~*~

“Let’s just walk together Junhong,” Jongup suggested.

“Tss. No thanks. Go to Youngjae hyung already. You don’t wanna be late for some unlimited rounds of Starcraft,” Junhong said bitterly.

Jongup laughed at him. “C’mon you giant baby! You complain too much!”

“I wonder what type of homily dad’s gonna preach to me tonight,” Junhong said amusingly.

“Maybe the ‘Chapter: Don’t slack at school Verse: Stay away from Starcraft’ homily,” Jongup said then they both exploded in laughter.

Jongup pulled Junhong on to the streets as they make their way through the thick crowd.

“The market’s pretty packed today,” Junhong noted.

“Maybe some super cheap sale or something,” Jongup replied casually.

“Please! I don’t have enough to live through the day!” a woman was begging.

“Stop your drama! I don’t care!” a man shouted back at her.

“Please!” the woman begged again. Only this time, the woman was sobbing.

‘Oh god, poor lady’

‘That man is scary’

‘Somebody stop him!’

The two boys stopped at their tracks. Junhong immediately turned to the scene.

A woman old enough to be their grandmother was on her knees being pulled by the hair by a man only a few years younger than Junhong’s father.

Junhong clenched his fists at the sight.

Jongup on the other hand tore his gaze away from the scene.

“Please! My son hasn’t sent me money in a week!” the woman hasn’t stop sobbing. But the man wasn’t amused with the sobs and excuses. He gripped the old lady’s hair tighter. Making her wail out a cry of pain.

“HEY!” Junhong suddenly shouted from the crowd.

Jongup’s small eyes widened.

“Yah Junhong-ah. Don’t be stupid!” Jongup whispered to him.

The man turned to them. Jongup swallowed while Zelo’s fists curl up into a ball and his ears are getting red.

“Haha. What are you gonna do about this, kid?” he pulled the woman’s hair again, making her scream louder and making Junhong angrier.

“Let her go!” Zelo shouted, sounding a bit intimidating but not enough to scare the man off.

“Junhong-ah, think about what you’re doing!” Jongup whispered again.

“Shut up hyung. You can obviously see he’s harassing her!” Junhong half shouted at him.

“I can see, Junhong. Everybody can! Just let the authorities do it!” Jongup said in a calmer tone.

“My dad is an authority. Now let her go!” he shouted to the man.

“Tsk. So what? You think that’ll make me back off?” the man asked and let the woman’s hair go only to approach Junhong and Jongup.

Jongup swallowed and tried to pull Junhong away but Junhong wouldn’t move.

“You’re a brave little brat,” the man whispered to Junhong when they were just inches apart.

“Little? Tss. I’m even taller than you!” Junhong shouted while grinning widely.

The man’s gaze turned to Junhong’s name tag.

He huffed. “Choi Junhong?”

The man strongly gripped his name tag. It was so sudden that Junhong almost fell to the ground if it weren’t for Jongup’s grip on his uniform.

“Yeah. And I assume you’re Mr. Lee Byunghun?” Zelo had this grin on his face. That same look his father gives out when arresting a criminal.

The man switches his gaze to the janitor’s uniform he was wearing.

“You little—“ he took Junhong by the collar. The man then grins.

“So what if you know my name?” he asked.

“Nothing much. Just welcome Detective Choi Woosik at your door when he comes with a Warrant of Arrest for Harassment,” Junhong gives out another silly grin and Jongup stares at him.

But at a matter of seconds, Junhong was at the ground touching the edge of his bruised lips. The man had punched him hard for him to lay flat on his .

“You punk!” the man yelled.

“Back off!” Jongup steps in front of Junhong and gives the man a blow on the face with his fist.

Bystanders then helped to restrain the man from attacking the two boys. They have already helped the old lady while the man was busy with the boys.

~*~

Daehyun was standing in the crowd as Jongup punched the man across the face.

He was staring intently at Junhong when he was trying to blow the steam off the man when his eyes met Jongup. Daehyun knew who the two boys were. Only he didn’t know that they would get in to this kind of situation. Who would think that way anyway? They were just Sophomores who pays more attention to Starcraft than their own homeworks.

As his eyes scanned Jongup, he noticed the way his eyes widened at the sight of his friend helping some stranger from getting hurt. The way his expression came out a bit more scared than surprised for his friend’s bravery made Daehyun intrigued with the boy instead of the situation.

A swift change of expression in Jongup is where Daehyun’s curiosity went to. The way his expression seemed to be scared then changes to being furious when Junhong was punched in the face was just intriguing. It was as if Junhong getting hurt triggered Jongup to become somehow violent.

When the crowd surrounded the guilty man, Daehyun didn’t take a second to get to the boys.

“Daehyun hyung!” Jongup exclaimed as he help Junhong stand up.

“What are you doing here hyung?” Junhong asked with his fingers still on his bruised lips.

Daehyun lifted the plastic bag filled with goods.

“Oh,” Jongup just said then scratched his head.

The three looked back at the man being dragged away by some men.

“You’ve got some guts,” Daehyun suddenly said.

The two looked at each other with wide eyes. Daehyun immediately sighed in frustration as he understood the boys’ expression.

“Hey I’m not mute. I just don’t like talking that much,” he said then walked on ahead.

“Hey hyung wait up!” the two caught up with him. “We didn’t mean it that way hyung,”

“Three ice creams please,” Daehyun smiled at the lady and handed the ice cream to the two boys.

“This will help those bruises somehow,” the boys’ eyes glimmered at the sight of the tasty treat. They grabbed it willingly from their hyung.

“Hey hyung, are you headed home?” Jongup asked.

Daehyun just nodded.

“Let’s just walk Junhong home then I’ll go directly to your dorm,” Jongup said excitedly. Daehyun nodded in response.

“He’s not talking again,” Junhong whispered.

“Just let him be. He was like that since the day we met him,” Jongup whispered back.

Junhong just shrugged.

~*~

Hyosung saw everything.

The man hurting the old lady, Junhong getting grabbed by the collar and getting punched and Jongup punching the man.

But she didn’t hear anything.

She was inside one of the stores paying no attention to the fuss outside. She would pass by eventually and see what’s happening. But she couldn’t hear anything. Not when she’s wearing her earrings shaped earphones.

The cry of the lady made Hyosung uncomfortable and jumpy. The reason why she wore those earphones. She wears them each time she hears something unpleasing. She wears them to get away from the noise, not to listen to music.

~*~

“This is for your safety Ms. Han,” Sunhwa rolled her eyes.

“Don’t bother Detective,” she answered sternly.

“But Ms. Han—“ she immediately turned her phone off.

“Be careful? Tss. That was 5 years ago. I didn’t do anything. Why should I be careful?” she hissed.

---

Hold on tight please :3