Chapter Seven : 3 Strikes

______________

Days came and went in a flash but day by day you were also losing hope in going to school. You felt as though that you were not needed to be in school anymore. The only one that actually talks to you was Zelo. Then again, Zelo's cheering you up could not over power the negativity that the rest were giving to you. You became less motivated to do well in school. You hardly smile except when you're around HongKi and L.Joe but those smiles were also forced smiles. You didn't know how much more you could handle this. You wanted to seek help but you couldn't find the right person to trust. HongKi and L.Joe grew more worried but since HongKi was hardly at home anymore, L.Joe had to take charge. Every night he would hope that you would open up and tell him what happened. But every night you ended up locking yourself in your room and your excuse was 'school work'. L.Joe was sick of it. HongKi was sick of it. They needed to take matters into their own hands since you wouldn't tell. 

You walked down the stairs and sat down on the chair. You saw HongKi wearing his cute Pororo apron and part of his hair was tied up into a little pony tail; making him look like an apple. He was cooking up scrambled eggs and bacon for your breakfast. You tried your best to smile. L.Joe gazed at you. The more you forced a smile the more his heart ached. 

"Tadaah~ Smiley face breakfast!" HongKi tried to brightened the atmosphere.

"Thanks oppa." You gave the same small smile. 

HongKi wanted to blow up and yell at you; wanting to ask what was wrong but no. He held it in. 

"Eat up! You need your food to grow well." HongKi patted your head and went to wash the dishes. 

You did your very best in eating your breakfast but you were losing your appetite. After you were done you stood up. HongKi looked at your plate. You only ate a quarter of it. 

"You barely ate it…" HongKi scrunched his face. 

You shrugged, "I guess I ate too much yesterday night."

"I'll send you to school." L.Joe took his brown jacket and followed you.

The two of you wore your shoes and you were the first to walk out of the door. HongKi immediately looked at L.Joe. 

"I'm counting on you ByungHun! You better not screw up! Our sister's life is on the line!" HongKi pointed his finger to him.

"She's my Girlfriend.."  L.Joe mumbled before leaving.

"I heard that! She's still your Ex-step-sister!" HongKi pinched his eyebrows together.

"Alright Alright I get it! I'm going. Bye~" L.Joe quickly walked to his motorcycle.

You already had your helmet and seated.

"What did HongKi oppa said?" You asked.

"Just the usual." L.Joe groaned, "The part where he'll say that you're my Ex-step-sister. Is there even such a word?"

You let out a giggle. L.Joe softened.

"You know how HongKi oppa is.."

L.Joe finally saw you really laughing. He missed you being that way rather than faking everything. 

L.Joe leaned in an gave you a kiss after a minute or two he pulled away. 

"You know i love you right? You know I'll do anything for you right?" L.Joe whispered.

"I know oppa. I know." You smiled.

L.Joe wore his helmet and sat down in front of you. You wrapped your arms around his waist and he sped off to your school.

When you arrived you gave your helmet to L.Joe and bid goodbye; acting all happy. L.Joe sped off. You stopped smiling and bit your lips as you turned to the school and walked in.

*Another day of hell.*

After you walked into the school, L.Joe came back to the school gates as he hid his motorcycle at the nearest car park in the neighborhood. He gained entry from the security easily since he was an ex-student. The bell rang and students rushed to class. 

"Let's get to work." L.Joe smirked.

_________________

"2 periods of PE." You groaned as you were changing into your PE uniform. It was a simple T-shirt with shorts.  

As usual, the class assembled in the parade square. You were sited at the way back trying to prevent any more trouble. You've been continuously humiliated. Zelo came down as his usual jumpy self and scanned the place. After he saw you his eyes sparkled and ran to you. 

"Hey ~~~~~!" He greeted you. 

You looked up at him and just nodded. 

"Are you ready for some physical exercise?" Zelo grinned. 

You shrugged your shoulders. 

Then the coach arrived. 

"Up on your feet! 4 rounds around the school now." He ordered and everyone started doing their rounds. 

You huffed and puffed. Your stamina was never that good but you managed to pull through. Zelo sprinted all the way. Everyone never knew he had such a stamina. He was athletic. After Zelo was done you were still at you 3rd round, already exhausted. Zelo decided to run one more round with you. 

"Run! Run! Run! Run for your life!" Zelo ran beside you exaggerating a little. 

You slightly smiled. 

You completed your 4 rounds and then collapsed on the grass patch. Zelo immediately ran to you and pulled you up. 

"YAH! YAH! You're asking for a death wish huh? You can't sit after you've done any form of exercise!" Zelo nagged. 

"But i'm exhausted." You were out of energy. Your legs felt like jelly. 

"Wait here." Zelo ran off.

You squatted down and looked around. Everyone seemed fine and everything why were you the only one that way.

*Now I regret not having a proper breakfast*

"~~~~~-ah! Here! Drink this!" Zelo came back running with two bottles of plain water. You were too exhausted to even hold a bottle. Zelo helped you with the drink. 

JungHae was watching from the side, how close the two of you were becoming. JungHae's eyes were piercing. Then she called out for one of your classmates. 

"Hey. How about a game of basketball? You up for it?" JungHae smirked; her eyes still not leaving your sight. 

"Cool. I'm in." 

"and also.....tell everyone that we'll be having a little game of our own." 

Everyone gathered once more before the coach asked us what we wanted to play for the day. Everyone except for you and Zelo replied 'Basketball' and of course, since majority wins Basketball it would be. 

The grouping was done and those in your group were groaning. The good news was Zelo was in your team. You looked at the other team and met eyes with EunYoung and JungHae who were giving you a sly grin. You felt shivers ran down your spine as you knew there was something wrong. You liked basketball but you were always at a disadvantage since you were short and your aiming skills seriously weren’t the best out there. 

At the blow of the whistle and the ball was thrown up into the air. The game started in a flash. At the beginning you were playing just fine. Your team members were not passing the ball to you but you were perfectly fine with it. 

The ball was now with Zelo and he passed it to you. You grabbed the ball but then you were tackled down by your classmate. 

"Opps." A sarcastic remark came out of his mouth. 

The coach blew his whistle, "Play nice!" 

They played nice but then returned back to their aggressive playing. You were being pushed around purposely. You began to feel uncomfortable. Zelo saw what was happening. His blood boiled whenever he saw that you were being bullied. He swiftly snatched the ball from the opposing team and dribbled his way to you. He pushed you with him as he dribbled the ball. He swiftly dodged every person in the way. Then when he reached the ring he pull apart from you and he did a dunk. The ball went in and he landed on the ground. You blinked. 

Everyone stared in awe. None of them knew he was that good in basketball. He repeated it a few times and now the whole class was going against Zelo even his own team. 

Zelo shot a three pointer and on time, the bell rang. Zelo did well but then the scores were tied. You were standing at the other end of the court still in shock. Zelo smiled at you and jogged over. Everyone was making their way to the parade square again but you didn't notice a ball heading your ways. 

"~~~~~-ah!" Zelo yelled but too late. Your side of your head was hit with the basketball. 

Zelo panicked and ran over to you with the coach. 

"MinHyun! 5 days of detention! I saw what you did!" The coach yelled. 

"Just 5 days? That's nothing. I've been through 10." MinHyun scoffed and walked off not caring at all. 

Zelo looked around and saw EunYoung hi-fiving with MinHyun. Zelo clenched his fist. 

*I'll get them someday*

"Coach. I'm taking her to the nurse's office." Zelo was then granted permission and he carried you on his back and ran to the Nurse's office. You were barely opening your eyes everything was blurry and your head was hurting like hell. 

The nurse gave you some pain killers and allowed you to rest on the bed. The nurse then asked Zelo to get a packet of ice from the cafeteria and then left the room. You lay down there alone with you trying to endure the headache. Then you heard the door open. A divider separated the bed from the room so you couldn't see who it was. 

"Ms Woo, it hurts." You whined. 

"Then why didn't you do anything to stop this from happening." A voice crept in. 

You froze. 

"Why didn't you tell me you being treated this way in school?" It spoke again with a hint of sadness in his voice, "I could've done something."

You tried your best to sit up and push the temporary divider away. It was true. L.Joe was standing there with an expression that was too complex. He was feeling sad, confused, furious, frustrated and most of all hurt all at that damn same time. 

"Why....why didn't you tell me?" His voice came out as a whisper.

You were lost for words. You didn't want him to find out this way.

"Please oppa. Don't tell HongKi oppa about this...He's working hard enough for my education." You pleaded.

"AND LEAVE YOU SUFFERING?!" L.Joe raised his voice, "What kind of person would i be then?"

You flinched and remained silent. 

"I'm going to take action if you're not going to ~~~~~-ah. You don't deserve to be treated this way." 

"It was my fault oppa! I abandoned them. I forgot about them. I neglected them and now i'm paying the price." Your tears stained your cheeks. 

"Till when are you going to pay the price? Forever? Till the end of High School? Just because you forgot about them doesn't mean they have the rights to bully you." 

You thought about it for a minute, "I'll take action. Please oppa, don't confront them." 

L.Joe walked over to you. He wiped off your remaining tears and observed your face. 

"I'll not interfere but 3 strikes....3 strikes and I’m stepping into the game." 

_____________________________

WassupitsLO: Thank you for reading and commenting :D 

OMGitsKpop: Heh. Such friends right? Thank you for reading and commenting :D 

YAKSOKHAEMiki: >__< Dumb friends. Well, i wish i had Zelo as my classmate :D Thank you for commenting and reading :D 

joanna_MAgic: If i'm not troubling you then :D Sure, i appreciate it ^ ^ Thank you for reading and commenting :D 

THANK YOU FOR READING, COMMENTING, SUBSCRIBING I LOVE YOU ALL!