Leo bent and grabbed his backpack from under his bed, sliding Hongbin his as he did, and then reached under Hyuk’s bed to bring his along as well and stopped. He stayed bent over for a moment as he tried to come to terms with the fact that Hyuk’s bag was no longer coming with him to the station. He felt an arm around his shoulders and looked behind him to see N attempting to comfort him.

It won’t work you know. Leo straightened up and shook N’s arm off of him. He jerked his head toward the door and shouldered his bag without looking at any of them. He heard N sigh but the other four followed his lead. Ravi had to take Hongbin’s arm and drag him away to stop him from just going to his bed when the others left the room.

The walk to the station seemed wrong. It was just too empty. Leo’s hands felt too light; there should be the weight of another bag with him. The weight of another bag, and the knowledge of another boy waiting for them. N and Ken were being crazier and more boisterous than usual, cracking jokes just below the decibel that would get them yelled at and generally acting like idiots. N made several attempts to get Ravi, Hongbin, and Leo to join them in their idiocy without much success. He ran around them in circles, occasionally walking backwards and pointed out various things about their surroundings and creating ridiculous stories about passerby, helped by Ken. Hongbin just kept his eyes on the ground, Ravi didn’t spare them a glance, but kept his focus on the notebook in his hands, and Leo locked eyes with N until the elder cut it out and gave up.

The train ride was equally dismal; it was too quiet without Hyuk’s constant chatter about inane things such as the weather and the birds and how fun it would be to fly. N and Ken seemed to be trying to make up for it by being louder, but honestly, it wasn’t fooling anyone, especially themselves.

They arrived at school to whispers and stares; it seemed everyone had heard about Hyuk by now. Even Ravi, in his home territory, looked uncomfortable as he and Hongbin split from the rest of them to their classroom. N, Ken, and Leo separated as each went to their own classroom without another word. They did their best to ignore the stares. Leo was used to it; he’d always been stared at. He supposed it had something to do with the fascination of being around someone who didn’t talk and never smiled, but regardless of the reason, he had an easier time of it than the others.

Leo sat in class and tuned out, feeling bored and tired of everything. When he was thrown out for not reading aloud as demanded, he did the same in the hallway. You would think they’d learn not to ask by now.

He got up after a few minutes and wandered around the hallways surrounding his classroom, pulling his mp3 out of his pocket as he did. He felt a sort of restless energy despite his tiredness, a desire to get out there and do something that the police wouldn’t. Stupid, dumb, ignorant—

His thoughts were interrupted by the bell signaling the end of class and a cry of surprise two minutes later coming from the adjoining hallway. Hongbin?

Leo turned the corner to find Hongbin on the floor surrounded by three of his classmates outside the bathrooms. His bag was lying abandoned a few feet away. He crept forward to hear what they were saying.

"You are pathetic, Orphan Boy. You’ll probably go the same way the druggie did.” The biggest attacker sneered.

Leo felt a surge of anger, but he didn’t move forward yet. Where is Ravi when this happens? Hongbin had made no effort to get up or fight back, which was fairly predictable; it seemed he was far too used to this. Leo could see the beginnings of tears starting to form in Hongbin’s eyes and Leo felt a wave of pity rise through him, rather than the disgust or annoyance he usually felt. That pity was quickly replaced by a bigger surge of anger though as the other boys began to kick Hongbin, their inside shoes leaving black marks on his white shirt. His tie was askew and in danger of being ripped right off his neck when one of the boys grabbed it and hauled him into a half-sitting position so they were face-to-face.

"Your silent friend isn’t here. It’s just you and us.” Leo could see flecks of spit land on Hongbin’s face and the younger flinched back.

Actually, I am. Leo stepped into view and the boys looked startled. He saw the question in their eyes: is he psychic? Hongbin turned his head awkwardly to see that the new set of footsteps belonged to Leo and he hung his head in shame. The leader of the group dropped Hongbin to the floor again and backed away. Normally, Leo just staring at the bullies made them scared enough to run, but this time, the leader just looked at him disdainfully.

He turned back to Hongbin, who was sitting up slowly and trying not to groan in pain. “And here’s your savior once again, Orphan Boy. What’s the matter, Taekwoon, cat got your tongue?”

Come on pretty boy, cat got your tongue?

Leo narrowed his eyes and blocked the other voice from his mind, letting his rage build until his eyes were black with it. He furrowed his eyebrows and pressed his lips together until it was clear to the world, but apparently not Jungsoo, that he was not someone to mess with. Even Hongbin looked wary, like he didn’t recognize his friend, and he crawled backward slowly, picking up his bag as he did. Stupidly, the leader didn’t run away with his friends and continued talking. “Why don’t you say something, huh? I dare you.”

“Um...Jungsu...”

Jungsu ignored his friend and continued to taunt Leo, right up until the two of them were nose-to-nose. You think bullying is funny? I’ll give your friends something to laugh about when they see your face after I’m done with you.

Leo wasn’t conscious of pulling his arm back. His anger spurred him on as he directed all the rage and hurt he’d been carrying around all his life onto Hongbin’s tormentor. Jungsu went flying backwards, landing on the tile with a loud thud and a shout of pain. His hands flew to his nose, which was visibly broken and his eyes widened as he saw Leo walking toward him again, clearly not done with him.

"Wait...wait, Taekwoon! Stop! I’m sorry!” He yelled, raising his hands in front of him defensively. Sorry isn’t going to cut it this time, scumbag.

"Jungsu! Run!” Jungsu’s two friends were already halfway down the hall but Jungsu didn’t get up to follow them quickly enough; Leo was already on top of him. He grabbed the lapels of the bully’s uniform blazer and hauled him to his feet, much in the same way Jungsu had done Hongbin. He punched the boy again, this time in the eye. He let him fall to the ground again and began beating him within an inch of his life. Jungsu was screaming, his friends were hollering for Leo to let go of him, and even Hongbin was yelling now, begging him to stop. Doors slammed open all around at the noise and people flooded the hallway.

He felt a tangle of hands grabbing his arms, trying to get him off Jungsu, who had fallen into semi-consciousness. He wrenched his arms free and continued to hit the boy. There was yelling, pushing, and grabbing all around him but he ignored all of it, concentrating everything he had on punishing the bully who dared mess with Hongbin, speak ill of Hyuk, and tease Leo for something he couldn’t help.

The hands grabbing at him became more insistent, more forceful, and it finally took four teachers to get Leo off of Jungsu. He thrashed in their arms, trying to break loose. It took all they had just to keep their hands on him, and honestly, he was scaring them. He wasn’t making a sound, but the way his face was contorted with fury made him seem even scarier than if he had been screaming.

There were voices all around him, yelling different things, things he couldn’t comprehend with the anger roaring in his ears. He redoubled his efforts to break free of the teachers and they called for two more to help them hold him down. There were now six adults holding back a skinny 18-year-old and barely managing it at that.

"What happened??”

“I don’t know he just went crazy!!”

"Taekwoon!”

“Is Jungsu all right?”

“Everyone, calm down!”

"Taekwoon!! Stop fighting!”

“I didn’t know he could do that!”

"Oh my gosh he’s so scary!”

"TAEKWOON! STOP IT, IT’S OVER.”

And finally, “Leo-hyung!” Hongbin. “LEO! CALM DOWN!” N. “Come on Leo! It’s not worth it!” Ken. “LEO-HYUNG!” Ravi.

Those four voices calling the name with which he identified were the only things that made him abruptly stop struggling. The red in his vision cooled and the roaring ceased and he was finally able to understand what people were saying. The six holding his arms and pressing against his stomach felt him go limp in their grip and they cautiously relaxed their hold on him, making sure he wasn’t going to freak out again. Leo was breathing hard; the only reason he was still upright was because of the six people holding him up. When they were sure he had stopped for good, they let him go, still keeping a loose hold on his arms, and he dropped to his knees. He just stared at the bruised and bloodied boy lying in front of him, the rest of the hallway growing as silent as he.

Someone had clearly called the headmaster to the scene and he arrived just as Leo calmed down. He took in the scene; dozens of students with wide eyes surrounding the six teachers who were in turn surrounding one boy on his knees and one boy on his back.

"Students,” the headmaster began, his voice forcibly calm. “Go back to your classrooms right now.”

Out of the corner of his eyes, Leo saw the crowd dissipate, buzzing with what had just happened. The students who had to walk past him gave him a wide berth as if scared he would suddenly jump out and kill them. He ignored them and stayed on the floor. N, Hongbin, Ken, and Ravi tried to go over to him, but the teachers wouldn’t let them.

“Go on. Back to class.” They gave them little pushes in the right direction and finally it was just Leo, Jungsu, six teachers, and the headmaster. None of them seemed to know quite what to do with him.

“Jungsu is going to need an ambulance.” One of the teachers said quietly, pulling out a cell phone. “Keep him away.” He nodded at Leo, who hadn’t moved, changed expression, or most obvious, said a word. He felt himself being lifted to his feet and held against the wall while the teacher made the call. When he slipped his cell phone back into his pocket, he knelt next to Jungsu and checked his pulse. Jungsu’s head moved and he opened his blackened eyes a fraction, in pain.

"It’s all right, Jungsu. There’s an ambulance on the way.”

A couple of the teachers went a little ways away with the headmaster and began a hushed conversation, glancing in Leo’s direction more often then he would have liked. That’s it. Now I’ve done it. They’re going to expel me for sure now.

While they waited for the sirens to announce the arrival of the paramedics, Leo gradually became aware of a low, throbbing pain in his right hand, the one he’d injured the day before punching the wall. Clearly that punch hadn’t been enough to get rid of his perpetual anger, though, after this incident, all the anger seemed to have drained out of him and all he wanted was to go to sleep and never wake up.

Leo looked down at his hand and found that the gauze wrapped around it was covered in blood. He didn’t know if it was his or Jungsu’s and he unwrapped the bandage to find out. Two of the teachers glanced at him warily when they felt him move, but their expressions changed to slightly concerned when they saw his swollen, discolored hand.

“We’ll have the paramedic take a look at you too.” One of them said, almost to himself. Leo didn’t grace this with a response, verbal or otherwise, and cradled his hand against his chest. The others just shook their heads, feeling that this troublemaker didn’t deserve any concern. Knew it. They don’t care. No one’s even asked me why I did it. The fact that he wouldn’t answer was irrelevant. They could have at least asked.

They heard sirens in the distance coming closer and the teachers breathed a collective sigh of relief. A minute later, the paramedics were there, gathering around Jungsu, asking him questions, taking his vitals, and lifting him onto a stretcher.

That scumbag doesn’t deserve all that concern. Leo surprised himself with his own viciousness.

"We need someone to look at this boy as well.” The headmaster called over one of the EMTs. If the man had had any doubts about what had happened here, they were probably erased when he took hold of Leo’s hand gently. One boy with multiple injuries, another boy with an injured hand being held against the wall by four teachers—not exactly rocket science.  

Even the slight movement of the EMT taking his hand caused a wave of pain that spread halfway up his arm. The man, to his credit, did his best to keep Leo in the minimum amount of discomfort.

"He’s going to need an X-ray. One of his knuckles might be broken.” He turned to Leo. “On a scale of one to ten, how much does it hurt?” Eleven. Leo felt himself freezing up and he just looked at the EMT, who was waiting for his answer. The headmaster stepped in and whispered something in the EMT’s ear, and the paramedic nodded.

Again with the talking as if he wasn’t there. People were way too used to doing that. Leo was escorted by the EMTs and a teacher into the ambulance waiting outside. As he climbed inside, Jungsu, lying on the stretcher in the middle, shrank back from him.

“Keep him away from me.” The boy whispered and the EMTs nodded, looking resigned. They’d been about to bar the teacher from entering the vehicle, but they knew now that he was probably necessary.

When they arrived at the hospital, Jungsu was taken away, and Leo was brought to the ER, flanked by the teacher. Being treated like a delinquent made Leo stiffen, forced to remember things he’d had blocked for years.

Come on pretty boy, cat got your tongue?

Leo shook his head vigorously, causing the teacher to look at him carefully, like he was sure Leo was going to go crazy again. He was given a hospital bracelet and sent to the waiting room to wait for his turn. As he did, Ahjumma and a man he presumed to be Jungsu’s father came rushing in. Ahjumma’s eyes narrowed when she saw Leo holding his bruised hand protectively. The man saw him at the same time and turned to the teacher beside him. He pointed at Leo.

“Keep that boy, away from my son.” The teacher nodded tiredly and Jungsu’s father disappeared to find where they took his son. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So yeah, Leo goes a little bit insane. But I could totally picture that...

Comment if you like it!