As soon as the door opened, the beautiful smile on Yoseob's face fell and it made Doojoon frown. 

"He hit you again?" the younger's voice came out as a small whisper and the frown from Doojoon's face had moved on Yoseob's. 

Doojoon let out a deep sigh, shrugging his shoulders, seemingly down about the whole situation. Yoseob bit down on his lower lip before pulling the older inside. 

"Kikwang's not home right now. I told him you were coming, so he fled to Dongwoon's," Yoseob explained, ordering Doojoon to sit down on the chair.

Doojoon didn't object, the situation given.

Yoseob walked back with some things in his hands, and it automatically made Doojoon smile, giving him a déja vu from not so long ago. 

"What are you smiling about? This is no joke, you pabo," Yoseob's voice was supposed to be strict, but it kind of lost its power when the younger met eyes with Doojoon.

"I know, I know. This just reminds me of something. Don't you think?" 

Yoseob pulled a chair closer and sat on it, now having a knowing small smile on his lips too. He tilted his head a little, shaking it slowly.

"I do remember."

The small conversation died down, as Yoseob treated the small wound that Doojoon's father's hand had caused. 

"It's not so big this time," Yoseob sort of pointed out as he carefully caressed the older's cheek. Doojoon leaned in to the touch and nodded.

"He wasn't that mad I guess. Or maybe he was just busy, who knows," Doojoon gave the other a little crooked half smile, which Yoseob frowned at.

"What happened anyways?" 

Doojoon looked away from the other's eyes, honestly just being tired of all that had happened. But he wanted to be truthful and so he decided to explain.

"The Heo's came over for a dinner. I was late in the first place because I got caught up talking to Junhyung. My dad wasn't pleased with me. What made it worse though, was the fact that Gayoon questioned the timing of the wedding. She was very subtle about it, meaning I don't think any of them noticed that she knew it was an arranged marriage, but my mom shut her up just in time to save me from a bigger bruise.

So, after the dinner my dad made sure that I knew I had messed up by making Gayoon second-guess the marriage. Even though she was only talking about postponing. So, that was basically it."

Yoseob let out a loud sigh and buried his face in his hands.

"Hey, don't be upset. It's alright," Doojoon rubbed Yoseob's shoulder, trying to comfort the other. 

"It's not. If he hurts you from hearing that, then what'll he do if he finds out about us? It can't go on like this, Doojoon," Yoseob lifted his head a little and there was sincere worry in his eyes.

It hurt Doojoon to the core of his heart. Yoseob shouldn't need to worry about things like these, not now at least. Of course he's thrilled to know that the smaller one cares for him, but this is just extra stress.

"Hey, stop worrying okay. I'll be just fine," Doojoon tried to assure the other one more time. The younger shook his head, obviously not pleased with it.

The silence made Doojoon worry, but he didn't say anything. He figured that it would be the best to give Yoseob some time to think things through. Surely the younger would understand that they just needed to wait.

"Just marry Gayoon, Doojoon," Yoseob was biting down on his lower lip and his eyes didn't meet the older's. Two signs that Yoseob was lying for sure.

Doojoon knew the other better than he knew himself and this wasn't something he'd accept that easily anyways.

"Stop that. I'm not going anywhere. We both know how it ended the last time," Doojoon pressed every single word as if he'd be afraid Yoseob didn't understand him or something.

And maybe he was a little scared. He wasn't ready to lose Yoseob. Not now, and he doubt he'd ever be.

Yoseob's eyes were glistening and he sniffled silently. He used his left sleeve to wipe his eyes quickly, before looking up at Doojoon.

The older gave him a little frown that showed Doojoon's feelings clearly. The older was very upset about Yoseob even suggesting something like that.

"I'm sorry, but I just don't want you to get hurt, Doo," there was a child like tone in Yoseob's voice while he spoke and it wasn't really on purpose.

This, however, made Doojoon soften. He opened his arms and Yoseob basically lunged in them, and took a deep breath as he was embraced tightly. 

"I understand, baby. We'll figure something out, just, not that. Okay?" Doojoon felt the younger nod against his chest, and he placed a small peck on top of his hair.

"For now, let's just enjoy being together." 

Yoseob nodded again, this time detaching himself from the older. Doojoon decided they should watch a movie to cool down a bit, which sounded alright to Yoseob.

He collected the wound cleaning supplies and brought them back to the bathroom cabinet. He stopped on his tracks, when he was on his way out.

The reflection in the mirror caught his eye and he needed a second to collect himself. He wasn't sure how, or when the change in him had happened, but it could be seen.

He didn't know what the change was, it wasn't that obvious. Maybe he had lost some weight, but not too much, maybe his eyes had gained a little bit of their old spark back and his hair grown longer.

He had grown.

"Yoseob?" Doojoon's head peeked inside the bathroom and a small, barely noticeable smile appeared on his lips. He fully opened the door and came inside.

He wrapped his arms around Yoseob's waist and placed his head on the smaller one's shoulder. 

"What're you looking at? Those pretty eyes of yours, hmm?" a soft kiss was placed on Yoseob's neck and it made the younger giggle silently.

"It tickles," he mumbled and rested his hands on top of Doojoon's.

"Sorry. Actually no, I'm not sorry, at all," the older hummed, placing another kiss on the same spot. Yoseob only laughed and leaned closer to the other.

"Should we watch the movie?" Yoseob asked, sighing contently. Doojoon smiled at him through the mirror and nodded.

"You're beautiful Seobie, never think otherwise."

Yoseob shook his head in amusement, before wriggling away from the older's grasp.

"Come one grandpa, you're too slow," he halfly shouted, running out of the bathroom. Doojoon found himself grinning and then running after his beloved Yoseob.

****

It wasn't that surprising for Kikwang to find Doojoon sitting opposite Yoseob, eating breakfast, the next morning. The 'distance' thing? Obviously not happening.

"Morning Kwangie," Yoseob smiled as he greeted the other. Doojoon and Kikwang both nodded, not being morning people. 

"You're coming to school today?" Kikwang asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee, and leaned on the kitchen counter, warming his hands with the cup. 

There was clear un-easiness on Yoseob's face as he nodded.

"I figured I have to do it sooner or later, so why not now. The longer I'm gone, the more they'll have questions." 

Doojoon gave the brown haired boy a sympathetic smile, before finishing of his coffee. 

"Don't worry. You're not going alone, all of the others are coming here and we'll go together," he then said and started gathering the items off from the table. 

Yoseob gaped at him as he casually asked Kikwang wether he wanted to eat something or if he could collect all of the stuff. The two had a small conversation about the food and joked around, before Yoseob managed to ask;

"What?"

Both, Doojoon and Kikwang, turned to look at Yoseob who was now tilting his head a little, clearly believing he didn't hear right. Well, he couldn't have, could he?

"What? The boys are coming over. We're going together," Doojoon said, this time slower than the first.

"No, no, I heard you. I just-- why? I mean, I'll be fine, it's just school and even if--" Yoseob was rambling. And this made the two chuckle.

"Relax, Seobie. We know you'll be fine. We just want to support you, yeah?" this time it was Kikwang speaking and really, Yoseob just couldn't fight the blonde. So he sighed.

"Fine. Let's get going then."

--

Yoseob had known that him being absent would stirr up some rumors. And he had known that people would talk. It's not like he's extremely famous at school or anything, but he was just commonly known as the person who won't skip school. So when he wasn't in school, it'd usually bring out questions.

This time, there were no questions asked though. He had barely made it in from the doors when he already heard it. People around him gave him not-so-subtle glances and whispered stuff about him trying to jump off a bridge, shoot himself or hang himself.

'Nice', was the first thing in Yoseob's mind, but right after that, all the doubts started pushing their way back in. He had worked so hard to get rid of the thoughts, but this was how easily they rushed back in.

What if people would think he's disgusting? What if no one wanted to be his friend anymore? What if it's all he'll hear about from now on?

"Hey, shortie! I heard you tried to shoot yourself? What's wrong with you? Aren't you the goodie-goodie boy?" Yoseob didn't know the boy, and he didn't wan to.

His plan of darting to the bathrooms was short-lived as someone behind him spoke up;

"Hey, ! Yes, you. Mind your own business, you little motherer!" And that was Lee Joon. No doubt about it. And even though Yoseob was one hundred percent thankful for his friend, he didn't like where this was going. 

The boy who had yelled at him, walked closer with bunch of other kids. They seemed like they were in the mood to pick a fight.

"Wanna fight?" it was the same boy.

"Wouldn't do that if I was you," Junhyung had his hand tucked in his pockets and he stood in a relaxed position, but his eyes had never been more alive. 

The shouter looked around him a little, trying to figure it out.

"Yeah, maybe you should just keep walking," Doojoon was now standing right next to Yoseob, his hands crossed on his chest. Lee Joon had moved to stand a little bit in front of Yoseob and Junhyung was on the other side of him.

Kikwang, Dongwoon and Hyunseung all stood behind Yoseob. It felt almost ridicilous to Yoseob, how his friends acted. But there was quite a crowd rounding them, most of the people gaping and looking worried.

"What, you have bodyguards with you now?" the boy snarled, and this made Hyunseung open his mouth.

"We're called friends, you moron. Just disappear, I don't like your face," the blonde huffed, barely even interested in the conversation. Kikwang simply lifted his eyebrows when the boy tried once more to challenge one of them.

With a dramatic spit, the boy marched away with his crew. As Yoseob watched him go, he felt extremely thankful but embarrassed at the same time.

Dongwoon made the people walk away and so they finally got to move on. 

"See? You're not alone," Doojoon gave the smaller one a smile. Yoseob returned it and nodded. 

And even though Doojoon was right, he still felt bad. People would keep talking, but he didn't want to make his friends part of all this. 

He didn't want to keep having this kind of scenes in the middle of the hallways. He didn't want to be noticed. It kind of scared him, how people were reacting. 

"Hey, are you okay? Did that upset you?" Doojoon held Yoseob back from the others as they started to get near Yoseob's classroom.

"I'm okay, don't worry. Just-- I don't want for you guys to do that all the time. I really appreacite it, but it causes a lot of fuss and I'm not sure that's good," Yoseob felt bad saying it out loud, but since it was Doojoon, he knew he should.

Doojoon furrowed and a feeling ran through his eyes, something that Yoseob didn't regocnize. 

"I understand, don't worry. But, you