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The hour hand on the clock was nearing 5 o'clock and Jaemin was pacing his living room, getting more worried by the second.
Chenle hadn't returned from school that afternoon, so Renjun went to look for him after getting off work.
He refused to let Jaemin or Jisung go with him.
Claiming that since he was Chenle's brother he'd be more likely to know where he was.
Jaemin had reluctantly agreed to let him go by himself, dispite his gut feeling that something bad was going to happen.
And now here he was with no news, almost an hour after Renjun had left work, and panicking.
Jisung sat on the floor, alternating between staring at his phone and at his arms.
He was waiting for any sort of message from Chenle, wether it be a text or a hasty message written on his skin.
Jaemin understood how the boy must feel, his soulmate suddenly gone without a word. He'd be distraught if Jeno or Renjun disappeared like that.
Jaemin continued pacing, his dread increasing with every step, until he couldn't handle it anymore.
He tried calling Renjun again, only for it to go straight to voice-mail.
He quickly grabbed his keys off the small Coffee table, the sudden change made Jisung come out of his daze with a quizzical look.
"Come on, I'm not staying here any longer, something is wrong and we're finding them." Jaemin said heading towards the door.
Jisung quickly scrambled to follow him, slipping on shoes as they left the building.
They picked Jeno up from his work early, claiming a family emergency, and filled him in as they drove.
Jaemin could see the fear in Jeno's eyes as he tried to reassure Jaemin.
"Ok so we have to find Chenle and Renjun will be with him, right?" Jeno asked, his voice tinged with the worry he was trying to hide.
Jaemin nodded, keeping his eyes focused on the road.
"Jisung where would Chenle be?" Jeno asked turning around to look at the boy.
Jisung thought about it for a minute before answering.
"The only place I can think of would be their father's house." He said.
A stab of fear pierced through Jaemin, and he could feel that this was the truth.
He quickly changed lanes and sped up, they were still 20 minutes away.
.....
Renjun stepped of the bus into his old neighborhood heading to his father's house.
The route was familiar, and brought back memories, not good ones.
These were memories of fear, the fear of what his father would do when he returned home, the worry of whether or not he'd hit them.
Renjun shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.
He needed to be fully alert when he stepped back into that house.
Chenle had texted him, telling him that he had to go back to their father's house.
He hadn't said why or listened to Renjun's pleas for him to wait, to let them talk to over, to not go alone.
And so here he was, two houses away from the hell he'd been living in until a few weeks ago.
He took a deep breath, silently hoping that the events soon to happen wouldn't become part of his soulmates dreams that night, and walked toward the house.
The light in the living room was on and could be seen from the road, but the blinds were drawn so Renjun had no idea what to expect when he walked it.
He entered the house to see Chenle on the floor his father standing above him screaming.
The room was littered with empty bottles of alcohol and it was obvious his father was drunk.
Renjun quickly ran to Chenle, dropping to his knees and trying to pull him away.
The boy was luckily conscious, but dazed as if he'd just taken a blow to the head.
Knowing their father Renjun suspected this was exactly what had happened.
Chenle quickly realized what Renjun was doing and scrambled to get back.
Their father zeroed in on Renjun, eyes narrowing.
"You fucking bastard, you thought you could just leave? Well you can't. I own you" He said, his voice slurred by the alcohol.
Fear took over Renjun and he moved without thinking, grabbing an empty bottle and lunging toward his father.
He hit him on his shoulder, breaking the bottle in the process.
But it didn't seem to faze his father, who shoved Renjun back to the ground.
His arm made a sickening crack as he fell on it, and he could hear multiple cracks in his side as his father kicked him.
Each kick sent a wave of pain through Renjun.
Then something blurred through his peripheral vision and the kicks stopped.
Then Chenle was beside him.
His vision blurred as the younger boy kneeled down beside him.
In the seconds before he lost consciousness he heard the younger boy whisper hoarsely,
'I'm sorry.'
Then his vision went black.
...
They were about 5 minutes away from the house when Jisung's phone rang.
The caller ID showed Chenle's name and he answered as fast as possible.
'Chenle! Are you ok, where are you?' He asked before the boy could say anything.
'Renjun and I are at the hospital, I'm ok just a few bruises and a possible concussion. Renjun's not doing so good, he's got a broken arm and possibly some broken ribs. He's unconscious right now though' Chenle's voice was weak and he sounded as if he was about to cry.
Jisung relayed this information to Jaemin and Jeno before returning his attention to Chenle.
'We'll be there in 10 minutes ok? Can you tell me what happened?'
Jisung listened as Chenle told him how he'd gone back to his father's house to retrieve something he'd left, hoping his father wasn't home.
The boy was then met with an intoxicated father, angrier than ever before, and then the fighting had started.
By the time Chenle had finished the story, ending with how he'd knocked his father to the ground, his head hitting the coffee's table and nocking him unconscious, they had arrived.
They rushed in, stopping only long enough for Jeno to explain what was going on and get them visitors passes as well as room numbers for the 2 boys.
Chenle and Renjun we're in 2 separate rooms so Jaemin and Jeno went to see Renjun and Jisung went to Chenle's room.
Chenle was sitting up in the bed, mostly unharmed as he'd said, with bruises littering his arms and a busted lip.
Jisung immediately ran up to the older boy, pulling him into as much of a hug as he could.
'Everything's going to be ok, I'll make sure you never have to go back there ok?' Jisung said as he pulled back.
Chenle nodded, taking Jisung's hand and squeezing it.
'Thank you, I love you.' Chenle's voice still sounded hoarse.
'I love you too, I always will.'
....
When Jeno and Jaemin entered the room the nurse taking his vitals informed them that Renjun had only just woken up.
The boy looked terrible, a cast was on his left arm and bruises littered his face and torso, peaking above the wrapping all around his chest.
Jeno's heart hurt looking at him, knowing his soulmate was in such pain.
The nurse left as Jeno and Jaemin each went to one side of the boy.
"Im so sorry, I should have let you come with me Jaemin, I just didn't want anything to happen to you." Renjun sounded as if he were on the verge of tears.
"Hey, its ok, what happened happened, km just so glad that you're still here." Jaemin said soothingly.
"All that matters is that you're ok, we both love you so much, and we'll be here to take care of you"
Jeno could see the relief in Renjuns eyes as he said this.
"I love you both too, and im so lucky to have you as my soulmates." Renjun said, kissing Jaemin then Jeno.
...
The doctors released both Chenle and Renjun that night, giving express instructions that Renjun was not return to work for at least 3 weeks as he'd broken multiple ribs.
Chenle was also excused from school for the remainder of the week.
Jeno drove them all home, with Renjun, Jaemin, and Chenle in the back, and Jisung in the passenger seat.
They all ended up staying at Jaemin's appartment that night, as both Jisung and Jeno couldn't bear to leave.
As Renjun layed down, Jeno and Jaemin on either side of him, he realized how much he loved these two.
He loved them more than he could comprehend, let alone explain.
He loved them like he'd never loved anyone else, more than he ever thought he'd be able to love someone.
He knew the next couple weeks would be hard, but he also knew that Jaemin and Jeno would be by his side the whole time.
It would take time to heal but he was finally starting the next chapter of his life, and he was beyond lucky to have these two at his side.