c h a p t e r t h r e e

L.Joe’s POV

    Months flew by in a breeze. Niel and I have been making some good progress. We’ve kissed multiple times, and we’re closer than we could ever be. 

    It was Wednesday, and we had arrived at school together. When we entered the school, students shot us glares, as if we murdered someone. 

    Shouldn’t they be used to this by now? I thought. When it was time to go to class, we bid goodbye and separated. 

    When I arrived to class, it was hectic. Desks were tipped over, papers were sprawled across the floor, dirty things were written on the chalkboard; it was chaos. But once I entered, everyone stopped and stared in my direction. I looked at everyone and calmly proceeded to my desk. As I was making my way to my seat, I felt everyone watching my every move. My desks was one of the desks that was tipped over. I bent down to pick it up and set it the right way. As I took my seat, the horrific writing on my desk disturbed me. Explicit pictures and words were plastered on my desk. I decided it would be hell trying to erase all of this, so I ended up covering them with my books. 

    I was about to lay my head on my desk, when a guy approached me.

    “You’re the gay guy, right?” He smirked and looked over to his friends, who gave him some thumbs up. I stayed silent and he let out a small “psh.” 

    “So how are you and your boyfriend doing? Have you guys kissed?” I was getting annoyed with this guy. “Did you two, you know,” I looked at him, “do it?” He asked, emphasizing the ‘it.’ I rolled my eyes at him. “Hey, come here,” he motioned me to come closer to him. He bent down to whisper in my ear. “Did you know that chlamydia usually occurs in homoual men?” I’d had enough of his sly words and shot up from my seat, grabbing my books. I left the classroom and proceeded to the rooftop. I could skip one class, right?

    When I reached the rooftop, I set my books on a bench and sat down. I reached into my pocket and grabbed a box out, opening it, and took out a cigarette. 

    I rarely smoked. It was only when I was stressed. Wait, did I just admit that I was stressed about this? Didn’t I tell Niel that we wouldn’t let this get to us?

    I brushed my thoughts off my shoulder and held the cigarette against my lips, searching for my lighter afterwards. When I found it, I lit my cigarette, and inhaled. I blew out the smoke and it somehow calmed me. 

    I inhaled and exhaled a couple more times, before throwing it on the ground and destroying it with my foot. I gathered my books that had blown out of place by the wind, and made my way back inside. 

    I decided not to go back to class. Not because I reeked of cigarette smoke, but because I couldn’t handle all those bullters that sat in that classroom. I decided to put my books in my locker and wander around the school for a while.

    As I walked, I passed the gym, which, during the first period, shouldn’t have any class in it. But strangely, there was yelling coming from inside. 

    I curiously walked towards the gym and pried open the big door, revealing a heart shattering scene. 

    Niel was getting beat up by the s from class.

    I rushed over to Niel and yelled as I ran. “HEY! GET AWAY FROM HIM!” I grabbed one of them and landed a punch right on his jawline. 

    “I knew this plan would work! I knew I could get the Queer Couple together!” The guy who bothered me in class shouted with glee. 

    “What do you want from us? Why do you guys always target us? What’s so special about us? We’re just.. two guys in love,” I spat. I was tired of this. Tired of Niel and I having to deal with this just because we’re both guys and we love each other. 

    Unexpectedly, a guy grabbed me by the collar and another guy punched me. The group crowded around me and hit me. Kicking, punching, elbowing, even some spitting. Niel just stood there not knowing what to do. There was a gap between the guys’ legs and I locked eyes with Niel, hoping he would do something about it.

    But he ran. 

    The school let me leave the school since I was injured. Thankfully, nothing was broken. Just a few bruises and cuts. 

    When I arrived home, I immediately called Niel. But despite how many times I called him, he wouldn’t pick up. I got fed up and made my way to Niel’s house. 

    When I got there, I knocked on the door and was expecting to see Niel greeting me, but instead saw his mother, who’d look like she’d been crying. “Miss Ahn, what happened?” I asked, alarmed. 

    “Niel..” she said, handing me a note. I unfolded the piece of paper and read what was on it.

    Mom.. I can’t do it anymore. I’m running away. Don’t expect me to ever come home again. 

    And then I cried. 

    I stayed over at Niel’s house for a bit to comfort his mom. She must be going through a rough time right now.

    “Where do you think he would go?” I asked her. “I don’t know, he always goes out here and there and I don’t even know where he goes. He could be anywhere,” she replied. It was silent for a while. “Is there a reason he left?” She asked. I thought about it for a while, which made my heart pound. Is it because of me? Because he saw me get beat up? Or because he couldn’t handle all this torturing we had been going through? 

    “I’m not sure,” I sighed. 

    But where could he have suddenly disappeared to. And, why?

[A/N:] Hey guys! I'm back! :D Sorry for being gone for so long, and sorry this chapter xD I was rushing to get this finished because I wanted to update as soos as possible! I promise that I'll start updating more often (but probably not this week since I have like three tests to study for). So, enjoy reading (if you actually like this chapter LOL) and, well, bye. LOL.