“…and yeah…I really like you Kyungsoo oppa…”

The girl hung her head low and hides her face behind her long fringe, but Kyungsoo could see her ears flush pink. She’s really pretty, he mused, with long lashes and shoulder-length silky hair that looks golden when it catches the sunlight.

They were at the rooftop, where she had invited him to eat lunch with her earlier in her love letter. She peeks up timidly to gaze at Kyungsoo beneath her lashes to see the apologetic smile plastered in his handsome face.

“Juyoung-ah, I’m really sorry,” He said sincerely.

Kyungsoo knows that Juyoung knows she will only be turned down, just like the rest of the other girls that had the guts to spill their feelings to him; after all, Kyungsoo will always only smile sadly when anyone confesses.

But that didn’t stop her from trying harder to get accepted by the school’s so called prince charming. “P-please, just give me a chance. I – I promise you will grow to like me when you start dating me! Just give it two weeks and you will definitely fall in love!”

Kyungsoo sighs. “Juyoung-“

“We don’t have to kiss or anything – just let me be your girlfriend…”

“Juyoung-ssi, I’m really sorry-“

“Just for two weeks? A week? Can’t you give it a try? I-“

“He said he’s not interested with you, don’t you think you should just stop begging now?”

Both Kyungsoo and Juyoung turn their heads immediately towards the voice that came from the door of the rooftop. A tall boy with sun-kissed skin and sharp eyes came into view; his uniform is not tucked in his pants and his tie is nowhere to be seen. He scratches his head lazily before he walks to the edge of the building and lays on the ground, folding his arms behind his head to use it as a pillow. When the boy closes his eyes, Kyungsoo turns to look at Juyoung panickly.

“A- It’s not like that…. It’s not that I’m not interested in you; it’s just that I really don’t think I’m good enough for such a nice girl like you. There are lots of better looking guys out there compared to me…”

Juyoung smiles and pats Kyungsoo’s shoulders lightly. “It’s okay oppa, you don’t have to listen to what he says, just ignore him. And I already know anyway that you would reject me,”

Kyungsoo smiles apologetically, a part of him relieved that Juyoung doesn't burst out crying broken-hearted like some girls do when they confess to him.

“Just don’t ever say that you’re not good enough and you’re not good looking, okay? You know you’re every girl’s dream boy and all the guys want to be like you, right?” Juyoung says jokingly.

The strange tan boy from before snorts mockingly from the sidelines at Juyoung’s remark, but when Kyungsoo turns to glance at him, he still has his eyes closed peacefully, still enjoying the heat of the sun. Kyungsoo swears he saw the tiniest of a smile playing on the boy’s lips.

Juyoung stomps her feet angrily – cutely – Kyungsoo thinks when her cheeks turn pink from the hot weather. “Yah! Kim Jongin! What the hell do you mean? You know you want to be like Kyungsoo too right? Just admit it, you coward!”

Kyungsoo grabs her arms instantly and pulls her back to shut .

“It’s not nice to talk to someone like that,” Kyungsoo murmurs low so that the boy doesn’t hear. Juyoung deflates and juts out her bottom lip into a pout.

“Oppa, but he’s being rude to you. He doesn’t agree that you’re really good looking. Aish, that kid…”

“I don’t really care if people think I’m good looking or not. Juyoung, why don’t we head back to class since break is going to be over?”

Juyoung still has her pout on but Kyungsoo ignores her and takes her hand to lead her back to the rooftop entrance. Just before he close the heavy door behind him, he takes a brief glance at the figure laying under the sunlight.

The boy looks up; catching Kyungsoo’s stare and smirks lazily at him.

---

“Jongin, come down here right now!”

Jongin rolls his eyes and dog eared the page of the horror comic he is reading. He climbs down from his bunk bed and pulls his oversized boxers up when they sag down to his waist – after all, they were his much bigger older brother’s, not his. His parents did not bother spend their money on his needs – They never did.

Jongin is the unwanted child in their family, he was never meant to happen. They have planned for only one child – not two. It was supposed to be only Jangho, until Jongin came along into their family unexpectedly.

Jongin never sees his parents smile as bright at him like how they did to Jangho, but it didn’t matter, because even though they didn’t, Jangho still does. Jangho treats him just like how any elder brother would to their younger siblings and Jongin is kind of relieved with that.

When Jongin opens his bedroom door, his mother is already standing there, arms crossed across her chest and her eyebrows knitted into a frown.

“Why are you not at school, yet? It’s eight already! Don’t be late; I’m not paying your education bills for nothing!”

Jongin rubs his eyes sleepily and grabs an unfolded towel on top of his drawer and slings it over his shoulders, dragging his feet across the wooden floorboards as he proceeds to the bathroom. His mother huffs at his manners and strides crossly to the kitchen. Jangho comes out of the bathroom just when Jongin is about to enter. He gives his brother a small smile and Jongin sends him one also.

The public bus is crowded and stuffy at Tuesday mornings and Jongin hates the fact that he has to stand up the whole journey to school because most of the seats are already occupied. The air is hot and humid and his uniform sticks uncomfortably to his sweaty back. He fans himself furiously with his hand as sweat runs down the side of his forehead. He curses inwardly at the lack of ventilation. It’s not even noon yet for god’s sake.

When the bus reaches the school’s bus stop, he climbs off with the other students that were in the same bus as him into the glare of the sunlight and he shields his eyes with his palm. The bus stop is not very far from school, but in order to get there, he has to pass the mouth of a narrow alleyway.

When Jongin passes, there were four boys occupying the alleyway, cigarettes between their fingers. They are wearing the same school uniform like he is. The ringlets of smoke from the cigarette fades to the air and the strong smell of nicotine scratches at Jongin’s lungs when he inhales, making him cough.

The sound reaches their ears and they caught Jongin coughing at the entrance of the alleyway, their eyes sharp as they catch their first prey of the day. One of them – the big one – grips his collar and drags him into the dark place.

“Well, well…" one of them drawls, most probably the leader of the gang. "Look at what piece of we have here,” He croons sickly in Jongin’s ear. A mocking smile sits on his lips and Jongin moves away to free himself from these school gangsters. God, all he wants is to just stay away from troubles like this is that too much to ask for? The leader grabs the back of his collar just when Jongin was about to run for his own sake.

“Where are you going you little crap?! I’m not done with you yet,” he barks, throwing Jongin against the wall roughly. His back hits the bricks with a dull thud and he winces. All four kids surround him and one of them, the one with many piercings on his left ear, stood in front of him. He smirks and rubs the fingers of his right hand.

“Lend us some money, and we’ll return it to you tomorrow…..maybe.”

Jongin stares at the taller kid for a second or two, before reaching to his back pockets and handing some notes reluctantly to the kid’s waiting hand.

It’s okay… as long as you give them what they want, you’ll stay out of trouble, his mind reassures him. He watches as the kid with piercings count the money in his hand while he takes a few secret glances for any signs of opportunities to run away.

The kid looks up to him suddenly and pushes him against the wall. “You think this is enough? We need more,” he snarls in Jongin’s face, patting the notes on his chin mockingly.

“That’s all I have with me,” Jongin says honestly, eyes staring just as challenging at the boy. The boy snorts and turns his head towards their leader.

“Hyung, what should we do with him? He’s so worthless.”

The leader of the group smirks and cracks his knuckles, moving closer towards Jongin and the boy. “Then let’s do some little warm ups, shall we?”

“Sounds like great fun.” The kid with the pierced ear replies with giddy in his voice.

The first blow lands on Jongin’s right cheek, Jongin could practically feel the corner of his lips split and taste the strange tang of blood on his tongue. The second one is a kick that lands on his stomach, so hard that Jongin stumbles back and falls onto the concrete grounds, gasping for needed air. The third, fourth and fifth, Jongin doesn’t remember where but all he could feel now is pain all over is body.

It’s so easy to crush them. To crush them all. To fight back and do the exact same thing they did to him. But he couldn’t find the will power to do so and something in his mind screams Don’t do it.

Jongin doesn’t feel the eleventh blow like how he should have because suddenly there is a voice somewhere over him that comes from the mouth of the alleyway. Jongin is too tired and in such pain to lift his head and see who it is.

“Stop,” he could hear the newcomer say to the four kids.

The voice is soft but firm, low and threatening. Jongin rakes his whole brain in search of who the voice belongs to because he knows he’s heard it somewhere.

“Stop doing whatever you’re doing to him and go to school. The bell is about to ring,” The new stranger said, so soft yet so demanding.

“H-hyung, b-but we were just about to teach him some lessons. He also seems to keep checking you out lately, this ert,” the leader of the school bullies stammered. Jongin scoffed weakly at the lie and the leader glares at him.

“It’s okay Seongho-ah. But it would be really nice if you could just attend school today, I don’t want you and your friends to be late,” The stranger said.

The leader of the gang – Seongho – bows awkwardly at the direction of the stranger and flees out the alleyway, his gang of friends scrambling behind him.

When the place turns silent and the only sound there is are Jongin’s raged breaths, he tries to turn his head to the direction of the entrance of the alleyway, but the pain on the left part of his stomach prevents him from doing so. There was the sound of footsteps coming close to him and Jongin only lays there helplessly (Kind of anticipating to see what kind of face the stranger has that managed to scare off Seongho and his friends away).

A soft finger brushes against his damp forehead to sweep the fringe off his eyes and Jongin finally sees the stranger who is squatting down in front of him.

He in a breath when he sees his face. It was the boy he saw yesterday at the rooftop with that y first year girl. The boy that everyone at school admires.

Jongin stares back at Do Kyungsoo who smiles gently down at him.

A/N:  Second chapter is up! Hope you guys will enjoy this :) and tell me what you think! :D