Yoongi shifted to silence his ringtone, bringing it up to his ear. "Hello?"

Hoseok made a small, drowsy noise and snuggled closer to Yoongi's chest, unbothered.

"Yoongi?"

"W- H-" Yoongi couldn't force the words out of his throat. "Dad?"

"I want to talk to you."

"We have nothing to talk about."

"You can have HyeJin there. But there are things we need to discuss. Where are you?"

"You're not supposed to talk to me. Y- I don't want to talk to you."

A sigh. "Yoongi please."

"I'm with Hoseok. I'm miles away and you can't be here." He drew in a breath. "Leave mom alone."

"Yoongi there are things I need to explain."

At this point, Hoseok had sat up, hand resting on Yoongi's arm as he quietly supported his soulmate.

"Yeah? Maybe somewhere in there you can explain why child abuse was an acceptable form of parenting." Yoongi fumbled to hang up, lungs working as his blood rushed in his ears.

Hoseok's touch was light and calming, rubbing over Yoongi's back in careful circles. "Yoon? Are you alright."

His hands were trembling, his whole body was and Hoseok drew him up into his lap as though he weighed nothing. Yoongi went limp in his hold, unable to hold himself up. Tears leaked from his eyes, not quite dampening Hoseok's shoulder.

"Th- That was, He hasn't..." Yoongi hiccuped, giving up on the words that were caught in his throat in favor of wrapping himself around Hobi.

"I hate that guy so much." He let out through gritted teeth.

Yoongi rested his head in the crook of Hoseok's shoulder, taking comfort from the soft hair tickling at his cheek and the subtle smell of vanilla that clung to Hobi's skin. "It's fine Seokie."

"No, its not," Hobi sighed, "He's not supposed to contact you until after the papers for the restraining order goes through."

"Doesn't matter," Yoongi pouted. "I hung up."

"Promise you'll tell your mom tomorrow."

Yoongi hums noncommittally in the back of his throat and Hoseok sighs, raking his fingers through the elder's newly blonde hair. "She'll need to know."

"If the problem persists." Yoongi allowed, holding his pinkie out for Hobi to link with his own, tapping their thumbs together gently.

"Love you." Yoongi smiled, resnuggling into Hobi's neck.

"I love you too Yooni." Seok smiled back.

* * *

Jooheon stared at his phone's fading screen, his face unreadable. He picked it up and took the stairs 2 at a time to reach his study. The papers stacked up on his desk were covered in a layer of dust. A few of the drawers were stuck fast, but the one Jooheon needed was simply locked.

With shaking fingers he pried his phone out of its case, fingers catching on the edge of the small key hidden there.

He scratched around the lock a bit before finally managing to sink the key into the crevice, turning the old lock with something akin to white fear.

The tracks were rusty and old and they complained as Jooheon tugged it open. He sat back on his haunches, trembling in every essence of the word. A stack of manilla envelopes and stacks of paperclipped photos gleamed in the buttery afternoon light. Jooheon stared at them from behing his fingers, almost terrified to touch them.

Delicately, carefully, he reached out, softness overcoming the fear, until his palm bumped the edge of the drawer and he gasped as though burnt and scrambled upright. He kicked the drawer shut and gathered up his phone, running out of the study and slamming the door in his wake.