The Rejected

Scene 6: The Rumor

Min and you are sitting in your bed, both hugging stuffed animals to your chests. It’s just as if you´re preparing to hear a good night story at a sleep over. You don´t know what to expect, and you´re a bit nervous. You like Tao, and you don’t want your image of him get ruined by what Min has to say. You promise yourself it won’t. You always told yourself not to judge a person by his past, or what others say about him, but to judge him based on his actions towards you. He’s your friend, after all.

So far, he has given you medicine, free coffee, helped you hide from Gina and invited you to hang out with him and his friends: nothing wrong at all. Although, your body turns cold as you remember how you´ve found him beaten twice. You decide to try to forget that memory for the time being.

Min looks at you seriously as she starts to speak. “During middle school, there was this group of 12 boys who always hung out together.”

“12? That´s a big group.” You comment in disbelief. “How did they all get together?”

“That’s not the point.” Min shakes her head with a sigh.

Your eyes widen a bit, but you nod in understanding.

The group was together though hardships and happiness. They were tight, and people envied their strong friendship. However, as they grew older society started to regard them as a gang. However, they didn´t do crimes, drugs, or stuff like that: they were boys who enjoyed goofing around together. Getting into trouble together. They fought each other, and others, as normal boys.

Once they reached high school, it didn´t take long until another gang challenged them for the power in the neighborhood. First, being confused, the 12 declined since they weren’t interested in power. They thought they didn´t need to prove anything. However, being falsely accused of what the other gang did, they soon changed their minds. They needed to make the other gang leave and they knew they wouldn’t leave without a “push”.  After weeks of trying to locate the other gang, they found them.

“Who is your leader?” The 12 were asked by the gang. “We won’t talk with anyone but the leader.”

This question made the 12 hesitate once again: they had no leader. All of them were on equal ground. Some wanted to find out who´s the strongest and make him the leader of the group, while others thought it’d be better to stay leaderless because they were simply friends hanging out and not a gang looking for trouble.

The threats from the other group got worse and worse. They got seriously hurt in surprise attacks on their head quarters. Their families were threatened. A member even got sent to the hospital. They had no choice but to defend themselves.

Min tells you that that´s when these 12 innocent boys turned into monsters. So far, you can understand why the 12 did what they did but what you don´t understand is why they got a bad reputation and not the other gang who threatened them, urged them, to use violence.

“It gets worse from here.” Min shakes her head.

Then they decided to appoint a leader and after a lot of trials there were just two young men left fighting for the title. Each contestant had five followers, and the group was naturally split in two. It seems like the power struggle within the group turned them against each other instead of against their true enemy and it destroyed them from the inside.

Then, the leader of one of the groups of six, suddenly deserted his team. Some say he was too frightened to fight and others that the enemy gang recruited him by giving him a large amount of money. The power balance was turned over, and the 5 leaderless guys were kicked out violently.They were rejected. The other 6 were able to beat the threat, and take a hold of the power.

“People are saying that the 12 are still struggling for power.” Min ends her story.

“You´re saying that Tao, Chen and Luhan are a part of this?” You frown.

“That’s how the rumor goes.” Min nods. “It’s a war. They were best friends but they are now fighting each other. It’s best to stay out of their way. ”

“I don´t get it.” You sigh in frustration. “This doesn’t explain anything. I can’t see the point in them continuing to fight…”

“Power hungry guys?” Min raises her eye brow.

“Can be that simple?” You shrug.

Min shrugs, unsure what to say. “Look, people involved with them get hurt, it’s that simple.” She looks you in the eye. “You should stay away from them.”

“Did you see this yourself, or hear it from others? I can’t remember such a big group of boys from middle school…”

The look in Min’s eyes tells you what you want to hear.

“It’s just a rumor then.”You grin to yourself.

Although it makes you happy, you know that all rumors are usually based on a little bit of truth.

“Be careful, ok?” Min tells you.

“I promise.”

“Are you there?” Your voice echoes.

Tao has been skipping school or at his part time job lately and it made you worried. The rumors Min told you have been in the back of your mind the last couple of days. You´re scared something might have happened to him. You decided to go and check up on him, as a good friend would, but no one answers as you knock on the door. You sigh in frustration, and touch the door handle as a last attempt.

The door moved, to your surprise.The door is unlocked, and you let yourself in after some hesitation. What if he´s out cold on the floor, bleeding? Your heart beats wildly in your chest as you carefully walk deeper into the apartment.

“Tao!” Your voice breaks the silence.

Tao is sitting on his bed, head buried in his hands. His shoulders are shaking slightly. He glances at you quickly but stays silent, his eyes move to the ground again.

“What happened?” You ask him in a quiet voice.

You kneel down next to him, touch his chin and tilt his head so you can see his face when he doesn’t answer you. His face is once again swollen and bruised. One of his eyes is so swollen, you’re sure he can’t see properly. He doesn´t look at you, as if he´s ashamed. You´re quick to ask if he a first aid kit. You need to take care of this before it gets worse. You cup his face in your hand as you carefully clean the cuts, trying your best not to hurt him. Tao’s eerily quiet. The two of you are standing very close, a closeness you would have made you really embarrassed and awkward if Tao wasn’t in the state he’s in.

“They cornered me and I couldn’t get away. The police saw me.” Tao answers. “! They almost got me but I…ran away.” He grits his teeth.

You have never seen him this shaken before. Something must have gone terribly wrong this time. He’d been in a fight, the police came to stop it and he managed to run away. Being involved with the police is never a good thing. They will surely start looking for him, and due to Tao´s distinctive style it’ll be easy for them to find him. If they start to look around at universities, he´s doomed. Your stomach turns ice-cold at the thought.

Something has to be done. Tao is too shaken to move on his own now, so you take it into your own hands. “I’ll dye your hair.” You comment before you put on your shoes to go to the closest convenience store.

Tao´s eyes widen before he nods, understanding the reason why. You leave for a short moment to buy dye. As you come back, he takes of his hoodie without words, leaving him in a tank top showing off a pair of strong arms. He look so strong, although he´s still trembling. You put a towel over his shoulders and let your hand rest there for a moment, squeezing his shoulders to try to coax him to relax. After a while, he does.

And you add the dye.

“Are you afraid of me?” Tao asks for the second time after a long silence, there is a hint of fear in his voice.

“…No.” You answer calmly. “I trust you, but I’m…worried.”

Tao seems to hear the hesitation in your voice, and you know he know you´ve heard about the rumors. It feels like something squeezes your heart, as you feel him tense as if he’s starting to get cautions towards you.

“I won’t let them hurt you.” He tells you seriously, trying to meet your eyes. “I… would never hurt you.”

This results in his hair rubbing against your stomach. You yelp, getting hair dye over your t-shirt. Tao is quick to lean away.

“Sorry.” He murmurs.

A chuckle leaves your lips as you feel relieved. For a moment, you thought he’d push you away. “It’s fine, it’s just a shirt.” Then you see a hint of a smile on Tao’s lips and you continue “I’m not worried about myself, I’m worried about… you.”

You massage Tao’s hair gently as you try not to miss a single strand of black hair. Why would he be worried about my safety? You ponder to yourself for a moment as you try to make him feel better by massaging the dye into his hair.

Tao turns strangely quiet again and you have no idea about what he’s thinking about.

“Is there a way for you to… avoid the fighting?” You ask carefully, since you´re afraid of asking too much and jeopardize your friendship. “Is this something you… have to do?”

Tao doesn’t answer but you can see that he’s thinking about whatever happened to him earlier today. You feel helpless. You know a bit about it, because of Min and the rumors, but you’d like him to open up and tell you. You want Tao to trust you. The story Min told you sounds far too simple. It must be more complex than that. When it’s obvious that Tao won’t talk about what happened, you change subject.

“Will you be able to keep your job with this hair color?” You ask in a teasing voice, trying to break the silence.

“I’ll work it out somehow.” Tao grins, finally talking again.

“Maybe you should take out your piercings as well, just to be safe…” You murmur absent mindly. “It will make you look less like a troublemaker.”

“…Thank you.” Tao murmurs sincerely, followed by a deep and tired sigh. 

“Don’t thank me before you washed out the dye and dried your hair.” You chuckle. “What if this turns out really bad…?”

Tao´s laughter echoes in the tiny apartment.

Tao looks like a completely new person the next day with his red hair, piercing free ears and bruises covered by make up. You can hear across the hallway how Luhan and Chen comments on his new style, and how Chen scolds Tao about what happened. A thought goes through your brain: he didn’t call out to them for help and the two of them look completely fine. Luhan though, looks worried.

Why is Tao fighting on his own?

You regard them from a distance. They seem distressed as they discuss something with hushed voices. Chen looks angry, as he glares at Tao. Some students look frightened to walk them by in the hallway, and your eyes follow them for a moment. Min told you to stay away from them and sometimes your brain do agree but…

Your eyes rest on Tao.

How can I leave him now?

What shouldn’t happen happens, and you spot Kris and Gina in the school corridor. However, instead of greeting you as always Kris simply walks by with his girl on his arm, not sparing you a glance. Your heart seems to shatter in your chest for a moment.

But what surprises you is that the pain over seeing him with another girl is not as painful as it first were. Maybe you got used to it…you blink in surprise.

You turn to look at his back, and that’s when you see how Gina looks at you over her shoulder with a huge grin on her red painted lips.

You have lost Kris, maybe forever.

You turn your back to them and walk down the hallway towards the exit. It’s Kris’ choice and you should respect it. However, there is a lingering feeling that Kris hasn’t seen Gina’s true colors, and that she won’t let you go that easily.

You write down some thoughts about a poem, chews on your pen a bit, before you continue to write. Your test is tomorrow, and you can’t control your nerves. You decided to stay in school until closing time. Luhan ran into you, and ended up keeping you company. He must be really bored, you thought, to stay back with you in the library.

“Chill, you´ll pass.” Luhan tells you with a smirk.

A deep sigh leave your lips. “I wish I had your confidence.” You smile at him. “Thanks.”

Luhan leans back, smiling and you return to your studies. You don’t know how much time has passed, when Luhan calls you by name suddenly. You look up from your notes with a pair of surprised eyes.

“What?” You ask him.

Luhan looks away, as if that confidence from before vanished, and the look in his eyes when he looks back at you is much like that of a scared deer.

“Tao told me you know, but still stays.” He stares at you, waiting for an answer.

Several strange emotions run through your body at this, until your body turns cold. They had been talking about you and the fear of being pushed away once again scares you. The thing is, you know nothing more than everyone else: the rumors. You turn away from your notes.

“I don’t trust rumors.” Is your short answer.

Luhan beams at you. “I knew it!” His reaction surprises you.

“Luhan, I don’t know what’s going on and I understand that you guys don’t want to tell me but… isn’t there a way to stop the violence?” You ask him in an almost pleading voice.

Just as Tao did, Luhan turns eerily silent but then he says “Chen doesn’t want you to get involved any more than you already are.” It seems that it’s Luhan’s excuse for not telling you more.

“You guys are my friends, I just don´t want you to get hurt!” You stare at him wide-eyed.

Your voice echoes in the library, and you put your hand in front of your month in surprise over your own actions. A pair of students stare at you in irritation, but they are quick to mind their own business as Luhan gives them a glare.

Luhan smiles weakly as he turns back to you. “I know.”

Your face turns a bit red in embarrassment. “So, Chen dislikes me?” You change topic.

“No, no!” Luhan shakes his head. “He just doesn’t want you to get …hurt.”

 You smile gently. Once again, they hint that I might get hurt. You shake your head, trying to get it out of your mind. “Another thing…”

“Yeah?” Luhan looks at you.

“When… if… you guys get hurt please contact me?” You plead with him. “Can I ask that of you?”

Luhan gives you his number with a smile. A smile he hasn’t shown you before. He taps your shoulder in a friendly manner before he’s about to leave you to your studies.

“Thank you.” He says. “For caring about us and being there for Tao.”

“Is Tao alright?” You ask.

Luhan nods, and he’s gone.

Your stomach grumbles as you exit the test hall after have written your exam on English poems. Your brain feels funny, and you blame the lack of food. It’s weekend, and a final means that it’s a weekend without studying. You make a little happy dance to yourself in the hallway.

You walk home from school alone, with music in your ears. Going home means a weekend without them. Min returned to her hometown over the weekend, so you´ll be all by yourself.

You suddenly feel a bit lonely.

The sun is setting around you, and your warm breath turns into white clouds in the cold air. It’s a beautiful night. Eyelashes flutter as you stare up at the now pinkish sky. Without a warning, someone umps into your shoulder rather violently. It makes you stumble and almost lose your balance.

“Sorry.” You mumble.

As you look up to give whoever it was an apologetic smile the blood in your veins freeze. A manly face with dark eyes stares back at you. A face you recognize yet can’t name. It makes you feel foolish, what if he’s someone you´re supposed to know? However, you have no clue why your body is reacting like this. The man squints a bit as if he too tries to remember you but is unable to.

Have you met him before?

“Forget it,… Suho, let’s go.” Another guy urges.

He gives you one last confused look. “No, I ran into you. Sorry.” And then he turns to his friend.

 You frown as you stare at the two, before you shrug your shoulders, and continue to walk home.

That was strange.