Past

“You guys leave him alone!” the latter screamed, causing all the eyes to look at his direction.

The guy with the messiest hair, most probably the leader, scoffed. He then grabbed the collar of the hurt boy.

“That’s your hero? Well, then, let’s see what he can do…”

The leader snapped his fingers as a message on telling them what to do. Without the latter realizing, the whole gang was heading towards him. The youngest backed away, obviously scared but decided not to show it. The latter shut his eyes waiting for a slap or punch to land on his face but nothing came.

He opened his eyes and saw the leader standing right in front of him. The bully held his chin, making the younger boy let out a whimper. The leader seems to observe his face as he turned it from side to side. He later, let go of his face and caressed his features gently.

“You’re not bad…” he said.

“Why don’t you join me and you’ll be living a luxurious life?” he offered.

The younger took a while and shook his head in response.

“Aww… Why not? You and I make a good couple.” He paused and turned to look at his pack.

“Right guys?” he asked and the crowd cheered.

“No…” the other muttered, slightly surprised that the notorious leader was gay.

“Tch. Look kid. I always get what I want.” The senior stated.

“Shut up! You’re a bully! No one likes you!” the latter used up all his courage to say that.

That was it.

Half of the gang ran towards him, some with their fist up and some holding sharp and heavy objects. The youngest shut his eyes once again, waiting for any pain but he got the opposite of what he expected. He felt two soft arms wrapped securely around his body. He wanted to open his eyes but that person’s hand was holding his head gently, making the ground. The latter took that action as a sign that the person didn’t want him to see what was going on.

When he was in the other’s embrace, he thought that he was safe. Yes, he was safe but he knew that person who was protecting him right at that moment was enduring a lot of pain. He could hear them hitting and punching, and occasional wincing from his hero but the younger knew if that was him, he would probably be dead by then.

After a while, the leader announced to his gang that they shouldn’t waste time on a nerd and a , so they left.

That was when the light grip on the latter’s head was fully released. The younger took that opportunity to look at his saviour.

“You okay?” he asked with his dry voice.

“Are you okay!?” the latter asked back frantically.

The other closed his eyes and nodded. Before he got a chance to say anything, he felt his legs turn jelly and fall in the younger’s arms. The last thing he saw a panicked, not to mention, cute face before he was swallowed by the darkness.

***

The moment he woke up, he wasn’t glad to see a young boy burying his head between his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Slowly, the patient got up. Though he tried sitting up gently but the pain didn’t fail to make him wince. Hearing the sharp wince, the younger boy carried his head and looked at the other.

“Don’t get up! Your back is terribly hurt!” the junior informed.

The elder student just ignored the Chinese’s order and stubbornly forces his body to endure the pain as he sat. Once he succeeded, he brought out his arm, facing the younger.

“I’m Lee Jinki, preferred to be called Onew. It’s nice to meet you.” He stated as he received a handshake from the other.

“I-I’m Xi Luhan…” he told.

“You didn’t have to do that…” the younger said after a while.

“So did you. You stood up for me even you were scared.” Jinki pointed out.

“Why did they do that? Why did they hit you?” Luhan questioned innocently.

“I don’t know. I don’t have their minds.” Onew paused.

“You should go.”

“Alright, I’ll come to see you again after school.” The hazel-coloured hair grabbed his school bag.

“I mean you should go and don’t come back.”

***

3 months later…

“I told you not to talk to me!”

“I just can’t stand it, hyung! Seeing you being beaten up that way…” Luhan whispered at the end.

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“True, avoiding you in public would prevent me from getting hurt physically but you don’t know how much it hurts emotionally, hyung…”

Jinki knew that no matter how much he want to protest, the younger was right. No one can stand seeing his/her friend being hurt while she/he just watches helplessly.

But Onew wasn’t used to this. He wasn’t used to having friends – or a friend at least (which was why he completely freaked out when Luhan called him ‘chingu’)

To Luhan, he thinks it’s ridiculously stupid that society is treating his hyung that way. Onew is a nice person. He’s kind, helpful, considerate and even good-looking – but he has bad taste of fashion which makes him look like a... a… well, a guy who’s bad in fashion. There was once when Luhan bought some clothes for the elder. The Chinese slightly adjusted Onew’s hair and, voila! Jinki can be a hot dude.

The 19-year-old also has weak stamina and anti-body which is the main reason why Luhan is always worried about him, especially when he gets bullied. Why he gets bully you ask?

Well, Jinki is a smart person. Maybe a little too smart but he doesn’t show off his IQ or anything like that, so everyone is fine with him. Except for a few jealous jerks. Since they start bullying Jinki – for their entertainment – no one dares to utter a word to the elder.

You know the rules, being friends with a victim means being a victim yourself.

However, in Luhan’s opinion, that is crap. Everyone has the rights to be treated well! But Luhan can never understand one thing though that is in Onew’s mind.

No, it’s not why Onew didn’t want to let him interact with him in public (Luhan knows that Onew is just concern about Luhan’s safety), but it’s why the smarty-pants never complained or report the bullying to his parents and the teachers. He even begged the school’s nurse to keep it a secret. Sure, they teacher notices the Onew’s bruises and stuff but to Onew’s like, they never bothered to question about them.

Luhan wanted to report once, but of course, the other stopped him. He said that he’s worried the bullies would slice him if they found out but Luhan is confident that there was another reason.

“I’m sorry, Luhan. Please don’t cry…” Jinki gave the younger a hug, reducing his sobs.

“D-Does this mean…”

“Yes, feel free to be my best friend anywhere, anytime.”

And that made Luhan felt like he was riding unicorns. 

I'm such a boring author .__.