I'm sorry you had to wait this long for an update T_T

Taekwoon still wasn’t sure what possessed him to run to Hakyeon’s house that night. But once he had finally arrived there, he felt this strange sense of security, one he hadn’t felt in years. Taekwoon couldn’t remember the last time he felt so safe. Once Hakyeon had led him to bed, Taekwoon fell asleep immediately, threats that usually crossed his mind at night before he fell asleep weren’t there. Taekwoon was comfortable, having had the best sleep in years.

If Taekwoon was being honest with himself, he'd admit that he genuinely enjoyed that feeling.

And that scared him.

Taekwoon was used to relying on himself. If there's anything Taekwoon learned from the current relationship with his father, it's that things can go south quickly. If his father, someone who raised him and swore to love him unconditionally, now hated his own child with his every breath, who was to say that Hakyeon wouldn't feel the same way too? How was Taekwoon sure that Hakyeon would still care for him later on?

Taekwoon hated himself for thinking that way, but he honestly couldn't help it. His mind was screaming at him to break away from Hakyeon before the other boy could hurt him.

But for some reason, he couldn't get himself to do that.

Which is why Taekwoon once again found himself sitting across from Hakyeon in a coffee shop, drinking a latte.

“My father owes a debt,” Taekwoon said. He bit his lip as he waited for Hakyeon to react. That was the only explanation Taekwoon had. His father hadn’t told him anything in regards to it. Taekwoon had only found out that bit of information because he accidentally overheard his father talking to someone on the phone, repeatedly uttering the assurance that he would have the money, and that there was no reason to hurt his son because of that.

Taekwoon was surprised at the latter statement. Was his dad trying to protect him, or was he simply telling the other person that the job of treating Taekwoon like a punching bag belonged to his father alone?

Either way, Taekwoon didn’t care. All he wanted was for his dad to take care of his debt before Taekwoon received these nightly visits on the regular.

“And you don’t know why your dad might owe these people anything?” Hakyeon finally asked.

Taekwoon shook his head. “I can’t even begin to imagine a reason,” he answered with a sigh. As far as Taekwoon could tell, his father didn’t spend money on much. He had a severe alcohol problem, and that’s where most of the money went. To think that his father was in debt with these unknown people really baffled Taekwoon. “And...and I can’t just ask him why because…” Taekwoon trailed off. He didn’t need to continue in order for Hakyeon to figure out what he was trying to convey, and he didn’t feel like going on. For some reason, despite the fact that Hakyeon already knew the truth about his father, Taekwoon still felt the need to hide everything his father did.

Or hide anything that his father had the potential to do.

“It’s okay,” Hakyeon said. “Besides, there are other ways to find out that don’t involve you getting hurt again.” He smiled. “I know this may seem like a horrible thing to say, but Taekwoon, I’m really glad that coming to my house was your first instinct that night.” Taekwoon probably didn’t understand just how much that gesture meant to Hakyeon. Taekwoon was always so distant. Despite the fact that he finally claimed Hakyeon and the others as his friends, he still seemed so uncomfortable around them. But that night was so different. Taekwoon was the one who reached out for help; Taekwoon was the one that initiated the contact; he was the one that made it known that he was in trouble, instead of making his friends figure it out for themselves.

That night showed just how much Taekwoon was beginning to trust his friends, and that made Hakyeon so glad that Taekwoon had finally accepted him.

Taekwoon remained silent, taking a sip of his latte before looking around the small coffee shop.

“And I’m really glad that my history project was keeping me up so late,” Hakyeon continued. “I would have hated it if you had come to me but I wasn’t awake to open the door.” Because knowing Taekwoon, Hakyeon was sure that if he had failed him that night, his relationship with Taekwoon would take several steps back, Hakyeon really couldn’t bear that.

“Thank you,” Taekwoon finally said. “For that night.” Taekwoon scoffed. “It seems like you guys are always there when I’m in trouble,” he added as he started playing with his straw. “I’m not used to that.”

“Taekwoonie,” Hakyeon said, ignoring the sharp glare the other boy gave him. “That’s what friends are for. You’ve distance yourself for so long that you must have forgotten what it feels like. But when you have people that care about you, they’re always going to be around when you need help, even when you don’t ask for them.” He smiled again. “I promise you that.”

Taekwoon nodded. “I...I know,” he replied.

Hakyeon sighed. “I just wish we could make it to where you didn’t have to go through all this,” he confessed. “I know you believe that you deserve everything you get, but really that’s not true at all. I wish you could see that.”

Taekwoon seemed to have no response to that statement, and Hakyeon could understand that. Taekwoon has spent eight years of his life blaming himself for the death of his mother and sisters, and it didn’t help that his father was only working on mentally breaking down his son. Hakyeon knew that years of damage can’t go away with just a few nice words. There was still a lot of work to be done before Taekwoon would even remotely get better.

“After Joonhee died,” Hakyeon began, catching Taekwoon’s attention once again. “I was in a terrible condition. He mentioned me in his suicide letter. While he didn’t explicitly say that I was one of the reasons he ended up killing himself, he insinuated it pretty well, and that destroyed me.” Hakyeon shook his head, the words of Joonhee’s suicide letter still echoing in his head. “Jaehwan was the last one to see him alive. They went to an arcade together the night before Joonhee killed himself. Jaehwan said that whole time they were together, there was something that felt off, but he just couldn’t pla