Chapter Seven.

The Extent of Band Aids

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Saeyeon had to process what had happened.

But it was a rather quick process, because immediately she scoffed. All she did was greet him, and without a moment of hesitation, he ing pushed her to the ground. Unbelievable. Hanbin would never cease to amaze her at how low of an excuse of an older brother he could be.

Alarmed, JB and Youngjae ran to her side to help her up.

“Are you alright?” JB asked, worriedly.

Saeyeon grunted, winced, and simply got up, patting her uniform down. “I’m fine,” she stated.  As much as she appreciated their gentlemen-like action (not really), Saeyeon was a big girl who didn’t need anyone’s help. She gave Jennie a quick side glance as the roach-like stood behind Hanbin in her fake tears. Jennie even had nerve to send her a quick smug smile before returning to her sniffles.

This .

She was the one who approached Saeyeon first, not the other way around.

Jennie was just ASKING to get smacked, and she was lucky that all she got was rice poured over her, not bruises.

“So are we resorting to violence now?” Saeyeon remarked, glancing dully at Hanbin. To be completely honest, she was a little shocked that her brother pushed her so harshly like that, especially in front of so many people. But then again, Saeyeon wouldn’t put it past him to do low bull like this anyways. 

“I already warned you yesterday, Saeyeon,” Hanbin hissed. “I ing had it with you.”

Outwardly, she was unmoved. Saeyeon didn’t show the slightest bit of interest. But on the inside… she wavered, just a tiny bit. She had never seen Hanbin so furious before, and she didn’t know whether to be intimidated or amused. Bobby and the rest of Hanbin’s crew momentarily joined the commotion, and suddenly it felt as if everyone in the court yard had their eyes on her, waiting to see how she’d replied. Slowly, Saeyeon parted her lips to quickly respond so she wouldn’t appear so weak, but someone had gotten to it before her.

“Damn, well I always knew you were an arrogant bastard, Kim Hanbin, but I never knew you were so pathetically low.”

Saeyeon glanced to see JB take a step forward. At least, she thought it was JB. But he was different. That nice, soft gentle demeanor he had on before was now gone. There stood a stone-cold, bad- looking guy that was still HOTDAMNFINE in his place.

Hanbin glowered at him. “Stay the out of this, JB. This has nothing to do with you and your group of friends.”

“Oh, but it does,” Junior replied innocently, jumping to his defense. “Who do you think showered your girlfriend in rice?” He lifted up his bowl to show Hanbin that it was completely empty and that, no it wasn’t Saeyeon who messed with Jennie, it was actually him. “If you’re going to push someone, it should’ve been me, not your sister.”

Saeyeon raised a brow, because she was surprised to see that the one who seemed to dislike her the most was actually defending her, or at least owning up to what he did. That said a lot about how Junior felt about her brother, compared to how he felt about her. Maybe Saeyeon was beginning to underestimate Youngjae’s group of friends. Up front, they didn’t seem like much, but in front of Hanbin, they were the perfect rivals.

The wheels were turning in her head as Saeyeon simply stood there.

Hanbin cursed. “You ing bastard. You really have a death wish, don’t you?” He looked like he was about to punch the nearest thing to him, but before anything like that could happen, he was (fortunately) stopped.

With a hand on Hanbin’s shoulder, Bobby held him back. “Don’t, Hanbin. Let’s go.”

Jackson tauntingly smirked. “Yeah, Hanbin, listen to your boyfriend and go if you know what’s best for you.”

BamBam chuckled right next to him. “Yah, hyung, don’t provoke him like that. He might not be able to take it.”

“And we wouldn’t want him to make a scene, now would we?” Yugyeom questioned.

JB tilted his head with a light shrug. “Why don’t you just walk away, Hanbin? Unless you’re going to apologize to Saeyeon, I think you’ve overstayed your welcome.” He gestured to where she was standing but was dumbfounded to see that she was nowhere in sight. Everyone slowly realized that somewhere in the middle of the standoff, the core of the situation was gone.

Saeyeon had unknowingly left without a word.

The grip on Hanbin’s shoulder tightened, and he knew Bobby was serious about him leaving. He silently fumed in anger, because how could he, the ruler on this campus, simply turn away from the enemy like a coward? He heard Jinhwan say his name in that rare stern tone that only comes out whenever he felt it necessary. Agitated, Hanbin clenched his fist before grabbing Jennie’s arm and storming away. After throwing the opposing side nasty glares, his friends momentarily followed him.

JB inwardly sighed as he watched them walk away. Dealing with Hanbin and his group was a hassle, but it was practically his job, his role as the leader of the group to make sure a bully like Hanbin stayed in his lane. Quietly, he then scanned the court yard for Saeyeon… but she was already long gone.

He sighed again. He wondered if her knee was okay.

--

Wounds were interesting. At least, physical ones. With time, your external wounds can heal right in front of your eyes, and it’d be as if nothing ever happened. All with the help of a freaking band aid. And sure, time is a factor too, but band aids play a huge part in protecting your wounds. Yeah, it may hurt even when one is applied, but the pain eventually goes away, even when you think about it in the future. Internal wounds, however, were the real tricky ones. Months and years can pass, but the moment you reopen that wound, even if it’s just for a single moment, the pain happens all over again. You could try to put a band aid on it, but there really is no specific part to cover. Everything hurts, and you’re vulnerable to experience the pain once more.

--

After seeking haven in the benches near the track field, Saeyeon stared at her scrapped knee while biting her lower lip. A minor cut like this wasn’t supposed to sting so much. Quietly, she blew on her wound to ease the pain. Saeyeon thought back at what went down at the courtyard and sighed. Walking away was the right thing to do, even if she wanted to act on her anger.

Impulsive behavior like that was toxic, especially to her master plan.

Walking away was the smart thing to do. The fact that she walked away, especially after being pushed by Hanbin, showed to everyone watching th