Brotherly Love? 2/?
Title: Brotherly Love?
Author: chocolet89
Pairings: Hyunchul/Jihwan, minor!Suhoon/Hyunmin
Rating: PG-13
Length: 2/? (on-going)
Genre: slight!Angst, Fluff, Incest
Summary: Just when Karam has finally put the past memories behind him and is looking towards the brighter side of life, his mother states she’s getting remarried. How will Karam cope with his new stepfather and stepbrother moving in while at the same time struggle to stop the memories from resurfacing again?
~
The next few weeks passed by uneventfully as Karam’s new family settled in. Karam still found it hard to relax around his new stepfather but his stepfather seemed to understand and respect Karam’s privacy and would try to keep enough space between them so that Karam wouldn’t feel too awkward around him.
Karam was grateful for this and in return, he tried his best to get along with everyone. Jay was a very happy kid and every time he saw Karam, he would always have this big smile on his face. Karam couldn’t help but smile back faintly every time Jay greeted him.
Soon the first day of school arrived and Karam couldn’t wait to go back. During the whole of their summer vacation, his best friend had gone on a tour around Europe with his family and they had only been able to communicate occasionally via emails during the whole break.
As soon as Karam walked into his classroom, a tall student with a husky voice enveloped him in a big hug from behind. “Karam!!!” the student said happily.
Karam’s first reaction was to cringe and flinch back from the touch, but at the sound of the owner’s voice, Karam relaxed into the embrace and quickly turned around and returned the hug. “Hyunmin,” Karam said sighing happily. “I’ve missed you.”
Hyunmin was Karam’s best friend and they’d been close ever since elementary school. Hyunmin was like a brother to Karam, he was the only person Karam had ever let into his personal space and not feel afraid of touching. “How’ve you been? Did you have fun in Europe?” Karam asked as they went to sit down at their desks.
“Yeah, it was great fun, sorry I couldn’t reply back to your last email. The last place we stayed at for two weeks didn’t have any internet, so I couldn’t contact you again.”
“Oh that’s okay, as long as you had fun, then its all good,” Karam replied back.
“Oh yeah, you mentioned in the last email I read that your new family moved in just a few weeks ago right? How is everything? Are you coping well?” Hyunmin asked worriedly.
Karam smiled inwardly. Hyunmin was the only person he’d ever told his past to. When they were kids, Hyunmin had always been there for Karam and Karam felt it was only right to tell Hyunmin everything. And he was glad he did. Instead of the disgust that normal people felt after hearing such a tale, Hyunmin had embraced Karam and promised him that he would always stay by Karam’s side not just as his friend, but also as his bodyguard, to make sure that he never got hurt again.
“Hey Karam, you okay? You look like you’re spacing off there,” Hyunmin said as he waved his hand in front of Karam’s face. Karam snapped out of his thoughts quickly.
“S-sorry I was just thinking of something else. Umm … e-everything is fine at home. My new family is … nice. I just need to get used to their presence, that’s all. After that, I will be fine,” Karam replied with a small smile.
“Ooh, that’s good to hear. How old is your stepbrother? You did say you have a new brother right, or did I remember wrongly?” Hyunmin asked.
“Haha yes you’re right. My stepbrother’s fourteen years old, he’s going to be a first year here starting today,” Karam replied. He wondered how Jay was doing. Because he was beginning his first day in middle school today, Jay had had to leave early for the orientation. Karam had offered to accompany him, but Jay dismissed him off saying he would be fine by himself.
They continued talking a bit more as more students strolled into the classroom, and soon the bell rang to signal the beginning of their classes. As their homeroom teacher droned on about the responsibilities of being a second year, Karam couldn’t help but worry about Jay. It was weird how he kept thinking about Jay, it was like the first time he ever cared about someone else (other than Hyunmin of course). He hoped the boy was doing okay.
---
When lunch break came along, Karam and Hyunmin went to the cafeteria to grab some food before heading to the rooftop to eat. Karam enjoyed eating up there, as it was always quiet and peaceful with no one else around. The cafeteria on the other hand would always be full of people and in turn would make him feel rather uncomfortable.
However, as they reached the entrance to the rooftop, all hopes of having a quiet lunch break was dashed from Karam as he saw the familiar figure of a third year student sitting against the wall.
“Suhoon!!!” Hyunmin cried out happily beside Karam. The student sitting against the wall looked up from where he was staring off into space and his face broke out into a smile when he saw the pair standing by the doorway.
“Hyunmin!!!” Suhoon yelled out as he got up from where he was sitting and rushed forward into Hyunmin’s outstretched arms.
Karam sighed as Hyunmin started spinning Suhoon around in circles - so much for having Hyunmin all to himself this lunch break. He was hoping to catch up with Hyunmin on everything that had happened during their break.
“Hello Suhoon-hyung,” Karam said once Suhoon had released himself from Hyunmin’s embrace.
“Hi Karam,” Suhoon replied. “Sorry, hope you don’t mind me stealing Hyunmin this lunch break. It’s been forever since I last saw him.”
“Hahaha Suhoon, I haven’t seen Karam in a long time too, can’t you share me with him?” Hyunmin asked jokingly.
O__O “You mean you would rather spend time with someone other than your boyfriend that you haven’t seen in like over a month??” T__T Suhoon turned around and pretended to cry.
“Awww, I’m sorry, don’t cry I was only joking! I love you the most [i]hyung[/i],” Hyunmin said as he pulled his boyfriend into a hug again while mouthing the word NOT to Karam.
Karam hid his smile by ducking his head down while Suhoon just spazzed in Hyunmin’s embrace from being called [i]hyung[/i] by his younger boyfriend.
Suhoon was a third year student known as the ‘prince’ of the school for his good looks and cool demeanour. It was all just for show of course, in front of Hyunmin, Suhoon showed his true personality as a very dorky and childish 16 year old.
When Suhoon and Hyunmin started going out, everyone was surprised. Everyone thought that Suhoon and Karam would make the perfect couple, what with Suhoon being the ‘prince’, and Karam being the ‘princess’ of the school.
But what was even more surprising was the fact that it was Suhoon himself that asked Hyunmin out. One day when Hyunmin and Karam walked up to the rooftop as usual, they saw Suhoon standing there leaning against the wall. When he caught sight of Hyunmin, he’d taken a deep breath before walking up to Hyunmin to confess his feelings.
Karam had been totally shocked and quickly excused himself to give them their own personal privacy. When he’d returned fifteen minutes later, he found the pair locked in a tight embrace declaring their love for each other …
Karam’s thoughts were brought back to reality when he heard Suhoon nagging to Hyunmin about how much he’s missed him. Karam sighed to himself as he thought is this boy really a third year student? And how did he ever get nominated as prince of the school? Karam laughed to himself as he excused himself to the loved-up duo before heading back downstairs. May as well give them some personal time of their own.
Once downstairs, Karam started walking in a random direction, when he suddenly heard someone shouting and quickly walked closer to where the noise was coming from. As he peered around the corner of a building, he saw to his surprise, Jay being pushed around by a student.
“Jay!” Karam shouted out. At hearing his name, Jay turned around just as the other student pushed him to the ground. Jay yelped as he fell hard on the ground. Rushing forward to the younger boy, Karam aided him to sit up as he asked, “Jay, are you okay?”
Jay let out a hiss as he looked at his elbows which were bleeding and covered in dirt, but he nodded his head at Karam’s question. “I-I’m okay hyung.”
“H-hey stop acting innocent in front of the princess. Hurry up and give me back my wallet,” the student still standing there demanded.
“Wallet? What’s going on?” Karam asked.
Jay looked down at the ground and replied, “He’s accusing me of stealing his wallet because I accidentally bumped into him just then.”
“Don’t deny it,” the boy said. “I know you took it. And just by looking at your appearance I can tell you’re a bad student. Why else would anyone dye their hair red except to try and gain attention?”
Karam’s eyes flared in anger upon hearing that and he stood up to glare at the student who took a step back. “What do you mean you can tell he is a bad student? Just because he has red hair, doesn’t necessarily mean he’s trying to gain attention with it. Haven’t you ever heard of the saying, don’t judge a book by its cover?”
Jay tugged on the hem of Karam’s pants to get his attention and said, “Hyung, it wasn’t me! I swear I didn’t take it! Please believe me!”
Karam smiled down at Jay as he helped him to stand up before scanning the area quickly. It was obvious Jay was telling the truth. Even though he’d only met Jay a few weeks ago, Karam could tell Jay was the type of kid to never steal anything. Sighing to himself, Karam pointed to a tree behind the student, “Is that your wallet that’s lying there beside the tree?”
The student turned around and gasped when he caught sight of it. He quickly went over to grab it before running back over face flushed red in embarrassment.
“I-I’m sorry, a-are you okay?” the student said as he bowed to Jay in apology.
Jay bowed back politely and said, “It’s okay, I’m sorry for running into you in the first place. I will try to be more careful and watchful of where I am going in the future.
The student just stood there looking at Jay in surprise. He expected Jay to tell him off for the misunderstanding, but instead, the boy was bowing back to him and apologizing.
“Next time, look around first and don’t just come to conclusions so easily,” Karam said as he looked at Jay’s elbows, “now let’s head over to the nurse’s office to get you cleaned up. Umma won’t be happy if she saw you come home with bloody elbows on your first day of middle school.”
“U-umma?” the boy asked.
Karam looked at the boy and answered back, “Yes umma. This boy here that you just accused of stealing and pushed over is my brother, Jay.” And with that, Karam led Jay away with one arm around the younger boy’s shoulders.
---
When they arrived at the nurse’s office, they saw a note pinned to the door saying “at a meeting, back in thirty minutes”. After pondering for a few seconds, Karam gently pushed open the door and walked inside dragging a reluctant Jay in behind him.
“H-hyung, should we be coming in here when no one’s around?” Jay asked in a quiet voice.
Karam smiled as he ushered Jay over to one of the beds, “Yes its fine, I’ve been in here a few times and the teacher in charge is a really nice guy, he won’t mind if we have an eligible reason for being in here.”
Karam walked over to one of the cabinets and started rummaging through the contents until he found what he was after. He walked back over to the bed and dumped some salve and bandaids beside Jay before going over to the sink and wetting a piece of cloth he got from a rack and then coming back again.
Sitting down beside Jay, Karam lifted up Jay’s left elbow and gently pressed the cloth against it, dabbing at it gently. Once all the blood and dirt was cleaned off, Karam then applied the salve onto the injured area and covered it with some bandaids before repeating the same process on the other elbow.
“Thanks hyung, you’re the best,” Jay said beaming happily once Karam had applied the last bandaid onto his other elbow. However, as Jay hopped off the bed he suddenly clutched his lower back in pain.
“Jay!” Karam said as he quickly pulled Jay back onto the bed, “What’s wrong?”
“My back hurts hyung,” Jay replied as he winced in pain. “I think I sort of fell onto a sharp object before when that guy pushed me, but I didn’t think it was serious.”
Karam quickly got the boy to lie down on his stomach and lift his shirt up for Karam to see. Karam’s eyes widened in shock as he saw a bruise that had formed on Jay’s lower back. Slowly he reached out a hand and touched it lightly. Jay flinched at the touch. Karam was brought back to memories of the past as he remembered how his father had used to abuse him like that. Jay saw Karam’s face change and quickly turned around and sat up, wincing slightly in pain at the sudden action.
This brought Karam back to reality and he quickly helped Jay sit upright. “Hyung, are you okay?” Jay asked looking up at Karam earnestly. Karam let slip a small smile and ruffled the younger boy’s hair.
“Silly, I’m the one who should be asking you that. Here lie back down again, I’ll go grab some ice for it.”
As Karam went searching for an ice pack in the freezer, he decided to ask Jay a question that had been in his mind for a while now. “Jay, hope you won’t mind me asking you this but, why is your hair red? I’m just curious, please don’t be angry.”
“Oh its no big deal really,” Jay replied as he started his story, “For our graduation in elementary school, we had to do a play and my part in the play was someone with red hair and to make it realistic they really dyed my hair. It took a lot of colouring and bleaching to get it to the way they wanted. But after the play was over, they didn’t want to dye my hair again because it would damage my hair and my scalp was already itching a bit from the bleaching. So I have to wait a few more months until I can colour my hair again. I thought I could dye it again just before the start of middle school, but appa was against it, saying to wait for another few months.”
“Oh I see,” Karam said as came back to the bed with an ice pack in hand. “I personally think the red suits you. Sure I was surprised at first, I mean who wouldn’t be,” - Jay looked a bit hurt at that (jokingly) but Karam quickly continued on, “but it’s a nice touch though, you look … cute.
Anyway,” Karam said quickly changing the subject, “Umm … this might feel weird at first but it will help to heal the bruising quicker okay?”
Jay nodded and Karam slowly placed the ice pack over the bruise. However, as soon as it made contact with his skin, Jay yelped and bolted upright, the pain all but forgotten.
“Yaaaaahh omg hyung!!” Jay cried out as he flailed his arms in the air. “Are you trying to kill me with that thing???”
Karam sat there in shock at Jay’s sudden outburst before he burst out laughing at Jay’s cute and adorable reaction.
O__O “Hyung ~~ don’t laugh, its not funny!!” Jay pouted a bit before grabbing the ice pack from Karam’s hand. Before Karam could respond to what was happening, Jay quickly lifted the hem of Karam’s shirt up and pressed the ice pack against his skin.
“Wahh!!! Jay!!!” Karam shouted as he quickly jumped away from the boy. Jay just smirked and got off the bed, ice pack in hand, and the pain all but forgotten as he started to close the distance between Karam and himself.
Thus began a game of tiggy between the two boys with Karam running around the small room trying to avoid Jay and the deadly ice pack. The game continued for another few minutes until they both collapsed in laughter on a bed, panting and out of breath.
Just as Jay was about to slap the now melting ice pack onto Karam’s arm, Karam’s phone starting ringing. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Karam answered, “Hello?”
Hey Karam, where’d you head off to? I still have your food here, hurry up and come back before Suhoon steals i-owww what’d you hit me for Suhoon? Ah anyway come back soon okay ~
“Hahahaa okays I’ll head back now, I’m bringing my brother along with me, see you guys soon,” Karam said as he hung up.
“That was my best friend Hyunmin asking me where I was haha, come on I’ll go introduce you to him,” Karam explained to Jay. Helping Jay up off the bed, Karam then grabbed the ice pack and put it back into the freezer before leading the way out of the room.
---
As Karam opened the door to entrance of the rooftop, his mouth dropped open in surprise and he quickly covered Jay’s eyes with a hand, but not before Jay had caught a quick glimpse of the scene currently playing in front of them.
Hyunmin had Suhoon pushed against the wall and was currently snogging the daylights out of him while his hands were underneath Suhoon’s shirt roaming around god knows where.
“WOO HYUNMIN!!! Just what do you think you guys are doing?? And in a school no less??”
The two lovebirds quickly broke apart at the sound of Karam’s voice. Hyunmin looked at Karam guiltily while Suhoon just stood there smiling innocently and buttoning his shirt up again.
“Ahh sorry Karam, we got a bit carried away waiting for you to come up here …” Hyunmin trailed off trying not to look in Suhoon’s direction.
“Sheesh maybe you shouldn’t have called me back up here in the first place … Anyway, now that we’re all properly dressed,” Karam said as he eyed Suhoon who had just finished doing up the last button on his top, “This is my brother Jay, he’s a first year so please look after him.” Karam pushed a blushing Jay in front of him who was still recovering from the scene he had just witnessed before.
“Ehhh Karam you have a brother?? Since when??” Suhoon asked as he wrapped his arms around Hyunmin’s waist.
“Since over the school break, and before you ask no we are not blood related, he’s my stepbrother,” Karam replied knowing exactly what Suhoon was going to ask.
“Ah okay then, hi Jay nice to meet you, my name is Suhoon, I’m the ‘prince’ of this school ~ and I’m also Hyunmin’s boyfriend,” Suhoon said as a way of introducing himself while still clinging onto Hyunmin.
“And I’m Hyunmin, Karam’s best buddy. Sorry you had to witness that little scene before,” Hyunmin said apologetically.
“A-ah umm it’s okay, n-nice to meet you too Suhoon-hyung and Hyunmin-hyung,” Jay replied keeping his eyes on the ground.
After introductions were made, Karam grabbed his food from Hyunmin and shared it with Jay while Hyunmin and Suhoon made small talk with Jay. Jay had never met guys that had admitted to being in an open relationship, so he was still a bit shy from watching Suhoon and Hyunmin’s closeness, but eventually by the end of lunch break, Jay had managed to stop fidgeting around and blushing every time Suhoon stole a kiss from Hyunmin.
Soon it was time for class and Suhoon reluctantly pulled himself away from Hyunmin to go his classes while Karam walked Jay to his next class before heading back with Hyunmin to theirs.
As they walked back to class, Hyunmin commented on how Jay’s presence was a good thing for Karam, because he hadn’t seen Karam so happy in a long time around people other than Hyunmin himself. Karam smiled a rare smile at hearing that, for some reason, Jay was different to everyone else. He was so pure and innocent, a really sweet kid, he always brightened Karam up with his smiles.
The rest of the day passed by uneventfully and when classes were finally over, Karam went off to find Jay after bidding Hyunmin goodbye who was off to see Suhoon.
They walked home that day with Karam carrying Jay’s school bag. Their parents both had work and couldn’t pick them up. Karam suggested they take a bus because of the bruise Jay got from this afternoon, but Jay declined saying it was only a short 20 minute walk so it wouldn’t kill him.
When they got home, Karam told Jay to go take a shower first to refresh and clean himself up, to which Jay agreed to happily. While Jay went to take a shower, Karam got changed into something more comfortable before lying down on his bed.
Today had been surprisingly eventful. He was still angry with that student who had accused and pushed Jay over, but he had apologized, and Jay wasn’t angry with him either so Karam didn’t really have an excuse to continue having a grudge against him.
Karam then thought back to what happened in the nurse’s room and smiled, he hadn’t had that much fun in a long time. How was it that Jay was able to slip past his barriers so easily? Karam normally wouldn’t let anyone touch him, yet there he was, helping Jay clean his wounds, putting an arm around his shoulder to aid him when walking etc.
As these thoughts flitted through his mind, Karam slowly drifted off to sleep, not even aware that Jay had walked into his room after coming out from his shower.
Just like that first day when they had met, Jay sat down on the bed beside Karam and started running his fingers through Karam’s silky blonde locks. Looking at Karam’s features, Jay smiled when he saw that Karam had a smile on his face this time instead of the frown and tear stained cheeks that he had witnessed a few weeks ago.
Pulling the blankets up over his hyung, Jay then went back to his own room and started working on some homework that he’d already gotten on his first day at school.
---
A few hours later, Karam was awoken by a vibration in his pocket as his phone started ringing. Slowly tugging the phone out, Karam answered the phone, “Hello?”
“Hi Karam, it’s umma. Do you boys think you can take care of dinner tonight by yourselves? There’s a deadline for a project at work that your aboji really needs to meet so I’ll be helping him until real late tonight.”
“Oh okay then, sure, I’ll cook dinner for Jay tonight then. Don’t worry, we’ll be fine umma. Take care and umm … “ Karam paused for a second before saying, “T-tell aboji I said good luck on meeting the deadline.”
“Thank you Karam and I’ll definitely pass your message onto him. I really need to go now, make sure all the doors are locked before you two go to bed, we’ll be back real late, most likely after midnight.”
After they bid their goodbyes, Karam got out of bed and peeked into Jay’s room to see what he was up to. Seeing his brother engrossed with textbooks that were opened on the desk in front of him, Karam decided not to bother him and headed downstairs to the kitchen to start rummaging through their food supplies to see what he could use to prepare dinner. After finding what he needed, Karam put on his mother’s apron and got to work with preparing all the ingredients.
Around half an hour later, Jay could smell a nice aroma from where he was upstairs and he quickly headed downstairs following the smell. Hearing some noises coming from the kitchen Jay walked in that direction and found Karam standing by the stove stirring something in a pot. Hearing Jay approaching, Karam stopped his work and looked up. “Oh Jay, our parents are going to be working late tonight to meet a deadline for work. They’ll be coming home late, possibly after midnight. I’ll make dinner tonight, hope you don’t mind.”
“Oh no I don’t mind, actually I’m hopeless at cooking hehe,” Jay said sheepishly.
Karam smiled and said, “It’s not hard, I’ll teach you one day, and then you can cook for me the next time our parents are out late again hahaha.”
Jay agreed laughing lightly as he went to set up the table for them. A few minutes later, Karam was done with the cooking and they settled down to eat dinner by themselves for the first time since Jay and his father moved in.
Jay played with the rice in his bowl as he finally bought up the question he’d been meaning to ask Karam all day ever since the incident from lunch break occurred.
“Hyung …” Jay began slowly.
“Hmm?” Karam replied, as he was about to put a spoonful of rice into his mouth.
“Umm … well today during the incident at lunch break ... I heard the guy address you as ‘princess’ … why is this?”
“Oh,” Karam said as he felt his cheeks turn a slight red. “Umm … well you know how Hyunmin’s boyfriend Suhoon is known as the ‘prince’ right because of his good looks and supposedly cool demeanour? Well because I have really feminine features, all the other students refer to me as the ‘princess’. It’s really so embarrassing. And Hyunmin is officially appointed as my ‘bodyguard’ because he’s always with me and protecting me from the random fan boy who wants to attack me.”
Jay chuckled at that, content with the answer and they continued to eat dinner in a nice atmosphere. After dinner, Jay helped Karam with the washing up and it was finished really quickly.
Afterwards, they headed upstairs again and Karam went to take a shower while Jay went back to doing his homework.
After his shower, Karam went to peek inside Jay’s room again and found the younger boy stretching his arms above his head, the textbooks and notebooks all stacked up neatly in a corner on the table.
“All done Jay?” Karam asked as he went and sat down on the bed next to where Jay was sitting.
“Ah hyung,” Jay said in surprise, not even realizing Karam had come out from the shower. “Yeah, I’m lucky I only got homework for three subjects, and it wasn’t all that hard or at least not yet anyway,” Jay said beaming happily.
“Hahaha I see, it’s nice to see you’re a good kid who does his homework on time,” Karam said as he reached out and ruffled Jay’s hair. It seemed to have become a habit for him to touch Jay’s hair these days.
Looking down at Jay’s elbows, Karam saw that the boy had taken the bandaids off, probably during when he took a shower. “Jay, you should probably cover those injuries up for the next few days, it wouldn’t be good if you got them infected. Wait, I’ll go grab some bandaids okay?”
Jay nodded his head obediently and watched his hyung walk out of the room and come back seconds later with some salve and bandaids in hand. Motioning for Jay to sit on the bed beside him, Karam then started to apply the salve onto Jay’s elbows before putting the bandaids on, repeating the process from this afternoon.
“Oh yeah, you know, I never did get to apply that ice pack onto your bruise Jay. Ice really is good for healing bruises faster, I wasn’t lying,” Karam said as he threw the rubbish in the bin.
“Oh hahaha sorry about that hyung,” Jay replied sheepishly as he remembered how he had repaid Karam’s kindness by chasing him around the room with the ice pack.
“Hahaha it’s okay, it was pretty fun I admit,” Karam said smiling one of his rare smiles at Jay. “But we seriously need to do something about that bruise of yours, leaving it like that is not good. We have an ice pack in the freezer … do I trust you to not attack me again with it this time?” Karam asked with a raised eyebrow.
Jay just grinned, “Can’t promise anything, but I’ll try my best to stay still!” Karam returned the grin and went downstairs quickly to grab the ice pack from the freezer.
When he came back, Jay got into position and lied down on the bed, pulling his shirt up as Karam moved closer and sat down on the bed beside him.
“You ready?” Karam asked, as he held the ice back above the bruise on Jay’s skin.
Jay nodded and closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around the pillow underneath him. Slowly Karam touched the ice pack gently against Jay’s skin. He could feel Jay’s body twitch slightly underneath him and he quickly lifted the ice pack up again. After a few seconds, Karam pressed the ice pack against Jay’s back again before lifting it up quickly again. Karam repeated this process several times trying to get Jay’s body used to the feel of temperature of the ice pack until finally, Karam had the ice pack pressed firmly against the bruise as Jay’s body finally got used to the coldness of the ice pack against his skin.
After a few minutes of silence, with the only sound being Karam gently positioning the ice pack over Jay’s back every now and then, Jay finally broke the silence and spoke up. “T-Thanks so much for all you’ve done for me today hyung,” he said as started picking on a random string on the corner of the pillow.
“You helped stand up for me when the guy teased me about my red hair, and you believed in me when I said I didn’t steal the wallet. Then you helped me dress my wounds in the nurse’s room and even now, you’re applying ice onto my bruise. I don’t think anyone other than appa has done this much for me ...” he said as he slowly trailed off.
Jay’s thoughts were met with silence and he slowly turned his head around to look up at Karam who looked lost in thought.
“H-hyung, you okay? Did I say something wrong?” Jay asked as he turned around and sat up to get closer to his hyung. As he did this, the ice pack slid off his back and Karam’s hand came into contact against Jay’s skin.
“A-ah sorry Jay,” Karam said as he quickly snatched his hand back. “I-I’m fine, I just … got caught up … in my own … thoughts.”
Jay tilted his head to one side and asked, “What were you thinking about hyung? Can you tell me, please?”
Karam turned his gaze onto his stepbrother and Jay could see sadness swirling through those hazel eyes.
“I-I’m sorry Jay, it’s nothing really. I was just thinking … you’re such a sweet boy Jay, you care for everyone around you and you’re always smiling no matter what happens. I feel as if I have to protect you, not just because it is my responsibility as your hyung, but because I don’t want to ever see you get hurt. I don’t want anyone to ever take your innocence away … just like how mine was …” The last bit was said in a whisper but it didn’t escape Jay’s ears.
Jay’s heart ached, as he knew exactly just what Karam was referring to when he whispered that last bit. “H-hyung, thank you … and I promise I’ll always be here for you too! If you ever feel unhappy, just come talk to me! I’ll listen to your problems too! You’re my hyung, so it’s my responsibility to look out for you too!!” Jay said as he shifted closer to Karam to look him in the eyes.
Karam returned the gaze and couldn’t help but smile back. Before he even realized what he was doing, Karam wrapped his arms around Jay and embraced him in a hug. “Thank you Jay, that means a lot to me,” he said earnestly as Jay slowly returned the hug by wrapping his arms around his hyung’s neck.
This was the first time in ten years Karam had ever embraced anyone other than his mother and Hyunmin. Surprisingly, his body did not flinch at the feeling of another body pressing against him. Rather Karam felt really warm inside and he could feel a bubbly feeling forming from the pit of his stomach.
“Thank you,” Karam repeated again as he rested his chin against Jay’s shoulder, wrapping his arms even tighter around the younger boy, relishing at all these new wonderful feelings he was feeling at the moment.
---
[Chapter 3]
[Chapter 2]
[Chapter 1]
[Prologue]
---
A/N: Sorry for the late update everyone! I was away for three weeks on vacation and didn't end up posting this chapter before I left :(
I actually wrote this chapter last year sometime (I've been posting this on AMFI before ^^) and after reading back on it, I notice some parts are a bit too ... lighthearted? I originally planned on just focusing on building KaJay's relationship and therefore didn't take much account to everything else >_< so I apologize if this fic doesn't seem to relate to reality too much ... if that makes sense.
I'm still trying to improve my writing skills so please bare with me! Thank you for everyone who's reading this fic (yes I know there are silent readers out there hiding somewhere >D) ♥
Author: chocolet89
Pairings: Hyunchul/Jihwan, minor!Suhoon/Hyunmin
Rating: PG-13
Length: 2/? (on-going)
Genre: slight!Angst, Fluff, Incest
Summary: Just when Karam has finally put the past memories behind him and is looking towards the brighter side of life, his mother states she’s getting remarried. How will Karam cope with his new stepfather and stepbrother moving in while at the same time struggle to stop the memories from resurfacing again?
~
The next few weeks passed by uneventfully as Karam’s new family settled in. Karam still found it hard to relax around his new stepfather but his stepfather seemed to understand and respect Karam’s privacy and would try to keep enough space between them so that Karam wouldn’t feel too awkward around him.
Karam was grateful for this and in return, he tried his best to get along with everyone. Jay was a very happy kid and every time he saw Karam, he would always have this big smile on his face. Karam couldn’t help but smile back faintly every time Jay greeted him.
Soon the first day of school arrived and Karam couldn’t wait to go back. During the whole of their summer vacation, his best friend had gone on a tour around Europe with his family and they had only been able to communicate occasionally via emails during the whole break.
As soon as Karam walked into his classroom, a tall student with a husky voice enveloped him in a big hug from behind. “Karam!!!” the student said happily.
Karam’s first reaction was to cringe and flinch back from the touch, but at the sound of the owner’s voice, Karam relaxed into the embrace and quickly turned around and returned the hug. “Hyunmin,” Karam said sighing happily. “I’ve missed you.”
Hyunmin was Karam’s best friend and they’d been close ever since elementary school. Hyunmin was like a brother to Karam, he was the only person Karam had ever let into his personal space and not feel afraid of touching. “How’ve you been? Did you have fun in Europe?” Karam asked as they went to sit down at their desks.
“Yeah, it was great fun, sorry I couldn’t reply back to your last email. The last place we stayed at for two weeks didn’t have any internet, so I couldn’t contact you again.”
“Oh that’s okay, as long as you had fun, then its all good,” Karam replied back.
“Oh yeah, you mentioned in the last email I read that your new family moved in just a few weeks ago right? How is everything? Are you coping well?” Hyunmin asked worriedly.
Karam smiled inwardly. Hyunmin was the only person he’d ever told his past to. When they were kids, Hyunmin had always been there for Karam and Karam felt it was only right to tell Hyunmin everything. And he was glad he did. Instead of the disgust that normal people felt after hearing such a tale, Hyunmin had embraced Karam and promised him that he would always stay by Karam’s side not just as his friend, but also as his bodyguard, to make sure that he never got hurt again.
“Hey Karam, you okay? You look like you’re spacing off there,” Hyunmin said as he waved his hand in front of Karam’s face. Karam snapped out of his thoughts quickly.
“S-sorry I was just thinking of something else. Umm … e-everything is fine at home. My new family is … nice. I just need to get used to their presence, that’s all. After that, I will be fine,” Karam replied with a small smile.
“Ooh, that’s good to hear. How old is your stepbrother? You did say you have a new brother right, or did I remember wrongly?” Hyunmin asked.
“Haha yes you’re right. My stepbrother’s fourteen years old, he’s going to be a first year here starting today,” Karam replied. He wondered how Jay was doing. Because he was beginning his first day in middle school today, Jay had had to leave early for the orientation. Karam had offered to accompany him, but Jay dismissed him off saying he would be fine by himself.
They continued talking a bit more as more students strolled into the classroom, and soon the bell rang to signal the beginning of their classes. As their homeroom teacher droned on about the responsibilities of being a second year, Karam couldn’t help but worry about Jay. It was weird how he kept thinking about Jay, it was like the first time he ever cared about someone else (other than Hyunmin of course). He hoped the boy was doing okay.
---
When lunch break came along, Karam and Hyunmin went to the cafeteria to grab some food before heading to the rooftop to eat. Karam enjoyed eating up there, as it was always quiet and peaceful with no one else around. The cafeteria on the other hand would always be full of people and in turn would make him feel rather uncomfortable.
However, as they reached the entrance to the rooftop, all hopes of having a quiet lunch break was dashed from Karam as he saw the familiar figure of a third year student sitting against the wall.
“Suhoon!!!” Hyunmin cried out happily beside Karam. The student sitting against the wall looked up from where he was staring off into space and his face broke out into a smile when he saw the pair standing by the doorway.
“Hyunmin!!!” Suhoon yelled out as he got up from where he was sitting and rushed forward into Hyunmin’s outstretched arms.
Karam sighed as Hyunmin started spinning Suhoon around in circles - so much for having Hyunmin all to himself this lunch break. He was hoping to catch up with Hyunmin on everything that had happened during their break.
“Hello Suhoon-hyung,” Karam said once Suhoon had released himself from Hyunmin’s embrace.
“Hi Karam,” Suhoon replied. “Sorry, hope you don’t mind me stealing Hyunmin this lunch break. It’s been forever since I last saw him.”
“Hahaha Suhoon, I haven’t seen Karam in a long time too, can’t you share me with him?” Hyunmin asked jokingly.
O__O “You mean you would rather spend time with someone other than your boyfriend that you haven’t seen in like over a month??” T__T Suhoon turned around and pretended to cry.
“Awww, I’m sorry, don’t cry I was only joking! I love you the most [i]hyung[/i],” Hyunmin said as he pulled his boyfriend into a hug again while mouthing the word NOT to Karam.
Karam hid his smile by ducking his head down while Suhoon just spazzed in Hyunmin’s embrace from being called [i]hyung[/i] by his younger boyfriend.
Suhoon was a third year student known as the ‘prince’ of the school for his good looks and cool demeanour. It was all just for show of course, in front of Hyunmin, Suhoon showed his true personality as a very dorky and childish 16 year old.
When Suhoon and Hyunmin started going out, everyone was surprised. Everyone thought that Suhoon and Karam would make the perfect couple, what with Suhoon being the ‘prince’, and Karam being the ‘princess’ of the school.
But what was even more surprising was the fact that it was Suhoon himself that asked Hyunmin out. One day when Hyunmin and Karam walked up to the rooftop as usual, they saw Suhoon standing there leaning against the wall. When he caught sight of Hyunmin, he’d taken a deep breath before walking up to Hyunmin to confess his feelings.
Karam had been totally shocked and quickly excused himself to give them their own personal privacy. When he’d returned fifteen minutes later, he found the pair locked in a tight embrace declaring their love for each other …
Karam’s thoughts were brought back to reality when he heard Suhoon nagging to Hyunmin about how much he’s missed him. Karam sighed to himself as he thought is this boy really a third year student? And how did he ever get nominated as prince of the school? Karam laughed to himself as he excused himself to the loved-up duo before heading back downstairs. May as well give them some personal time of their own.
Once downstairs, Karam started walking in a random direction, when he suddenly heard someone shouting and quickly walked closer to where the noise was coming from. As he peered around the corner of a building, he saw to his surprise, Jay being pushed around by a student.
“Jay!” Karam shouted out. At hearing his name, Jay turned around just as the other student pushed him to the ground. Jay yelped as he fell hard on the ground. Rushing forward to the younger boy, Karam aided him to sit up as he asked, “Jay, are you okay?”
Jay let out a hiss as he looked at his elbows which were bleeding and covered in dirt, but he nodded his head at Karam’s question. “I-I’m okay hyung.”
“H-hey stop acting innocent in front of the princess. Hurry up and give me back my wallet,” the student still standing there demanded.
“Wallet? What’s going on?” Karam asked.
Jay looked down at the ground and replied, “He’s accusing me of stealing his wallet because I accidentally bumped into him just then.”
“Don’t deny it,” the boy said. “I know you took it. And just by looking at your appearance I can tell you’re a bad student. Why else would anyone dye their hair red except to try and gain attention?”
Karam’s eyes flared in anger upon hearing that and he stood up to glare at the student who took a step back. “What do you mean you can tell he is a bad student? Just because he has red hair, doesn’t necessarily mean he’s trying to gain attention with it. Haven’t you ever heard of the saying, don’t judge a book by its cover?”
Jay tugged on the hem of Karam’s pants to get his attention and said, “Hyung, it wasn’t me! I swear I didn’t take it! Please believe me!”
Karam smiled down at Jay as he helped him to stand up before scanning the area quickly. It was obvious Jay was telling the truth. Even though he’d only met Jay a few weeks ago, Karam could tell Jay was the type of kid to never steal anything. Sighing to himself, Karam pointed to a tree behind the student, “Is that your wallet that’s lying there beside the tree?”
The student turned around and gasped when he caught sight of it. He quickly went over to grab it before running back over face flushed red in embarrassment.
“I-I’m sorry, a-are you okay?” the student said as he bowed to Jay in apology.
Jay bowed back politely and said, “It’s okay, I’m sorry for running into you in the first place. I will try to be more careful and watchful of where I am going in the future.
The student just stood there looking at Jay in surprise. He expected Jay to tell him off for the misunderstanding, but instead, the boy was bowing back to him and apologizing.
“Next time, look around first and don’t just come to conclusions so easily,” Karam said as he looked at Jay’s elbows, “now let’s head over to the nurse’s office to get you cleaned up. Umma won’t be happy if she saw you come home with bloody elbows on your first day of middle school.”
“U-umma?” the boy asked.
Karam looked at the boy and answered back, “Yes umma. This boy here that you just accused of stealing and pushed over is my brother, Jay.” And with that, Karam led Jay away with one arm around the younger boy’s shoulders.
---
When they arrived at the nurse’s office, they saw a note pinned to the door saying “at a meeting, back in thirty minutes”. After pondering for a few seconds, Karam gently pushed open the door and walked inside dragging a reluctant Jay in behind him.
“H-hyung, should we be coming in here when no one’s around?” Jay asked in a quiet voice.
Karam smiled as he ushered Jay over to one of the beds, “Yes its fine, I’ve been in here a few times and the teacher in charge is a really nice guy, he won’t mind if we have an eligible reason for being in here.”
Karam walked over to one of the cabinets and started rummaging through the contents until he found what he was after. He walked back over to the bed and dumped some salve and bandaids beside Jay before going over to the sink and wetting a piece of cloth he got from a rack and then coming back again.
Sitting down beside Jay, Karam lifted up Jay’s left elbow and gently pressed the cloth against it, dabbing at it gently. Once all the blood and dirt was cleaned off, Karam then applied the salve onto the injured area and covered it with some bandaids before repeating the same process on the other elbow.
“Thanks hyung, you’re the best,” Jay said beaming happily once Karam had applied the last bandaid onto his other elbow. However, as Jay hopped off the bed he suddenly clutched his lower back in pain.
“Jay!” Karam said as he quickly pulled Jay back onto the bed, “What’s wrong?”
“My back hurts hyung,” Jay replied as he winced in pain. “I think I sort of fell onto a sharp object before when that guy pushed me, but I didn’t think it was serious.”
Karam quickly got the boy to lie down on his stomach and lift his shirt up for Karam to see. Karam’s eyes widened in shock as he saw a bruise that had formed on Jay’s lower back. Slowly he reached out a hand and touched it lightly. Jay flinched at the touch. Karam was brought back to memories of the past as he remembered how his father had used to abuse him like that. Jay saw Karam’s face change and quickly turned around and sat up, wincing slightly in pain at the sudden action.
This brought Karam back to reality and he quickly helped Jay sit upright. “Hyung, are you okay?” Jay asked looking up at Karam earnestly. Karam let slip a small smile and ruffled the younger boy’s hair.
“Silly, I’m the one who should be asking you that. Here lie back down again, I’ll go grab some ice for it.”
As Karam went searching for an ice pack in the freezer, he decided to ask Jay a question that had been in his mind for a while now. “Jay, hope you won’t mind me asking you this but, why is your hair red? I’m just curious, please don’t be angry.”
“Oh its no big deal really,” Jay replied as he started his story, “For our graduation in elementary school, we had to do a play and my part in the play was someone with red hair and to make it realistic they really dyed my hair. It took a lot of colouring and bleaching to get it to the way they wanted. But after the play was over, they didn’t want to dye my hair again because it would damage my hair and my scalp was already itching a bit from the bleaching. So I have to wait a few more months until I can colour my hair again. I thought I could dye it again just before the start of middle school, but appa was against it, saying to wait for another few months.”
“Oh I see,” Karam said as came back to the bed with an ice pack in hand. “I personally think the red suits you. Sure I was surprised at first, I mean who wouldn’t be,” - Jay looked a bit hurt at that (jokingly) but Karam quickly continued on, “but it’s a nice touch though, you look … cute.
Anyway,” Karam said quickly changing the subject, “Umm … this might feel weird at first but it will help to heal the bruising quicker okay?”
Jay nodded and Karam slowly placed the ice pack over the bruise. However, as soon as it made contact with his skin, Jay yelped and bolted upright, the pain all but forgotten.
“Yaaaaahh omg hyung!!” Jay cried out as he flailed his arms in the air. “Are you trying to kill me with that thing???”
Karam sat there in shock at Jay’s sudden outburst before he burst out laughing at Jay’s cute and adorable reaction.
O__O “Hyung ~~ don’t laugh, its not funny!!” Jay pouted a bit before grabbing the ice pack from Karam’s hand. Before Karam could respond to what was happening, Jay quickly lifted the hem of Karam’s shirt up and pressed the ice pack against his skin.
“Wahh!!! Jay!!!” Karam shouted as he quickly jumped away from the boy. Jay just smirked and got off the bed, ice pack in hand, and the pain all but forgotten as he started to close the distance between Karam and himself.
Thus began a game of tiggy between the two boys with Karam running around the small room trying to avoid Jay and the deadly ice pack. The game continued for another few minutes until they both collapsed in laughter on a bed, panting and out of breath.
Just as Jay was about to slap the now melting ice pack onto Karam’s arm, Karam’s phone starting ringing. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Karam answered, “Hello?”
Hey Karam, where’d you head off to? I still have your food here, hurry up and come back before Suhoon steals i-owww what’d you hit me for Suhoon? Ah anyway come back soon okay ~
“Hahahaa okays I’ll head back now, I’m bringing my brother along with me, see you guys soon,” Karam said as he hung up.
“That was my best friend Hyunmin asking me where I was haha, come on I’ll go introduce you to him,” Karam explained to Jay. Helping Jay up off the bed, Karam then grabbed the ice pack and put it back into the freezer before leading the way out of the room.
---
As Karam opened the door to entrance of the rooftop, his mouth dropped open in surprise and he quickly covered Jay’s eyes with a hand, but not before Jay had caught a quick glimpse of the scene currently playing in front of them.
Hyunmin had Suhoon pushed against the wall and was currently snogging the daylights out of him while his hands were underneath Suhoon’s shirt roaming around god knows where.
“WOO HYUNMIN!!! Just what do you think you guys are doing?? And in a school no less??”
The two lovebirds quickly broke apart at the sound of Karam’s voice. Hyunmin looked at Karam guiltily while Suhoon just stood there smiling innocently and buttoning his shirt up again.
“Ahh sorry Karam, we got a bit carried away waiting for you to come up here …” Hyunmin trailed off trying not to look in Suhoon’s direction.
“Sheesh maybe you shouldn’t have called me back up here in the first place … Anyway, now that we’re all properly dressed,” Karam said as he eyed Suhoon who had just finished doing up the last button on his top, “This is my brother Jay, he’s a first year so please look after him.” Karam pushed a blushing Jay in front of him who was still recovering from the scene he had just witnessed before.
“Ehhh Karam you have a brother?? Since when??” Suhoon asked as he wrapped his arms around Hyunmin’s waist.
“Since over the school break, and before you ask no we are not blood related, he’s my stepbrother,” Karam replied knowing exactly what Suhoon was going to ask.
“Ah okay then, hi Jay nice to meet you, my name is Suhoon, I’m the ‘prince’ of this school ~ and I’m also Hyunmin’s boyfriend,” Suhoon said as a way of introducing himself while still clinging onto Hyunmin.
“And I’m Hyunmin, Karam’s best buddy. Sorry you had to witness that little scene before,” Hyunmin said apologetically.
“A-ah umm it’s okay, n-nice to meet you too Suhoon-hyung and Hyunmin-hyung,” Jay replied keeping his eyes on the ground.
After introductions were made, Karam grabbed his food from Hyunmin and shared it with Jay while Hyunmin and Suhoon made small talk with Jay. Jay had never met guys that had admitted to being in an open relationship, so he was still a bit shy from watching Suhoon and Hyunmin’s closeness, but eventually by the end of lunch break, Jay had managed to stop fidgeting around and blushing every time Suhoon stole a kiss from Hyunmin.
Soon it was time for class and Suhoon reluctantly pulled himself away from Hyunmin to go his classes while Karam walked Jay to his next class before heading back with Hyunmin to theirs.
As they walked back to class, Hyunmin commented on how Jay’s presence was a good thing for Karam, because he hadn’t seen Karam so happy in a long time around people other than Hyunmin himself. Karam smiled a rare smile at hearing that, for some reason, Jay was different to everyone else. He was so pure and innocent, a really sweet kid, he always brightened Karam up with his smiles.
The rest of the day passed by uneventfully and when classes were finally over, Karam went off to find Jay after bidding Hyunmin goodbye who was off to see Suhoon.
They walked home that day with Karam carrying Jay’s school bag. Their parents both had work and couldn’t pick them up. Karam suggested they take a bus because of the bruise Jay got from this afternoon, but Jay declined saying it was only a short 20 minute walk so it wouldn’t kill him.
When they got home, Karam told Jay to go take a shower first to refresh and clean himself up, to which Jay agreed to happily. While Jay went to take a shower, Karam got changed into something more comfortable before lying down on his bed.
Today had been surprisingly eventful. He was still angry with that student who had accused and pushed Jay over, but he had apologized, and Jay wasn’t angry with him either so Karam didn’t really have an excuse to continue having a grudge against him.
Karam then thought back to what happened in the nurse’s room and smiled, he hadn’t had that much fun in a long time. How was it that Jay was able to slip past his barriers so easily? Karam normally wouldn’t let anyone touch him, yet there he was, helping Jay clean his wounds, putting an arm around his shoulder to aid him when walking etc.
As these thoughts flitted through his mind, Karam slowly drifted off to sleep, not even aware that Jay had walked into his room after coming out from his shower.
Just like that first day when they had met, Jay sat down on the bed beside Karam and started running his fingers through Karam’s silky blonde locks. Looking at Karam’s features, Jay smiled when he saw that Karam had a smile on his face this time instead of the frown and tear stained cheeks that he had witnessed a few weeks ago.
Pulling the blankets up over his hyung, Jay then went back to his own room and started working on some homework that he’d already gotten on his first day at school.
---
A few hours later, Karam was awoken by a vibration in his pocket as his phone started ringing. Slowly tugging the phone out, Karam answered the phone, “Hello?”
“Hi Karam, it’s umma. Do you boys think you can take care of dinner tonight by yourselves? There’s a deadline for a project at work that your aboji really needs to meet so I’ll be helping him until real late tonight.”
“Oh okay then, sure, I’ll cook dinner for Jay tonight then. Don’t worry, we’ll be fine umma. Take care and umm … “ Karam paused for a second before saying, “T-tell aboji I said good luck on meeting the deadline.”
“Thank you Karam and I’ll definitely pass your message onto him. I really need to go now, make sure all the doors are locked before you two go to bed, we’ll be back real late, most likely after midnight.”
After they bid their goodbyes, Karam got out of bed and peeked into Jay’s room to see what he was up to. Seeing his brother engrossed with textbooks that were opened on the desk in front of him, Karam decided not to bother him and headed downstairs to the kitchen to start rummaging through their food supplies to see what he could use to prepare dinner. After finding what he needed, Karam put on his mother’s apron and got to work with preparing all the ingredients.
Around half an hour later, Jay could smell a nice aroma from where he was upstairs and he quickly headed downstairs following the smell. Hearing some noises coming from the kitchen Jay walked in that direction and found Karam standing by the stove stirring something in a pot. Hearing Jay approaching, Karam stopped his work and looked up. “Oh Jay, our parents are going to be working late tonight to meet a deadline for work. They’ll be coming home late, possibly after midnight. I’ll make dinner tonight, hope you don’t mind.”
“Oh no I don’t mind, actually I’m hopeless at cooking hehe,” Jay said sheepishly.
Karam smiled and said, “It’s not hard, I’ll teach you one day, and then you can cook for me the next time our parents are out late again hahaha.”
Jay agreed laughing lightly as he went to set up the table for them. A few minutes later, Karam was done with the cooking and they settled down to eat dinner by themselves for the first time since Jay and his father moved in.
Jay played with the rice in his bowl as he finally bought up the question he’d been meaning to ask Karam all day ever since the incident from lunch break occurred.
“Hyung …” Jay began slowly.
“Hmm?” Karam replied, as he was about to put a spoonful of rice into his mouth.
“Umm … well today during the incident at lunch break ... I heard the guy address you as ‘princess’ … why is this?”
“Oh,” Karam said as he felt his cheeks turn a slight red. “Umm … well you know how Hyunmin’s boyfriend Suhoon is known as the ‘prince’ right because of his good looks and supposedly cool demeanour? Well because I have really feminine features, all the other students refer to me as the ‘princess’. It’s really so embarrassing. And Hyunmin is officially appointed as my ‘bodyguard’ because he’s always with me and protecting me from the random fan boy who wants to attack me.”
Jay chuckled at that, content with the answer and they continued to eat dinner in a nice atmosphere. After dinner, Jay helped Karam with the washing up and it was finished really quickly.
Afterwards, they headed upstairs again and Karam went to take a shower while Jay went back to doing his homework.
After his shower, Karam went to peek inside Jay’s room again and found the younger boy stretching his arms above his head, the textbooks and notebooks all stacked up neatly in a corner on the table.
“All done Jay?” Karam asked as he went and sat down on the bed next to where Jay was sitting.
“Ah hyung,” Jay said in surprise, not even realizing Karam had come out from the shower. “Yeah, I’m lucky I only got homework for three subjects, and it wasn’t all that hard or at least not yet anyway,” Jay said beaming happily.
“Hahaha I see, it’s nice to see you’re a good kid who does his homework on time,” Karam said as he reached out and ruffled Jay’s hair. It seemed to have become a habit for him to touch Jay’s hair these days.
Looking down at Jay’s elbows, Karam saw that the boy had taken the bandaids off, probably during when he took a shower. “Jay, you should probably cover those injuries up for the next few days, it wouldn’t be good if you got them infected. Wait, I’ll go grab some bandaids okay?”
Jay nodded his head obediently and watched his hyung walk out of the room and come back seconds later with some salve and bandaids in hand. Motioning for Jay to sit on the bed beside him, Karam then started to apply the salve onto Jay’s elbows before putting the bandaids on, repeating the process from this afternoon.
“Oh yeah, you know, I never did get to apply that ice pack onto your bruise Jay. Ice really is good for healing bruises faster, I wasn’t lying,” Karam said as he threw the rubbish in the bin.
“Oh hahaha sorry about that hyung,” Jay replied sheepishly as he remembered how he had repaid Karam’s kindness by chasing him around the room with the ice pack.
“Hahaha it’s okay, it was pretty fun I admit,” Karam said smiling one of his rare smiles at Jay. “But we seriously need to do something about that bruise of yours, leaving it like that is not good. We have an ice pack in the freezer … do I trust you to not attack me again with it this time?” Karam asked with a raised eyebrow.
Jay just grinned, “Can’t promise anything, but I’ll try my best to stay still!” Karam returned the grin and went downstairs quickly to grab the ice pack from the freezer.
When he came back, Jay got into position and lied down on the bed, pulling his shirt up as Karam moved closer and sat down on the bed beside him.
“You ready?” Karam asked, as he held the ice back above the bruise on Jay’s skin.
Jay nodded and closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around the pillow underneath him. Slowly Karam touched the ice pack gently against Jay’s skin. He could feel Jay’s body twitch slightly underneath him and he quickly lifted the ice pack up again. After a few seconds, Karam pressed the ice pack against Jay’s back again before lifting it up quickly again. Karam repeated this process several times trying to get Jay’s body used to the feel of temperature of the ice pack until finally, Karam had the ice pack pressed firmly against the bruise as Jay’s body finally got used to the coldness of the ice pack against his skin.
After a few minutes of silence, with the only sound being Karam gently positioning the ice pack over Jay’s back every now and then, Jay finally broke the silence and spoke up. “T-Thanks so much for all you’ve done for me today hyung,” he said as started picking on a random string on the corner of the pillow.
“You helped stand up for me when the guy teased me about my red hair, and you believed in me when I said I didn’t steal the wallet. Then you helped me dress my wounds in the nurse’s room and even now, you’re applying ice onto my bruise. I don’t think anyone other than appa has done this much for me ...” he said as he slowly trailed off.
Jay’s thoughts were met with silence and he slowly turned his head around to look up at Karam who looked lost in thought.
“H-hyung, you okay? Did I say something wrong?” Jay asked as he turned around and sat up to get closer to his hyung. As he did this, the ice pack slid off his back and Karam’s hand came into contact against Jay’s skin.
“A-ah sorry Jay,” Karam said as he quickly snatched his hand back. “I-I’m fine, I just … got caught up … in my own … thoughts.”
Jay tilted his head to one side and asked, “What were you thinking about hyung? Can you tell me, please?”
Karam turned his gaze onto his stepbrother and Jay could see sadness swirling through those hazel eyes.
“I-I’m sorry Jay, it’s nothing really. I was just thinking … you’re such a sweet boy Jay, you care for everyone around you and you’re always smiling no matter what happens. I feel as if I have to protect you, not just because it is my responsibility as your hyung, but because I don’t want to ever see you get hurt. I don’t want anyone to ever take your innocence away … just like how mine was …” The last bit was said in a whisper but it didn’t escape Jay’s ears.
Jay’s heart ached, as he knew exactly just what Karam was referring to when he whispered that last bit. “H-hyung, thank you … and I promise I’ll always be here for you too! If you ever feel unhappy, just come talk to me! I’ll listen to your problems too! You’re my hyung, so it’s my responsibility to look out for you too!!” Jay said as he shifted closer to Karam to look him in the eyes.
Karam returned the gaze and couldn’t help but smile back. Before he even realized what he was doing, Karam wrapped his arms around Jay and embraced him in a hug. “Thank you Jay, that means a lot to me,” he said earnestly as Jay slowly returned the hug by wrapping his arms around his hyung’s neck.
This was the first time in ten years Karam had ever embraced anyone other than his mother and Hyunmin. Surprisingly, his body did not flinch at the feeling of another body pressing against him. Rather Karam felt really warm inside and he could feel a bubbly feeling forming from the pit of his stomach.
“Thank you,” Karam repeated again as he rested his chin against Jay’s shoulder, wrapping his arms even tighter around the younger boy, relishing at all these new wonderful feelings he was feeling at the moment.
---
[Chapter 3]
[Chapter 2]
[Chapter 1]
[Prologue]
---
A/N: Sorry for the late update everyone! I was away for three weeks on vacation and didn't end up posting this chapter before I left :(
I actually wrote this chapter last year sometime (I've been posting this on AMFI before ^^) and after reading back on it, I notice some parts are a bit too ... lighthearted? I originally planned on just focusing on building KaJay's relationship and therefore didn't take much account to everything else >_< so I apologize if this fic doesn't seem to relate to reality too much ... if that makes sense.
I'm still trying to improve my writing skills so please bare with me! Thank you for everyone who's reading this fic (yes I know there are silent readers out there hiding somewhere >D) ♥