Ten clutched the pink envelope in his hands, heart beating dangerously fast.

He was hiding behind one of the five large pillars the school had in the middle of the courtyard. Supposedly they each had special meanings, but who cares about that. The Thai boy heard small chatter getting closer and shut his eyes tight. He took deep breaths, trying to calm down his pounding heart. He finally heard exchanged goodbyes and footsteps approaching even closer to Ten. The boy quickly pulled out a purple sticky note he had in his back pocket and reread the sloppy hangul written in black ink. He knew this was his only chance to take a risk, to be the brave, confident person he is.

Ten took one last large breath and stepped out into the open world. He stepped right in front of a tall, yet somewhat bulky boy. The student looked perfect to Ten. The way his short hair fell right above his eyes, black locks that looked ever so soft. His strong, yet soft coffee brown eyes staring right at his. Not only one, but three buttons open on his school uniform that lays upon his broad shoulders. Pants that fit his long, lengthy legs perfectly, and his shiny black shoes to match everything else.

"Um...Ten. Can you move out of the way?"

The shorter revealed the pink envelope that was behind his back as soon as the boy talked to him, the name "Park Minjoo" written across it. Yet the boy only stared.

"What is this?" Minjoo pointed to the pink item in his hands.

"M-may you please read it," Ten said in his accented Korean.

Luckily, the tall man took the envelope and pulled out the letter inside it. Ten felt like it took years for him to read the simple hangul printed in black. When he heard a laugh and saw the letter drop to his feet, Ten lifted his head that was originally looking down at the ground.

"A love letter. From you."

Ten nodded.

"You ."

The Thai boy felt a pang in his chest.

Minjoo stepped closer to him and pressed a finger against his forehead, the force pushing him back.

"Why would I like a guy. I am no gay. You should just go back to Thailand and there."

Ten's knees collapsed and tears streamed down his honey skin. He could hear Minjoo's shoes make contact with the ground, slowly going farther away. Why, is all he could think. Why, why would someone treat him that way. He clutched the letter that Minjoo stepped on and couldn't stop sobbing until someone called out his name after some time. There was another call of his name and arms wrapped around him.

"What happened? Are you okay? Please stop crying, Ten. It's me, Johnny, you are alright," the boy said while having his arms wrapped tight around Ten's shoulders. He was shaking so much and it worried Johnny badly. A pink paper crumpled on the ground caught Johnny's attention, so he picked it up from the ground and carefully read every word. All he could do was sigh and comfort the younger.

"Did he say anything to you?"

Ten was still sobbing, the sniffles got even louder. He shook his head while rubbing his eyes to try and dry the tears.

Johnny got closer to Ten. "Please tell me. What did Minjoo say..."

The Thai boy was scared to respond to his best friend. Johnny usually never got angry or upset, he always is a goofy, joyful person. But when it came to Ten, he would protect him no matter what, even almost got into a bad fight if Ten didn't drag him out. So, he was conflicted.

"Chittaphon Leechaiyakul, did he say something offensive, bad, and hurt your feelings?" The older boy lifted Ten's chin so he could force Ten to look at him. It always broke his heart when he sees Ten cry, but this was the only way the younger would talk.

Ten finally gave up and wrapped his skinny arms around Johnny's neck. "H-he...called me-" Ten choked on his sobs. "He called me a and told me to in Thailand!" he finally wailed out. His tears came down hard and he could feel Johnny tense underneath him.

"Get up."

He knew this would happen. "No! Johnny, you will not do anything!" But he was too late. Johnny already made Ten stand up and pulled on his sleeve while he stormed out of the courtyard. The younger tried to yank him back, but he was much too weak to do anything.

Everyone's heads turned and looked at the two, when they walked through the school to the lockers, because of Ten's wailing. He didn't want either of them to get hurt, but mostly he didn't want Johnny to be injured.

When Ten finally spotted Minjoo talking to his friends at his locker, he knew all hell would break out. Before the younger could even pull Johnny back, he took a swing, square in Minjoo's face. He immediately fell to the ground which caused Johnny to get on top of the other and repeatedly punch him.

Ten didn't remember much after the first three hits, it was luckily all blank for him. They did get called to the office and Johnny got suspended for the fight. He didn't cause as much damage to Minjoo as he thought, but Minjoo also fought back, so they both had to follow the consequences. 

"Now Chittaphon, please do not do these...things on school grounds. I will apologize on behalf of Mr. Park for his words. Don't let it get to your head, sweetie." Before the principal could finish talking, her phone rang. "Lee Taeyong? Uh, yes, after I send these two out, bring him in so I can get his word on what happened. Thank you." She placed the phone back down and looked at the two. "You both are now excused. Remember tomorrow Youngho, come to the office right away so we can decide when to place your suspension."

Both of them bowed and walked out of the office, seeing other students sitting in the chairs. 

-

No. There was no way.

Ten hopped off of the squeaky iron-chained swing, the little orange leaf he picked up not long ago, thrown to the hard pavement as he stormed away from his friend.

"Chittaphon? Wait, please!" He could hear Yukhei yelling behind, fast footsteps getting closer to the Thai boy. He didn't want to believe. Even though he maybe wanted to take a chance, Ten couldn't handle being hurt again. Not the pain Minjoo caused him. "I know what that ass, Minjoo, did. I understand you don't want to be hurt again. You don't deserve to be." Yukhei finally caught up with Ten and placed a hand on his shoulder. He felt Ten start to shake, so Yukhei spun him around to envelop him in a hug. The younger patted his back and caressed his head.

-

Ten swore to himself he would never, ever, have even one speck of interest for a man again. The damage Minjoo caused on Ten's mental health was enough for him to be placed into therapy once again, and he despised therapy. It was his birth dad and Minjoo who gave him difficult times, and he didn't want to add Taeyong to that list. Of course, other kids bullied him, physically and mentally, but Ten was already emotionless by that time. He will forever be scarred from the person he hates to call dad, at the age of eleven, invisible bruises still covering his body.

It didn't matter if Taeyong was nice to him now, none of that matters because he could change at any second. He just wishes everybody would be more accepting.

-

Wind blowing against their two bodies, Ten and Yukhei stood near the pedestrian road, in the public's eye, the younger mumbling endless apologizes as Ten clutches his jean jacket, too afraid to face the world.  

After some time, Yukhei thought it was best to let Ten go back home since Ten wasn't in the best state of mind, but not after he told him to just forget what he said. The Thai boy agreed, thinking it would be the best for both of them, yet he secretly knew he would never forget that simple sentence.

He was walking slowly back home when he ended up on a familiar road with big fancy houses. Ten briefly looked around and heard small chatter to his right. His head slowly turned to the direction of the noise, only to spot one person he did not want to see at that current time. 

Taeyong.

The boy seemed to be talking to someone inside his house before turning around to where Ten was standing. Ten immediately tried to run away, but his name was called before he could even take another step. 

"Ten! What are you doing here?" The soft voice asked. He saw Taeyong approach closer, and Ten wanted to curl up into a tight ball and cry. The latter looked gorgeous, basically perfect. His new hair color complimented his fair skin almost too beautifully. His outfit wasn't out of this world, just a normal striped shirt and black chinos, completely white vans to match, but Taeyong made the outfit look extravagant on him.

Ten cried over the thought of liking Taeyong two minutes ago, and now he is fangirling over him. Hypocrite. 

"I- well...umm," Ten was stumbling on his words, trying to find a believable lie to tell. "I got a bit lost. I think I the wrong street. Anyways, where are you heading?"

Taeyong seemed to have bought his lie since he continued talking without questioning. "Oh, I was just heading to the movies to watch A Quiet Place," he began to scratch his nape, "I am actually going alone, if you aren't busy, would you care to join me?"

Ten hesitated. The one man in four years for Ten to question his feelings was asking to watch a horror movie with him, the genre he can't watch without being on his phone to distract himself from scary parts.

"Sure."

Well, .