borders | ravnwoong

13

there was a crushing tension in the air, dongju feeling it in every inch of his body after standing in the room for around five minutes already. geonhak couldn't even look at him, guilt spreading in his chest as he heard his boyfriend's with worry covered voice crack.

"hakkie, i-"

the blond male looked up at the younger who seemed to be at a loss of words. he felt bad. all of this was his fault. dongju was now walking towards geonhak who was sitting on the sofa and crouched down to get a better view of his boyfriend's face. his heart shattered at the sight of a probably painful, visible bruise on his right cheekbone. he slightly shook his head as he got up and got the first aid kit to take care of his boyfriend, taking a seat next to him after returning. he cupped the blond male's cheek and carefully applied the medicine, the action causing the male to hiss at the sudden burning sensation.

"hold still."

geonhak did as he was told, his eyes glued to dongju's shirt. however, whenever he glanced up to his boyfriend, the younger immediately caught his eyes in a short eye-contact before he immediately broke it again. it was obvious to dongju that the blond male felt bad. geonhak's right eye squinted when the younger applied a little too much pressure on his cheekbone, the dark haired male apologizing almost immediately. once dongju was done applying the medicine he put the things aside and looked at his boyfriend. however, when he attempted to take his hand in his own, geonhak's hand twitched. once the younger eyed it, he immediately understood why.

"oh, your hand is bruised too... you fought back, huh?" he softly chuckled and even geonhak couldn't suppress one.

the younger placed a soft kiss above the bruised knuckles and smiled softly at the blond haired male.

"geonhak..." dongju saying his name caused the said male to hold a steady eye-contact now, waiting for what he would say next.

"you know i'm not really good with this... with words and these things. i usually get shy really easily or i always laugh it off but please know that i love you. i really do. i love you more than it seems, i just have a hard time expressing it sometimes. in fact, i love you more than anyone else in this world... i know we are dating for just a month now but i don't think i could love anyone the way i love you ever again." dongju's voice was a little shaky as he opened up about his feelings and geonhak listened to him carefully.

"so please... talk to me hakkie. i will never leave you and i will never judge. it hurts me, you know? seeing how a new bruise gets added once the previous one almost healed off and how you keep disappearing. i'm worried about you. and i don't want you to go through this alone, so whatever it is..." dongju softly cupped geonhak's cheek as he finished the last sentence "...let's go through it together."

the blond male felt as if for one moment his heart stopped beating, as if for one moment time had stopped and he just pulled dongju close to plant a long, loving kiss on his lips.

"thank you dongju. you're the most important person to me, you know that?" the blond male almost whispered as he brushed a strand of hair behind the younger's ear while smiling warmly at him. "but that's also why i can't tell you. it's better for you to not get involved in this. so i hope you can understand... no, respect i can't tell you anything. i know you won't be able to understand but i'm asking you to just accept it. it will get better in the end, alright? this wont last forever."

dongju's lips started to tremble slightly, almost unnoticeable but geonhak did not fail to catch his boyfriend's shaky breath and watery eyes. he nodded. dongju would respect geonhak's decision even if it was hard. "under one condition."

"yes?"

"if it gets to a point in which it gets too hard for you to handle it on your own, you will talk to me about it. you need to remember i'm having your back no matter what."