Massive apologies to any Exo fans reading this, i don't think any of these boys would ever be this way, as I personally love their music and find them delightful~ Forever Exo-M~ WOOOO! but anyway, please don't stone me ><

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The rest of the day passed by in a blur, and before I knew it, the bell to go home had sounded out. I jumped out of my seat in relief only to be shoved back down abruptly by the piles of students trying to escape the classroom. Huffing, I stood back up firmly, Pushing through the swarms of people pressing against me in all directions. It seemed to be forever before I finally reached the courtyard and broke free, my bag tightly clutched to my chest as I made a fast paced walk to the front gates. With a swift sway of my hips, I flicked my hair from my eyes and huffed in annoyance as I mumbled a few indecent words. Spotting Taemin was now so much easier with his brightly colored hair, and with a few strides I had made it to beside him, to which he greeted me with a cute smirk.

“Why does everyone insist on moving so slow in those halls, there is no order at all. Sorry for taking so long to get here.” Puffing my cheeks a little, I leaned my head on his shoulder.
“It’s alright hyung, you are here now and that’s all that matters.” Standing up straight yet again, we continued to walk as he told me about his gym class and how he beat his previous record on track. I nodded with enthusiasm, but I really wasn’t listening to my friend. Instead, my eyes were trained on Kris Wu. There was a strong urge for me to stumble back and run as far away as I could, but that would be a sign of weakness, one I wouldn’t gratify him with. Instead, I lowered my head, averting my eyes trying to stay out of sight when his cat like eyes coldly glanced my way and with a cringe, I waited for his harsh words.

“Hey , where’s my kiss?” The words stung as Kris called out, a cruel smirk tugging at his lips. Looking up nervously, I realised that Luhan and Tao flanked his sides, amused smiles stretching across their faces. I shot an evil glare at Luhan which was fairly daring on my part, but if he hadn’t started the rumor in 7^th grade about me being in love with Kris, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place. Before I could do anything, Luhan stepped forward and shoved me, causing me to stumble back a little in utter surprise.

“Got something to say ?” He spat, all up in my face, rendering me beyond speechless. I shook my head and that’s when Taemin stood in front, pushing me a little behind his back. Although he was just the slightest bit smaller than the three males that made no difference, the fierce confidence of the athlete in front of them must have been intimidating, as well as the fact he had just recently put on some muscle so Taemin now looked much more defined, menacing.
“Hey, not cool man, back off.” Taemin puffed out his chest, glaring down his senior.
“Defending your lover Tae-baby?” Tao laughed, nudging Kris with his elbow, as if expecting some type of approval from his leader, who instead, stepped forward, taking a swing at Taemin.
“YAH!” A loud female voice called out, causing everyone to freeze. Instantly the three males stiffened in stance. Daring to look over, I saw a petite brunette strutting towards us, her hips swaying seductively as she brushed the hair from her shoulder, giving a flirtatious look that caused Kris to relax, dropping his fist.
 

“Were you going to hurt these boys, Wu?” She spoke harshly, crossing her arms and her neat eyebrows furrowing together.
“N-no noona” He lied horribly, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“Taemin-ah, Kibum-ah, are you both ok?” She asked with genuine concern, brushing some loose strands behind her ear and adjusting the backpack on her shoulders.
“Fine noona.” I spoke, looking down to avoid the fierce glare of Kris, who must not have realised that his long-time crush knew me.
“Good, feel free to leave.” She waved a little with her hand and I honestly knew better that to argue with that. Grabbing Taemins’ hand, I pulled him in the opposite direction and away from the two who were now loudly arguing with each other.

“Hyung, how do you know Jessica Jung? She is the most popular girl at school, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous.” He gushed, pulling on my arm as he spoke.
“We are in home economics together.” I reply simply.
“So? Why would she know your name? Let alone mine if you guys are ‘just’ in the same class. Aigoo, are you two secretly dating? You know, Kris would-“
I cut him off before he continued his ramblings; “She was failing in the cooking semester. I stumbled on her grade and offered to help her out. So we ended up spending quite a bit of time together, she is quite a sweet girl, despite her blunt personality.”
“Ahh, makes sense.” He nodded, now losing interest in the topic now that there was no gossip involved.
“Did you want to come back to mine today?” I switched up the conversation, and stopped at the end of the street, waiting for an answer.
“um….Sure. I don’t think my parents are home anyway.” He shrugs, taking my hand again and pulling me down my street.

Oh god, I hope my mother isn’t home, or worse, dad. With a hesitant step, I crossed the lawn and Taemin gave my hand a gentle squeeze and a reassuring smile. Reaching the patio, I fumbled for my keys and pushed it into the lock when he spoke.

“Hyung, maybe I should enter first?” He looked down at me and I let out a breath of relief, nodding quickly. Opening the door, I slipped my shoes off and followed my tall friend inside.
“Kibum! Why did it-?”  The screeching sound of my mothers’ voice was heard from the kitchen, followed by the shuffle of her feet as she moved closer, entering the hallway hallway, and her sentence freezing mid-sentence when she noticed Taemin.
“Taemin dear, how are you?” Her whole aura changed, voice now dripped with false kindness and it honestly made me feel so sick.
“I’m great, and you are looking wonderful as always Ms. Kim.” He grew an overly large, fake smile, embracing the smaller woman.
“Look how big you have gotten, what are these, muscles? My, such a strong young man. Maybe you should be training Kibum up, maybe he would look less feminine. “ She shot a glare at me, squeezing him gently.

I would never say it out loud but I was so jealous of Taemin. He had a great body, lean legs and height that I would just kill for. He was so naturally confident in himself, something I most certainly did not have. And my mother seemed to love him so much, she always told me how he would be a better son, so polite and lovingly, compared to myself, a ’17 year old mistake’.

“Kibum is going to tutor me this afternoon, I hope that’s ok with you.” He smiled charmingly, pulling back from his hug.
“Tutor? You mean there is something he is actually good at?” She laughed half-jokingly, but it tugged at my heart and I could feel my defences coming up. Before Taemin opened his mouth to react, I grabbed his wrist, pulling him up the stairs and away from the horrid woman. Closing the door behind me, he looked down at me, obvious concern on his face.

As I heard her make her way back to the kitchen down stairs, her taunting laugh echoing in my ears as I slouched against the door.
“Bummie, are you ok?” He asked quietly, dropping all formalities as he brushed some hair from my eyes. My bottom lip quivered and I squeezed my eyes tight, nodding quickly as I tried to swallow the feelings that had surfaced, trying to shrink and disappear through the door.

“Hey, don’t cry.” He pulled me into a careful hug, which I reluctantly returned as he began rubbing my back soothingly and nuzzling his face into my hair. As soon as he spoke, I broke into silent tears, trying hard not to make noise. I buried my face into his somewhat sweaty school shirt and my shoulders shook as I restrained the sobs threatening to break out of my chest.

“She shouldn’t say that to you, you are her son. You should really defend yourself Bummie.” He spoke quietly, still running his hand gently over my back.
“I-I know.” Was all I said, but deep down, I knew I never would. She held such menacing power, controlling everything I did and said. She had managed to widdle me down to a broken person, with no self-esteem and no confidence.

“Come on.” He pulled back and tugged me to the bed, laying me down gently as he curled up beside me, “You don’t deserve this. You really don’t.” Closing his eyes, he hummed softly.
“Thank you for being here.” I mumbled, my tired eyes closing as I refused to let go of him, my head fitting perfectly into the crook of his neck.
“I will always be here for you.” We stayed silent, his presence comfortable as I lay next to him. He had always been here for me, and his touch was something I loved. Despite his rough exterior, he had an unexpectantly soft interior.

It was a while before he spoke again; “Bum, Jonghyun texted me and told me to ask you about something called ‘Lolita’, what is that? He said it is beautiful…”
 My head stopped spinning and my eyes pried open to look at him, my face stretching into a smile, “It really is. I-it makes me happy.”
Taemins’ eyes widened a little as he saw me smile but relaxed once again, gently rubbing my sides, “Tell me all about it.”

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A/N: Hello! I hope you liked the chapter, wow, there really isn't much to say but thank you so much for reading.I love you wonderful commenters, I enjoy conversing with the people who read my stuff, it really gives me an insight to what you like and don't like about my story ^^ And you subscribers, make it worthwhile to keep writing for~ hehe :) Until next time, have a lovely TaeKey image~

And for poor Kris and his long-term crush of course~