Kyungsoo could feel the cold, salty tears run down his cheek as he ducked his head in between his knees. He felt as if the room's walls would cave in and its ceiling would crumble. He was broken and vulnerable, but at least here he could let go of the wretched pain that surrounded him. At least here no one could see the brutal images that bounced around in his mind.

"Get up," his voice was coarse. “I said get up!"

Kyungsoo could hear the glass shatter as it met the neighboring wall. He looked up, his eyes meeting the monster's eyes. He felt the warm liquid running down past his eyebrow and blinked to try to keep it out of his eyes, but he knew he failed when everything turned a shade of red.

"He's bleeding, he needs to go to the hospital," his mom cried helplessly.

"No, he deserves this," his dad spat staring mercilessly into the eyes of the ten-year-old boy.

"I deserve this," Kyungsoo said aloud quietly as he drifted back into reality and pushed the memory to the back of his mind.

He wiped his eyes and picked himself up from the cold bathroom floor. He walked over to the mirror and looked himself over. The skin under his eyes was red and puffy and his cheeks were still damp. Before he could even begin to think about doing anything more, he heard the front door of the apartment unlock and knew Suho was home. Kyungsoo the sink facet and splashed the warm water on his face. After he dried his face, he looked up in the mirror again and painted on a fake, but realistic smile before exiting the bathroom.

“Kyungsoo, help me with this,” Suho requested entering the apartment practically dragging in the grocery bags behind him. Kyungsoo shut the door behind Suho and took the bags from the latter, placing them on the counter.

“Thank you,” Suho huffed as he hunched over pushing his hands against his knees for support.

“You’re really out of shape,” Kyungsoo mumbled making his way over to the kitchen to put away the groceries. Suho let out an airy laugh before pushing himself back up and following Kyungsoo to the kitchen to help him. As the two put the things away, Kyungsoo made sure not to look up at Suho knowing if he did that there would be no more pretending to be fine.

“What were you doing while I was out,” Suho asked putting the milk into the fridge gently trying to keep from dropping it.

“Writing,” Kyungsoo said sleepily. “I’m hoping to finish by November.”

Suho hummed to show that he was listening, but didn’t look up from the counter. “That’d be nice. Then you have to figure out whom you want to do the cover art,” he said distantly while staring blankly at the counter.

The groceries were all put away, but Suho was still standing there staring at the counter as if he was waiting for another bag to pop into sight. After a moment he looked up at Kyungsoo and frowned. The pity he had for Kyungsoo was practically written on his forehead. Suho walked closer to the boy and lifted his chin with a single finger. Kyungsoo didn’t fight it. He knew it was pointless now, Suho already knew.

Kyungsoo looked at the latter and then looked away a second later in apology. Suho leaned his head downward so that Kyungsoo would look at him again, his finger still under Kyungsoo’s chin. Suho removed his finger and cupped the boys face in his hands using his thumb to rub the remaining tears from Kyungsoo’s cheeks.

“D.O,” Suho whispered. “You don’t have to hide it from me. I’m your friend. It’s my job to be here for you. You just have to let me in.”

Kyungsoo nodded not knowing what else to do. “I know,” he muttered knowing that if he spoke in a normal tone that he would only cry more tears that Suho would be forced to wipe away.

Suho nodded and wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo’s neck in a tight and rather warm embrace. Kyungsoo raised his arms from his sides and pulled Suho in even closer so that they were touching from their heads to their toes. He wanted to feel a body next to his. It made him feel better. It made him feel less alone. The hug was long and went over the normal casual hug length, but neither of them felt bothered by that at all. When Suho finally did pull back, he let his fingers linger on Kyungsoo’s collarbones before completely letting go and allowing his hands gently fall to his sides.