"Fatty!"

"Where's your owner, piggy?"

"I bet he's back at the farm to get his truck since he couldn't carry this one back!"

"Haha, that's so mean, Gyu!"

"What? It's true though?"

"It's no wonder that your family couldn't pay for the uniform--probably cost a lot more to get one tailored to your size, right?"

Why are kids so cruel? It's not my fault the uniforms cost so much.

Sungjong choked out a quiet sob, hiding his face from his tormentors with his arm.

"Oh, gross! Now he's crying!" Several pairs of feet shuffled away hurriedly.

"I don't want any of his fat to rub off on me! Let's go!"

One of them scoffed as he kicked a rock in Sungjong's direction, hitting him in the arm. He brought his knees up, burying his face in his arms, his body shaking as he cried. 

"Ya!" A shout was heard not far from them, and they quickly ran away thereafter. "! It's Jang Dongwoo and Lee Howon! Run!"

"Sungjong-ah!" Sniffling, he managed to collect himself just enough to look over and see Dongwoo hurrying over, crouching and sitting beside Sungjong.

"Hyung..." he cried, beginning to bawl as the elder wrapped his arms as much as he could around Sungjong's squishy body. He tightened his hold slightly, rubbing soothing circles on his back.

"Don't listen to them--they're losers with nothing better to do." Dongwoo continued saying reassuring words to him even after the bell rang, signaling that they had to be in class. Normally, he would encourage Sungjong to at least get to class, but today seemed to be particularly bad with the bullying.

"Next time they hurt you..." Dongwoo started, a growl in his voice as he unconsciously tightened his hold on Sungjong.

The sobs had settled to little hiccups and sniffles, and Dongwoo relented his hold a little, rubbing little soothing circles in the younger's back. "Thank you, hyung..." he murmured, rubbing his face with his pudgy hand.

Dongwoo smiled warmly at Sungjong, ruffling his hair. "It's no problem. Why didn't you call me earlier? Hoya could have come and helped teach them a lesson or two," he nodded, petting the younger's hair in a comforting gesture.

Sungjong looked down, a furrow in his brow, "I...I didn't want to bother you--you had dance practice with Hoya-hyung, right?" He felt Dongwoo's hands on his cheeks to turn his face towards him, a stern look set on his normally happy face.

"It's not a bother when you're being treated like that. I don't think Hoya nor I would ever forgive ourselves if you got hurt. Jong-ah, we've been friends since we were kids, all three of us. Do you really think that I'll prioritize dancing or anything else over you? You're the closest thing I have to a baby brother, minus the blood relations," he grinned, looking up as footsteps approached.

Hoya plopped beside Sungjong, his chest heaving from heavy breaths. "Those bastards run too fast," he growled, a scowl set on his features. When his breathing settled, he smiled at Sungjong apologetically, "Sorry Jongie. If we were faster, we could have stopped them."

Sungjong shook his head, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "No, it's okay Hoya-hyung... It's my fault for being too weak to really stand up for myself." He sighed heavily before looking down at his body, biting his lip. He knew that he probably needed to lose weight, but his mom's and both his hyungs' mothers' cooking were all too good to let it go to waste. Being overweight also made it difficult to exercise, and since he'd been scrutinized for being heavy while exercising, he'd given up.

"I don't think it's really your fault you're so soft." Sungjong looked at Dongwoo. "I mean, it's kind of our fault for babying you so much when we were younger and wanting to keep you as innocent as possibly, you know? But you're far from weak, Jong-ah. I mean, how many other kids do you think can get bullied and still not be jaded or heartless?" Dongwoo grinned, ruffling his hair before smoothing it down, "You've been bullied since elementary school, but you're still one of the sweetest kids I know. I mean, it doesn't help that Kim Sunggyu doesn't give up and seems to never have anything better to do, but come on! I bet he's just jealous that you're so cute~" Dongwoo pinched his cheek before getting up, helping Sungjong up with Hoya's help.

"Since it's already this late, let's just get going back. I'll ask my mom to make your favorite kimbap!" Hoya grinned, patting Sungjong on the back as they walked off campus.

Sungjong felt eyes on him, so he paused, looking around curiously.

"What's wrong, Jongie?" Dongwoo and Hoya looked at him, stopping and waiting for him.

Sniffling, Sungjong shook his head before stepping back to join his hyungs. "It's nothing. I thought someone was watching us, but I guess not."

"Ooh, maybe you have a secret admirer?" teased Hoya, grinning.

Sungjong quickly shook his head, "No, that's impossible. Absolutely impossible. Maybe you or Dongwoo-hyung, though?" He smiled a little, hoping to play off his insecurities as normal.

~

After Sungjong went home from Hoya's place, leftover kimbap in his bag, as he got ready for bed, he wondered if Sunggyu and the others would bully him if he lost weight, or if they really had nothing better to do but bother him. He gave his mom the leftover kimbap for her to store for him to later eat, bidding him goodnight. Going to his room, he closed the door and did his nightly ritual of scrutinizing his own body. 

He was overweight--he was fat. He was unsightly, and nobody would love someone his size. He blamed his father's side for his horribly slow metabolism, and the fact that he loved food didn't help. Maybe if he was thinner, people would like him, rather than feel repulsed by him. Staring at himself in the mirror and criticizing his figure, he felt himself tearing up. The words of the elder bullies kept repeating in his head.

Maybe it'd be better if he died.

He froze as the thought passed in his mind, quickly shaking his head. He knew that people loved him, and that would be overly-selfish. He knew that Dongwoo-hyung and Hoya-hyung loved him for him; he knew his mom and their moms and families loved him for him. He knew that their families criticized his weight, though. They didn't realize the impact their words had, but even things like 'for your health' he knew was just an excuse they used to make the criticism seem justified. Everytime he heard that, he felt hurt and insulted and angry and upset, and even sad.

"'For my health', huh?" he murmured softly, sitting down on his bed and staring at himself in the mirror.

He knew he needed to lose weight. He needed to lose his size so others wouldn't have that to hold against him. 

He went through the choices he had concerning weight loss in his head.

Since his body hurt a lot when he would exercise, he could just cut down his diet. A lot. He'd need to resist temptation, which was really hard. Frowning, he took his phone from his bag and unlocked it, looking through his contacts, falling on his cousin, Nana. She was really pretty and thin--maybe she would know how to help.

Calling her, he hoped that she was still up. He jumped slightly when she answered, "Hello? Sungjong-ah?"

"Noona? Are you busy?" he questioned hesitantly, biting his lip.

Hearing her laugh, he felt a little more at ease, "No, not really. I mean, I'm supposed to be working on a paper, but that can always wait; I'd much rather speak to my sweet baby cousin~ So what do you need?"

Sungjong paused as he figured out how to phrase his request. "Noona, you're a model, right?"

"Model? Ah, yeah. Why?"

"I was wondering if you had any tips to lose weight..." he murmured, stuttering over his words.

There was a paused, "You want to lose weight, Sungjong-ah?" He could practically hear the smile in her next words, "Ah, I'm so happy for you Jongie! I've been worried about you since Hoya-oppa and Dongwoo-oppa told me you've been getting bullied at school."

He felt a stab in his chest when she said and hummed in confirmation. So she thought so too, huh?

"Well, I guess the most I can offer is cutting down your diet--how much is depending on how much you want to lose. And exercising--I can teach you some dances, since that's how I stay in shape."

"Uh, well...I kind of want to lose it quickly, noona..." he murmured softly, hoping she didn't read too much into it.

"Quickly?" She hummed as she thought for a moment, "Well, one of my unnis, Soojoo--you know her, right?" Sungjong hummed in agreement. "She said that she does a mixture of watching what she eats and throws up? I'm not sure if it's the best method, but she said it helps her keep her weight in check if she's eaten too much."

Throwing up? Wasn't that really unpleasant though? Maybe he could start by keeping his diet in check? "What are the things that I should avoid eating?" he questioned, chewing his lip gently as he moved to sit completely on his mattress, cringing at the way the bedframe creaked under his weight.

"Well, junk food is a big no. Rice, wheat, and sugar are all no, so no breads or sweet treats or even kimbap, since I know how much you love it--keep your diet to fish and chicken, since they tend to be lower in calories than beef or pork," she told him, causing him to whine softly. He loved pork and he loved rice, but if they caused him to keep and gain weight, then he figured he had to make some sacrifices. "Kimchi is the best thing, since it tastes good with most everything and it's really filling. Also, no food or anything except water after six," she advised him.

He sighed, pouting, "Are you sure that I'll lose weight quickly?"

"Yeah! Of course! I mean, if you don't want to give up your favorite foods, you could always throw up, but I'm not sure if you'd like that."

Sungjong nodded slowly. "Do you think you can text me a list of everything to do?" he questioned, unsure if he could keep track of everything by himself.

"Yeah, sure! Is that all you wanted?" she asked, "I'm sending the information to your email right now."

Sungjong smiled when he heard the email notification sound on his laptop. "Ah, yeah, that's all I needed noona. When can you come over and teach me the dances?" He wasn't sure if he was the most coordinated person, but he figured that dancing wouldn't be that hard, at least compared to running. Then again, both Hoya and Dongwoo were in really good shape, so he could be wrong.

"Hm...when does your summer break start? I think that taking a break from school would also help, since that means that you wouldn't get bullied, right?" she reasoned.

Nodding quickly, Sungjong agreed, "Yeah, of course! They haven't bothered me outside of school yet, since Dongwoo-hyung and Hoya-hyung usually hang out with me."

Nana's smile was audible as she continued, "I'll talk to auntie and see if she'll let you off from school for a semester--I'm sure they can negotiate that you can take the necessary credits online or double the next semester over, right?"

Sungjong bit his lip, unsure, "I think the former is more likely noona. Winter break starts next week, actually." He pursed his lips then, "Does this mean that I'm gonna be isolated from my friends for a while?" 

Nana sighed, "Yeah, unfortunately. I know that Dongwoo-oppa and Hoya-oppa would encourage you to eat and defeat the whole purpose of the training." He nodded. "And it might take longer than a semester or two. I want to make sure that you won't have to worry about your weight or others bothering you because of it, Sungjong-ah."

Sungjong pursed his lips before nodding. Thinking about it, Dongwoo and Hoya, along with Sunggyu and a few others were going to graduate this year, so maybe he could at least see their graduation ceremony during his training? "Hey, noona?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think it'd be alright to see Dongwoo-hyung and Hoya-hyung's graduation while I'm training? I know it might result in celebrating and eating food, but would that be alright for an exception?" he asked hesitantly, unsure if she'd let him do so.

"Well, I don't see why not. I mean, you're gonna be without them for another two years after they've graduated if you were to attend school, right?" Sungjong hummed in affirmation. "Then go celebrate with them when you need to. Like their birthdays or when necessary. There's nothing wrong with breaking training once in a while as long as it isn't consistently, so go ahead and have fun when you have to."

Sungjong smiled happily, "Thank you so much, noona!" He paused, "Are we going to start next week when break starts?"

Nana hummed, "Yeah, starting next week. We need to start out strong and start and break habits as soon as possible, Jongie."

Nodding, he sighed, "Yes, noona."

"Good! I'll see you next week! Try getting into the swing of things this week, and then we can really start when I see you! Talk to you later; love you!" 

Sungjong gave his farewells, "Alright, bye noona. Love you too." Hanging up, he sighed and laid back on the bed, cringing once again as he heard the bedframe creak under his weight.

He got up and turned off the light, moving back to his bed and lying down on his side, staring at the wall. Hugging his teddy bear, he bit his lip as he felt himself tearing up again. He felt stressed and upset about just about everything at this point. It was all because he was fat and heavy and everyone was lying to his face except Sunggyu and his bullies. He wondered if Dongwoo and Hoya felt the same about his size and weight and they were just lying about being okay with it. Burying his face in the fabric of his stuffed bear, he let out muffled sobs as he cried himself asleep as per usual.

~~~~~~~~~~~

a/n: How's that for a first chapter? Sorry if it's not super great; I wanted it to keep going, but it would have been a really long chapter, yo. I'll get to working on the next chapter right away //coughsprocrastinationcough 

See you next chapter~♡