“Are you sure?” He asked with a low growling voice.

“Yeah that dumb piece of goes to that school. Plus,” Another one spoke. “He has a sister there.”

He smirked. “I’ll teach him not to mess with me.”

---

Minju was briskly going down the steps of the stairs. She had to walk home alone since Hyorin had some co-curriculum activity to do. Minju was about to exit the gates when someone blocked her. "Excuse me," Hyorin looked up. Some guy whom she didn’t recognize was blocking her way. Minju blinked at him but he continued to nonchalantly chew his gum. Frustrated, Minju walked the other side but he blocked her, again.

‘Oh this is amusing.’ She was beyond annoyed. Minju gave the guy an irked look and gritted her teeth. She waited as the guy took out his gum and pasted it onto the gate. "How rude! Peel it off! You're not supposed to do that to our school!" Minju gasped at his actions. The guy stepped closer to Minju as he read Minju's name out loud. For some reason, her body tensed.

"Wae? Is it wrong? Is your school so grand and elite? Is everyone here so perfect? Are the people here rich? Are the guys here much smarter and good-looking? Are the guys here cunning? Do they steal people's belongings?"

The guy was rambling on and on but then Minju gradually began to realize what or who he was talking about. Minju's eyes widened. 'Minjun oppa! What did you do this time?' Suddenly he cupped her jaw tightly and forced it towards his face. Minju winced. "Yah why are you so silent? What have you got to say now? That filthy bastard. That ing Minjun. You're his sister aren't you?" 

Minju shook her head violently. "Liar.” He scoffed. “You . You and your rotten brother are both pathetic liars. I could just strangle him with my own bare hands right now. That son of a !"

“Where is he now?” Minju kept silent as she tried to pull away from his grasp. Her jaws were aching. Seeing that Minju wasn’t going to answer him, he slapped her hard. Minju fell on the ground, shocked. Her hand was touching her cheek. It was burning and it stung. He was about to grab her again when a punch was thrown at him.

He staggered behind. Sunggyu was standing there panting heavily as his fist was curled up into balls. "Who the are you?!" the guy barked. Sunggyu grabbed his collars. "Get out of here." He menacingly threatened.  The guy pushed Sunggyu's hands away and spat at the ground. "You better warn that dickhead brother of yours! He steals my Jaekyung, he's facing me!"

Minju was still on the ground as tears started spilling out of her eyes. 'I-it hurts. It hurts so much.' Sunggyu sighed and went next to her. He helped her up and brought her to the nearest pharmacy.

Sunggyu bought an ice pack and they went to sit at the bench in the park. Minju has been quiet ever since. Her eyes were vacant. Sunggyu slowly placed the ice pack on her red cheek.

Minju snapped back to reality due to the sting and the coldness. She looked at Sunggyu and her expression softened. It was silent for a moment. "Why do you always get hurt?" Sunggyu didn’t mean to ask but it blurted out right from his mouth.   Minju flinched at the question. She abruptly took the ice pack away and Sunggyu had to let go.

Their fingers brushed each other and both of their cheeks coloured. 'Is he curious or is he concerned?' Minju thought to herself and as if Sunggyu had heard her, he answered. "I-I’m just concerned."   Minju turned a darker shade of pink. 'He doesn’t know about Minjun oppa. Should I tell him? Aniyo aniyo that would be bad. But...' Minju took a peek at Sunggyu. Sunggyu was staring at the little pond where the ducks were swimming around.

Your POV

'He does look like he is concerned. He probably cares about everyone but just masks away his true personality so that people won’t view him as a weakling. He probably worries about everyone but he keeps it to himself. How is he so good at it?'   "I-" he looked at me.

'W-why is he looking at me like that?' I looked down at my lap. It was awkward. 'What if he doesn’t care?' "Minju?" I looked up. It was the first time I heard him call my name. And hearing it come out from his mouth, it felt different.

"I…I have a brother." 'Silly me what am I saying?' I mentally face-palmed myself.   "He’s in the same school as us. And, and he’s not exactly the type of brother which every girl dreams of having."   So I told him everything about Minjun oppa. From not helping me financially, to abusing me and I summed it up by telling him about oppa’s bad habits. Sunggyu's eyes widened. Though I don’t know how that is possible, seeing that his eyes were so small.

"Promise me not to tell anyone okay? Not even the guys." I held out my finger. "What? No Minju you need to tell this to someone. Tell the teachers! Let them council him! Tell the police! Let them punish him! You're being abused and you need to seek for help!"  "No!" Sunggyu was surprised at the tone of your voice.

"H-he’s my brother after all. I might hate him for the way he treats me but I know how he feels. I know. We both grew up without parents and we felt abandoned, unwanted. Our halmoni died just years ago and it felt like all hope was lost.

We're both just different because we chose different paths. I was ignorant of what others would say and I’m somehow independent. Minjun oppa however was pressured a lot. He was bullied and teased in school.  His classmates would mock him about being an orphan. The guys would leave him out in activities.

Sometimes, I feel his pain. I don't know why he decided to become like this but it is probably due to lack of parental love. Omma, appa and halmoni are watching from above. I want to make them proud. I want to take care of oppa until we both meet our end. I have to endure it in one way or another." I removed the now melted ice pack from my face.

Sunggyu softened. He shifted closer and hugged me. I gasped at the sudden close contact but he patted my back soothingly. I relaxed and leaned against his chest. "Arasso. Let it out Minju. Let it all out." he whispered. I shivered and that was enough to make me cry my heart out for the next few minutes.