no one's pov
it had been a week since jisung's disappearance. he received countless messages and calls from his and minho's friend groups, even voice notes from seungmin, who was characteristically too lazy to type out a 5000-word-essay worth of concern. yet their attempts to contact him was to no avail as neither parties received any replies.
that week by far was the worst week minho had suffered. he had no clue of jisung's whereabouts and had no chance in finding out. he just vanished. he couldn't even go to the police, as they needed evidence that jisung didn't leave on his own terms since he did get into the car himself. it was torture, hell on earth.
minho had stopped eating and sleeping properly, constantly tossing and turning in bed, worrying about the boy he used to see every day. how could he sleep when the person he loves cut off all forms of contact from him and their friends.
felix and chan checked up on minho a couple of times a day but he only opened the door to them twice that whole week. they didn't want him to end up the way jisung did last time. they couldn't help jisung right now or back then, but they could help minho. they often arrived with containers of homemade food, which was left untouched inside the refrigerator.
his friends were quiet, also frustrated that they had to continue their daily lives as if one of their good friends didn't go missing suddenly. changbin occasionally called minho to see how he was, apologising that he couldn't visit since he lived all across the town and rarely saw minho in the hallways of jyp college.
jisung, on the other hand, was at jungkook's apartment. it was so far away, farther than he expected. it would take over an hour to go back home or even the college. what have you gotten into, jisung..
jungkook told jisung that if he didn't stay with him, he would hurt the boy he saw with him at the gazebo. jisung knew that jungkook didn't know who minho was or where the two even lived, but he couldn't risk putting them in danger. if someone had to get hurt, it wouldn't be minho. he can't ruin the only good thing in jisung's life right now.
but that was soon short-lived when jungkook stole jisung's phone, cutting him from contacting everyone and anyone. he couldn't even go to college to see them and he didn't know anyone from this area. he was stuck with his ex-boyfriend, who seemed to want him back.
that friday evening soon after dusk fell, minho sat cross-legged on his sofa with soonie purring in his lap. that whole week was tiring and he wished he didn't have so much work left to do for the weekend. his stomach grumbled but he ignored his inner cries for food. he didn't deserve to eat when he didn't know whether jisung was even sleeping under a roof.
then out of the blue, minho's phone rang, expecting a certain name to pop up, his heart bubbling every time he heard a call coming through. upon seeing sanha's name as the caller id, that bubble popped. he sighed in disappointment as he had been doing for the past week and picked up with no enthusiasm.
"hey sanha."
"hyung! it's jisung, we found him!"
hearing his name was like finding a light switch in the darkest of places. minho placed soonie next to him and sat up straight, waiting for the younger to continue.
"he's bleeding, you need to come quick!"
in the background, minho could hear a series of cars passing by and the wind howling. he put the phone on speaker, jumping up from the sofa and grabbing his coat, while also putting on his shoes in a hurry.
"okay, where are you?"
"near the intersection, where the 4419 bus stop is."
"that's only 5 minutes away. don't leave him, i'm on my way."
"okay hurry!"
༄
within 3 minutes, due to minho's lightning speed that he wasn't really used to running, he made it to the corner of the intersection. he spotted jisung, sanha and moonbin at the bus stop ahead of him. he ran to the three boys, gasping for breath while they looked at him worriedly.
"minho oh my god are you okay?"
he only nodded as he couldn't speak, his face had reddened from the cold wind hitting against his face, moonbin holding his shoulder to support him. jisung sat next to sanha on the bench, his head leaning on the boy's shoulder. moonbin stood next to them, his body shivering as he had wrapped his oversized coat around jisung. concern and coldness coursed through minho's body when he managed to catch his breath again.
"jisung! what happened to you, where have you been? i was so worried!"
the boy's head remained low, leaning against sanha's shoulder as if he was asleep but in reality, just extremely weak and tired. minho stood irresolute and looked at moonbin, whose face wore a sad expression. they walked a few steps away from jisung, who was being softly comforted by sanha.
"hyung, what happened to him?" minho asked, whispering.
"we just found him on the corner of the street. we took him here at the bus stop and saw he was bleeding. his hands and his face have cuts on them. i don't know what happened."
"why didn't you call the ambulance or something? take him to a hospital?"
"he said he didn't want to, and some guy, jungkook, would find him. he kept saying your name so we called you."
minho was taken aback, he couldn't believe jisung was really here. somehow the boy managed to elude the clutches of his ex-boyfriend and found his way back home.
minho walked back to jisung, crouched down in front of him, and took his hands into his, careful not to touch his wounds. jisung flinched but minho reassured him he was safe, rubbing circles on the back of his hand like he did on that bus ride last week.
"hey hannie.. it's me. open your eyes for me please?"
jisung broke from his dormant state, hesitantly fluttering his eyes open and weakly lifting his head up, as if awakening from a dream. that's what he thought this was.. a dream. but there minho was, smiling up at jisung like he had never seen anything more perfect. minho's smile never faltered even after seeing the cuts and bruises on jisung's blotched face and dried blood on his knuckles. he was just happy he was alive.
"m-minho h-hyung?"
desperate tears streamed down jisung's pale face as he threw the last of his energy in wrapping his arms around minho. he pleaded to find the safety he always felt around the older. jisung buried his head into his neck, ragged and irregular sobs gasping out from him as minho rubbed his back in a regular pattern, struggling to keep his own tears in. it was true that absence makes the heart grow fonder and minho and jisung's heart were full of love.
sanha and moonbin had left by the time the two parted from each other's arms. the eldest figured he could come back another day to get his coat back but that wasn't the main priority right now. sanha and moonbin knew they couldn't be there at that moment and it would be hard to explain to minho why they were together in the first place..
as minho pulled away from jisung's arms, he wiped the boy's burning tears, who winced in pain from the fresh cuts that were still left untreated.
"oh i'm sorry baby.. but let's get you home, okay? can you walk?"
jisung nodded in response, unaware of the foreign pet name that slipped from the other's lips. minho stood up and supported jisung's arm around his shoulders while helping him hold his body weight against his own. the two slowly made their way back to the apartment, using the elevator to get to their floor in the building.
they entered minho's apartment where he helped jisung sit down on the sofa, who only moved to sit down on the floor instead, as he felt more comfortable. he shook off moonbin's coat and let his mind drift off into his thoughts. that was until soonie, doongie and dori came into his view and he cooed in adoration at the familiar sight, taking hold of dori in his hands. minho searched for the first aid kit in his bathroom quickly and sat down next to jisung.
"do you need water or anything?"
jisung was about to say no before realising his throat was actually dry and strained. he nodded in response but minho had retrieved a cup of fresh water for him before he could even answer.
minho opened the first aid kit, taking out a bandage, some plasters, rubbing alcohol and a small white cloth. he began treating jisung's hands, rubbing the dried blood lightly and wrapping a bandage around his knuckles. once he had cleaned jisung's wounds, he moved his hand to his face, taking the soft cloth dipped in rubbing alcohol and gently dabbing it around the area of the cut, all while jisung stared in awe.
(idek how to treat people and i'm a h&sc student.. this shows how well i'm doing huh..)
"hannie, can you tell me what happened? who did this to you?"
minho asked in a considerately soft voice but jisung remained in a quiescent state, fidgeting with his fingers and looking away as soon as the older locked eyes with him. minho anticipated his explanation and jisung felt his palms grow sweaty. (mom's spaghetti)
"i don't owe you an explanation."
jisung replied tediously, trying to act stoic, as minho's eyes bored into the younger's.
"okay, i get it. but you can't stay quiet forever, you'll have to tell me sooner or later. do you even know how i worried i was for you, i had no idea where you were and i couldn't even message you—"
"okay okay! fine, i'll tell you, jesus christ."
jisung felt guilt-tripped and hearing how worried the older was for him made him flustered. minho would usually feel amused by jisung's blushing cheeks but he just really wanted to know what happened. he knew jisung wasn't okay and he wanted to help him now that he was right next to him. he set down the white cloth and rested his hands in jisung's as a sign for jisung to continue.
"that night.. w-when we were in the gazebo.. i saw him. jungkook, my ex. he.. he told me he wanted me back and he wouldn't leave unless i spoke to him. we went back to his apartment and he.. he tried to do things to me. i tried to leave but he threatened me.. he said he would hurt me.. and you."
jisung's lips trembled as he gulped, tears forming in his eyes. minho listened attentively, he felt his heart breaking into pieces every time jisung's voice cracked as he spoke.
"that's when he took my phone, i couldn't even call you. he blocked you didn't he?"
jisung's tears fell, his eyes creasing as he asked that question, to which minho only nodded as a response. he felt his temper rising but had to stay calm right now. jisung threw his head back against the sofa, sighing out heavily to keep the tears at bay.
"god i hate him so much. he didn't touch me after that, at least not in that way. that whole time he kept me there, he brought random guys over and they made fun of me and said stuff.. horrible stuff. today, i spoke back to him for the first time and he hit me.. a lot."
jisung clenched his hands in minho's, remembering the events that occurred just hours ago.
"and then some guy, taehyung or something, came over and they were going at it, as loud as they can. jungkook's way of making me jealous i guess. not that it worked, cause i got the keys and ran. i don't know if he would have realised by now but i just kept running, as far as i could. that's when i found sanha and moonbin."
jisung had no more tears left to cry, he was just numb. silent drops of pain left his eyes but he felt nothing as he stared at the wall in front of him. minho however, was crying and, to say the least, shocked. he couldn't believe this is what jisung had been dealing with and he had no clue. how could one person be the source of so much pain?
"i'm s-so sorry h-hannie.."
choked sobs escaped minho's mouth as he covered his face in an attempt to hide his guilt and mask his vulnerability. the younger had never really seen this side of him before.
"i should've been there for you.."
he sighed out, looking down as he was too ashamed to face the other. jisung snapped out of his subconscious state and looked towards the elder. jisung curled his fingers around minho's hands and scooted closer to him.
"hyung, it's not your fault. don't blame yourself, we're okay now."
"but you wouldn't have gone with him if i wasn't in the way. why did you have to think about me? you shouldn't have gone with him jisung, he could've killed you like he tried to before!"
he sounded like he was mad at jisung, when really he was mad at himself.
"no hyung, i don't think he's like that anymore. he's obviously still a fucking dickhead and i hate him more than i can say but he wouldn't hurt me that bad again, otherwise i'd already be dead."
"i thought i lost you."
"i'm right here, hyung."
minho looked up at jisung, his nose was runny and eyes were red but jisung smiled at him so he returned a smile back.
"he's still a sick fuck."
"he's not sick, he's twisted. calling him sick makes it seem like there's a cure."
jisung convulsed in his skin, he felt cold despite the warmth of minho's apartment. noticing this, minho wrapped his arms around jisung, who returned the gesture, glad he received minho's solace without even asking for it.
"it's okay hannie, you're safe. i've got you now. i'm not going anywhere."
but all that ringed in jisung's head was i don't deserve you.
minho and jisung sat in a comfortable silence, holding each other in their arms. they both needed comfort, they suffered too long and too much this week. finally, minho found a silver lining in his cloud and jisung could breathe in fresh air again.
"are you hungry? do you want some food?"
jisung nodded shyly and minho untangled himself from his arms, making his way to the fridge. he was surprised to see stacks of food upon food and mentally thanked felix and chan for existing right now.
he made two bowls of rice and set a plate of kimchi. he heated up two plates of a meat dish in one of the containers and brought it all back to the table in front of him and jisung. they sat on the floor and ate like they hadn't tasted food before. they were glad they could eat a proper meal in peace together once again, stealing glances every now and then from each other. they really missed this kind of company.
once they were done, minho took the plates back to the sink and left them there for tomorrow's minho to wash up. he returned to the boy, resting his back against the sofa and reached his hands out. jisung looked up and smiled knowingly, grasping minho's hold and pulling himself up from the ground.
he dusted himself off and looked up, finding himself right in front of minho, who softly smiled when their eyes met. their bodies were in very close proximity, neither of them wanting to step back away from the other. minho tucked a piece of jisung's hair away from his face. jisung felt like he short-circuited as he saw minho's daze fall upon his lips.
as minho was about to close the gap, a loud bang and "ouch" from outside was heard, causing jisung to fall to the ground in shock as if a balloon popped right in front of his face. it sounded like two voices whispering loudly to each other which stopped right outside minho's door. then a series of raucous knocking in a repetitive manner shook both minho and jisung as they questioned who on jupiter was visiting them at 11pm on a friday night.
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[ a/n ; i'm sorry this update took so long, i just left y'all on that cliffhanger T-T
BUT HERE'S ANOTHER ONE EHEHE
just kidding, it was getting WAY too long so the next chapter will be a continuation! :D
also there won't really be any regular updates, i'll only write whenever i can but exams are coming up and i need to focus on that, i hope you guys understand!]