Sojin's POV

 

Minhyuk insisted on walking me to the counselor. Even though I told him that it really wasn't necessary, he did it. He never listened to me when I told him not to do things for me. 

 

"Aren't you the least messed up out of all people involved in this mess?" he asked me as we sat outside the counselor's office, waiting for him to come and get me.

 

"No, I might have gotten a screw loose. Who knows, maybe I'll suddenly go crazy and kill everyone?" I answered, letting myself joke.

 

He stared at me for a moment, not really believing that I actually had cracked a joke. Kind of. Then he started to laugh, and I couldn't help but to giggle a little too. But our laughter got interrupted by the door that suddenly opened, and a man appeared. He looked kind, with glasses and a lanky body.

 

"Jung Sojin?" he asked.

 

"That's me", I answered quietly, standing up from my chair.

 

He nodded and gave me a reassuring smile as I passed him into the room. Just before the door closed behind me, I glanced at Minhyuk. He looked a little worried, but he always did.

 

"You can sit down here", the counselor said, motioning at a chair. 

 

I nodded, and sat down on my assigned seat. He sat down on a chair across from mine.

 

"Before we start, I'll introduce myself. My name is Lee Kwangsik, you can call me Kwangsik. And I'm here to listen and reflect. Nothing you tell me will be passed forward to anyone else, it will stay inside of this room. But in return, I want you to tell me the truth, okay Sojin?"

 

I looked at him and nodded slowly. It was his job, but he seemed to be sincere.

 

"Very good. Now, you just got out of the hospital, right?" he asked.

 

"Yes", I answered.

 

"Can you tell me why you were in the hospital?"

 

My voice got stuck in my throat. I had never actually spoken out loud about anything that I'd been through.

 

"I... I-I got beaten down. I fainted and... woke up t-there. I got three broken ribs and a broken n-nose", I stuttered, looking at my feet.

 

"Mhm. And why did they beat you down?"

 

"I... Don't know."

 

"So with other words, the people who did it, did it unprovoked?" Kwangsik asked.

 

"I guess so", I answered.

 

It got quiet for a while, and I could hear that he was writing something down.

 

"Okay. Did they just leave you there when they were done, or was there someone who stopped down?" he asked after a while.

 

"It was someone who stopped them", I answered, twisting my hands nervously.

 

"Who was it?" Kwangsik asked kindly.

 

"His name is Minhyuk", I answered, a small smile forming on my lips.

 

"Is that the boy who was sitting with you when I came out?"

 

"Yes", I answered, smiling bigger.

 

"Is he a friend, or..?" Kwangsik asked, trailing off.

 

My head snapped up and I looked straight at him. "Oh, n-no. I mean, yes, he's just a friend!"

 

My response brought a smile to the man, and he wrote something down.

 

"So you have some friends?" he asked, looking at me again.

 

"Well... Now I do. Minhyuk just moved here a couple of weeks ago, before that... I was alone", I answered, every sign of a smile faded away.

 

Kwangsik's face fell serious too, and he wrote something else down.

 

"But you're fully recovered now from the abuse?" he asked.

 

"Yes. I'm completely fine", I answered, like I had so many times before.

 

"Are you sure?"

 

"W-what? Yes", I answered, taken aback.

 

Kwangsik took his glasses off of him, and leaned forward a bit.

 

"Sojin, answer me truthfully. Are you completely fine? Not just physically, but mentally. Can you walk down the hall without feeling discomfort? Can you answer a question in class without feeling insecure? Do you feel safe in school?"

 

Sweat started to form in my hands, and I closed them and opened them repeatedly to get rid of the moist.

 

"Well... No", I answered.

 

I couldn't. Even if I'd been apologized to and I'd forgiven, that doubt was still lingering at the back of my head. I was very conscious about everything I did in school. Kwangsik nodded in understanding and leaned back in his chair.

 

That whole session made me open my eyes. Even though I'd told everyone who'd asked I was fine, I wasn't. There was a lot of things that I had left to work on, and that was why Kwangsik wanted to keep on meeting me. I agreed, since it wasn't hurting me, actually it was opposite. It helped me. Another thing I'd realized was that that I hadn't thanked Minhyuk. Not for real. Not specifically. 

 

Minhyuk's POV

 

When Sojin got out of the room, she had a weird look on her face. She said goodbye to the counselor, and then I got up from my chair.

 

"How'd it go?" I asked her as we walked outside.

 

"Good", she answered absentmindedly.

 

I gave her a disbelieving look, but she didn't notice.

 

The whole walk home was very silent, but I didn't want to disturb her thoughts. It was obvious she had something on her mind, and it was better to just let her think things over. But when we arrived outside the hotel she was living at, she turned around and looked at me with that same weird expression she'd had when she came out of the counselor's office. 

 

"I just want to say that I'm really thankful. If it wouldn't have been for you, I would probably be dead right now. And for that, I'll always owe you", she said.

 

I blinked as I processed what she'd just said, and then raised one eyebrow.

 

"What's this about? You don't owe me for this", I said.

 

"But I do. And I have no idea how I'm supposed to make it up", she said, and she suddenly looked desperate.

 

"Wow, wow, Sojin. Relax. I'm not asking for anything, I'm just happy that you're alive", I said.

 

Her intelligent eyes looked at me for a moment, before she took a step closer. It was only a short distance between us, and I swallowed hard. Her face was too close.

 

"Minhyuk?" she whispered.

 

"Yes?" I answered, my voice shaking.

 

"Why did you carve in that word on my locker?" she asked, her voice still barely a whisper.

 

My voice disappeared and my mouth grew dry. She hadn't confronted me earlier about that, so why was she doing that now?

 

"Wh-what do you mean?" I asked, my mind clouded with her sweet scent.

 

"I mean, did you do it because you wanted to be nice?" she asked, her cheeks red.

 

"No! N-no. I actually think that you're... beautiful", I blurted out.

 

She dropped her gaze to the ground, her face completely red, and tried to step back. But I grabbed her hand before she got the chance, and she looked up in surprise.

 

"Minhyuk?" she asked.

 

I my lips to get the dryness to disappear and took a step forward. We were really close, and both of us knew what was happening. It was too late for me to back out, my mind was gone and I didn't have enough power to stop. Slowly, to let her register what was happening, I begun to bend my head down so our faces got closer. She blinked fervently, but she didn't do anything to stop me. When there only was inches between our noses, a voice made me freeze.

 

"Hey! Sojin!"

 

It took a moment before I recognized it as Dongsung's. Sojin froze too, until she backed away, her hand still in mine. We both turned to see her brother come running up to us. He was grinning broadly but I could see that his eyes were suspicious.

 

"What are you doing?" he asked when he reached us.

 

"We-I... N-" Sojin begun to stutter, but I interrupted.

 

"I was dropping her off. And I'll be leaving now, so goodbye to you", I said, giving him a smile, and then Sojin.

 

Our eyes met, and I had to force myself to let go of her hand.

 

"See you tomorrow", I said with a half smile, and then begun to walk.

 

I didn't have anything against Dongsung, but I wished with my whole heart at that moment that he could've just gotten lost. It had been so close. So extremely close.

 

Sojin's POV

 

I watched him leave with a heavy heart. Why? It had taken all of my courage to ask him about that word, and he'd given me an answer I'd wanted so badly, and then Dongsung had come and disturbed.

"Well, it would be stupid to stand out here and get cold, wouldn't it? Let's go inside", my brother said, sounding unusually alert.

I glared at him, and he gave me an innocent look. I rolled my eyes and started to walk towards the entrance of the hotel. Older brothers will always be older brothers.