Earlier update than I was planning but I had a ty day and writing was extremely therapeutic..... that being said, chapter 13 may take a while oops :)

Twenty two minutes and thirty eight seconds. That's exactly how late Sehun was when he finally arrived to the only class they shared on Mondays. Jongin knew because he was staring intently at the clock in the front of the room, counting every second that passed, when he heard the doors squeak open loudly, and his attention, as well as everyone else's, was directed to the boy walking in.

Sehun was reprimanded by the professor and he apologized before making his way to the back where he knew Jongin would be waiting.

Jongin could only stare as Sehun sat down next to him without a word. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He tried to direct his eyes and attention to the front, but he couldn't help but steal glances. His vision blurred several times as he fought back tears and Sehun had to have noticed, because he felt a hand on his own curled up, trembling fist. Sehun coaxed his fist open and intertwined their fingers, rubbing his thumb over the back of Jongin's hand.

When the lecture ended, they took their time packing up, being the last to leave. Sehun pulled Jongin away from crowded hallways.

They were in an empty stairwell when they finally stopped and their eyes met properly for the first time since Sehun had left him a few days ago (in an entirely different stairwell).

Jongin reached up to ghost his fingers over Sehun's swollen eye. Sehun's eyelids fluttered shut and he let out a sigh when he felt Jongin's cold fingertips pressing lightly against them.

“I'm fine.”

Jongin moved his fingers away. “You don't look fine.”

Sehun opened his eyes again. He really didn't look fine. He looked just as bad as Kyungsoo the night Jongin had met him for the first time. Only Sehun's wounds were older, already blackened and not showing any sign of fading.

“My uncle…. I don't know what happened. It went down so fast, I didn't even have time to react, so defending myself was out of the question. At least he had the decency to drop me off at the hospital afterwards, though he did drive off pretty fast.”

“The hospital?!”

“Jongin it's really not that bad. I stayed there Saturday night and part of Sunday. Really the only things that were keeping me there were a very mild concussion and bruised ribs but I got cleared to leave so I'm okay.”

Jongin looked away. “Where did you sleep last night? Don't tell me you went back there.”

“I crashed at a friends place.”

He shook his head. “I can't believe you didn't come to me.”

“I didn't want to worry—”

“Keeping things like this from me is what worries me! You have no clue what it felt like, when I was literally counting the seconds till I could see you, and instead of being happy, all I can feel is confused and angry and worried.”

Sehun stayed quiet. He tried to pull Jongin to him but Jongin stepped away from his grasp. A hurt expression took over Sehun's features.

“Don't you trust me?” Jongin asked him. “Enough to let me take care of you?”

“Of course I do, Jongin,” Sehun said, closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms around Jongin. He wasn't met with resistance this time, so he buried his face into Jongin's neck. “Believe me when I say, that the only reason that I didn't come to you was because you're the last person I want to be a burden to.”

Jongin threaded his fingers into Sehun's hair, rubbing his head softly. Sehun hummed a deep, hot breath onto the skin of Jongin's throat. “You'll stay with me until you get your own place. Understand?”

Sehun stood up straight. They were still wound in each other’s embrace. “Understood. But…”

“But nothing. I won't let you stay with anyone else.”

“No, it's not like that. I just mean that I'm going to go back home for a few days first. I just really want to see my mom.”

Jongin nodded and kissed Sehun slow, long and soft until the loud clearing of a throat made them pull apart abruptly.

Professor Kim stood between them and the stair well door. It was a wonder that they hadn't heard anything until the professor had called for their attention.

“I'm fairly certain the two of you should be in class. Though I understand that this is a university and you're adults and therefore no one can forceyou to attend your lectures and classes I highly recommend that you do considering how much you're paying for them.”

Jongin wanted to point out that he had a scholarship but then he quickly realized that smart mouthing a professor likely wasn't a very, well, smartthing to do. Besides, not attending class meant lower grades which meant no more scholarship for him anyways. So he just avoided eye contact with his mentor, not failing to notice, that as he was looking anywhere but Professor Kim, Sehun was staring the man down.

He dared to sneak a glance at the professor and noticed he was meeting Sehun's challenging gaze with equal intensity, an eyebrow raised at the boys current appearance.

Jongin really wanted the moment to end.

“Uh, sorry Professor Kim. We’ll be going now.”

Jongin tugged on Sehun's arm to make him move and pulled him around the professor and through the door.

----

“Aw you guys are practically matching now,” Baekhyun said, after the initial shock of seeing Sehun's state died down.

Jongin realized they must have looked like quite the pair at the moment. Him with his still dark, but now fairly yellowed bruise that had initially taken up majority of the center of his face, and Sehun with his black eye, two small stitches on his forehead and a black brace on his left hand—sprained, not broken, he had explained to Jongin when Jongin had reprimanded him for trying to carry anything with it.

“Baek, don't be rude,” Chanyeol scolded.

“Sorry,” Baekhyun said, smiling sheepishly. “It's pathetically cute, though.”

“Baek!”

“What?!” He turned to face Chanyeol next to him. “It is!”

“You just called them pathetic!”

“But I also called them cute.”

Jongin chose to let their bickering be filtered into background noise as he caught Sehun laughing quietly to himself. Technically, Sehun had class, but it seemed he was indirectly rebelling against Professor Kim by skipping the rest of his day and sticking to Jongin like glue.

“Imagine this,” Jongin said softly, “but every day, for three years. That's what high school was for me.”

“Must have been great,” Sehun replied. “You're lucky to have friends like them.”

“I know.” Jongin scrunched up his nose. “If only they talked less.”

“We heard that!”

“You know what,” Baekhyun pouted, “you're not cute anymore. Just pathetic.”

“I agree,” Chanyeol grumbled.

Jongin smirked. He knew he wouldn't trade them for anyone else.

 ----

Jongin arrived home late that evening. He had accompanied Sehun to his uncle's house to pack some of his things. His uncle wasn't home, but his wife was.

It was when they closed the door of Sehun's room that Sehun told Jongin that the wife had accused Sehun of coming onto her, which was why his uncle had gone nuts. Jongin had almost gone up to her to give her a piece of his mind but Sehun chose to start changing his clothes at that very moment and he was distracted by the bruises littering his torso. The one on his chest were especially concerning.

“Aren't you supposed to ice bruised ribs?”

Sehun frowned. “I guess so? I wasn't really paying attention when the doctor was talking. I was on a lot of pain medication. It was amazing.”

“You should get a cold pack before getting on the bus. And promise you'll rest when you get home.”

“Sure, mom.”

“Shut up. I'm serious.”

Sehun grinned and bent to pick up a shirt and retracted back to standing quickly holding onto his side. His smile disappeared as his face contorted in pain. Jongin rushed to his side.

“You're probably right.”

“Of course I am,” Jongin said. He guided Sehun to the bed, as Sehun recovered from the sharp spasm of pain. “How bad is it?”

“Not too bad. Just the worst thing out of all my injuries. Twisting around, bending, breathing too deeply, that kinda stuff hurts, but otherwise it's kind of like a backache except in my chest.”

“Just tell me what to pack. I'll do it for you.”

So Jongin packed as Sehun directed him. Only enough for a few days at his parents place. They left everything else, choosing to deal with it later. Sehun finished getting dressed, slowly this time, once he was sure that moving too much wouldn't incapacitate him again.

Jongin carried the bag for him to the bus stop. Only handing it over when Sehun absolutely had to get on, this also only after confirming that his parents were definitely picking him up from the bus station and he wasn't going to be bussing or walking to his house carrying a heavy bag.

They had also stopped at a pharmacy to get a cold pack and Sehun promised him he'd use it on the bus ride. He gently hugged Sehun goodbye and stood there until the bus left and he had one last chance to wave until he couldn't anymore.

There was still light outside when he got to his building. The moving truck that had been parked near the back of the building for the past few days was gone.

Once inside, he pressed the arrow pointing up to call for the elevator.

When the elevator arrived, Minseok got out, dressed in olive coloured scrubs, white long sleeved shirt underneath, rolled up to his elbows. Jongin blushed involuntarily, remembering what Jongdae had joked about the night before.

“Another night shift?” he asked after they greeted each other.

Minseok smiled and nodded. “Can't complain. It's good experience.”

Jongin smiled back and was about to get into the elevator when Minseok reached out and stopped him by grabbing onto his forearm.

“Can I talk to you for a quick second?”

Jongin nodded. “Sure.”

“About the conversation you had with Jongdae last night—”

“Whatever he said, I swear he's lying—”

“Relax,” Minseok laughed. “I meant about Kyungsoo.”

“Oh.” That might be worse.

“Listen, Jongdae and I met Kyungsoo during our undergraduate years. It's been awhile since then.”

“So you know him well then?”

“We do. Or did, at least. Whatever goes on with him now, we could never begin to understand or explain it. We might not speak anymore, but Jongdae and I never stopped caring about him. Which is why, you should believe us when we say there's no helping him. No saving, no protecting, nothing. Things are the way they are and they won't change. We've tried. And we only broke our own hearts in the end. Stay away from him. I'm sure he's told you the same, right?”

Jongin nodded.

Minseok pat his shoulder lightly and gave him a small smile. “Take care, alright? Stay out of trouble.”

Jongin called for the elevator again as Minseok left. He didn't know if it was Sehun rubbing off on him, or something else, but like Sehun skipping classes just because Professor Kim said he should be in them, he felt the urge to do the exact opposite of what Minseok was telling him to do.

Minseok seemed like a great person, and truthfully, he knew it must have been difficult for him to talk about it with him considering what Jongdae had said to him, but Jongin knew he could never leave Kyungsoo alone. He had already decided the night before to confront him.

Before he even goes into his own apartment, he knocks on Kyungsoo's door. There is no initial reply. He knocks again.

Nothing.

He reached out, not hesitating for the first time. The second his hand touched the cold metal of the handle, he retracted it. He didn't know what he expected. Maybe he had thought it would burn him. He pushed the stupid thoughts out of his head. He reached out again, pulling the handle down and pushing. Of course, it was locked. Again, he didn't know what he had expected.

He decides to do something he hadn't in a long time.

He searched his pockets, huffing in frustration when they came up empty. Going back into his own flat, he rummaged his desk drawer before procuring an orange coloured paperclip. Then he flicked through the cards in his wallet before he found an old library card.

It wasn't his first time picking a lock, he wasn't an expert but he knew the basics. This wasn't the most secure building either, so it shouldn't be difficult. But he was struggling, the paperclip continuously getting stuck half way.

He pulled it out. The orange plastic that was covering the metal was tearing up. Sighing, Jongin sat with his back to the door. He stuck the paper clip in his mouth and chewed on the plastic, trying to weaken it so he could pull it off and continue with his, technically illegal, activities.

A couple of minutes later he was spitting out pieces of orange plastic and wiggling the paperclip in the key hole once again. It was no longer getting stuck, and he had hope. It only took a few minutes of the magic of the paperclip in the key hole and library card slotted between the door and the frame to help slide the lock before he heard the telltale click that told him the door was finally unlocked. He had no way of knowing if Kyungsoo was even in there. He had no clue what he would find. He was desperately praying it wouldn't be some sort of crime scene.

He just knew that he had come this far, and he couldn't back down now.

Slowly, he got to his feet and wrapped his fingers around the handle. The metal turned warm before he convinced himself to turn the knob and push inward.

A single jacket, a familiar jacket. That's all there was lying in the middle of the room. No furniture, no carpet, nothing. There was no possibility that a person could live here. Yet he could see his jacket, the jacket he had put on Kyungsoo's shoulders, on the floor of the empty flat. He couldn't find it in him to go any further than the door frame, not even to retrieve the clothing.

He started to connect a few in things in his head. The moving van had been there since the night he had heard Kyungsoo relay his knowledge about his boyfriend's other life. He must have been planning this since then. He must have been slowly moving his things out so he could make a quick break for it. Which means it couldn't have been self defence. Kyungsoo had planned to commit murder.

And Jongin still only wanted to protect him.

Kyungsoo had come to see him the next day, too. He must have already been out of there by then, but he had come to talk to Jongin. He didn't know how he felt about that. It would have been risky considering the situation. Just making a run for it without turning back would have been the best way to leave. He shouldn't have come back.

He is, however slightly distraught that Kyungsoo was gone. He wanted reason to believe that what he was thinking wasn't true. But it seemed it was. Still, all he wanted, for some reason, was to help. He wondered how long it would take for the police to come asking around. Definitely not long.

He already knew that he would lie, even though, in any other case, he'd have been strongly against it.

----

Exhausted from the emotionally stressful day, he throws in the towel early. Just as he's drifting off he hears a knock. It's always in the moments he least wants to move that he has no choice.

What he doesn't expect is to meet large hooded eyes looking up at him as he tries to assess what is happening.

“What are you doing here?”

“Do you want me to go?” Despite saying that, he pushed his way past Jongin and into the apartment. He's holding the jacket. The jacket that Jongin saw just a few hours prior.

“Kyungsoo… it's dangerous for you to be around here now.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I'm talking about.” Jongin closed the door.

“I really don't.”

“You killed someone. The cops are going to be looking for you.”

Kyungsoo tilted his head at Jongin. “What?”

“No matter how hard you try to cover it up. The police always find something. You need to go.”

“You think I killed someone?” Jongin hesitantly nodded. “Who, exactly, do you think I killed?”

“Your boyfriend,” Jongin says quietly.

A grin splits Kyungsoo's face and he bursts into laughter that sounds suspiciously like giggling.

Why is he laughing?

Am I wrong?

The giggling is infectious. Jongin wants to laugh too, but he's just too confused. As soon as he's about to give in, Kyungsoo sinks onto his knees and the laughter dissolves into sobs. He buries his face into Jongin's jacket and the tears don't seem to showing any signs of stopping soon. Jongin gets down next to him, slightly panicked at the turn of events, and wraps his arms around Kyungsoo's shaking shoulders. Eventually, Kyungsoo calms down to soft sniffles and pulls away from Jongin.

Jongin studies his face. Kyungsoo looks absolutely distraught, but after a few moments he wipes his eyes and looks at Jongin, face betraying only slightly less emotion than before.

“Oh boy, don’t I wish I’d killed him. At least before he had the chance to kill me.”

I apologize if it's boring or confusing I tried different ways to phrase the whole reveal and ended up with this. Let me know if you figured it all out and what your reaction to this is. And if you haven't figured it out completely I would love to know what you anticipate all this means! People in the comments did guess pretty well :)

Next two or three chapters will be following Kyungsoo's perspective to show how he got to this point. It will be structured a little differently than the rest of the story, as it will start on a Sunday and end on a Saturday and it'll be divided into sections based on the days. So that way perhaps you'll be able to connect it to Jongin's story line (if I haven't made any major continuity errors).

I won't talk anything major about the plot because majority of it will be explained soon but if there is confusion let me know so that way I know everything that I need to clear up and I can do it within the story.

Thank you for reading!