I Need You

Ow

Chae-sul's POV

It's been three months since the first day of school. It was Saturday morning, and I was sitting on my porch with a book. Jin-young was hungover and still asleep, and I had already finished my chores.

"Hey." I looked up and saw Chan.

"Hey."

"So, what are your plans for today?"

"Um, sit here until Jin-young wakes up, then treat him like a baby all day." I told Chan about Jin-young's drinking, but that was it.

"Sounds boring." He sat on the edge of the porch. "You wanna go to town with me instead? The other guys were planning on just going to the mall."

"I would but-" a door slammed inside. "I can't. Sorry." I got up and went back inside.

Bang Chan's POV

I sat on the porch, confused. I knew there was definitely something going on, other than her dad's alcohol problem.

"Hi Christopher," Delilah purred as she came up behind me and draped her arms over my shoulders. I rolled my eyes. I really didn't want to deal with her today. "What are your plans for today? I was thinking a nice walk to my favorite boutique-"

"Chris!" someone called across the yard. It was Felix running over to save me. "Hyung, everyone's looking for you. We need to get going if we're going to make it to the skate park before it gets too full."

"Oh, sorry Delilah. I already promised this weekend to the guys." I got up and walked away without another word.

"You'd think after so long she'd give up."

"Well, I haven't given up."

"That's totally not relatable. She is literally throwing herself all over you." We walked in silence for a minute. "So, what was Chae-sul's excuse this time?"

"Oh, just the usual. Her dad wanted to have 'father daughter weekend.'"

"She spends a lot of time with her dad. I never thought they were that close." Yeah. Close.

"Yeah. I wish she had the time to hang out other than at meals."

"I just can't believe she hasn't caught on that you've been flirting with her."

"What?"

"Come on. Everyone can tell you like her. Haven't you noticed Delilah being extra mean recently?"

"I guess. But does everyone think I like her?"

"As far as I've heard."

"There's no way."

"There is. Come on, just admit you like her."

"Ugh, fine. I might have a small crush on her."

"A small crush?"

"Shut up and let's go."

Chae-sul's POV

I sighed as I refilled Jin-young's water glass and grabbed the pain medicine.

"What the hell took you so long," he snapped when I opened his door.

"I-I'm sorry Appa."

"Do you know how much pain I'm in?" He got up and stood right in front of me, leaning close to my face.

"N-no Appa."

"Would you like to feel my pain?"

"No Appa." I blinked back tears.

"No Appa," he mocked, right before punching me and grabbing my collar. I could no longer hold back the tears. "Do you not understand how much I do for you? I could have left you out in the cold that night to die! Instead I brought you in, raised you, even gave you free tuition to my school! Do you want to be kicked out on the street? Abandoned again?"

"N-no Appa," I cried. He threw me into the wall.

"I don't want to look at you. You're a disgrace. Go to your room." I frantically crawled to my room, shutting the door and sitting against it. My cheek was throbbing. This wasn't his worse, but he usually made sure not to hit me in the face, so there were never marks.

If I could just make it through the rest of the year.

(-)

I stared at the large bruise on my cheek, trying to figure out how I was going to cover it. The school had a strict no-makeup policy, so I had never owned any. I decided to keep my hair covering most of my face and got dressed for school.

Bang Chan's POV

"Where's everyone else?" Chae-sul asked when I sat down. She was reading a book but seemed distracted, and she seemed to be covering her face with her hair.

"They all stayed up really late last night, so they stayed in sick."

"And let me guess, you told them they should go to bed but they wouldn't listen?"

"Obviously."

"How responsible of you." She smiled, but it seemed a little forced. "How was your trip to the mall?"

"It was.. you have something on your face." Her hair had just slightly moved back, and I could see what looked like the edge of a... "Is that a bruise?" She turned her head away.

"It-it's nothing."

"Chae, how did you get that bruise?"

"I-I tripped and fell into the corner of the couch." She was lying. I decided to go along with it, just so she might let me help.

"Um, it looks painful. Let me see." She hesitantly turned her head while I brushed her hair back. The bruise was huge and looked a few days old. "You need to put ice on it."

"I will when I get home."

"Does it hurt?"

"A little." The bell rang. "I'll see you at lunch."

This is for the big baby who threw a fit because of how short the chapters have been. You know who you are😤