Chapter 1: Bullied

My tears trailed down my cheeks. The girls were laughing uncontrollably at me. What did I do wrong? Well, nothing. You see, I’m known as one of the students with the highest grade point average of my school and it has been going on for as long as I can remember. I don’t see the point of bullying someone about it.

“You better get away from Taecyeon, you understand!?” one girl kicked my leg.

Oh? So that’s why they’ve been bullying me.

Well, who is Taecyeon, you ask? I’m gonna say it straight out. He’s my crush. I don’t know how the girls found out. I barely talk at school and usually, people don’t speak to me besides the teachers. Anyways, Taecyeon is one of my brother’s friends and he has the most gorgeous face I’ve ever seen on the planet. I’ve been liking him since I met him, and that was when I was 15. We would always hang out and get some ice cream. I remember that exact day where he made the move to kiss me. That was my first kiss I’ve ever gotten. He told me that he would wait for me, and I hope that’s true. Now I’m all left alone, with no friends. Well, at least there’s still Chansung, but he has grown popular and I’m not that close to him. Taecyeon was really nice to me, and he’s the friendliest person I know. I guess that’s why I fell for him.

Now, back to the present. I got pushed onto the floor and they were tugging on my hair.

“Ouch!” I yelped, “Stop! Please!” I begged.

“You annoying jerk!” another girl yelled, then ended the war with a hard slap on my face.

And boy, it stung like hell.

I was tired of being picked on. I am so done with this crap.

I just wish I can get out of high school already.

As I sat down, I buried my head in my arms as I started sobbing.

My chest began to hurt from crying too much. I can’t take any more pain. This is just too much to handle.

“Rae Mi?”

I didn’t dare to look up. I knew It was my brother, Wooyoung.

“What?” I spoke softly, not wanting to lift my head up. He gently pulled my arm.

“Rae Mi, get up. What happened?” he asked. "Here," he offered me a hand.

Although I didn’t want to get up, I had to. He's the only family member who cares about me the most.

“Oh..my god. Rae Mi, what happened to you!?” he shouted with a confused look on his face. “Tell me who did this to you!?” he shook my shoulders gently, wanting to force the answers out of my mouth.

“I-It’s them,” I said shakily, “I..I..” My chest was aching so bad. I couldn’t stop sobbing, so I covered my face into Wooyoung’s jacket. He rubbed my back.

“It’s gonna be okay, I promise you.” he assured.

Usually, older brothers would take care of the situation and go after the bullies. Well Wooyoung was actually that type of brother, but ever since I told him to stop going after them, he would stay by my side and question me about ridiculous things like: ‘Why don’t you want revenge?’ or ‘Why can’t you run after the jerks and beat the crap out of them?’ He couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t want them to suffer and feel the pain I’ve been going through.

“Why? WHY!?” he screamed. “Why does this keep happening to you!?” I cried even harder, hugging him as tight as I could to calm him down.

“Those s. I’ll hunt them down.” I can feel his voice getting tense. I stood quiet. He grabbed my arm and took me in his car.

“You’re going to be transferring schools, and guess what? You’re coming to live with us.” he said with a serious expression on his face.

“Live with you and your friends?” I smiled at the thought of Taecyeon, but realized something, “What about aunt Layla? She’s going to worry about me not coming home.”

“She’s a damn alcoholic, Rae Mi! Why do you chose to stay with her? She doesn’t even care about you!” his voice was on pressure.

“Well, I care about her!” I yelled back, “Ever since father left us when we were children, and mom passed away of depression, aunt Layla would take care of the both of us! She promised mom that she'll take good care of us!”

“Oh, really? Look, after our parents left, what has she done for us? Hmm? All she ever did was staying up, drinking all night with her friends who are always trashing up the place! And when I come home from my part time job, she curses at me for no reason! She doesn’t give a crap about me! That’s why I moved out!!!” he furiously spat from his soul. I froze.

“I-Is that why you moved out?” I stuttered. He calmed down for a while and I immediately noticed that he was tearing up.

He ignored my question. “What I’m even more upset about, is that she doesn’t love you, Rae Mi.” he said with honesty in his eyes.

“So..?” I started off, “I know she doesn’t love me. So what?” I shrugged my shoulders.

He seemed shock to hear my response.

“I know she doesn’t care about me. I have to put up with it. Remember mother’s words? She said that no matter what happens, you still have to be nice to those who are mean to you. It makes you a good person. That's one of the reasons why I wouldn't do anything to those bullies.”

Wooyoung looked at me with those tearful eyes.

“But aren’t you tired of the fact that you’re not wanted?” he asked.

I thought about it for a moment.

“It occurred to both of us many times. We are illegitimate children, our parents had us when they weren’t married. Father ended up going after someone else; he didn’t love us. Mother took care of us, fed us, housed us, loved us, but ended up killing herself. She didn’t love us enough to stay with us. We should just leave the negative things behind.”

“Sometimes, you make me wonder who’s actually the smarter child.” he gave a small smile.

“I know,” I laughed, “So, I’m moving in with you guys?”

“Yep”

I gave a deep sigh. “Alright, but-”

“No buts!” he started the car.

“Fine!” I shouted. I crossed my arms and pouted. This is just an act of course, because I knew I wanted to move out. I turned the other way so Wooyoung couldn’t see me smiling. Finally, I would be able to see Taecyeon again.