Chapter 15

The hallways were filled with the roar of students. Some were on their way to class just like Jaejoong, while others were spending their remaining minutes hanging out at their lockers, chatting with friends. Jaejoong didn't have any classes with any of his friends in his next class so he always had to walk to that class alone. He noticed that he was soon going to pass by the dreaded locker. The owner was a popular girl but that wasn't what made Jaejoong nervous as he passed by it everyday. It was the particular student that always visited her. He saw in his sight the back of a boy he had gotten closer to over the past two years. His body started to sweat and he began to regret wearing that sweater. The girl finished talking to her friend as she shut her locker. The moment she turned away to leave, so did the visitor. 

Their gazes met and Jaejoong halted his step, the person behind him bumping into him.

"Seriously?" The angry student scoffed before passing Jaejoong, mumbling under his breath.

Jaejoong ignored it, his gaze never leaving a certain boy walking toward him.

Just as the muscular male came within five feet, Jaejoong looked away and started to walk ahead, pretending that he never saw him. 

As he got closer he saw the boy's feet and tried to go around him, but the boy stepped in front of him. 

Keeping his gaze down he went the other way, but the boy's shoes were in front of him again.

Biting his lip, to hide back his smile, he put on a mask of frustration as he looked up.

The boy in front of him smiled as if he did nothing wrong.

Jaejoong tried to go left, but the other boy moved with him.

"Stop, I have to get to class." Jaejoong tried hard not to laugh, but his smile gave him away. He tried right.

"So do I." The boy did the same.

"Move." Jaejoong tried left again.

"I'm trying but you keep getting in my way." He laughed.

"Yunho! Come on, I'm serious." Jaejoong huffed as he looked at Yunho with a serious face, failing when he smiled as soon as Yunho mimicked him.

"Your such a--" Jaejoong cut himself off as he put his fists up and shielded himself with his arms and pushed Yunho in the chest, successfully getting past him when the jock's body turned. He continued to walk to his class only turning around when he reached the door fifteen feet away, seeing Yunho looking back at him with a half smile before shaking his head and walking off. 

Jaejoong's heart fluttered, and he felt light in his chest. He walked into the class with a blush on his cheeks. 

That happened on multiple occasions throughout the year and each time it made Jaejoong feel all tingly inside. He could never stop smiling.

They always had at least one class together every year. He remembered always getting annoyed whenever Yunho asked him for help on the homework. At first it was fine, but then he just kept asking over and over again. When he asked Jaejoong for his number, Jaejoong was ecstatic but now he is a bit regretful. He especially hated when Yunho only talked to him to ask about the homework.

It was 10:30pm and Jaejoong had just finished him homework. He fell down onto the bed behind him, a content smile on his face as he fisted the sheets under his palms, bringing them up to his nose for a sniff. Freshly washed sheets that smelled like clean linen. He smiled as he rolled over and wrapped himself up like a caterpillar in a cocoon. 

His phone buzzed against the nightstand and he untangled his hand out from the mass of sheets and reached for it, his hand smacking against the wood a few times before finding the phone.

He brought it into his cocoon and flipped it open, the bright screen illuminating the inside; It was like being in a movie theater.

His heart fluttered when he saw that he had a message from Yunho. He eagerly clicked the button to read it.

Yunho: 'Hey hows it going?'

Jaejoong: 'I'm good, you?'

Yunho: 'Not well cuz i dont kno how to do the hw.'

Jaejoong: 'Did you not pay attention in class?'

Yunho: 'Of course not ;P'

Jaejoong: 'Then too bad. Figure it out yourself.'

Yunho: 'Come on Jaejoong~~~ >~<'

Jaejoong: 'No.'

Yunho: 'Come onnnn~~~~'

Jaejoong: 'No!'

Yunho: 'COME ONNNNNNNN~~~~~~~ PLEASEEEEEE >~<'

Jaejoong: 'Fine.'

Yunho: 'Yay!.... Btw what was the homework? ^~^'

Jaejoong groaned before he threw his phone to the side, landing on the floor.

“Well look at what we have here.” A voice echoed in his room. He sat up to see Yunho standing in the doorway.

"Yunho?! What are you doing in my house?!"

"Hey! Wake up you little !" Yunho screamed.

"What?"

He stomped over to him, gripping his collar. "I said, WAKE UP!" Yunho's screamed as his figure blurred. Suddenly the entire room started to fade.

Jaejoong's body shook as he woke up in Heechul's grip, his upper body pulled up. He was face to face with the devil.

He must've fallen asleep, he didn't even hear the ending bell ring.

As soon as Heechul saw his eyes open in fear, he smiled, letting go of his hold on him. Jaejoong stopped himself from falling back completely with his elbows.

"I didn't see you at lunch today." Heechul put on a pout. "Did you try to see Yunho? Or were you here the entire time doing who knows what?" He asked seriously.

"I didn't do anything wrong! Please just leave me alone!" Jaejoong said, it came out louder than he wanted. He felt his heart stop when Heechul stared at him with raging eyes. 

"Did you just raise your voice at me?!" Heechul screamed, making Jaejoong flinch. His body started to shake uncontrollably. Jaejoong's eyes darted to the side, looking for a chance to escape. There was no one in sight, just like before. They always had the perfect timing. The back of Jaejoong's eyes started to sting and he blinked continuously to get rid of the tears. He hoped the bullies didn't see.

Heechul began to laugh uncontrollably, holding his belly as his head hollered to the sky. He seemed to have tears in his eyes too, but he definitely wasn't sad. The three boys behind him, his goons, stared at him weirdly before joining in a couple of seconds later with an awkward forced laugh. 

Jaejoong could only watch in fear, what was the boy going to do? Why was he laughing? Was he thinking of horrible things to do to him? Jaejoong turned to look around, his head quickly scanning the area before he periodically looked back at Heechul.

"You little wimp! Are you crying?!" Heechul finally looked back at him, wiping the tears with a sigh. 

Jaejoong immediately whipped his head back to meet Heechul's gaze but he wasn't fast enough. He watched the bully's expression change instantly, his eyebrows furrowing in anger. Heechul had caught him. He actually missed the boy laughing because he definitely wasn't as intimidating as he is when he's angry.

The bully looked to the last place Jaejoong looked to.

The parking lot. 

"Trying to leave us huh?" Heechul bit his lip, shaking his head in disbelief. "You little !" Heechul screamed before he reached for Jaejoong again, this time Jaejoong didn't wait for it. He immediately pulled back, his feet jabbing at the ground below him as he forced himself up and away.

He ran towards the parking lot but immediately changed his direction when he saw Donghae get there first, blocking his exit. 

He made a run for it in the opposite direction, without knowing where he was going. He just wanted to get away. His feet stopped on their own accord and his eyes widened in fear at what was in front of him. 

The forest. 

His chest hurt and he felt like he couldn't breathe; it felt like his lungs were ripped out, leaving him hollow. He tooked fast breaths to try to gain more air but it was in vain. Flashbacks of the dreaded things that happened in there played in his mind and he couldn't feel his limbs. His knees collapsed under him, his hands gripped the dirt as he dry heaved. He couldn't think of anything else but trying to get rid of the horrid thoughts. He completely forgot that he was supposed to be running.

The bullies easily caught up to him and kicked him down. His entire body smacking the ground, his clothes mixing with the dirt. 

"Sometimes I feel bad about being so mean to you. But then you always give me a reason to change my mind." Heechul smirked before sending another kick to the boy, hitting him straight in gut, eliciting a groan from the boy's chapped lips.

Jaejoong tried to shield himself, his arms up, but it wasn't enough. Six legs kept assaulting him from all corners. Each jabbing him from different angles. His body moved like a snake, back and forth, but he couldn't slither away.

Heechul put his hand in the air to stop the blows. He bent down to Jaejoong's level, pulling the boy's bruised chin up to face him, looking him straight in the eyes.

"You know," Heechul started, he was the only person in Jaejoong's view as he was close enough to see every detail in his face. The boy was in fact beautiful. He realized why so many people had crushes on him. "Yunho tried to get us to stop hurting you," He laughed. "But that was probably just because he wanted to do the dirty work himself."

Suddenly a crack resounded in the air followed by a scream, suddenly a crack resounded in the air and a sharp pain shot up Jaejoong's leg, he screamed as something heavy fell on it. 

He couldn't feel his foot. 

"Too bad we won't let him do it alone." 

He immediately looked down and saw a huge rock next to his swollen ankle, Sungmin standing above it as his hands were still out, stuck in the same position as when he slammed the rock down on his limb.

Jaejoong let out a bone chilling scream before Heechul shot down and punched him, sending his face into the dirt.

"Shut up!" He screamed, checking the area around them. "You are such a little cry baby." He looked back at the boy, his eyes teary as his hand covered his red cheek. Blood trailed down his cut lip and Heechul smiled. 

"You actually look prettier like this." Heechul searched his pocket before taking out his phone. Clicks and flashes filled the air. "I'm just going to keep some as a trophy." 

He admired the picture, scrolling through them until Yunho's popped up. He took a shot of him walking in the halls. His blood boiled and he bit his tongue. He put his phone back in his pocket and grabbed the crying boy's collar. How could this guy try to steal Yunho from him? He wanted to see Jaejoong hurt, he wanted him in pain. 

"Just the sight of you makes me angry. You and your stupid face," Heechul hissed as he looked into the boy's big eyes. He hated it. His hand reached up and pinched the skin under Jaejoong's eye, tearing the skin. 

"If only I could blind you! If only I could make it so that you couldn't see him again!" Heechul's grip tightened as he held himself back. "You don't deserve to see him! but I can't go that far. Not yet anyways. But I can do something else." He fished for something in his pocket, the object flashed as the sun's reflection shinned off it.

A knife.

"I've been wanting to do this for so long. You don't deserve that pretty face." The knife was raised high and Jaejoong shut his eyes. 

Thud.

Suddenly Jaejoong was pushed back and he gasped as his back hit the grass.

"What the do you think you're doing?!" Someone screamed. Jaejoong looked up gasping as he saw Yunho, Heechul in Jaejoong's previous position as it looked like Yunho had no intent to lessen his tight grip on the boy's collar.

"Y-yunho," Heechul gulped. "What are you doing?" 

"What am I doing? What are you doing?!" He screamed in the boy's face, his lips just centimeters apart from the bully and Jaejoong's breath hitched. "I’m washing my hands in the bathroom and see you holding a knife to Jaejoong through the window!" 

"Y-yunho, calm down, you have the wrong idea. I was-"

"Really? I have the wrong idea? What I see is you trying to hurt my boyfriend! Am I correct?!"

"Boyfriend?!!" The four boys screamed in unison. Jaejoong gasped as he tried to say it too, but it came out silent as he mouthed the word. The soundless word bringing a slight twitch to his upper lip.

"Yunho. You love me! What are you talking about? He can't be your boyfriend! He's nothing but a piece of trash probably used by every guy in the school already," Heechul explained, his eyes reflecting desperation. 

Yunho jerked his collar harder this time, a deathly glare driven into his soul.

"Get this through your stupid little skull!" He hissed." I will never love a piece of like you! Never in a million years!"

"Yunho! Wh-what are you saying?!" Heechul panted as he brought his hands up, asking for comfort as they trailed up the man's muscular arms, soon trying to caress Yunho's face. He was shoved onto the ground as Yunho pushed him off completely.

"Don't you dare touch me with your filthy hands!" Yunho hollered before roughly grabbing onto Heechul’s collar, bringing their faces within an inch apart. 

Heechul’s face lightened up just a bit with a slight twinge of his upper lip as he thought Yunho had a quick change of heart. He brought his hands back up to caress Yunho’s muscular arms before they were harshly swatted away.

“No!” Yunho spat. “You don’t get to touch me. You don’t deserve the privilege. What you do deserve is a face full of dirt and a heck of a ton more beatings than you ever gave Jaejoong. The only thing stopping me is that I can’t do it in front of him, or it might scare him with all the torturous things I would do to you.” He stated with a vicious tone; his every word becoming poison as it sunk into Heechul’s mind. “Get this into your tiny little brain, I will NEVER love you. Pigs are much better looking than you, heck even dirt is less filthy. But that boy over there,” Yunho pointed at Jaejoong with a side smile. “Will always be, inside and out, more beautiful than anything else in this world. Especially you.” Yunho threw the teary eyed bully onto the ground with a rough shove. “You can’t even compare.” He smirked, before looking back at Jaejoong.

Heechul gasped as the other three rushed to his aid. 

Yunho marched over to Jaejoong, his hands wrapped around the boy, pulling him close. His grip tightened around his boyfriend’s arm as he fought off the urge to shove the bullies, especially their whiny leader, into the hardest and most bug-infested tree he could find. 

"You better listen and listen well." He pointed to the boys with a stern finger.