youth ; jaeyong

ten ; distance

it had been a couple hours later and all the guys decided to stay the night with me, much to their lover's dismay.

yuta hadn't come back downstairs since he went up there, probably trying to take his mind off the pain in his chest by sleeping.

" luhan, if you don't mind me asking, what happened with that guy who was after you? like how did it even start? "

he frowned, recalling the moment, and i immediately felt bad for asking.

" sorry, you don't have to answer. "

" no, it's okay. sehun and i had gone to the doctors for my checkup for the baby and since law enforcement and the media is dumb enough to not even know what any of these gang members look like, we don't get caught. we still don't like to risk it just in case, but i still have to know what's going on with my baby... "

" when we were leaving, there was this guy in the waiting room, looked like he was in his mid forties, disgusting looking. he kept on looking me up and down and i immediately felt uncomfortable. i didn't want to tell sehun because i know that he would've lost it in front of everybody there and try to kill the guy. it was hard to conceal how fast my heart was beating and the fear that i had, considering sehun experiences all of my feelings... "

" i decided to let it go, but then i kept on seeing him. i was getting these weird text messages, rather inappropriate, from somebody. saying all these things like how pregnancy looks good on a pretty little boy like me and how he wanted to do these things to me. i knew i couldn't hide it anymore but i still didn't want to tell sehun. one night, i left my phone sitting out while i was in the shower and texts from that number started coming in, and sehun was furious... "

" wondering why i didn't tell him, who it was, why they were saying these things, how long had it been happening. yifan managed to track the number to the guy at the doctors and apparently he was a sexual predator. and then that's how all of them went after him and now he's in jail. "

i was in shock, soaking in all this information.

" i'm just happy you're okay lu. geez.. "

he shrugged, adjusting his engagement ring.

" what about you jae? i know you went through some hard stuff, but i never really got the full story of how you and taeyong met, how this stuff with your stepdad started? "

i sighed, preparing to tell the story. the slow agonizing pain of not having taeyong around started to swell in my heart and i knew pretty soon, i wouldn't be able to take this anymore.

" well i don't really remember much about my mom besides the fact that she was an amazing human being. she always had a smile on her face even though she worked so hard for our family. i remember her telling me my real dad was murdered, by who, i have no idea, the killer was never found. but then she got together with my stepdad while i was in high school. he was nice at first, sweet to my mother, would do anything for her... "

" but then he got too comfortable. he started staying out late, coming back in the house reeking of drugs and alcohol. it got so bad to the point where i would hear my mother's blood curdling screams at night. i would see her the next day, covered in bruises, black eye, but she would still smile. i knew there was nothing i could do and it was awful having to just let it happen... "

" i don't know why she left without me, but she did. i just felt her kiss my forehead with tears streaming down her cheeks while she repeatedly said how sorry she was. i didn't understand what was happening yet. and when my mom left, that meant there was only one more person in the house left for my stepdad to get his hands on... "

as i thought about it, i began to choke on my words, tears welling up in my eyes.

luhan and jeonghan stood up to sit beside me, wrapping their arms around me while mingyu and baekhyun offered a sympathetic look, placing their hands on my knees,

" you don't have to continue jae.. "

" no, i want to, i have to get this out. so that night when my mom left, he came in my room, demanding to know where she went. he didn't believe me when i said i didn't know so he punched me. beat me senseless to the point i could hardly breathe anymore. he caused one of my lungs to collapse after he broke my ribs, and i was in the hospital for weeks. it was painful to breathe for a couple days... "

" and when beating me wasn't enough anymore, he started to place his hands on my thighs and just grip my thighs with so much force, my legs were covered in bruises for weeks. he started to take it farther and i won't go into detail, but he raped me. left me injured after for weeks, it was painful to sit down for what felt like forever because of how violent he was. the doctors told me he had managed to tear tissue in my body but it would heal on its own and it has... "

" i'm over it, it happened, there's nothing i can do. but anyways on the lighter side of things, i met taeyong when i was fifteen. he's my stepdad's nephew. he went by the name of t-y. he was the cutest teenager that you would ever see. he still had that soulless expression like he does now. he loved dancing and i mean loved it. he taught classes in his free time and everything. he's pretty good at rapping and singing too but he'd never tell anyone. i haven't heard him rap or seen him dance since i met him... "

" he had brown hair too, which is crazy to think about now. i guess it was fate's decision to make us meet again. taeyong makes me the happiest guy in the whole world and you know, i haven't felt happiness ever since my mom left. he looks at me like there's nobody else in the whole world and there's nothing more i could ask for. my stepdad had asked tae for three thousand dollars to help support his new family and pay the bills but he actually used it for drugs and alcohol and that's how i'm sitting here right now... "

" NCT broke into my house, looking for him, but he wasn't home, so they took me instead. at first, i didn't remember that i had met taeyong, he dyed his hair, got more muscular, went by a different name, and became cold hearted. he was closed off, like stone. so unrecognizable. he wasn't the shy dancer i used to know until ten told me everything. sounds funny when i say it, but being kidnapped was the best thing to ever happen to me. "

they all embraced me, dry tears on their cheeks from my story.

" i miss him so much. "

they only held me harder, trying to make the pain in my chest go away. but the hug of a friend can only soothe your hurt for so long.

i felt myself become light-headed, my vision would go in and out of focus, my eyes lazily dragging to look around.

" jae! "

my eyelids began to shut through a blur as jeonghan shouted for me.

suddenly i felt my heart beat so fast to the point where i couldn't breathe properly. i began to panic as i fell to the ground.

jaehyun come on, you have to fight this. taeyong can feel this too and the last thing i want is for him to be in pain.

" jaehyun! stay awake! "

i was trying to inhale but nothing was working. my throat was closing up and suddenly i felt my body begin to shake.

the last thing i saw was a panicked mingyu catching me as everything went black.