Jongin first notices the bruises in the locker rooms after the grueling 2 hour soccer practice. Granted he himself and the other players are scraped up but Kyungsoo's are in places they shouldn't be. They're in all the wrong places to be from falling on the wet field.

But Luhan, who also notices, lectures him while they're showering. 'You can't just ask someone why they're hurt like that.' or spewing some other Jongin shrugs off.

Jongin glances over to the shower next to his and is staring at Kyungsoo's back. The water is running hot over the bruises on his shoulders and it makes them stand out more. Jongin wonders why the coach, who definitely sees them too, ignores the problem. If someone at school is doing this to him then it's the coaches responsibility. But he's an with his own agenda and only cares about the female coach who assists soccer games.

"Hey big-eyes." Jongin hears once they're all getting dressed and Luhan nudges Jongin, nodding towards the scene in the corner. "What happened to you?" Wu Fan asks and raises a hand and Kyungsoo flinches away. Wu Fan drops his hand, "I wasn't gonna hit you. Dude, stop being such a pansy." And him and Tao retreated back to their dark corner of the room. Jongin has half a mind to give them a piece of his mind but Luhan's hand stops him. "He's just not worth the trouble."

It's two days later when Jongin notices them again. This time they're in biology class and Jongin is forced to partner with him. Jongin doesn't mind because this kid's suppose to be top of the class and smartest in school. Biology wasn't Jongin's strongest subject. If he were lucky Kyungsoo would just do all the work and let him sleep before soccer practice.

"Don't worry I'm use to doing all the work." Kyungsoo casually says and takes the worksheets from Jongin's hands. "Thanks." Jongin put his head down on the desk facing the window and Kyungsoo just happens to be in his view.

Kyungsoo was immersed in starting the project. The sleeves of his school shirt rides up his arm enough to expose finger shaped bruises on his forearms. Kyungsoo seems to notice that he's still awake.

He glances down and unrolls his sleeves to cover the discolored skin. "Hey Kyungsoo." Baekhyun chimes in from two rows back and Jongin can hear Sehun chuckling next to him. "Come help us too." Kyungsoo looks back at Jongin and back to their own work and back to Baekhyun. "Sure." Jongin thinks Kyungsoo is too much of a push-over.

"Can I come over?" Jongin asks Kyungsoo as they're walking out onto the school fields together. "Why would you want to?" The shorter asks and Jongin can see him tense up. "To help with the rest of our project." Jongin figures it's wrong to make Kyungsoo do all his work since Kyungsoo agreed to do Baekhyun and Sehun's too. "I don't think that's a good idea. Sorry."

Jongin just shrugs and runs to join Luhan and Junmyeon by the far end goal. Practice today is gonna be brutal because everyone can tell the coach is in a bad mood. There's a rumor going around the players that he gt rejected by that female coach. Jongin sees Wu Fan slap a hand down on Kyungsoo's shoulder and the shorter nearly topples over. Luhan just rolls his eyes.

Through convincing Jongin got the teacher to give him Kyungsoo's address. It was in the bad side of town and Jongin thought about asking someone to go with him because he didn't wanna get jumped again. But it was Saturday afternoon and everyone had plans. Luhan was doing something with Sehun and Junmyeon.

Baekhyun was going out of town to visit family.That left Jongin with nothing to do. And he'd take school work over boredom any day.

Jongin is rounding the corner when he hears yelling coming from somewhere on the block. There's not many people out today because it's too dangerous too. Jongin can't find gate number 12 though. Half the gate number plates are graffitied to the point of being unrecognizable. "Just shut the up!" Jongin hears ans stops mid-step. A gate squeaks open and nearly hits Jongin.

The gate slams shut and the figure slumps to sit on the stairs. "Kyungsoo?" Jongin asks and the boy looks up through thick bangs. "Jongin?" There is a fresh bruise around his right eye and his mouth has blood all over it. "Are you," Jongin steps closer and Kyungsoo flinches so Jongin stops advancing on him. "Are you okay?" Jongin knows it's a stupid question.

There's more yelling from inside the house Jongin assumes is Kyungsoo's and he assumes it's his parents. Jongin can't make out what is being said but he can make out the sound of crying. Except it's not coming from the fight inside, it's coming from the stairs. Kyungsoo is starting to shake.

Jongin takes the chance to sit next to him and Kyungsoo doesn't flinch away. If anything he scoots closer. Jongin doesn't do crying well because Luhan usually handles their upset friends. And Baekhyun can be bit of a cry baby. 

Kyungsoo leans until his head is in Jongin's neck. Something pulls inside of Jongin and he puts an arm around Kyungsoo's shoulders, pulling him into a loose hug. Jongin figures Kyungsoo needs someone that isn't going to just abandon him. There's a woman loudly crying inside and Kyungsoo slips his arms around Jongin. Under other circumstances Jongin would find the hug warm or nice.

"Jongin," Kyungsoo hiccups and loosens his grip on the back of Jongin's shirt. "No. No I'm not okay." Only to tighten and flex his fingers back into the fabric on Jongin's back. Jongin may not be good with crying but he knows when not to speak. And he'd probably say something stupid if he opened his mouth.

"My dad's a ing drunkard and my mom's a moron." Kyungsoo's voice was a lot softer than Jongin remembers it being. "And God must ing hate me." Jongin can't say much to that because he doesn't even believe in any God. But if Kyungsoo did who was Jongin to burst his bubble.

"I get straight A's and almost perfect attendant. I keep to myself and I cook for him and work to pay his bills." Kyungsoo was border-line rambling and Jongin wasn't gonna stop him. Jongin liked his voice even if it was weak at the moment. "I'm the ing picture perfect son and I don't understand why he hits me." 

"My mom just doesn't care anymore. I hate him. I hate them and everyone at school. Stupid, lazy Baekhyun. I'm not a ing slave." Kyungsoo sniffled and Jongin couldn't tell if he had stopped crying or not. "And my eye hurts really bad. He usually doesn't hit that hard."

Jongin pulls Kyungsoo away by the shoulders to examine said eye. It was swelling and he seemed to struggle with keeping it open. The crying probably wasn't doing him very good right now. "I'm sorry." The apology felt foreign on Jongin's tongue. He doesn't apologize often. "What for? You didn't hurt me." Kyungsoo went to wipe at his eyes but Jongin stopped him.

"I'm sorry I never stood up for you." He wanted to say especially to Wufan and Tao but he didn't wanna hear their names at the moment. "You didn't know he was doing this." Kyungsoo gestured to all of him and locked eyes with the ground. "No, I didn't know. I thought Wufan and his gang was doing it. I-" Jongin doesn't know why he's getting choked up. Jongin doesn't cry often.

"I'm just sorry. Sorry about neglecting the project and not telling Sehun to do the work himself."Apologizes just kept pouring out like ing word vomit and Jongin was about ready to face-palm himself. "I don't wanna go back in." Kyungsoo was still looking at the ground and Jongin looked towards the lighted house. It seemed almost too quiet considering the previous yelling. 

"You could come to my place for the night." Jongin could use the company because the apartment is too empty with his mother at work all day and most of the night. "What about my school stuff? And my uniform?" Good question but luckily Jongin had an answer. "I have an extra uniform though it might be too big, but it should work. You'll get points deducted for not having your name tag but I figure it wouldn't affect you too badly. You can borrow the books I never use."

"I can cook in return." Speaking of which he could go for food right now. "Then come on because I'm practically starving." Jongin stood and stretched his hands above his head and his shoulder popped. "Ew?" Kyungsoo was giggling. ing giggling and it sounded nice compared to crying. Jongin gave Kyungsoo a hand getting off the concrete steps.

"If anyone asks tomorrow you ran into a pole or maybe a door." And Jongin has Kyungsoo giggling again. Even if it sound only half-hearted. It was better than nothing at all.