Evergreen and Bulletproof Youth

V

Symbols of Hope

<♦v♦>

He noticed.

Their classmates were a rather sneaky bunch, but he had noticed. The way they discreetly extend their leg for her to trip on, the way they purposely bump into her in the halls, they way they jab at her with their sharp words...

Yet a smile remains on her face.

A big, beautiful smile that was heartwrenchingly optimistic which had lit up the room was always plastered on her face. With their immature classmates' incessant bullying, it was a true wonder how she remained so happy. The glitter in her eyes never faded, even if she tripped and fell or someone had insulted her greatly. He didn't want to pry into her matters, but the curiosity could not be contained at this point.

J-Hope stared at the back of her head from his seat behind her, wondering how to bring up the subject. The optimistic young woman was currently conversing with her friend (whose name completely slipped from his mind), seemingly unaware of the ugly remarks that were whispered throughout the room about her. 

"Hoseok."

J-Hope jumped in his seat, startled by the sudden call to his right. He turned to find Rap Monster with a worried look on his face. 

"Are you alright? You seem pretty out of it these days."

"I'm okay." J-Hope smiled reassuringly to the leader. 

"If you say so..." Rap Monster trailed off, giving him a look of disbelief before turning to the front where their teacher finally arrived.

<♦v♦>

Sumin brushed her chocolate locks behind her ear in thought, trying to solve the math problems assigned to her. Once the answer finally came to her, she moved to write, her elbow pushing her eraser to the floor. It bounced around before stopping at the desk behind her. Quickly, she turned to grab the utensil, only for her hand to bump into someone else's. Her eyes rose up, meeting a curious pair of the classmate sitting behind her. They stared at each other, neither making a move. It was almost as if time stopped around them. Her classmate was the first to react.

"Here." J-Hope whispered softly, picking up the eraser from the ground and placing it into her hand gently.

"Ah, thank you..." Sumin smiled widely in gratitude.

"N-No problem." His heart skipped a beat at her sincerity.

With a final grin, Sumin turned back to her math problems.

J-Hope couldn't help but smile in return, even after she turned away. However, that quickly turned into a frown, hearing the ugly remarks of their peers. 

"Can you believe it? That girl's apparently going to debut as an idol."

"No way! I'm, like, way prettier than her!"

"Her company must be really desperate to hire someone so unpretty."

"She's probably not even that talented."

"Hey, I heard that the only reason she got in is because..."

J-Hope's grip on his pencil tightened, hearing their demeaning words towards such an innocent girl. They weren't even trying to hide it anymore after their teacher left the room and spoke loud enough for Sumin to hear. Those girls were just jealous that she's a lot more beautiful and talented than them, J-Hope thought as he pursed his lips tightly. He couldn't take it anymore. He needed to say something or it was just going to get worse.

"Stop."

Before he could even open his mouth, the young woman in front of him stood up from her seat.

"Or what?" One of the whispering girls challenged.

J-Hope couldn't see her expression from where he sat, but at that moment, he didn't need to to know that a smile graced her face.

"I won't respond to your words with threats." Sumin refused to stoop to their level. "Yo