Daehyun woke suddenly to the sound of someone trying to beat down his door. He groaned as he shifted to look at the alarm clock on his night stand.

12:43 AM

He had only been asleep for the better part of an hour. Clearly unhappy to be woken up not long after falling asleep, he frowned as he pulled himself out of the blankets and off of the bed. As he approached the door, he mumbled a variety of curses for whoever was behind it.

"Do you know what time--" he began to yell as he jerked the door open to reveal a sobbing Jongup. Daehyun's eyes widened as he gazed at Jongup's face; it was covered in a mixture of blood, sweat, and tears. He immediately ushered him inside before checking for an audience and closing and locking the door behind him. He escorted Jongup to the couch and rushed to the bathroom to get a damp washcloth and the first aid kit. Once he was in the living room again, he sat in front of the desheveled boy and began gently wiping his face.

Daehyun watched as fresh tears streaked Jongup's face as more sobs escaped his mouth; his own face cringing every time he would tend to the abrasions and Jongup would wince at the stinging sensation the rubbing alcohol caused.

"What the hell happened to you?" he whispered, although he wasn't sure why those words came out as a whisper. He tried to get a better view of his face as he lightly caressed his cheek with the damp cloth.

Jongup avoided looking at Daehyun as he continued to sob and tears continued to pour down his face. Daehyun's face scrunched up in concern and irritation, the younger's silence and refusal to look at him clearly bothering him. He placed the rag on the coffee table and grabbed firmly onto his shoulders in an attempt to force him to look at him. Jongup sniffled as another sob escaped him and he glanced at Daehyun's face.

"What happened?" he asked once more, his worried expression boring into Jongup's face. Jongup's lips quivered and fresh tears welled up in his eyes seconds before he began bawling into Daehyun's chest.

"H- hyung!" he whimpered as his hands gripped the fabric of Daehyun's shirt. "My...m- my  b- brother..." he managed to squeak out between sobs.

Daehyun found himself wrapping his arms around the pitiful display in front of him. He held him there for a while until Jongup's sobs became silent whimpers and sniffling. He pulled him away and looked at his face again.

"Look, you can sleep here, okay?" he said as he peeled Jongup's hands from his shirt and stood up. "I'm gonna get you a pillow and a blanket. I'll be right back." Jongup nodded as Daehyun walked away momentarily and came back with said items. He placed the pillow at one end of the couch and laid Jongup back onto the couch before covering him up. As he turned to leave, Jongup's hand shot up from beneath the blanket and grasped Daehyun's wrist.

"Thank you," his voice cracked as he looked up at Daehyun with sad eyes. Daehyun simply nodded and gently grabbed Jongup's hand and placed it back under the cover before walking back to his own room.

....................

The next morning, Daehyun woke up and walked out of his room straight to the bathroom. As he walked through the hallway and into the living room while scratching his head and yawning, he gasped and jumped when he noticed the figure laying on the couch. He soon realized it was Jongup and remembered that he let him stay the previous night. His brow furrowed in worry as he stared at the sleeping boy for a few seconds. Daehyun then walked back to his room and returned with a set of clean clothes. He held them in one hand as the other lightly shook Jongup's shoulder. Jongup's eyelids fluttered open as his eyes adjusted to the light. They widened when he realized Daehyun was staring at him and he wasn't home. 

"Here," Daehyun pressed the small stack of clothing to Jongup's chest after he sat up. "Go to the bathroom and clean up." Jongup glanced at the clothes he had in his arms before looking up at Daehyun who simply nodded in the direction of the bathroom. Seeing this gesture, he stood up and walked down the hall to the room. Once Daehyun heard the water running in the shower, he walked into the kitchen and began to prepare breakfast for them both.

Jongup finished his shower and pulled on the clothes Daehyun had given him. He studied the pants for a few minutes before putting his legs through them; they seemed a bit long. After he buttoned and zipped them he pulled at the pantsleg and lifted his foot slightly to keep the fabric from under his foot. They were definitely too long. Jongup walked out of the bathroom, still tugging the pantslegs and trying to avoid stepping on the hem, expecting to see Daehyun in the living room.

"Daehyun, I..." He didn't see him. He glanced around the room before he noticed Daehyun standing in front of the stove in the kitchen. He walked over to the counter and stood there, fidgeting, fingers playing with the hem of the shirt. There was an awkward silence as Jongup wondered why Daehyun hadn't pressed further about what happened. He wondered if he would ever ask. About ten minutes later, Daehyun had prepared two plates of food and turned around. He was startled by Jongup who was suddenly standing behind him and nearly dropped the plates as he jumped. Luckily he was able to make it to the counter in time.

"Wh- when did you get there?!" he asked as he clutched his chest and gasped as he tried to calm himself down. He looked at Jongup's face and noticed that his eyes were red and puffy and his cheeks were bruised and swollen. He didn't like that he had no idea what happened. He was worried and couldn't explain why when he had done so much worse to the poor boy. Jongup saw that Daehyun was looking at his face with pity and immediately avoided his gaze and stared at the floor as he blushed out of embarrassment. He knew he looked horrible and didn't want Daehyun seeing him like that.

"I- I'm sorry...I didn't mean to startle you; I probably shouldn't have come here to begin with. I'll just leave now," Jongup said as he turned to walk away. He barely got halfway to the door before Daehyun made his way around the counter and grabbed his wrist, preventing him from going any further.

"You should eat," Daehyun said, in a tone that was harsher than he wanted to use. He pulled Jongup back toward the counter to sit him down in front of the plate he had prepared for him. He then walked to the other side and sat on his stool in front of his own plate and began to eat. Jongup seemed worried. He hadn't expected Daehyun to actually take him in, much less feed him. He stared at Daehyun's face as he chewed for a few seconds before bringing his gaze to the plate in front of him. He prodded at the food with a fork; he wasn't really hungry. The silence surrounding them became too much for Jongup after a while as he decided he would try to make conversation.

 "Why haven't you asked?" Daehyun's head shot up with wide eyes as he had just taken a bite and still had the fork in his mouth. He pulled the fork out of his mouth and continued to chew his food before swallowing it in order to speak.

“I’m sure if you wanted me to know you’d tell me without me asking,” Daehyun said as he picked up his coffee mug and sipped at it, avoiding further talk of the subject. He then sat the cup down and took another bite. Jongup simply stared at him. He couldn’t understand why he didn’t ask any questions; not that he would have answered them, but he still expected to be interrogated.

………….

Daehyun and Jongup eventually made their way to work. As they walked through the café’s door, all eyes were on them. Himchan cocked an eyebrow as he glanced away from his magazine to look at the pair. He paid them no mind, however, and brought his attention back to the book in his hands. Yookwon was busy bussing tables when he glanced up. Seeing the two being friendly and walking in together took him by surprise because they never got along before. Then he noticed Jongup’s face. The scratches and bruises were fresh and Yookwon wondered who could have done them. His brow furrowed in worry, but he never said a word and went back to cleaning up the table.

Zelo was walking out to the front of the café carrying a tray of cakes and he noticed Yookwon’s worried expression. He followed his line of sight and found Jongup in his pitiful state. He practically threw the tray, nearly losing all the cakes as Himchan shouted behind him, and ran around the counter toward Jongup and pulled his head to his chest.

“Who hurt my Jonguppie-hyung?!” he asked with a pout as he glanced at Daehyun who simply shrugged.

“Don’t ask me,” he replied before walking around the maknae and disappeared behind the swinging door.

Yongguk, after hearing Zelo’s outburst, came out of his office and dragged Jongup with him into the small room, Zelo trying to follow. Yongguk stopped suddenly and turned around, Zelo almost running into him.

“You,” he said as he poked Zelo’s chest. “are not coming with us. You stay out here.” Yongguk then shut the door.

Zelo pouted as he turned to face Himchan who was chuckling at him being left out.

…………..

Yongguk turned to face Jongup after shutting the door and leaning on it.

“What happened?” he asked with a stern expression as he crossed his arms. He was determined to get a response out of the boy and Jongup knew he had to give him an answer or he wouldn’t be getting out of that room any time soon.

Not wanting to answer, Jongup played with the hem of the shirt he was wearing as he avoided Yongguk’s eyes.

“What happened?” he asked again. “Who did this to you?” Still, Jongup did not respond.

After a few seconds of silence, Yongguk asked another question.

“Was it Daehyun again?” Jongup looked up at him with wide eyes.

“W- what? No!”

“Well then why is it that you came in with him, looking like you’ve been hit in the face with blunt object and wearing his clothes? Is there something I need to know about him?” he asked the last question as he cocked an eyebrow. Jongup jumped up from the chair he had been shoved in when they walked into the room.

“N- no! Hyung, it’s not like that! Daehyun-hyung didn’t do anything like that…” Jongup's arms formed an 'X' as he denied the claims Yongguk was trying to make against Daehyun. Yongguk didn't believe him.

"If it's not like that, then just what do you expect me to believe? Who else could it have been?"

Jongup looked up at Yongguk with a pained expression. He really didn’t want to tell him, but he knew Daehyun would be blamed otherwise.

“It w- was…it was m- my step-brother…” he said rather reluctantly. His eyes started to tear up as he began to tell his story.

------------------

A/N:

aaand..i'm stopping here so i can actually write what happened :D

this chapter would be really long if i wrote everything that happened in it...it's already 1952 words..

anyway, i hope you are all enjoying the drama :P

the next chapter will be starting with Jongup's POV as he tells Yongguk what happened...that's sure to be entertaining..i'm sure you're all wondering lol

people will be showing up again..i'm not giving anything away either..gotta figure out exactly when they pop back up xD you can try to guess who will be brought back up if you want to though ^^

anyway, as always, let me know what you guys think :)