incomparable » changki

seventeen

In the end, Changkyun stayed for the celebration of Jooheon passing his Biology exam. He still felt awful about arriving uninvited, and Kihyun felt even worse for not inviting him in the first place.

But Jooheon had insisted plenty of times that he didn't mind at all, and would rather have Changkyun go to them for help than staying with his boyfriend and getting even more hurt. Changkyun mainly stuck to sitting with Minhyuk and Kihyun throughout the night.

There was a rule where after every movie, everyone would change where they were sitting and who they were sitting with. It was just for a bit of fun, but no one really followed the rule. Jooheon ended up snoring on the armchair, and Minhyuk and Hyunwoo were a pile of limbs on one of the couches.

At around eleven at night, Kihyun decided they should probably stop celebrating, since he and Changkyun were the only ones awake.

"I should probably get back home..." Changkyun announced quietly as to not wake up the others. "Yungjae's most likely wondering where I am."

"No way am I letting you go back home to him," Kihyun shook his head. "You can take my bed tonight, the couch is surprisingly comfortable."

"Oh, I couldn't impose on you like that," Changkyun argued. "I'm sure he'll either be passed out drunk or not even home, anyway."

"And I'm sure that I'm not letting you go back to him," Kihyun replied. "Please, Changkyun? You left your phone with him, right?"

Changkyun nodded.

"Then he won't be able to find you," Kihyun assured. "You'll be safe here, I promise."

Changkyun gnawed on his bottom lip anxiously, and Kihyun made sure to give him the most reassuring smile he could muster.

"Ok," he eventually answered, and Kihyun began to lead the way to his bedroom.

"You can borrow some of my clothes for college tomorrow," the pink-haired male stated. "Just shout if you need anything, ok?"

Changkyun nodded, and just as Kihyun turned to leave, the younger boy's small hand reached out to grab Kihyun's.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "For everything. A-And I'm sorry I acted like such an idiot. I'm really bad at handling situations and my first instinct is to just push everyone away. I'm s-"

"Changkyun, shut up," Kihyun teased. "I'm just glad you still felt like you could come to me anyway. And now that we all know, you don't need to hide anything from us anymore."

Changkyun smiled, a real genuine smile, and Kihyun couldn't refrain from ruffling his hair.

"Good night, Changkyun," he smiled one last time before he left, leaving Changkyun to his own devices.

~*~

No matter how much he tried, Changkyun just couldn't sleep.

He couldn't get the thought of Yungjae out of his head. Was he awake? Was he looking for Changkyun? Was he guilty for what he did? Did he care?

The situation was so surreal to Changkyun. He couldn't believe that he was in Kihyun's apartment, in Kihyun's bed. He couldn't believe he would be waking up in Kihyun's bed tomorrow, wearing Kihyun's clothes to college and going to college with Kihyun.

He looked over at the clock on Kihyun's bedside table.

2:13am.

Changkyun groaned to himself and rolled out of the bed, deciding a glass of water would do him some good. Water always made Changkyun sleep easier.

Opening the door quietly, Changkyun crept out of the room and down the hall to the living room. He'd expected Kihyun to be fast asleep on the couch and actually wondered whether Kihyun looked just as good as he did when he was awake when he was sleeping.

But when he turned the corner, Changkyun was surprised to see Kihyun's face illuminated by the light from his phone screen, and when he heard the small intake of breath, Kihyun looked up, smiling.

"Can't sleep?" The pink-haired male asked, and Changkyun nodded shyly.

Kihyun scooted over on the couch, patting the empty space next to him that he had made.

"Come talk to me," he offered, switching his phone's torch on and setting it on the armrest of the couch.

Changkyun shuffled over to Kihyun, laying down on the cramped couch. Kihyun wrapped an arm around Changkyun's shoulders to keep him from falling off the side and Changkyun instinctively rested his head on the older male's chest.

"I'm scared," Changkyun sighed, and Kihyun hummed in understanding. "I never thought that I would be scared of someone that's supposed to love me."

"You shouldn't be scared of him," Kihyun replied. "You shouldn't be scared of anyone. People weren't put on this Earth to scare others or be scared of others."

"I know, I just... I didn't have the best upbringing," Changkyun explained. "I've always been scared of everything because my parents never taught me how to be strong."

"Tell me about it," Kihyun encouraged. "I'll listen."

"I've talked too much today," Changkyun replied and Kihyun shook his head.

"If talking too much means you get everything off of your chest, then you can talk to me all day," he reassured, and Changkyun nodded.

"My father owned a strip club," Changkyun began. "He'd had it since I was a toddler, and it was his pride and joy. He would spend all day down there if he could, but he was also a father and a husband. That didn't mean that he was a good one, though.

"He was a strong believer of men being the more dominant sex in society and he walked all over my mother. But she wasn't any better than he was, if I'm honest. Neither of them should be parents. Anyway, my father really wanted me to continue with his strip club when he was too old to run it himself, but I really didn't want to.

"What kind of child would want to run a strip club? It made me sick - seeing all those women prance around in skimpy outfits all the time. He would take me there sometimes so he could give me the lay of the land, and I hated it.

"But that was where I met him. He didn't look like all the other men there, didn't look like he was enjoying himself. He was with a few friends, and I think I was fourteen at the time. He nodded me over to him, and my father was probably in the back room having sex with one of his strippers, so I decided to join him.

"He was so nice then. He told me he was eighteen, and he didn't seem to mind that I was still underage. Things just went from there, I guess, and we went a year without him ever laying a finger on me.

"Then my parents found out I was gay, and my father really didn't like that. He kicked me out when I was sixteen and I was forced to live with Yungjae. And that was when everything started to go downhill. He did all kinds of things to me, and because I had nowhere else to go, I had to stay with him."

Kihyun's other hand had found its way to Changkyun's hair, stroking his hazelnut locks reassuringly.

"Well, you sure as Hell turned out well for someone with a messed up childhood," he assured. "I honestly don't believe that you would ever have a bad bone in your body."

"I appreciate that," Changkyun exhaled. "You were right. Talking about it has helped."

Kihyun smiled, and Changkyun buried his face deeper into Kihyun's chest.

"I promise, Changkyun," the pink-haired male insisted. "I promise you'll be safe here. I'll beat anyone who tries to mess with you."

Changkyun giggled. "You look like you've never thrown a punch in your life."

Kihyun looked down at the boy on his chest, his heart swelling with happiness.

"Then now is the time to learn."

~*~

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