“Mrs. Choi, I hope you realize that your child could potentially be one of the Hopelessly Devoted.”

“I don’t care, he’s my child and I’m not giving up on him, no matter the consequences.”

~~~Four Years Later~~~

“Hwannie, if anyone asks you what you are you tell them that you’re a Loner, alright?”

“Alright, umma.”

But Choi Minhwan was only four years old.  He forgot things easily and he did not like lying.  So when his preschool teacher asked everyone in the class what they were, he of course answered:

“I’m Hopelessly Devoted.”

Immediately all eyes to him, and the whole class (including the teacher) began to laugh.

That was the day that all the torment began, the day that his classmates started their daily abuse.  Nothing was beyond them – even though they were just small children, their parents had taught them to scorn and hate the Hopelessly Devoted.  They pinched him, hit him, made fun of him, and even the teacher stooped so low as to give him a bad grade in the class.

But Minhwan had one friend, and that was enough.

Lee Jinki was in the first grade, and they only ever got to see each other on the playground and at lunchtime.  But they were the best of friends, no doubt about it.  Minhwan called him Onew, because his friend had a soft voice like the tofu his mother made him eat a while back.  At lunch, Minhwan always had his stolen by the other kids in his class, so Onew shared his chicken with the younger boy.  They sat alone at a table in the corner of the lunch

Onew was a Geek, and of course he was also subjected to some teasing.  Not as much as Minhwan, but people at the very least had more respect for Onew and he was able to protect his younger friend. 

~~~Thirteen Years Later~~~

“Hwan, I know you don’t understand…Dave’s just not like you are.  He’s a Player,” Onew consoled his crying friend.

Dave was the one guy that everyone in the school ended up falling for at one point in time.  He had dark hair, always perfect, and eyes that said ‘come get me’.  He was the embodiment of itself, but the kind of that wasn’t for the commitment.

All in all, Dave was a Player of the worst variety – and Minhwan had just seen him kissing some girl he barely knew from his class named Brittany behind the school.  And not just kissing, no, Dave had his hands all over her and she didn’t seem to have any sort of objection to it.

Normally Minhwan would have no problem with seeing someone kiss another person.  He might be a bit awkward and just walk away, but he wouldn’t have a problem with it.  But Dave was – supposedly – his boyfriend.

Well, at the time.  Not anymore.  Dave had seen Minhwan looking and laughed at the tears on his cheeks.  “Stupid Hopelessly Devoted…  You actually thought someone liked you, didn’t you?”  Then he hit Minhwan’s head roughly, leaving the crying boy to yelp in pain and clutch at the back of his head.  Then he left, and Minhwan ran to Onew’s house almost blindly, nearly getting hit by a car and knocking someone else over in his rush.

And that was where he was now, lying with his head on his best friend’s lap crying his eyes out as Onew gently ran a hand over his hair, looking down tenderly at the younger boy, wishing he would understand.