RJ: “Hey! Going home?”

Joy: “Yeah! Your home.”

RJ: “All four of you?! Again!? Man, I should’ve lock my door this morning!”

Yeri: “I call TJ’s computer!” 

Seulgi: “Noooo! I call his tv!”

Joy: “Ugh I’m too late... then I call the food reserve and his bed!”

TJ: “FJLSDKHJ Why don’t you go in HER room!?” He shouted, pointing to his sister.

Seulgi had a teasing smile at the thought: “Because Wannie don’t let us do whatever we want in her room, but you do!”

TJ: “No, I don’t! You, guys, just never listen!”

Seulgi: “ True... Goodbye!”

TJ: “Wait! I had to run take a shower before my first class and-”

Wendy: “We don’t care we didn’t ask.”

RJ: “Seriously, why is no one ever letting me finish my-”

Wendy: “UGH!”

Yeri: “Don’t mind her, she’s mad because we lost Pretty.”

RJ: “ Hm... WAIT WHAT!? HOW!?”

Wendy: “ SHE’LL BE HERE IF WE KNEW HOW! SO STOP SHOUTING!”

RJ: “YOU LOST A HUMAN BEING! NOT A PHONE! NOT A WALLET! A FRIKIN HUMAN BEING! OF COURSE I AM SHOCKED!”

Wendy: “WE TRIED TO L-“

Sensing how things were about to get dirty, Sooyoung put her hands on Seungwan’s mouth and walked the angry dwarf away while Seulgi was softly tapping Tae-Joon’s back to ease him.

Joy: “Ok Ryu Fam, that’s enough for today. Good cleaning TJ! We’ll see you at dinner!”

Seulgi: “Sorry!”

Yeri: “Bye!”

TJ: “... They’re also staying for dinner!? I guess I can forget my leftovers as well...”

The boy sighed out his frustration, thinking about how Wendy kept mocking him for failing in getting Pretty’s help but here she is doing the same! He sat on the school’s entrance staircase and after a couple of minutes, resigned himself to abandon. He didn’t want to bother the poor girl any further..

After making up his mind, he walked to the storage room, grabbed a bucket and got on work. By 6:30 pm they were almost done, the only thing left was the school’s gym.

“I hate Thursday... The basketball club is so messy! Look at this mess!” Complained the Janitor to his helper.

“Is it always like this?”

“Indeed.”

“Hm... Then I’ll try to come help more often or kick some of them.”

“Oh don’t you dare. They’re just a bit... Carefree?”

“Still...”

“Anyway. Let’s get started. I’ll do the locker room, you go range the equipment then use the big mop, right here, to get rid of all the sweat.”

“Then I can go swim!?”

“Sure.”

The old man smiled fondly, watching the youngster giving his very best for what he loves. He was running as fast as he could to grab the balls, jerseys and other items from the ground. Less than 40 minutes later, they were done and everything was perfectly clean.

“I think I can consider it as a warm up and directly attack the big exercises in the pool!”

“I think so too, don’t forget to shower first.”

“Of course! We’re done right?”

“Yes, I’ll just take the jerseys to the laundry room and those stuffs to my office.” Explained the adult while he pointed to the forgotten belongings such as a wallet, a scarf and two bags.

“Anything else you want me to do before I go have the time of my life?”

“No, you did a great job.”

“Thank you, sir!”

TJ ran faster than a speeding bullet through the yard and honestly, if he was just a little bit more shameless, he’ll be taking off his clothes during his run. But don’t worry, he kept them... Until he cross the indoor pool’s gate... Then the athlete started throwing them... Somewhere? Probably? Hopefully not in the water? He really didn’t care at that moment...

Tae-Joon hummed as he walked to the locker room that he happily entered. Inside, he grabbed his black swim jammer from his personal cupboard and directed himself to the adjoining showers. To his defence, it’s by far not the first time he’s acting this way and the reason for his reckless behaviour is that the school is empty plus the old man is probably taking a nap so who cares if he’s . Well... Maybe... Maybe Joohyun did care a little bit... Since she was already inside the shower room and not quite expecting to see a man this soon in her life.

“AAAAAAAAAAAH”

With such a strong and unexpected scream, one will easily understand how Tae-Joon lost his balance and literally slipped on the floor as he tried to face his guest.

“UGHH! MY BACK!”

But Joohyun couldn’t care less. She covered her eyes while she kept screaming making the man realize what was the real problem of the current situation.

“WAAAH! MY DIGNITY!!” 

He quickly picked up his jammers and tried to put the cloth on. Unfortunately it seems like, with all the stress, scare and embarrassment from the raven’s screaming, he couldn’t figure out how to do so.

“PLEASE SHUT UP! CAN’T YOU SEE THAT I’M TRYING TO CONCENTRATE!?”

Joohyun covered in fear of the outburst but then she realized her eyes were no longer protected so she put her hands back up, screaming once more before she finally thought about using one hand for her eyes and the other for . (Don’t judge the poor girl, using your brain in front of a stranger is harder than you think!)

“Ok ok, it’s all clear now....”

The Bae’s daughter slowly dropped her hands, still unsure of what might come in sight. Once she confirmed his sayings she let her arms fall on the ground, totally drained and quickly followed by the boy. They stayed silent for a moment with only the white noise coming from Tae-Joon’s back head that he was repeatedly bumping against the wall. After a while Wendy’s brother decided to voice out his fear. 

“Please tell me you didn’t see anything....”

“...I-I saw...”

“Gee! Joohyun! What’s wrong with you!? You’re supposed to lie in those situation!”

“I’m- I’m sorry!”

“This is so embarrassing!! Why on earth are you here!? Don’t you have a shower in your place!?”

When she heard his words the girl was brought back to reality. She threw her small frame to him and firmly locked her arms around his torso.

“Joohyun? Is everything ok?”

But TJ only received a tighter embrace instead of a real answer which worried him even more. 

“Joohyun, please tell me what’s going”

“...”

“...Joo-“

“... I want to die.”

Unsurprisingly, hearing her thoughts left the boy speechless. He was expecting for the pretty face to ask for his help but not against that type of trouble. 

“Wow... I mean no! No! No! No! You’re not allowed to say this! Who annoyed you!? I’ll beat the hell out of that trash!”

“You can’t... No one can...”

“For sure, I can!”

“No...”

“Why!?”

“Because it’s everyone! Everyone hurt me! Again and again. I can’t take it anymore. I’m tired of it. I just want to disappear for ever!”

She finally shouted before she fell deeper in her void, crying loudly all the pains she’s been bottling up inside.

“... Then I’ll punch everyone tomorrow. ”

Tae-Joon wasn’t the type to get into pointless fight. He did had some but, like everyone, it was only when he was extremely pissed off. The main reason being that the boy is quite over your average size for someone his age. Indeed the young Ryu is 186cm and very broad due to all the swimming he’s been doing. Also sports have been his passions since ever. So when he end up using his hand, things get nasty. 

“Why would you do this?”

“Because I’m a decent human being and per se I won’t stay still watching someone getting suicidal for a bunch of jerks!”

“... They will want their revenge eventually...”

“I’ll be waiting for it. And I have lots of friends who’ll have my back!”

 “How could you be so sure? I used to have lots of friends too yet none of them did anything when it happened to me!”

“Hm... Well mine will and if they don’t then they weren’t real and losing them will be the best thing ever!”

“You’re a positive one...”

“I prefer determinate ma’am.”

 Joohyun looked at him in the eyes and she could sense how hard he was trying to cheer her up through his awkward smile. It was forced but honest at the same time. Weird, isn’t it? In any case, it did manage to take a bit of the pain away. 

“And you’re saying that you wouldn’t hurt me?”

“Um... No.”

At the answer, Pretty felt her heart falling in her stomach. She was unable to find the words and his serious expression was just making her even more miserable. 

“I’m stupid and clumsy. I will probably hurt you in a way or another. So I can’t promise you that I won’t but if I do, please feel free to hit me back.”

“Seriously...”

The raven softly hit his shoulder as she became able to sense the tears rolling, once more, down her cheeks. 

“Why do you do this? Why are you willing to help me out of the blue?”

“Because I love the way you drew your Santa’s with huge nostrils.”

“...”

“Ouch. Haha Sorry. Honestly, I don’t know Joohyun... I’m not the brain type of guy. I go along my instinct. And my instinct is telling me that you’re a sweet girl who doesn’t deserve any of the stuffs that happened to you. That I’m probably not better than those who harassed you because I should’ve done something instead of watching from afar. And that I could totally understand if you don’t want to trust me or even hate me. But I really trie to meditate on it and I learned from my past mistakes. Now all I want is to show you that you can rely on me whenever you’ll need it. I’ll protect you... Without expecting anything in return of course! So... What do you think?”

The girl kept quiet for a moment. It was a lot to take and she didn’t know what to believe anymore. She was so lost from all the betraying, the lies and the insecurities. 

“ ... My instinct trust you.”

“I surely hope so otherwise you’ll have to be extremely crazy to embrace my almost self. Ouch. Again. Sorry again. Hahaha Can we be friends then?”

“Yes?”

“Yeah!”

And to seal their newfound friendship, they shared a big warm hug until...

“Hey! What do you, two, think you’re doing here!?”

“Uncle!?”

Both students flew opposite directions in the space of a second. None of them wanted to confront the old man but Tae-Joon eventually had  to. 

“I can explain!”

“Very well. I’m listening.”

“Ah... I wasn’t expecting you to say this.”

“No more swimming for you! Get your stuff and out, you bad child!”

“But!”

“What?”

“I don’t know! Just let me swim! Please please please!” 

“I gave you a chance to explain yourself,  you lost it. Now go dress up!”

“...Fine...”

[I guess this is what he meant when he said stupid and clumsy... it’s cute though...] thought the raven. 

“And you, young lady!”

“M-me!?”

“Aren’t your parents worried of your whereabouts!?”

“... I’m sorry...”

“You should say it to them. Hop.”

“But I... I lost my bags...”

“Bae Joohyun?”

“H-How do you know?”

“I found your things, they’re in the lost object box. I’ll take you there once he’ll be ready. Come on Tae-Joon!”

“I can’t find my other shoe!”

“ I saw one outside by the door. And why do you look for this when you don’t even have a top!?” Responded the Janitor. 

“Because they’re in the water.” Explained the boy, pointing to his t-shirt and shirt both laying in the pool. “I guess I got a bit too excited to swim.”

“Not from what I saw. What are you gonna do now?”

The cutting remark did totally embarrass the hot head who tried to brush it off. “ I have my track jacket I’ll put that. Let’s go Joohyun. This man is insensitive!”

“But what about my bags?”

“What bags?”

“Those I found in the gym.”

“Oh ok we’ll get them in our way outside. Bye uncle!”

“Bye Tae-Joon. Bye Joohyun!”

“G-Goodbye sir.”

Inside the janitor’s office, the two students looked for the girl’s belongings which were in a pitiful state, as if someone had pour coffee inside the bag on purpose but the young Ryu didn’t realize it and thought that maybe his  new friend was just as clumsy as he is. 

Once they gathered Joohyun’s belongings, they walked together to the school entrance and awkwardly stand there because on one side TJ didn’t know what to say and on the other, Pretty was slowly getting more conscious of what happened between them. She was deeply embarrassed by her thoughtless behavior. Crying in the arms of a stranger, believing even for one second that he was trustworthy based on nothing but a mere feeling. Why was she this naive!? Can’t she learn her lesson!? Well seeing all her school supplies destroyed did at least made her come back on earth. 

“My place is that way. What about you?” Asked the boy. 

“I’m sorry?”

“I said; where do you live?”

“There.”

“Really? We have opposite directions... That’s ok, I'll still come with you.”

“No, it won’t be necessary.”

“But I don’t mind.”

“I know. I just need... some time alone...”

"Your're sure?"

"Yes."

TJ sighed at the sudden change of behavior.

“... Fine. Take care.”

“Sure..”

“See you tomorrow!”

“Bye.”

The beauty took a deep breath and quickly distanced herself from her classmate, never bothering to turn back even once. She walked mindlessly or rather dragged her body as she thought even more about how tomorrow will be like yesterday, how things are never going to change and how she will still have to keep pretending that everything’s fine even though she doesn’t have the strength for this play anymore... Joohyun also thought about Tae-Joon, he’s a sweet guy. She can almost hear her guts yelling at her that he really is, that he’s probably the last rope that could save her from this unending nightmare. But another small voice in her head kept murmuring to her ear that he could also be the rope which she’ll be hung from. And she’s too tired to take the bet, she’s too tired to try again.  After being locked in the swimming pool showers and seeing her furnitures destroyed. She didn’t want to try ever again. So when the young Bae reached the corned of her street, she decided  against it to walk further to one of the town’s busiest avenue and watched the vehicles speeding through it. She watched them each second from a bit closer. Then ran and jumped. 

 ————-

After that incident everything changed in TJ’s life...

“Today, August 13 2010, I will look through the case of Mr, Ryu Tae-Joon, offender charged for the events of February 5th 2009 in the city’s high school. They represent batteries with great injuries on 6 people such as jaw fractures, broken noses, legs, arms and unconsciousness. To this are also added minor batteries on 5 others students. Now that’s a big anger that you released young man. What does the defense has to say about it?”

“Your honor-”

“I’m guilty. Don’t lose your time on me. I’m guilty. I did it on purpose. And if I had to do it again I’ll do it without hesitation. I don’t feel any remorse. I’ll never will.”

“Tae-Joon! What are you saying!?” 

“Silence in the court.” The judge warned  the mother before returning to the son in front of her. “Some students, males and females, are still suffering the effects of your acts.”

“What my client meant was-“

“I know, your honor. And if it wasn’t for the teachers who stopped me I would’ve hit even more students ma’am...”

“Really? Who?”

“Everyone... I would’ve punch everyone...”

“No remorse indeed. Very well, so you’re proud of what you did.”

“No, I’m not. Violence is never something to be proud of, it’s bad. I just had to, they were no other choices. Now I want to assume. ”

“Why?”

The accused shrugged his shoulders, unwilling to answer. All those questions the judge was demanding, he already asked them to himself again and again, making his head an awful mess. But his time in jail helped him to calm everything down while he answered each and every single one of them. That’s why, he managed to stay this calm during the judgement and built this strong feeling around him. 

“You do realize how your words will have heavy consequences for the verdict!?” Whisper shouted the lawyer. 

“I told my parents that there was no point in engaging a lawyer. I want to go to jail.”

“So you like jail maybe?” Intervened the judge. 

“No. I had dreams, your honor, and being in jail will definitely take them away from me but I must assume the consequences of my actions.”

“You seem pretty determinate Mr Ryu.”

“You’re right, determinate is the word ma’am. But not pretty. Cause nothing’s pretty anymore... And this too... Is all my fault...”

Everyone kept quiet in the court as they knew the real meaning behind his words. The judge  was thinking hard; she had seen a lot of cases of minors hurting others and openly claiming that they did it but they were either mentally wrecked and per se unable to distinguish their wrong doing or begging for mercy while trying to prove that their actions were legitimate. However this child in front of her didn’t seem to show any mental trouble, nor regret yet still willing to be punished. Something was off, for sure, but he was honest. That’s why the judge couldn’t let it go that easily. 

“I saw in your file that you never had any trouble with the law.”

“Yes, I tried to be good.”

“Then why did you hit your schoolmates?”

“...”

“Was it for a revenge?”

“No, it wasn’t.  I didn’t have any problem with them. “

“You didn’t. But... Maybe someone important to you did... I saw something else in that file; an accident that happens a few months before... The one including miss Bae Joohyun...”

After the mention of his long lost friend the boy didn’t say any other words for the rest of the trial. It eventually resulted with a 4 years of jail time sentence and a 13 000$ fine which his parents had to pay through another credit. That moment also marked the last time Tae-Joon saw his family. From the moment he moved inside his new cell, he cut all the ropes with them and his friends. Because, just like what he did with the young Bae’s incident, Tae-Joon accused himself of all the difficulties his family had to face both mentally and financially. He thought that he was unworthy of having their support  nor their love when all he did was bringing them deception and struggles. He couldn’t even bring himself to think about what may become of his beloved sister futur. However they were a few other points he believed in.  

1) He did the right thing. 

2) When he’ll be free, no one in his town will want to do anything with him so he should pick another city to find a job. 

3) As soon as he’ll get a job, Tae-Joon will save his money to repay his parents 4 times what he cost them. And to do it, he’ll be willing to accept anything.

4) His life will probably be miserable till the end given that he’s good with nothing but it’s ok.

5) No more swimming... 

It was his harsh reality and he had to face it...

Haha I like my stories spicy and ... I’m sorry ? 

Anyhow, I really want to know..  Did you expect that turn of events?