it started with the nightmares.
seungcheol would lay awake for hours in his new bed, shifting uncomfortably. the clock would strike 2:00 a.m., and he tries to squeeze his eyes shut, black and whites appearing in his vision before it cuts. something like static cackles, and he hears a gun shot.
it had him gasping awake, flipping over on his stomach, and screams into his pillow. the door opens, and changho comes into view, a pity smile and would embrace the ten year old, who's shaking like a leaf in his hold.
no tears come out. it just won't.
seungcheol was thirteen when changho notices how he often spaces out and blankly stares at the ceiling for hours end. the bags on his eyes growing darker, his skin became pale, becoming picky with his food.
it got him scared, the kid was too young to experience it, and no matter how much he tries to fill the void, asking him what is his problem, seungcheol would evade and trudges to his room. he locks himself and wouldn't even come out to eat.
changho learned seungcheol was getting bullied.
his teacher had called him, frantically telling him that seungcheol punched his classmate. he wasted no time and dashed his way to school. he stood there as the kid was getting scolded for doing such brash actions with no reasons. the latter had his fist clenched, the other hand gripping tightly on his chair until his knuckles turned white. the classmate he had punched was crying in the corner, cowering when a glare was thrown to him by seungcheol.
when he asked what happened, the thirteen year old didn't hesitate to tell him. and he was surprised.
with no such emotions in his voice, he said that they teased him for being the only kid who has no parents, mocking him that they left him. he endured it all, not minding his bullies because he knew better.
but when he heard them, talking about that his parents were dead because he deserved it, he snapped. without thinking, he had done it. his tiny fist came in contact with his cheek. seungcheol had no regrets.
changho didn't reprimand him anymore. he kept his mouth shut and drove them home.
seungcheol was seventeen when he started going home less and less.
he made friends.
changho was glad at first, the boy was coming out of his shell, and started hanging out with same-aged people. he was afraid he was going to waste his high school life alone.
sooner, he discovered what kind of friends they were, the type that he didn't approved of. they were punks who lazed away in the alley behind the convenient store, education unimportant, and spent time drinking soju, smoking, and badmouthed others for fun. despite being a minor, he would attend parties, sneaking out of his window when he thinks the older was asleep. changho can only squeeze his pillow in distaste, and prays for his safety instead.
the younger also started demanding for money.
his eyes were blood shot, lips turning black, and his eyes sunk deeper. he grew skinnier and it alarmed him too much. when he tried prying about his whereabouts, seungcheol told him to fuck off. with shaky hands, he gave him the money and the younger was gone as soon as he came.
changho wasn't blind. he knows what the kid was doing behind his back, but he hasn't the heart to scold the younger, simply, because he's not the parent.
so when the police had called him at one in the morning that a certain choi seungcheol was in their station, he slammed the door shut and drove to the station. changho was fuming, too furious that he was seeing red as he makes haste to bail the kid out. he was ready to yell at him, speech all prepared and hand raised to smack some senses into him.
but when seungcheol came out, knuckles bandaged, head bowed and clutching his form, he softened, the anger cooling down as he embraced the teen in his arms. the apology that left the younger's mouth made him feel sad and guilty. it weighed on him on how the younger's action was because of how he is lacking in the parenting department, slaving away to work for hours to provide him his needs. he spoiled the kid too much and let him do what he wanted, yet it was not time to dwell on his mistakes.
changho took him to mcdonalds that night, and when the teen smiled, a promise of change in his tongue, he felt like he was doing something right.
seungcheol was twenty when love came knocking on his heart.
the older was familiar with how giddy he was every time he went home, his dimples showing as he grins from ear to ear, gushing to him about this person. changho doesn't know who they were, the twenty year old never opened up to him about it, his relationship or preference was a mystery to him but if the kid was happy, then so is he.
it was funny, how seungcheol, who doesn't care what he looks, his clothes mostly sweatpants and hoodies, started to ask for his help in dressing better. he asks if his hair was okay, if his shoes matched with his shirt or if he should wear a watch or not.
it was a complete change.
but as they say, change is constant.
three years of them dating went down the drain.
he never had a name or face of the person seungcheol was so smitten for.
it was the day before his graduation ceremony. he came home intoxicated and was puking his guts out on the carpeted floor. when he asked what happened, all he said was love was a waste of time.
he didn't attend the ceremony. locked in his room and slept. changho didn't know what to do.
seungcheol was twenty four when he realized his life had to move forward.
he came knocking on the older's door, a determined expression on his face, and told him he wants to become a police officer.
the shocked painted on his face caused him to snicker, even he too was surprised on why he decided that on a whim, but he was firm with it. that shock turned into a mellow smile, and he again, embraced the younger, patting him on the back that he finally found the right path.
with his new found strength, he packed his bags and readied himself for the future that awaits.
