shut

twenty

"Let's get you off the floor princess, I'll take you to the bed okay." Seungmin lifted Hyunjin and carried him with ease. Hyunjin was ever so careful to ensure that Seungmin would not see his scars. His efforts didn't pay off though. After Seungmin placed him on the bed, there was no way he could hide his thighs. True enough, Seungmin saw it all. The red, brutal self-harm scars on Hyunjin's thighs. Hyunjin tried to pull the shirt lower, but that only made Seungmin see the scars on his wrists too.

Hyunjin immediately tried to move away from Seungmin by getting off the bed, but Seungmin only pulled him back down and grabbed his arms. Hyunjin was too weak to fight back. He was forced to show his wrists.

"Who the fuck did this to you?"

"Hyunjin I'm asking you, who did this shit to you?"

Seungmin was trying to supress his anger. His first thought was that someone was hurting his dear Hyunjin. He felt so bad for the boy.

"Hyunjin don't make me repeat."

Hyunjin was sniffling, trying to hold back his tears that were threatening to fall again. Seungmin was scary when he was mad. It didn't help that he knew he was mad at him. Hyunjin really didn't want the one person who took care of him to be mad at him. Hyunjin had no choice, he did not want to make Seungmin angrier.

"I did it okay, I hurt myself."

Seungmin was taken aback. The feeling of anger completely leaving his body, only to be replaced with worry and concern. He felt bad for making Hyunjin tell him. He knew this topic was sensitive. Currently, he was sitting opposite from a seemingly fine but actually broken boy. He had no idea what to do. So he did the first rational thing that came to his mind. He brought the whimpering boy onto his lap and just cuddled him. Seungmin made sure that Hyunjin's blond hair was out of his face and took a tissue to wipe his tears and the clear mucus from his nose.  Hyunjin, like he always does when he is with Seungmin, felt safe. For the first time in his life, when he broke down and felt like there was no reason to live, there was someone to take care of him.

"Baby, I want you to know that I'll always be here for you okay. Please don't do this to yourself anymore. You're so beautiful, why are you ruining it."

Seungmin shushed the smaller boy and continued to stroke Hyunjin's hair.

"I'll take care of you from now on. I'll show you the love you missed."

Hyunjin just nodded, listening to the sweet things Seungmin said to him. He buried his face into Seungmin's chest, inhaling as much as he could because Seungmin's sweet cherry scent never failed to comfort him. Hyunjin managed to fully calm down. His breathing steadied and he was no longer sniffling. He just felt safe. A little bit too safe. The entire ordeal made him fall into headspace. As a hybrid, he did have some tendencies to become little, especially when he was stressed or upset.  He was no longer aware of his surroundings. He could only focus on Seungmin.

"Alpha, thank you. Thank you so much. Alpha takes good care of me. Alpha's cherry makes me feel safe."

Seungmin didn't know why Hyunjin referred to him as such. He never has.  

'I'm not his Alpha. I can't be, I can't smell him. There's no way we're mates."

'Wait did he say cherry? Can he smell me? Why the hell can't I smell him?'

Seungmin's thoughts clouded his mind. He didn't realise that Hyunjin was tugging on his shirt. Not until Hyunjin poked his cheek to gain his attention.

"Alpha! I want a story. I want storytime."