incomparable » changki

sixteen

Changkyun's hands trembled as his knuckles rapped against the door, not giving himself the time to hesitate at all. Yungjae could be following him for all he knew, but that was highly unlikely.

It was dark outside, and Changkyun had been running faster than he even knew he could. His thighs were burning and he was so severely out of breath, he was certain people down the street would be able to hear his gulps for breath.

The door opened suddenly and Changkyun was surprised to see - not Kihyun - but Minhyuk standing in the doorway. The blonde's smile fell from his face once he saw the state of Changkyun, hair a complete mess on top of his head, a large gash running down the side of his face and cheeks tear-stained.

"Changkyun?" Minhyuk asked, almost as if he couldn't believe it.

Changkyun couldn't tell if the blonde was upset or relieved to see him, and not knowing whether Minhyuk hated him or not made Changkyun wish he'd never come here in the first place. If Minhyuk hated him now, then Kihyun definitely would.

"I, um-," he cut himself off with a sniffle, not really knowing what to say. "Where's Kihyun?"

"Him and Jooheon went out to get some snacks," the blonde answered carefully, eyebrows creased in worry. "Jooheon passed his Biology exam so we're all celebrating - minus Hyungwon and Hoseok."

Changkyun nodded hesitantly, gnawing on his bottom lip to refrain himself from crying. He'd ran all this way and Kihyun wasn't even here.

"Honey, are you alright?" Minhyuk asked, placing his hand on Changkyun's upper arm, and the simple sign of affection caused Changkyun to break down.

He shook his head as the tears building up in his eyes spilled over his cheeks, and the dam erupted.

"Shh, come here," Minhyuk whispered, tugging Changkyun towards him and into a warm hug. "Come on, it's cold out here; let's go inside."

Changkyun let Minhyuk pull him into the apartment, closing the door behind him. Hyunwoo was sitting on one of the couches, looking up worriedly once he'd heard the door close. Minhyuk had been talking so quietly in the doorway that he hadn't even heard what was going on.

"Take a seat, I'll go get something to clean that nasty cut with," Minhyuk pet Changkyun's hair, and the hazelnut-haired boy decided to sit on the floor near the same coffee table he was as just over a week ago. "Hyunnie, will you call Kihyun? Tell him Changkyun's here."

Hyunwoo nodded and pulled his phone out from his hoodie's pocket.

"Kihyun, Changkyun's here," Hyunwoo spoke into the mic of his phone. "I think he's ok? He looks really shaken up. He's crying and there's blood on the side of his face; Min told me to call you."

Changkyun looked down at his - still - trembling hands, feeling so pathetic for crying and running to Kihyun like this. He didn't even deserve the help he was getting with how he'd been acting the past week.

"Changkyun, will you tell me how this happened?" Minhyuk asked softly, sitting down next to Changkyun on the floor and tipping his face to the side so he could get to work on cleaning his face.

The hazelnut-haired boy squeezed his eyes shut as Minhyuk inspected the gash on the side of his face.

"There's a shard of glass here," Minhyuk said more to himself than anyone else, and he sounded surprised about it. "Hold still for me, Changkyun."

Changkyun did as he was told and let Minhyuk dig the shard of glass out of the gash, wincing when the blonde touched it.

"Now I can clean you up," Minhyuk stated happily, and Changkyun knew he was trying to lighten the mood. "Changkyun? How did this happen?"

"C-Can I wait until Kihyun gets here?" He asked quietly. "I just... I can't explain it twice, I really can't. I'm sorry, hyung, I-"

"Hey, hey, calm down," Minhyuk cut him off softly. "We can do whatever you like."

"Kihyun hates me," Changkyun sniffled as Minhyuk opened a disinfectant wipe packet.

"No he doesn't," Minhyuk chuckled, beginning by wiping the dry blood around the gash. "He's just worried - we all are. Kihyun could never hate you, and neither could I, or Hyunwoo, or Jooheon, or Hyungwon, or Hoseok."

Changkyun felt his eyes well up with tears at the stinging pain of the wipe against the gash on his face and the weight of Minhyuk's words. He didn't deserve friends like these.

"I'm sure we'll all understand everything once you explain it to us," Hyunwoo spoke up from his seat on the couch. "We know you wouldn't just ignore us for no reason, so you don't need to worry."

Minhyuk smiled at his boyfriend.

"See? It's all ok, 'Kyunnie," he grinned and Changkyun felt himself smile just a little.

The three of them made awkward small talk for the next ten minutes until the sound of a door opening and closing from the hallway made them turn to look at the two who had just entered.

Changkyun felt overly guilty when he saw Kihyun - red-faced and worry written all over his features.

"You guys took your time," Minhyuk quipped, trying to lighten the mood again.

The gash on Changkyun's face had now been covered with a large plaster, and Kihyun noticed right away.

"I'm sorry for ruining the occasion," the hazelnut-haired boy looked down at his hands, feeling so pathetic in that moment.

Kihyun moved to sit down at the coffee table next to Minhyuk, cupping Changkyun's face gently and encouraging the boy to look at him. God, Kihyun had missed Changkyun's pretty face more than anything.

"You haven't ruined anything," he reassured. "Please tell us what happened."

Hyunwoo stood up from the couch and sat down on the floor next to Kihyun, Jooheon taking a seat next to Changkyun, the five of them making a sort of circle with the edge of the coffee table completing it.

"I, um..." Changkyun started, trying to find the right words. "Kihyun and Jooheon saw my arms... and they weren't really supposed to-"

Changkyun cut himself off when he hiccuped, feeling the tears in his eyes spilling over his cheeks. He rolled up his sleeves when Jooheon wrapped an arm around his shoulders reassuringly.

Seeing his own arms made Changkyun feel sick. They were bruised and pale, but also full of colour. Purples and reds and light browns from past scars.

"They're handprints, scratches, cuts, bites - basically everything you can think of," he explained. "Some of them I inflicted on myself... and the others were done by my boyfriend. He always told me to never let other people see my arms and I didn't want people to see them either. They're so ugly and I hate them.

"When Kihyun and Jooheon saw them, I couldn't face being around them anymore. I didn't want you to ask questions because I'm a terrible liar, and you would've found out that- that he hurts me. But when Kihyun texted me earlier, I ignored the texts and when to the toilet. He read them, a-and he hurled a glass at me."

Gasps and sounds of disapproval came from the other four men, and Changkyun couldn't even look at them, he felt so ashamed.

"I- I know I shouldn't have come here, and that I don't really have the right anymore to call you guys my friends, but I was so scared and I didn't have anywhere else to go. I thought he was going to kill me," Changkyun concluded, and Jooheon hugged him from the side.

"Changkyun, your arms are beautiful," Kihyun spoke up after a moment of silence. "You're beautiful and there's no way in Hell we would ever turn you away in your moment of need. We're not monsters."

"Why did you never tell anyone, Kyunnie?" Minhyuk asked, and Changkyun looked up at the blonde.

"I never had anyone that I could go to for help," he answered, and Kihyun leaned forward to wipe away Changkyun's tears. "No one's ever been there for me and I'd grown used to it."

"Well, we're always here for you," Jooheon reassured, and Changkyun nodded.

"Thank you, guys," he said quietly. "Honestly, thank you."

~*~

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