[ WARNING! THERE ARE MENTIONS OF FAMILIAL ABUSE! THEY ARE ONLY MINOR MENTIONS BUT THEY ARE STILL MENTIONED! IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THAT TOPIC PLEASE DO NOT READ ON! IF YOU CHOOSE TO READ ON DO AT YOUR OWN RISK!! ]
Promises are meant to be broken.
So, don't make promises you can't keep.
"He said he'd be with me forever Minsung... what did I do wrong?" Kyunghun asks, looking down at the brown paper coffee cup as his hands hold it lightly.
"You didn't do anything wrong... he just- had to go" Minsung spoke in a soft tone taking a sip from his coffee cup, the café was empty due to large amounts of snow falling outside. The two boys were sitting near the window, a perfect view of the completely white streets.
"Then why did he leave... Minsung? no one knew, maybe someone found out? Did I say something I shouldn't have?" Kyunghun looked up from the coffee cup to meet Minsung dead in the eyes as he holds out his hand gently moving his own from the cup and holding his hands.
"Kyung... his parents made him. He can't disappoint them, remember he is only 22... so you can't blame him for doing what his parents request, even if that pushes our debut further back... it gives us more time to practice and work on our flaws." Minsung gave Kyunghun's hand a squeeze before smiling and taking a sip from his coffee cup, tears filled Kyunghun's eyes as they slowly cascade down his cheeks.
"He said he'd never leave... he promised me that he would be by my side no matter what. I guess promises are meant to be broken, huh?" Kyunghun spoke with a small shake and crack in his voice, he stood up and smiled gesturing for Minsung to get up.
"Kyung-" Minsung went to speak but got stopped as Kyunghun shook his head in denial, his facial expression was dark and sad, easily readable rather than normal, his emotions are usually unreadable.
"I'm fine, honestly... just a little heartbroken, it's been nearly three weeks and he hasn't contacted us..." he spoke with a soft tone, a barely audible one at that. Minsung gently placed his hand onto Kyunghun's shoulder.
"He'll contact us soon... just give him some time." he spoke with a smile, Kyunghun's facial expression lifted slightly, it wasn't a true smile but it was the closest thing to one you were going to get out of the boy.
"Alright... lets go back to the dorm, Ven will be waiting." Minsung said as they both got up and slowly flipped their hoods up, they walked back to the dorm with small, slow steps, taking in the snow gently falling around them. They arrive back at the dorms to kick and shake off the snow from their jackets and shoes, leaving them at the front door before walking into the heated dorms.
"Young J, Ven we're home." Minsung spoke in a soft tone, both the boys sit down on the couch in the living room with soft sighs, the room was filled with an awkward silence for a few minutes before YoungJ decides to break the silence with a cough
"Kyu, you got a letter while you were out... are you feeling okay?" YoungJ asked in a soft tone, as if he was talking to a fragile child who could break any moment handing him a small white envelope with light bronze decals at each corner, Kyunghun takes the letter out of YoungJ's hands
"ah thank you Hyung... I'm alright" Kyunghun smiles weakly as he slowly walks to his room, closing the door behind him before switching on his light that fills the room with a baby blue tint
"I know those bronze decals anywhere... but why send a letter?" he spoke just above a whisper gently pealing up the back of the letter to not rip the paper. Once the envelope is opened a small neatly folded origami rose was the first thing to slowly flutter out and onto the floor. Kyunghun kneeled down and gently picked up the delicate paper rose, cupping it in his hands before placing it on his thigh as he sat back against the door slowly pulling the note out of the envelope.
~
Dear Kyungie,
First off, I'm sorry. That I didn't tell you I was going, and that I didn't send you any messages until now? And even this was lame and through damn snail mail...
Not the point. Anyway! I hope you, YoungJ-hyung, Minsung-hyung and Ven-hyung are doing well... I miss you all and hope to come back soon! I just have a few things to work out with father. I really hope we debut soon! That would be nice huh?
Kyung... can you keep a secret? I'm going to guess you said yes... if you said no why am I trusting you? Ha Ha Ha.
Unfold the rose to know the secret, don't worry I will send you more c:
Yours truly,
Tae <3
~
Kyunghun placed the letter down on the ground slowly before looking at the neatly folded rose, picking it up in his hands he began to unfold it, Fold by fold revealed a word. Slowly revealing a message, Kyunghun's eyes slowly scanned the letter.
~
Kyung... I know this might be a little alarming? A message on a paper rose, how romantic huh? Anyway... I don't think I will be able to get away from father any time soon to come back to the dorms... seems he found out about us and well, let's just say doesn't like my preferred choice... I've changed your contact on my phone to Hyung 1 so if and when I come back don't be mad that I changed it.
Please message me when you get this... I need to know that you're okay, and that this actually got sent.
I love you
~
Tears slowly welled up in Kyunghun's eyes as he held the letter to his chest, hugging his knees up to his chest as he sobbed softly. He reached into his back pocket and opened his messages
-Mine *-
'I still have all my sweaters except the yellow one...'
Sent at 12:34pm
'Kyungie... you read the rose'
Read at 12:40pm
'Of course, I did... I also re folded it and its stuck to my bedside table now'
Sent at 12:42pm
'hyung... I'm sorry, that I never said the real reason why I had to leave'
Read at 12:43pm
'it's not your fault... Tae? Are you safe'
Sent at 12:45pm
'yes? Why do you ask?'
Read at 12:48pm
'just promise me you are safe.'
Sent 12:52pm
'I promise I am safe Kyu <3'
Read 12:57pm
'just making sure.... can you call me? Please? I miss your voice, hell I miss you'
Sent at 1:07pm
Incoming call 'Mine *'
Answer | Decline
|Answer|
"Kyu-hyung" Taeseok spoke first, Kyunghun's eyes widened at the sudden formality. He looked down at his free hand before gently running it through his hair
"Tae-" was all he could say before his voice cracked, he was fighting back tears as he fiddled with the small re-folded paper rose.
"Kyungie- are... are you crying?" Taeseok asked with a soft voice that seemed to echo through Kyunghun's body, hitting his heart where it hurt
"I just... I miss you, I miss being able to see you and tease you about wearing my sweaters and, and- I just miss being able to hold you" Kyunghun broke, tears suddenly began to trickle down his cheeks.
"Kyungie... please" Taeseok's voice was quiet and barely audible, His bottom lip quivers slightly.
"I will be hope soon... I promise, but until then we can keep texting? You can tell me how your day way and anything that happened or we can just talk about anything" Taeseok spoke as Kyunghun stopped crying to let out a soft chuckle.
"you missed Minsung-hyung be nice today..." Kyunghun leant his head back against the door, hearing Taeseok's laugh through the phone caught his attention as he stares up at the ceiling.
"I did? Woah... you're going to have to tell me all about how he was when I get back hm!" Taeseok said with a giddy voice, it was happy and radiated through the phone.
"yeah... I'll tell you all about it Tae" Kyunghun's voice was no longer weak nor quivering, it was stable yet monotone.
"Kyungie... please stay on the phone until I fall asleep... just for tonight, it's the only way I can feel like I'm close to you when I'm so far away" Taeseok spoke in a soft tone, followed by the rustle of bedsheet as he laid down placing the phone on the pillow next to his head, carefully repositioning himself where his own head would lay comfortably with his headphones in. Kyunghun agrees almost instantly.
"Of course, ... I'll stay on as long as you want me to" He smiled, gently running his fingers through his hair with a smile.
The call was silent for a few minutes, Kyunghun had originally thought Taeseok had fallen asleep so he stayed silent until "Kyung? Can I ask you something?" Taeseok broke the silence, holding the headphone mic up in front of his face.
"hm? Yeah sure what is it?" Kyunghun replied in an unsure tone as he leant against the door "what... are we? Like... I know we're bandmates and all but like Us? I- never mind!" Taeseok Stammers, blurting out everything and anything before Kyunghun chuckles softly.
"Tae... firstly; calm down... secondly; we can be whatever you want us to be, so answer me this; what do you want us to be?" He asked, Taeseok ponders on the question for a few minutes before taking a long deep breathe in.
"I want you to be mine hyung..." Taeseok spoke hesitantly as a light pink tint spreads across his cheeks. Kyunghun covers his mouth with his hand as he looks down at the phone in his hands.
"i- I'd like that" He answered, mustering up all the courage he had and putting it into that small sentence "really?!" Taeseok yelped back.
"yes really" Kyunghun simply replied shaking his head as he stands up, walking over to his bed and laid across putting the phone on his chest.
The phone call goes on for the entire night, Kyunghun stays awake just listening to Taeseok. His soft snores and whimpers through the phone make Kyunghun want to fly all the way to him yet, he cannot, for both his and Taeseok's safety. Oh, how he wished he'd ended the call. 3:32Am, Drunken slurs and yells were all he could hear as his attention was drawn away from the page of lyric ideas to his phone.
"what?" Kyunghun turns the volume up on his headphones, his eyes widen in shock from what he hears through the phone.
"Le7 m3 g0 plEAsE" the yells are muffled, the sound of bed sheets being pulled up is loud, but Taeseok's heartbeat is louder.
"Tae..." Kyunghun spoke softly earing a 'shhh' in response, the phone line goes dead silent before Taeseok speaks.
"he'll hear you..." Taeseok's voice trembled as he curled up into a ball and pretended to sleep, hearing his bedroom door slowly creek open made Taeseok softly sob. At this point Kyunghun has already started panic, he pulls down the small sweater that had rolled up his chest slightly and run into YoungJ's room leaving his phone on the bed in his own room.
"YoungJ... please Give me his parents address Now. I'm not taking no for an answer, you're the only one awake that they told! Please YoungJ!" Kyunghun spoke sternly glaring at his elder as he sat at his desk.
"Not going to happen, we were told so you didn't find out!" YoungJ was quick to answer.
"It is 3AM! I am asking you for his house address, do you not find that suspicious?!" Kyunghun yelled, tears formed in his eyes as he clenched his fists. YoungJ finally turned around in his chair to face Kyunghun.
"I do. The fact it is 3AM! Is why I am not giving it to you!" YoungJ stood up and walked towards the younger, causing him to take a step back before standing his ground.
"if you heard Daehyun say what Taeseok just did. You would be running down and dragging him out of his house, wouldn't you?!" Kyunghun spits, YoungJ shoves him back harshly out of the door frame causing him to stumble backwards.
"Don't you dare! Bring Daehyun into this!" YoungJ scolds, his gaze was cold and had no emotion but behind that expressionless gaze was pure anger and hatred.
"I am! Because I care about Taeseok's damn safety over any fuck buddy of yours!" Kyunghun snaps, shoving YoungJ back into the wall just beside his doorframe with all of his strength.
"How dare you, you ungrateful brat!" YoungJ grunts, the impact of YoungJ hitting the wall causes Minsung and Ven to rush out of their shared room to separate the who boys.
"What the fuck is going on?!" Ven was the first to grab Kyunghun stopping him from wrapping his hands around YoungJ's neck.
"He won't tell me where Taeseok is! This prick would rather keep it a secret and let his father hurt him than ruin his reputation with the higher ups!" Kyunghun says in a panic as Minsung grabs hold of YoungJ, both males are separated by their eldest and second youngest member. YoungJ just glares as Kyunghun yells insults and curse words.
"If it was Daehyun he'd be there in minutes! But no! you don't care about your own bandmates safety!" Kyunghun yells once again.
Minsung's jaw drops as Ven turns his head around to look at the horrified expression on Minsung's face "Give it a rest! You god damn Prick!" YoungJ launches at Kyunghun, Minsung continues to hold him back from touching Kyunghun.
"Kyu, he's in Busan... you can't reach him in time!" Minsung spoke, his voice was at the level of a yell yet, was sympathetic.
"I can try... I have to try..." Kyunghun's knees dropped to the floor as he held onto Ven "Kyu..." Ven whispered softly as Kyunghun shook his head, he was sobbing as he looked up at the others
"He promised me he was safe..."
The words Broke Ven's heart, tears slowly started to trickle down Ven's cheeks as he turned to Minsung "Hyung... please" Ven spoke softly, he looked back down at Kyunghun who was staring blankly down at the floor.
"I beg of you hyung... let me go to him" Kyunghun pleaded, his breathing was uneven and short as he continued to sob.
"Get in the car, I'm calling Manager-nim. YoungJ you- just stay here" Minsung let go of YoungJ and walks towards his room, grabbing his phone out and dialling their managers number.
"Yes- no that is not the case sir- please. Just get us on that flight" Minsung pleaded as Kyunghun was still sat on the floor, Ven's arms were wrapped around his elder as he rubbed small circles over his back.
"It's going to be okay..." Ven spoke with a soft tone, Kyunghun had the white sleeves to Taeseok's sweater pulled down and over his hands as he lightly chewed on the edge of the cuffs.
"Get in the car now. We have a plane to catch in two hours" Minsung walked out of his room with a bag and his car keys swinging around his index finger as he walked towards the two on the floor.
"We're going to get him?!" Kyunghun's eyes widened as he shot to his feet, he grabbed his phone that was sitting on his bed, the call still going but all he could here were soft snores. His expression softened as they all got in the car, Minsung drove them to the airport with just enough time to spare, the plane trip was 1h 15mins. The most painful hour of Kyunghun's life, while the other two members slept he looked down at the now blank phone screen. The call had to be ended when they got on the plane, he just stared with a sad expression on his face. Once the plane had landed, the boys pulled their masks up and walked out of the terminal, meeting their driver at the arranged spot. Minsung apologised for them needing the driver at such an un godly hour, he put the house address into the drivers GPS, by the time they had finally made their way out and onto the main rode the sun was rising.
"Hyung... I'm scared" Kyunghun spoke softly, his phone held tightly in the grip of his fingers, his eyes were still on the floor. He didn't move an inch the entire drive.
"Kyu... it will be fine okay? I promise you" Minsung spoke with a sigh, wrapping on of his arms around the younger to comfort him. Ven did the same, except he leant against Kyunghun. They reached the house, it was not new yet not too old. It had an un kept garden of dying roses leading up to the front door. The three boys got out of the car and slowly walked up to the front door, Minsung was made to knock under rules of 'you're the eldest!' so he did. They were met by hushing of an elder man followed by Silence.
"Excuse me? Sir, we know you are home. We heard you" Minsung growls knocking on the door another time, they were met with the door being swung open and a very displeased male.
"who are you? And what do you want?" The man said in a cold tone, his shirt was wrinkled and pants sagging down ever so slightly. Kyunghun looks through the doorway to see a child-like Taeseok standing at his bedroom doorframe, one hand on the wall and the other hanging down by his side.
"We are Sa1nt with a 1 not an I and we are here to get Taeseok. It seems you are not the best guardians for him and as his Hyung I am taking him back under my wing. I've already signed the paper work so you cannot say no" Minsung spoke with a confident attitude handing the elder male the paper work, he stepped back with a grunt before stepping aside and pointing to Taeseok's closed door.
"he is in there." That was all the male had to say before the three members ran into the house and towards the door, they all knocked softly.
They were met with a messy haired Taeseok standing with Kyunghun's oversized yellow sweater on and a pair of baby blue boxers as he looked up at the three "Kyungie, Minsung, Ven..." Taeseok spoke softly as he pulled the bottom of the sweater down and held it so it didn't go up any further.
"Pack your things Kiddo, you're coming home" Minsung said with a smile, Taeseok immediately grabbed his unpacked suitcase from under the bed with a sheepish chuckle.
"Hey guys, could I have a moment with Tae alone please?" Kyunghun asked as Ven nodded, Minsung grabbed the suitcase out of Taeseok's hands and took it out to the car, Kyunghun picked up a pair of jeans from the floor and handed them to Taeseok, he immediately put them on before looking up at Kyunghun.
"Tae... please come here..." He spoke as Taeseok practically ran into his arms, Kyunghun threaded his fingers through the younger male's hair and held him close to his body "I've missed you... so much it's not even funny" Kyunghun spoke weakly, Taeseok rested his head on the elder male's chest, he was relaxed, his breathing was slow and controlled.
Taeseok looks up at Kyunghun and takes a step back "Can we go please?..." Taeseok spoke softly, Kyunghun instantly grabs his hand and turns around and walked towards and out the front door.
The car ride back to the airport was filled with silence for a few minutes, Minsung was sitting next to Ven, they broke the silence with a game of rock, paper, scissors "you cheat! You can't change hands like that!" Ven scolds his elder as he changes hands "it's paper scissors rock! Come on! Don't be a party pooper!" Minsung argues back, Kyunghun on the other hand had headphones in and his head rested against the mirror. Taeseok had his head gently leant against Kyunghun's shoulder, his phone in one hand. His other hand was intertwined with Kyunghun's.
The plane ride was once again, silence. The four boys slept the entire way back, Minsung had to drive them back to the dorm yet he didn't mind, he usually drives when it comes to emergencies. They reached the dorm, Ven grabbed Taeseok's suitcase and plopped it down at his room door "Hyung... you didn't have to" Taeseok spoke sheepishly with his arm around Kyunghun "I wanted to~ you should get some rest Tae." Ven replied with a subtle smile
Kyunghun moved his hand from around Taeseok's shoulders and walked over to Minsung, he hugged him tightly "Thank you Hyung... for trusting me, and for bringing him home" Kyunghun spoke in a soft tone, Minsung was taken back by the boy's sudden appreciation, yes, he always appreciated everything anyone did for him yet, he was never this grateful.
Minsung chuckled gently petting the younger male's hair "You don't need to thank me, just- go be with your man hm?" Minsung gently pushed Kyunghun off him and towards Taeseok with a smirk. Kyunghun walked over to Taeseok and wrapped his arms around the smaller male's waist, Ven took this as a sign to leave. So, he did. Ven walked over to Minsung with a soft laugh. Kyunghun gently took Taeseok's hand and walked into his room, softly closing the door behind them and switching on the light.
Kyunghun felt Taeseok's head gently rest on his back as he faced the light switch "Tae?" Was all he said before the room filled with soft sobs, Kyunghun turned around making Taeseok step back slightly before being pulled into the elder male's chest, Taeseok gripped onto the back of his shirt and sobbed into the soft fabric "let it out... let it all out" Kyunghun spoke quietly, gently rubbing Taeseok's back as he sobbed
"i-I'm sorry I l-lied" Taeseok whimpered causing Kyunghun to shake his head, the front of his shirt was wet from where Taeseok's head was, Kyunghun lifted the smaller males chin up and wiped his tear stained cheeks with a soft smile.
Kyunghun pecked Taeseok's cheeks softly, he looked at the yellow sweater that he wore so nicely, Kyunghun's hands ghosted over Taeseok's waist, tracing circles on the sides of his hips, Kyunghun lifted Taeseok up. Taeseok's immediate reaction was to wrap his legs around Kyunghun's waist and his arms around his neck leaning in to place his head on his shoulder "I was scared he would hurt me if I told you the truth" Taeseok's words were muffled by the fabric on Kyunghun's shirt.
"I will always keep you safe, even if that meant doing something stupid" Kyunghun places short soft kisses on Taeseok's cheek with a smile, a tint of pink spreads across the face of the now flustered younger "I promise, I will love you till the end of time" Kyunghun added.
"after all, the world is filled with broken promises, but this is one I refuse to let break."
- Salt
Word count: 3922