Chapter Text
Seungmins spare key slipped into the lock as if it belonged there.
It did.
This was his boyfriend's house—a place Seungmin had spent countless nights in, a place that was supposed to feel like a second home. Instead, it had become another reminder that "home" was never a guarantee.
He pushed the door open, the familiar scent of laundry detergent and his boyfriend's cologne drifting through the quiet house.
"Hey?" he called, shrugging his backpack off one shoulder.
Silence answered him.
He took another step inside.
Then he heard it.
A breathless moan.
Another.
The unmistakable smack of skin against skin echoed from somewhere deeper in the house.
Seungmin stopped in his tracks.
For a moment, everything around him faded—the ticking clock in the kitchen, the hum of the refrigerator, even the sound of his own breathing. All he could hear were the noises spilling from behind a closed bedroom door.
Most people would've marched down the hallway. Thrown open the door. Demanded answers. Cried. Screamed.
Not Seungmin.
He'd done that before.
Not with this boyfriend.
With the ones before him.
The promises. The apologies. The tears. The desperate insistence that it "didn't mean anything." Every relationship had ended the same way, leaving another crack in a heart that had long since stopped expecting loyalty.
So he already knew what waited behind that door.
He didn't need to see it.
With a quiet, almost practiced sigh, Seungmin set the spare key on the entryway table. His fingers lingered for only a second before he turned away.
The front door clicked shut behind him.
He never looked back.
——
By the time Seungmin reached the Stray Kids dorm, he was crying.
He hated it.
After being cheated on over and over again, he'd promised himself he wouldn't cry anymore. He was tired of giving people the power to hurt him like this. Tired of believing that maybe this time would be different.
And yet, there he was, wiping away tears that refused to stop falling.
His hand trembled as he slipped his dorm key into the lock and pushed the door open, hoping no one would notice.
"Oh! Hey, Seungmo—"
Han looked up from the couch with an easy smile, but it vanished the second he saw him.
"...Seungmo?"
Han was on his feet before Seungmin could even take another step.
"Seungmin?" he asked, hurrying over. "Hey... what's wrong?"
Seungmin opened his mouth, wanting to answer, but nothing came out.
Another tear slipped down his cheek.
Then another.
His breathing hitched, his vision blurred, and suddenly the weight he'd been carrying since leaving his boyfriend's house crashed down all at once.
His knees gave out.
"Seungmin!"
Han caught him before he could hit the floor, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him against his chest.
A muffled sob escaped Seungmin as he clutched the front of Han's hoodie with trembling hands, the tears he'd fought so hard to hold back finally spilling over.
Han's heart sank.
"Hey, hey... I've got you," he said softly, tightening his hold. "You don't have to say anything right now. Just breathe, okay?"
Seungmin could only shake his head, another broken sob escaping him as he buried his face against Han's shoulder.
"I-I..." Seungmin tried to speak, but the words dissolved into another sob.
"I..." He squeezed his eyes shut, his voice cracking. "I can't do this anymore..."
Han froze.
His grip on Seungmin tightened ever so slightly.
"...No," he whispered, dread settling in his chest.
He already knew.
"Seungmin..." Han swallowed hard. "Don't tell me..."
Seungmin couldn't even look at him. His shoulders shook as he buried his face deeper against Han's shoulder.
"...He cheated, didn't he?"
The room fell silent.
After a long moment, Seungmin gave the smallest nod.
Han closed his eyes, letting out a slow, shaky breath.
"...Again."
That single word broke whatever composure Seungmin had left.
"Why is it always me?" he cried. "Why does this keep happening to me?"
Another sob tore through the room.
A bedroom door creaked open.
Minho stepped into the hallway, absentmindedly unscrewing the cap of a water bottle as he glanced toward the living room.
He stopped.
His eyes landed on Han kneeling on the floor, Seungmin trembling in his arms.
The bottle slipped from his hand, clattering against the hardwood.
For a second, he simply stared.
Then he crossed the room in quick, silent strides.
He crouched beside them without a word, one hand settling gently between Seungmin's shoulder blades.
"...What happened?"
His voice was steady.
Too steady.
Han looked up at him, worry written all over his face.
"I don't know everything," he admitted quietly. "He came in crying... then he just... broke."
Minho's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.
He looked down at Seungmin, who still couldn't bring himself to lift his head.
"Seungmin."
No response.
Minho's hand rubbed slow circles against his back.
"Look at me."
It wasn't a demand.
It was gentle.
Seungmin managed to lift his head just enough for their eyes to meet before another sob escaped him.
"I-I can't..." he whispered.
Minho held his gaze for a long moment.
"...Your boyfriend?"
Seungmin's lip trembled.
A tiny nod.
Minho exhaled through his nose.
"...I see."
That was all he said.
But Han caught the way Minho's shoulders stiffened, the way his hand paused for just a second before continuing its slow, reassuring circles.
Anyone who didn't know Minho would've missed it.
Han didn't.
He knew that was as close to panic as Minho ever let himself get.
Han looked back at Seungmin and gently brushed the hair from his face.
"You don't have to carry this by yourself anymore," he said softly. "You've got us, okay? Whatever happened... we'll get through it together."
Seungmin let out another shaky sob, his fingers clutching Han's sleeve a little tighter.
Seungmin cried until the sobs no longer came as loudly.
They faded into quiet, uneven breaths, his body trembling with every exhausted inhale. His eyes burned, his throat ached, and even lifting his head felt impossible.
"...I'm so tired," he whispered, barely audible.
Han's heart twisted.
"I know," he said softly, brushing a hand through Seungmin's hair. "You don't have to be strong anymore, okay? Not right now."
Seungmin let out a weak laugh that sounded more like another sob.
"No... not like that."
He swallowed hard, staring blankly at the floor.
"I'm tired of trusting people... tired of giving everything I have..." His voice cracked again. "I'm just... tired of ending up here."
The room fell silent.
Minho looked at him for a long moment before speaking.
"...Then stop carrying it by yourself."
Seungmin blinked slowly, tears gathering again.
"I don't know how."
"You don't have to know," Han replied immediately. "That's what we're here for."
Seungmin's breathing slowed, though his shoulders still shook.
"I don't think I can do this again..." he admitted. "I don't think I have anything left."
Han tightened his hold around him.
"You don't have to figure out tomorrow tonight," he murmured. "Right now, we're just getting you through today."
Minho gave a small nod.
"...One day at a time."
The fight finally left Seungmin's body.
He sagged against Han, too drained to hold himself up any longer. His eyelids felt impossibly heavy, each blink lasting a little longer than the last.
Han carefully slipped an arm beneath his knees.
"C'mon," he whispered. "Let's get you to bed."
Seungmin didn't protest.
He simply rested his head against Han's shoulder, eyes half-lidded, too exhausted to do anything but let himself be carried.
Han laid him gently on his bed, pulling the blankets over him while Minho quietly set a glass of water on the nightstand.
"We'll be right outside if you need us," Han said.
Minho adjusted the blanket over Seungmin's shoulder before standing.
"...Try to sleep."
For the first time that day, Seungmin didn't force himself to answer.
He simply closed his eyes, too emotionally and physically drained to keep fighting the exhaustion pulling him under.