hi guys i'm alive /wheezes. and i suggest you reread the last 2 chapters if you can't remember what happened. gist is that zitao, sehun's boyfriend, punched jongin at a party because he thought they kissed (but they didn't! so rip jongin lol he was wronged). now enjoy reading~!

✚

Jongin isn’t a rash and impulsive person in general.

He’s pretty easygoing most of the time, and he had a tightknit group of friends he kept to back at his old school, whom had been with him from Elementary days. Him being in a sports team that brought their school many victories made him well-respected with the rest of the student body, too.

Needless to say, Jongin had never made enemies before. Not ones who would explicitly punch him in the face, anyway.

So the punch hurt more than expected, simply because it wasn’t expected. His steps skitter back, spitting out blood onto the pavement. “What the ―”

“How dare you kiss him―”

“I didn’t kiss him, you violent mental―” Jongin retorts, fingers slowly curling into a fist. Just because he’s usually easygoing doesn’t mean he’ll take a punch obediently, especially when it was so unwarranted.

Jongin can see Zitao raising his fist again, and he’s bracing himself for his first brawl ever, when a figure steps in front of him―Sehun―a hand reaching back to touch his wrist as he faces Zitao.

“Zitao, go!” Sehun’s voice rings clear in the still of the night. It’s only then does he notice there’s a crowd gathering around them.

“But―”

“Like he said, I didn’t kiss Jongin, you crazy jealous ! Now leave before I call the cops on you.”

Zitao opens his mouth again, protest on his lips, but there must be something in Sehun’s expression―something Jongin can’t see since the other boy’s back is to him―for he deflates, and mumbles, “Fine.”

Jongin watches in disbelief when Zitao stalks away, not sparing a glance back at his punching victim, gaze directed on Sehun the entire time, almost… in distressed? Before he gets into his car and drives away.

Jongin barely has time to wipe the blood lingering on his lips when Sehun spins around, takes one look at his face, and tugs him forward, saying, “Come with me.”

Honestly, Jongin is too tired to resist, and getting away from the crowd of peering eyes will be nice, too, so he lets Sehun drag him back into the house and up the stairs, the crowd making a path for them as if Sehun is royalty walking past.

The younger is opening a door upstairs when Baekhyun stomps up with Chanyeol trailing behind him.

“What the did I just hear? Jesus Jongin, look at your face! I can’t believe you got punched not even an hour after I left you alone!”

“Yeah, ha-ha,” Jongin says dryly, wincing when his lips tear as he speaks.

“Come on, let’s go home. I’ll patch you up―” Baekhyun is reaching out for Jongin when Sehun steps between them, not unlike the way he had with Zitao earlier, and says, “No.”

“What―”

“I’ll be the one patching him up,” Sehun says in a firm voice then looks behind Baekhyun. “Chanyeol, keep people out for me.”

The older boy says, “Roger,” as Sehun finishes opening the door and shoves Jongin inside, the door clicking behind them with a lock before Baekhyun has time to react.

“Sehun what the ! Open this damn door! You can’t just kidnap Jongin―” Baekhyun’s bewildered voice can be heard from behind the door.

“I’m not kidnapping him, I’m gonna clean his wounds,” Sehun rolls his eyes, nudging Jongin to sit down onto a bed as he rummages through a desk nearby.

Baekhyun’s voice starts to die out―maybe Chanyeol is pacifying him?―and that’s when Jongin has time to look around. The room is decorated pretty grand with a canopy bed like in one of those Old European movies his mom likes to watch, and is unexpectedly clean and neat, almost devoid of life and anything particularly personal that might belong to the owner of the room, save for two pictures on the stand next to the bed.

Surprisingly, it’s not a picture of Sehun with his boyfriend Zitao, like Jongin would expect, but of Sehun and Chanyeol, the two with matching flashing V-signs in an amusement park. Jongin quirks an eyebrow at this and shifts his gaze to the other frame.

In it, is a couple with a little kid, all three with wide, happy smiles. This must be Sehun and his parents when he was young, then. Jongin can see the boy’s eyesmile―eyes curving into pretty crescents even when he was a child, and Jongin realizes he hasn’t seen the current Sehun like this before. Smiling, yes, but they’re almost fake smiles, not a bright, sincere one like in the picture.

“Wasn’t I cute when I was a kid?” Sehun’s voice breaks Jongin out of his thoughts, and he looks up to see the other boy setting down on the bed next to him, a first aid kit on his lap.

“You were,” Jongin responds honestly.

“And now?”

Jongin pauses as Sehun takes out a cotton swap and starts dabbing at his wounds. “It’s not the same.”

Sehun frowns at the answer but keeps cleaning his wounds. The room is silent as he works. Up this close, Jongin can see how long the boy’s eyelashes are, and how pale his skin is. The dim light from the one sole lamp in Sehun’s room gives an almost hazy effect on Sehun’s figure, giving a trancelike feeling.

“I’m sorry,” Sehun says as he’s done, putting the tools back inside the kit.

“For what?”

“For what Zitao did.”

“You weren’t the one who did it,” Jongin says, shrugging. Then, “But it almost feels like you did it on purpose.”

Sehun pauses, looks up at him. “Huh?”

“Did you do what you did to provoke Zitao on purpose?”

The other keeps his eyes on Jongin for a long moment before his lips curl into a smile. “For someone so quiet, you’re sharp, Jongin. Or is it because you’re quiet?”

“I’m not quiet.”

“Just with me.”

Jongin shrugs. “So did you?”

Sehun hums, closing the kit and setting it onto the stand. “You are sharp, but not that sharp. I did do it on purpose, but it wasn’t for Zitao.”

“Then…”

“Sorry you got hurt because of me,” Sehun says suddenly, fingers caressing Jongin’s face, brushing across his wound in a fleeting touch, like grains of sand. “But this rugged look makes you look more handsome, you know. Like a bad boy.”

“Do you want me to be bad?”

“Only because I am.”

Jongin frowns. Everything Sehun speaks sound like a riddle, and he’s starting to get a headache from―everything. The alcohol, the punch, the taste of blood lingering underneath his tongue. Everything that’s happened tonight.

Sehun pulls Jongin up, a mysterious smile on his lips, before unlocking the door. “Let’s give you back to your babysitter, shall we?”

✚

Baekhyun is a smart person. He knows when something is futile. When it’s in vain. So obviously, pounding on Sehun’s door isn’t going to work, and he doesn’t know how to pick locks, the next best thing is to glare at the boy next to him.

“What?” Chanyeol holds two palms up in a pacifying gesture, like he’s afraid Baekhyun will lash out at him.

“Sehun’s boyfriend is a lunatic! Why did he punch Jongin!”

Chanyeol shrugs helplessly, like it isn’t his fault. Baekhyun supposes it isn’t, but still!

“Did you see Jongin’s face just now? It was all bloody! His nose better not be broken, jesus. I can’t believe this happened, I should’ve stuck with him―”

“It’s just a punch. He’s a guy. He’ll get over it.”

Baekhyun whips around, furious. “A punch he shouldn’t have gotten if your friend’s boyfriend wasn’t a jealous ! Poor Jongin―”

“I know it he got punched when he’s innocent but it’s still just a punch. Why are you so upset? Do you like him?”

“Wha―” Baekhyun sputters at the bored look Chanyeol is giving him. “No! Jongin is like, a little brother to me! And I was supposed to protect