TW: Abuse and Violence and Alcohol

Sjin has been on edge for years now. When they were younger, in elementary school, he was lighthearted and joyful.

Then his mother left. His father broke out the good whiskey and found he really liked the taste.

The first time he hit Sjin, the boy showed up at Sips' house with a bruising cheek, crying. He let Sips hold an icepack to it while Sjin told him what happened- it was only one bad grade, he said.

It didn't happen for another month, but it was worse the second time. His father had thrown him down the stairs, leaving him knocked out at the bottom. When he was sure the man had passed out, he left for Sips' house again.

His head was still a little foggy, but Sips pulled him inside and looked him over for injuries. The slightly older boy knew it was wrong, but Sjin made him promise not to tell.

It continued for years.

Sips watched as the boy withdrew into his shell, never letting anyone but Sips see behind the mask. He got good grades and a job and spent some of the money on concealer so he could hide the bruises.

He and Sips spent a lot of time in Sips' room, playing music loudly and destroying each other in their current video game. In private, Sips sees the taller boy lower his defenses just enough to let Sips in. These are the only times Sjin smiles.

--

He's walking home from school one day with Sips when he notices the police cars outside of his house.

"What's going on?" Sjin asks one of the officers.

"Do you live here?"

"Yeah, that's-" Two policemen come out of the house, and his father is in handcuffs behind them. "That's my father," he says, his voice flat.

The officer looks him up and down. Sjin feels the bruises on his legs twinge. "We're going to need to take you down to the station as well."

"No," Sjin backs away a few steps. "I'm not going down there." He shakes his head.

"Look, kid, someone's gotta take responsibility for him."

"Find someone who cares," he says, pushing past the man.

There are officers inside his house, so they continue down the street to Sips' house and Sjin is glad to see it's empty. Once the door shuts, he slams Sips up against the wall. Sips sees stars with the force of his head hitting it.

"You said you wouldn't tell!" he shouts.

He shakes his head and gets dizzy again. "I didn't!"

"Who the hell else could possibly bloody know, Sips?"

"He could just be under arrest for public indecency or some shit, Sjin. I think he deserves to be impaled by a stake alive over a fire and then spend eternity in a hell made just for him, but I wouldn't betray you, Sjin."

Sjin grits his teeth and backs off. Saying nothing, he leaves the house, Sips against the wall, and his bag on the floor.

He walks until it's dark, and then decides to go home and shower to hopefully calm down.

But his father is there, sitting on the couch, drunk. Shit.

"You little shit!" he rages, standing up to tower over Sjin. "You sent the cops here, didn't you? You probably laughed with that fag friend of yours!" He grabs Sjin's collar and laughs in his face. "You're going to pay for that."

He punches Sjin in the gut, knocking him to his knees, and then uses his own to kick Sjin in the face. Sjin can feel the blood running down his face, but he's had worse. The next thing he knows, he's on the ground and his father's foot is continually kicking him in the side.

"Get up," he says. Sjin doesn't think he can move, but another kick proves him wrong.

He moves shakily to his knees and then, after a long moment of hesitation, gets to his feet. He holds his hands up in a shakey attempt at defense, and tries to protect himself when the man comes at him again.

He can't.

There's a sharp pain in his stomach, but it's distant, like he's feeling it through someone else.

"Freeze!" a deep, powerful voice yells.

Sjin tries to find the wound and put pressure on it, but his hands feel funny and he's not sure where it is.

The cops wrestle his father to the ground while paramedics rush in and put Sjin on a stretcher. One of them has a funny nose piercing and he laughs, but it hurts.

"Son, can you tell us your name?"

Sjin practically fucking snorts. He didn't lose his god damned memory. He tells them so.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen," he wheezes.

"Emergency contacts?"

"Sips." He coughs and a sharp pain goes up his side. "How bad is it?"

The paramedic shakes his head. "Just stay awake, okay?"

He gives an aborted shrug motion.

--

Sjin guesses he passed out sometime after that, because the next time he wakes up, everything is white and blue. It's almost blinding. Oh, he realizes after a moment. There's someone next to me.

He turns his head and ignores the small bit of pain.

Sips. He's curled into the chair next to the bed, asleep with tear-tracks down his cheeks. Sjin wonders if he was crying for him or because of him.

He falls back asleep.

--

The next time he wakes up, Sips is awake and his face seems clearer, but Sjin isn't going to mention anything.

"Sjin," Sips breathes, relieved.

"I'm sorry," is the first thing out of Sjin's mouth. "Shouldn't have...done that," he says, trying to keep his breathing steady without the pain.

"You idiot, Sjin," he says, and leans closer to Sjin. "I...I thought I lost you," he continues in a whisper.

Sjin doesn't know what to say, so he tries for a standard, "I'm sorry."

Sips groans. "No, no apologies. Look, I'm just glad you're alive, okay?"

Again, Sjin doesn't know how to reply, so he just nods. "So what's the verdict? When can I get out of here?"

Sips shakes his head. "I don't know. But I'll stay here with you."

Sjin laughs shortly, a pain from his midsection cutting it short. "As long as you shower, Sips."

"Oh, you think you're a real joker, huh?"

Sjin holds his hands, lightly clenched into fists, above him. "You wanna-" a small laugh makes him pause. "You wanna tussle?"

It's clear Sips wants nothing more than to be able to roughhouse with Sjin again, but since he knows it'll be a long time, he leans in close, wraps his fingers around Sjin's wrists, and says, "Later," before kissing him.

It was a long time coming, really, and as Sjin frees one of his hands to bring it up to Sips's neck, he wonders why they didn't do this before.

The door opens and they pull apart to see a doctor standing in the doorway, looking...almost smug. He looks over all Sjin's bruises and scars and asks him a couple of questions about his father. Sips holds his hand while the doctor asks if he wants to prosecute him.

"He's an asshole. If I never see him again, it'll be too soon... Can I think it over?"

"Of course."

--

In the end, he does decide to take his father to court.

The trial is five months later, and by then the wound on Sjin's stomach has healed and scarred over into a serrated white line. The night before the initial trial, he and Sips lay in bed talking about mundane things, like what to have for breakfast in the morning, and what's the best way to kill enemies discreetly.

Sips's hand wanders under Sjin's shirt and traces the scar, an action that's become routine ever since Sjin would let him touch it. It's calming, and he does it whenever Sjin becomes too panicked about seeing his father again.

The stars have been visible for a few hours now, and they really should get to sleep, but instead they continue talking until Sjin's exhaustion takes over and he falls asleep facing Sips, looking completely drained. Sips pulls the blankets up over them both and puts the palm of his hand on Sjin's waist before letting sleep suck him in, too.

Credit to StardustDragon on Ao3