*gif is irrelevant, but still pretty damn adorable

Although the corridor was almost pitch black, the only source of light being the faint moonlight through the glass doors and the flickering screen of the phone, Chanyeol and the boys could see each other's faces clearly. Chanyeol’s was hardened in fury, and he looked like he was about to throw a punch any second. One of the boys looked simply confused, while the other scoffed quietly.

“How is it that there’s always someone to stick up for that freak?”

A tense silence filled the air, neither party willing to make the first move. Chanyeol’s hands tightened into fists and his breathing became harsher.

“It shouldn’t be a surprise, seeing that he’s an actual decent human being while you’re nothing but trash, Lee Taemin.”

“Oh, so I’m the trash here?” Taemin said, pointing at himself with a lopsided grin, “funny, considering the fact that I’m the one who did everything I could to keep my best friend from becoming a good-for-nothing loser. What have you done for Kyungsoo?”

“I was there by his side when he needed me!” Chanyeol roared. “You’re the one who destroyed any chances of Jongin being happy by ing with Kyungsoo’s head! You think you were being a friend? You’re nothing but a selfish bastard.”

“Jongin was my best friend!” Taemin snapped back. “He was normal, before Do Kyungsoo came into the picture and changed everything! Jongin turned into a ing hypocrite. There’s something you guys are missing here. Jongin isn’t some kind of saint you peg him to be. He used to be just like me - knowing exactly where to draw the line between being a freak and being someone worth talking to. He used to torment all the losers alongside me, but suddenly Kyungsoo was an exception! For some odd reason we weren’t allowed to lay a hand on Kyungsoo. What made him such a goddamn special case? I tried to speak some sense into Jongin, but at the end he chose Kyungsoo over me. He chose some new transfer freak he only knew for a few months over his best friend!”

“Kyungsoo’s no freak!” Chanyeol’s patience finally snapped and he sprang forward, pushing Taemin to the ground. Kwanghee, who had remained silent during the whole deal, immediately scrambled over and tried to pry Chanyeol away. Chanyeol, however, being much bigger than the two boys, easily pushed Kwanghee to the side and grabbed Taemin’s collar.

“He’s still convinced Jongin is bullying him,” Taemin spat out, “that should serve as some kind of indicator of how messed up he really is. He can’t escape from his own head. I’m not the bully here; he’s torturing himself!”

“You’re the one who gave him the idea in the first place!”

Chanyeol’s eyes flashed dangerously for a split second before he brought down his large fist, hitting Taemin square in the face. Kwanghee gawked at the scene and scrambled back, not knowing what to do.

“Don’t you dare blame Kyungsoo or Jongin for this! None of this is their damn fault. You’re the one who started all this, so you’re going to end it.”

Before Taemin could reply, Chanyeol grabbed Taemin by the collar and dragged him up, pulling him down the dark hallway. He could hear Kwanghee’s tumbling feet behind trying to keep up with his fast pace.

“Let me go!” Taemin yelled, but Chanyeol merely tightened his grip and walked faster. They stumbled into the dormitory building, which was completely silent.

“Yah, Park Chanyeol!”

The loud noise erupted in the previously soundless hallway, and in a matter of seconds the light flickered on.  The door at the very end slammed open and a stern looking teacher walked out.

“Students out of bed!” He screeched. “Do you realize what time it is? It’s past midnight!”

Chanyeol halted in his steps, but his eyes remained hostile. The teacher stormed over and seeing Taemin’s bruised face, snapped around to face Chanyeol. The doors to each room slowly began to open and students walked out, all looking much too alert and shocked.

“What is the meaning of this?” The teacher hissed, yanking Taemin out of Chanyeol’s grip. Chanyeol stepped back and was about to reply when he caught sight of a yawning Baekhyun walk out of his room. Baekhyun immediately froze when he saw what was happening and turned pale.

“I asked you a question, mister. I expect an answer!”

Chanyeol closed his mouth and locked his jaw, determined to remain quiet. He saw Kyungsoo gasp and Jongin eye Taemin with an icy expression.

“Park Chanyeol!” The teacher stepped forward and yelled. “This is ridiculous! You will explain to me right now.”

Chanyeol sighed and opened his mouth to reply when Jongin suddenly ran over, stepping in front of Chanyeol.

“It was my fault, sir. I asked Chanyeol for a favor. I got into a fight with Taemin and Chanyeol was covering up my tracks because I couldn’t afford another detention. Chanyeol was simply getting Taemin back to his room.,” Jongin quickly said. The teacher scoffed and quirked an eyebrow.

“Should’ve known you would be behind this, Kim Jongin. I was surprised that for once you were staying out of trouble.”

Jongin smiled weakly. “Yeah, well, you know me sir. Just can’t seem to control myself.”

“What are you doing?” Chanyeol hissed beside Jongin’s ear. Jongin rolled his eyes and whispered back.

“I’m trying to keep you out of trouble. You need this scholarship, don’t you? I don’t. Just stay quiet and go with the flow.”

“I don’t need your charity-”

“Kim Jongin, follow me,” The teacher tugged Jongin’s ears and pulled the boy away, Jongin sending Chanyeol a stern look before returning to his yelps of protests. Taemin and Kwanghee quickly scrambled away from the crowd, running across the building.

The remaining students didn’t dare say a word. They all stared at Chanyeol, who remained frozen, unable to do anything.

Baekhyun was the first one to break the ice. He stumbled over to Chanyeol and grabbed his shirt, tugging it forcefully.

“What’s going on?” he asked, his tone shaky. “What the hell happened back there?”

Chanyeol couldn’t face the boy in front of him. His mind was focused on Kyungsoo, who was trembling visibly in the very back.

“Chanyeol!” Baekhyun yelled. “Answer me!”

Baekhyun let go of Chanyeol and stumbled back into Luhan, who looked down at him in pain.

“Someone has to help Jongin!” Baekhyun screamed. “He can’t afford any more detentions! This could get him expelled! Will someone just tell me what the is going on?!”

“Baek-” Chanyeol started but couldn’t finish his sentence. He was stricken with guilt. If he had just been a little more wiser, things could be different. He blamed himself for letting the anger get to his head.

Suddenly, Baekhyun’s eyes narrowed dangerously. He spun around and stomped towards a terrified looking Kyungsoo. Before anyone could react he slammed Kyungsoo against the wall.

“This is your fault, isn’t it?” Baekhyun sneered. “It’s always your ing fault! What did you do this time? Did you make Jongin go after Taemin? What do you have against my best friend, Do Kyungsoo?! I swear, if he gets expelled because of your sorry I’m going to kill you-”

“Baekhyun!” Luhan interrupted and grabbed his friend, pulling him back. “Stop it! You’re only making things worse!”

Baekhyun seethed and jabbed an accusing finger on Kyungsoo’s chest.

“You know what? You don’t deserve my best friend. I don’t know what your ing problem is, but whatever it is it’s no excuse. You’re not going to ever get Jongin even if you grovel on his feet because Jongin is worth hundred times of you and I wish you would just disappear!”

A hand grabbed Baekhyun’s hand and pulled him back. Chanyeol easily pin down his struggling arms and looked down at him.

“I need to speak with you,” Chanyeol said, his voice hoarse before he began to pull the other boy away from the scene. The remaining students stared as the two left and immediately began to gossip among each other. Sehun, who was watching everything from the side, pushed himself against the wall and sighed in annoyance.

“Shows over. Get back to your rooms!” Sehun yelled. Everyone stared at him, and when Luhan gave them a pointed glare they began to slowly return to their respective rooms. Only Luhan, Sehun, and Kyungsoo were left in the corridor. Luhan faced Kyungsoo, who slumped on the ground in defeat and was staring at the marble floor.

“Oh Kyungsoo,” Luhan muttered before he crouched down on the floor in front of the trembling boy. “This can’t go on. Do you know what happened?”

Kyungsoo lifted his head, eyes teary. He knew exactly what had happened. Chanyeol had left his room clearly upset, and he spent the whole day in anxiety, hoping his stupid best friend wouldn’t do anything rash. But by the looks of it he had, for hitting Taemin in the face and dragging him to the hallway was definitely something Chanyeol wouldn’t do with a clear mind.

“I know you know what happened,” Luhan said, offering Kyungsoo a small smile, “and I need you to go tell the teacher the truth. Jongin could get expelled from this. I know you guys aren’t exactly on friendly terms at the moment but don’t make Jongin suffer any longer. He went through enough.”

Kyungsoo remained silent, and Luhan sighed before standing up. He walked past Sehun and grabbed his arm.

“Let’s go,” he said, and Sehun gave Kyungsoo one last look before closing the door to their room. Kyungsoo glanced around at the empty hallway before closing his eyes, hoping to block away everything.

Although there was a small urge to stay behind, Sehun knew better than to be with Kyungsoo. The boy clearly needed some time to think, and Sehun had done everything he could so far. Luhan made it clear what Kyungsoo had to do, and the rest was left for the boy to decide. After sparing him one last look, he reluctantly closed the door behind him. He then turned around to see Luhan looking at him with a small frown.

“What?” Sehun asked as he lazily dragged his body across the room to Luhan’s bed. Even though a couple of days had passed he still refused to go back to his own bed - after what had happened with Jongdae and Minseok he doubted he could ever go back.

“Poor Kyungsoo, huh?” Luhan asked, but something in his tone made Sehun raise his eyebrow in a questioning manner.

“Am I supposed to disagree with that?” Sehun inquired, “because I really do feel bad for him.”

Luhan’s eyes bore into Sehun’s, and after minutes of silence Luhan cocked his head in annoyance and sighed.

“Is something going on between you and Kyungsoo?”

It took only a matter of seconds for Sehun to blink twice, ears twitch, and jaw drop open. He wasn’t sure if he had heard right.

“Are you asking me if we’re romantically involved?”

“I wouldn’t say that, per se,” Luhan quickly shot, “but you’ve been awfully chummy with him lately. You jump to his defense everytime anyone dares to insult him, you go out of your way to comfort him, you even dragged him out when he began to cry. The Oh Sehun I know would never do such a thing. The only person you voluntarily talk to because you want to is me, and I had to practically force you to open up to me. I just want to know what happened between you two.”

Sehun stared back in disbelief.

“Nothing happened. We’re friends, Luhan. I don’t know what’s the proble-”

“Do you honestly expect me to believe that you managed to befriend Do Kyungsoo?”

“For gods sake, Luhan, I’m straight! Not to mention Kyungsoo is ing in love with Jongin! What are you thinking?”

“I’m not making any judgements,” Luhan seethed as he took a step forward, “it’s just you can’t throw this on me and think I’ll be able to understand what’s going on. Do Kyungsoo has never been a particularly social person - heck, the only person he talked to was Chanyeol before you showed up. Then suddenly he goes ahead and tells you everything, even the things he was unable to tell Chanyeol for five years. You treat him like he’s some kind of misunderstood victim, and I’m not disagreeing with you here, but you’ve got to agree that this is seriously out of character for you.”

“I felt bad for him Luhan, not to mention he was the only one in this school who I could relate to. Honestly it freaked me out too at the beginning, but I can’t help but feel like I’ve got to do something to help him. He’s somewhat of a friend now - I can’t just ignore that.”

Sehun and Luhan continued to stare at each other, eyes swarming with confusion, desperation, and bitterness. But soon enough Luhan’s eyes drooped down to something entirely different.

“I get it,” he murmured, “I’m sorry Sehun. I was just confused.”

Sehun sighed and tore his eyes away before offering the boy a tired smile.

“We’re friends, Luhan. Just like us,” Sehun was oblivious to Luhan flinching and turning pale. “I just want to make things better, alright?”

“Yeah, sure,” Luhan replied before walking over to the light switch. Sehun couldn’t see the boy’s eyes as his bangs had fallen over, covering him from view.

“Good night,” Luhan said, and before Sehun could reply the lights went off and the room fell silent.

*slowly walks away and hides behind a rock