taller boy said and unwillingly let go of Ten's hand. 
 

"I'll be right back." Ten reassured him with a smile and headed towards the hallway. 

Hallway was dark compared to ballroom lit up with thousands of little lights. Ten had to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. There was no one around as he walked down towards bathroom. 

Only muffled voices could be heard from the ballroom, everyone was already fairly drunk. It seemed like he was the only one who didn't drink until he would pass out. Only few sips of red wine were already making his head spin a little. He didn't want to get drunk, not after what happened last time he drank little too much.

Ten was too deep in thoughts and did not even realise a tall male approaching him from behind. Ten's heart almost jumped out of his chest when a hand clasped his shoulder, spinning him around and slamming his back against the cold wall in the hallway. 
 

When he discerned the face, blood drained from his face. Johnny was there, looking at him as if he was some kind of prey. Ten tried to even his breat