Saviors

9

   Seungcheol and Jihoon were the last two to the table. They all stared at him when he sat down between Soonyoung and Seungcheol.

   "Sorry for making you guys wait."

   "Stop apologizing." Soonyoung said while poking his arm. He looked at Jihoon with a concerned expression on his face. "You good?" Soonyoung mouthed to Jihoon. Jihoon gave a small smile and nodded.

   Jisoo watched Jihoon as he ate with curious eyes. Jihoon ate slowly. Before Jihoon noticed he kept his head down but he looked up for just a moment to see Jisoo slowly bring his chopsticks to his mouth while staring at him. Jihoon stopped right before he bit down on his own chopsticks to stare back. Jisoo finished eating the bite and met Jihoon's eyes.

   "What Hyung?" He asked quietly. People still heard him and looked at Jihoon then to Jisoo.

   "Nothing." He muttered absentmindedly. Jihoon went back to slowly eating his food, glancing up occasionally to see that Jisoo was still staring at him. Once he couldn't possibly eat anymore he slid the rest of his portion onto Soonyoung's plate. Seungkwan whined a little saying that Jihoon should have given the rest of his food to him, causing a few of the members to smile.

   With his now empty plate Jihoon started washing the dishes already in the sink. It was what he always did whenever they ate dinner at the dorm. He was always the first one done, always the first to help clean up. Jisoo rushed to finish and began to help Jihoon clean. They washed dishes in silence as people loaded them up with plates. The rest of the members left to go sit in the living room while they waited for the two in the kitchen to finish up. Surprisingly, Jihoon was the first to speak.

   "Jisoo Hyung, what's with you today?"

   "What do you mean?" He tilted his head at Jihoon and gave him a smile.

   "You never seemed to bother yourself with me before," Jihoon's expression darkened, "and now you're calling me 'Jihoonie' and 'cutie'." Jisoo laughed sheepishly.

   "I felt ashamed. I never realized how little you eat and I had never tried to get closer to you and for that I felt bad. I considered you the member I felt the least close to. And I discovered I like your dry sense of humor." Jisoo smiled again, nudging Jihoon with his elbow.

   "Okay. It's just a little weird when you stare at me during dinner." Jihoon stated bluntly. He grabbed the edge of the counter, suddenly feeling lightheaded. The kitchen spun around him.

   "Are you okay?" Jisoo said, rushing up to him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

   "Yeah... I'm fine," Jihoon said, short of breath, "let's finish up quickly so we can join everyone else." Jihoon said while straightening back up. They quickly washed the rest of the dishes, Jihoon's headache dulling to a throbbing pain. It was manageable though, so he didn't say anything. When Jisoo put away the last plate they walked into the living room and sat down with the other members. Jihoon sat between Seokmin and Jisoo. Jisoo sat a bit too close to Jihoon for his liking and he shifted uncomfortably for a couple of minutes before sitting quietly with pursed lips. His hair hung in front of his face and he just listened to the conversation around him without really hearing anything.

   Seungcheol reached across the table to brush Jihoon's hair out of his eyes. Jihoon jumped back in shock.

   "You need a haircut Jihoonie." He said with a bit of a smirk.

   "Is everyone going to call me that now?" Jihoon said with a bit of annoyance.

   "Ne~" his Hyungs sang. All of the younger members just laughed. They didn't figure it would go well if they called their Hyung by a cute nickname. Jihoon sighed and laid his head down on his knees. His head was pounding again, making his eyes water. He stretched and sat up straight.

"I think I'm going to go to bed." Jihoon said, standing up. The members looked up at him, surprised.

"Are you sure Hyung? It's only nine." Seokmin questioned from Jihoon's side.

"Ne. I have a bit of a headache." He scanned their faces before moving to leave.

Jihoon crawled into his bed, his entire body and soul aching more than after even the most rigorous day of practice. He fell asleep easily since he was so tired.

The boy's pudgy fingers grasped the toy, afraid it would get taken away. There was a man, most likely his father, for there were noticeable similarities between the two. The man was yelling at a cop as the boy stood behind him on the dead, bottle-strewn lawn. The man and the cop seemed to be having a heated argument. The man stormed off and grabbed the little boy by the arm, dragging him into the house. The little boy yelped a little before clamping his mouth shut. The man slammed the door behind them and the cop drove off.

"D-daddy what's wrong?" The little boy asked, lightly crying. The father crouched down and glared at the little boy. He poked a long finger into the boy's chest pushing him backwards.

"Your sister ran away. She ran away! Now I'm left with you. You! I never wanted you-" the man continued talking, using big words that the little four year-old didn't know. The little boy cried louder and louder until the father slapped him, shutting the kid up. He dragged the boy by his arm and pulled him into a small dingy room where he locked the door and left him in there, alone.

Jihoon woke with a start, beads of sweat trailing down his neck. He brought up his knees and buried his head in his arms, shutting his eyes tight. A few tears slipped through the barrier of his eyelids. He checked the time. 12:36. He laid back down and breathed slowly, attempting to calm himself down. His breaths were shaky and he choked down sobs that tore at his chest. Once he calmed himself down enough he laid there, exhausted, but unable to fall asleep. He thought about the last couple of days and his actions. He was an idiot. Talking brought back unwanted memories. Why did he talk? He let them get to close and they couldn't find out, he wouldn't let them. He didn't like it. He didn't like shutting them out. But that is what happens when you let them too far in. He was an idiot. He was an idiot. Secrets were meant to stay like that. Secrets. Even before these last couple of days, he realized he had let them in too far. He wouldn't have even been in this mess if it weren't for that sly fox of a man. He was in too deep. God he was an idiot.

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Wow I haven't updated in a long time, please like and comment. Have a good day!😁