Junmyeon had always been a quiet baby, but now he looked like he was scared to speak. Kyungsoo also noticed that the toddler would try his hardest to muffle his cries and barely ever made a noise. Flinching every time someone spoke louder than a whisper, or his tiny hands lost their grip on a toy and it fell loudly onto the floor.

His son looked as if someone would punish him for making a sound, for acting like a toddler. He was always scared, always watching his back. And Kyungsoo didn’t want to imagine why his baby at the age of three would ever need to do that. He didn’t want to think that his son was abused.

But that was exactly what his mind and heart told him was happening.

When Junmyeon was four, he was to stay with Kyungsoo after preschool. The man was excited since he only ever saw his baby on the weekends, and now, the prospect of seeing him during the week improved his mood immensely. 

Everything went as it normally did, Junmyeon was still very cautious but seemed happy as he silently played with Kyungsoo. The now doctor was all smiles as he came up with several different voices for the colourful dinosaurs Junmyeon loved so much.

“Are you hungry, Junnie?” He asked, it was almost time for dinner but Junmyeon hadn’t eaten anything nor drank water in a while. “Why don’t you go grab us a cookie, while I sort this mess here and then we’ll make dinner?”

The little boy smiled and nodded, before silently making his way to the kitchen. Kyungsoo sighed, happy that Junmyeon was finally comfortable enough around his house to go to the kitchen by himself.

“Dad…?” came the small hesitant voice. “I can’t reach the jar” Junmyeon spoke and Kyungsoo chuckled, making his way to the kitchen only to get there and halt on his spot.

Junmyeon had been trying to reach for the jar on top of the counter, and his little blue shirt rose up to reveal countless purple bruises decorating his pale skin.

Kyungsoo gasped and Junmyeon froze. The toddler tried to quickly pull his shirt down, trying to hide the bruises from his father, and Kyungsoo would never forget the amount of fear he could see in his son’s eyes.

He knelt in front of the child, hands immediately being placed on the toddler’s sides, gently holding him in place. “Honey….” he whispered, voice trembling with emotions he couldn’t quite categorise at that moment.

“Who did this to you, Myeonie?”

The terrified little boy shook in Kyungsoo’s hold, but seemed to realise that his father wasn’t angry at him. That he wouldn’t be punished. And so, swallowing thickly, Junmyeon replied.

“Mommy….”

“Your mother did this to you?” Kyungsoo spoke softly to Junmyeon, even though he wanted nothing more than to wreck havoc on his ex for hurting his son.

The boy shook his little head, fluffy bl