PART #2

Joongwon went straight to the kitchen when he arrived. He was almost a stranger there. He called Siwon into the kitchen, his mom and Jiwon raising eyebrows.

"He's big enough to hurt both mom and Jiwon – Joongwon started - I can't believe you let him in the house. What were you thinking?"

"Joongwon…" – Siwon said in a warning voice.

 "Don't Joongwon me"

 "Joongwon, seriously, I don't know why. There is something about him. I trust him. Jeez, it's Christmas, man. Season of goodwill and all that"

"Season of axe murderers in our mother's house" - Joongwon grumped back, worried and not afraid to show his brother what he thought.

"I wouldn't hurt anyone" - Kyuhyun blurted out, standing in the doorway, empty mugs in his hands.

Joongwon stepped in front of the boy.

"Siwon trusts you, knows why…do you take drugs?”

"I haven't taken drugs, I don't use drugs. I don't even smoke." – Kyuhyun answered and Joongwon stepped back, suspicion still on his face, facing his brother.

 "Did you research him?" – Joongwon asked Siwon, and Kyuhyun looked at Siwon immediately, probably unaware of just how vulnerable he looked and how his eyes were suspiciously bright with tears.

Siwon felt guilty. Yes, he had checked out Cho Kyuhyun from Daegu. No, there were no missing persons' reports filed. Yes, his family still lived there. Yes, he had managed to track down Kyuhyun's home school registration and SATs results for the last four years. All as Kyuhyun had said, but he didn´t tell any of that to his brother.

"Boys? – Siwon´s mom sounded behind Kyuhyun - Joongwon, let Kyuhyun go. He is our guest, so you should treat him with kindness. Now come back in, the children are desperate to open presents"

Joongwon relaxed and moved away from Kyuhyun, following his mother out of the kitchen. Siwon waited until it was just the two of them in the kitchen.

 "Did you check me out? - Kyuhyun said softly - Are they trying to find me?"

Siwon closed his eyes briefly and then shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Kyuhyun, but not that I could see."

Kyuhyun´s face fell, his expression miserable. Kyuhyun hated what he'd had to say. The boy's family wasn't worried about him.

"Is my sister okay? Does anyone know?"

"Your sister? No, there's nothing filed about her either"

"There won't be; she's at home still. My dad… he isn't interested in her."

"I'm sorry, Kyuhyun – it was all Siwon could say - I'm very sorry…"

Both joined the rest in the living room. Kyuhyun sat at the back so this way he wouldn't be noticed watching as people opened presents. They all looked excited and happy.

Suddenly one of the children stands in front of Kyuhyun and gives him a present with his name on it.

 "For me?" - He looked directly at Siwon´s mom, who smiled encouragingly, gesture enough to make him open his present.

 He lifted out a sweater with a Rudolf the reindeer on the front. It was kind of ridiculous and childish but somehow he liked it. It made him feel special, even when he knew it was a present originally meant for someone else.

All too soon the presents were done, each person dispersing to place gifts in their rooms. Everyone moved with the exception of Kyuhyun, who sat in his corner, with a small pile of gifts, the ugly sweater, socks, boxers all with a grinning Santa on them. Kyuhyun sensed Siwon moving and looked up as the cop stood in front of him.

"I'm still on duty. I have to check in for an hour. Wanna come with?"

Kyuhyun glanced out at the snow still falling, and nodded. He put his new sweater with Rudolf the reindeer and a thick coat on him.

So cute, Siwon thought. Did Kyuhyun even know? Did Kyuhyun have any idea how beautiful he looked right now? Siwon couldn't stop staring at the boy's expression, which alternated between thoughtful and sad as he stared up at the snow, random flakes landing on his skin and melting against his tongue as he poked it out to taste the ice.

 Images from last night came to Siwon all of a sudden. He was still not entirely sure why he had hugged Kyuhyun. It had been as if he had had no choice. He was, however, certain that at this moment what he really wanted to do was kiss him.

No. He shook his head free of the impulse. A cop could not have those feelings, ual or just plain emotional, for a clearly underage charity case.

They walked for a while. Kyuhyun was mostly quiet, commenting briefly on the snow, and on the gifts he had received. When they arrived to the station, the only person in there was Shindong, three months away from retirement and the man who, in effect, Siwon was replacing. Siwon introduced the man to Kyuhyun and then he showed Kyuhyun the desk he shared with Shindong. The place was small but somehow nice.

When Kyuhyun leaned on the wall by his back, he winced in pain. Siwon worried and stepped closer.

“What´s wrong?” – he asked, worried.

“My back…”

“Show me” – Siwon commanded.

Kyuhyun hesitated but after a while, he turned his back to Siwon. He removed his coat, lifted his sweater and t-shirt, and exposed half his back, knowing what was there. He heard Siwon's indrawn breath, the sudden intake of air that indicated shock, but he didn't drop the shirt, just let Siwon look. He knew what Siwon saw; he had seen it himself in mirrors…scars from the stick his father had used, crossing scars from the belt. Almost all healed, almost all.

Siwon caught Kyuhyun's hand, pulling it so the clothes dropped back in place, and then using it to turn him around to face him. Kyuhyun wouldn't look him in the eyes, shame washing his skin red that Siwon had seen the evidence of sin on his body. He startled suddenly when Siwon simply placed a finger under his chin and encouraged him to look up. He couldn't do it, and he shut his eyes tight. He couldn't look at Siwon, didn't want to see the disgust on his face.

 "I could kill them for what they've done to you" - Siwon said softly. Kyuhyun opened his eyes, confusion washing over him. Siwon surely wouldn't kill, but what he saw in the cop's face was scary, really, really, damn scary.

Kyuhyun tried to pull back, very uncomfortable with the intense emotion on this cop's face.

"You…you can't…" – the boy said quickly, watching as Siwon's face changed from intense to soft quickly.

 "I know, but I want to hurt someone back" – Siwon said and Kyuhyun felt like crying. Someone was looking at him with such support. Someone believed him.

The moment was frozen, Siwon moving slowly closer, until only inches separated them, and Kyuhyun could see Siwon's eyes were actually stunningly beautiful. He wanted Siwon to kiss him, desperately, as much as he needed his next breath. Instead, Siwon just pulled him in for another of his bear hugs, patting his back carefully and stepping away with a thoughtful look on his face.

 "C'mon, let's go enjoy Christmas for a couple of hours" – Siwon said and Kyuhyun felt a mix of disappointment and fear, and it scared him how much he wanted to kiss Siwon.

oOo

            Kyuhyun didn't know where to start. He was surrounded by lots of bowls full of delicious food. Siwon was pleased to then see the teenager virtually inhale turkey. He was totally absorbed in his food, unaware that he was making appreciative noises each time he chewed a mouthful which made Siwon chuckle.

            When Kyuhyun met Siwon´s eyes, he blushed furiously. They talked a lot about different things while enjoyed dinner.

Siwon kept chuckling every so often as Kyuhyun searched for another subject to talk about, but Siwon beat him to it.

"What were you going to do? That is, when you woke up Christmas Day, where were you going to go?" - Siwon sounded curious, and Kyuhyun wasn't sure what to say. He shrugged. What was he going to say? He had no money left…

"To the north - he finally said - I was heading north, thought maybe I could pick up work there."

"The north is a fine place - Siwon said in response - But you don't have to go to another city and find work, you know…What about college?"

Kyuhyun smiled softly into his hot chocolate now. College was just a dream.

"I didn't even graduate, and I don't have the money for college."

"I´m not stupid, Kyuhyun. You could get your equivalency, get a degree, make a life for yourself."

Pain speared Kyuhyun. Everything seemed so damn simple when Siwon said it like that, and irrationally, he started to feel angry.

"We don't all have the prefect things" - Kyuhyun said, not sad, but angry, hostile, and feeling trapped. He pushed himself to stand, stumbling slightly but Siwon stood just as fast, grabbing Kyuhyun's arm.

"Kyuhyun, sit down – Siwon said in a calm voice, instantly gentling the passion the boy felt and encouraging him to sit back on the sofa - There is nothing about our lives here that you could remotely call perfect. Could…you wait until after Christmas maybe and then find a place? This city is big and dangerous, but what we do have here is a place you could be safe, somewhere to grow, maybe go to the college…"

Kyuhyun interrupted with a disbelieving snort "Where in this would you see me living?"

"We'd find somewhere. You could work for your keep, live with me possibly. I have my own house, a small one, but it has two bedrooms. You could stay with me, stay here in Seoul." - Siwon sounded pathetically hopeful and entirely convinced he had an option Kyuhyun should entertain.

"What about money?" – Kyuhyun asked in return.

"Shops need laborers. There's at least one store looking for a clerk. I don't know, but we'd find somewhere." – Siwon said clearly worried.

 "Why would you do that? You want me to be grateful? Maybe bend over for you, pay you back that way?" - Kyuhyun's chest was tight with anger.

 "No! God no - Siwon finally managed to answer, shaking his head, and his face flushing red - I just have…I mean, no. Do you…"

"Siwon…"

", I really didn't know how to word this, please. I'm a cop, I'm trained to help, and god knows… I mean, Kyu, you need to stop running. You're eighteen in two days. Make a stand, draw a line. Just stop."

The boy unconsciously drew his knees up on the sofa, wrapping hands around them, his usual pose of self-protection.

"I can't think - he finally said - I just can't think - his voice was broken - Can we just leave this?"

Siwon made a decision, flicking through the TV channels with the remote.

 "Do you want to see a movie? It´s Christmas, let´s see one" – he invited to change the topic and Kyuhyun nodded.

Both headed to the living-room while the rest was upstairs. Siwon settled back, his hand resting along the back of the sofa, and Kyuhyun shifted away a little, wincing at the pain in his back and hoping Siwon didn't see. Siwon was so damn warm, soft, welcoming, and supportive, and before he knew it, his head was resting on Siwon's shoulder, his long legs relaxing and stretching out in front of him. Kyuhyun tried to settle to watch the film, deciding it was going to be almost impossible with the cop so close, and then in the space of ten minutes, he was totally focused on the screen.

oOo

All too soon the movie was finished, and Siwon realized it was actually the twenty-sixth now, the boy's last day of being seventeen. He turned his face to cuddle against him, loving the simple affection this hug was giving him. He knew he shouldn't notice but Kyu smelled like Christmas, a warm mix of the different aftershaves and colognes that he had received as presents.

"Why do you make it so that everything I want in this world seems possible?" - Kyuhyun asked softly, pressing his head against one of Siwon's hands, half closing his eyes.

"Because when you turn eighteen, anything is possible, Kyu, if you want it enough."

The twenty-sixth passed fast. Siwon didn't have to go on duty until six a.m. the next day and so, he was simply hanging around his mom's house in order to relax and enjoy his family.

Hyukjae and his husband Donghae came over just after lunch, they were enjoying the Christmas cookies made by Siwon´s mom. The two of them sat with Siwon and Kyuhyun in the front room.

After a while Hyukjae and Siwon left the room for some beers. Kyu was suddenly aware