When Kyungsoo puts her seatbelt on for her, this time, Haerin says nothing. 

‘K-Kyungsoo, I need your help,’

Kyungsoo is fully awake now, and fully worried about his significant other’s condition.  “What is it? What can I do?” He speaks into his phone, struggling to make her words out as she cries.

‘Can you- can you come over, please? I’ll explain l-later,’

And now here he is, in front of her house in his car, with her and her brother.  He doubted Haerin’s ability to explain.  Their suitcases sit safely in his trunk and Haerin didn’t look like she was going to explain things to him anytime soon.  Kyungsoo glances at the rearview mirror and meets Yunjae’s gaze.

‘I’ll explain in her stead, later.  For now, we need a place to stay, hyung,’ He gestures subtly at his reflection.

With a nod, Kyungsoo starts driving towards his house, unable to stop glancing at Haerin.  For the umpteenth time; she has cuts and bruises all over her face.  What in the world is going on here?

When they arrive, Kyungsoo takes Haerin’s suitcase for her and watches her pull her hands back in surprise when he does.  Her swollen eyes meet his.  She saw his eye bags and noticed his apparent bed hair.  Guilt wrenched at her gut.  “D-did I wake you up? I did, didn’t I? I-I’m sorry, Kyungsoo, I didn’t kn-kno-“

“It’s okay, Haerin,” He kisses her forehead and guides her towards his door.  “It’s okay, just get inside,”

After Kyungsoo sends Haerin into the bathroom (in a situation that felt so much like déjà vu), he sits across from Yunjae and hands his girlfriend’s brother a drink.  With a nod of his head, Yunjae thanks him and waits a while before starting his explanation.

‘Are you fluent in sign language?’ He asks first.

Kyungsoo hesitates before handing Yunjae a notepad.  “Just enough for a short conversation, sorry,”

‘It’s fine,’ Yunjae writes.  ‘Our parents died in a hit and run accident 3 years ago.  Their will included the fact that we – their children – will be under the care of my father’s brother – our uncle – until we are fully capable of living by ourselves.  A month under his care and we find out that he had been in love with our mother,’

Kyungsoo frowns.  “How did you find o-“

‘He started getting drunk all the time and every time he did, he would start hitting noona while saying, “Gayoon died because of you,” and “I loved her so much,” and “You killed my brother,”,’ Yunjae continues.  ‘He yelled at her and kept on blaming her for our parents’ deaths.  Once, she fought back and he started hitting me instead.  Since then, noona learnt to not fight our uncle.  She took his blows and his words as if she was supposed to, just so that I wouldn’t get hit,’

“Wha-“

‘And it went on for years.  Until tonight, he had hit me again because he found out that we had been working.  After he did, noona came in through the door and he started saying that it was disrespectful of us and that we weren’t thankful for what he had given us.  Noona completely lost it.  She yelled back and decided to leave the house,’ Yunjae sets his pen down and shows Kyungsoo the last page of the notepad.  ‘The only person she could turn to, was you,’

All these times and now, everything makes sense.  Her bruises, her cuts, her ragged breathing, and everything she had wanted to hide from everybody.  Kyungsoo’s heart shattered at all the pain Yunjae had told him of; the one they had to go through every single day for years.  What pained him the most was the way Yunjae had told him about it; he told it in such a way that made it seem like their misery was something conventional and that they were so accustomed to the pain; they turned numb.  That’s why Haerin doesn’t like to be touched.  That’s why she’s stiff about her feelings and affections.  That’s why she keeps up her cold front and stays a good distance away from people.

“Hey, I’m done,”

The woman they were speaking of steps out of the bathroom with a towel across her shoulders.  She looks refreshed, although the marks on her neck had turned to pale bruises and the swell of her eyes still obvious.  “Yunjae, you should get washed, I’ll help you treat those cuts later, okay?”

Yunjae casts a glance at Kyungsoo and the notepad on the table before turning towards his sister and nodding.  He makes his way into the bathroom and locks the door.

Haerin notices the notepad and walks over to sit beside Kyungsoo, thumbing through the pages.  “He told you everything, huh?” She sighs.  “And he saved me nothing to tell you,”

“Haerin, why haven’t you reported your uncle yet for everything he had done?” Kyungsoo asks.

Haerin stays silent for a time long enough to make Kyungsoo think she’s not going to answer.  Just as he’s about to speak up to change the subject, she does, although very faintly.  “As much as it hurts, he still took care of us.  I can’t just report him,” She sets the papers down and plays with her fingers as she speaks.  “I’m sorry for the trouble, Kyungsoo.  I’ll speak to your parents properly, when they get home, first thing, so please, just let me and Yunjae stay for a while, because we- I- I don’t kno- Urgh,” She runs a hand through her hair and shuts her eyes tightly.   “I don’t have anyone else but you,”

Right when she finishes her sentence, Kyungsoo reaches for her hand and pulls her into a hug, speaking into her ear.  “You can stay as long as you’d like, Haerin, but from now on, promise me to tell me everything that troubles you, okay?” He pulls away and tucks a lock of hair behind her ear as he looks at her square in the eyes.  “Let me help, Haerin, please,”

Haerin could see that he truly wanted to help.  This boy never ceases to amaze her with his sincerity.  She presses a chaste kiss on his lips and smiles.  “Okay,” She lets him hug her again and adds quietly.  “Not everything though, I can’t promise you that,”

Kyungsoo breaks away again and looks at her, bewildered.  “Hey-“

“Kidding,” Haerin chuckles, tapping his nose.  “I’ll try,”

With a grumble, Kyungsoo flicks her forehead.  He stands up as she complains and notices Yunjae walking out of the bathroom.  He grins before bending down to peck the spot where he had flicked her, effectively making her quiet down and jerking his head towards the stairs.  “Let’s go get you two settled,”