Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The first thing Suho caught was the smell.

He had been going to check on Beomseok, and when the door opened—while he usually had a refreshing lemon scent—Beomseok reeked of rotten fruit.

As if someone had left some out too long.

But that could mean a few things—but he was definitely hurt.

“Suho? What are you doing here?” Beomseok’s voice was full of fear.

“Something’s going on, isn’t it? Let me in so I can help you.”

Beomseok’s eyes widened. “No—no, it’s fine. I can handle it.” Unfortunately, Suho caught the stress in his tone.

So he took a closer look at the boy—hair messy and greasy—but as his eyes went toward his neck: bruises.

“Are those bruises? Oh my god, who did this? I’m gonna kill them!”

Beomseok shrank back, appearing to be scared of the anger radiating off Suho.

“Please, it’s fine. Just don’t worry about it.” He was desperate to put the whole thing behind them.

“Babe, who’s at the door?” a deep voice called out.

“You need to leave! Right now!” Beomseok begged, footsteps approaching the door.

Suho watched as the door jerked open further, showing the man he’d heard calling Beomseok.

Youngbin stood tall—a smirk on his face that just pissed Suho off further.

Suho wasn’t going to allow it anymore, though.

Youngbin gasped as he was yanked out of the house. Punch after punch, Suho continued to bloody his face.

Well, at least until Beomseok’s voice snapped him out of his fury.

“Stop! You’re gonna kill him!” Suho looked down. Youngbin was unconscious, but his breathing was coming in short gasps.

“We gotta get out of here.” Suho was calm—way too calm for someone who just about murdered a guy.

Beomseok found himself being dragged to Suho’s motorbike as he tried to resist.

“NO! Let me go! I need to make sure he’s alright!” Tears spilled down his face—the tone in his voice full of genuine fear.

Suho turned around, still angry but trying to calm down.

“Beomseok, he hurt you! We have to go clean you up!”

Beomseok sobbed even harder at that—fear obvious on his face.

“Please! Let me go, Suho!” Beomseok pulled his hand away, breaking free from the grip of the other boy.

Suho finally paused, his brain catching up with his surroundings. He had scared Beomseok. He never wanted to hurt him.

In the midst of everything, Beomseok plopped onto the concrete—anguished sobs coming with hitching breaths.

“Beomseok-ah. I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to scare you.” Suho reached out, receiving a flinch from the trembling Beomseok.

Suho didn’t know what to do. This wasn’t his area of expertise.

So he did the one thing he could think of—calling Sieun. Sieun would know what to do.

⸻

Chapter Text

All it took was, “Beomseok is in trouble.” And Sieun was already on his way.

He didn’t know much, considering Beomseok couldn’t give consent in his mindset currently.

His sobs hadn’t stopped—not even slowing down for a second.

Suho was mad at himself. How could he have not noticed? Sure Beomseok had been distant but they were reassured he was just a bit tired.

Suho sat next to Beomseok until Sieun arrived, silence was filled with the crying.

“What in the hell happened?” Sieun’s voice snapped Suho out of his thoughts quickly.

“Look I won’t tell you everything until Beom-ah is okay enough to tell you himself. But that boyfriend of his wasn’t being a good man. I took care of that, I needed your help with him though.”

Sieun took a seat on the sidewalk—Beomseok clinged to him almost immediately.

Suho glanced down, his body filling with warmth that he couldn’t distinguish as positive or negative.

“You need to calm down. He’s scared and your anger isn’t helping.” Sieun eventually said, it’s like he could read minds.

Suho’s face flushed, and tried his hardest to calm down. He was just so angry—who would hurt Beomseok?

“Okay honey we need to get you somewhere warm and safe. Is that okay?” Sieun gently pulled out of the hug scanning Beomseok for reaction.

Beomseok just nodded, now he was reduced to sniffles.

Suho grabbed his bike and pulled it closer to the two of them.

Luckily he always kept a helmet, so when he wasn’t wearing it, someone else could.

The boys made quick work putting on the helmet, then helped Beomseok to his feet.

“There’s room for three on my bike. Sieun do you wanna go to your place or mine?”

“My dad isn’t home, he won’t be for a while so my place is fine.” Sieun replied as Beomseok got settled on the middle of the vehicle.

———

Once they made it to Sieun’s, it was clear Beomseok was getting more anxious again.

He hesitated at the door, “are you sure I’m welcome here?”

His tone of voice broke Suho’s heart. While Sieun simply nodded and walked in.

“We should get you cleaned up. You can borrow some of my clothes, do you wanna shower alone or will you need help?”

Sieun had gone into his room, grabbing clothing he thought the taller boy could wear.

“…yeah I can do it myself.”

———

Beomseok allowed the water to pour over his body while he stared at the wall. He felt like everything was falling apart—and it was his fault.

Young-bin had manipulated him into a relationship, then had started to beat him.

“No one needs to know that you’re a little bitch, do they?”

The words make Beomseok tremble even now. But he couldn’t disappoint his friends. Not when they’ve helped so much.

So he went ahead and washed his hair and moved down to his body. His eyes stayed up, not wanting to see the wounds.

———

Sieun stood outside the bathroom to make sure nothing happened. But he had told Beomseok to let him know when he was done, knowing he’d have to help dress wounds.

“I’m done,” Beomseok weakly called out behind the door. Sieun was quick to walk in, he had seen men naked before, but even with pants Beomseok looked really good.

He didn’t have a lot of muscle, however enough to
make Sieun blush as he grabbed the first aid kit.

“This might sting a bit.” Though the warning was nice, Beomseok still hissed at the feeling of the alcohol being spread around his body.

Sieun made a point to hurry to get Beomseok fully clothed with the gauze properly taped down.

“Okay you can put your shirt on now. I’m sure Suho is done with dinner already. Would you like to eat something?”

Sieun said carefully, still not fully filled in on the abuse Beomseok faced. Luckily the boy nodded eagerly to the question.

Beomseok hadn’t eaten since the day prior, Youngbin thought he needed to be punished. All his boyfriend did was run a bit late getting home.

Suho had changed into a tank top, he had wiped down a bit to get the blood off. And Beomseok had never noticed how buff his friend was. So he just stared.

“Am I that good looking?” Suho winked, playing into the flirty side.

“Yeah you’re so hot. I’m sure he’s about to faint from how good you look.” Sieun chimed in. Truth be told he too thought Suho looked hot. But he didn’t want Beomseok to think it too.

He had done his research after a drunk kiss was shared with Suho. However, Sieun still had feelings for Beomseok as well.

Could someone like two people at once?

Besides Suho didn’t say anything about the kiss after. He probably didn’t even remember it.

“I’m kidding Beom, let’s eat!” Suho laughed with a playful tone.

The three sat at the table. It had been a while since they’d had a moment like this. Once Beomseok got a boyfriend he disappeared.

And he didn’t even tell the other two. So Suho was really upset, as he believed Beomseok didn’t wanna be his friend anymore.

Sieun tried to talk sense into him, but it’s like Suho was heartbroken. Which in turn hurt Sieun.

Suho likes Sieun, but it seemed like he was obsessed with Beomseok. Constantly worrying about where he is, or worried that bullies picked on him again.

He didn’t wanna admit it. Since boys liking boys was already a no in Korea, but liking two!

———

Sieun had insisted Beomseok didn’t need to help with dishes. Now here they are standing side by side, moving quickly.

“I saw the way you looked at Suho. Do you like him?” Sieun was very blunt, but Beomseok was caught off guard.

“What- no I just didn’t know he looked like…that. Besides I saw how you looked at him!”

They were both caught red handed. Their crush on Suho lingering in the air.

No one mentioned how they all looked at each other. It was already awkward as it is.

Once all of the dishes were done, Sieun went to his room to set up a cot. But before he could Beomseok stopped him.

“Can’t we sleep in the same bed?” He said quietly, but it was obvious what was wrong. Beomseok didn’t wanna be alone and trusted the others.

Sieun nodded warmly, already putting stuff back up. “Yeah we might be squeezed a bit, but that’s okay.”

He also grabbed some pajamas for Suho and himself. Then he directed Beomseok to the bed, while he went to the bathroom with Suho to get dressed.

Beomseok sighed when he was left alone. So much had happened that day. But all he could think about was his friends.

Why didn’t he just date them in the first place? He shouldn’t have gotten into a relationship with Youngbin ever.

His breath hitched, but before he could cry again—Suho and Sieun walked in.

“Hey what’s wrong?” Suho asked, sitting down on the bed, brushing Beomseok’s hair with his fingers.

“Nothing, I’m just stupid for getting-“ Sieun cut him off. “No we won’t be blaming you. None of this is your fault.” Suho nodded along.

Beomseok just smiled and nodded. He mind wasn’t changed fully, but atleast the two people he loved the most didn’t blame him.

Suho and Sieun then got comfy in the bed, Beomseok in the middle—arms wrapped around him by both sides.

Something had changed that night. But right now they could hold off on talking about it for now.