After Kris had finished recounting his story, Jongin’s eyes were suspiciously glassy. He knew the story had done the trick, and he had won their little deal.

“Explain it to me. What Huang Zitao said is confusing. Explain what he meant by ‘wrong anwer’, explain what he meant by you were the one defending him, explain what his final words meant,” Jongin burst out before Kris could even say anything.

“You see, Jongin, when he grabbed my ankle that day, it wasn’t just grabbing somone’s ankle to him,” Kris told him, a small smile gracing his lips.

“What do you mean?”

“Huang Zitao was grabbing onto his life, he was desperately holding onto his last hope,” He said, and Jongin’s lips parted as a stunned look came over him.

“And you—”

“I took his will to live away when I yanked my ankle out of his grasp,” Kris chuckled darkly, eyes failing to meet the boy’s. “When he asked me if I agreed that one should always be his or herself, even when they were being picked on and hated for it, he was testing me. Huang Zitao knew that not caring about what others thought of you was a stupid way to live life. He knew that one day, we’re all going to need the help of others. We’re all going to need to be promoted by our bosses. And if we were to be ourselves without caring what others thought of us, we would never succeed in life. If by being ourselves we cause others to dislike us, they’re not going to help us when we need it, because they dislike us. We are going to be stuck in the same spot forever, never moving forward.”

Jongin’s expression seemed like he had just seen the light to Kris, and he tried not to laugh at the boy.

“In order to succeed, we need help, and when we need help, we need people to like us. To get people to like us, we need to twist and change to fit in the mold people cast for us, we have to adapt and become the person people expect us to be. ‘Being yourself’ is unrealistic, telling people to not care about what others think of them is unrealistic. Huang Zitao asked me that question because he wanted confirmation. He needed someone to give him that push towards a trasnformation. To put it simply, Huang Zitao desperately needed help. Until this day, I wonder if I had just given him the answer he was expecting, would he still be alive?” Kris asked softly, “If I hadn’t pulled away from him, would he have given up on himself so quickly?”

“Is this story true?” Jongin questioned, although he didn’t sound like he doubted Kris at all.

But the older male just smiled. “It’s up to you whether you want to believe it or not.”

“Keep explaining,” Jongin told him. Kris looked like the boy’s somewhat rude tone didn’t sit well with him, but he kept going anyway.

“It took me a while to figure out what Huang Zitao meant by I was defending him, but after receiving his message on my locker, it clicked almost instantly,” Kris told the boy this with a small, wistful smile. “Jongin, when you protect something, that something must mean a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess…” The youth muttered, not understanding what Kris was getting at.

“I asked him why he didn’t want to protect himself, and he said that he didn’t have to, because I was doing it for him. Huang Zitao didn’t try to protect himself, because there was nothing of worth to protect. Sometime during our years in high school, he had given everything he was worth to me. I guess in the beginning, he did try to fight back, but he probably got tired and gave up, because he knew that even if he protected himself today, he would get hurt tomorrow. When he gave up, he gave all that he was worth to me. He was smart, he knew that as long as the one they were beating up was him, I would be left alone.”

Something clicked in Jongin’s mind, and he said, “His ‘worth’ was his heart, so he gave his heart to you. The day he stopped protecting himself was the day he allowed himself to love you. When he told you that you were protecting him, he was indirectly trying to tell you that… That he loved you.”

Kris smiled and nodded. The way Jongin looked at him was obvious that Kris had succeeded in opening him up. He leaned forward again. “Why do you think I told you this story?”

Jongin was oddly silent.

“I told you this because bullying and watching someone get bullied and not doing anything about it is just as bad. Which makes us both horrible people, if you think about it. You bully, and I watch someone get bullied. I failed to do anything about it, and I realized my mistake only after the bullying had cost someone his life. Until today, I’m living in guilt. This story is nailed onto my heart, I can never get rid of it. I don’t want you to end up like me, and I don’t want you to end up living with regrets until you die because of something stupid you did back in high school. It’s not too late to stop now, Jongin, as long as nobody has committed suicide, it’s never too late. I’m not saying you should wait until the boy gets suicidal thoughts to stop, I just don’t want you to live with the guilt for the rest of your life. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

Jongin lowered his head, tugging at the hem of his uniform while Kris spoke.

Kris smiled, almost fatherly. “So tell me, Jongin, who is this boy you are picking on?”

Jongin swallowed hard and whispered, “His name is Do Kyungsoo. And I love him.”

Hi guys, this is the end of TYSN. I just want to say that if you know someone who's bullying in school, or someone who is being bullied, please get up and do something about it. Although this story is a fictional one, the problem addressed here is very real, it is happening. The idea of suicide and death itself may seem very farfetched, but it is real. My message to you readers through this story is: don't wait. You may be thinking, "I know this person's being bullied, I guess I'll just tell someone about it tomorrow." No. Please don't do that. While you think you have loads of time, the victim doesn't. He or she is constantly suffering.

Who knows? Maybe if you just took the initiative to reach out and help that person, there would be one less suicide happening in the world. This is a life we're talking about. Death is real, death is all around us. That girl you watch get laughed at, or that boy you see getting beat up today, might not be there for you to watch tomorrow. What if like Kris, you end up spending the rest of your life in guilt, just because you didn't speak up about it earlier Think about it. This story is not meant to point fingers at anybody, but rather, to enlighten. Lastly, I hope you guys enjoyed the story, I hope I managed to shed some light on the case of bullying. Thank you for reading and subscribing!