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The real problems began when Hyun-Seok came back.

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Baekhyun was happy to see him back in the same school. Not that he wasn't seeing him outside the school, but at least they could enjoy being together in class. 

It didn't take more than a few days for the rumors to start spreading around the entire school. Hyun-Seok didn't want to talk about it. Pretending he didn't care, pretending it didn't affect him. Baekhyun didn't like how his heart was breaking at the idea that Mee Na was the one spreading the rumors about their life during their time together. (Baekhyun didn't like to think about Hyun-Seok with Mee Na. And they were so young, how could they already have a life ?) He didn't like to think that Mee Na was the one breaking his best friend. 

Honestly, Baekhyun didn't think things would turn that bad. He thought that the rumors would die, eventually. That the school would find new things to talk about. 

Maybe the school did. But the people in his class didn't. 

Baekhyun didn't really get it, why people thought it was so funny. Hyun-Seok life was nobody's business. 

For whatever reason, his classmates found a nickname for his best friend, and soon enough, everyone in his class was calling him Kleenex.

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It should have stopped there, but it didn't.

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Baekhyun loved Hyun-Seok, so obviously, he was going through hell with him. He wouldn't even think of letting him go through it alone. He tried his best to help him but he didn't honestly know what to do. 

Hyun-Seok didn't really seem affected by anything, at the beginning. He would even laugh and joke with Mee Na during the bus ride to go back home. He was still the same funny idiot he always was.

It all went down during one of their PE classes.

It was actually pretty stupid, how it all started. 

Their teacher, at the time, was an old guy, always entering the girl's locker-room without knocking, and everyone around school would call him an old ert. He was hated by everyone, and you could hear around school all sorts of stories about him being a creepy and disgusting guy. It was common knowledge, really, that the guy should not be a teacher.

That day, during a gymnastic class, Baekhyun was waiting on the side, having sprained his wrist in whatever way (it happened so many times that he didn't actually remember. His wrist, his ankle. Baekhyun was the guy who, most of the time, had a splint.) and Jongdae was laughing with one of their classmate, Hanjun. (They both became really close, since Hyun-Seok came back. Baekhyun didn't particularly like the guy. He was kind of a ert. Always talking about .) Hyun-Seok, him, was with the teacher and another classmate, doing something that Baekhyun couldn't care less about. (Really, PE was the worst.) 

At the end of the hour, all of his classmates were going back to their locker-rooms, when a voice was heard. Hyun-Seok was telling one of the girl to shut up, because no, the teacher did not touch his just because he felt like it, but because Hyun-Seok actually needed the help. A few seconds later, she was crying, and Hyun-Seok sighed. 

Junho, another guy, came closer, looking his best friend right in the eyes, and asked somebody for a Kleenex. 

It was the last straw for Hyun-Seok. Baekhyun didn't really have the time to process. Hyun-Seok was already running out of the gym, and Baekhyun ran after him, to make sure he was okay.

Seeing his best friend cry was painful.

Even more because it was the first time. 

Even more because Hyun-Seok was acting like nothing was happening during weeks, and he finally was breaking down.

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Baekhyun was furious. 

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Running back into the gym, Baekhyun could see that his classmates had not move a bit. Still all around the girl who was crying earlier, they were talking among themselves, and Baekhyun stomped his way to them, until he was standing straight on his feet, looking Junho right in the eyes, and finally letting everything out. 

"  Why the are you so stupid ? Shouldn't you be a bit mature at least ? What's so fun about doing that ? Are you sure you're in high school ? 'Cause it feels a whole lot like pre school when you're acting like a stupid moron ! "

Junho wasn't happy. Probably 'cause it was the first time Baekhyun finally said something. Maybe because Baekhyun called him a stupid moron. It didn't really matter, because Junho was coming closer, and Baekhyun, being kind of scared, just pushed Junho's shoulder to keep him away.

That was a mistake, he learned.

Junho's best friend didn't lose a second before punching Baekhyun in the nose, and a few seconds later, another guy was pulling on Baekhyun's hair so hard that he actually plucked off a handful of black hair. 

The teacher was looking at them from behind the other students. Baekhyun could see him. He could see him not moving, not doing anything. Just watching.

Jongdae didn't try to stop anyone, but he was at least looking worried.

Baekhyun pushed them away one last time, and started to run again. 

Hyun-Seok and Baekhyun stayed in the bathroom's stall until the end of the day. Enjoying each other's warmth, and never answering any of the text messages they got from Jongdae. 

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After that day, it just got worse and worse. 

Hyun-Seok couldn't actually put a feet in his class without people looking at him or even insulting him.

Baekhyun didn't have it as bad as his best friend, but he did once find his school bag outside the classroom, and when he opened it, there was spit inside.

He was also being insulted, but he didn't care much about that. They were all the same insults he got in middle school.

Fatty.

Pig.

Disgusting.

He knew them all. 

He just sometimes wished Mee Na would once again tell them to stop. 

(She didn't.)

What hurt the most, Baekhyun thought, was Jongdae.

Jongdae, who decided to keep his distance. 

Baekhyun understood that being friend with them (with Hyun-Seok, really) was taking the risk to be on the weak side of the seesaw, but still, Jongdae was practically ignoring him, and Baekhyun didn't think it was actually possible for him to miss Jongdae.