Chapter Text
The sudden commotion downstairs is what roused Seokjin from his precious beauty sleep, the clock blaring an irritable red light in the form of blurred numbers. Jin couldn't read them due to his glasses being on the table instead of his face, but he knew the time read Too Fucking Early. The sun hadn't even risen!
He frowned in displeasure, throwing the blanket back over himself and praying that it could just be something he could take care of in the morning. Seconds later, however, another crash sounded beneath the floor of his flat, and Jin got up with a groan. Either someone was dying or it could wait until morning.
Geez, he was starting to sound like Yoongi.
With glasses on and blanket wrapped around his shoulders, the young man stepped sleepily downstairs to check on the cafe below his flat. Bleary eyes took in the scene once the lights were on, only to widen as he found the source of the noise. There lay a fox hybrid, cowered behind the bar with bruises and cuts littering his arms and face. Nothing in the room seemed harmed except for a fallen and shattered glass coffee pot, so Seokjin concluded he must've left the front door unlocked. Either way, it didn't matter. What did, however, was the boy in front of him.
Said fox hybrid didn't take long to spot him, jumping to his feet and running into the broad-shouldered man's arms, "Hyung! Hyung help me!" Seokjin nearly stumbled when the boy latched onto him like he was his last hope, and if he knew what this was, it's likely that's the case.
"Okay Taehyung," he murmured gently, eyeing the broken glass and keeping the boy close, "Let's get you upstairs."
He draped the blanket around the younger's shoulders, guiding him upstairs into the upper level flat. He'll have to clean up the mess of glass, but right now he had a traumitized cousin to worry about.
Just as he got Taehyung to settle down on his couch, he heard a bellowing cry below him, "Kim Seokjin!"
He sighed, taking a cup of the hot chocolate he had prepared for the both of them and taking a long sip. This was not going to be a pleasant exchange. With promises to Taehyung that he'll return, he steeled his resolve and walked back down the stairs. Waiting for him impatiently stood the despicable man Taehyung had the misfortune of calling a father, and Seokjin's uncle.
"Where is he," the man snarled. Seokjin set his jaw, his gaze hardening.
"I have no idea what you mean, Uncle," he replied formally, glancing him over. He could smell the alcohol on him several feet away, and his frown deepened.
"You know exactly what I mean, boy," the other man spat, "Where is he?"
"You're mistaken, no one has been here but you. Meanwhile, you have no right to be here."
Without letting the man respond, Jin twirled his finger. His uncle's eyes clouded over and he immediately turned on his heel, Jin pointed out the door and the man marched right out and back in the direction of his home. Seokjin couldn't help the smile at his lips as he watched the door swing shut behind him, making sure it was locked before hurrying back upstairs to the boy waiting for him.
Fortunately, the hybrid seemed much more relaxed than when he first arrived, a warm cup of hot chocolate in his hands and safe from harm. Jin sat down beside him, setting on treating his cuts as best he could as he waited for Taehyung to speak.
"He was beating Mom and Eon Jin again," he whispered hollowly. Jin frowned as he carefully set a fresh plaster over the cut at the boy's cheek. Taehyung continued,
"It was especially bad this time, he started hurting them physically so I... I tried to fight back..."
Jin pulled him close to his chest, running his hand soothingly along his back when he felt the boy begin to tremble. The hybrid's tail wrapped around himself as he cowered into his elder cousin's chest, holding onto him tightly again. Seokjin soothed him gently, comfortingly petting at Taehyung's ears until he stopped shaking.
"Please don't send me back there," the boy whimpered, and Jin shook his head firmly.
"I won't Taehyung, you don't have to go back there. You never have to go back there, not to him," he stated gently, "You can stay with me from now on. I'll keep you safe."
More time passed, full of soothing comforts and cups of hot chocolate between them before Taehyung finally drifted to sleep on the couch. Seokjin breathed a heavy sigh, looking up just to see the sunrise peeking over the horizon outside his window. He'll have to talk to his aunt to let her know he'll take care of her son now. Bless her, perhaps he could take Eon Jin under his care as well. Neither of them deserved to be treated like this.
Either way, he'll have to take care of it later. He still had a restaurant to run and now a little cousin to watch over, and it was barely even 7am.
Oh yeah, there was also that broken coffee pot downstairs.
A sigh passed the man's lips, and he slipped off his glasses before curling up beside Taehyung for sleep.
He could afford to open the cafe late today.