He had always hated school; there were never any good memories in all his sixteen years with regards to school. He was always either laughed at or bullied so after a while he gave up and decided to be invisible but that didn’t work either, by the time he got into high school, he became targeted again, and this time it wasn’t because of his weird hair color or his futuristic fashion sense. No, this time it was because he was girly; everyone in his grade and even younger were all bigger than he was so he was constantly subjected to bullying; getting stuffed in the locker was only the simple part of it, and it was always done by the most popular boy in school; a senior called Choi Seunghyun. Seunghyun had minions that always did his dirty wok for him while he sat in the corner and watched it all. There was no one he hated more than he hated Seunghyun, he’d even rather befriend satan than talk to Seunghyun if given the chance. The boy was the most overrated person he’d ever come across. Everyone loved him; he was tall, smart, an all-star athlete, and some might say handsome but he ever thought much into it.

It was Thursday, and as usual he hid all day in the library; only leaving to attend class. It was his routine, he had friends that were girls but they never spoke to him unless they were outside school premises and he didn’t blame them, no one wants to be caught talking to the loser.

He was face deep in one of his favorite books ‘pride and prejudice’ when he heard the school bell ring and he knew it was his time to flee before one of Seunghyun’s minions got a hold him, he placed the book down, grabbed his bag and ran out.

“Kwon”! He was almost out the front door when Daesung, one of Seunghyun’s minions stopped him. “Aren’t you leaving too early”? Daesung said smiling, it was the cutest and most scary smile he’d ever seen. “Follow me kwon, lets have some fun”

It was the dreaded walk that he was all too familiar with, the walk to one of the deserted senior classroom.

“Look who I found guys” Daesung announced as they reached the class as the other two boys screamed in excitement and as usual, Seunghyun remained silent in the back corner of the room, lifting his head from the book he was reading only for a moment.

“Just the person we need” Taeyang, another minion said walking up to where he stood. “Well if it isn’t lady Kwon” Taeyang took his backpack off him, placing it on one of the tables as he pushed Jiyong to the front of the class till his back hit the white board.

“Hyung you’re so smart for bringing him, we needed a good target” It was Seungri this time. His skin crawled with at the thought of what they were about to do to him; he closed his eyes and wished it would go by fast.

“Okay stay still lady Kwon” It was Taeyang’s voice. His eyes were still closed till he felt something hit his stomach and spill all over. He finally opened his eyes and in the hands of the bully’s was balloons filled with water, and the tears poured out unconsciously. It wasn’t that it hurt; it was the fact that he seemed less of a human being their eyes. Why else would they treat him as such?

“Aww look, the little girl’s crying. Boohoo” Daesung mocked him making the tears stream out more.

“Oppa” Choi Hyemi the most popular girl in school, and Seunghyun’s sister walked into the room. “You guys are doing this again”? She said angrily at boys with balloons in their hands. “Oppa why don’t you stop them”?

“I don’t care” Jiyong had never really heard Seunghyun’s voice before and he wasn’t sure if it was him this time but he didn’t care, his eyes remained closed.

“Hyung throw one before you leave” He heard Daesung’s voice and then silence till he felt the water balloon smash into his face.

“Woah hyung you’re awesome”!

“Oppa that’s mean”! He heard Hyemi’s voice again. Hyemi was his classmate, and unlike her brother, she seemed nice. “Why don’t you guys grow up, and stop picking on him. Oppa lets go” The first time he spoke to Hyemi, she walked up to him and asked to burrow his note. She was so pretty and perfect, it was no wonder everyone liked her.

The torture lasted for a while till they left him cold and alone in the class; he was shivering by the time he got home, and as usual he snuck to his room like he always did and the tears poured out quicker than his head hit the pillow. His suicidal thoughts were returning slowly but he couldn’t bring himself to give in to it, not after everything his mother and sister went through the last two times he tried it. He brushed his fingers over the straight scars on his wrist as a reminder of the fact that he had to be strong, be strong for his mother and sister, be strong till he went off to college where he could do a better job without being interrupted. He finally washed up, and searched for his phone but it was nowhere to be found, and that was when he remembered that he left it on the table in the library.

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He needed to borrow a book that would keep him occupied for the night. He browsed through various books till a book on the table beside the stack of books he was browsing caught his eyes; it was Pride and Prejudice, a book he’d always over looked and he was going to do it again till the scribbles on the page caught his attention, someone scribbled little notes and drawings on the pages.

“Whoa, they left their phone too”? He wondered as he smiled; it was the first time he smiled in a while. The person seemed very clumsy judging by their cute drawings and illegible scribbles. He opened the phone and luckily it required no entry passcode; he browsed through the phone, first the picture folder where the person only had one photo of their side view, which was a little weird, but he had to admit that she looked cute. As it turned out, she also had almost the same taste in music as he. He quickly dialed his number on her phone so he could save the number before tossing it in the phone in the lost and found basket.

“Oppa lets go” his sister appeared before him as he walked out of the library. “Oppa, you’re smiling” Hyemi said as she eyed her brother, her brother was the most stiff person she’d ever come across; It was almost as if he had to be paid to smile.

“Do you know any girl called Youngie”? Seunghyun asked his sister, it was the name he saw in the person’s personal info; for some reason, he had the urge to talk to the person.

“Oppa there are billions of Youngie’s in this school, it’s a nickname for so many names. Why do you ask”?

“Nothing, lets go home” The last thing he wanted was his sister asking him tons of questions like she always did.

“Pride and Prejudice”? Hyemi asked as she caught a glimpse of the book her brother was holding. Seunghyun was always more of the action/thriller type.

“Yeah I just thought I’d check it out to see why you girls love it so much”

He opened the book the moment he got into his room; the person scribbled ‘Pride and prejudice: A love story that would never happen to me’

It took him almost all night but he never dropped the book, not even for a bathroom break. Whoever the person was, was deep; the scribbled poems all over the pages were perfect, and sometimes he found himself writing it down and when he was done with the book, it amazed him how all the poems he put together were like little pieces of a sad love song.

‘Should I text her? Would she have gone back to find her phone by now?’ He thought as he pulled out his phone.

Seunghyun>>>Youngie

Hey, I hope you found your phone. I’m the one who tossed it in the lost and found basket. Text me back. 

                                                                                                                                 -Tempo  

He’d never felt to lame, wanting to be friends with someone he didn’t know but he didn’t care. He was going for it, using a nickname from his old school in America, there was no way he was risking being found out and making a fool of himself if the owner turned out to be a boy, or someone he knew.