Yoojung couldn’t concentrate in math; it was the one time of day where she would be in the same room as Eunwoo and not have to be in fear. It’s gone on for so long that it’s now a conditioned response for her to flinch whenever they made eye contact during class, or in the hallways. She tried her hardest not to meet his eyes ever since the first time.

It had been three weeks since Cha Eunwoo got turned down by Choi Yoojung. It had been three weeks since it had started. It had been three weeks since she had to start lying to her friends.

Why aren’t you going with us to change for practice? Somi would ask.

Gotta have to go see some teachers about homework, Yoojung would reply.

You seem sluggish in practice, are you okay? Chungha questions.

Stayed up studying, Yoojung lies.

Where’s the smile that is on your face when I walk in, since I’m the sunshine of the earth? Doyeon would joke, but meaning the question behind it.

You’re a nuisance, Yoojung would roll her eyes, but nervous that even Doyeon noticed something was different.

They all trusted her enough to accept their explanations, which made Yoojung feel even guiltier every single time she pushed the truth away from her friends.

What was the truth? Eunwoo and his friends would use her as a punching bag nearly every day after school before they went to their sports teams, and Yoojung didn’t want questions about her bruises. There’s only so much that she could cover up with the excuse of football practice the previous week, and she didn’t want Somi and Chungha to go after his friends. They didn’t need to go through the trouble, and they could get hurt themselves.

But it’s been time and time, over and over again, and her ribs still were constantly stained purple with sick yellow galaxies adorning them. She could barely move without some part of her body aching. When she would shower, the hot water that would hit her back stung so hard that she’d have to bite back tears. At night, she would struggle for ages, trying her hardest to get comfortable, but nothing worked. The closest she would get is wearing Doyeon’s jacket to sleep, which she didn’t have the heart to return yet because it was so soft and the only vague sense of comfort she could get.

It had been three weeks, and she wasn’t sure how longer she would last.

The scratching on the blackboard stops as the teacher starts concluding things, and allowing the students to start packing their things. Yeri turned to Yoojung and started talking excitedly about an idol group comeback that was happening this afternoon. Yoojung tried to look interested as the other girl talked animatedly while she packed her pencil case away, but she could feel Eunwoo’s cold stare on her, and a heavy feeling on her shoulders started to drag her down physically. As the teacher finished wiping the board and doing his conclusion, the bell rang; indicating the official end of the school day and the beginning of her regular beatings.

How much longer?

Yoojung mentally braced herself as the ringing continued to echo through the halls, with her sides still aching from the last addition of fist shaped bruises, she slowly carried on as with packing her things as Yeri waved goodbye and the rest of her class spilled outside. But she knew he’d be back as soon as he met up with Ren and Heechul. She put her things away at an even slower pace at the though, as if slowing down would prolong the wait before his buddies arrived.

“Yoojung!” A sweet voice called out, startling Yoojung as she turned away from her things to see Doyeon peeking through the door of her classroom, a huge grin evident on her face, “Are you free after school?”

Panicking, knowing that they would show up at any moment, she started to furiously shake her head no, but was cut off by Doyeon continuing.

“Sohye ditched me today for emergency play rehearsals, so you’re my Wednesday diner date!” Doyeon declared as she stepped into the classroom and made her way to Yoojung’s desk, helping her put the last notebook into her backpack, “Besides, I think you could use some cheering up. You’ve been down for weeks, and I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything for you sooner. I had this huge project with Sohye, your best friend Somi has it too I think, so you’d know all about it-“

“A-actually, I don’t think I’m free right after school..” Yoojung murmured, cutting her off and not meeting her cheerful friend’s eyes.

“Aw, Yoojungie isn’t going to make time for me?” The taller girl says, pouting and dropping her face down to make it level with Yoojung’s.

“It isn’t that-“

“Then it’s settled! I already have my bag, we can walk out together!” Doyeon cheerfully says, interrupting Yoojung.

Thoughts ran through Yoojung’s head at world record speed; What would happen to Doyeon if she saw what happens to her after school? Would she get beaten too? Would she run and leave her? Yoojung wasn’t sure which option was worse. What would Doyeon think of all the lies she’s been telling for weeks?

“Doyeon, I really-“ Yoojung started, before a loud voice boomed.

“Choi Yoojung!”

She flinched, knowing what was coming for her, and in turn fearing what would be coming for Doyeon. Looking down onto the desk that she had just cleaned up, she could hear the footsteps of the three boys approaching, and wished Doyeon would leave. But she stayed by Yoojung’s side, and greeted the three newcomers in quite a friendly manner.

“Oh? I didn’t know you were friends with them,” Doyeon chirps, smiling at the three boys despite the evident frown on Eunwoo’s face, “Do you want to join us? We’re going to go to the diner-“

“She isn’t going anywhere.” Eunwoo snarls, “Not until I’m done with her.”

“You don’t have to cut me off like that,” Doyeon says, frowning slightly, “and okay, go ahead and be done with what you want with Yoojungie. We need to get going soon, I can’t be home so late and I’m sure Yoojung has a curfew too.”

Heechul and Eunwoo started barking nasty laughs as Ren grumbled, “It’s just you who needs to get going, Kim Doyeon.”

“Excuse me,” Doyeon said, starting to talk with a dark undertone to her voice and her brows fully forrowing, “I don’t see why I should leave her when we’re going out together.”

“This is ing why,” Heechul snarls, and Eunwoo lands the first blow at Yoojung’s jaw, who had been silent during the entire exchange, hoping that they would forget about her. But of course they wouldn’t. They never forget.

Yoojung could vaguely hear Doyeon’s screaming protests as the pummelling continued, but the sickening sounds of bones cracking and fists meeting her ribs drowned out all the sound around her. She attempted to curl up to lessen the areas of her skin that they could hit, but she could still feel the hand shaped patterns starting to form over the blue and purple patches that were painted across her skin like a nauseating canvas. The overwhelming sensation of her lip being split open brought her to a small train of thought, how could she cover this up? What excuse is there to cover a busted lip? They usually never hit her in a place that could be seen by other people. Is this because Doyeon was here?

She was snapped out of her small train of thoughts by a fist meeting the spot where her skin had split open again, making her hiss in pain, bringing her to the verge of tears. The yelling and noise around her got louder, almost deafening, and Yoojung feared for what what happening to Doyeon in all of this commotion. It’s because of her Doyeon had to be caught in this; if she were hurt, she wouldn’t forgive herself. Yoojung shut her eyes hard as the sounds of bone against flesh increased.

And it stopped.

After a few seconds, there was the touch of someone’s hands on her face, that made her recoil for a second. But her face was being gently cupped by a pair of hands, whose thumbs were trying to lightly press again her skin to wipe away the blood pouring down from her lip.

“It’s always something to do with your mouth when it’s around me, huh?”

Yoojung opened her eyes slowly to see Doyeon kneeling in front of her, a black bruise starting to form over her eye and the bridge of her nose, but still smiling.

She was still smiling at Yoojung.

_

Doyeon had carried her to the bathroom, which was thankfully empty due to everyone having gone home. Yoojung sat on the sink as the taller girl gently dabbed tissues wet with water on her face, an attempt to clean up the blood a little bit.

“You should put ice on that,” Yoojung says referring to Doyeon’s eyes, breaking the silence and the concentration of the other girl, who looked at her slightly incredelously.

“Y-You’re saying that to me?” Doyeon asked, furrowing her brows, “How long has this been going on?”

Yoojung couldn’t meet her eyes, not wanting to admit how long she had been lying to her. But the taller girl just sighed before throwing the bloodied tissues in the bin, then turning to stand in front of Yoojung, trying to initiate eye contact.

“Where did they hit you?” The taller girl asked softly, her expression turning unreadable, “Can you show me?”

Yoojung couldn’t lie any longer. Not to Doyeon, not anymore.

Slowly, she lifted the edges of her shirt to show the sickening canvas of black-blue hues mixed with nauseating shades of yellow. She couldn’t meet Doyeon’s eyes as her eyes took in what Yoojung had been hiding from her, from everyone. The taller girl gently brought her hands to meet the black patches of skin on her stomach, as if she were afraid that any kind of pressure would break Yoojung.

“I’m sorry,” Yoojung whispered, not being able to take it anymore, “I kept lying to you, to everyone, and-“

Doyeon cut her off, gently wrapping her arms around Yoojung’s shoulders. If she listened closely, she could hear the crack in the taller girl’s voice as she tried not to cry.

“Don’t apologize for what wasn’t your fault.”

-

Of course, Doyeon insisted on bringing her home, ditching completely the previous idea of going out to eat together. It didn’t matter that Yoojung’s home was five minutes away from school, or that Doyeon had to bike for nearly an hour, the taller girl dutifully pushed her bike along with one arm as she held Yoojung’s hand with the other as they left school. As soon as they passed the gate, however, the duo were greeted by the sight of Jeon Somi and Kang Mina sitting on the bench outside of the convenience store, across the road from school. Before they had time to react, the pair that were on the bench seconds ago were crossing the road excitedly.

“Ya, Choi Yoojung, you should tell us if you aren’t going with us to Mina’s house today, we shouldn’t keep her mum’s spicy rice cakes waiting- Oh my god, what happened?” Somi started loudly, then trailed off as she noticed Yoojung’s split lip and Doyeon’s darkening bruise, “Did you guys get into a fight?”

“Actually, it was that -“ Doyeon began, before Yoojung squeezed her hand, silently asking her to keep quiet.

“That’s a story for another time, I don’t think I want to tell that story today,” Yoojung says under her breath, “Is it okay if Doyeon comes with us?”

-

Jun Jihyun, 11:07: Thank you for inviting me to Mina’s house today Yoodaeng~ It was really nice, even if Somi convinced me to try and eat eight spicy rice cakes at once.

Jun Jihyun, 11:07: About today.. I’m going to make sure he gets what he deserves, more than what happened today.

Jun Jihyun, 11:08: He won’t dare to go near you, because I’ll protect you now.

Jun Jihyun, 11:13: I’ll be there for you no matter what.

Jun Jihyun, 11:13: Goodnight Yoojung