For hyesong ^^ again lol. Sorry this took so long. To be honest, I'm not the happiest with how this turned out but I hope it's somewhat acceptable ><

Bullies aren’t attractive. This is basic common sense, something you’ve believed in since the start of high school. So, why are you starting to change your mind now? It’s almost unbearable experiencing your morals getting twisted round at the hands of some cute boy. No, he’s not cute, you attempt to scold yourself. His appearance should not under any circumstances be able to cancel out his childish behaviour.

He’s hurt you countless times before. Sure, he’s never laid a finger on you, nor do you think he ever would, but his blunt insults have always been like jagged knives. He’s poked fun at your insecurities until they burst, dragging out into late-night fits of sobbing into your pillow so hard that it became hard to breathe. You don’t know why you let him get to you. You don’t know why he’s targeted you all these years. You don’t know why, all of a sudden, it seems like he’s starting to change.

You notice he hasn’t been hanging out with his usual group of friends anymore. Maybe since last week. Yesterday, he cut his hair that the teachers had been giving out to him for since September. Today, instead of the daily ‘insult you each time he sees you’ routine, he doesn’t even spare you one glance. DK, your constant tormentor, seems to have disappeared.

You should be relieved, but you hate it. It annoys you so much that he’s just stopped all of a sudden. Of course, you’re curious as to why he has spontaneously decided to become a different person, but you’re mostly irritated by the fact that you didn’t get one apology from this boy. You’re angry, you think. Yes, you’re angry.

Enough to confront him? Probably not. But when you casually bump into him in the hallway during lunch, the confidence comes out of nowhere.

“Lee Seokmin,” You mutter through your teeth.

It takes you a few seconds to analyse what you’ve just done and you freeze. Nobody calls him by his real name. You look up into his eyes because you can’t show any weakness now, and you gulp when he raises his eyebrows at you.

“Oh, it’s you. Well, don’t you look...’ He stops and sighs to himself. “Decent… today, I guess. Whatever.”

That’s it, that’s the total length of the conversation. You stand there utterly confused as he walks away, because was that almost a compliment? You’re stuck in your place, blocking half of the hallway in your attempt to decipher the word ‘decent’. It has to be an insult, you think. It’s sarcasm, right? Or maybe you actually do look okay today. Or, something’s completely wrong with Seokmin.

“I heard his cousin transferred to this school.” The abrupt voice behind you makes you jump.

Your friend laughs as she catches your attention, placing her hands comfortingly on your shoulders. You give her a puzzled look.

“That’s why he’s like that, I mean.”

“Huh? What does that have to do with it?”

“Well, she’s supposed to be really controlling, I hear. When she found out he was doing nothing good with his life, she was determined to change him. She threatened him to stop seeing his ‘friends’ and told him to stop bothering other people. So, yeah, it seems like it’s working.”

No matter the reason for Seokmin’s new leaf, you still find it so strange. You figure you’ll just have to get used to it and be grateful that his days of troubling you are over. However, you still kind of want answers to your other questions. Why you? Why all these years?

The key to your answers comes in the form of a note in your locker later on in the day. Instead of the occasional offensive comments that you usually receive, this piece of paper merely says: ‘Meet me in the courtyard after school’ in the same handwriting.

Even though your friend told you not to trust the scrap page torn from a notebook, you follow through with its directions anyway. You’re not exactly sure why. You know very well that Seokmin wrote the note, but you’re more curious than you are scared. And you kind of hate yourself for it. For voluntarily making yourself vulnerable to a boy who has the power to make you feel the worst about yourself, regardless of whether or not he has changed.

He’s sitting on one of the benches when you get there. You only see his back, but you can tell that he’s alone. Close to a million thoughts are racing through your head, of possible scenarios estimating how this moment is going to end, of insults he might throw out again, of inevitable humiliation.

You stop in your tracks two steps beside him, clearing your throat to let him know you’re here. He turns his head to look at you, but you can’t tell what expression that is on his face. You don’t recall you’ve seen it before. It’s almost pleasant.

“You should...you should sit down here.”

His voice is unusually gentle. You nod and take a seat next to the boy who keeps his head down, staring at anything else at all for a while. That’s when you notice the flower being twirled around in his hands, probably picked from the school garden.

“I didn’t want to do this, not that I was forced into it but…” He’s still avoiding eye contact as he pauses to take a breath. “I called you here to apologise. I’m sorry, for everything.”

Despite your desire for an apology, you’re taken aback that Seokmin is actually giving you one. You’re speechless. Now, you’re also trying not to look at him as you try to swallow the weight of the air around you.

“All those things… Well, somebody told me I was acting like a kid, teasing you all the time when the truth is, I’ve actually been really into you. I err… I liked you, I still like you.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you see him hand you the flower. You bite down on your lip and hesitate with your response. It’s hard to pin down just what exactly this feeling is. It seems like someone is clutching onto your throat and preventing you from talking, all the while your heart is beating indescribably fast.

Before you know it, you feel the hot tears rolling down your cheeks. You’re crying. You’re about to use your sleeves to hide the evidence when you feel Seokmin’s thumbs wipe them away instead.

“I… I realise I must’ve made you feel like crap, and I’m really sorry for that. Just know that for all the times I’ve teased you about how you looked, you were just so pretty that I didn’t know how to handle myself around you. I probably don’t deserve it, but will you give me a chance?”

When you catch your breath, you’re still a mess of red puffy eyes and tear stains. But you make your decision. This time, Seokmin is staring right into your eyes enough that you can feel his sincerity. That’s when you take the flower from his hands.

“I guess, I do want to get to know him.”

“Him?” His eyebrows scrunch in confusion.

“Lee Seokmin,” you smile.

He flashes a grin so huge it makes you giggle a bit.

“Err yeah, he’d like that too.”