“So, do you want to tell me what’s going on?” Junmyeon asks as he sits down next to Tao in the courtyard.

Tao bites at his lip again, looking at Junmyeon and then looking away. “I…am not even supposed to know myself. I don’t think I’m supposed to tell.”

And Junmyeon examines him, watches his Taozi fidget, bite his lips and tear at his nails, and he figures this must be pretty serious.

So he it up and says goodbye to his pride.

“You know, I didn’t want Yixing to know, either. When those guys were pushing me around my sophomore year. They would push me down and hit me, and they’d yank me into janitor’s closets between classes and tell me I could do something I really didn’t want to do or I could take a beating, and they’d let me choose. And you know, it was so hard to convince myself it wasn’t my fault when I told them I’d rather they beat me up. But the stuff they wanted me to do instead… there’s no way I could’ve lived with myself, if I’d let them touch me like that. So I said no, just hit me, and they listened. But like that it felt like I was asking them to, you know? So I couldn’t tell anyone. I wasn’t a victim.” He looks over at Tao, who is staring at him with wide, scared eyes, and he tried not to choke on tears when he speaks. “Does that sound familiar?”

Tao doesn’t nod, but he doesn’t shake his head either, and Junmyeon figures that’s answer enough. He goes on. “But Yixing found out. It was the beginning of sophomore year, and I’d been dealing with this on my own for a whole year, but Yixing was my new seatmate in math and he noticed the bruises. I didn’t expect him to say anything, but he grabbed my hand really gently and he looked at the bruise up close, and then he dragged me to the nurse and sat with me until I broke down and told him what was going on. And it was scary, having him know, but it felt so much better feeling like he was looking out for me. And then one day, I was sinking lower and lower, and then it stopped. I didn’t see those guys anymore, and other students stopped avoiding me in the hallway like I was carrying some kind of disease. And I made friends and it became a little easier to be happy.

“But, if Yixing hadn’t done whatever it he did, told that kid that he apparently didn’t even know, I really would’ve killed myself.”

Tao’s head, previously bowed to hide his tears, whips up to him fast, his fingers gripping around Junmyeon’s wrist hard. Junmyeon just smiles at him. “I know I told you that didn’t happen, but I was just trying not to scare you. I never imagined you’d need to know. But I think you do.” He turns to face Tao and looks him square in the eye, one hand on Tao’s cheek to keep him there. “Taozi, if Yixing didn’t get help I would be dead. And I don’t know what’s going on with you, if this is for you or somebody else, but I need you to remember this when you look at that person, or when you look in the mirror. I want you to think, ‘is this person’s friendship as important as their life?’ Because if it’s a friend of yours, if it’s somebody you care about, then I need you to remember that it will hurt if they hate you, but it will hurt even more if they’re dead and you could’ve done something.” Junmyeon pauses, takes a deep breath, and continues. “And if it’s you, Taozi, then you better not. Do you hear me? You tell me or you tell Yixing or Minseok or your mom or the police, but you better not get hurt anymore over this. Because I swear I will follow you wherever you go and drag you back, even if it’s death. Do you understand me?”

Tao nods. He nods so much that Junmyeon cradles his face to stop him before he hurts his neck, and wipes at the tears streaming down his cheeks. “Taozi, do you know what you have to do?” He nods. “Are you gonna tell me who it is?” Tao looks at him, and kisses his cheek, and shakes his head.

“I can do it, hyung. I’ll take care of it. But it’s not me, I promise. It’s not me.”

And if Junmyeon collapses into Tao in relief, it’s okay, because Tao is clinging to him just as hard.

(The next day, Junmyeon hears in the hallways that a little freshman named Xu Ming Hao has taken the rest of the semester off of school, and a group of seniors that Junmyeon has always thought were big jerks have been expelled, and Junmyeon feels something like pride swell in his chest.)

---

Jongdae's habit of showing up at work almost every day evolves to Jongdae showing up every day with friends. Every day he waltzes into the store and every day he pays for some kind of food in the store that he then tosses to Junmyeon to eat. After a week Junmyeon started to feel guilty, and it got to the point where Junmyeon would smile and lie and say he's already eaten. Jongdae would stare him down until Junmyeon squirms and his face reddens because while Jongdae doesn't say it out loud, his guest, whichever friend it is that day, can easily see that Junmyeon had just been caught lying and it never fails to make them frown. Usually it stops there when Junmyeon reluctantly takes the food, but once it was Luhan and he growled and grabbed something else and made Junmyeon eat that, too. Junmyeon had been so surprised that all he could do was stare as Luhan crossed his arms and looked at the food pointedly.

Usually it's just Yifan that comes along, but for the past week or so it's been Jongin and Sehun and before he knows it every one of Jongdae's friends has come and stayed for at least forty-five minutes before they walk home.

That being said, it really should've been expected that Jongdae would pull something like this, Junmyeon thinks as eight boys make themselves comfortable in various places around the store. He sighs and rubs his temples, feeling the headache he's been battling get a little stronger. Jongdae's cold fingers on his temple a second later are expected, and Junmyeon softly smiles his thanks before pulling back and taking the bag of chips and money that Luhan pushes on him, frowning disapprovingly.

"Do I need to buy pain relievers and make you take those, as well?" Luhan quips.

Junmyeon shakes his head and smiles softly. “I've had six already. Can you overdose on Ibuprofen?"

"Junmyeon!" Jongdae scolds loudly. Said boy tries not to wince at the sound but he thinks he can feel his muscles twisting his smile into a grimace. Jongdae notices and quiets down, but the look he sends Junmyeon is a silent promise that the conversation is not over.

This time as they walk home, all nine of them, (Junmyeon can't imagine where they all sleep) the others corner him. He's too far from his house to be unable to answer, so of course he's stuck in an awkward situation.

Jongdae clears his throat and pushes some snow around with his sneaker. "Junmyeon, we have a super huge favor to ask you."

Junmyeon raises an eyebrow, (because since when is Jongdae this awkward?) but stays silent.

Jongdae laughs to fill the silence and scratches the back of his head. "We really need you to tutor Sehun?"

It shouldn’t be a question, but it’s got that kind of lilt at the end, and really, since when had Jongdae ever asked for anything else than what he wants? Sehun is visible right over Jongdae’s shoulder, bottom lip trapped between his teeth and an embarrassed flush to his cheeks, and Junmyeon doesn’t have the time to tutor anybody. He really doesn’t.

He lets out a defeated sigh and nods, and has to wait to tell Sehun that he’ll need to help him in between customers at work because the others are cheering obnoxiously. Junmyeon really hopes the neighbors don’t complain to his dad about all the noise.

He pretends to be upset, but honestly he's grown to like these kids (because most of them are younger than him, though they treat him like the baby) and he doesn't really think he'd mind spending time helping the actual group baby up his grades. The last thing Junmyeon wants is another parent constantly mad at their child.

Because Junmyeon’s father is very angry when Junmyeon turns up ten minutes late, and Junmyeon really can’t bear the thought of baby Sehun, curled under his bed, tears streaming down his face when he should be sleeping. Junmyeon can’t stand the idea of Sehun living his life at home in pain, the way Junmyeon does.