giving you all heads up, just in case you couldn’t handle a moment coming somewhere in the chapter. unpleasant, but i have decided to keep it small.

“I just got a feeling for her. You know when a song comes on and you just gotta dance?”

~Blue Valentine

“Just stand beside me, don’t move,” Sehun instructs when they are done making space for themselves in between the crowd of hundreds of people.

“I didn’t know a party has these much people.”

Sehun chuckles, shaking his head slightly. “It’s a party of a rich man, Jongin. What do you expect?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jongin absentmindedly nods before looking around and finally fixing his gaze on the stage.

“Beautiful,” Sehun says sometime later. Jongin replies with a hum and catches Sehun’s eyes on him. Thinking that the man made the statement about the party, and is now looking at him for approval, he nods.

Completely oblivious.

Sehun bites back an amused smile; purposefully sliding his hand down so that he could nudge the younger’s fingers with his own. Jongin doesn’t pull away as if he’s completely absorbed in what people around him have to say about the party. However, Sehun does notice the red coloring the younger’s cheeks; thinking it’s because of the heat around them because of such large crowd, he repudiates the insistent beating of his heart for providing him with an explanation that the blush is because of him. His touch.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Mr. Jung begins from the stage, mike in his hand and a bright smile adorning his features. “Thank you for attending my party. However, since no one knows the occasion of holding such a party, I must tell you all that something big has happened in our family.”

“What do you think that could be?” Sehun asks.

Jongin shrugs. “I have no idea. For all I know, rich people hold parties for silly things a lot. Maybe a silly reason.” Some people around Jongin turn to look at him, an expression of offense sitting on their faces. Sehun smiles and pulls a flustered Jongin close to himself when he feels someone among them might reprimand Jongin a thing or two about etiquettes. No doubt Jongin knows a lot about etiquettes, he just sometimes slips up.

“It’s okay, no need to worry.” He reassures the younger.

“My daughter and her longtime boyfriend engaged a few days ago. Since it was all done surreptitiously, we decided to let all know that a wedding shall soon take place. This is a party to celebrate the engagement of my daughter with her attorney boyfriend!”

“Do you know why he mentioned his soon to be son-in-law’s profession?” Sehun asks, a little loud now that the cheering of the crowd was loud. Jongin replies with a shake of his head. “Being an attorney is a respectable thing, to think that a businessman’s daughter will end up marrying such man will bring great honour to the family.”

“So is this all about business, too?”

“Hmm, I don’t think it would be if they actually love each other, you know. If he loves and she loves him in return, then doing or not doing this won’t change a thing. When you’re in love, then nothing matters more than the person who brings you the greatest joy.”

Jongin seems impressed by what Sehun has to say. The man probably knows a thing or two about the softest feeling the world has to offer. With a smile over his lips, he follows his boss who has already made his way to Mr. Jung, his daughter and soon to be son in law. Sehun greets the three of them, congratulates them with the brightest smile, and then introduces Jongin to the man’s daughter and Mr. Choi, the soon to be son in law.

“He is Sehun’s boyfriend,” Mr. Jung cuts off Sehun when he’s about to tell them that Jongin, in fact, is only his PA and nothing more. “Sehun is just a little possessive of him—besides, haven’t you heard about all the commotion in the media?”

“Yes,” Ms. Jung laughs along. “The whole Korea is interested in their affair--to be honest, Sehun,” she stops, shyly curling her hand around her boyfriend’s hand; she speaks in an honest voice. “You don’t need to hide him from the eyes of the world if you really love him.”

“I-” Sehun begins, flustering at the sight of the three pairs of eyes on him. Jongin isn’t looking at him; the younger has been staring at the floor as if it were the most beautiful thing about this evening. “I, uh, I will keep that in mind.”

Jongin’s head perks up at that, the younger’s wide eyes indicating that he’s confused as to why he didn’t deny the man’s teasing and his daughter’s misunderstanding.

“Please, we will leave. You have to greet the other guests, too, I believe?”

“We can talk more if you want—Jongin—his name is Jongin, isn’t it?—” Sehun confirms that it’s the right name. “We can meet the others later, too.”

“Oh, no,” Sehun laughs and shakes his head. He knows if he didn’t leave at this moment, the man would probably speak something that would embarrass not only Jongin but him too. It will be better if he keeps his distance from the man. “We will talk again when you will be done with the others—it wouldn’t be polite of me. Haha.” With a quick bow from his side, Sehun quickly grabs Jongin’s hand and pulls him away from the three. “Whoosh—” he says when they are finally somewhere safe. “I am sorry, I didn’t know Mr. Jung would say something like that.”

“You don’t need to apologize.” Jongin sounds meek, and Sehun nearly dies of heat when the younger passes him a hesitant smile. “I don’t think you would have said something like that on your own.”

“Yeah, right.” He nods, although the mere imagination of introducing Jongin as his lover somehow leaves him breathless and all hot and bothered. He might as well loosen the tie around his neck if he doesn’t want to die of heatstroke. He follows his instinct and purposefully avoids looking at the ample amount of skin displayed in front of him. He knew the shirt that he bought for Jongin would be bigger on his frame, yet, he had to see Jongin in bigger clothes because oh wow, the heart wants what it wants.

Plus, he thought Jongin would look adorable in bigger clothes. (He does, Sehun finds out).

“It fine on my body,” Jongin says and looks at him, and Sehun realizes he said everything out loud. “This jacket is doing its work.”

Except it’s not. The jacket is a little loose on Jongin’s frame, too, and it, somehow, makes him look younger than he actually is. Almost as if he’s too young to know the size of the suit that would suit his frame.

Sehun clears his throat and avoids talking about Jongin’s clothes because he knows in the end, he would only come with some garbled mess of embarrassing words. Pointing to a group of people, he says, “Let’s meet them. I know them, and I will introduce you to them too. Since you know it’s necessary for you to know about everyone around us.”

“Yes,” Jongin answers and follows him.

“I don’t know if Chanyeol is here or not,” Sehun mumbles, mostly to himself. His eyes scan the crowd for any sign of his close friend, only to come with nothing.

“Didn’t you say Mr. Park is in the US for some business matter?” Jongin provides, stopping behind Sehun when they reach the group of elite people Sehun was pointing to earlier. He sighs to himself; it’s going to be a long night.

Not that he doesn’t like meeting people of power, like these, but there’s something that repels him from them. They look regal and far from his reach. They have achieved so much with their intelligence (maybe some cunningness, too), and he, he is nothing but a middle-class working man who had lost his husband in a car accident and is now working to support not only his son and himself, but also his family sitting thousands of kilometres away.

Not that he’s from a poor family, but he isn’t from a rich family either. The cost of medication of his parents in the US is bigger than his salary, even after working for Sehun. In one way or other, he is still far from these people when it comes to monetary power (social power; in basically everything). So more than anything else, meeting these people terrify him. They are people of power, would do a lot of things to you and you couldn’t even breathe a word because no one would listen to you anyway.

He fears he might attract someone wrong to himself.

Sehun, completely oblivious of his thoughts, laughs with the people he’s talking to before finally deciding to engage Jongin in their conversation, too. He takes hold of Jongin’s wrist and asks him to stand next to him instead of hiding behind him. The action doesn’t go unnoticed by the people present there.

“He is a little shy,” he says, laughing along with the others. Jongin gives his own shy, awkward laugh in return.

“Didn’t know you would be this brave, Sehun,” someone says, whose name Jongin has already forgotten. He is a man of hard features, bright eyes that scream nothing but deviousness and personality as if he’s calculating everything around him. When the man catches his eyes, Jongin ducks his head low. “He is beautiful,” the man adds, getting hum of approbation in return.

“I have heard he’s a widow,” The man says next, sipping his wine.

Jongin goes lax in Sehun’s hold, taken aback at the sudden change of topic.

Sehun clenches his jaw, eyes catching sight of the surprised expressions sitting on others faces. “He is.” He nods stiffly.

“Ah, then he must be—” the man stops, although his words are clear to everyone. The man laughs a little to himself, eyes shamelessly trailing up and down Jongin’s lithe frame.

Sehun as if suddenly remembering something, clears his throat and tunes the man completely out. “I heard about your son, Mr. Lee. I hope his studies are going well. Where is he anyway?”

Mr. Lee is the man, Jongin notes.

“China,” the man answers.

“Uh, oh.” Sehun nods. “I remember him telling me that he wanted to try in Harward. What happened to that?”

The man clears his throat, obviously embarrassed talking about something. “He didn’t make it; the university rejected his application.”

“Well,” Sehun begins, tone edging mocking, “that’s sad. You shouldn’t have given him so much freedom. I heard he has a case on him, too--of hit and run.”

The air around the group turns tense quickly. The topic not pleasant to the man.

“Where is that poor man—is he dead? I haven’t heard anything about it.” Jongin squeezes his hand, indicating him to give up the topic... but Sehun is pissed off for some reason or two that he doesn’t know about. “Jongin, here,” Sehun pushes Jongin a little ahead of himself before passing a sickeningly sweet smile to the man. “He is almost of your daughter’s age—she is twenty-seven, isn’t she—just he’s a year younger. So, I assume you will give him your blessings instead of…” his voice trails off, yet, the man understands the meaning behind everything.

The man smirks a second later, the sight of it irks Sehun beyond any words could describe. He steps a little ahead, almost hovering over Jongin’s frame, before pressing a firm hand on Jongin’s head. “You have my blessing, so—Jongin.”

Sehun is glad that the man isn’t only irritating him, but the people around him, too; the sight of their disgusted expressions toward the man a clear sign of Sehun’s assumption.

The man brings his hand down from Jongin’s head to the side of his face, before patting his cheek. “Your cheeks are cute, a little chubby. Cute.”

Jongin remains stiff on the spot, clearly uncomfortable with the touch. Sehun almost growls before he pulls Jongin away from the man toward himself. “Don’t do things that will land you one day in jail, Lee.” He warns, pointing a warning finger at the grinning man before pulling Jongin away from the group.

“Such disgusting man,” he mumbles to himself, steps fast as he walks in a particular direction. His hold on Jongin’s wrist is almost painful by now; he doesn’t notice it, and Jongin doesn’t complain about it. Sehun stops beside a man and asks him something that Jongin can’t bother to listen to. His mind is almost blank at this point, the insistent drumming of his heartbeat loud enough for everyone to know how scared and humiliated he feels.

He has no idea how many people know about his personal life, and how much. The thought of his son crosses his mind, but it disappears as soon as Sehun stops in front of a door and turns to look at him. Sehun’s eyes are hard; they look scarier when he fixes his gaze on the same cheek the man had touched.

“Wait inside the washroom; I will be back in a moment,” he says, opening the door and pressing a firm hand to the small of Jongin’s back when the younger remains unmoving. “Go, Jongin—I will be back in a moment.”

“What—but where are you going?”

“I am not going to murder someone, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Sehun says with a smile, although it looks more like a grimace. “I just need something—wait for me here, and I will be back in a moment. Don’t go anywhere and don’t talk to anyone you don’t know.”

It’s only when Jongin’s replies with a meek “yes” (with wide tearful eyes that do nothing to lower his anger), that Sehun walks out of the hallway and toward the main hall where the party is taking place. He is literally fuming by now. He is going to make sure someone kicks that ’s for even dirtying someone from his filthy touch and frivolous self.

After a brief talk with Ms. Jung, Sehun follows her to the latter’s bedroom before thanking the woman for her help. She asks him if something happened, he replies that he will talk to them soon, the expression of the male confuses her.

Sehun reaches the washroom within the next five minutes, and with a determined gaze, places the small bottle in Jongin’s hand.

“Face wash?” Jongin says, looking down at the face wash in his hands. “What—why did you bring--”

“Of course, so that you can wash your face with it.” Sehun rolls his eyes, acting nonchalant at the dumbfounded look of the younger. “Look, just wash your face, we don’t have all evening.”

He leans his back against the sink, making sure not to make any eye contact with the younger. Jongin is silent on his spot before he looks at Sehun. “Are you upset about something?” He asks.

Sehun clenches his jaw, thinking back to the most hated moment of this evening; the man, too. “I am not,” he lies.

“You are,” Jongin says instead.

Sehun sighs to himself before taking phone out of his suit pants. “I am,” he accepts. “That motherer—” he clenches his jaw, a part of him worrying that he might end up breaking the bone. “He—how dare he touch you!”

Jongin sighs beside him, seeing the anger rising inside the man he keeps mum, for some time. “I think the same,” he says some time later, fiddling with the face wash in his hands. “I definitely think the same,” he repeats when Sehun looks at him.

“What—I don’t understand.” Sehun turns around completely to look at the younger, wondering what he means.

Jongin shrugs, not taking his eyes off Sehun’s face. “I mean, he touched me, and I knew from his touch it wasn’t right. Then he touched me on my cheek—” Jongin stops and points to his cheek, grimacing when he remembers the touch of the man’s calloused hand on his skin. “It wasn’t right, and his hand, it was really big and ugly. His touch—” Jongin makes a disgusted face; Sehun cracks a tiny smile. At least the younger isn’t keeping it to himself. “I definitely didn’t like it when he brought the whole topic of me being a widow. I know what he meant, and what he wanted to speak.”

“You’re right. He is a motherer.”

Sehun breaks into a loud laugh, nearly scaring Jongin to bones. “What—”

“Oh my God,” Sehun wheezes, patting Jongin on his head. “Jongin, just look at your face—you looked cute when you cursed.”

Jongin blushes but doesn’t stop the man when he repeats the compliment (if it was a compliment in the first place). “I have a lot more,” he says, very sure of himself.

“What?”

“Curses,” Jongin answers. “I think the man deserves to be cursed at a lot!” He clasps his hands together, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Excited.

Sehun thinks it’s an adorable sight; the way Jongin is acting if he just wants to make him laugh. “Please, I am all ears.”

“.”

“I know you don’t know any other—you always say that one.”

“I have, I have—wait a minute.” Jongin bites his lower lip and thinks back to every little curse he had heard during his high school years. “er? Yes, that one, too.”

“And?” Sehun prompts, crossing his arms over his chest because he’s very much interested. “That was a good one, by the way.”

“Stupid?”

“That’s not a curse.”

“It is, believe me,” Jongin insists, very sure of himself. “Idiot. Dumbhead.” Jongin stops, a brief silence before he opens his pretty mouth again. “Son of a .”

Sehun laughs a little but then stops himself with a shake of his head. “The last one—avoid saying it to anyone.” He turns around to look at himself in the mirror.

“Why?” Jongin asks a second later.

“That’s like, kind of, swearing the guy’s mother—calling her and all. Now, you don’t want to swear anyone’s mother, do you?”

Jongin clamps his mouth shut; fingers placed firmly over his plush lips. He shakes his head, looking adorably taken aback by what the elder had to say. “I never thought about it.”

“Now that you know, don’t say that to anyone.” He points to the face wash and asks Jongin to wash his face.

“I, uh,” Jongin begins, blushing a little when Sehun asks him if something’s wrong. “I don’t have makeup to apply after washing my face.”

“You don’t need makeup, don’t worry,” he replies mindlessly. Realizing his slip up a few seconds later, he sharply turns around and stares at the door, hoping the younger won’t notice the sudden redness of his face. “I will bring something—wait here.” With that being said, he quickly runs out of the washroom, Jongin’s flustered squeak still loud in his ears.

God he and his mouth.

After they are finished with Jongin’s makeup (Sehun had to beg Ms. Jung for hers and had to reassure her that they, in fact, haven’t done anything--debauchery kind of thing. He also promised her that he will buy her a new one—the most expensive one in the market. She just waves him off with a small laugh.), they walk back into the hall, making sure no one noticed their absence. That wouldn’t be good; with the press being here, they might create a new story (Oh Sehun and his PA disappeared in the middle of the party to come back half an hour later!). No one needs someone to tell them that that would only mean that they were in the washroom for a quickie.

However, the sight of the hall surprises them. There are couples everywhere, and they are dancing.

Sehun’s face turns red when he looks down at Jongin; the younger, however, is looking around in awe.

It’s a sight to behold; with men covered in their expensive suits and the women dressed in finest silk and jewellery, dancing together to a beautiful song. In love; they are in love.

Sehun tugs Jongin along with him when Mr. Jung, from somewhere a little far, calls for them.

“Wouldn’t you two dance?” The man asks as soon as they reach to him, a little loud because the giggles and teasing laughs are loud. “It’s a happy moment; look love is in the air,” the man adds, proud.

Sehun thinks that he does, in fact, want to dance. When he looks down at Jongin once again—the younger avoiding his gaze now—he thinks he has gotten a feeling for the younger. The same feeling, you know, when a song comes and you just got to dance? So when Mr. Jung nudges him again with a teasing smile, he asks Jongin if he’s alright dancing with him. Jongin shyly answers that he is (and the younger tucks a strand of his black hair behind his ear, and Sehun has a hard time controlling the fondness bubbling inside of him).

Sehun grabs his hand and leads him to the dance floor.

The entirety of the time they spend on dancing is full of nothing but pure happiness, shyness from both sides, and Sehun’s sudden growing feelings toward the younger. If Jongin feels something in return, he doesn’t show it.

A part of Sehun doesn’t really want the evening to end.

When they are flushed from dancing, and Jongin admits that he is really tired, Sehun allows the younger to bring him away from the crowd and somewhere open.

“Wait here, yeah?” Sehun asks when they reach the bar that’s set up in a different corner of the hall. “I have to meet someone.” Sehun looks around for some time before finally catching sight of the person he wants to meet.

“Do I need to come, too?” Jongin asks, feeling a little uncomfortable in the presence of all the rich drunkards around them. “I can meet them, too.”

“No.” Sehun shakes his head, a frown on his face. “No matter how important he is; he is actually an . You better stay from someone like him.”

Sehun is getting protective of Jongin for a reason or two; he dismisses the thought as his concern for the younger. Jongin is new between this crowd and doesn’t know a lot of them; it would be much better if he stayed away from the people who don’t suit Sehun’s taste well.

After making sure that no one comes to his PA, he walks away from there, determined to finish the conversation as soon as possible.

Jongin takes the burnt of Sehun’s absence a few minutes later.

A waiter comes to him sometime later, a smile etched on his face when he stands next to Jongin. “Good evening, sir,” the man greets with a deep bow.

Jongin, still sitting on the stool, replies with an awkward smile. “Good evening.”

“Your partner—” the man turns around to look at Sehun. The CEO is busy conversing with someone, looking deep in whatever they are talking about. “Mr. Oh asked me to give any of this—the drink that you would like to drink.”

“Sehun?” Jongin confirms, looking confused as to why Sehun would do that without coming to him himself. “But I don’t drink.” He shakes his head. “I don’t like drinking, and my boss knows that. Then why would he?” He mumbles, mostly to himself before shaking his head for the final time. “No, thank you.”

“There’s water, sir. We have decided to have water with us, too. Guests don’t always drink, and we are well aware of that. Here.” The man picks up a glass before placing it beside Jongin on the counter. “Sir, if there’s something else that you need, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will be taking care of other guests until then.” The man bows again before finally leaving him.

Jongin hesitates when he turns around to look at the glass of water. A particular incident of years ago come back into his mind... but no one would do anything to him in middle of the crowd, no, even if there’s something in it? Plus, why would anyone try to harm him, he doesn’t even know most of the people here.

So with a last look passed to Sehun (the man turns around to look at him before passing him a smile), he picks up the glass and drowns the content in one go.

Completely unaware of the two pairs of eyes on him.

It’s only a few silent minutes that he spends there that he suddenly starts feeling... weird. After blinking his eyes a few times, he garbles something to the bartender; the bartender thinking that he is drunk and served by some other bartender, doesn’t pay him much mind. Jongin realizes his mistake that second. That waiter had put something in the water, and he was fool enough to drink that thing again.

He breaths to himself and fights to keep his eyes opened before leaning heavily on the counter. Someone knocks into him from behind the next second, and there’s water (or whatever liquid it is) all over his back, his clothes start soaking the liquid. He stands up immediately, the man who stumbled into him apologizes furiously, before Jongin with a huff loud enough for everyone to hear, stumbles his way toward the familiar direction of the washroom.

A sane part of him nearly cries out in frustration when everything around him slowly starts turning blurry; he should have known better than drinking anything given from someone he hadn’t known. His fingers shake when he opens the door to the washroom and stumbles inside it, walking toward the sinks in doubt. He doesn’t even know if there’s someone here beside him or not.

When things start heating up inside the room all of a sudden, he quickly shuffles out of his suit jacket and turns on the tap before washing his face with the cold water. Water dribbles down his face and down to his neck to hide behind his shirt; he opens the first two buttons but doesn’t stop splashing water over his face.

A pair of unfamiliar arms wrings around his waist from behind, heavy breath that smells awfully like liquor assault his nostrils. It definitely isn’t Sehun, and with the sudden knowledge hitting him, he quickly turns around before trying to push the body off him.

The man, however, doesn’t. It’s not until he feels the press of lips on his clothed chest, and nimble fingers working on the buttons of his pants that he cries out in fear. The cry loud enough for the man to worry that someone might hear them. The man, whoever the hell it is, hisses in his ear, grabs his jaw in a painful hold and says something that Jongin’s can’t decipher.

He thrashes in the man’s arms as much as he could in his current state, tries blinking his eyes many times to gets a clear picture of the monster standing in front of him... but nothing is of any use. The man is too strong for him; his arms big and muscled and scary to Jongin. He cries Sehun’s name, cries for help of anyone, hopes that someone hear him because really, he doesn’t want this evening to turn into a nightmare for him.

Everything was going so well; they were having so much fun. Why he had to bring Sehun out of the dance floor? Why Sehun had to leave him alone there? Why that waiter had to give him that glass of water? why he hadn’t thought twice before drinking the beverage—

Then all of a sudden, there’s no weight on him. Now that there’s nothing holding him up, he falls on the floor like a sack of bones, head finally feeling too dizzy to keep track of the things happening right in front of him. There are people; three or four he doesn’t really know, and they are arguing or are they fighting?

Someone crouches in front of him; presses their hands on his cheeks, on his forehead before picking him up in their arms.

The arms are, a little, familiar to him, and feel like home. It’s Sehun, he realizes, just before falling unconscious.

Jongin wakes up to silence, and warm comforters covering every inch of his body. There’s a small body pressed against him, too. It’s his son; he realizes when he turns around to look at the boy with bleary eyes. The room, though, isn’t his. He grabs his son and pulls him close to himself in fear of someone dangerous who he hasn’t met, yet. Who brought him here? Why is his son here? What is exactly happening?

“Oh, you’re awake.” Sehun walks into the room, shirt ed over his frame when he comes out of the bathroom, freshly showered. “Don’t worry; you’re at my place.”

“Why—” then it hits him; last evening, the drink, then something else that he doesn’t exactly remember, although the fear is still there; clinging to his body in a desperate hold. “Oh no.” He sits up straight, careful to not wake up his son. “I-I…”

“I hope you’re fine now, Jongin.” Sehun sits beside him, on the edge of the bed before asking him to relax a little, and that he’s safe here. “It’s okay... now you’re safe.”

“I can’t believe t-that happened.” Sehun sighs, and there’s frown on his face and a few cuts, too. Jongin gasps, and mindlessly presses his fingers over the bruises just above Sehun’s eye. He is worried they are there because of him. “Why these—”

“That’s nothing, don’t pay attention to it.” Sehun grabs his hand before he could touch some other cut; his hand is warm over Jongin’s, despite him showering just now. “Tell me how you are.”

He is not alright, if anything, he still wants to trap himself inside a bedroom and not come out. Whatever happened last night was because of his carelessness, and Jongin can’t help the guilt bubbling inside of him at the sight of red all over Sehun’s chest. There are bruises as if the man he was fighting back had enough strength to hurt Sehun back. It makes Jongin feel guilty all over. It was all because of his foolishness because he is nothing but a big fool. He does not hurt only himself, but the people around him, too. Oh, how shameless is he even—

“Hey, now.” Sehun rubs his thumb below Jongin’s eye, catching a warm tear about to roll down his cheek. “Why are you crying?” Sehun laughs a little before catching the other one below the other eye. “Is it a game of me catching the falling tears?”

Jongin shakes his head, lowers it seconds later; the comforter falls down his shoulders and bunches on his lap. “His t-touch…” he begins, at last, getting a little breath in his lungs. “You got h-hurt because of me.”

“Then you need to bath, don’t you think the same?” Sehun asks, not paying attention to the latter part.

Jongin bites his lower lip to stifle the onslaught of sobs threatening to come out of his mouth. His chest heaves up and down in heavy breathing, the beating organ suddenly feeling heavy with all the sudden feelings thrown at him once. Anything could’ve happened that evening. Anything could’ve happened that evening—“A-anything could’ve happened that evening.”

“I didn’t let anything happen, right?” Sehun asks, voice deep and soft, and warm, and affectionate, and everything that makes Jongin feel like curling into a ball and sleep between warm blankets, right at this instant. “I am sorry I didn’t come there; I am sorry that he even... touched you. I was surprised at first; worried the next second because I couldn’t find you where I had left you and then all of a sudden!—” Sehun stops and clenches his jaw. “That motherer got what he was asking for since the very start.”

“Do you want to talk about that—what happened? The police, they would talk to you soon.”

A shiver runs down Jongin’s spine at that. He looks up into Sehun’s eyes, worrying about the prospect of meeting a cop. Anything bad done or not, meeting a cop is not exactly dream of everyone’s life.

“Don’t worry,” Sehun reassures, getting the expression right away. “The case is already filed against him--they just want to hear what you have to say.” He pats Jongin’s cheek once, benevolent in his nature at this moment. “Do you want to talk about it?” Jongin replies with a shake of his head. Instead of getting annoyed, Sehun only smiles in return as if he understands what the younger is struggling with.

“Okay, go and take a bath now.”

“My son... why is he here?” Jongin asks instead.

“Your neighbour had called me; apparently your son had heard about you being injured from the news—nothing about that, don’t worry—and he was crying to meet you. I went to your home and picked him up from there.”

Sehun is really kind, Jongin thinks, despite him being infamous for being a heartbreaker and a playboy, the man surely knows how humanity works. He passes the elder a smile, wipes the tears off his cheeks before looking down at his son. For someone so young, his son is definitely going through a lot; living without his other father, struggling in school, mocked at such young age for not having his other father, and this and that. If those were not enough, Jongin’s problems of his professional life hunt him down, too. His heart aches for his son.

He brushes aside the fringes falling over his son’s eyes; the kid stirs a little in his sleep and then mumbles something before falling into slumber again. Leaning down, he presses a kiss to his forehead.

The sight of it is adorable in Sehun’s eyes.

You two are really cute together. “Your son is really cute,” Sehun says instead. Jongin hums, agreeing with the elder. It’s amusing to Sehun.

“Everyone in my family tells me he goes after me!”

“He certainly does.” Sehun nods, agreeing with the younger this time, too. “Now let’s go and take a bath. I mean, you take a bath, alone.” He clears his throat before looking away from the younger. “I will give you my clothes since we don’t have yours.”

Jongin hums and gets up from the bed; Sehun moves a little to give Jongin some space. Just before finally walking away from there, Jongin realizes that he hasn’t said something, yet. “Thank you, hyung. For last evening.” He is standing just in front of Sehun, and when Sehun looks up into his eyes, it only creates an intimate air between them. He doesn’t say anything, simply spreads his limbs a little more to allow Jongin to step into his personal space. Jongin does, almost naturally, and the sight of it brings a smile to Sehun’s lips. No one notices the smile, though, their eyes fixed together.

Sehun leans in then, Jongin’s breath hitches, and presses his forehead to the softness of Jongin’s stomach. He stays there for some moments, smiles a little to himself, feels a little giddy, and closes his eyes to relish in all these feelings at once before finally deciding to allow the younger to step back.

“Welcome.” He pats Jongin on his when the younger doesn’t move, at all. Jongin doesn’t feel embarrassed, doesn’t even give a squeak in return, instead walks away from there with a dazed on his face. Sehun’s expression is no different.

When Sehun at the now closed bathroom door, and Jin’s small, adorable curled body between the comforters, he thinks this is what a home feels like. The only difference is that nothing is his; neither Jin nor Jongin.

it isn’t really about readers commenting (or not) as much as it is about giving respect to the authors. but even then, i can’t lie, when i feel down about my writing or don’t feel like writing because i couldn’t come with anything, i read all the comments made by my readers. it fills me with positivity and motivation to write further. you know, because i have things in my mind, but sometimes i feel just so down and just don’t want to write. then the thoughts about my readers come and i think i am not only doing wrong to myself to but to the awaiting readers too. because i know what’s going to happen next, but my readers don’t.

i hope my regular readers don’t hate me for delaying literally everything. Haha. and i hope the readers who have been with me on this story since the start like this new version more. i know i have written this two or three times before, but i am working really hard on this this time.

in fact, to the readers who have subscribed to my other stories and the stories that are currently in draft, i have a news for you all: they are coming back to life. lmao. I have been working on a few draft stories of mine, and will come back soon. (i hope you will like whatever i have in store for you).

thank you for understanding what i meant in the previous note. please respect an author (and their hard work), i am not talking about just me, but other authors, too.

have a great day ahead. ^^