Never in my life had I seen anything like his body, bruised and scarred, bleeding and swelled. 

I was utterly revolted by his condition. 

Luhan was barely able to move and was wheezing a little when he breathed, beginning to fall asleep. 

"Hey, hey, don't fall asleep. You need to be cleaned up." 

"Mmm..." I felt a little bad inside because he could barely keep his eyes open and I was making him stay awake, but he needed to be cleansed. Walking away, I heard him mumbling a little bit, 

"W-wait. Don't leave me alone." He was most likely just delusional.

It was strange seeing my student that way, barely able to lift a finger. He was alway fiery and full of insults, so I knew how miserable he was when he didn't insult me at all. I hurried to change into an old pair of shorts I hadn't worn in years and a shirt from college, something that could get dirty. Glad Luhan couldn't notice what my unprofessional attire, I returned back. 

"Come on, I'm going to clean you and get you to bed." Putting his hand up to protest, I began peeling off his underwear regardless.  

"Don't."

"Why would you shower in your underwear? Don't be a child. We're both men." He had nothing more to say. It was true that it was unfair of me to do those things when he didn't have a real say, but it needed to be done. Picking the Luhan up in my arms again, I made my way to the bathroom. After the 3rd time picking him up, he didn't resist anymore and just let himself be babied. We both knew however that if he wasn't 'babied', he wouldn't be able to do anything. 

"Mm...Mmph.." Luhan groaned as I tried to stand him up against the shower wall. Turning the sprayer on the lowest power, I began gently washing the dried blood off Luhan. A few times he almost fell over and in the end, he had to sit down. He was blinking slower by the minute, and soon his eyes closed- he was falling asleep. 

 

Surprisingly, the awkward atmosphere didn't kick in when I was washing his body, but rather lathering his hair. I started thinking about school and how it was easy to pick Luhan out from a crowd because he had a dark hair color with an almond tint no one else had. Luhan and I had a strict student-teacher relationship, and as I rinsed his hair, I wondered if it was still that way. It was the longest time we had ever been alone together in our three years. He always seemed to hate me and I never understood why. I, for one, never hated him. Luhan was a model student, period. There was nothing he'd ever done that I would dislike him for, yet he seemed to create a relationship of hate with me. 

"Okay.. Here we go." I picked up his wet, warm body, trying to get him to stand up so I could dry him off. 

It failed. 

Obviously he was wobbly and weak, yet it can as an extreme surprise when he held onto my shoulders for support and pushed his wet head against my collar bone. 

"I'm sorry.. I can't stand." 

"Let me reach a towel." We shuffled slowly to the counter, careful not to topple over, and I reached for a white towel. With Luhan still clinging to me, I wrapped a towel around his waist and scooped him up again. It wasn't important that my floors stay dry or the couch stay clean. What was important was that he was comfortable and not in pain. I set him on top of the duvet cover and patted the rest of him dry. Grabbing extra clothes quickly, I disorganized my neat dresser. 

"Okay, try not to move too much." 

 

Luhan practically drowned in my 

t-shirt and my boxers looked like shorts on him, but luckily, my old college sweatpants were just a few sizes bit too big. I honestly was trying not to crack a smile at how silly he looked as I covered him up and tucked him in. If I had laughed, he wouldn't have even noticed because he was 3/4ths of the way asleep anyhow. 

"Mmm..." He tugged at my shirt before I left, furrowing his eyebrows with his eyes closed.

"D..daddy.." 

"Luhan?" 

"When's mommy coming home?" I was puzzled only for a moment. But after I touched his forehead and felt the hot temperature, I knew he had a fever. The fever and his exhaustion threw him for a loop, as he was not aware of who I actually was. 

"Soon.. She's coming home soon." 

"Then sleep with me until she gets home." I sat back down and his wet hair from his face, heat radiating off his head. 

"And why do I need to do that?"

"Because. Mommy sleeps with me.. And I don't want to be alone." 

I frowned. 

"Luhan.. Open your eyes." As his puffy eyes slowly opened, the nostalgic look on his face disappeared. 

"Professor Oh I-"

"Don't worry about it." For the second time, I tried to leave. But he grabbed my shirt,

"I'm sorry to ask so much of you but I just don't want to be alone." The look on his face brought me in like a magnet, I had no other choice but to lay down with him. I planned to lay there until he fell asleep then leave to let him rest peacefully. After turning off the big light and laying down slowly next to him, I turned the bed lamp on low so incase he woke up, he could see. I laid on my side, looking at Luhan, feeling a knot grow in my throat. 

I was disturbed. 

Luhan was thinking about times when he was young. I knew his mother passed away many years ago, and he was left with only his father. It sickened me how much Luhan needed a father, needed parents, and couldn't have either. He was such a good student, he deserved parents, deserved something to go home to and celebrate with. I, myself, didn't have that growing up either. My father was a doctor, until he went elsewhere, leaving me with my mother who married another man. He was a serious business man, leaving no time to parent myself, or his actual son. 

Life was unfair, but it didn't have to be that unfair.

 

"Professor Oh.." I felt a tap on my shoulder. 

"Professor Oh?" My eyes opened in a flash,

"Hmm- what?" Luhan was awake next to me, staring at my face. 

"Umm.. I'm thirsty." It was probably around 3:00 AM and I had to go to work in a few hours, but I got out of bed and made my way to the kitchen. I was half asleep as I filled a glass with water and brought it back to my room. After setting it down on the night stand, I helped Luhan sit up a little so he could drink, and handed him the glass. It amazed me how much he had improved after barely 10 hours. He seemed used to it. 

"Anything else?"

"No, nothing.." After laying him back down, I blinked a few times, trying to keep myself awake Incase he needed something. 

"Professor Oh?" 

"Hmm?" 

"Please go to sleep.."

"I'll wait until you fall asleep."

"But-"

"Sleep." Luhan, barely silent for a minute, nudged me again.

"Professor Oh?" 

"Yes?" 

"...Thank you." I smiled a bit,

"You are most welcome. Now go to sleep." 

"Okay." It warmed me inside and set me at ease that Luhan felt safe. I knew that he wouldn't have thanked me if he didn't want to be at my home, so I was glad when he did. 

That poor boy. Mentally shaking my head, I thought to myself, 

 

"Hi, how can I help you?"

"I made an appointment this morning to report abuse of one of my students." 

"I see, I'm sorry to hear that. Please sit down." I sat down on the red fabric chair and crossed one of my legs, folding my hands in my lap. 

"Please explain the situation to me." 

"His name is Lu Han, and his abuse has been happening for three years at the least. The abuse happens when he's at home by his father who is an alcoholic, and his mother died a number of years ago."

"That is very unfortunate, what is your relationship with him?"

"I am his teacher." 

"Rate the level of severity from 1-10." 

I stared at the women across from me. 

"Excuse me, but you're asking me something I can't do. I can't rate his abuse level, no number would do him justice. He has no family, no one to turn to, no support, I am here to request one thing only." 

"And what is that?" 

"I want full custody of him." After a long night of thought and an early morning of great concern, I went to get legal help with my mind made up on one thing.

"You'd have to get consent from his father to do that." 

"And if I get it, I can obtain full, legal, custody?"

"Yes."

"Please get me the paper work, I will be back tomorrow."