I always saw him in the hallways.

Dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, pale skin, he looked like every other student in my school.

No one ever bothered to talk to him; no one ever had enough time for him. He was always just there, wandering around amongst the crowd with his usual soft set expression, without a word to anyone.  

Yet, everyone knew who he was.

The poor boy, the targeted kid, the sympathetic one.

Everyone pretended he didn’t exist in the presence of the popular kids. From the second he would be confronted in the hallway by another jock looking to release his frustration with a couple of punches, all heads bowed down in shame, mine’s included.

I couldn’t count how many times I saw him walking home alone with a bloody nose, or a swollen cheek, or a new bruise marking him as what he was, a pitiful child.

Jongdae, the one everyone felt sorry for.

Sometimes, I felt the urge to stop them, an overwhelming urge of sudden boldness to protect him. But it never happened.

At the end of the day, I would keep quiet, and hang my head in regret, like every other person in school.

Nothing ever changed for Jongdae, and nothing probably ever would.

. . .

It was a rainy the first and last time we met.  

Driving past in my car, I saw him leaned against the cold, concrete wall of an alleyway, rain pouring down heavily and soaking his school uniform.  The only item he had was a single, red umbrella, twisting the handle of it between his fingers.

He had been beat up again, I could see the blood dripping down his nose as he wiped it away with the back of his hand. It was obvious he was unfazed by the pain; it had been done so many times before.

I don’t know what made me stop. Maybe it was the guilt that had been eating me alive from the first time my eyes met up with his. Maybe it was the heavy downpour that changed my state of mind. Maybe it was fate. For whatever reason, I pulled over to the side and clamoured out of my car in the pouring rain.

“Jongdae, let me drive you home,” I said to him as gently as I could.

Jongdae wearily looked up at me, and gave me a slight nod of his head.

He didn’t speak another word to me as I took him in, not a complaint, or a thanks, just a look of indifference.

The drive was awkwardly silent. The only sound was the occasional shuffling of Jongdae moving his hand up to wipe off any blood that was streaming down his face, and the rain beating against the car. I switched the radio on to the new station for faint background noise to drown out everything else.

‘In more recent news, there have been many police calls after a fatal incident …’

“Jongdae, are you okay?” I asked him, trying my best to keep my eyes directed on the road. A line of police cars flew past mine’s in a hurry from the other side of the road. A strange sight for such a quiet town. 

Jongdae shrugged, tapping at the window with his finger. “I’m always fine, I guess.” He spoke quietly, not hinting any emotions in his tone. It was a dead tone. “I live down this road, by the way. Keep driving straight down.”

‘A group of six teenage boys were found dead in the middle of streets ... ‘   

I tuned in and out of the radio. The farther down the road I drove, the less pleasant it began to look. It was a darker part of down, one everyone tried to forget. The buildings were worn from years of use, slowly deteriorating, falling apart.

Other than his appearance, Jongdae didn’t look as upset as he should have. He smiled happily, dragging his finger along the mist of the car windows.

I noticed Jongdae never looked sad. Despite everything that happened to him on a daily basis, nothing ever seemed to affect him.

‘The police believe that it the murderer was a fellow student ...’

“Don’t pity me like that.” Jongdae finally spoke up from his seat.

“What do you mean?” I slowed down the car as it met with the end of the road, and pulled in front of a shabby looking apartment. 

“Stop pitying me. I’m not someone to be pitied,” Jongdae replied to me, “Everyone always feels sorry for me. I don’t like it. I’m not as soft as everyone thinks I am.”

Jongdae looked at me with his normal smiling face. I couldn't tell what his actual feelings were, his eyes were so hard to read. 

‘The murderer fled from the scene a couple of minutes after the crime was committed …”

He gave me a gentle smile, opening the car door. “Thanks for the drive home,” He said. “It means a lot, really.”

I gave him a small smile back, watching as he walked off without a further comment. My eyes darted down to the red umbrella he had been clutching to the entire ride, resting against the footboard.

“Jongdae, your umbrella." I called him back, extended the umbrella out to him. It was still pouring, and from the second he stepped outside of the car, he was soaked again. 

‘The boy was seen wearing a school uniform and holding a red umbrella. If you have any information, please contact the police.’

"No, you can keep it for the next rainy day," Jongdae told me with a smirk, and headed off inside the building without looking back. 

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I finished it, yay! I'm sorry that it's super short, and probably not very good, but I hoped you enjoyed it all the same! Thanks for reading~ (;///w///;) <3