Half of his face is covered in mottled red and purple bruises; a thick cut slices across the length of his lower lip; his hair is matted with sweat and old mud and, ironically, the shredded petals of a lotus flower. The flower of life. Jonghun grimaces as he runs his bony hands through the other boy's drenched hair, shaking his head disappointedly. "Hongki," He begins, prodding the boy's cheek and ignoring Hongki's wince of pain, "Stop getting into fights. People are going to start thinking that you're a street gangster or something."

Hongki snorts, rolling his eyes as he pushes Jonghun away, "Shut up. This is no big deal."

"Right," Jonghun agrees dryly, "The fact that half of your face is the same color as asphalt is no big deal." 

"Didn't know I invited my ing mother here." Hongki responds, staggering up to his feet and impatiently brushing flakes of dirt and grass from his blazer. 

"Where are you going now?" Jonghun asks, standing up as well, unable to keep the worry from his eyes, "Don't tell me you're going to get into another fight again."

"I'm not stupid," Hongki says, rolling his eyes again.

"Well," Jonghun smiles vaguely, "I'm not sure about that."

Jonghun knows Hongki isn't too terribly injured once the other punches him lightly in the arm. 

"I'm going to go fetch Seunghyun and Minhwan," Hongki says, "They're just barely into high school and they're already giving me a run for my money."

"What do you mean?" Jonghun frowns.

"They're fighting," Hongki replies nonchalantly, "You know Kiram High? On the other side?"

Jonghun nods.

"Apparently, a few weeks ago, Seunghyun and Minhwan made several...enemies from there. And now, right now at this moment, they're fighting again. I need to go to make sure Minhwan doesn't start crying for his mommy again."

Jonghun sighs. Hongki's been his friend since they were able to walk, but Jonghun still doesn't completely understand the other boy. Despite going to the same high school, Jonghun hardly ever sees him -- Hongki's always off somewhere punching someone. And, recently, Hongki started to gain a little following of his own. Lee Hongki's fearsome gang of high school delinquents. Jonghun doesn't want to get involved, but he usually ends up being the one to tend to Hongki's wounds anyways.

"Want me to go with?" Jonghun asks. Hongki, who had already started moving, pauses in his footsteps and turns to look back at his friend in surprise. "You? Really?" Hongki asks, arching an eyebrow. Well, it looks like he's arching an eyebrow. His face is so messed up that Jonghun can't tell. He figures that if Hongki didn't ruin his face so much, then maybe he would be a good-looking guy.

"Is that wrong?" Jonghun replies innocently. Hongki stares at him for several long seconds, snorts and turns back around, "Suit yourself."

Jonghun follows Hongki into the busy Seoul streets wordlessly. He allows Hongki to lead the way into side alleys that Jonghun has never known existed, and they pass by several suspiciously dangerous areas that Jonghun doesn't dare question. Hongki knew the streets like the back of his hand, and they soon arrive at Kiram High in half the time it would have taken them if they took the normal way.

They hear it before they see it.

Jonghun glances over Hongki's shoulder to see Seunghyun and Minhwan, two fourteen-year-olds, moving and hitting and kicking so fast that it's like a pair of human whirlwinds. Jonghun's jaw drops - he didn't know that so much agility was possible. He glances over at Hongki to see that the other boy was grinning slightly.

"You look like a proud father," Jonghun smirks.

"Well," Hongki laughs, "They are my boys. Look at them go. And, hey, Minhwan isn't crying, which is pretty good. He's actually..." Hongki laughs once more, "He's actually pretty tough. Well," Hongki claps his hands together, "They can't fight forever. I better go take care of the rest for them. You can just wait here if you want."

"Sure." Jonghun replies, and silently watches the other go. Jonghun hides behind the safety of a wall, but only several minutes pass before he hears the sound of footsteps behind him. Jonghun freezes, his adrenaline already pumping. , what if it's one of the gang guys? He doesn't know a thing about fighting. Jonghun considers squeezing his eyes shut to prepare himself for an ambush, but instead he hears a chuckle.

"Hey, flower boy, why are you so stiff? Help me out here."'

The voice is both gentle and rough. It isn't deep, but it isn't high pitched either. Jonghun slowly cranes his head around to see...a boy? Just a regular boy, it seems. A boy slightly shorter than him, possibly only a year or so younger. The boy has dark hair that frames his slightly puffy face, and Jonghun quickly deduces that he isn't the only flower boy here.

"Uh...with what?" Jonghun asks uncertainly.

The other boy cheekily grins as his fingers wrap around the collar of his t-shirt. He yanks it down, exposing his bare chest, except his chest isn't bare. A giant, mottled bruise clouds pale skin. Jonghun stares.

"You have a first aid kit, right?" The boy asks.

"...Yes, in my backpack." Jonghun replies a bit stupidly, staring at the bruise.

"What are you waiting for, then?" The boy asks, sitting himself down against the wall, "Treat me."

"...I don't even know you." Jonghun mutters, but he kneels down and pulls his backpack out anyways.

"Jaejin," The boy says, "I'm Lee Jaejin."

"I'm Choi Jonghun," Jonghun introduces, pulling the white kit from his bag, "How'd you know that I have a first aid kit?"

"Lucky guess." The boy called Jaejin smirks.

"No, really."

"Well, it wasn't that hard." Jaejin laughs, "I recognized Hongki. He's a pretty popular delinquent around here. And then I looked at your face. A face that charming and perfect? With  such a neat and proper haircut? With a school uniform that's regularly ironed and washed? You can't possibly be the same. And then I connected the dots. A guy whose close with a delinquent but isn't one himself. A guy with a motherly, but curious, glint in his eyes. You're a helper. You're an aid."

Jonghun, who had been unpacking the contents of his first aid kit, freezes and stares at Jaejin incredulously.

"I didn't know I was talking to Sherlock Holmes here," Jonghun says.

Jaejin chuckles, "I get that a lot."

"You must be a genius."

"No, I just observe things. Most people don't." Jaejin replies. 

Jonghun then proceeds to tend to Jaejin's wound, disinfecting it and finally gently sticking a band aid on it. Jaejin's chest and skin feels cold under Jonghun's fingers. Once he's done, he doesn't remove his hand right away, and instead continues to lightly touch Jaejin's skin.

"I'm not gay." Jaejin says loudly.

Jonghun jumps back suddenly, yanking back his arm immediately as he skids back. Jaejin begins to laugh so loudly that Jonghun's afraid that he'll tear apart the band aid.

"I-I wasn't--" Jonghun begins, face reddening, but Jaejin waves his hand back and forth nonchalantly, "It's okay. Calm down. I was just joking."

"...Joking?" Jonghun asks, "So you...really do like...?"

"No!" Jaejin replies, laughing again, "No...no, well...I don't think so." 

There's an uncomfortable silence. Jonghun begins to slide his first aid kit back into his backpack.

"Thanks for the treatment, Jonghun." Jaejin says, standing up.

Jonghun nods as he gets to his feet as well, "Of course. It was no problem. But, uh...if you don't mind me asking..."

"How'd I get this? I got into a fight." Jaejin replies indifferently.

Jonghun resists the urge to sigh. How did he always get stuck with the delinquent kids?

"Do you go to school here?" Jonghun asks, gesturing at Kiram High's building.

"Yeah," Jaejin replies, "Although school's terribly boring. I'm at the top of my advanced placement classes and I've already perfected the college entry exams."

Jonghun stares.

"What?" Jaejin asks, shrugging, "I'm...I'm smart." He admits, "But enough about me. What are you good at?"

"Meeting kids who beat up other kids." Jonghun deadpans. Jaejin laughs.

"Well, I better get going, Mr. Choi Jonghun. Looks like your best friend friend Hongki over there is just about done beating up other kids."

Jonghun smiles nervously before he replies shortly, "He isn't my best friend." Another empty silence.

"Give me your cellphone." Jaejin suddenly says. Jonghun looks up at him, surprised, but his hands move on their own accord. He brings out the phone from his pocket and hands it to Jaejin. Jaejin types something in and hands it back.

"My number." Jaejin says, but before Jonghun can even say anything, Jaejin scampers off down the street as soon as Hongki and his two followers (Seunghyun and Minhwan, obviously) appear into view.

"Who was that?" Hongki asks, a fresh cut reddening across his cheek as he glances over at Jaejin's retreating figure.

"No one," Jonghun asks, glancing at his phone's screen, 

"Your new best friend: 555-XXXX."

reads the monitor. Jonghun bites his lower lip as he refuses to smile, "But," Jonghun says, glancing up at Hongki, "I do think he's the smartest guy in the world."