It was awkward, the way they stared at him as he tried, and failed, to concentrate on his assignments. Sehun sat stiffly on his seat, mentally berating Jongin for bringing along his friends to the library, though technically he wasn’t to blame as they invited themselves along, but still. Sehun could feel their stares on him and he flushed, reminded of last night. It was mortifying, the way he cowered when confronted by that beefy man, what made it worse was that there were outsiders witnessing his humiliation. Sehun grudging acknowledged that he was lucky to be helped out of the sticky situation that he had been in, but that didn’t diminish the blow to his pride. He was a guy, damnit, not a damsel in distress. Sehun cringed when he recalled how out of it he was last night. He must’ve looked like an idiot, an incompetent fool.  

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He woke up the next morning at around nine, though it was closer to ten. He was lucky that it was a weekend, he didn’t think his scholarship would permit him to skip a day of classes. For a few minutes he stared blankly around the room, which was definitely not his. Then the memories hit him like a ton of bricks.

He was walking back to the house after he ended his shift, later than usual. The manager of the bubble tea shop had asked if he could work overtime for the day and he had complied with the request, he didn’t want to stay longer than what was strictly necessary in that house after all. Late into the night, he took the usual shortcut through the alleys, his mind wandering. He was thinking about Jongin, as much as he hated to admit that fact. The way his heart clenched when Jongin informed him that he won’t be accompanying him that day. Was it….disappointment? It couldn’t be, could it? The way his heart sank when he realized that he’d be spending the rest of the day alone.

Sehun shook his head; he was getting too dependent on Jongin’s presence if his absence could affect him this strongly. Perhaps it was time that he distanced himself from the boy…. But he didn’t want to; this realization shocked him, making him halt his steps. Was he really so emotionally invested in this… whatever this was that linked him to Jongin? Emotionally invested…no, he didn’t have emotions. Ah, but he did, a snide voice in his head informed him as such, after all, he felt more deeply than he ever did ever since Jongin started following him around.

Ruminating on this newly discovered actuality, Sehun didn’t notice three shadowed figure approaching him, not until he was shoved against the wall, the revolting stench of alcohol breath filling his nostrils, clammy hands groping him. Sehun was petrified, completely taken off guard and rendered defenseless. Terror seized his mind, he barely registered that the suffocating body was shoved off him as he leaned weakly against the grimy wall, trying not to retch. Then he saw a familiar face, Jongin’s, and he latched to his side, the comfort of familiarity anchoring him, warding off the downward spiral of terror he was trapped in.

Try as he might, the rest of the night passed in a blur, he could vaguely remember being questioned of his address, where he lived, but his mind was still numbed by the horror and he could only stare blankly at them. He must’ve been brought to the apartment, Kris’ he later learnt, where they stayed the night.

When he came to this realization the next morning, he was rather tempted to run for it, not wanting to face those who bore witness to his display of humiliation; though he knew he should at least express his gratitude to them. The freedom of choosing between the two options was wrenched from him though, as they were already awake and gathered in the living room when he walked out of the room.

Seeing them in various state of disarray made him self-conscious, and he came to the realization that he was in fact not wearing his own clothes but instead clad in an oversized shirt and knee-length workout shorts. Flushing, he could barely look them in the eyes and answer without stuttering when they called him over for breakfast. Resolutely keeping his eyes down, his cheeks burnt a