You covered your face with your hands as the painful kicks were showered down upon you, your eyes squeezed shut. No way that you would give these girls the satisfaction of seeing your pain or hearing you cry out. Once they had pushed you into the courtyard just outside of school and began to demean you, you had decided then and there that you might respond with venom in your words, but that you would not hit them. You KNEW they would attack you like every other time but this time, you would show no weakness.

One of the girls, an older girl with pretty glossy black tresses kicked you right in the temple and you felt your vision turn white, dizzy for a moment as the pain sank in. You felt as though you were drowning, pondering why these girls always only chose you to hurt. To pick on endlessly.

“Aigoo, my head…” You groaned, blinking repeatedly. “HEY, You ugly stupid idiot! Why won’t you scream?” One of the other girls screamed out and leaned over you, roughly gripping your shirt collar. You said nothing, only noted the blood dripping from your temple. The girl with the shoulder length light brown hair made a movement to slap you, and your eyes slid closed in an automatic reaction, waiting for the sting of her petite hand striking you but it never came. Instead you heard a few hesitant footsteps, then a soft male voice.

“What’s going on here….?” You couldn’t place a face with the voice, so you opened your eyes slowly to catch sight of a boy who looked to be around your age, wearing the typical school uniform, his hair dark and cut with a slight sideways bang, slightly messy around his face. His eyes were a honey brown, light and pretty yet muddled with curiosity and worry, they resting on you. He was really tall, much taller than you, and he was built like a soccer player.

Suddenly the girl with the black hair pasted on a sweet, saccharine smile and nearly skipped over to him. “Oh nothing really, Oppa. “He scrunched his face up at her, his eyes scanning the situation while assessing what had actually happened. “Don’t lie, Noona. Also, I am younger than you, please don’t refer to me as Oppa.” He stepped around her over to the girl who has long since released your collar, leaving you on the ground in a heap.

“Our Dongsaeng here had fallen badly and we were helping her up!” The girl with the brown hair lied, her voice also sugary sweet. It made you cringe, the act these girls would put up in front of boys, yet they were bullies. They had been bullying you for almost a year at this point, with no reasoning, just seemed to choose you. Thanks to them, you had only 1 friend because they had spread such vicious rumors about you, all the girls in most classes stayed away from you. Most of the boys too.

The boy heaved a heavy sigh, rolling his eyes for just a moment before responding. “Me and my Hyung saw you girls bullying her…you need to go inside because my Hyung has called a teacher. If you aren’t inside and try to hide, you will only be in more trouble.” His voice was monotone and stern, a scowl on his pretty lips. You could only stare up at him, eyes widened due to the fact that he was actually helping you. Why he even cared was beyond your comprehension.

With his words spoken, the girls all exchanged wary stares, scurrying off towards the large school building. They knew they were already in deep trouble, but this boy was correct, if they did try to remain out here, at the scene of the crime, so to speak, they would only be in more trouble. No teacher wants to deal with such a situation, much less with 3 of the classes most popular students, one of which being the class representative.

The boy didn’t even watch them leave, his honey hues were fixed on you, his brows furrowed as he kneeled down next to you. “Hey…are you alright?” His soft voice was coated in worry as he reached out towards you unconsciously. You immediately turned your face away from his, your long hair a veil to hide the bruises that were forming and the blood that trickled down your face. You had barely any friends and while you were thankful for his timing and scaring the girls off, you didn’t want his help nor need it.

“I’m fine, go away.” Your voice was cold as you made to grab your bag, but let out a painful gasp as you felt your wrist throb. He caught sight of your pain and gently grasped your wrist, examining the forming bruise, his bottom lip pulled between his teeth. His teeth that were….oddly adorable with his lips and completely unique. “Your wrist seems to be sprained….”He mused with a frown, sighing. You yanked your wrist away, cradling it in your other hand.

“Look…that was nothing okay? They do this all the time. I don’t even know why you told Park Seonsangnim, She’s the only teacher here right now and those girls always up to her…she will never believe that they bully me.” Your reply was curt and irritable sounding, but it didn’t seem to deter him from you. Instead he had a quizzical look on his face, deciding to take a seat next to you on the grass.

He laughed a little at your words, the sound nearly making you smile, but not quite. “Park Seonsangnim is my mother, she will believe me. Also, one of my hyungs, a best friend of mine, Seungho, was the one who had told her….so don’t worry, they will get in trouble for this.” His smile was one of reassurance as he gazed at you, attempting to get a good look at your face, which was still veiled by your long dark tresses. It was then that his words sunk in. He is Park Sang-Hyun? Sandara’s little brother? You slowly turned to look at him, and his face turned pale.

“You’re Park Sang-Hyun? Unnie’s younger brother?” Your voice held a bit of surprise at this, while you had no friends, Sandara was the closest thing to a friend. She tutored you for a year and helped you to pass a class that you would have failed otherwise. She was not only kind, but she had deterred a lot of the ridicule from those girls and still believed in you when nobody else did. She remained to be one of the few that actually smile at you and say hello every single day. She had told you of her younger brother many times in casual conversation and you had kind of, oddly to say, without even meeting him, developed a crush on him.

Without answering your question, he hastily pulled his backpack from off of his shoulders, ping it and pulling out a little bag. He then scooted closer, clutching the bag as he examined your face for a moment. You made an irritable face, glaring right into his eyes. “What? Why are you staring at me with that expression?”

He reached into the pouch and grabbed a small white soft looking piece of cloth. Sanghyun was now reaching out towards your face, but you immediately backed away, not comfortable with being touched. His face scrunched cutely in confusion. “Blood is rolling down your face at a steady pace…I can help you so don’t pull away from me.” His voice was firm, yet his eyes shone with sincerity…so you let him gently dab at the blood that had trickled down your face and onto your white shirt. He pulled out a small bottle of liquid, pouring a little of it onto the now blood stained piece of cloth. Your eyes regarded him with a slight suspicion, yet your fair cheeks were flushed red.

“This is peroxide with just a little rubbing alcohol mixed in, so it will be cool to the touch, okay?” His concern was real, it seemed, so all you could do was nod deftly, his warm breath hitting your cheek. He was so close to you, and even though your defenses were up, you couldn’t help but melt at his actions. They were very meticulous, right down to him placing an adhesive bandage against your temple, halting the blood, his nimble fingers brushing against your skin repeatedly. He then leaned back with a toothy smile, looking over his work.

“There you go! Your face is bruising badly but at least I was able to stop the bleeding…” His smile was very inviting and friendly, showing that he was not only happy to help you, he seemed to be elated that you were okay. You, acting very cold, turned your face away from him. “T-thanks, I guess. I never asked you for help, so you can go now, SangHyun.” With that, you struggled to stand and he, being the nice guy that you had heard stories of, immediately stood to help you up. You gruffly accepted his hand for a brief moment, standing and backing away a few steps.

He eyes you oddly, not understanding why you were acting this way. “____-ah, I know who you are. My Noona speaks of you all the time, she did tell me that you were a bit standoffish…but I would like to be friends. I’ll make sure those girls don’t bother you again, okay?” His tone of voice was very lighthearted and yet again, inviting. He seemed to be trying to make you comfortable around him, but it only made you more embarrassed, more introverted. You had a hard time trusting people, due to the constant bullying you received, but something deep inside you kind of wanted to trust him.

You crossed your arms, petulantly staring at his cute face. “What can you do? They like you, SangHyun. Tomorrow will come and they will be back with it, like always….there is nothing you can do.” You looked downward, sighing. You knew there was nothing he could do, he may have helped you once but when he walked away, they would be back again. Sang-Hyun only took a few steps towards you, that adorable smile on his lips again. “I want to be friends, ___-ah….I’m a shy person myself, so I think we would make good friends. And don’t worry about them, I would never like any girl who would do that to someone as pretty you.” He chuckled a little, scratching the back of his head. For some reason, you felt your defenses weakening every time you saw his perfect smile.

“We...we can be friends, I guess….since Unnie is the only person I trust….” You blushed, nervousness written all over your pretty face. He leaned over to reach your height, smiling brightly at you. “Don’t worry, I don’t believe any of those stupid rumors about you, none of us do. So don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” He took one of your hands in his and squeezed it, his thumb rubbing your hand. “D-Don’t do that!” You snatched your hand from his immediately, sulking off towards the school when he gently grabbed your hand again.

“If I have to, I won’t leave your side. We share all of our classes, and I’ll sit next to you.” His grip on your hand was strong and unyielding, like his gaze. This determined and sincere gaze that completely annihilated any defenses that you might have had. You turned back around to face him, biting your bottom lip anxiously. “Why do you care so much? Wouldn’t it just be easier to look the other way like everyone else?” Your voice quivered, yet you hadn’t pulled your hand away.

“It’s because…I feel compelled to help you. Honestly, my sister tells me often of how much it hurts her to see you treated that way…even though you don’t know it, she sticks up for you a lot. And…by being in your classes and seeing it…I just…want to protect you.” His deep honey hues were pleading you to allow him to help you, his gaze matching yours with sheer determination. It took your breath away, rendering you unable to be cold to him any longer.

Nobody had ever cared about you, the shy loner, until you met Sandara the previous year. You were surprised that someone so popular even helped you or cared, but after spending so much time with her, you could see her true kind and beautiful heart…that seems her brother also possessed. “O-Okay, oppa….T-Thank you for being so kind to me…” You softly whispered, gently pulling your hand away from his and bowing.

Sanghyun beamed a relieved smile to you. He was glad that you opted to trust him, he didn’t want to see you, his biggest crush, get hurt anymore. “I won’t let you down, I promise.”

With those words spoken and etched into your heart, Sanghyun walked along with you inside the school to see his mother. Sanghyun had loved you since the moment that you had met in elementary school, yet you never once allowed him to get close to you. It seemed like you didn’t even remember him at all, never noticed him in all your classes. Due to his shy nature, he never was able to approach you until now. His stomach fluttered with a feeling of having butterflies at being so close to you, being able to help you made his heart bigger. Park Sanghyun wanted to take all your pain and erase it, make you trust people again. He promised himself that he would never let you down, never let you get hurt again.

★     ★     ★

Prompt: Thunder saving you from bullies because he has been in love with you secretly since being in elementary school.

Person: Park Sanghyun –Thunder/Cheondung-

Song: Taeyang- Love you to death/ EXO-K ft. Key – Two Moons

Requested by: Anon

Pic cr: Couldn't find a solid source