Changjo’s father… molested him.

I can’t ing believe it.

That’s so unfair. I feel so sorry for him. I want to tell him it’s okay, but it doesn’t help. He hides the pain most days, but now that I’m looking for any signs of a fake smile or tense shoulders, I’m noticing them. I don’t know how I didn’t realize them earlier. I’m just lost. This is the sixth night in a row that I’m laying in bed, just trying not to break out in frustrated tears.

Even Sohyun’s noticed that something’s up with me. She never asks what exactly, she always expects me to tell her if she really needs to know. Oh, there’s so much that she needs to know and I can’t tell her.

My parents haven’t said much, luckily they were away the day that Changjo told me, otherwise I probably would have been grounded longer for coming home late.

As for my bruises from the ‘almost mugging’, I keep them covered up with clothes and makeup, nobody besides Changjo and Byunghun know about it.

Changjo and I are still together, and I want to say fortunately, but I really can’t. He just, he’s been very strange lately. It’s like he’s getting angrier and angrier by the day, and I don’t understand why. It seems like he’s about to explode. He hasn’t tried to mess with Sohyun and I anymore, but I’m starting to spend more time with him than her. She hasn’t really noticed though, she’s been distant too. In fact she came into school yesterday with a bruise on her shoulder and she wouldn’t tell me why. I’d like to think she fell again, but that would mean that she’s as clumsy as me, which is usually impossible.

Why is everyone hiding things from me? You know what, it’s probably karma. I’m hiding something monumental from Sohyun, and everybody else is keeping secrets too. I feel really lost, of course, when aren’t I anymore.

I sigh and roll around in my sheets, trying to escape my thoughts and fall asleep.

Although my sweet escape is quickly interrupted by my alarm clock which is blaring oh-so kindly…

“No.” I say, turning it off and crawling out of my sheets slower than a snail. I pull on an oversized shirt and some grey skinny jeans, more than enough to keep my bruises covered, in fact the one on my arm is almost completely healed, barely noticeable. I make my way downstairs, getting greeted by my parents.

“Morning, dear.” My mom says as she’s grabbing a bowl of cereal for herself.
“Morning, where’s Dad?” I ask, noticing his absence.

“He had to go in to work early and he took the car, sorry but I can’t drive you to school today, I’m gonna have to take the bus myself.” She answers with an apologetic look on her face.

“No, it’s ok, I’ll just take the city bus.” I say, trying to avoid encountering Changjo on the school bus.

“Well it leaves soon, you better get going!” Mom says, tossing a cereal bar at me.

Of course I fumble and it hits the floor and breaks into pieces in the packaging. “Alright, I’ll see you, love you.” I say as I pick up the bar and grab a jacket and my shoes and backpack.

“Bye sweetie,” my mom says as she waves me goodbye.

Thank God mom takes the second bus of the day, I’m not sure I’d be able to handle her smothering the entire ride.

Anyway I start my walk down the street, trying to slip on my jacket without dropping anything. I manage to get it on and start eating my cereal bar, which is kind of a production considering it’s in bits.

I sit at the bus stop waiting for the bus to come, I check the time on my phone. I must have missed it considering the time. I check a news app to pass the time and see that there was an accident a half a mile down the road, traffic is moving but slowly. Yes, it’s just running late.

As I’m waiting I’m playing games on my phone, so I don’t notice that another body has joined me on the bench.

“Hello.” The person says.

I turn and say “Hell-...”

“Miss me?” Minsoo asks.

“Um…” Run. Leave. Go. Hide.

“So I heard Changjo told you what happened…” He says, no emotion really showing on his face as he leans back.

“Uh… y-yeah, I-”

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna kick the out of you. Yet. But you need to stop playing with him.” He says, shooting me a look of warning.

“I-I’m sorry I tried to he just-”

“There you go again, blaming everyone else. This is your last warning. You have a week.” He says before he walks into the now arriving bus.

I follow him but stay seated near the very front of the bus, just so I have a quick escape if I need it.

A week. To break it off with Changjo. But at a time like this? I can’t do that.

But I have to, him and Sohyun both. I’ve said this a million times but I’m tired of hurting and hiding. One week. And I’ll fix everything.

As the bus comes to my stop I rush out of the door and down the sidewalk, trying to get away from Minsoo.

And per usual I hear light footsteps fluttering quickly behind me to catch up.

“Yeobo, why are you running?” Sohyun asks, matching my pace.

“Oh uh… no reason,” I slow my pace and catch my breath.

“Ok… So… um… Do you want to go out tonight?” She asks with a cutesy voice.

“T-tonight?” I ask. A date is the exact opposite of what I want right now.

She nods slowly, unsure of my timidness.

“Y-yeah, okay. What do you want to do?” I say hesitantly.

“Uh I don’t know, I was thinking we could so see that new movie with Lee Hyun Woo.” She suggests.

“Sure.” I say with an almost fake smile.

Almost, because I really do want to go out with her.

Just as much as I want to shut myself off from the world.

We walk into the school making small talk and then separate to go to our lockers.

“Hey hyung…” Changjo says as he walks up behind me. His face looks dark, his jaw is tensed and he’s looking everywhere but at me.

“Hi Changjo. Um… listen I have a lot of work to do today so I really can’t talk now.” I laugh nervously and then say, “gotta run!” I’m just trying to get away from him, honestly.

“Wait.” He says and tightly grips my arm, pulling me back into his view. “I wanted to ask you something.” He says, still holding my arm a little too tightly.

“O-ok… what?”

“Go out with me? Tonight?” He asks, he seems unsure of how I’ll answer.

And he should be, “Uh… Tonight? I can’t.”

“Why not?” He asks as he grips my arm tighter and takes a step closer, causing my back to come in contact with my locker.

“B-because I have somewhere to be.”

“With who?”

“S-Sohyun…” I say, my gaze shifting to the floor.

“Of course.” He flicks my arm into the lockers. “You know hyung, I’m getting really tired of this. We’ve never even been on a date, and yet you’re still with me? I-”

“Well see I actually wanted to talk to you about that…” I say trying to hide the quiver in my voice.

“Fine.” His expression flatten and his stance becomes squared off and tense. “Meet me by the gym during lunch.” He walks away, not looking back.

Is… Is that it? He understood? Well now I feel like a .

And Ow! My arm! He grabbed it right where the mugger kneeled on it. I mean I’m not an idiot, he obviously didn’t mean it, he just doesn’t know his own strength.

I walk into my first class of the day feeling the same loneliness I have for a couple weeks now. My best friend isn’t in this class with me. I don’t have anyone to vent to anymore. I guess it’s when you need friends the most that you take them for granted. And now that I don’t have any, I feel like I’m carrying everything on my shoulders.

And I should be actually, because I’m the one who got myself into this mess.

It just that I’m also going to have to get myself out of it.

“I missed you, man.” Chunji says, sitting next to Sohyun and I at lunch.

“Ch-Chunji? What are you doing here?” I ask, completely confused.

The intruder swings his arm around me with gumption and says, “Well I was in the neighborhood.” His voice becomes slow and coy as he speaks his next sentence, eyeing Sohyun, “Thought I’d drop by…”

“Um, well I’ll see you later?” I end the sentence with a higher pitch, hoping he gets the not-so-subtle hint to leave us the hell alone before I knock him on his . Well find someone to knock him on his for me.

“Nahh. I wanna hang out. At least for lunch. C’mon.” He grips my shoulder roughly, not enough to leave a bruise, but almost.

I throw his arm off my shoulder. “Whatever.”

“So uh… How’s things with Changjo-ya?” Chunji asks, earning a glare from me.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean how’s your buddy?” He asks with a smirk.

What.

Did.

That.

Motherer.

Just.

Say.

“W-what?” Sohyun chokes out, looking at me with wide-eyes as I sit and stare at Chunji in disbelief.

“Oh didn’t you know? Your boyfie here’s been-” I cover the ’s mouth and drag him out far into the hall with me.

“What in the living do you think you’re doing?” I say with as much hate and venom in my voice as I can muster and push him into the lockers.

He chuckles, “I’m just messing with you.”

“Well you better ing stop or I swear I’ll-”

“You swear you’ll what, Mr. Yoo?” The principal, Mr. Lee, asks from behind me.

I turn around and perform a perfect 90-degree bow. “U-uh… nothing sir, I was just-”

Chunji interrupts, “He was just saying that, Mr…”

“Lee, Lee Andy, young man.”

“Well he didn’t mean it we were just joking around.” He says with a bright smile, something I never knew he could create.

“Are you sure? My student here wasn’t trying to harm you was he?” Mr. Lee asks with a stern look on his face, a far change from his usually happy and youthful demeanor.

He chuckles, holding his toothy grin. “No sir, I promise.”

“Alright, well I’m not going to see another scene like that again, am I, Mr. Yoo.”

“No sir.” I say. He nods and then turns to walk back to his office. “I swear to God I’m going to-”

“What are you gonna do, Ricky? Get mugged? Get called names by your homophobic best friend? Miss out on a chance to either Changjo or Sohyun?”

“W-what? How do you know all that?” I ask, he knows so much that I’ve hardly told anyone.

“You realize I am friends with Changjo and Minsoo, right? Guess what? Sohyun and I have known each other since she was born. I know where to get my information”

You have got to be ing kidding me.

I huff loudly and storm away, not giving a damn about lunch.

I walk into the gym, trying to be as far away from my problems as I possibly can while not leaving the school. I try not to even remind myself of the fact that Chunji could spill about Changjo to Sohyun any second.

“Hey hyung.” Changjo says with a smile from one of the seats in the back.

“Oh. Hey Changjo.” I respond my voice noticeably shaky.

“Now,” He begins, standing up and becoming tense, his face becoming a stone wall. “What do you want to say?”

Oh . I completely forgot.

“U-um…” I start, my voice still breaking. “I-I don’t think…”

“You don’t think what?” He says, his gaze shifting to the floor. I notice his jaw muscles swell.

“I’m just- Changjo I-” I step closer to him, “I think we need to-”

He grabs me by the arms and pulls me close and kisses me. Salty tears drip from his closed eyes and into our kiss. This is all too familiar. The night in the park.

I push him away, breaking our connection. “Ch-changjo… We can’t-”

He shoves me, causing me to slide to the gym floor, causing a raw area to form on my right arm. “Ow! Changjo!” I shout, my voice much louder than the muffled bang caused by my body hitting the floor.

His eyes are glazed over and his whole body looks like a block of steel. “I told you I won’t believe you. I can’t.” He says through gritted teeth.

He wipes tears from his eyes and leaves the room.

I work through the rest of the school day like a zombie, although I avoid Sohyun, Changjo, Chunji, and Minsoo like the plague. I spend the day trying to process everything. It seems I’ve had to do a lot of that lately. Chunji and Sohyun are old friends, and Chunji is definitely not someone I can trust. Changjo… shoved me? That isn’t… That doesn’t count as…

Or does it?

As I walk home from school I stop by the cafe. Of course I would go to Niel at a time like this. But I can’t help but think, is it really a good idea to trust Minsoo’s best friend?

Well I guess I won’t be able to find out, he isn’t here. I sit down at the usual table and bury my head in my hands.

“Looking for someone?” A voice, Byunghun actually, asks.

I look up at him, “Yeah, where’s Niel?”

“He had to go to the hospital, he’s in pretty bad shape right now.” Byunghun says with a reluctant look on his face.

“Oh…” My voice trails off as I stare into space.

“Is something wrong?”

“Hm? Oh uh, no. I’m just… tired.”

“Uh huh sure… Why don’t you come eat dinner at my place tonight?” Byunghun asks with a smile.

“What?”

“I’m inviting you over for dinner. That’s something that new friends do, you know.” He says smartly.

“O-okay.”

A/N: So~... Long time no update huh? Sorry about that. I've been dealing with writer's block lately and I'm finding it a bit hard to stick to the plan that I have for this story. From here on out I'm going to try to eliminate plot-holes and just try to fix up the story as a whole.

So yes I'll probably be having another session of editing soon keke

But I really like where everything is going and how it's all playing out. Hopefully some of it comes out as a surprise! ^^

Anyway, thanks for commenting and subscribing! It means so much when you guys tell me how I'm doing and I just wanted to take the time to truly thank those of you who have. I find it amazing that my story is interesting enough to attract all of you. I know I don't have as many subscribers as the top stories. But I really to cherish each and every one of you!

Okay, I need to stop now hehe See you next update~! ^3^