Dear Diary,

I've been sexually assaulted. Releasing inside someone who's asked you not to is sexual assault. I googled it.

What's next?

Yoongi was terrified to think of the things Hoseok might do to him in the near future. That had been the first time Hoseok had done that to Yoongi against his consent. He was thinking about it as he worked, wondering if Hoseok was going to get worse. He hoped not. The state of their relationship already made Yoongi want to die. How much worse could it get?

Perhaps that thought came too soon. With a hard whack, Yoongi was hit in the back of the head, causing him to fall forward, catching himself on his hands and knees. Looking up at the culprit, he saw Jungkook.

Jungkook glared down at Yoongi with a long box in his hands."Oh my bad, Hyung." he sneered."I didn't see you there." The long box he held was labeled as brooms that needed to be stocked for customers to buy. Thankfully, it hadn't been anything heavier. Still, he had known it would hurt.

When Yoongi lifted his hand to rub the back of his head, it went unnoticed by Jungkook that the sleeve of his shirt slipped up to show his bandaged arm. It didn't really matter to Yoongi if anyone saw the bandage. He knew no one cared anyway. No one would ask what happened, aside from Hoseok, who probably just wanted a reason to tease him for being clumsy. Openly showing his bandage might be seen as a cry for help by more observant people, but Yoongi knew that cries for help were useless if no one cared about him.

With pain in his head from a forming headache, Yoongi made his way to the manager's office. No, he wasn't going to report the hit. He doubted the manager would believe him. Besides, if he reported one of Hoseok's friends, he knew Hoseok would punish him for it. Yoongi gave a soft knock on the open office door and peered in at the manager, who was doing some work on her computer, scheduling and whatnot."Um, Manager, I'm not feeing well." he lied. Maybe he was a liar. But white lies weren't bad if they didn't hurt anyone, right?

The manager looked away from her computer to see Yoongi. She didn't know why he was the only one who wouldn't call her by her name."Do you think you need to go home?" she asked softly. When Yoongi nodded, she sighed."You can't hold on for the rest of the shift? I have no one else who's trained for your area at the moment."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can." Yoongi felt so bad, completely awful. He didn't want to inconvenience his manager. She was so nice, despite falling prey to stunts of Hoseok's friends, believing them whenever they did things to get Yoongi in trouble.

"Alright. Just remember that this counts against you on your attendance." She watched Yoongi walk away from the office then got back to her work. She didn't really know what else to do with Yoongi. He definitely seemed troubled, always getting into trouble and leaving early with the same excuse of not feeling well. It made her wonder if something was going on behind the scenes, but it wasn't her place to pry.

Going to the break room to get his bag, Yoongi was relieved to see that the room was empty. No one was currently taking their break. He just grabbed his bag and made his way out of the store as stealthily as possible. He didn't want Hoseok to see him leave. He would just wait in the car for the rest of the night, not wanting Hoseok to get mad about not having a ride home again.

---

During his meal break, Namjoon went outside to look for Yoongi. He wanted to talk to him about what he'd heard the other night. He also wanted to see if he could get Yoongi to talk, even a little. However, he didn't find Yoongi in the same spot as last time. He looked around all over the place. It made him wonder if Yoongi had gone home early again.

That thought slipped away when he spotted Yoongi's car."He's still here." Stepping over to the car, Namjoon peeked in through the windows, hoping to find Yoongi, which he did. The shorter guy was lying down across the back seats, curled up and asleep. A soft smile came over Namjoon's lips when he saw that Yoongi had his phone in his hand and earbuds plugged into it.

What should he do now? He didn't want to wake Yoongi for nothing. With a sigh, he went back into the store, having an idea. It didn't take him long to come back out to Yoongi's car with a shopping bag. Hoping he wouldn't startle the other guy, he knocked on the window. Would Yoongi even hear the knock with the music in his ears? Taking a daring chance, Namjoon grabbed the door handle and opened the door, surprised to find that it wasn't locked."That's not safe." he grumbled quietly before reaching out to tap Yoongi's arm.

To say that Yoongi was startled to be woken like this would be a massive understatement. He was quick to sit up and scoot as far away from Namjoon as he could. Taking out his earbuds, he paused his music and tried to calm his pounding heart upon seeing that the one who woke him was the only person who had been somewhat nice to him.

"Hey, sorry. I knocked on the window, but I guess you didn't hear me with your music in." Namjoon made a small motion to the seat next to Yoongi."Can I sit with you?"

Yoongi was very hesitant but didn't want to be mean, so he nodded. He felt rather uncomfortable as Namjoon got into the car and closed the door. The rustling of the shopping bag caught his attention, and he peered over, watching as Namjoon pulled out a couple individually-wrapped sandwiches and two small bottles of milk. It confused him why Namjoon had that much for himself. Must be nice. Yoongi couldn't buy anything for himself since Hoseok had his credit card and didn't allow him to carry any cash.

"Are you hungry?" Namjoon asked casually, holding one of the wrapped sandwiches out to Yoongi."I bought this for you. One of these milks is for you too."

"For m-me..?" Yoongi was taken aback. Why was Namjoon doing this? Namjoon knew what a supposedly-bad person Yoongi was, didn't he? He'd said so before that he'd heard all the things that were said about him. So why was he being so nice?

It made Namjoon want to melt a little at the sound of Yoongi's groggy voice. It was so low and gruff but held a sort of softness in it."Yeah, for you." He watched with a hopeful gaze as Yoongi hesitated then accepted the sandwich. Giving a bottle of milk to Yoongi as well, he chuckled as he saw Yoongi nestle the bottle between his thighs for holding."Do you not have money for food right now? I noticed you didn't buy anything for yourself last time either."

How could Yoongi answer that? He couldn't tell the truth, but he didn't want to lie. What could he do? He opted to not answer at all, just opening the wrapped sandwich in his hands and taking a small bite. It was such a simple sandwich, thinly sliced ham with cheese on slightly-soggy bread. It was certainly cheap, but for Yoongi, it was delicious.

The two of them sat in silence, just eating their sandwiches and drinking their milk. It pleased Namjoon that Yoongi was eating. Perhaps buying him something like this was better than the cookies. It was obviously healthier."Hyung, I need to tell you something." There was no careful way to say this, so Namjoon was just going to say it straight out."I, uh...I know the truth." He took a small drink of his milk before elaborating."About you and Hoseok, I mean. I know you don't abuse him."

As soon as those words left Namjoon's mouth and mingled with Yoongi's ears, the knowledge of how to eat properly leaked out of his brain. Yoongi choked on his sandwich, wondering if his ears just played a cruel trick on him. How could Namjoon know the truth? No one ever doubted Hoseok's words before. What was different now?

"Aw jeez, I'm sorry." Namjoon reached over and gently rubbed Yoongi's back as the other guy used his sleeve to wipe his mouth."I didn't mean to surprise you like that. I just didn't know how else to say it." Retracting his hand after a short moment, he sighed."I overheard you two last night. I went to your house because Taehyung wanted me to ask Hoseok to hang out with us, to get him away from you. But when I got to the door, I heard you guys talking inside. I heard the awful things Hoseok said to you."

Yoongi's heart pounded as he turned his gaze away, peering out the window. He was scared. What was going to happen now that someone knew the truth?"Please don't tell anyone..."

"I won't." That would only lead to more trouble. Namjoon knew that."As long as everyone believes Hoseok, telling them the truth won't do anything but probably make Hoseok angry. We need to show them proof."

"That's impossible." Yoongi was not hopeful about this at all."There's no proof to show."

"Does he hit you?" Namjoon knew that was a sensitive question, but he was looking for something that could be used as proof.

With a hesitant nod, Yoongi sighed heavily."Yeah, but..."

"He doesn't leave marks." This was going to cause problems."He's careful about that, isn't he?" Not really knowing what do to about this, Namjoon screwed the lid onto his milk and set it down on the floor."Until we can come up with solid evidence, be careful. I'm open to talk any time. If you ever need anything, just let me know."

Tears stung at Yoongi's eyes, and he tried so hard to resist the desire to cry."Why are you doing this? No one cares about me. What makes you any different?"

Those words brought a sad smile to Namjoon's lips."I don't know much about you, Yoongi-hyung, but I can't just sit back and watch you get treated this way. I want to help. All my life, I've wanted to do the right thing, but I never really knew what the right thing was. But this...This is the right thing."

"We can't be seen together. He can't know." Yoongi knew how mad Hoseok would become if he found out Yoongi was talking to Namjoon about the truth.

"Can I have your number? We can text or call each other whenever you need help." Namjoon offered.

But Yoongi shook his head."We can't. I'm forbidden to lock my phone. He occasionally checks my texts and call log to make sure I don't contact anyone but him. I'm not even allowed to have social medias or mobile games. Any form of contact with other people, I can't do it."

"What about your family? Can't you ask them for help?" Namjoon knew he was grasping at straws here, but there had to be someone Yoongi to turn to for help, right?

Yoongi shook his head."No. My family is in Daegu. Hoseok made me move here to Seoul with him and bought me a new phone with a new number. He blocked my parents' numbers and won't let me contact them. I wasn't even allowed to tell my parents where we were moving. They have no idea where I am."

Now that definitely broke Namjoon's heart. He had to help Yoongi. He just had to."He's completely isolated you." With a new fire in his spirit, Namjoon grabbed Yoongi's hand, perhaps unintentionally startling the shorter guy once again. He really needed to stop doing that, but he was just so fired up."I'll do everything I can to help you. You have my word. Until we can get evidence against him, I'll spend breaks with you, and you can tell me all about the things he does. Or we can talk about other things to cheer you up, anything you want. You're not going to go through this alone anymore. I promise. Since Hoseok spends his breaks in the break room with everyone else, you and I can sit out here. No one will know."

"But how am I ever going to repay you for this?" Yoongi didn't want to take Namjoon's kindness for free. He would feel guilty about that. Though, that might also be due to Hoseok teaching him that nothing was free, not even kindness.

"Well, for starters, you can drink your milk. It's good for you." Namjoon said with a smile."I want to see you do better. Even if it's something small, like drinking milk, I'll be happy." His smile was replaced with concern when Yoongi started chugging his bottle of milk."Woah, woah, slow down, Hyung." When Yoongi lowered the bottle and used his sleeve to wipe away his milk mustache, Namjoon chuckled."Just relax. I'm not forcing you to do anything."

Always being eager to do what he was told to keep himself out of trouble, Yoongi stared at his bottle of milk."I'll, um...I'll try to relax. I'm sorry."

"You've done nothing wrong. Nothing at all." Watching Yoongi in this moment, Namjoon found himself wondering how Hoseok could even think of calling him disgusting. He was clearly broken, yes, but there was a beauty about him. Something akin to a sick kitten. He just needed to be given proper care, and Namjoon wanted to do that.