protect me - Chapter 2
Semi-police AU. As a teenager, Yoochun was rescued by Yunho’s police officer father. Sixteen years later, his dark past comes back to haunt him.
Pairings: 2U, bff!Yunjae, bff!Yoosu, slight Minsu
Rated: PG-14 for mature themes, language
~
“Something’s on your mind, honey,” Nari remarked over dinner, reaching over to place a few slices of bulgogi in her husband’s bowl of rice. He gave a hum of thanks, taking a sip from his glass of red wine.
“You know that teenager we rescued a few weeks ago?” Taehyun said after swallowing. Nari nodded, well-informed of the movements of the organization of detective-police that most of her family was employed in.
“He’s not responding to treatment as well as we had hoped,” Taehyun continued. “Superiors are moving him around a couple of foster families with a son a year or so older than him. None of the other families have been able to make any progress, and now they’re thinking about moving him to our family.”
Yunho looked up with interest. “So we’d get to adopt a little brother?” he asked, perhaps with too much excitement. He’d always wanted a sibling, preferably younger.
His parents smiled fondly. “Looks like it,” Taehyun told him. “It wouldn’t be legal adoption, but it’d be close enough anyway.”
It was settled then. After dinner, the Jung family went to the office to file all the necessary paperwork. The teenager-Yoochun, last name unknown-was sitting quietly in one of the chairs, looking small and lonely. Yunho approached him slowly, his parents still busy with the paperwork. “Yoochun ah?”
Yoochun startled, whipping around to look up at Yunho with wide eyes. “Hyung,” he said quickly, jumping to his feet and bowing. Yunho couldn’t help but notice that one of his legs was a little crooked.
Yunho bowed back, smiling in what he hoped was a friendly and non-creepy way. “You can just call me Yunho,” he said, holding out his hand to Yoochun.
The boy looked at him cautiously, before shaking Yunho’s hand. Yunho felt a strange warmth traveling up his arm from Yoochun’s fingertips pressed against his palm, and from the way Yoochun relaxed, he figured the younger boy had felt it too.
He let his hand fall back to his side but spent a few more daring seconds just looking at Yoochun. The boy was thin, almost unhealthily so, with messy black hair that fell over his eyes before he shook it away again. Yoochun’s eyes were a warm brown that made Yunho smile inexplicably.
“Where do you want to sleep?” Yunho asked him when they got home, opening the door to his bedroom. Yoochun looked in curiously, tugging his small black bag behind him as he debated between the single bed in the corner or the double bed next to the window.
“This is your bed?” Yoochun asked, so quietly that Yunho almost had to strain to hear him, and gestured timidly towards the double bed.
Yunho nodded. “Do you want to sleep there? You can if you want,” he offered. “I’ll just sleep on the other bed.”
Yoochun shook his head. “Sleep here too,” he murmured, curling up on one side of the bed with a stuffed bunny that he’d pulled from his bag. “You make me feel safe.”
Yunho looked at him with surprise, and shrugged. He tucked the covers around Yoochun and got into bed, lulled to sleep by the sound of Yoochun’s even breathing.
Before the sun even peeked over the horizon the next morning, Yunho was awoken by Yoochun’s screams and a hard kick to his crotch. Eyes watering in pain, his first instinct was to roll over and pin Yoochun’s legs down with his weight. Apparently he ended up cuddling against Yoochun in his sleep sometime during the night, strong arms wrapped around Yoochun’s slight frame.
Yoochun thrashed even more desperately underneath him, and Yunho blinked blearily, only then noticing that Yoochun’s eyes were still closed.
Yunho shook the younger boy’s shoulder, hoping to wake him. “Yoochun ah!” he called out.
Yoochun didn’t respond, just cried out with terror and kept struggling to break free of Yunho’s grip. Yunho let go of him, steeling himself to slap Yoochun across the face to wake him up from whatever nightmare he was having.
The sound of the slap had barely faded from the air when Yoochun jolted awake, nearly hitting his head on the table as he fell out of bed. Quickly, Yunho swung his legs out from underneath the covers and attempted to reach out for Yoochun, help him to his feet, but Yoochun’s eyes widened in terror and he scrambled backwards until his back hit the wall.
Yunho froze in place, feeling his heart twinge at Yoochun’s whimpers. He dropped to his hands and knees, crawling slowly towards Yoochun’s shaking form. “I won’t hurt you,” he whispered, reaching up ever so slowly to flip on the bedside lamp. “Please, Yoochun ah, I promise.”
Yoochun shuddered when Yunho’s hand brushed against his cheek, gently stroking his hair out of his eyes, before pulling him into a hug. He shifted and buried his face in Yunho’s shoulder, his too-thin body still trembling.
Yunho’s parents opened the door a few hours later to find the two of them still huddled against the wall, sleeping peacefully with Yoochun nestled safely in Yunho’s arms. Taehyun smiled with satisfaction.
“Dad,” Yunho whispered later that morning, his back against the wood of the bathroom door as he listened to the sound of Yoochun showering from the other side. “You never told me what you rescued Yoochun from.”
Taehyun paused in the middle of fixing his tie, a flash of sadness crossing his face. “There are some things that a fourteen-year-old shouldn’t know about,” he said finally, sighing heavily. “You’re still too young, Yunho yah.”
“But-” I need to know if I’m supposed to help him.
“No buts,” Taehyun said firmly. “I have to go to work now, Daejoon says he might have found a lead on our case. Your mother should be coming home later this afternoon but until then, make sure you take care of Yoochun.” He leaned over to kiss Yunho on the cheek before leaving the room. Yunho stuck his tongue out childishly at his father’s back.
There was a quiet knock on the bathroom door and Yunho straightened up, opening the door for Yoochun. The boy smiled shyly at him, already fully-clothed as he ducked underneath Yunho’s arm and tossed his dirty clothes in the basket. “Thank you...for watching the door for me...hyung,” he said hesitantly, the longest string of words Yunho had heard him speak yet.
“No problem,” Yunho replied, watching fondly as Yoochun limped about making the bed and putting his bunny back into his bag.
“Where do you want to go today?” Yunho asked once Yoochun finally settled down, and received no response but a shrug.
Yunho furrowed his eyebrows. “We could go visit the academy,” he said brightly after a few moments.
The academy was a junior and senior high school opened specially for the children of the officers in the detective-police. Yunho would be in his second year of senior high when fall came around, and he assumed that Yoochun would be starting in his first year.
When September finally came around, Yunho kept a protective eye on Yoochun, walking him to every class until they got to lunch break and Jaejoong, who was somehow Yunho’s best friend, accused him of being a mother hen.
“You’re stifling the poor boy,” he said, raking his eyes up and down Yoochun’s frame before holding out his hand. “I’m Kim Jaejoong, nice to meet you.”
Yoochun shied away, pressing himself into Yunho’s side and curling his fingers into the soft skin at the crease of Yunho’s elbow before reaching out hesitantly to shake Jaejoong’s hand. Jaejoong’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, but he flicked his honey-brown hair out of his eyes and turned his attention to his lunch without pressing further.
Yunho nudged Yoochun gently, offering him a spoonful of fried rice. “You need to eat,” he said firmly. “And don’t tell me you’re not hungry,” he added gently when Yoochun opened his mouth to protest.
Another boy came over from the lunch line, sliding onto the bench next to Jaejoong, who barely glanced at him before reaching over and taking his strawberry-flavored yogurt. “Hey!” the newcomer protested.
Jaejoong opened his newly-acquired yogurt and dug in. “I like strawberries better than blueberries,” he said, licking his lips to get all the yogurt off. “Here, have mine,” he said, pushing his own blueberry-flavored yogurt towards the other boy.
The boy pouted, but took it anyway.
Yoochun peeked out over Yunho’s shoulder, dark eyes appraising the other boy curiously. “What’s your name?” he blurted out, startling Yunho, who had rarely heard him speak unless spoken to.
The other boy put down his sandwich, swallowing before smiling brightly at Yoochun. “I’m Kim Junsu,” he said, making no move towards Yoochun. “No relation to this self-obsessed brat here,” he added teasingly, jerking his head towards Jaejoong.
Yoochun actually smiled when Jaejoong flailed in protest.
The rest of the semester passed in a similar fashion. Junsu managed to gradually coax Yoochun out of his shell, which upset Yunho greatly because he himself hadn’t been able to (much to Jaejoong’s amusement). It did, however, please him when Junsu brought a tall, good-looking boy-a freshman-over to their table a few weeks before winter break and introduced him as his boyfriend, Changmin.
Jaejoong looked Changmin up and down and then proceeded to coo over him and his ridiculously long legs, which caused Changmin to blush bright red and Junsu to drape himself over Changmin possessively. Yoochun leaned his head on Yunho’s shoulder and watched the others with a small but fond smile.
When Jaejoong had finally shut up, Changmin turned to Yunho and Yoochun with a calculating gaze. “Are you two dating or what?” he asked lightly.
Yunho spluttered incoherently.
“He’s still denying it so far,” Jaejoong stage-whispered mournfully. Changmin smirked.
Yunho made a mental note to tell Junsu to have better taste in guys. “I love Yoochun,” he insisted feebly. “I’m not in love with him.”
“Whatever you say, hyung,” Changmin said, his tone placating, as he opened his mouth to let Junsu feed him one of the strawberries from his lunch.
Over Yunho’s shoulder, Yoochun pretended to gag, earning laughter from everyone at the table.