Minhyuk's POV

 

Something had happened at the hospital. It was something different, and I couldn't think about anything else as I walked home. I had been extremely reluctant to go home, but Sojin had insisted that I should go home. I didn't want to leave her with that woman that was supposed to be her mom. 

 

When I closed the door after me when I got home, mom came out of the kitchen with a worried expression on her face. She wasn't dressed in her normal business clothes, which ment that she'd been home a while.

 

"Oh, Minhyuk", she said, and pulled me into a tight hug.

 

I guessed that the school had called to her to tell her what'd happened, since I was involved. My arms hung limply after my sides as I waited for her to release me, and when she did, she cupped my face between her hands. Her eyes were so worried.

 

"What happened?" she asked, even though she probably already knew.

 

"I stopped some guys from killing my friend", I muttered. 

 

She let out a shaky sigh and dropped her hands, crossing her arms over her chest instead. I took my jacket off, ignoring her worried gaze, and then walked into the kitchen. Dad was sitting at the table, and he looked older, his face wrinkled with worry.

 

"How is Sojin?" he asked.

 

"A broken nose and three broken ribs. But she'll be on her feet soon", I answered, opening the fridge.

 

"Ah... Poor girl. I didn't know she had it so hard", he said, sounding guilty.

 

I smiled bitterly and closed the fridge again, without even taking anything out, and leaned against the kitchen counter. I really had no idea what to do. Everything that I'd ever learned was wrong, people did to Sojin almost everyday. She'd been forced to go through with endless harassment and harsh words, and ended up in the hospital before anything actually happened. To say that I was pissed was only the beginning.

 

Sojin's POV

 

We sat in silence. Neither me or mom had anything to say, so why should we? My whole body was aching, but I refused to tell the nurse about it, since I didn't want to show mom that I was weak. Dad wasn't there, and I didn't believe that he would come either. As long as he had work, he had a reason not to come. 

 

The silence suddenly got interrupted by the door that swung open, and Dongsung came storming in. He was pale, and he just went down on his knees next to my bed, not taking a chair. He took my hand, and pressed his face against the white the sheets.

 

"I'm so sorry", he sobbed, crying.

 

I was in complete shock. Mom slowly raised up from her chair, and left the two of us alone. It was way obvious that she was ashamed. Dongsung looked up at me, tears streaming down his beautiful face.

 

"I should've done something before", he said, gripping my hand tightly. 

 

My voice got stuck in my throat, and the only thing I could do was stare at him. The guilt in his face was so great that it made me freeze. He'd never done anything to me that could've hurt me, and he was still there, apologizing for something he wasn't responsible. 

 

"I-I'm not mad at you", I stuttered out after a while. 

 

"You should. If I'd just done something, you... wouldn't be here", he said, getting a bitter look over his face.

 

"No. Stop it", I said, my voice turning hard.

 

 He looked at me with surprise, and I stared him right in the eyes.

 

"This is not your fault. So stop it", I said.

 

He blinked, and nodded slowly, the tears still falling from his eyes. As I looked at him, I found myself thinking that he maybe wasn't so perfect. 

 

"Good. And don't bring it up again", I said, leaning back against the pillow.

 

My demand made him smile slightly, and he chuckled. 

 

"You sound like mom", he said.

 

I frowned at the comparison, but I didn't say anything. She was the last person I wanted to be compared with.

 

Dongsung's POV

 

I sat with her until she fell asleep. The fact that she didn't blame me for it didn't make me feel any better at all. It was partly my fault that it'd gone so far that she'd ended up in the hospital, and the guilt was in the back of my head all the time. I watched my little sister sleep, and I noticed how exhausted she looked. Not because of the abuse, it was deeper down in her skin. I sighed and got up from the chair I'd sat down in, and walked out of the room. Outside, I found that mom was sitting and waiting. She immediatly looked up when I came out, and we looked at each other for a while. I was mad at her just as much as I was mad at myself.

 

"So. What are you going to do about this?" I eventually asked her, sitting down on a chair next to hers.

 

She didn't answer, and I looked at her to see that she was grinding her teeth. 

 

"Where's dad?" I asked instead.

 

"At work. He said he'll be here when he's done", she answered.

 

Her answer made me even more angry. To be honest, I'd never seen dad show any kind of affection towards Sojin. And he felt that his job was more important than visiting his injured daughter?

 

"Do you really accept that this is happening?" I asked through clenched jaws.

 

"No. I do not. And that's why I want to tell you something that you have to promise me to keep quiet about", she said.

 

I looked at her, and her hard eyes met mine. A different kind of coldness had taken place in them than I usually saw when she was angry.

 

"What?" I asked.

 

"I'm divorcing your father. It's not going to make everything fine, and it's definitely isn't going to be easy. But it's a start", she said, and closed her eyes.

 

I didn't move or say anything. It took me a few seconds to actually understand what she was saying, and when I did, I nodded slowly.

 

"Okay. That's... a start", I said, leaning back in my chair. "But what about Sojin? Everything won't just become okay because you seperate."

 

My question made mom open her eyes, and I could see that she was on the verge of tears.

 

"I know perfectly well that I haven't been... a good mother. And I know that it will take some time for everything to settle down. But I will try my best to make you sister justice, and the first thing I'm going to do is sue those bastards that did this", she said, taking deep breaths between the sentences.

 

"I don't think that she wants to sue them. Ask her before you do anything rushed", I said.

 

She looked at me, and the tears spilled over. She actually cried. It was something horrible over seeing a mother cry over her child.

 

"I really had no idea", she whispered.

 

"I don't think anyone did", I replied.