Chapter Eight

The Rogue Hero
Please log in to read the full chapter

Even a day apart from her felt like an eternity.  Knowing that she’s not coming back made me feel even worse.

None of my friends could comfort me, and all the girls coming up to me pretending to care about my “loss” annoyed me.  I know they’re faking it because they want to butter me up and hopefully date them next. The nerve of some people.

Everything feels so empty without her.  I didn’t know what to do, it feels like a part of me is missing and I can’t find it.  The warmth of my other half was gone, leaving me cold and hollow. The only thing I want to do is scream, but I can’t with everyone watching me.

“It’ll be okay, hyung,” Sehun tries comforting me.  “It’ll pass like there was nothing at all.”

“How can you even say that, stupid?” Baekhyun scolds, thumping his head.  “He obviously still cares about her, why would you think that would make him better?”

“She wasn’t just some girl either, she was special,” Kai frowns, his head laying on the table to mirror me.  I would normally find his moping funny since it wasn’t even his girlfriend.

Kyungsoo places a gentle hand on my back.  “I know how much she meant to you, hyung.  If she had stayed, I think she would have actually changed this place.  We’re here for you, always.”

“Thanks, Soo,” I mutter.  My lunch sits in front of me, pushed away because of my lack of appetite.

“But you have to eat, going on a hunger strike won’t do you any favors,” Baekhyun adds stiffly, almost like a mother reprimanding a child.  “Grieve and everything all you want, but dying from hunger won’t solve your problems.”

I slowly roll up to a slouched sitting position.  “I’m just not hungry. I’m gonna take a walk.” I rise out of my seat, carrying my untouched lunch to the nearest garbage can and leaving the cafeteria.

Sticking my hands in my pockets, I shuffle through the hallways aimlessly.  I hear laughter down the hall, and I turn my head to investigate the noise. Kris and his stupid friends are obnoxiously guffawing about some stupid thing or something like that.  I quickly turn away and leave before they see me. If I stay any longer, I’ll be forced to talk to them, then I’ll end up punching Kris in the face. And then I’ll get detention. Oh, the irony.

I don’t realize that I had entered an empty classroom until I hear voices I don’t recognize.  I look up, meeting the questioning eyes of Minseok and MinJi, the pair sitting across from each other at a desk near the window.  I stand awkwardly in the open door, my hand on the doorknob. I guess old habits die hard.  “I-I’m sorry for barging in, I didn’t mean to,” I apologize awkwardly.

“No, you’re fine,” MinJi waves off.

“Why don’t you come sit with us for a sec,” Minseok offers.

Not wanting to go back to miserably wandering the halls, I pull up a seat next to them, sitting on it backwards.

“We know Hyerin meant a lot to you,” MinJi says somberly.  “She was a good friend to us too.”

“I don’t know how to thank her after she took care of the Juniors for me,” Minseok adds with a nod.  “I just wish I could’ve helped her before it was too late.”

“It’s not your fault, guys.  She did what she believed was right.”  I interlace my fingers on the back of the chair and rest my head on my arms.  “There’s always consequences for your actions, I guess, even if they have the best intentions.”

“But she was doing the right thing,” Minseok pushes, “It’s Kris Wu who’s the biggest bully.  I can’t believe that snake.”

“I know,” I agree, clenching my fists.  “I just wanna go up to him and-” I swing my fist through the air.

Minseok laughs.  “Just like Hyerin did to HwaYeon, right?  Man, that was really one of her best moments.  It’s a shame she got in trouble for it.”

I smile bitterly.  “Yeah… She really had more balls than me.”

“Not true,” MinJi shakes her head.  “You sure had guts when you got the entire cafeteria to call out HwaYeon that day she was trying to humiliate me.  I’ll never forget that. Thank you.”

Her words sparked a little warmth in me.  “It-I just lost control for a second.”

“It still made a difference to me.  Didn’t it make you feel good for even a second?  Just to know that you made a difference in someone’s life, for just a small gesture?”  She’s staring me in the eyes questioningly.

Something stirs inside me.  “I’m not Hyerin, MinJi. I can’t-”

“You can’t?  Or you won’t?”

I’m taken back by her words, I don’t even know what to say.  I feel so...exposed.

“Yes, you’re not Hyerin, no one can change that.  But Suho, you stood up to a bully just by using your words.  Because you hold that power as a popular student. When everyone else saw you stand up to her, they did the same  Can’t you see that you can make a difference without violence? You can continue where Hyerin left off.”

I’m shaking.  Nothing MinJi says is wrong.  All this time, I had been so harsh towards Hyerin.  I didn’t support her, I didn’t help her. I just stood by and held her back because of my own fears.

“Nothing gets done by staying comfortable, Suho.”

I turn to face Minseok, who had stayed quiet the entire time.

“Hyerin got the first step done by laying the groundwork.  The seed of idea is planted in everyone’s head, it’s time you grew it.”

My legs are still quaking as I stand up.  All Hyerin wanted was to make a change, and as her former partner in crime, I should continue where she left off instead of moping around missing her.  “You’re right. Now is no time for grieving. Hyerin had a vision, it’s up to us make that vision come true.”

I’ll do this.  For Hyerin’s sake.

 

I don’t know how long this high would last, so I started brainstorming.  If I can use my power to stop bullying from happening, I will do it.

I sit down in Trig a little earlier than when class started, renewed vigor pumping through my veins, until Kris walks in with some of his buddies.  I look down just to ignore him, my fists clenching unconsciously. I’m not going to start a fight with him.

He passes my desk to get to the back of the room casually.  “Yeah, it’s a shame, she needed to be put into her place.”

My jaw clenches.  He better not be talking about Hyerin, unless he wants me to-  I don’t finish the thought.  Violence isn’t the answer.

“She thought she can mess with me and my team and get away with it.”  He laughs maniacally. “Boy was she wrong.”

Okay, now he’s talking loud on purpose just to get a reaction out of me.  Is it working?

...Maybe

Just as I’m about to turn around and give him a piece of my mind, someone puts a hand on my shoulder.

“Yo, Suho!”  LuHan’s wide smile and crescent eyes greet me as he sits down.

Thank God.  I exhale all my anger out.  “Hey, Lu. What’s up?”

“Oh you know, Student Council stuff.”  He sniffs and wipes his nose.

“Are you okay?  I thought you were supposed to be doing announcements.”

“I caught a bit of a cold,” the blond smiles sheepishly.  “I got Jongdae to them today.”

At the sound of the president’s name, I remember something.  “Lu, was Hyerin close with Jongdae?”

The boy cocked his eyebrow up.  “Close?” He snorts, “More like they were negotiators.  Hyerin probably couldn’t stand how uptight and rigid Jongdae was.”

That’s news to me.  Obviously Hyerin never told me anything about her business, let alone this deal.  She only told me they were discussing rule enforcement. “What were they negotiating?”

LuHan shrugs.  “Jongdae never told us about it, probably because he wasn’t gonna cave in to whatever it was she wanted.  And he told us not to talk about them seeing each other. But you know Hyerin better than any of us, she was probably trying to get him to crack down on bullying or something like that.”

I almost laugh at him but I settle for a somber smile.  “Well, take it from me. Even though I was her boyfriend, I didn’t get to know much about her plans.”

He pats a hand on my shoulder.  “It’s okay, buddy. I’m sorry things happened the way they did.  If I was president, I would’ve listened to whatever Hyerin wanted.”

“Yeah, because you wanted to date her too, didn’t you?” I tease, pushing his arm off me as the teacher walks in.  “And thanks for coming in when you did,” I whisper.

The boy flashes a cheeky smile.  “I know, Kris is a pain in the .  I thought you were gonna get up and beat his .”

The teacher calls the class to order.  The entire period, I think about LuHan’s information.  If Hyerin was seeing Jongdae to negotiate something beneficial, why wouldn’t he agree?  He’s student body president, his job is for the good of the students.

It’s time I start digging.

 

The student council usually holds a meeting on Wednesdays during the last 30 minutes of lunch.  The day after my talk with LuHan, I decide to catch Jongdae early before the meeting starts and hopefully get some answers out of him.  I head into the student council classroom (thank you LuHan for telling me where it is) right when lunch begins and wait for the president himself.  Hopefully, he’ll actually be the first person here and not someone else.

Time to get your game face on Joonmyeon.  I pace around the classroom rethinking my plan.  All I have to do is ask Jongdae about what deal him and Hyerin were discussing.  I’ll play dumb first, it’ll look suspicious if I knew about their discussions. It’ll throw him off and he’ll have to answer.  If turns out to be a good idea, then I should also push for it.

And if he refuses to do anything or speak?  I stop dead in my tracks at the thought.  What do I do? I’d hate to walk out of here without accomplishing anything, but the student council president sounds like a hardass.  I could beg, but that would be pathetic. Simply driving a hard bargain wouldn’t faze him in the least. I’m out of options.

Well, you could threaten him.

I’m ashamed at the thought, but it seems like it would work.  Elections are coming up and he’s running for reelection. If word got out that, say, he isn’t as committed to the wellness of the whole student body as he should be, I’d say that would hurt his chances of being reelected.  But I would need proof. I take out my phone and search for the voice recorder, my finger hovering over the app.

Wow Joonmyeon, resorting to blackmail, you really are turning into Hyerin.

The doorknob to the classroom clicks open, not allowing me any time to think before pushing the record button and stuffing it in my pocket.

Right when I turn around, Jongdae stops in his position at the open door to stare inquisitively at me.  “This room is being used for the Student Council meeting, please leave,” he states firmly.

His uniform neatly hangs over his body, no signs of creasing or wrinkles.  His white shirt is neatly tucked into his black slacks, his shoes gleam with no bumps or creases, his vest sitting comfortably over his waistband.  His black hair is cleanly styled to keep the strands off his face, not a strand out of place.

Nervousness washes over me.  Crap, this is happening.  I scratch the back of my neck.  “I’m-I’m sorry, uh, President. I just needed to ask you...some questions.”

Jongdae’s cold expression continues examining me for what feels like more than a few seconds.  His expression finally breaks when he sighs and adjusts his round wire-frame glasses. “Kim Joonmyeon, right?”

“Yes...that’s me.”  Come on dude, grow a pair.  If I’m gonna get any answers out of him, I need to act confident.  I stand a bit straighter and lift my head to face him head on.

He saunters over to the big desk in the front.  “Well, I’m all ears.” He crosses his arms over his chest.  “What’s troubling you, Joonmyeon ssi?”

He’s not exactly a warm person, is he?  I clear my throat, “I’m asking about former student, Shin Hyerin.”

Jongdae’s eyes

Please log in to read the full chapter
Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
Bint_yahya
#1
Chapter 9: This was really well written! I applaud for you that and thank you for writing such an amazing story. ^^ the romance is so sweeet I almost squealed out loud >•<
Leechb #2
Chapter 9: Really loved this story!! Great job!