Broken | Jaeyong

chapter 16

Jaemin sat quietly at the dinner table as he and his family ate. Usually he was all mouths and ears during dinner but all he could think about is how he would ask his dad for permission to have the party. He's never had a party before and his fathers are way overprotective in Jaemin's opinion. He has no idea how his fathers would react.

His fathers had been talking when Jaemin stood up from the table and offered to take their empty plates to the kitchen. 

"Nana sweetie, what's wrong?" Ten frowned. "You've been awfully quiet and you're never quiet."

"What do you mean? I'm always quiet. I don't know what you're talking about." Jaemin dropped his gaze and walked to the kitchen.

"Jaemin." Johnny sternly called. Jaemin stopped at the door and turned to his fathers. "What is it?" Johnny continued. 

Jaemin's gaze remained by the wooden floors, his lips anxiously gliding across his chapped lips, "I-I thought it would be a good idea since I'm new... to have a party this Friday."

"Jaemin." Johnny sighed, "We've had this discussion. It is not safe for us and others to come to the house."

"It will only be a few people!" Jaemin slipped in, eyes now locked with his father's.

"No, Jaemin." Johnny said.

"But, Pa-"

"No is no, and that's the end of it." He said, gaze strong and authoritative.

Jaemin lowered his head once again, tone quiet and sad, "You never let me do anything. You always say that it's for my own protection but if you weren't in a gang in the first place I wouldn't need protection."

"Nana-" Ten spoke, his voice concerned.

"I just want to have a friend over for once, I want to able to tell people what my parents do without lying, I want to go places without feeling like i'm endanger 24/7." Jaemin sniffled. "I want to have a normal family with normal parents and a normal life."

"Nana!" Ten called but Jaemin had already rushed out of the room. Ten then turned to the taller who sat on the other side of the table. "Now look what you've done. You should have let me deal with it."

"He knows he's not allowed people over. It's always been like this." Johnny said. 

Ten shook his head, "He's a teenager, Johnny. In fact he's an adult soon. He's wanting a taste of freedom. He sees others doing things that he's not allowed to, it makes sense that he wants to do those things too. Treating him like he's still eight isn't the way to deal with it."

"I'm not treating him like he's eight-"

"Yes, you are." Ten told him, standing up from the table. "Now excuse me while I go and deal with this the right way."

Ten walked out of the room and left Johnny in silence. The older released a long and heavy sigh, his hands reaching to glide through his hair. He stood from the table and grabbed his crutches that lied beside him, his right shin completely covered in a cast. He slide the crutches underneath his arms and hobbled to the bathroom where he took a bath to calm himself. 

Ten knocked softly on his son's door but all he got was silence in response. Fighting the urge to open the door, he paused and knocked again. 

"Go away." 

"Bub, can I come in? Please?" Ten asked hesitantly. He heard shuffling on the other side of the door before a soft 'fine' was heard behind the wood surface.

Ten opened the door to see Jaemin curled up in his bed with his back facing the door. The room was dark, the only light coming from the moon outside. Ten closed the door behind him and walked to the bed, the edge of the mattress dipping as he sat down. He looked over to Jaemin and placed a gentle hand on the younger's side, rubbing it softly.