A few months had passed prior to the incident between Hankyung and Heechul, and nothing else awkward had taken place between the two of them. Hankyung had started dating a new girl almost every week, and Heechul had begun a secret relationship with an older student named Siwon. Only Hankyung and a few of their close friends knew that Heechul was biual and in a relationship. Hankyung was indeed happy that Heechul had found someone and felt happy with him, but Hankyung couldn’t help but feel there was something that didn’t seem right about Siwon.

          Heechul got home late from a date one Friday night and startled Hankyung awake when he slammed the front door shut. Hankyung heard his stepbrother run up the stairs and rush into his own bedroom. The blonde got off his bed and walked slowly to Heechul’s bedroom and knocked softly. “Heechul, are you okay?” he asked.

          “Yes Hankyung I’m fine. Please go away,” Heechul requested. Listening to his voice, Hankyung could tell that Heechul was crying.

          “Heechul, please let me in, I want to know what happened,” Hankyung said firmly.

          “No, nothing happened, leave me alone,” Heechul demanded as he cried harder. Hankyung knew that he couldn’t leave his brother alone when he was upset, so he opened the door against Heechul’s wishes. “I told you to leave me alone!” Heechul yelled as he threw a book at his stepbrother.

          Hankyung dodged the book, but looked at his brother’s face. Heechul had acquired a black eye, and a few scratch marks on his arms. “Where did those come from?” Hankyung asked as he walked towards Heechul slowly.

          The raven haired teen backed away from Hankyung as he climbed on top of his bed. “No, I don’t want you to see,” Heechul cried.

          Gently, Hankyung sat down next to Heechul and touched his face. Heechul was shaking and flinched when he felt his brother’s hand on his cheek. “Now tell me what happened; you didn’t leave the house with a black eye, and the only other person you’ve seen tonight is Siwon. Is he abusing you?” Hankyung questioned.

          Heechul looked up at his brother and let tears slip out of his eyes. “He’s just very violent if he doesn’t get his way, and tonight he –” Heechul stopped and lowered his face.

          “What, what did he do to you?” Hankyung asked as he brought his brother’s face back up to his.

          “He wanted to have , and I said no. Siwon got mad and hit me, scratched me, and tried to force me to sleep with him, but I managed to get away and take a cab home,” Heechul finished slowly.

          Hankyung was speechless. This son of a had just attempted to his brother and had possibly been abusing him for God knows how long. Placing both hands on Heechul’s face, Hankyung asked quietly “Where did he hurt you at?”

          Heechul removed his jacket and revealed that his t-shirt had been ripped in three different places. Continuing, Heechul took off his destroyed shirt and showed Hankyung that his torso was littered with scratch marks, and bruises from where Siwon had either grabbed him or hit him.

          The blonde saw that Heechul had an ashamed look on his face. “Heechul, this isn’t your fault,” Hankyung promised quietly as he wrapped his arms around his brother gently. Heechul latched himself onto Hankyung and suddenly felt protected for the first time in a long time. Pulling back, he said “I will take care of him. No one is going to treat my brother like trash and get away with it.”

          “No Hankyung, Siwon will get mad if he finds out that I told someone what he tried to do. He said that he’ll beat me if I tell anyone, even you,” Heechul explained.

          “Heechul, don’t worry about him, because when I get through with him, he will think twice about coming near you again,” Hankyung replied as he wiped away his brother’s tears.

          “Hankyung, please don’t do this, he will hurt you and I can’t have that. It’s better if you act like you don’t know,” Heechul pleaded. “He’ll graduate in a few months and then I won’t ever have to deal with him again.”

          The blonde ran a hand through his brother’s hair before gently kissing his cheek. Heechul dropped his jaw. “I thought you didn’t love me like that,” Heechul said.

          “I don’t,” Hankyung stated before getting up and leaving Heechul’s room. Walking down the hall to his room, Hankyung gripped his chest at the thought of someone hurting and almost his brother. No one deserved his brother more than him, but Hankyung knew that love like that between two stepbrothers was immoral and forbidden, yet he couldn’t help but become more attracted to his brother.

          Hankyung locked his bedroom door shut and lay on his bed as he felt his eyes begin to water. How could he lie to Heechul and tell him that he didn’t love him like that, when he very much did? This incident with Siwon would not go undealt with; Hankyung would deal with this himself. Heechul had pleaded with him and requested that Hankyung not become involved, but Hankyung would do anything to protect the one he loved.