With consciousness came a break from the numbness, which made Kyungsoo regret being awakened. But it was hard to ignore his body being shaken and his name shouted repeatedly. He wanted to scream but instead he just gasped out “Stop!” and opened his eyes.

Kim Jongin was kneeling over him, hands on his shoulders, eyes wide with something more than concern – genuine fear. Kyungsoo was very suddenly aware of an immense amount of pain spanning across his body – largely in his stomach, but also in his face, arms, and the entirety of his body. He recognized the overall pain to be that of coldness – freezing; he was shivering and felt ice-cold in comparison to Jongin’s warm touch on his shoulders – and recalled the rest of the pain to have been given by Tao, Chanyeol, and Jongdae. His lungs felt sore, likely from nearly drowning. But he was alive.

“Kyungsoo!” Jongin was saying over and over. He looked so worried, and Kyungsoo couldn’t imagine how he looked right now. “Can you move?”

“No.” The word struggled its way out of his throat, making him cough and then almost shriek in the pain that caused. He clenched his fists and eyes closed, trying to keep it together. And then he felt the ground fall out from beneath him and he did cry out sharply, opening his eyes to see Jongin having picked him up. “Wha-”

Jongin shushed him. “Don’t talk. I can tell it’s hurting you. I’m just moving you out of the storage closet.” Kyungsoo recognized his surroundings in a flashback of memories of the previous night. This was Jongin’s house, although it seemed very different – because it was so lacking in people now, Kyungsoo supposed. But somehow it was already very clean, as if the party had never happened. Of course Kyungsoo’s pain was proof that it had indeed happened. They passed through the living room, where the couch that girl – whose name he had already forgotten – had kissed him. His first kiss and what joke it had been, quite literally. Then they were moving up the stairs and each step Jongin took was sending shocks coursing through Kyungsoo’s nerves. He closed his eyes again, fighting back tears.

The next thing he felt was a soft cushiony bed underneath him but he didn’t open his eyes to see it. He just lay there gasping in pain, nails digging into his palms. He didn’t care that Jongin was there, probably thinking him pathetic. He didn’t even care when Jongin pushed his hair off his clammy forehead and tried to uncurl his fingers to stop Kyungsoo from drawing blood with his nails. But he did care when Jongin started trying to take off his jacket.

“What – are y-you do-ing?”

“Kyungsoo, you need to take off those clothes,” Jongin told him gently. “They’re all wet, and they’re just going to make you colder.” Kyungsoo knew this was true but it hurt so much to move. But Jongin helped him, holding him up and sliding off his jacket. Kyungsoo was too cold to feel shame as his shirt was pulled over his head by the other boy – revealing a black bruise taking up much of his torso – but it agonized him to move his muscles that much. He gripped onto Jongin’s arms, just holding himself there for a moment as he fought down the pain to a bearable level again and Jongin just let him hold on, pull himself together. Then he tried to his jeans – the stupid, too tight jeans Joonmyun had chosen out – but his hands were shaking violently and Jongin’s fingers were there, carefully undoing the button and helping Kyungsoo to stand. But there was no way Kyungsoo was getting his jeans off and he felt an underlying embarrassment as the younger boy slipped his jeans off him. And then Kyungsoo was just left in his boxers and Jongin seemed to contemplate for a long time before taking those off him too, being careful where his eyes looked – not down but not at Kyungsoo’s eyes either.

Then he pulled back the covers of the bed and Kyungsoo slipped into them before being tucked in tightly.

“Stay there okay?” As if he was going anywhere. “I’ll be right back.”

Jongin disappeared and Kyungsoo just lay in the warmth of the blankets, not caring what he’d gone to do. He came back quickly though with a warm cloth and a bottle of water. He sat on the side of the bed, softly rolling Kyungsoo onto his back and wiping his face with the cloth. If Kyungsoo was displeased with this action, the feeling disappeared almost immediately because the warmth felt so amazing. It wasn’t hot enough to burn, just warm enough to feel pleasant. Then Jongin was uncapping the lid of the bottle.

“Sit up,” he said gently, helping pull the smaller boy up and resting him on one of the pillows. He put the bottle to his lips – Kyungsoo unable to hold it himself – and tipped it up gently. The feeling of water in his mouth again made him feel anxious so he let it swirl around in his mouth for a bit before very certainly swallowing it. It burned his throat a bit but he opened his mouth again, allowing Jongin to pour another sip past his lips.

And then there was a new discomfort that rose through the cold and soreness of his body – the feeling of all that soju coming back to him. And apparently wanting to come back out.

“I’m gonna – throw up,” Kyungsoo managed, taking deep breaths to try to hold it off. Jongin hurried out of the room, dashing down the hallway and coming back with a bucket. He just made it when Kyungsoo’s body retched, excruciatingly forcing him to sit up and puke up the alcohol of the previous night. It burned much more the second time around, stinging in Kyungsoo’s eyes. Tears fell freely down his cheeks and he tried to breathe as he just kept heaving, vomit spewing into the bucket. Finally it stopped and he was left panting and crying. Jongin’s one hand wiped the sweat and vomit off Kyungsoo’s face with the cloth, the other rubbing Kyungsoo’s back comfortingly.

“It hurts,” Kyungsoo moaned, blinking another tear out of his eye. He felt so vulnerable but for the moment the pain was more prominent than his pride. “Everything – hurts.”

Jongin lay him back down cautiously, pulling the blankets back up to cover him. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “Just get some rest now okay? Do you need anything? I’ll get you some Tylenol and make you soup. Just lie down and try not to move too much.”

He was in and out after that for about half an hour; bringing Kyungsoo a couple little red pills, cooking him chicken noodle soup, calling Kyungsoo’s mom and telling her they were going to “hang out for the day” and he would bring her son back by the end of the evening. He even called Joonmyun, who had likely tried to text Kyungsoo many times except Kyungsoo’s phone had been wrecked when he was thrown in the pool. Fortunately Joonmyun hadn’t called Kyungsoo’s house but he was glad Jongin was taking care of him.

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo rasped when Jongin hung up the phone. He didn’t say anything more, sipping on the soup, but he hoped Jongin would understand. Thank you for taking care of me even though I’m a jerk to you and don’t deserve it.

“Do you feel any better?” Jongin wondered, eyes still looking worrisome. Kyungsoo nodded. He was warmer, no longer shaking with cold. His limbs felt sore but the Tylenol was starting to take effect and the stomach pain and headache had dimmed down immensely. When he finished the soup, Jongin took his bowl and Kyungsoo closed his eyes. He just wanted to sleep for a while now.

“

Sore. Very sore. He didn’t want to open his eyes. He didn’t want to return to reality. That he was in the house of the friend of the people who had done this to him. That that friend was taking care of him despite how much hell he would have to go through if they knew. That there was warm pressure on Kyungsoo’s hand, the feeling of someone else’s hand…

His eyes flew open and he tilted his head up to see the situation he was in. It wasn’t much different from the way it had been before he’d fallen asleep. But the time on the clock read three hours later, now early-afternoon. And Kim Jongin was sitting in a chair he’d pulled up beside the bed, his hand reaching out to Kyungsoo’s, warmly enclosing the smaller in his own. His head was nodded forward, his eyes closed, dozing off.

Kyungsoo’s mind, much more coherent the second time waking up today, found himself slightly appalled – and even more slightly intrigued – by this set up. He wanted to jerk his hand away from Jongin’s, but he thought about everything the boy had done for him and knew that wouldn’t be fair. So instead he carefully pulled his hand out of Jongin’s, muscles still aching, and then he stared up at the ceiling.

Half an hour passed before Jongin awoke but the second he noticed Kyungsoo’s eyes were open he was alert.

“How are you feeling?”

“Alive.” Kyungsoo earned a smile for his sarcasm.

“You sound more like yourself,” Jongin noted. Kyungsoo wished he could make a snarky comeback, because he knew Jongin had seen him when he was so weak but his throat was still sore and it wouldn’t come out. “What do you need?”

“Nothing.” Not from you. He was already in the other boy’s debt now. Jongin glanced at the clock. “Your family…”

“They’ll be home soon,” Jongin nodded. “It’s okay, I’ll get my mom to look over you. If you want. I really don’t know what I’m doing.”

Kyungsoo would much prefer Jongin’s mom taking care of him. Not only would she likely be more skilled in caring for people – being a housewife with four kids – but… well, she just wasn’t Jongin. Kyungsoo had been grateful to Jongin when he was unable to do anything for himself. But now he was put together again – mentally speaking – and his negative feelings towards him had returned full-fledged. He would have loved to just go home but he couldn’t looking the way he did. His parents would be very questioning of his state.

There was sound downstairs and the boys both looked to the door. A woman’s voice called Jongin’s name and Jongin glanced at the boy in his bed. “I’ll be right back,” he told him, hurrying out the door. “Hello umma!” And then Kyungsoo was left to wait there. He wondered what Jongin’s mom would think of the battered, bruised and boy in her son’s bed. Why was he here? Why was he all beat up? Did she have any clue that her son had thrown a party? Could she possibly imagine her son’s friends were the type to beat up another kid just for the sake of it?

Kyungsoo could hear voices for a long time but the only time anyone came by was when a little girl briefly came into the room, staring at him. Jongin’s younger sister, he guessed. He didn’t say anything and she just looked. Her resemblance to her brother was striking – just like a miniature, long haired version of Jongin, probably no more than eight years old.

“You’re pretty,” she said finally. “But you look like someone hit you. Did they?” Kyungsoo nodded awkwardly. “You’re in Jongin’s bed. Did you sleep there last night with him?” This time, he shook his head. Why would he sleep with Jongin? Well, maybe if they were friends he supposed. He had slept in Sehun’s bed before, lots of times actually. The girl seemed to have no more questions after this and left him alone again.

The next person he saw was Jongin’s mother who brought him tea with honey to help his throat and then examined his face, heart rate, pupils, checking for signs of damage – a concussion, internal bleeding. She seemed to think he was alright but Jongin, standing a bit shyly in the doorway, told her of the bruise on Kyungsoo’s stomach and she pulled the blanket down to his hips to check it out too. But she said it was just a bruise – a large one, but a bruise nonetheless, and if Kyungsoo felt there was no internal damage to his organs, then he was fine. Roughly with much coughing in between his words Kyungsoo explained how his lungs were sore from inhaling a lot of water. She asked why, what the reason was for choking on water, but he just shook his head and she made her way out of the room. She passed Jongin who followed after her hesitantly, and Kyungsoo was sure he heard her say, “Might I ask why he isn’t wearing any clothes?”

“                                                                                   

Kyungsoo was kept over until after dinner – Jongin’s mom making a meal for him and even massaging his back and shoulders, which he tried to reject but she assured him would make him feel better and she was very, very right; although it was painful the entire time, afterwards his muscles felt less sore and he secretly wished she would do the rest of his body as well. Then Jongin gave Kyungsoo clothes to wear – his own were being washed but Jongin promised to return them to him at school on Monday – and helped him get dressed. Jongin’s clothes were too big on him, making him look even smaller and feel more pathetic. Worse, he still need Jongin’s help to button up his shirt. It was horrible sitting there trying to get the bottom button of the shirt to catch on the hole with Jongin watching before eventually his hands were over Kyungsoo’s and quickly moving from one to the next, leaving the top two undone. Kyungsoo watched Jongin’s eyes which were focused on his task, almost amused at how concentrated the younger became, as if he were doing heart surgery rather than doing up a shirt, and Kyungsoo felt the corner of his mouth turning up.

“There… What?” When Jongin’s hands fell to rest on his thighs and his eyes returned to Kyungsoo’s face, a frown forming at Kyungsoo’s tiny grin. He repeated “What?” but got no response, because it was Kyungsoo and of course Kyungsoo loved playing with people’s minds.

But in his attempt to disturb Jongin he had been distracted from the fact that they were very close. They sat on the edge of the bed, their bodies turned towards each other, their knees brushing slightly. It was comfortable as if it was natural, and that made it very uncomfortable. Because it was not natural for these two to coexist together comfortably. And so Kyungsoo pushed himself off the bed, trying to stand up, but of course he struggled because he was – and likely would be for a day or two – in recovery with his aching muscles so Jongin threw an arm around him, which was not what Kyungsoo wanted. In trying to get away, he’d only gotten himself closer to the younger boy. But that was life he supposed, and whether he wanted it or not he needed the support.

Before they left Jongin’s older sister gave Kyungsoo a slight makeover, covering up the extent of his bruised face. Seeing himself in the mirror, he wasn’t as bad as he’d been a couple weeks ago but his parents still would have noticed. With Jongin’s noona’s help he was sure he could even go unnoticed by his mother’s careful eye. Jongin’s noona was even nice enough to give him the remainder of the foundation for him to use for the next few days and if he ever needed it again. Then Jongin’s mother drove them to Kyungsoo’s home and Jongin helped him inside, where Kyungsoo made up the excuse that they had been swimming all day and his muscles were so sore he could hardly walk, to which his mom told him he only had himself to blame. And then finally Jongin was gone and Kyungsoo went up to his room where he was happy to be alone at last.

Somehow he missed Jongin’s doting.

Monday was the last day he would be forced to associate with Kim Jongin. At last they would hand in their class project and there would be no more reason to go near each other again. Getting ready on that morning – his hair an untamable mess – he used Jongin’s sister’s makeup to hide his bruised face and then went into his garage to grab their plane and his notes. He slipped the pages into his binder and shoved it in the bag on top of the pile of Jongin’s clothes that he’d worn in replacement of his own soaked ones, which Jongin would hopefully remember to bring back to him.

“What’s with the plane?” Sehun asked as Kyungsoo sat in the seat in front of him, sheltering the plane carefully.

“It’s my math project.”

“Oh yeah!” Sehun’s enthusiasm grew. “The one with Jongin? This is it? You guys made that? Wow.”

“It’s just a model,” Kyungsoo dismissed, though he was quite proud of it and very secretly appreciated his friend’s praises. “How was your weekend?”

“It was – well, you were at the party,” Sehun’s cheeks turned lightly pink. “We – Luhan and I – spent the night. It’s kinda blurry, you know, but I remember…” He trailed off.

“So do I, unfortunately,” Kyungsoo sighed, recalling witnessing the younger boy’s extreme PDA with his boyfriend on Jongin’s couch.

“Other than that, I went to Luhan’s soccer game Saturday afternoon and then Sunday I just stayed at home. Did homework and things.”

“Wow, you must be missing him by now,” Kyungsoo said sarcastically. “A whole day without him.”

“Shut up,” Sehun said, smacking the older playfully. “Hey, was that a smile?” Now it was Kyungsoo’s turn to hit his friend, and Sehun was grinning. “Next time, warn me so I can be ready to take a picture! Kyungsoo smiling – that’s newsworthy hyung, you can’t take these things lightly!”

“You’re lucky this plane is here,” Kyungsoo grumbled, but his smile still lingered.

When they reached the school Kyungsoo immediately headed to his math classroom, dropping off the plane to keep it safe in the classroom. He didn’t have room for it in his locker and he didn’t want to leave it anywhere else that it might get destroyed. His teacher was very admiring of the project, and promised to store it in the supply closet, where no one could get to it. Then he was off to his science class, catching Sehun and Luhan’s goodbye. As Kyungsoo passed, pretending not to notice them, Luhan grabbed his arm, stopping him and putting his mouth to his ear.

“We have to talk later,” he said quietly, winking. Sehun pulled a face but Kyungsoo was just as confused as the other.

“About what?”

“Later,” Luhan grinned. “See you at lunch. Bye babe,” he added to Sehun, who was pouting.

“What was that all about?” Sehun asked grumpily as they took their seats.

“Your guess is probably better than mine,” Kyungsoo assured him, pushing a strand of hair out of his eyes. Luhan had given off a vibe that he knew a secret of Kyungsoo’s, but Kyungsoo didn’t have secrets did he? He supposed if he couldn’t think of one, he didn’t have one. So what did Luhan want with him? It would have to wait until lunch though.

The morning felt longer than usual, science dragging into language class, but soon enough their lunch period arrived and Sehun hurried to the cafeteria, explaining how Luhan would probably already be waiting there since there was no soccer that day. At his locker Kyungsoo heard a voice he’d become too familiar with over the crowd.

“I’ll be there in a minute, I’m just gonna go to the bathroom.” Kyungsoo saw Kris and the others walk by shortly after, ducking his head so they wouldn’t see him and soon after that the halls were emptied, everyone gone to class or the cafeteria. And then Jongin was standing beside his locker, backpack over his shoulder, smiling slightly. “Hey.”

“What do you want?”

Jongin’s smile faded and he swung his bag forward, opening it and digging inside. “I brought your clothes.” He pulled out the neatly folded clothes, holding them out for Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo took them, breathing in the clean scent of laundry detergent. “I like those clothes. You look good in them. That style I mean.” And then Jongin reached forward to touch Kyungsoo’s mess of hair, taming a loose strand. His hand withdrew quickly after, glancing back down at the clothes in Kyungsoo’s hands.

Not knowing how to react, Kyungsoo just pretended nothing had happened. He threw the clothes carelessly in his locker, fishing out Jongin’s for him. “I didn’t wash these,” he muttered, almost feeling guilty. “And I don’t dress to impress you.” Then he slammed his locker door, going off to the cafeteria without another word.

Sehun asked what had taken him so long but he just brushed him off, pulling out his lunch and taking a bite of his apple so he wouldn’t be expected to speak. But looking at Luhan he remembered that the older boy had wanted to tell him something.

“Hey Luhan, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?” he asked, catching sight of Jongin enter the cafeteria and taking another bite of his apple.

Luhan grinned wildly. “I was waiting for you to ask. So, the party on Friday.”

“What about it?”

“Joonmyun told me,” Luhan said, completely vaguely, but he was under the impression Kyungsoo knew exactly what he meant. Kyungsoo just waited. Luhan seemed to want Kyungsoo to crack but he didn’t so he continued, “About the girl.”

Kyungsoo had forgotten about that. Sehun was immediately jumping in (“What girl?! Kyungsoo, you were with a girl?!”) and Joonmyun just smirked and Kyungsoo tried to explain but none of them would listen of course; they just took his denial as confirmation, and he felt annoyed and embarrassed and eventually just stopped talking.

“Really though hyung, did you kiss a girl?”

“No!” Joonmyun raised a judging eyebrow at the flat out lie. “Well I didn’t. She kissed me. I just… let her. It wasn’t real anyway.”

“Looked real from what I saw,” Joonmyun put in.

“Shut up hyung, you obviously didn’t see everything.”

“What does that mean?” Sehun gasped. “You mean – did you-”

“No! Shut it and let me explain!” Kyungsoo snapped. “I was drunk and this girl came up and kissed me, but it was just because Kris had told her to for a joke. She didn’t like me and it didn’t – go anywhere.” Sehun looked upset and disappointed and shot a glare towards Kris, who was paying no attention to them as usual. “It’s no big deal.”

Joonmyun’s smugness was gone. “Was it your first kiss?” Kyungsoo nodded, shrugging. “That . A lot.”

“Your next kiss will be better Soo,” Sehun said optimistically, then offered, “I could kiss you if you want.”

“I thought you said it would be better,” Kyungsoo retorted, bringing Sehun’s pout back and pulling a laugh out of Luhan and Joonmyun.

“Hunnie’s not that bad of a kisser,” Luhan teased, and Sehun looked heartbroken. This only made Luhan laugh more and when he tried to kiss him, Sehun just pulled away.

“If you don’t like my kissing then I won’t kiss you anymore,” Sehun sulked. Luhan just pulled him in and kissed him heartily, pulling away and leaving Sehun flustered.

“I would love you even if you were a horrible kisser,” Luhan said sappily. Kyungsoo made gagging noises and Luhan stuck his tongue out at him. Things seemed to be okay after that, the conversation staying playful until Sehun and Luhan became too distracted by each other and Joonmyun focused on Kyungsoo to avoid the cheesy couple in their presence.

And then he asked, “Kyungsoo, are you wearing makeup?” He was quiet enough that he didn’t pull the other two’s attention away from each other, but it shook Kyungsoo.

“What?” It caught him off guard and he couldn’t lie smoothly. “Why would I be-”

“You are,” Joonmyun ignored him. “It’s not noticeable unless you really look, and even then I’m sure you can only tell in certain lighting. I respect you for whatever you wanna do but can I ask you why you’ve decided to dip into beautifying yourself suddenly?”

“It’s not beautifying myself,” Kyungsoo retorted, instantly regretting it. Defending rather than denying meant he was admitting Joonmyun was right and the older boy knew it. “It’s – nothing. Mind your own business.”

“You’re hiding something,” Joonmyun stated. “Acne? No, you’ve never been the type…” He grew quiet, staring at Kyungsoo for a long time. Kyungsoo was about to yell at him or better, hit him, when he finally spoke under his breath. “Kyungsoo, what happened this weekend? At the party, when you went missing… well I’d kind of assumed you’d gone off with that girl. And when Jongin called the next morning, he said he’d found you and you were okay but sort of beat up. I thought he meant because, you know, you’d had a – er, rough night. But you were never with the girl… He meant it literally, didn’t he? You were beat up – someone did that to you, hurt you. Am I right?” Kyungsoo kept quiet now. “I’m sorry Kyungsoo. I left you. I should’ve looked for you, checked to see if you were in a room or something, not just gone without you…”

“It’s fine hyung,” Kyungsoo muttered. “You didn’t know. It’s no big deal.”

“Of course you’d say that,” Joonmyun sighed. “What about Jongin though? He called me – did he know who did it?” Kyungsoo shook his head. “But you do. You know who it was. And you won’t tell me, will you? Because you don’t think it matters.”

“It doesn’t. It already happened,” Kyungsoo said, fidgeting with the straw in his banana milk. “Telling the world isn’t going to undo it.”

“You can still tell me. Was it Kris? You said he had gotten that girl to-” Kyungsoo was shaking his head before Joonmyun could finish his sentence. “Not Kris. But was it them?” His eyes went to their table and Kyungsoo’s eyes followed, seeing Baekhyun looking their way. He nudged Chanyeol at Kyungsoo’s glance and Kyungsoo dropped his eyes back to his milk. Joonmyun was quiet for a while after that. He wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo and just held him, which made Kyungsoo feel weakened but he just rested his head on the older’s shoulder and allowed himself to feel comforted. His wounds weren’t healed and Kris’ crew wouldn’t leave him alone, but Joonmyun seemed to think it helped and that made Kyungsoo want to believe it too.

But that wasn’t how reality worked. Kyungsoo still had to go to his class where Jongin and Tao made fun of him – although Jongin less so. And even though Kyungsoo knew that Jongin could be nice, he wasn’t nor would he be for the rest of their high school years no doubt. It was so better to be feared than loved. Fear made everyone bow down to you. Love got you knocked off the throne.

A/n: Well this was a fun chapter to write. Thank you very much to all my subscribers and wonderful readers, wow! I didn’t expect to get so much attention on this, you guys are too lovely <3 Look forward to the next chapter soon! :)