Song suggestion: Face- Nu'est

Warning: Just a tiny bit of violence and some swearing.

-Flashback: Freshman Year-

"Oh, Chorong!"

Chorong turned her head and found the pretty girl smiling at her.

"We should be best friends forever! You, me and Eunji!~"

Chorong smiled at the girl, glad to have found a new "friend."

Rather than walking right next to Chorong like he had previously, Suho followed Chorong like her shadow. It continued for two weeks even after the incident. He was still unsure about what happened that day, and he didn't think he had the right to ask. She continued to partially limp, the pressure and weight from Jiyeon's heel had done some serious damage to her foot. Physics was certainly a .

She listlessly limp-walked down the streets while looking down at the ground. A child made a break for a nearby street food cart, running away from his mom. The mother ran after her child and accidentally bumped into Chorong while stepping on her right foot.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry student. Lee Joon ah! Stop running! Mom can't keep up! Sorry again." The mom bowed in apology and frantically chased after the child, who stood right in front of the cart full of food, drooling.

Chorong bit her lip from the pain after having been stepped on the same spot again. She dragged her foot along, stumbling before her foot finally gave way to the pain. 

A strong grip held onto Chorong before she fell. She felt her body lean against another.

"Are you okay Chorong?" Suho looked at her with serious eyes, genuinely worried. His grip on her grew stronger.

She avoided looking into his eyes and steadied herself back up, leaving his grasp. She continued to stagger while walking, cursing in her mind from the pain.

Suho closed in on the distance between Chorong and him just in case she would fall again. He wanted to be the one to catch her from a fall, he wanted to be the one to save her. As they reached the school entrance, he threw the crumpled paper ball at Chorong and silently walked away.

Chorong crouched down and picked up the crumpled piece of paper. Although initially reluctant to open it, curiousity got the best of her.

"No matter what happened, I'll protect you. I'm Suho [Guardian] after all!"

She smiled genuinely for the first time in two weeks. 

H&H continued to bother Chorong every day, but they never bothered getting physical. Jiyeon would occasionally glare at Chorong through her thickly-lined eyes, but would never make a move as Chorong had been avoiding EXO-K as a whole. Even the bubbly Eunji toned down, worried over Chorong's bullies as well as her father's job. 

However, Chorong felt a mysteriously dark aura follow her the whole day. Something was definitely not right...

She wheeled her supply cart to hall A and started to clean the first classroom. She was cleaning the windows and noticed 6 reflections coming closer and closer. 

"You're mute and all, but are you deaf too? Did you not hear my warning not to mess with Suho?" 

Hyomin joined in, "I'm CERTAIN I saw her cling onto Suho this morning. Seriously, my eyes have never seen something as fugly as her."

"Me too, I was with Hyomin. Don't think you can get out of this. We're witnesses, Chorong. I even saw him throw a piece of paper at you." Eunjung smirked.

"Well, I've heard everything from the unnies Chorong. Qri, search for that note Suho threw at her." 

Chorong panicked and turned to see Qri already heading towards her backpack, opening the zippers and dumping out the contents. She zoned out and focused on Qri, not noticing Jiyeon was yelling at her.

"YAH, LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING!" Jiyeon spun Chorong around to face her. She slapped Chorong even harder than the last time.

"Yah, you're really spunky huh? You think that we can't do anything worse from that day? I warned you didn't I. I wasn't kidding when I said Jung Dong Il could be fired in an instant. I thought you were only mute, but it turns out you're deaf too. That or you're just as stubborn as an ugly donkey, or , as I may say." 

"Jiyeon ah, I found the note." Chorong's eyes wavered as Qri handed Jiyeon the paper. Jiyeon nonchalantly unfolded the paper ball and found Chorong and Suho's little conversation.

"Tch, you even tried to talk to him on the first day of school? Pathetic. Well, I guess I'll return you the favor for disobeying. Boram, phone."

Jiyeon's lips devilishly curved upwards as the keypad of the phone began to beep with every number pressed. 

Chorong's eyes widened as Jiyeon called her father. She grabbed the phone and furiously shook her head, trying to communicate to Jiyeon for mercy. 

Jiyeon rolled her eyes and pushed Chorong down, fighting back for the phone. However, Chorong would not let go of the phone and she desperately held it close to her body. 

She lay on the ground, taking an inexorable beating from the other five while Jiyeon watched in glee. Although Chorong continued to get hit, her fingers would not release the phone as hard as the girls tried. Finally, her body was fatigued. Weak and exhausted, Qri took advantage of Chorong's vulnerability and was able to pry her fingers off the phone.

Chorong finally let the suppressed tears run down her cheeks. Her hair stuck onto her sweaty face, and her entire body was either bloody, bruised, or sore. The abuse left her helpless, and she had pulled herself into a fetal position.

"YAH, did you really think of me that easily? I'm Park Jiyeon, a chaebol for crying out loud! My dad OWNS the best hospital in ALL OF KOREA. . I gave you ONE simple warning, to stay away from EXO-K, and you break that?!"

Jiyeon rolled Chorong's body from the fetal position and mercilessly stomped onto her abdomen. Chorong was already worn out from the beating she received during the fight for the phone, and she was at the point of collapsing.

"Park Hyungdon. Owner of Seoul Hospital. 10% of his funding comes from yours truly. Well not actually me, but my family. But still." Suho walked into the classroom and faced the 6 girls.

"Add in 5% from me." Baekhyun walked next to Suho and stood next to him.

"15% from me." Chanyeol smiled.

"Another 5% from my family." Kyungsoo added.

"7% for me guys!" Sehun high fived Jongin, who included, "8% from me."

Jiyeon and the others panicked at the sudden appearance of the group. "Aish oppa, you don't know what type of person she is! She-"

"I don't need to hear it. And I think you know what I mean, 50% of your dad's funding comes from us. We can pull our investments." Suho smiled in victory even though he didn't win the fight yet.

Jiyeon didn't give up though, she wanted to win the altercation. "That'd only be loss for you then oppa! His hospital is doing so well. You guys just can't pull your investments like that right? And why do you want to hang out with her anyways? People like her are nothing but the scum of the earth! Can't you see! All of those scholarship students are! They do the tiest things and they dare hang around the same places as us? It's not right. They're not at our level."

Kyungsoo couldn't help but chuckle at her words. "Well, according to our stats, the hospital has been doing some very important, groundbreaking experiments on Alzheimer's. You guys are the ones that need the money, not us. It'd only be a loss for you guys if you the hospital was to somehow lose all of its expenses to do research. Plus I heard that the satisfaction rates of the hospital have been going down ever since some of the senior employees retired. Hmm, the future doesn't seem so bright now, does it?"

Baekhyun spoke in his Gyeonggi dialect, and he only spoke in dialect when he was super pissed or flustered. "Those other kids are people, just like us. We're all one and the same, human beings. Who are you to judge them when your so-called facts are based on unjustified rumors? Now that is what's low. Try firing our Eunji's dad, and you'll be losing some serious money. And you'll have one unhappy father if he knows what his precious daughter has been up to."

Jiyeon screamed in frustration, knowing she lost... against the mute girl too. Chorong didn't even need to say anything. The others spoke for her.

She and the other 5 walked out of the classroom, quick in order to avoid being noticed by any other students or possibly teachers.

Suho quickly knelt down at Chorong's side, who continued to lie on the floor. She flinched at his brief touch. 

Freshman year... all of it. The world, it's scary...pain... 

Chorong was mentally fazed from the somber memories of the past. She trembled and the salty tears stung the bloody scratches on her pale face.

Suho looked at Chorong's distressed state and wanted to hug her so badly, but he knew the shock she'd just taken in was too overwhelming. Anything he did would only end up as a touch of fear. He, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol tried to comfort her with words as Jongin and Sehun left to grab the first-aid kit.

Eunji nonchalantly entered the classroom, but stopped in her tracks at the scene. "Ch-Ch-Chorong? What the happened?" 

She ran to Chorong's side and knelt down. Eunji tightly hugged Chorong and began to cry. Chorong's current condition looked like an exact replica of her condition in freshman year.

"Oh my goodness... Chorong. It's okay, I'm here. Everything's okay. Calm down, don't think about anything else, just know you're safe right now, okay?" Eunji's thoughts wandered to the past; Chorong hadn't been this severely beaten ever since that horrid day. 

While sobbing, Eunji incoherently yelled at the guys between the hiccups. "YAH, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME OR COME HERE SOONER! SHE'S ALREADY BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH AS IT IS AND YET YOU... you...you..." 

"Wait, so this has happened before? What the hell is wrong with this school? Not just the school but the people in it!" Suho asked in disbelief. The others just shook their heads.

"Got the first-aid kit." Jongin panted as he lifted up the kit. Sehun was breathing heavily as well. They had run to all the corners of the school just to find the kit.

"Took you guys long enough."

Suho held Chorong up while Eunji tended to all of her injuries. Chorong's entire face was ghastly pale and for the first time, Suho couldn't read the blury emotions in her eyes. 

Chorong flinched from the stinging sensation the antiseptic gave. She couldn't let out a yelp and squeezed onto Eunji's hand instead. 

"Chorong, I need to put on the antiseptic. I'll blow on it then, okay? Is someone willing to offer their hand as a stress ball? I do warn you though, she-" Eunji didn't even need to finish talking before Suho offered his hand to Chorong. She closed her eyes and willingly took his hand.

"OW ow ow ow ow." He had faced the wrath of Chorong's strength before, but he never knew it was to that extent.

"Shut up and take it in like a man." Eunji complained while applying the antiseptic. "I'm almost done so just hang in there."

Eunji finished bandaging Chorong and helped her up. Chorong was still a little shaky, so Suho had to support her as she walked.

"I can take her from here." Eunji insisted. 

"Ayy, just let him. He's probably stronger than you. Plus I think it's best if we walk you guys home." Baekhyun pushed her hands away from Chorong.

"Yeah, I don't really think it's safe anymore..." Kyungsoo sighed.

"No duh. Was it ever safe?" Chanyeol rolled his eyes.

The 7 of them ended up escorting Chorong back home. Halfway along the walk, Suho just piggybacked Chorong. He noticed more and more of her weight was being put on him, so he figured it would just be easier for the both of them if he just carried her on his back. She eventually collapsed from exhaustion on his back, the beating had taken its toll on her body. Chorong slept soundfully the rest of the way home, feeling safe, wam, and oddly secure on Suho's back.

Eunji forced the others to stay outside and only let Suho into Chorong's house. She punched in the passcode and the lights to reveal a small, humble house. Suho gently set Chorong onto her bed and Eunji helped pull over the blankets.

As Suho pulled her arms over the blankets, he noticed the scar lines on her wrists. His eyes widened at the sight of the marks, and Eunji quickly slapped his hands away.

Silence ensued the rest of the time before the two went out to join the five. Everyone but Suho decided to leave; he wanted answers to his questions.

"Just what exactly is going on? The girls are especially being es to Chorong. Plus... those scars... did she really-?"

"Enough... look I don't know if it's my place to even tell you anything at all."

Suho gave Eunji a pleading look. "Please explain. If not, it makes me feel like she was only hurt because of me..."

He abruptly paused. He was smart enough to know he definitely wasn't the root of her problems, something had happened way before that. Something from her past...

After standing for a while and contemplating on the right words to say, Eunji opened .

"Let's go sit on the bench. Listen, I'm only telling you because Chorong, for some odd reason or another, seems to trust you. It isn't easy for her to trust people like you, especially in such a short period of time. Now, where do I even begin..."

A/N: Next ch. will mainly be flashbacks. And if you're wondering why no one ever catches the bullying after school, it's because most students and teachers go to building four since that's where the library+study halls are. That or they pretend the bullying doesn't happen. Hehe, anyone notice the little reference to a popular fanfic around here? I love that fanfic. :D Please comment and subscribe! ^^