The voices of his superiors still echoed in his mind as the cell door swung closed. Voices of hate, accusations of being a traitor, and homophobic slurs lingered, taunting him as he sat slumped against the wall in the small, barred room that he could call his home for the foreseeable future. 

"You shouldn't be getting cosy with a superior officer."

"A man should not love another man, it's unnatural."

"You could end up in federal prison if you carry on."

"Traitor, only thinking about his needs rather than the needs of others."

Relationships in the military were a taboo anyway, but having relations with a member of the same was strictly forbidden. Having relations with an officer a rank higher than you were also forbidden, and Kris had committed both of those offences. 

With his head in his hands, he tried to block out the negative thoughts. Instead, he hoped that Joonmyun was in a better position than he was. However, that hope was short lived when he heard the door to the jail open, the sound of boots shuffling and metal lightly clinking. Jumping to his feet he sprinted the short distance to the bars, just in time to see two senior officers marching Joonmyun down the hall. 

His head was down, hands in cuffs, and his military uniform had been replaced with a simple navy blue t-shirt and trousers, the same as Kris. But unlike Kris, Joonmyun's t-shirt was too big for him, making him appear even smaller than he already was. 

Kris wanted to call out to him but decided against it. It wouldn't do either of them any good. 

Joonmyun was pushed into the cell next to his. His hands were freed and the officers left as quickly as they'd come. The second the door closed, Kris was at the bars separating him from Joonmyun.

“Joon-“

“Don’t.”

Joonmyun stood in the centre of the cell with his back towards Kris, arms wrapped around himself and head hung low. From his position, Kris couldn’t tell if Joonmyun were upset or angry or a mixture of both. To be honest he thought he was scared. He had to be. Kris certainly was. 

Turning around Kris leaned back against the bars and sighed. He didn’t know what to say or if he should even say anything. He did want to make sure Joonmyun was okay. 

“I’m sorry.” he decided to say, hoping that it would at least get Joonmyun to come round. 

But Joon didn’t answer. 

Kris wanted to cry. He wanted to let his emotions out and not care about what others thought for once, but he couldn’t be weak now. He couldn’t break in front of Joonmyun. 

That was until he felt a pair of warm arms wrapping around his shoulders the best they could with the bars being in the way and hot tears falling onto the back of his neck. Reaching up he brought one arm to Joonmyun’s head and his hair while the other settled on his wrists. His eyes began to water at the sight of bruises and shallow cuts that had been left there from the cuffs. 

“It’s not your fault, I shouldn’t be mad at you,” Joonmyun whispered, barely audible for Kris to hear. 

All Kris wanted to do was turn around and kiss his lover, to tell him how much he loved him and how sorry he was, but that was what had gotten them into this mess in the first place so decided against it. 

“Whatever happens just know that I’ll love you no matter what,” Kris answered, gently rubbing the marks on Joon’s wrists with his thumb. 

Standing on a platform in front of everyone he once knew as colleagues with his lover kneeling in front of him, wrists tied to the same post his had been not long ago and torso stripped down so his was on display. Kris had been handed the flogger and ordered to use it, but he hadn’t moved since. The crowd were cheering for him to do so, urging him on to deliver the punishment to the man they’d called their leader less than twenty-four hours ago. 

He could see Joonmyun shaking. He didn’t want to do this. He’d never hurt Joonmyun. 

“If you don’t deliver the punishment then I will.” The General warned, making to take the flogger from Kris. 

Kris automatically took a step to the side to stop him. Taking a gulp, Kris brought the flogger up to the side of his head and hesitantly brought it down on Joonmyun’s back. Apparently, he didn’t bring it down hard enough as the General growled at him. 

“Last chance Wu, deliver the punishment.” 

By the time Kris had finished, he could barely see through the tears blocking his vision. Joonmyun’s back was a bloody mess in front of him and he couldn’t bear to look at it. He was quite thankful when the guards took him back to his cell and left him alone to weep. 

Predictably, Joonmyun wasn’t brought back to his cell for a couple of hours. Kris couldn’t face him. As Joonmyun sat down painfully on the floor against the bars, Kris turned his back to him. 

“Don’t blame yourself.” Kris heard Joonmyun mumble.

“I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be.”

Need to start thinking about what I'm gonna do for NaNoWriMo this year.