Ch.4
Being Human
The majority of lunch consisted of Key squishing Baekho (who looked ready to implode at any moment) to his side and cooing over his likeness to a teddy bear.
Minhyun repeatedly pinched himself as if he was dreaming and Minho ate his food silently with a depressed look on his face.
"Minho," Key called finally, loosening his hold on Baekho much to the blonde boy's relief.
Minho's head shot up, his gloomy look vanishing instantly.
"I'm probably not going to class today. I want to hang out with my new baby sophomores."
Minho regained his sullen expression and nodded.
"Oh stop giving me that kicked puppy look." Key grimaced at the expression the tall boy was making.
Minho grunted.
"Does he talk?" Ren asked, not caring whether he was rude or not.
"In public, not too much." Key shrugged and continued fawning over Baekho.
***
After lunch, Ren decided to be generous and walk with Minhyun and Baekho to their next class.
Baekho rubbed his arm that was slowly turning a bright tomato red where Key had been grabbing him. "I have never been hugged so much in my life." He groaned.
"No, you initiate the hugs most of the time." Minhyun didn't glance up from his manga.
"It's only because I have trouble sleeping unless I've got a nice human teddy bear with me." Baekho responded, holding open the classroom door for his tall friend and Ren.
Ren entered and was disappointed to see that JR was not in the class. His American friend, however, was and Minhyun's cheeks gained a soft rosy color.
Ren rolled his eyes at his new friend's obvious affections and picked a seat next to the wall.
Baekho seated himself behind him and Minhyun went to his left.
The completely unremarkable teacher came in a few seconds after the bell and Ren forgot his name almost immediately.
A few minutes of the lecture passed by uneventfully until the door flew open and a certain cat eyed diva stalked through the door dramatically.
He scanned the classroom, ignoring the stuttering teacher.
Baekho visibly sunk in his seat.
Key spotted the blonde boy's movement and a grin lit his attractive features.
He sashayed over the the groaning boy and effectively shut him up by sitting on his lap.
Baekho turned another interesting shade of red and spluttered out something unintelligible.
Ren rose a single eyebrow at the pair and smirked slightly at the blonde's discomfort.
Key waved at the teacher to continue, raising a perfectly plucked eyebrow much like Ren had a moment before when the professor didn't do anything.
Blushing, the teacher started to stutter out his lesson once more and Key started a rant to Baekho about something or other.
Baekho looked like he was holding his breath but he nodded and shook his head when he deemed it necessary.
Ren sighed in jealousy at Key's overflowing confidence in himself and actions.
He spent the rest of the period daydreaming about a certain thug and almost missed the bell.
He followed Minhyun and Baekho out to the lockers where Key once again latched himself onto the blonde's arm.
"And this thought I was some easy - Oh ! I forgot my bag in Mrs. Yoo's room!" With that, the feline looking male dashed away, much to the relief of Baekho.
Minhyun had just slammed his locker shut when a long arm shoved him to the ground.
Ren stared on horrified as Inati, JR, Aron, and Junhyung formed a circle around the three boys.
Another arm, this one belonging to Inati, reached down and yanked the lanky boy off of the floor and against the locker.
Minhyun let out a small 'oomph', but his face remained void of any emotion.
"Hey, ." Inati put his face close to the boy's. "I think you forgot to lend me some money for a pack after lunch today."
"Let him go." Baekho growled, his fingers clenching.
"Or what?" Inati sneered.
Baekho let out another growl, once again reminding Ren of a bear, but this one was definitely no stuffed toy. He snarled once more and launched himself at the senior.
The boys tumbled to the ground and Ren let out a shout but his cries were drowned out by the gathering crowd.
Baekho sent a steady stream of punches to the older's face until arms grabbed at him and lifted him off Inati and he was shoved against a wall.
Junhyung held him in place as Inati rose, wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his lip, and threw a solid fist into Baekho's abdomen.
The blonde doubled over before being yanked back up again by Junhyung.
"Stop it!" Ren shouted.
Minhyun finally stood up and ran to his friend on shaky legs, throwing Junhyung off of Baekho.
Junhyung stumbled back and threw a punch at Minhyun's face, causing the skinnier male to crumple.
Ren shot a horrified look to where Aron and JR had been standing.
To his disbelief and disappointment, JR had joined Inati in beating Baekho into the lockers.
Aron looked pained as he watched the boys.
"Help him!" Ren shouted.
Aron glanced at him sadly. "I can't." He whispered, almost inaudible over the crowd.
Ren's eyes widened and he stood helplessly as his friends were hit and kicked.
"WHAT THE ARE YOU DOING?" A shrill voice screamed at the end of the hallway.
Key stood with his eyes raging and the bullies froze.
"Get the off of him." Each word was pronounced deliberately and deadly.
Junhyung and JR lowered their fists but Inati sneered at the diva.
"Or what?" He drawled.
"Or I will tear you apart." Came a different voice from behind the senior.
Minho stared down at the senior. He was a good few inches taller and could look down his nose.
His large eyes were narrowed into slits and he held up one hand, the fingers already curling into a fist.
Inati glared harshly at the taller boy until the hallway was silent with tension.
Eventually, he loosened his grip on Baekho and the boy slumped to the ground, a purple bruise already forming along his jaw.
Minhyun crawled over to his friend and Ren knelt down to help him up as well.
Together, they hauled Baekho to his feet and began dragging him down the hallway.
They passed Aron who hadn't moved during the entirety of the brawl and Minhyun refused to look at him.
They met Key at the end of the hall and the diva opened the front door for them.
"We can go to my house." He offered.
"No," Ren said. "My driver's there. We can go to mine."
They helped Baekho into the black car just as Minho exited the school.
Key waved him over and he crawled into the black car after them.
"Nice ride." Baekho grunted after a few moments of silence.
Minhyun cracked a smile.
"Thanks." Ren said awkwardly and almost sighed in relief as the driveway to his house came into view.
A footman opened the car door for them and blanched at the sight of the two bloody boys.
"Help them to my room." Ren ordered, crawling out of the car.
The man nodded and grabbed Baekho's arm.
The rest tumbled out of the vehicle and Key whistled in appreciation. "Not too shabby."
"We try." The blonde diva muttered. "Come on. My room's at the top."
His new friends followed him into the house. Ren decided not to look back at what he was sure was a group of gawking faces.
After another few minutes once they had reached Ren's bedroom, Baekho limped in looking slightly better.
"I knew you were rich but damn." Baekho grinned and Minhyun gave a sigh of relief.
"I guess you feel better." The lanky boy commented dryly.
"Well of course." Baekho grinned. "There were like five hot maids cleaning my bruises and cuts."
Ren rolled his eyes while Key glared.
"Where? I'll thank them them then cut off their s."
The atmosphere became more relaxed after that. The five males chatted lazily. Well, four since Minho only grunted every once in a while.
"Does he always follow you around?" Ren asked after Minho left to use the bathroom.
Key looked back at him from where he was bouncing lightly on the bed. "Yeah. He's been with me since around fourth grade when some guys were picking on me."
"Why doesn't he talk?"
"Ask him yourself." Key nodded to the frog-like boy who had just been eyeing the room.
"Why don't you talk?" Ren asked boldly, not caring if he was rude.
Minho shrugged.
"Wow. Your stunning explanation certainly answered all my questions."
"I don't have anything to say most of the time." Minho deadpanned.
Ren shrugged, accepting the answer.
"Sorry." Minhyun said suddenly.
Everyone turned to look at him. He'd been fussing over Baekho's injuries.
"What for?" Ren asked.
"I thought you were a when we first met. You too, Key."
"Most people do." Key shrugged. "But I am one so I don't mind."
"But you stood up against your friends to help Baekho."
"Please," Key snorted. "They aren't my friends. I just hang out with them because I don't have anywhere else to go. They tolerate me because they're scared of Minho."
Minho grunted.
"Where's your closet?" Key turned to Ren, his feline eyes sparkling.
Ren motioned to the door next to the bed.
The diva jumped off the mattress and flung open the door before racing inside.
A moan of satisfaction could be heard before a burst of squeals.
"My fashion senses are tingling!" The outburst had everyone giggling, including Ren.
Foreign emotions were welling in his stomach and he realized that he was making friends. Real friends. Not those people that were nice to him because he had money, but people who had no problem with irritating the hell out of him.
And he'd only known them for a day.
He must be getting soft, Ren concluded.
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