Souls | h.j l.m.h

Three.

The brunette looked up at me, not able to say a word.

"What did they do to you?" I sighed and took him by the hand, leading us to the bathroom.

I made him sat on the edge of the bathtub while I got the disinfectant and bandages from the cupboard.

I sighed before touching his lip, making him flinch lightly.
It was cut.

"What happened to you? please enlighten me."

He took a deep breath and opened his mouth, his watery eyes fixed one mine.

"They beat me up, my parents."

I frowned and tilted my head, I had a feeling they were bad at parenting but hitting their child? That was pure evil behaviour.

"Why?" I was focused on him.

"Because I spoke up about the wedding, I said my opinion, that I didn't want to marry you, they got mad and my dad threw me on the floor, calling me a faggot." His voice was trembling.

I took him into my arms and caressed his back, I could hear him sob, I pulled away and took his shoulders in a firm way.

"We're in this together, we will cancel this wedding, I promise." I was burning on the inside, I felt powerless, useless.

My phone rang in my pocket, taking me out from my thoughts.

Mom is calling...

"Yes mom?" I tried to sound confident.

"Darling, is Jisung with you?" She asked but obviously knew the answer.

"Mhm, why?" I wanted to make her believe it was trivial, when we both knew it wasn't

"His parents are searching for him, tell him to go home, they're super worried." I could hear the doubt in her voice.

"Tell them it's my fault, I forced him to stay so we could talk." Jisung couldn't return there and get hurt again, if not worse.

"Oh... Minho don't scare the boy."

"He's my fiance, I think I should know how to deal with him, right?" I swore I could feel the boy's eyes widen for a second.

"You're not wrong but..."

"Tell them he's sleeping over, and if they disagree they can call me directly, I'll explain." He didn't have to go back, he souldn't.

"Okay..."

I turned off my phone and tossed it on the carpet.

"They're going to kill me, why did you say that?!" He yelled, catching me off guard.

"What do you want?! To go back to your house where they beat you because you disagree with them?!" I yelled back unconsciously.

The younger went silent, not looking at me anymore.

"Look, I'm not yelling because I'm mad at you, your parents piss me off." I let out before going to my room, leaving Jisung on his own.

I let myself fall on the bed and closed my eyes, the day drained me and it wasn't even the end yet. I was never going to find a solution, not with these parents of his, they seemed pretty stubborn, but also violent, who knew what could happen to him after we found a way to destroy their deal?

I rested for a few minutes before I heard knockings on my wooden door.

"You can come Jisung." I sat up and saw him peeking at me through the thin gap of the opened door.

He slowly opened it fully, letting me see him holding the products I got out to clean his bruise.

"Give me that." I held out my hand and he handed the items.

I patted the empty space next to me on the bed, making him follow my gesture.

He obediently settled on the matress and stuck out his bottom lip so I could have an easier access to the cut.

I put the disinfectant on a q-tip and then on his pinkish lip causing him to close his eyes and scrunch his nose.

"It stings..."

"I know, but it'll go away." I quickly finished and put a bandage on the area.

"Done." I put the products on my nightstand.

"Thank you." He bowed and I nodded.

I felt like taking care of an abandoned puppy, his big cheeks and boba-like eyes made him look innocent and I wanted to help him.

"Do you have any friends you want to call?" I handed him my phone.

He shook his head and pushed my phone lightly, as a way for me to take it back.
He sat on the edge of the bed, facing the window.
The sun had set a long time ago, making the sky reveal it's darkness, the moon was full, it was shining brightly.
I sat next to him and observed the stars from my room, they seemed so little, so far, as if another universe was there, apart from ours.

"Have you eaten?" I asked gently, not wanting to to startle him.

"I haven't." He looked away from the window.

"Follow me."

We went downstairs and in the kitchen, I told him to sit down while I made something to eat.
He didn't protest and did as I told.

"Is pasta okay? There's nothing else I can do at the moment..." I waited for his answer.

"Of course it is, anything is fine, thank you."

I turned around, smiling because of his words, he thanked me more than enough, but it felt nice to have his recognition.
I served him first and took a plate too.

"Have you never thought about moving out?" I couldn't believe that this was the first time they hit him, he was obviously scared of his parents, I noticed it the second I layed my eyes on him.

"I have, but they wouldn't let me, they told me if I was moving out I'd have to never show my face ever again." He sighed, playing with his food.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I couldn't, I have no friends, and if I had told my teachers when I was still in school or to the police even, I knew I would end up being the only one in trouble." He admitted, he talked a lot, for once.

"I understand, but we have to do something."