(The First Night)
I met Jinki when I was 16. He was 19 at the time, and it was a complete chance that we met. I was at the park really late one night, and I was on the swingset, crying. He was there too, but he was looking for something, one of his neighbors had lost their dog. It was raining, and he had a flashlight in his palm. To make a long story short, the small dog was in my lap, and so when he spotted me, he found the dog as well. He lifted the shaking animal from my lap and stared at me for a long moment, and I knew he could see it. The dark purple bruise on my collar bone, under my ripped shirt, and I knew I could lie to him just as easily as any of the others, but I didn't. I didn't say anything, and I let him look as long as he wanted. I let him see what was wrong with me, because it didn't matter anymore. And then he spoke, and it was the kindest voice I had ever heard. Soft - yet strong, and strangley comforting.
"If you stay outside, you'll be sick." He said. And he picked me up off the swing, and helped me up onto his back.
After that, he brought me with him to return his neighbors dog, saying how I had found it, and kept it safe. The woman who owned the dog was so thankful, and it bothered me a lot for some reason, so I stepped into the stranger's shadow, the one who was taking me out of the cold, and hid my face. He laughed with the woman for a moment, commenting on my shyness, and then wished her a good night. When the door closed, he put his arm around me and led me to his apartment. He helped me get my shirt off, and wrapped a fluffly towel around my upper half. Not long after, he instruted me to remove my wet clothing, and take a warm shower to heat up my aching skin. When I eventually did come out of the shower, I dried myself quickly, and put on the pajama pants he had let me borrow, before stepping out into the living room and seeing him standing by the stove with two steaming mugs. When he saw me he turned with a smile, and came over, taking the towel from my hands and gently drying my hair.
I looked up at him slowly, and I felt the tears coming down my face before I was even aware my eyes were watering. He stopped, looking slightly alarmed, and asked if he had hurt me. His words brought on even more tears, and I shook my head, bringing my hands up to my eyes. He looked around nervously, but when I reached out slowly to touch his arm, he stopped and looked down at me, saw the bruises across my chest and stomach, old and new, and finally looked at my face again.
"Who did this to you?" He asked. I pulled my hand back and sniffled, trying to regain some composure before I answered, though it was harder than I thought it would be. He moved me over to the couch and sat me down, dissapearing behind a door for a minute, then coming back with a t-shirt in his hand and sliding it over my head. He looked apologetic, and I wiped at my eyes and took a deep breath. "Will you tell me?"
"My dad..he gets mad sometimes." I said, not sure how much to give away. "I do bad things, and he punishes me so I can be good."
"I don't understand." He said, and I bit my lip. "If you really believed that, you wouldn't run from it."
"Yes I would. I'm bad. Bad kids don't take their punishment." I told him, tears in my eyes.
"What did you do to deserve this one?" He asked, grazing the one on my colar bone. I flinched slightly.
"I didn't do the dishes before I ate dinner." I said. He stared at me with an expressionless face for a long time, before he pulled me against him.
"My name is Jinki." He said. I leaned my head on his chest, thinking how much trouble I would get in when I got home.
"T-Taemin." I said. He nodded and pet my hair for a moment, before letting me go and going to the kitchen to get the drinks. When he came back I was standing in the same spot, and he handed me one of the mugs before taking a seat on the couch and looking at me expectantly. "Th-thanks."
I sat on the couch near him, but not too close, as he turned the television on. I sipped at the cocoa in my hands and let out a small sigh when it warmed my insides. I was so tired, suddenly, and Jinki looked over at me as I set the cup down, for fear of dropping it.
"Are you tired?" He asked me. I nodded shyly, and he looked at the clock. "Do you have school tomorrow?"
"N-no, it's summer break." I told him. He blinked a few times and nodded.
"I forgot about that." He said. "If you want to, you can stay here tonight. It's pretty late, and it's cold out."
That was how I ended up living with Jinki. The first few weeks were awkward, uncomfortable, and uncertain. I kept waiting for him to lash out, or send me home, and when he was home he spent his time trying to convince me that nothing my parents had done was right, or my fault. When he wasn't home, I explored his apartment, getting familiar with his fridge, and his cooking utensils. The first few days he seemed almost relieved to see me there when he came back, but eventually he just got to know that I would be there. I started making him dinner, and washing his cloths, and cleaning up the little apartment. He was my best friend, and not too long after, he was my first kiss.
It was slow, and shy, and so sweet. It was a sigh, a gentle massage from his lips to mine, and I drank it in like a cool box of banana milk. My eyes flickered open when he pulled away, and I stared at him for a while, with him staring right back, and eventually I realized what we had done. My cheeks tinted a light pink, and he smiled sheepishly as I brought my hand up to my lips, touching where his had touched mine. He pulled me into his lap and smiled at me, and I leaned against him, letting my heart beat fly.