𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 | jakehoon ✓

- 32. 𝗚𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝗽𝘀 -

Once they got there Sunghoon found the game that had the stuffed animal he was talking about. Right before Sunghoon gave the staff member the money a loud voice interrupted him.

"As a special treat and to make this a year that goes down in the books the school has opened up a new game!" Hyunjin announced as he stood in front of a covered booth. "You can win prizes such as a new laptop, a new phone, and up to ten thousand dollars! And all you have to do is complete the quest in a limited amount of time!" Hyunjin continued as the crowd of students got bigger and louder.

"The name of this game is, Pop The Balloon!" Hyunjin exclaimed happily. Jake felt like his heart stopped when he heard that. Sunghoon knew that Hyunjin did that on purpose 'How?' was the question. Sunghoon also knew in a matter of seconds the whole hallway would be filled with loud pops.

Hyunjin ripped the cover off the game and let it stand there mightily in all its glory. "Come on up!" He smirked. "Let's go," Sunghoon told Jake who nodded in response. Sunghoon tried to push his way through the crowd but they didn't budge. Then it started. Someone had started playing the game.

Sunghoon cursed under his breath after the first pop and used more force to push everyone away. Jake tried his best to stay strong but he didn't last long. He started hyperventilating as tears formed in his eyes. Sunghoon made Jake hold onto his side and pushed his head up against his chest and covered his other ear with his hand to minimize the noise he heard.

Sunghoon now only had one arm to push people with which made their escape even harder than before. There would be no way for them to make it out of the school in under five minutes so Sunghoon decided to make their way to the roof. He could feel his clothes getting soaked by the older male as he yelled at everyone around him to make way but he couldn't care less about his clothes.

After a painful two minutes, they made it to the staircase. The pops of the balloons could still be heard and Jake flinched every time he heard one even if it made the faintest noise. The same event kept running and running through his head. He tried to block it out but that only made things worse.

"Don't worry, we're almost there," Sunghoon reassured the older as he went up the stairs as fast as he could. Jake could only cry as he kept up with the younger.

They then made it to the rooftop and sat down on a bench. "It's okay. You're safe now," Sunghoon told the other as he took his hand off of his ear. Jake separated himself from the taller and looked at him with tear-filled eyes and a tear-covered face. "I'm so sorry," He choked out a faint apology. "Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong," Sunghoon said with a slight frown as he wiped the older's face off.

"Hy-Hyunjin was right. I haven't told you everything and I'm so sorry for that. There's a good reason why I've never told you anything about my past, my parents, and why I'm so scared of loud noises. I've been too scared to tell you and it's not your fault. I was scared of him and what he'd do if I told anyone what happened, but I think now is the time I tell you," Jake confessed. Even though he wouldn't say it out loud, Sunghoon was really curious as to why Jake had hidden so many things.

He nodded to show he was listening before Jake started. "I'm pretty sure it all started when I was six but I could be wrong. I was six when I first saw my dad hit my mom. I don't know what she did to provoke him to do that. I walked into their room because I heard screaming and saw him slap her. My mom saw me and tried to tell me to leave but he had already seen me and threatened to hit me too if I said anything to anyone. I got scared and promised to keep my mouth shut be he still ended up hitting me too. He'd stay home drunk every day while my mom was at work and he'd make me do work around the house. As the years went on I noticed he started to hurt my mom more. Whenever she entered the house he'd yell at her and most of the time beat her for no apparent reason. Whenever she wasn't there I'd be his target and he'd beat me too. Sometimes he'd even get us at the same time. I'd often hide in my room along with her and we'd use my bed to shield ourselves but it didn't ever work. Throughout all of this one of the only things that kept me sane was the song she sang to me, you are my sunshine, and holding my hand. All of those things he did weren't nearly as bad as that one day when I was eight though. I remember it like yesterday."