Dogs

1.

JB

All of us were in such a happy mood, Jae's smiles making me happier than ever. I thought about the banner his friends held, wondering what he tells them about me...

Jae shot me a smile when we walked back to the waiting room, bowing and thanking all the staff that clapped for us. His smile did so many things to me and I realised that it nothing else mattered then, nothing but him and his smiles.

Our friends and families had left for the restaurant with most of our staff, leaving us behind to get changed before leaving.

"Should we do a live?" Bam asked.

"Yes. We should... right?" Jackson replied, smiling before turning to me.

"Yeah. Why not" I replied, smiling when they all cheered.

We did a very short live as Jackson and Bam were too jumpy still and kept messing around despite us wanting to bid our fans a safe trip home. The two idiots who suggested it...

I tackled them onto the sofa as the live ended, the two of them squealing for mercy. I laughed at the whole situation, all of us in ridiculously good moods.

There was a knock on the door and I straightened myself, not before grabbing both the nape of their necks, smiling as they cringed.

"Jaebum-ssi? Your dad said he forgot something and came back to get it" the security guard said, his head poking in.

"Yeah" I nodded, heading towards the door to greet him. Is my mom there too?

I froze when I saw who it was. He looks older... but it is him for sure. The one that hit me while calling me his son. The one that made mom cry. The one that I used to call my father.

"Jaebum ah" he called, the glint in his eye making me feel like the small child that never did anything right again. He's here. He forgot something. He forgot... to get rid of me?

He approached me slowly with a small swag in his walk. He looked broader than before, his sharp eyes that I inherited scanning me slowly. I'm sorry dad... where is Mom? No. She's not here. It's fine. She cannot know.

"Get him out of here. He's not his dad" I heard Jae say, his voice so muffled as my ears started ringing.

I heard the others murmuring but couldn't catch their words, my entire body tensed as I kept my gaze down and waited for the beating to start.

I felt arms wrap around my waist, the warmth spreading slowly into my shaken core. I kept waiting, waiting for the blows to come still. The warmth is probably some illusion I cooked up... my ears rang harder, my vision zoned out as I stood my ground.

"바보야. He left. He can't hurt you" I felt the arms around my waist tighten and shut my eyes, not knowing what to believe in anymore. I tried to calm myself down, the deep breaths letting me know that it was Jae next to me. My Jae... my sunshine, my everything.

"He's gone. He won't be able to hurt you" Jae continued, his hand stroking my cheek all so lightly. His touch chased my trembling away, my body slowly relaxing in his hold.

I heard the others approach, all of them huddling around Jae and I in a huge hug. We stayed in that position for a good while I slowly regained the feelings in my arms.

I slowly lifted my arms and hugged them all, wanting them to know how much I appreciated them... how they became my family.

"Thank you guys" I muttered, not wanting to breakdown in front of them. I ruffled all of their heads, including Mark's, giving them a small smile to hide the mess that I felt inside, that I am.