Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. ONE! Time is tickin’. T-Time is tickin’, tickin’. Time is tickin’. T-Time is tic-

            Yoseob’s hand slammed the alarm off. He grumbled and complained for he was tired and not wanting to get out of bed. He sat up and rubbed his weary eyes. Climbing out of bed and slowly making his way to the bathroom, he looked into the mirror and saw a sleepyhead looking back.

            “Aigoo, I look like a zombie.” Running his hands under the running water, the blonde washed face and was immediately woken up. He got his toothbrush and toothpaste and began brushing his teeth. As he brushed, he sang: “Oh, I’m brushing my teeth on top~ It’s so much fun, I hate to stop~ But while I’m brushing my teeth, and having so much fun~ I never let the water run~ I never let the water run~” He stared down at the faucet and realized the water was still running. Briskly spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing his mouth, he turned off the water and went to go change. He slipped into his uniform, grabbed his bag, and charged out the door to his bus stop.

            The bus approached after a bit, and Yoseob climbed on. He searched around and took a seat, not realizing Doojoon and Junhyung were in the seats in front of him. Junhyung began speaking and it caught Yoseob’s attention.

            “The project will be finished mostly by that kid, right?”

            “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it will be,” Doojoon replied and nodded.

            “Okay, good. I’m too lazy to do any of it anyway. By the way you explained it to me, I’m pretty sure he’ll take over my part too just to get that grade.” Junhyung spoke selfishly.

            “Well, he did say, he didn’t want any trouble with us, so I’m pretty sure he will do it. But shouldn’t you at least do a part of the project? It’s a bit much that he already has to have this assignment as a punishment for something he didn’t do.” Doojoon’s care towards Yoseob was shown as he spoke.

            “Doojoon, I have told you yesterday. Don’t start softening up. I don’t care if it’s too much for him. As long as we get this grade, we’ll be fine. Isn’t that right?”

            “…I believe you’re right…Well, slack off all you want. I’ll contribute just a bit, to make sure he doesn’t rebel.” After hearing this conversation, Yoseob’s spirit fell low. He didn’t want to hold an even bigger responsibility for this assignment. He returned his attention to the two when Junhyung started to speak again.

            “Heh, that’s good thinking, but you’re going to be the one who’ll keep him from doing so. Even if he rebels, you know that you can force him to change his mind.” The malevolence in his voice made the blonde wince. The hyung just nodded in reply. To break the silence, the eavesdropper decided to greet them by surprise.

            “ANNYEONGHASEYO!” Yoseob shouted from behind and slapped his hands onto their shoulders, causing them to jump in shock. Junhyung calmed after taking a few quick breaths and became irritated by the presence of the younger boy.

            “Y-Yoseob! When did you get here?” Doojoon asked in shock.

            “I sat here since the last bus stop! I didn’t see you guys in front until I heard you talking not too long ago!” Yoseob smiled brightly, hiding his sorrowful feelings from the two older ones.

            “Ahh, you will be doing that project for us, neh?” the hyung asked without any bit of something evil and mean in his voice.

            “Neh, I even sai-“

            “Good. You better. Now can you keep your mouth shut until we reach school?” Junhyung bluntly cut off the boy and resumed his silence. Yoseob’s face turned a light pink from the embarrassment and fell back onto his seat. Doojoon let out a sigh and turned forward. Not too long after, the bus reached the school campus, and all the students flooded out of the bus. They all headed to class as the bell rang. After class ended, Doojoon waved a goodbye to Yoseob and headed off to break.

            “I’ll see you again later in class, Yoseob!” was what he said.

            “Neh! Annyeong!” Yoseob grinned and ran off to find his friends. “Kikwang! Kikwang, where are you?!” He searched around and pouted, not being able to find Kikwang. From behind, Kikwang pounced on him.

            “BOO!”

            “AIGOO, DON’T DO THAT AGAIN!” Yoseob jumped and shrieked in terror, sending his friend into a fit of laughter.

            “I got you good!” Kikwang said through his laughs.

            “Neh, neh, you did. You sure did, but I will get you back.” The blonde chuckled back at his friend. “I will get you back two times more!”

            “Haha, mianhe, hyung. But it was too funny!” As Kikwang calmed, he looked past Yoseob and saw Dongwoon coming over. He waved at the approaching figure and shouted, “ANNYEONG!”

            “ANNYEONG!” Dongwoon shouted back. He smiled and saw that Yoseob was also there. “Ah, ANNYEONG, YOSEOB-HYUNG!”

            “Annyeong, Dongwoon!” Yoseob replied as he covered his ears. “There’s no need to shout! You are only two feet away from me!”

            “Ahh, mianhe.” Dongwoon bowed and apologized, but Yoseob stopped him and said it was not a problem. “So, what’re you two up to?”

            “Nothing much, I just scared Yoseob-hyung a bit earlier! You should’ve been there! It was hilarious!” Kikwang giggled and patted Yoseob on the back, who gave him a glare but started laughing himself.

            “Aww. I should’ve been there. Only if I came here sooner, but I was looking for something that I was missing. But no worries! I found it!” Dongwoon raised up a small bag and danced around. The bag contained his lunch. Kikwang joined Dongwoon’s little dance and they both skipped and galloped and trotted around Yoseob like horses. The blonde’s eyes stared straight forward and didn’t budge, remaining undistracted by the two. His vision remained fixed on a large, muscular figure who stared straight back into his eyes. The figure was making way to the three.

            “Oh, great. It’s Junhyung.” Yoseob’s notice made Kikwang and Dongwoon, who were now tossing the food back and forth, freeze and look over.

            “What does he want?” Dongwoon asked, sounding afraid and hiding his food behind his back.

            “I don’t know, but it doesn’t seem good.” Yoseob met up face to face with Junhyung. Junhyung didn’t say anything. He merely shoved the boy out of the way and walked straight up to Dongwoon.

            “N-Neh? Is there something you need, J-Junhyung?” Dongwoon’s voice was quivering as he spoke. Junhyung smirked.

            “I’m hungry. Give me your food. Now.” His face was nearly up against the frightened child. Dongwoon nodded and swiftly handed the bag over to Junhyung. Kikwang watched as fury built up within him. He was infuriated with Junhyung’s actions and made the choice of releasing his anger. A swift blow from his fist was made at Junhyung’s side. Astonished, Junhyung looked at his attacker with threatening eyes. Kikwang backed away, but his collar was grabbed, preventing him from gaining anymore distance.

            “Let me go!” He fought and tried to push the large menace away, efforts futile.

            “You do that again. And you’ll meet your end. Got it?” Junhyung threatened. Kikwang gulped and nodded, a sweat drop running down his forehead. Junhyung smirked and let go. He left with Dongwoon’s lunch to search for Doojoon and left the three silent with fear.

            “Kikwang! Why’d you do that?! You could’ve gotten yourself beaten up!” Dongwoon grabbed Kikwang by the shoulders and shook him around.

            “I…Mianhe…I’m just so sick of seeing Junhyung bullying everyone like that. I really had enough of it. Yoseob is always stuck with Doojoon and Junhyung, I feel so bad for him. I just want to end all this unnecessary bullying. Now, seeing you in this situation, I can’t take it anymore. Someone needs to teach those jerks a lesson.” Kikwang was shivering with rage, his fists clenched tight. Yoseob put a hand on his shoulder, the feeling surprised him a bit, but it soothed him.

            “It’ll be okay, Kikwang. Just don’t get into any trouble with Junhyung, and you’ll be fine. There’s nothing that can stop him, but as I’ve said, he’ll cha-” Kikwang exploded.

            “CHANGE?! How are you so sure that he’ll change at all?! Maybe, the only time he’ll change is when someone saves his life. But there is nothing to save him from! He’s the one doing all the damage! Yoseob-hyung, I am sorry for being rude, but I highly doubt he’ll ever change one bit!” Kikwang’s face was tomato red. Yoseob was looking at the floor and remaining silent. Dongwoon was watching with fear from the aggressiveness, he wasn’t able to do anything to calm Kikwang. Yoseob began to talk.

            “N-Neh…You’re right. He’s not going to change…” The sadness in Yoseob was obvious. “But, maybe Doojoon-hyung will be able to change him. Doojoon is actually pretty nice, if you knew him.”

            “W-What? Doojoon, nice? Hasn’t he been picking on you, also? I see him nothing near nice.” Kikwang was surprised.

            “Neh! Well, he’s only nice to me because I’m working on a group project that was assigned to the three of us. I’m stuck with most of the work. I asked Doojoon why he suddenly became so nice to me after it was assigned. He said it was because so I wouldn’t…rebel…Oh… Never mind, then…He’s only using me…” The mood dropped again.

            “See? His ‘niceness’ is only to use you. I really, and I mean really, want to stop all of this. But there’s nothing I can do. If-” Kikwang sighed. Dongwoon interrupted, not wanting the conversation to prolong any longer.

            “Why are we talking about this when there’s nothing we can do about it? Come on, let’s change subjects and go enjoy the rest of our lunch!” The other two nodded and agreed, but the bell rang. The sound of the school bell made them groan for their lunch had gone to waste. “Annyeong, Yoseob and Kikwang!” Dongwoon waved and ran off.

            “Kikwang, just keep your mind off of it and stay out of trouble, okay? I don’t want you getting hurt. Doojoon and Junhyung don’t pick on you, so stay out of the trouble while you can. Promise me that?” Yoseob raised up his pinky, waiting for Kikwang to hook pinkies.

            “…I promise…” They hooked pinkies and exchanged goodbyes. Kikwang walked briskly to his class and sat down at his seat. He took out his supplies and began to find a blank page in his notebook. When he opened it, he turned to a page that was full of little doodles he drew when he was bored in class. In the corner, he had written in fancy writing: “Saranghae, Yoseob.” A small heart was next to Yoseob’s name. Kikwang felt tears build up in his eyes, but he held them back. “I don’t want you getting hurt, Yoseob…I don’t want it anymore…” 

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Is it still short? >o< Or is this length fine? Thank you for reading/suscribing/commenting!