tw: domestic violence

_

"p-please leave"

mingi uttered the only words he could manage to get to leave his mouth.

as youngjo stood before him, that cocky glint in his eye that was always there, like everything in life was some big joke - mingi couldn't stop his mind from returning to the last time he saw his ex-boyfriend.

_

he was drunk, of course he was.

it was a saturday night - why wouldn't he be? and why was mingi even still awake?

he knows exactly why. because this is the same thing that happens almost every saturday - and it fills him with dread.

youngjo scares the life out of him, especially when he's like this. intoxicated.

so when he goes out with his friends, mingi can't sleep because he's terrified of what will happen when he comes home. but tonight was going to be worse - he just didn't know it yet.

"did you wait up for me, baby?"

mingi says nothing, as usual, hoping youngjo will get tired and fall asleep. he doesn't bite, but that's exactly what youngjo wants him to do and he should know that by now.

"that's so good of you, song"

it was the last name addressing that occurred when youngjo wanted mingi to know who was in control.

"come here, kitten"

"I'm tired".

"it's only 1am"

"I'm so tired, please-". yeah, you can beg, but it really makes no difference.

"so many other guys in the bar tonight wanted me, you wouldn't even believe..."

mingi didn't even care. they can have him.

"...but I paid them no attention. they wouldn't do the things you do for me, kitten"

"youngjo, please-"

"get on your knees for me"

"I-I"

"don't upset me, baby boy, you know what happens. now be a good boy for me, huh?"

"you're drunk"

"and?! do you get to control me now? no. now fucking turn over and get on your damn knees"

he doesn't know why he tried it. it was a mistake all along. a dangerous mistake.

"no. I'm tired"

mingi had never seen a person with a more evil expression than on his boyfriend's face at that moment.

"I won't ask again"

"I said no!"

"you don't say no to me! you're nothing. absolutely nothing. worthless. I only keep you around because you're so easy to manipulate. you do realise that? now do as I say you fucking whore"

"I HATE YOU"

mingi's features were almost unrecognisable the next morning. upon looking at his reflection in the mirror, he decided there and then that anything - anywhere, anyhow - was better than here.

_

"I really thought I would never find you, but it was actually easier than I expected" youngjo chuckled as he sauntered around the shop, pretending to be interested in the flowers.

"the other staff will be back soon" mingi squeaked out.

"I have people that I know in this city, and they recognised you" youngjo began to explain, "I'm not sure how, I'm sure you looked nothing close to normal while you were sleeping out there. but you're not doing that anymore it seems?"

"how did you know to find me here?" mingi asked, barely audible to him over his own pounding heartbeat.

"I happened to come across you in the store the other day. and your new boyfriend - or whatever he is - was wearing an apron with the shop name sown into it. you basically gave me all the information I needed on a plate. I barely had to do any work!"

"that was weeks ago..." mingi breathed.

"oh," youngjo let out a sharp laugh, "you did see me then. but yes, you're right. but you never seem to be by your damn self do you? your needy little boyfriend never leaves your side"

"he will be back soon"

"did you really think you could just run away? what, and never see me again?"

"you were evil" mingi whispered, tears forming in his eyes.

"yes, I was. I'll admit that much. but it's wrong to just leave someone, mingi. I've changed now, got help. and I'll forgive you for running away and apparently cheating on me if you come back with me now"

"I'll never go back to you!" mingi spoke pointedly as the tears were released from his eyes.

"don't be like that, mingi. things are different now, I pro-"

"is there something wrong in here?" a not so familiar voice echoed from the doorway. in his panic, mingi had only noticed that the person opening the shop door wasn't yunho. the rest he didn't care about. but now he began to care.

"why would there be a problem?" youngjo replied calmly.

"mingi" wooyoung said, now making a point of addressing him, "is there a problem?"

"y-yunho" mingi stuttered. it was unhelpful, but in that moment he couldn't get his brain to form a proper sentence.

"it's clear that you're causing my friend distress, so I suggest you leave the shop" wooyoung spoke.

another sharp burst of laughter from youngjo before he asked, "why in the world would I do that?!"

wooyoung took a deep breath. "because, sir, I fucking said so"

youngjo stared at the silver-haired boy for a few seconds, contemplating his choices.

"you have ten seconds" wooyoung pressed. "10, 9, 8, 7..."

"fine!" youngjo growled as he made his way towards the door. but before he exited, he turned around one more time and said, "see you soon, mingi"

the words sent complete shivers down mingi's spine, and as youngjo disappeared from view, he finally let his body collapse to the floor.

wooyoung immediately sprinted to his side.
"who the fuck was that?" he asked.

"m-my ex..." mingi trailed off. but just at that moment, the door opened again and yunho's voice asked, "wooyoung? what's up? where's mingi?"

but as he neared the counter, the question was answered for him. mingi sat hugging his knees in terror, but his eyes lit up as soon as he saw his hyung.

"mingi?! what the fuck happened?" yunho wanted to know. mingi wasn't used to hearing the other boy curse, so he knew he must be worried but the change in his demeanour still made mingi shudder.

"he says his ex was in here. I don't know, I saw that he looked like he was in trouble so I came to see what was going on" wooyoung tried to explain.

"mingi, your ex?!"

mingi nodded while wooyoung added; "whoever it was seemed like a huge dick"

yunho took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. "okay. thank you for your help, wooyoung. I really appreciate it"

"don't worry, I'll catch you guys later" wooyoung waved it off and then turned to mingi, "I hope you're okay, bro"

yunho smiled sincerely in his direction before getting to the ground next to mingi's shaking body.

"mingi, I'm so sorry I left you. that was stupid of me, but I'm not letting you out of my sight again, okay? if he dares to come back I will be dealing with him so you don't have to worry about a thing"

mingi just buried his face into yunho's apron and began to cry - it all just felt like way too much for him.

"we're going home" yunho announced, "I'm closing up early"

mingi began to make a noise in protest but yunho silenced him; "I don't care what you say, we're going home and I'm gonna stay by your side all night and take care of you"

mingi nodded, squishing his face further into yunho's clothing.

"I'm so scared, yunho" mingi whispered as he felt himself continue to tremble.

"I know, mingi. but I'm here now so you don't have to be"

_

laid in yunho's arms on his unbelievably comfortable sofa, candles burning around the room, mingi almost felt like today hadn't even happened.

he wanted to pretend it hadn't - he wanted to so bad, but yunho's question brought him right back down to reality.

"mingi... do you think.. well.. do you think we should alert the police?"

"they wouldn't do anything" mingi dismissed the idea.

"you don't know that" yunho tried, but when mingi failed to reply, he thought it was maybe best to leave the subject for the night.

but he couldn't help but worry: he'd only left mingi for fifteen minutes... anything could have happened to him - and this terrified yunho. he couldn't lose mingi, not now.

which reminded him - the kiss. so much had happened since then that it was barely the top of mingi's priority list. but for some reason, yunho felt like he needed some validation from the younger boy.

but apparently he needn't ask.

"hyung? you know... what happened earlier, before youngjo?"

yunho chuckled softly, "you mean when we kissed?"

"er, yeah, that" mingi replied shyly.

"what about it?"

"can... can we do that again?"

yunho grinned widely, wanting nothing more in this moment. so without hesitation, his lips found mingi's - and, this time, the kiss lasted way longer than earlier in the shop.

and it was incredible.

_