protect me - Chapter 3
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, violence, minor character death, language
~
Yunho jerked awake in the middle of the night, wondering what had woken him before Yoochun kicked him in his sleep. The younger boy was whimpering quietly in his sleep, tossing about slightly. Yunho reached out to pull him closer, hoping that his embrace would comfort Yoochun like it usually did, but not tonight. Yoochun whimpered again, more urgently, and struggled against Yunho. “Yoohwan, listen to me, please...”
Yunho frowned. Who’s Yoohwan? he wondered.
“Please,” Yoochun begged, louder this time. “Yoohwan, run!”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Yunho muttered, shaking Yoochun roughly. “Yoochun ah!”
Yoochun’s eyes snapped open and he let out a gasp, before burrowing deeper into Yunho’s arms, his body shaking with silent sobs. “Hyung,” he choked out, voice muffled by his hands pressed over his face.
“Shh,” Yunho murmured, rubbing his back. “Shh, Yoochun, it’s all right, I’ve got you, okay?”
Yoochun drew a ragged breath, tears seeping through his fingers into Yunho’s shirt.
Yunho continued murmuring comforting nonsense to him until Yoochun calmed down, breathing more easily as he pulled away slightly, wiping at his red-rimmed eyes. A few moments passed in comfortable silence, before Yunho voiced the question on his mind. “Yoochun ah, who’s Yoohwan?”
Yoochun’s full lips quivered and he looked like he was about to start crying again. Yunho apologized immediately, hugging him again. “I’m sorry, don’t cry, Yoochun ah...”
“’s okay,” Yoochun muttered, hiccupping. “Yoohwannie, he...” He sniffled again. “He was my little brother.” His fingernails dug almost painfully into Yunho’s back, and Yunho stroked his hair gently, not daring to ask what had happened to Yoohwan.
In any case, Yoochun seemed to know what he was thinking. “Yoohwan was shot when I was kidnapped,” he told Yunho softly, his voice shaking only slightly. “He...he died immediately. He was only eight...” He broke off with a sob.
Yunho pressed a kiss to his forehead, cupping his cheek tenderly. “I’m so sorry.”
They fell asleep again still tangled together.
In the morning, Yoochun refused to talk about anything he’d said the previous night, and Yunho let it go, knowing that pushing Yoochun would only reopen wounds that had just barely healed over.
The topic of Yoochun’s past didn’t come up again until weeks later, one day when Jaejoong decided to ask Yoochun to join his choir. Yoochun smiled shyly, eyes shifting uncomfortably as he wound his fingers around Yunho’s. “I’m not that good at singing."
“Nonsense,” Jaejoong declared.
“Your regular speaking voice already has a nice sound to it,” Ryeowook added. He was another member of the choir. “I’m really interested in hearing you sing.” He smiled encouragingly at Yoochun.
Yoochun bit his lip, before nodding hesitantly. “Only if Yunho hyung can stay with me though.”
“Of course,” Jaejoong said, eyes softening. He nodded to Kyuhyun, who was already seated at the piano, but Yoochun shook his head.
“I can play piano,” he offered quietly.
Ryeowook raised an eyebrow with awed surprise, but pulled Kyuhyun off the piano bench to sit next to him. “Play us whatever you want,” he told Yoochun gently.
Yoochun limped forward, tugging Yunho with him as he sat down at the piano, running his fingers across the keys. He took a deep breath, before plunging into a rippling adaptation of a traditional folk song. Yunho shifted, wrapping an arm around Yoochun’s waist so that he wasn’t in Yoochun’s way.
Then Yoochun started singing, his voice deep and husky and utterly beautiful.
Fuck, Yunho thought, the only coherent thought he could manage.
“Jaejoongie,” Yunho whimpered into the phone later while Yoochun was showering. “Joongie, help me, I’m so, so screwed."
Jaejoong was silent and Yunho knew him well enough to know that he was rolling his eyes. “You didn’t listen to us earlier, you know,” he said teasingly. “You’re gonna have to deal with it now.”
“Jaejoongie!” Yunho cried pleadingly. “I can’t...I can’t do this.”
Jaejoong must have heard something in his voice, because he wasn’t teasing anymore when he spoke again. “Yunho yah, what’s wrong?”
“I can’t...” Yunho swallowed. “I can’t fall in love with him, Jaejoong ah.”
“Why not?” Jaejoong asked patiently.
“I’m supposed to love him like a brother,” Yunho said, his tone bordering on desperate. “I don’t know enough about him and his past to love him well enough if I were his...his boyfriend. I don’t even know if he’s gay, Joongie!”
Jaejoong exhaled slowly, choosing his words carefully. “Yunho yah, Yoochun adores you. You’re always there for him, to take care of him, to protect him...in his eyes, you can’t do anything wrong.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Yunho murmured. “He doesn’t know anything about love and if I do something wrong to him he’ll think it’s the right thing to do, or that he deserves it, or something.” His voice cracked and he held the phone away from him to sniffle, wiping his tears away.
“Don’t cry,” Jaejoong was saying when he brought the phone back to his ear.
“I’m not,” Yunho muttered, but another sniffle betrayed him.
“Look,” Jaejoong said finally. “Why don’t you just ask your dad? About Yoochun’s past, and if he thinks this whole dating thing is okay.”
Yunho shook his head furiously before remembering that Jaejoong couldn’t see him. “My dad doesn’t even know I’m gay.” He paused. “Does he?”
Jaejoong made an odd noise and Yunho suspected he was trying not to laugh. “You know, when you were little, you had the hugest crush on me.” His voice quivered with suppressed amusement. “Our dads were so excited, don’t you remember?”
Yunho groaned, the suppressed childhood memories returning. “Don’t even remind me,” he grumbled.
“You need reminding once in a while,” Jaejoong teased.
The bathroom door opened and Yoochun poked his head out cautiously, looking around before forcing himself to walk calmly to the bed. Yunho smiled fondly at him, holding the phone against his ear with his shoulder so he could hold both arms out to Yoochun, who snuggled willingly against him. “Who’re you talking to?”
“Jaejoong hyung,” Yunho replied, extricating his phone. “Wanna talk to him?”
“Sure,” Yoochun agreed brightly.
“Don’t say anything incriminating, Joongie,” Yunho told Jaejoong sternly, half-wondering why he was even bothering.
“Of course not, Yunnie,” Jaejoong replied, all innocence.
Yunho rolled his eyes, handing the phone to Yoochun. He hesitated only briefly before leaning over to kiss Yoochun on the cheek. “I’m going to go talk to Mom and Dad, okay?”
Yoochun just nodded, his attention focused on Jaejoong. Yunho smiled to himself, and left the room.
His parents were in the living room watching the news, engrossed in a story about some elusive group in the city, the Black Lotus. “Mom? Dad?”
Nari turned to look at him. “Yunho, dear, is something wrong?”
Yunho hesitated, shifting on his feet. “Maybe?”
Taehyun picked up the remote and muted the TV, gesturing for Yunho to take a seat. “You can talk to us, you know.”
“Yeah,” Yunho said, sighing. He ran a hand through his hair, wondering where to start. “Uh...it’s about Yoochun, I guess.”
“Have the kids at school been giving him trouble again?” Nari asked worriedly.
“No, nothing as severe as that,” Yunho said, forcing a laugh. “I was, um...I was just wondering about his past.” He saw his father’s dark expression and hurriedly added, “Dad, I know you think I’m too young, but I think I should know.”
Taehyun sighed heavily. “You’re right,” he said unexpectedly. “I was trying to find an excuse to keep sheltering you, but I guess it’s about time for me to stop.”
Yunho waited patiently, the TV still flashing in his peripheral vision. “I know Yoochun was kidnapped and his little brother...killed, but what happened after that?”
Taehyun gestured towards the TV, where the anchors were still debating if they’d ever bring the Black Lotus to justice. “Yoochun was kidnapped by this group. We’re still trying to track down its leader, and I hate knowing that they’re still at large when they destroyed Yoochun’s life as badly as they did.” His expression twisted with disgust as he forced himself to keep talking.
“They killed Yoochun’s parents, as well as his brother, which initially led the police to think that Yoochun might have killed them and then run off. We found some of his things by the river and thought he might have drowned. The case had already been cold for over a year when a member of a different gang that we’d captured mentioned that the Black Lotus was holding a prisoner, a boy whose description matched Yoochun’s. By the time we managed to get him out, he’d been abused for over three years.”
Yunho swallowed with difficulty. “When you say he was abused...” He stopped, momentarily unable to continue. “Was he...was he raped?”
He couldn’t explain the strength of the wave of relief that swept over him when Taehyun shook his head. “He was extremely fortunate. Maybe if he’d been older, but no.”
Nari let a few moments of silence pass before she spoke. “Why the sudden interest, Yunho yah? Has something been going on?”
“Actually...” Yunho licked his lips nervously, trying to stall for time.
“This isn’t exactly making me feel very comfortable about whatever it is you’re hiding, Yunho yah,” Taehyun joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
Yunho smiled weakly. “No, it’s just...um, well, I think I might be falling in love with Yoochun,” he finished in a rush.
Both of his parents stared at him, shocked, and he felt his cheeks heat up. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, bowing his head in shame.
Nari was the first to recover, crossing the room to hug Yunho tightly. “Don’t be sorry,” she told him. “I’m very happy for you. For both of you.”
“If I’m not mistaken, and I’m usually not,” Taehyun added, “you’ll be good for Yoochun. After all, you were the only one who managed to help him cope with his past.”
“Thanks,” Yunho managed, feeling almost overcome by emotion. My parents approve, he thought dazedly. My parents think it’s okay.
He tried to go slow, not wanting to make Yoochun feel like he was being pressured into anything. He gave Yoochun small gifts anonymously, laughing along when Jaejoong pretended to help Yoochun figure out the identity of his ‘secret admirer’. It took Yoochun only a few weeks.
“Hyung?” Yoochun asked that night, climbing onto the bed. Yunho looked up.
“Can I try something?” the younger boy continued, crawling closer.
“Sure,” Yunho said, a little breathlessly, wondering why his heart was pounding.
Yoochun inched closer, crawling onto Yunho’s lap before nearly losing his balance. Yunho reached out automatically to steady him, wrapping his arms around Yoochun’s slender waist and pulling him close enough that Yoochun’s hair was tickling Yunho’s face. “Yoochun ah, what-” Yunho started, but didn’t get any further than that.
Yoochun suddenly leaned forward, his hands tangling in Yunho’s hair as he pressed their lips together. Yunho gasped, the headboard digging uncomfortably into his back as Yoochun’s weight pressed him against the wood.
They broke apart for air after a short time, Yunho’s fingers tracing absently along the curves of Yoochun’s face. “Yoochun ah, are you sure you want to do this?” he asked quietly.
Yoochun nodded, tugging at the hem of Yunho’s shirt until he lay down with Yoochun still tucked in his arms. “I think I love you,” he said shyly, sounding unbearably adorable.
Yunho ducked down to kiss him again, smile wide against Yoochun’s lips.