... And Other Ships

2Seok: Help (I Need Somebody)

inspired by Don't Walk Away by dehstructed and Unwanted in Arikashikari32's 2nd JiKook oneshots book. they're both great authors and deserve some love, so go check them out

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Hoseok didn't know how his life came to be the way it was. Maybe he was just unlucky, or Fate just wanted him to suffer. He didn't know and didn't care; all he cared about was surviving and giving his son a better, brighter life. 

When Hoseok was still a minor, a girl kidnapped him and forced him into things he didn't want to do for several days. The girl ended up getting pregnant and threatened an abortion if he didn't cooperate; Hoseok refused to have something that was technically his get its life taken away before it could even start, so he complied with whatever the girl demanded of him. 

As soon as the little boy was born, Hoseok told the cops everything the girl had done to him; the videos he managed to record were handed in as evidence. She was sentenced to life in prison for child abduction, rape of a minor, and all the other outstanding warrants - which included a murder charge. 

Hoseok was given full custody of Bongju and sent to a mental health facility for a few years. There, he was taught how to care for his child, finished high school online, went to support groups and his therapist until he was released. 

At the age of twenty-two, Hoseok lived in a small, two-bedroom apartment ten minutes away from his job; he was a triage nurse at the hospital. His job gifted him with good insurance (a plus for working for that hospital) and a good amount of money, so he and Bongju never had financial/medical issues. 

Hoseok was comfortable with his life, but he still had his down days. The only person who ever noticed was Bongju, who would crawl into his father's lap and hug him until he fell asleep; that was his version of comfort, since he wasn't a talker. 

But the single father was waiting for something to happen. 

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Thunder shook the ground as everyone scrambled to find some sort of shelter, whether it be inside buildings or under the bus stop awnings. No one was prepared for the torrential downpour that the sky was unleashing this evening. 

Hoseok shivered in his grey scrubs as he crouched down to give Bongju his rain jacket. He had just got off work and picked his son up from the babysitter's house; they were about five minutes away from home when the storm happened. 

Bongju was wailing, clutching his father's scrubs in his little fists as he begged him not to stand up. Hoseok blamed himself for his five-year-old's severe anxiety and obsessive behavior; when the father's depression and oversensitivity got to him, he would lash out at the smallest thing. 

He never hurt Bongju, but he did accidentally yell at him in the middle of an argument with a stranger (Bongju had been trying to get his father's attention; the stranger was insisting that Hoseok was too unstable to be a father). Ever since that little incident, Bongju had been very sensitive to loud things. 

"Baby, my knees hurt. I need to stand up so we can go home, okay?" he pleaded, but Bongju shook his head and cried harder. 

"Appa, no! No, no, no! I need you! I'm scared!" 

Those who passed the small family threw looks of pity, annoyance, and judgement their way, but Hoseok didn't care; he needed to get his child to calm down and no one was helping. No one ever helped him since he left the rehab facility. 

Hoseok needed help. 

"Hey, what's going on here?" a voice said as the rain suddenly stopped pouring down.