jaeyong ✧ skindeep

Ten

The following days seemed to drag and everyday Taeyong would come home to another merciless beating. It seemed as if the friendship the three boys began to form was slowly dissipating. Everything was going backwards; Taeyong went back to eating at the back of the school and almost completely ignoring the pair as if they were strangers. Nothing more than a "hi" was ever muttered from Taeyong to the duo.

~~~~

"You did something, didn't you?" Jaehyun asked Doyoung who was sitting across from him.

Doyoung set his bottled tea down,"And why would I?"

"You were the last person he talked to that day before he started acting like this."

Doyoung leaned on his palm,"Jaehyun, I'm worried about Taeyong too but, stop being a dumbass and accusing me. You know where he lives, don't you? Go talk to him or something."

"You're not gonna come?"

"M'kay, I'll go."

~~~~

Jaehyun's car pulled up in front of Taeyong's house about after an hour of school ending. Jaehyun tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, both boys glancing at the house.

Jaehyun stepped out of the car, peering through the window,"I'll be right back."

He walked up to the doorstep, ringing the doorbell and knocking afterwards. Footsteps became audible from the opposite side until the door was open, Taeyong's father standing in the door frame.

Jaehyun was met with a deadpanned expression from the older man,"Uh, Mr. Lee, is Taeyong home?"

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Jaehyun; Taeyong's friend from school." Jaehyun looked past the man into the house from the limited space the door allowed. He didn't fail to notice the alcohol bottles gathered on the counter or the string scent of cigarettes lingering in the man's breath.

"Taeyong's not here, now leave." He shut the door in Jaehyun's face, not giving him a second of a chance to reply.

Jaehyun walked back to his car. His arms rested on the roof of the car as he peered through the window,"He says Taeyong isn't here."

Doyoung replied,"And?"

Jaehyun clicked his tongue,"I don't know, something feels off about his dad. There was a ton of alcohol bottles sitting on the counter and he reeked of tobacco."

"So, what are you doing? Go break in."

"Doyoung, he's in the damn house-"

"Then looks like we're having a steak out outside the damn house," he said with an annoying smug expression on his face.

Jaehyun didn't retort rather he got back in the driver's seat and moved the car to the opposite side of the sidewalk,"I don't have snacks so sit tight."

Both boys sat in the car for about two hours listening to music, playing "I spy" and even ordering pizza in the process.

After noticing the front door opening, they both scrambled around the car, loudly whispering,"Get down."

Jaehyun peeked at the front of the house, seeing as it appeared Taeyong's father was leaving for errands maybe.

"Do you think he left the front door unlocked?"

"I don't know. Go break in already."

Jaehyun left the car once again, walking to the house trying not to appear suspicious but only appearing it. He placed his hand on the doorknob, slightly shaking it before it opened. He hesitantly entered the house, it's carpets stained with burns from cigarette butts. Three bottles of beer aside a filled ash tray on the coffee table in the living room. The surrounding only made Jaehyun wonder in his mind,"Taeyong lives in this type of place?"

He wandered around the small first story before leading up the stairs into a widened hall. He turned into the first door and his body seemed to freeze for a second. He quickly shook off the feeling and rushed inside the room.

"Holy shit, Taeyong." He muttered, crouching down to Taeyong who was practically beaten half to death. A blotch of red stained the carpet which was from Taeyong bleeding from his mouth, his body looked absolutely bashed and broken. His eyes stained with a purple bruise, leaving it partially open.

Jaehyun quickly pulled out his phone and called Doyoung. Before the other side of the line could say anything, Jaehyun simply said,"Get in here, now," and hung up.

It took no more than ninety seconds till Doyoung was in the same room with Jaehyun and an unconscious Taeyong.

"What the hell happened to him?"

"I don't know but, he's not staying here. Doyoung, grab his backpack, grab his phone and stuff some of his clothes in it."

Jaehyun held Taeyong's arm over his neck and secured a grip around his waist. Doyoung finished the backpack, leaving them getting out of the house as fast as they possibly could.

Jaehyun laid Taeyong's in the backseat before sitting himself in the driver's seat with Doyoung at his side and driving off.

~~~~

Taeyong groaned in pain as he sat up, then immediately realizing the mattress he was on was not his own. He stood up, slouching over due to his stomach, and left the room absent. His hand gripped on the door frame till a familiar voice interrupted.

"You're awake? You should really be laying down, you know."

"Jaehyun? Why am I-"

"Me and Doyoung went to your house to talk to you about why you've been acting weird. We ended up steaking out, breaking in and we found you basically half dead on the carpet. Oh, also I prepared a bath for you."

"Oh."

~~~~

Taeyong dipped his feet into the warm water and slowly submerged the rest of his body. He slowly exhaled till getting startled by the abrupt sound of the bathroom door opening. Jaehyun entered and sat behind Taeyong.

Taeyong turned his head,"What are you doing?"

"Washing your back for you."

"No, you don't ha-"

"Shh."

The feeling of the cold body wash and Jaehyun's hands on his skin brought an abnormal calmness to Taeyong. The way he was extra careful to not apply pressure to the bruises gave this sad emotion to him but he couldn't pinpoint what.

"So is this why you asked Doyoung for his sweats for p.e.? Or the "bug bite" you had on your neck?"

Taeyong didn't reply, he just pulled his knees into his chest and listened to Jaehyun's questions.

"You're staying with me now or if you don't want to, maybe someone else you know. I'm not letting you go back to that house."

"We've only known each other for merely two months so, why?"

"You were being abused. Is there a better reason to?"

~~~~