Chapter 11

Flashback continued

SLAP.

"Why are you a even Kim? How dare you disgrace my last name. You damned piece of trash. Get out of this house before I waste my energy to slap you again! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU! I SWEAR YOUR BIRTH WAS THE WORST THING I HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO IN MY LIFE. GET OUT! NOW!"

A man stood in a dimly lit apartment with a feather duster in his hand. In front of him was a pile of ripped up paper, previously a sheet of paper inviting the parents of Kim Myungsoo to a friendly parent teacher conference.

Hugging his shoulder, Myungsoo stood up and limped to the door. His back welcomed the addition of several more bruises and cuts. The boy kept his head down and shut the wooden door to his house, leaning against the wall for support. Taking out his phone, the boy texted Sungyeol to tell him that he would be coming over for the third time this week to hide, until his father's alcohol fit wears off.

Myungsoo lived in a dirty and shady neighborhood, as it was the most his father as able to afford with his job as a construction worker. Having lost his mother at birth, Myungsoo has been sent off to live with his grandma until she passed away when Myungsoo was in middle school. Since then, Myungsoo came back to his dysfunctional father and suffered the worst during one of his alcohol fits. Like today.

He was able to attend Woollim High because of one goal: to get away from his father. Schoolwork demanded a lot of time and traveling back and forth gave Myungsoo an excuse to stay away from his father for as long as possible.

The scary thing is that his father was bipolar. The first time he threw one of his fits, a crying Myungsoo went running into the arms of a counselor at school and begged to be taken back to his old town. The counselor met with the boy's father, fully expecting a gruff and torturing man as Myungsoo has described. However, she found a nicely dressed gentleman that managed to woo her with his flowery words to release his son and promise to never listen to his kid's nonsensical rambling.

Therefore, Myungsoo was brought back to his house and his father spanked him enough that walking became a challenge for a week. He learned his lesson and made up two rules for himself.

One was to never trust anyone, such as the counselor. Another one was to avoid his father.

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A weeks before...

"Hey Myungsoo! Can you come to the library today at lunch since you didn't show up last time?"

Myungsoo turned around in the hallway and ignored Sungyeol's yelling.

"Hey partner, we need to get to work! Hurry up and come to the coffee shop this weekend!"

Selecting "delete", Myungsoo ignored the new text Sungyeol sent.

"Yah Kim Myungsoo! GET YOUR OVER HERE OR ELSE-"

Sungyeol found himself being pushed backwards, his back hitting the tree in a dull thud.

"...Lee Sungyeol, right?" the shorter boy asked, his hand clammed across Sungyeol's mouth and effectively silencing the choding. Myungsoo leaned in closer to the other boy's face, his eyes glowering. Both of them were on the school's field after school and Sungyeol was finally able to catch Myungsoo before he cut across the grass and left for work.

A pair of round owl eyes stared back at Myungsoo, clearly showing his surprise and maybe even a tinge of fear. Sungyeol trembled, unable to tear his eyes away from the pair of cold eyes that stared back at him.

"I do not know love. I don't give a about anyone, so stop bugging me." He loosened his grip, giving the boy one last glare before spinning on his heels and walked away.

"Then what about the first day of school? You hel-"

"SHUT UP AND LEAVE!" Myungsoo barked.

Sungyeol dethatched himself from the tree and handed over a small notebook and a brown bag to the boy and then left the field.

The brown bag contained of an apple and a peanut butter sandwich. Myungsoo discovered that the notebook was the finished project. There was only a place left for Myungsoo to sign his name and a sticky note, similar to the one he got before.

Sign your name and we will be done. Things must have been hard for you, so I finished everything ahead of time. Also, don't skip lunch, it is unhealthy!

Talk or call me anytime you need my help.

I will be there for you.

Lee Sungyeol

Myungsoo's eyes glazed over. He stared at the second to last line, unable to take in what he was reading.

Someone has promised to be there for him. Those had been the words he wanted to hear for years. Someone is willing to listen.

Drop. Drop. Myungsoo didn't realize that he had been crying until droplets fell on the handwritten note and the blue ink started to run. Silent tears soon began to flow, each drop bitter to the taste.

Myungsoo slid down, kneeling by the tree. Clutching his note and brown bag tightly in his fist, violent sobs escaped from his mouth. His shoulders shook, his defenses breaking down for the first time in years. Tears streaked his handsome face, his red eyes raw and puffy. The ice prince has started to melt down for the first time in years.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Myungsoo started to open up to Sungyeol. During class, they would make small conversations and meet up occasionally after school at the cafe Myungsoo worked in. Sungyeol will always buy a coffee for himself and a chocolate donut for Myungsoo every time he visited, making sure to leave extra bills in the tips jar.

Sungyeol became a very good listener. The day after he broke down crying, Myungsoo called Sungyeol and told him to come over to the cafe he worked in. Little by little, everything about his father, the bruises, and the cuts came spilling out. Sungyeol's house became his sanctuary, a place where he can spend the night at until his father calms down. There, both of them would talk late into the night and planning their escape after high school ended.

Myungsoo transformed. His ice prince image slowly melted and he started to smile more. Even more students began to fall for him. Confession letters began to overflow from his locker and Sungyeol was forced to act as a messenger to Myungsoo, reporting to him trivial things girls wanted to convey to him, such as blah-blah has been in love with Myungsoo for three years and wants him to break up with blah-blah.

Truthfully, Sungyeol was glad that he was able to make this happen. Slowly overtime, however, a tinge of jealousy began to stir in the pits of his stomach. He did not understand why, but undeniably, Myungsoo became someone who was more than a friend to Sungyeol. With every girl Myungsoo dated, Sungyeol's heart broke a bit more.

Until Sungyeol couldn't stand it anymore. 

A/N

Wow this was Myungyeol arc turned out to be a lot longer than I thought... Sorry >.<

One more chapter of this flashback and we will be back in the present. I should have updated for hyunnie's birthday heh...

But Woohyun said that he read every single one of the birthday wishes, so I'm pretty sure he has read at least one of my tweets (not that i started spam tweeting @wowwh since the second I woke up yesterday)

THANK YOU EVERYONE AND I LOVE YOU ALL! PLEASE TELL ME ANYTHING I CAN IMPROVE ON OR JUST COMMENT.