After another restless night kept up by his parents arguing, Wonshik was exhausted. He rubbed his sleepy eyes as he forced himself to sit up, reaching over to his bedside table to retrieve his phone. 6:30am. Too early to text Taekwoon, he frowned as he put his phone back down, trying to figure out what to do with himself. It wasn't just too early to text Taekwoon, it was also too early to be getting ready for school. He figured getting a bath would kill some time, so he quietly snuck out of his room and locked himself in the bathroom, always cautious about bumping into his dad. 

As he sat on the rim of the bathtub and ran himself a bath, he thought about Taekwoon, picturing how angelic he looked as he slept. Hopefully he wakes up early so we can talk soon, he thought to himself. Since confessing their love to each other, the two were inseperable. Wonshik hated every moment they spent away from each other, and couldn't wait to see Taekwoon before school. 

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Once he had finished his bath, Wonshik decided to get dressed. He had gotten into the habit to lay his uniform out the night before so that he could leave his house early. Wonshik had started to get up earlier than usual to walk to Taekwoon's so that they could walk to school together. After getting dressed, he cautiously made his way to the kitchen where his dad was slouched over at the counter with several empty beer cans scattered around him. Wonshik sighed, taking a deep breath before walking over to him.

"Dad...?"

"What?" his dad slurred in response, not bothering to look up at his son.

"Have you eaten?" Wonshik asked nervously, moving to pour his dad a bowl of cereal before getting one for himself.

"Why should you care?"

"Dad, I'm just trying to help-"

"I don't need your help, you piece of !" his dad snapped, slamming his hand down on the counter and making Wonshik jump. As he flinched, he dropped the bowl on the floor, smashing it by accident. "Look what you've done now," his dad mumbled, pushing himself up right and glaring at his son with disdain. Aggresively, he grabbed Wonshik by his school tie, lifting him from the floor slightly and choking him a little.

"D-dad-"

"Shut up!" he snapped once again, punching Wonshik square in the jaw, knocking him over. As Wonshik held his jaw in pain, he cowered, pleading with his dad to stop but his pleas fell on deaf ears. He continued to beat his son, leaving him with a busted and bleeding lip and a black eye. Once the beating was over and his dad had ran out of steam, Wonshik ran to Taekwoon's house without thinking.

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"Coming!" Taekwoon called out to an overenthusiastic knock on his door. As he answered the door, his smile turned into a frown. "...Wonshik?"

Without speaking, Wonshik threw his arms around Taekwoon, pulling him into a tight hug. As Taekwoon reached his arms up to reciprocate the hug, he noticed that Wonshik had began to cry. He frowned, holding Wonshik tight and patting his back to try and comfort him. After a little while spent in their embrace, Wonshik began to calm down, wiping his tears on the sleeve of his school blazer to try and compose himself.

"S-sorry."

"Wonshikkie, what happened?" Taekwoon asked with a furrowed brow, brushing a lock of Wonshik's fluffy black hair behind his ear to get a better look at his injuries. "Who did this to you? Was it your dad?"

"..."

"Wonshik."

"Y-yeah..." he nodded weakly, looking down at the floor out of embarrassment. 

"Come here."

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"Ah! Woonie, that stings!"

"I'm sorry," Taekwoon apologised with a weak smile, cleaning up his boyfriend's busted lip for him. "It's not okay he does this to you, you know-"

"Shouldn't you kids be on your way to school by now?" Hakyeon asked, entering the kitchen to get some breakfast. He gasped as he noticed Wonshik's injuries, rushing over to him. "Wonshik?! What happened?"

"..."

"Shikkie, you should tell him," Taekwoon placed a hand on Wonshik's shoulder to encourage him. "He should know."

Hakyeon observed the boys exchange with a concerned expression on his face. Seeing Wonshink hurt felt the same as seeing Taekwoon hurt - Wonshik had become like another little brother to him, and he couldn't stand to see him in pain. He waited patiently as Wonshik took a deep breath, trying to prepare himself to share the secret he had only ever told Taekwoon before.

"...My... my dad..." Wonshik almost whispered. "...He's an alcoholic and... sometimes he... he..."

"...He beats Wonshik up, Yeonie," Taekwoon finished Wonshik's sentence for him, seeing how much he was struggling to get the words out. 

"The bastard," Hakyeon mumbled under his breath, clearly very annoyed. "Wonshik, don't worry. You can stay here. I'll sort him out. You kids should get to school - everything will be fine, okay?" Hakyeon smiled with a reassuring voice, ruffling Wonshik's fluffy black hair playfully. "I promise."

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"Woonie?"

"Yeah?" Taekwoon answered his phone as he walked to the roof top to meet up with Wonshik for lunch as usual. It was Hakyeon calling him, and he sounded pretty relieved.

"I called the police on Wonshik's dad. They've arrested him, so hopefully things will get sorted now," he replied. "Tell Wonshik he can stay at ours as long as he likes, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Yeonie," Taekwoon smiled, ending the call as he had finally made it up the long sets of stairs leading to the roof. He sighed as he spotted Wonshik sat at their bench by himself, aimlessly picking at his lunch. He looked defeated. "Hey, babe."

"Hm? Oh... hey, baby," Wonshik forced a weak smile as he looked up at Taekwoon. "What happened?"

"Yeonie sorted it out. Things are gonna be okay now," Taekwoon sat down next to Wonshik, putting an arm around him to comfort him. He planted a kiss on his cheek, brushing a lock of his fringe off his face to get a better look at him - poor Wonshik looked so sad. It broke Taekwoon's heart. "He said you can stay at ours as long as you'd like."

"Really?" Wonshik seemed to perk up a bit, looking up at Taekwoon with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Taekwoon nodded, smiling warmly. "A-Ah, t-thank you. Thank you so much, Woonie," Wonshik smiled his usual crooked smile as he wrapped his arms around Taekwoon and pulled him into a hug. He was so grateful to have such a supportive boyfriend, who just so happened to have such a kind and caring big brother. Wonshik didn't know what he would do without Taekwoon and Hakyeon in his life. "You have no idea how much this means to me-"

"I love you, silly," Taekwoon smiled, pulling away from their hug to give Wonshik a quick kiss.

"I love you more," Wonshik grinned.