Stray Kids Drabbles

The art of being human

Lee Know gently grabbed the point of your chin and tilted your face up. With the unforgiving bathroom fluorescents, he was able to see everything. With a soft swipe of his thumb, he brushed away a dollop of blood from your cut lip.

He kept his voice low as if you were an injured child. "Let me help you clean up."

You pulled your face away and shook your head. "I'll be okay, I can manage by myself." You swallowed the lump in your throat and turned to the porcelain sink.

You caught his gaze in the mirror and you swore you saw a flash of hurt, but you brushed it aside. This was your fault, not his. You went down the alley towards night and this was the consequence. You didn't need to be babied.

The two of you remained silent while you turned on the sink and began to gently rinse the blood off your scraped palms. You gritted your teeth and kept the pain inside. Behind you, annoyance crept up in Lee Know.

You had been like this since he knew you. Whenever people offered you their assistance, you turned it away. He knew you grew up in a household where you often handled your emotions by yourself. Every childhood scraped knee, every bruise, every injury you figured it out by yourself.

When you were sick, there wasn't anyone to tuck you into bed and make you soup. There was nobody to coax medicine into your system. No matter how half-delirious from a fever you were, you were forced to handle everything by yourself.

No mother to nurture you and no father to mend you. Maybe you were cursed from birth or maybe they never learned from their own parents. Whatever the case, it left you independent as hell. You gritted your teeth, swallowed the pain, clenched your hands into fists, and dealt with it yourself. When the world beat you down, you could only count on yourself.

"Please let me just he-"

"No!" You snapped. "I told you I can do it by myself." You didn't mean to snap, but you were far from okay. Every bent finger sent an ache up your arm. Every slight movement sent jolts of pain through your body. Every twist of your waist sent sharp stabs to your ribs.

You were left humiliated. What did you think was going to happen when you smarted off? God, you were so stupid. You should have let them take your wallet. You could have called your banks and had the cards frozen. The photos were replaceable, but you would have had to reprint them. You could have gotten a new ID.

"What do you think you're going to achieve by pushing everyone away? You're being immature and childish! You want to do it yourself and cause yourself more damage? Fine!" He stormed out of the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

You flinched at the sound. His words were an added slap across your face. You dug your fingers into the edge of the sink and took a few shaky breaths. Tears leaked out of your uninjured eye. Why were you always like this? Pushing everyone away and then wallowing in your own self pity. When were you going to learn?

The tears blurred your vision. You glanced up at yourself in the mirror to see the beat up version of yourself looking back at you. You always pushed Lee Know away. You pushed him away when you were sick. When he was sore from dance practice, you were the first to offer icy-hot cream for his overworked muscles.

When he was sick or needed help, you were always there and happy to assist, but when it came to you needing him, you always pushed him away. Deep down, he struggled with it. He wanted to make you the homemade soup his mom used to make him when he was sick. When you were sick, he wanted to coddle you. He wanted to coax medicine into your system. He wanted to tuck you in, but you never let him.

You winced, grabbed a wash rag, and placed it beneath the warm stream of sink water. You sniffled as more tears blurred your vision and gently dabbed at the scrape on your inner arm. You did this to yourself, it's your own fault.