[ ✓ ] 𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐀 , seho .

eighteen

eighteen

IT WAS EASY TO SAY that that week had been the longest in Junmyeon's entire life. School was difficult, as usual. But trying to figure out exactly what he was gonna do with his living situation was a whole other issue.

After explaining to Eunmi and Dongchul what happened to him and Sehun, they were jumping at every opportunity for them to find a shelter or boy's home for Junmyeon to stay in. With them being foster parents, they seemed to know every detail about abusive homes and runaways. Trying to get Junmyeon into a shelter seemed to be their number one priority. But Junmyeon didn't want their help.

It was Junmyeon's fifth night of either sleeping on the streets or crashing with complete strangers. He had told Sehun that he found an old friend to stay with, just so him and his family wouldn't worry about Junmyeon so much.

With that, Junmyeon tried to avoid Sehun as much as he could. They'd occasionally see each other around school, but most of the time, Junmyeon missed holding Sehun's hand and kissing his soft lips. But Junmyeon knew if he spent too much time around Sehun and his family, they'd just nark on him even more.

As much as Junmyeon tried to forget about everything that has happened since his father hit him again, Every time he would touch his wrist, or even look at it, it felt empty. He didn't feel complete without Sehun's bracelet. He needed to know that no matter what would happen, Junmyeon would always carry that piece of Sehun with him. Along with that, he was running on only one bottle of water and wearing the same jacket and pants every day.

So he walked all the way to his house in the freezing temperatures. It was well past midnight, and the night had been alive with groups of friends, mostly of an older age, either clubbing or bar-hopping. Things calmed down once he got to the neighborhood of his house.

The house was dark inside, which made Junmyeon feel better. That meant his father was most likely fast asleep.

Junmyeon quietly snuck through his bedroom window like he always did. Inside, his room looked the same way he had left it. Shards of glass on the floor. Blankets and clothes trashed everywhere.

Junmyeon began to pack another bag with the remainder of his clothing and other necessities, along with searching his room for the bracelet. As each minute passed where he hadn't found it, he grew more and more irritated. He retraced his steps the night he took it off.

Sehun left through the window. Junmyeon was upset. He took off the bracelet. He threw it. And that was that.

He continued throwing the clothes laying on the ground out of his way as he tried to find the jewelry. He felt like screaming, or maybe even crying. Sehun had given him this important piece of him to Junmyeon, and he let it completely vanish.

Junmyeon checked one last time in the bathroom across the hall. Opening drawers and checking the cupboard must have caused too much noise, for he could hear footsteps making their way down the hall and closer to the bathroom.

"I thought I told you to leave," Junmyeon's father said sternly as he opened the door to the bathroom. The words that came out of his mouth seemed to petrify Junmyeon as he slowly shut the final drawer he had searched.

Junmyeon swallowed hard, still not responding. He simply walked past his father and into his bedroom again. But he couldn't make it all the way inside, for his dad grabbed his jacket collar and pulled him back, then pushing the boy against the wall next to the doorframe.

"I'll hit you again. Just because you can't seem to stay away from here, it seems you just want one more scar, one more reminder. A reminder of what I've been through since that July ten years ago." Junmyeon's father kept his hand around the boy's neck, the air in his lungs becoming trapped. He could barely breathe, but he managed to give his two cents.

"Mom left because of you. And you haven't been through shit," Junmyeon retorted through a sharp breath. The grip on his neck became stronger the more Junmyeon spoke. "You've treated me like garbage. Because you're disgusting."

The man clubbed Junmyeon in the jaw after that statement, which was inevitable. But Junmyeon didn't let him go any farther. He strongly gripped his dad's wrist as Junmyeon took a forceful kick at the man's torso. The push caused his father's body to slam against the other side of the wall, then fall to the ground. The weight of his body leaning over the stairs caused his body to tumble down the steps. The sound seemed to shake the whole house. Junmyeon breathed in deeply as he felt the air in his lungs completely evaporate.

Junmyeon didn't look. He promised himself that, because he knew that when he did, he would completely lose his ability to breathe at all.

He looked in the bathroom again for the bracelet. He couldn't find it. Still.

He stepped back into his bedroom, but he didn't leave. He just rested his body against the wall and thought. But then again, he had no clue what to think. This was his fault. This was all his own fault.

Junmyeon looked past the doorframe to the bottom of the stairs. The sight of his father's lifeless body put an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He felt the need to vomit when he saw the blood pouring from the man's head.

Junmyeon couldn't think of what to do except to run. But he'd have to run without Sehun's bracelet. And he'd have to run alone. He couldn't possibly make it by himself. He was clueless. He felt helpless. It was impossible.

He ran out the window. And he ran to Sehun's house. He ran faster than he had ever ran before. As he sprinted down the streets, he called Sehun several times and sent him nearly a hundred texts. All the while, tears ran down his cheeks and his throat became drier and started to burn. He couldn't think about what he had done—he already felt sick enough. And knowing that he had no choice to drag Sehun into it all made him feel even worse.