“Finally I found you.”

            “Y-you recognized me..?” Woohyun looked at him with wide eyes. The tall boy grinned at him.

            “Of course I know you,” he chuckled. “After all—“

            “You guys there, what are you doing right now? Go back to your seat! And you two, Nam Woohyun, Lee Sungyeol,” the teacher glared at the hugging boys in the middle of the class, “detention room after school.”

Woohyun’s jaw dropped while Sungyeol rolled his eyes.

            “W-wait. What did we do—“

            “It’s clearly written in the students’ handbook that ‘no PDA is allowed’,” the teacher cut Woohyun’s question immediately. Woohyun’s palm went flat to his face.

‘How in the world is exchanged of hugs between two boys considered PDA?! But then again… Maybe that’s the reason why Sungjong and Sunggyu hadn’t cuddle yet,’ Woohyun frowned at the thought.

With a somber look plastered on his face, Woohyun dragged his feet towards his seat and slumped down on it.

            “Woohyun, are you all right?”

Woohyun looked up to see Sungjong staring at him with concern. Woohyun smiled and reached out a hand to brush away the strands of hair covering the younger’s eyes.

            “I’ll be okay,” Woohyun chuckled.

Sungjong nodded with a smile and diverted his attention towards the board in front. Woohyun tried to keep his composure, but it’s hard for him to do so.

Not when the agonizing pain in his wrist told him the exact opposite.

Woohyun knew that it’s not him, but he also had a hint that the pain was caused by a certain boy. A certain boy with his kitty obsession.

.

.

The moment the bell rung, Woohyun quickly leaped out of his chair. He was about to leave the room, but a hand grasped his wrist tightly, pulling him back inside.

            “Let me go, I really have to—“

            “Where are you going? We still have another period before recess,” Sunggyu’s firm gaze silenced Woohyun almost immediately.

            “I-I… I need to see someone…” Woohyun mumbled, shifting his gaze towards Sunggyu’s hand wrapped tightly around his wrist.

            “Who?”

The moment Woohyun opened his mouth to answer, he felt another painful jolt coming from his wrist. He snapped his hand away from Sunggyu’s and ran out the room, not minding the other boy yelling his name demanding answer.

Sunggyu sighed and rubbed his temple in frustration. The incident on the rooftop happened not too long ago, and Sunggyu didn’t feel like leaving the other boy alone. The idea of letting Woohyun wonder alone sounded really wrong that Sunggyu felt a small tingle of worry inside.

            “Is he gone?” Sungyeol peeked out to see any trace of Woohyun in the hallway.

            “He is,” Sunggyu muttered. “Damn kid making me worry over him…”

            “What happened before the first period?” Dongwoo raised an eyebrow. Sunggyu shook his head and went back to his seat. He noticed the stares his classmates gave him and he glared at them, telling them to mind their own business.

            “What’s wrong, Sunggyu?” Sungjong tilted his head.

            “Nothing. Just Woohyun being an idiot,” Sunggyu huffed. Dongwoo laughed almost instantly.

            “You told me that the two of you would never befriend each other and yet here you are worrying over him,” Dongwoo said chuckling.

            “Of course I worry about him! Now that I know that Kim showed an interest in him, I couldn’t stop thinking about the things that might happen to him,” Sunggyu muttered.

Sungjong’s jaw clenched while Dongwoo and Sungyeol shared a look. Sungyeol turned to Sunggyu with furrowed eyebrows.

            “Sunggyu… Did you consider Woohyun as your friend?”

            “I think so..? Yeah, I think so,” Sunggyu rubbed the back of his head.

            “And how about the possibility that you might care about Woohyun?”

            “Excuse me, what?”

Sunggyu snapped his head immediately as he looked at Sungyeol as if he grew another head. Sungyeol crossed his arms with a stern look on his face.

            “You like him, don’t you?”

Sunggyu’s mouth fell open. He was about to retort until a student barged in, panting heavily. All heads immediately turned towards him.

            “Kim Myungsoo got sent to the hospital!”

Gasps and murmurs soon filled the room. The four boys sitting in the corner immediately looked towards the panting boy in disbelief. Sungyeol quickly approached the boy and grabbed his shoulder harshly.

            “What do you mean by that? Where did you hear that from?” Sungyeol narrowed his eyes.

            “I-I saw one of the teachers…c-carrying Kim Myungsoo on their back,” the boy whimpered pathetically. “A-and I s-saw the ambulance w-waiting in front of the school gate…”

Sungyeol turned towards the other three with a questioning look. Sungjong and Sunggyu shared a look of disbelief while Dongwoo’s jaw hung open the whole time.

            “What happened to him?” A girl asked with curiosity lacing her words.

            “I’m not sure… But I guess he got into a fight..?” The boy mumbled. “I saw Howon and a boy from our class, the two of them were drenched and I swore I saw some blood on their shirts.”

It happened so quickly that no one realized it. With a painful screeching sound of the chair alongside with the slam of the door,

            “SUNGGYU!”

Sungjong, Sungyeol and Dongwoo immediately ran after the said boy.

.

.

Woohyun bit his lips as he gripped tightly to his hand. He could feel himself still shaking from the incident earlier. Hoya approached the boy and put a hand on Woohyun’s shoulder.

            “He will be fine,” Hoya muttered. Woohyun shook his head frantically.

            “He’s not fine, Hoya… Those blood… All of them belong to Myungsoo… He lost lots of them…” Woohyun said shakily.

            “Myungsoo’s a strong guy,” Hoya took a seat next to Woohyun, “he’s going to be all right…”

Woohyun shut his eyes tightly. The scene kept on replaying inside his head and he didn’t like it one bit.

The pain on his wrist did not subside any bit. Woohyun bit his lips as he increased his pace, hoping that it wasn’t what he thought. He went to one restroom to another, trying to look—or inwardly hoping that it’s not it—for Myungsoo.

And his optimism shattered when he found Myungsoo standing in the middle of a pool of blood.

            “Myungsoo…” Woohyun whispered, not wanting to startle the other boy.

Much to Woohyun’s surprise, Myungsoo turned around calmly and shot him a smile. The smile soon turned into a sadistic one. Woohyun’s eyes went wide when he saw the metallic object in Myungsoo’s other hand.

            “M-Myungsoo… You shouldn’t do this…” Woohyun said almost whispering. His legs felt like they’re about to collapse soon at the sight and the metallic smell of blood.

            “Shouldn’t do what? What are you doing here anyway? You’re a bad kitty, you know that hm?”

            “Myungsoo… You can’t do this,” Woohyun sighed, slowly approaching the other boy.

Just when he was about to reach the bleeding boy, Myungsoo pulled Woohyun, making the latter lose his balance and fell. Woohyun’s breath hitched when he realized the fact that the puddle of blood wasn’t that small.

‘To think that it’s all Myungsoo’s…’ Woohyun felt his stomach turning at the thought.

            “Poor kitty… Apparently the effect of not having tail finally impacted you, huh?” Myungsoo chuckled. Woohyun winced at the sight of fresh marks on the other boy’s wrist.

            “Myungsoo, don’t do this…”

Woohyun couldn’t stand it anymore. He felt tears b in his eyes. ‘How could he,’ Woohyun thought, ‘How could he think of life as something as easy as this..?’

            “I… I don’t care if you hurt me… I really don’t care…” Woohyun muttered. “But I care about you, Myungsoo.”

Myungsoo’s eyes widened slightly. Woohyun’s lips quivered at the thought of his best friends death. He went back in time to save them, how dare he to die on him like this?

            “Don’t hurt yourself, because you’re hurting me too,” Woohyun said as he stared into the other boy’s eyes. “Don’t think of death so lightly like this… Because there are people suffering when you leave them…”

            “… You… You don’t know me…” Myungsoo took a step back, feeling lightheaded. He tried to glare at Woohyun, but he couldn’t.

            “True, I don’t know the current you,” Woohyun stood up. “But I know the kind-hearted Myungsoo. The one who would laugh at any joke I make even though it’s not that funny.”

Myungsoo felt his vision started to blur as he watched the boy in front of him approaching him.

            “I know the Myungsoo who would support me and comfort me whenever I need him, I really know the fact that deep inside you’re a kind person. In fact, you’re nicer than me…” Woohyun chuckled impassively, more of a forced one.

            “For after all, you’re still a person, right?”

Myungsoo found himself feeling lighter at the last part of Woohyun’s sentence. His mouth curved up into a weak smile before he collapsed to the floor. Woohyun yelled out Myungsoo’s name as he quickly approached the unconscious boy.

            “Myungsoo! Myungsoo, open your eyes! Don’t you dare… Don’t you dare to leave me again…” Woohyun swallowed thickly as he cradled the other boy in his arms.

            “Kim Myungsoo, open your eyes…” Woohyun felt his voice started to crack. He looked around desperately until he noticed a figure standing near the doorframe with a shocked look on his face.

            “Hoya!”

            “Nam Woohyun? What… What happened?” Hoya rushed to the other boy’s side and he gently slapped Myungsoo’s cheek.

            “H-Hoya, please help me… I really can’t… I can’t do this alone…” Woohyun felt tears cascading down his cheeks.

            “Help me lift him to my back. We have to bring him to the hospital now.”

Woohyun nodded and quickly did as Hoya told him. The two rushed to the teacher’s room to let the teachers take care of Myungsoo. Hoya couldn’t help but glance at the sniffling boy behind him.

And now the two of them sat down in front of the teacher’s room, waiting for the teacher to come and ask them about it. Part of him was glad that the teachers held them back, because Woohyun wasn’t sure that he would recover that quickly after the incident.

            “He’s going to be all right…” Hoya mumbled. He had been repeating the same words over and over again, just like a broken recorder. Woohyun knew that Hoya’s actually worried as well, but he didn’t want to show it.

            “He will…” Woohyun muttered, trying to assure himself.

Wiping his tears away, he sat up straight and breathed in deeply before letting it out as a shudder. He looked to his side and was surprised to see Hoya staring at him.

            “W-what—“

            “You called me Hoya again,” Hoya said. Woohyun blinked his tears away before he chuckled half-heartedly.

            “Ah, right… I’m sorry.”

            “… It’s okay…”

            “Huh?” Woohyun looked at Hoya, genuinely surprised. Hoya just stared at the wall across him.

            “It’s okay… If you want to call me that way, then it’s fine,” Hoya said. “I can get used to it.”

Woohyun swore he could feel his cheeks warmed up by Hoya’s words. He looked away, slightly embarrassed, but a part of him was still curious with Hoya’s sudden change.

            “W-why so sudden..? I-I mean, why did you suddenly..? I thought you…em…hate it..?” Woohyun bit his lips. Hoya shrugged in response.

            “I don’t know. No one had really given me any nicknames before,” Hoya said. “And suddenly you blurted it out like that… I… I actually kind of like it.”

            “So… Does that mean..?”

            “Mm… I don’t know how to say this,” Hoya scratched his neck with an awkward look on his face. “But… I guess we’re friends..? Yeah, can we be friends?”

Woohyun found himself smiling at Hoya’s words, “O-of course we can!”

Woohyun looked down, feeling so gullible all of a sudden as he felt his cheeks becoming hotter by each second. He snapped his head towards the other boy when he felt him poking his side.

            “What is it?”

            “Just before… You asked for my help. You told me that you can’t do this alone,” Hoya said.

            “Ah… That…” Woohyun realized he had blurted it out without even thinking about it.

            “Just what is this you were talking about?” Hoya raised an eyebrow.

            “About that—“

            “WOOHYUN!”

Both Woohyun and Hoya snapped their heads to see Sunggyu, followed by other three boys, running towards them. Woohyun stood up slowly with an awkward smile.

            “Sunggyu…”

            “Nam Woohyun are you out of your mind?! Did you fight with him? Whose blood is this?!” Sunggyu almost screeched if it’s not for the fact that they were in front of the teacher’s room.

Woohyun smiled lightly, “Yeah… I must be out of my mind…” He muttered before he casted his gaze downwards.

Sunggyu looked at him worriedly before he noticed Hoya standing a few feet behind Woohyun.

            “Howon,” Sunggyu muttered, slightly glaring at the other boy.

            “Sunggyu,” Hoya said, not paying any attention to Sunggyu’s sharp gaze. Woohyun immediately looked up and patted Sunggyu’s shoulder with a smile.

            “Ah. Hoya helped me. We’re friends now,” Woohyun grinned lightly.

            “Hoya?” Sunggyu raised an eyebrow.

            “He called me that,” Hoya shrugged.

            “Sunggyu! How could you leave us like that—OH GOD WOOHYUN WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!”

Sunggyu looked at Sungyeol shaking Woohyun vigorously, while the other boy tried to calm him down. A sigh of relief escaped Sunggyu’s lips and soon a small smile followed.

Sungjong looked at Sunggyu with a pained expression.

‘I knew it…’

            “C-calm down, Yeol. I assure you I’m not wounded at all!” Woohyun started to feel dizzy at how hard Sungyeol was shaking him.

            “Really? You’re okay?” Sungyeol stared at him with his big eyes. Woohyun nodded firmly.

            “Thank God!” The tall boy exclaimed as he pulled the other boy into a tight hug. Woohyun smiled slightly at the contact he longed for.

            “By the way, Yeol… You told me you recognize me…” Woohyun smiled.

            “Ah, right! Dongwoo told me all about you!” Sungyeol grinned. The smile soon left Woohyun’s lips.

‘I knew it… There’s no way they would remember me…’ Woohyun thought bitterly.