Trustworthy *chapter two*
Pairing: HimDae
Rated: PG13
Length: 4K
"Do you have to tutor tonight?" Jongup asked as Daehyun stole some food off his plate.
Daehyun shook his head. "No, do you want to do something later?"
He grinned. "There's a new movie out that I've been hearing a lot about. Do you want to go and see it together?"
Jongup's movies weren't really all that interesting to Daehyun, but he agreed to go anyways. Movies with Jongup usually also included popcorn and drinks.
He tried to explain the plot of the movie, but Daehyun had spotted Jaesang and his friends entering the cafeteria and he was currently trying to burrow lower in his seat to stay hidden.
"Daehyunnie?" Jongup asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "Are you okay?"
He nodded, eyes sliding once again over to Jaesang's table.
Jongup followed his gaze and sighed. "Have they been bothering you again? I told you that you need to fight back! I'm not always around to protect you!"
Daehyun ignored him and pushed his glasses back up his nose.
"Hey guys!" Jaesang said brightly, slipping into the seat next to them. He reached over and grabbed the cookie Daehyun's mother had made for him. "What's up?" He asked, shoving it into his mouth.
Jongup glared at him and crossed his arms over his chest. "Go away. We were having a conversation."
Jaesang rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around Daehyun's shoulders. "But Jung and I haven't spent any quality time together today. Have we Jung?"
The smaller boy shot Jongup a helpless look, forcing him to reach over and shove the arm away.
"Do not touch my friend." He warned.
This only seemed to enrage the larger boy, his eyes widening in anger. "And who the hell do you think you are to order me around kid?"
"Your worst nightmare, that's who."
Jaesang laughed and cracked his knuckles. "I'm going to kill you, you know that right?"
Before the two got any further in their argument, Daehyun stood up and grabbed Jongup's arm.
"Come on, Jongup." He murmured. "Let's go."
"Aww," Jaesang pouted. "Is your girlfriend getting upset? That's alright, I'll let you go this time." We winked, but the look in his eye promised that this wasn't over yet.
"Dammit Daehyun." Jongup said angrily as they stormed out of the cafeteria. "I thought his had stopped. How long has it been going on and you didn't tell me?"
He bit his lip and turned his head away, not wanting him to see his watery eyes.
Jongup stopped walking and grabbed him by the arm. "It never stopped? Has he been doing it every day?"
Daehyun lowered his eyes and shrugged. "You're my best friend, Guppie. I didn't want you to be worried."
"I'll always worry about you." Jongup looked hurt that he would actually be keeping something from him. "No matter what." He laid his palm on the other boy's shoulder and made him look into his eyes. "You know that you can tell me anything, right?" He said sincerely. "Anything. I would never judge you. Ever."
Daehyun frowned and wondered why he was being so intense with him all of a sudden. "I know." He finally answered. "Same here."
Jongup waited for a moment, hoping he would continue. When he didn’t, he shot him a disappointed look, confusing Daehyun even more.
“Well, just keep it in mind.” He muttered, leaving him behind to head towards his next class.
Daehyun still had no idea what Jongup was trying to impress upon him, but knowing his friend he wouldn’t be able to keep it to himself for long and would be spilling his guts soon.
---
The movie was lame, just as he had predicted. Jongup had watched it wide-eyed the entire two hours while a bored Daehyun worked his way through three tubs of popcorn, two sodas and a box of candy.
“What did you think?” Jongup asked excitedly as they left the theater and headed towards the subway.
Daehyun mentioned a few scenes that he had remembered seeing.
“You hated it.” Jongup replied, his eyes twinkling as he tried no to laugh. “I know it’s not your type of movie, but you picked that stupid cartoon last time so this was my turn.”
“It wasn’t stupid!” Daehyun cried, shoving him away. “It was cute!”
Jongup opened his mouth to reply, but froze when a group of girls emerged from a restaurant in front of them. His eyes trailed across their bodies and he swallowed nervously.
“Jongup?” Daehyun waved a hand in front of his face. “You okay, buddy?”
“Pretty.” The other boy whispered, tugging on his arm until he turned his attention to the girls. “Pretty girls.”
Even though Daehyun had zero interest in them whatsoever, he nodded and agreed.
“You don’t have to lie to me, you know.” Jongup scoffed and walked ahead of him. “You tell me I’m your best friend and that nothing has ever come between us, but you just keep lying!”
Daehyun’s mouth dropped open at the unexpected outburst. “What are you talking about, Jongup?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. It’s nothing. Let’s just go home.”
They walked the rest of the way to the subway in silence. Jongup bought their tickets and crossed his arms angrily when they sat down.
Although Daehyun was dying to know what was wrong with his best friend, he had known him long enough to accept that when Jongup got angry you better just stay out of his way. He could get very whiny and very childish if he was mad at you.
The house was quiet when they got back to it. Jongup slammed the bathroom door behind him, making Daehyun flinch. There was no way anyone slept through that, he was sure.
He stood nervously with his back against the hallway wall, waiting for Jongup to get out of the bathroom so he could brush his teeth. He thought about just grabbing his bag and heading home, but it was late and he hated being alone in the city at night time.
“Who slammed the door?” Himchan’s sleepy voice came from behind him. “Daehyun?”
“Sorry hyung.” He apologized. “Jongup slammed it on accident.”
“No I didn’t!” Jongup yelled from behind the door.
Himchan rolled his eyes and pulled his shirt up to scratch his belly. “What is he mad about this time?”
Daehyun bit his lip. “I don’t know.” He replied in a soft voice. “I did something, but I don’t know what it was. He won’t tell me.”
Patting his shoulder gently, Himchan yawned before answering. “Don’t worry about it. You’re the only kid that can stand my brother. He won’t stay mad at you for long.”
After giving him a small smile, Himchan headed back to his room, shutting his door a lot softer than Jongup had done.
The pouty boy left the room and passed by Daehyun without even acknowledging him.
“Jonguppie!” Daehyun grabbed at his arm as they entered the bedroom, his tooth brush quickly forgotten. “Why are you like this all of a sudden? I’m sorry I didn’t like the movie, but is that really enough for you to ignore me?”
“That’s not why I’m mad.” Jongup slumped and threw himself onto his bed. “It’s just that I don’t know why you hide stuff from me. I know there are some things you don’t want to tell me, and I was okay with that, because I knew you wouldn’t keep anything else from me. But now that I know you’ve been hiding what Jaesang has been doing every day, well then what else are you not telling me? How can I trust you?”
Daehyun cocked his head to the side and pulled his eyebrows together. He didn’t really understand what his friend was talking about.
Jongup flipped over onto his back and stared accusingly at him. “I want to know your biggest secret.”
“I want to move to Japan.” He answered instantly.
“That’s not a secret. You’ve been saying that for years. Tell me something that you’ve never told anyone, something you’re scared to say out loud. If you tell me your secret I can tell you mine."
His mouth fell open at the knowledge that his friend could see right through him. There was no way that he knew… that. Right? Daehyun thought for sure he had done a good job at keeping it a secret, but maybe he was wrong. Maybe Jongup had known the whole time but had never mentioned it out of respect for his privacy.
Jongup could see the pure terror on Daehyun’s face and knew he still wasn’t quite ready to admit anything yet.
“It’s okay, Daehyunnie.” He said, his eyes softening. “You don’t have to tell me anything until you want to. Just stop keeping everything from me, alright?” He bit his lip. “I’m your best friend and you should be able to tell me anything.”
“I’m sorry.” Daehyun whispered. “I just don’t want to worry you. You get stressed out too easily.”
Jongup rolled his eyes and stood up, slapping an arm around Daehyun’s tiny shoulders. “Don’t worry about me. If I didn’t spend all of my time taking care of you then what would I be doing all day?”
“Yah!” Daehyun pushed him away. “Maybe you should get a life!”
They wrestled and laughed, glad their first argument was over and that they were still best friends after it.
---
“I’m picking you up today.” Himchan reminded Jongup before he left the house on Monday morning. “So don’t be late. I don’t have all day to wait outside the school for you.”
Jongup scoffed and shoved another bite of food into his mouth. “You know you’ll be happy standing there and preening for all the girls.”
Smiling brightly, Himchan adjusted his hair in the mirror. “It isn’t my fault that I’m so handsome. You should be proud to have me as a hyung.”
“Yeah, sure.”
He could hear Himchan yelling at him as he left, but he didn’t bother to stick around to hear what he said. His brother was always scolding him for something or another.
When he got to school he grinned when he saw Daehyun waiting for him by the gate. “Daehyun!” He called, waving excitedly to him. “My mom said to tell you she bought some more of that chocolate you like!”
He groaned and stomped his foot. “My mom’s off work tonight! I have to go home after school!” He pouted and mumbled angrily under his breath as they headed into the building. “Make sure Himchan doesn’t eat it all. Last time I only got one piece.”
“Oh but hyung doesn’t eat sweets!” Jongup widened his eyes exaggeratedly. “How dare you accuse him of stealing your chocolates!”
“We all know he sneaks them when everyone goes to bed.” Daehyun answered back dryly. “I got up in the middle of the night once for a glass of water and he was stuffing his face in the kitchen.”
Jongup cracked up as he grabbed his books from his locker. “What did he say when he saw you?”
“He said that I never saw him and gave me 5,000 won to keep my mouth shut.”
“But you told me anyway?”
Daehyun winked. “No secrets between us, remember?”
They waved goodbye to each other, both annoyed over the fact that their early morning classes weren’t together this year.
Daehyun had a good morning until third period, the one he dreaded the most every day. It was math class and he had the unfortunate luck of sitting next to Kyung, one of Jaesang’s lackey’s. Usually Kyung left him alone, preferring instead to copy off his homework, but sometimes he was in a teasing mood and would take it out on the smaller boy.
Today looked to be one of those days.
“Hey Daehyun, looking sexy in those glasses today.” He grinned, tugging on his hair as Daehyun tried to subtly scoot away. “Did your grandpa pass them down to you or something? They’re almost as big as your face. I guess you like that at least something about you is big, right?”
Daehyun flinched, being teased over being so tiny was worse than being bullied to him. His mom told him that their family was just late bloomers and he needed to give it time, but it sucked being the smallest person in middle school.
“So Jaesang told me he interrupted you and your boyfriend last week.” Kyung laughed and slapped his hands on the table. “Then he said you ran off to go make out in the bathroom. Everyone knows you two spend every night with each other. What do you guys do when you’re all alone, huh?” He brought his face in closer to the blushing boy beside him and Daehyun felt a hand rest heavily on his leg. “Do you let him touch you, Jung?” The fingers glided slowly upward, Daehyun’s whole body starting to tremble in fear at the tone in his classmate’s voice. “Or do you touch him?” He gulped when he felt a tickling on his inner thigh. “I think you’re the one that wants to be touched, Jung.”
“Alright class, open your books to the next lesson.” The teacher’s voice boomed out from the front of the room, jerking Kyung back to attention, the weight on Daehyun’s leg finally gone.
He let out a deep breath that he wasn’t even aware he had been holding. Kyung always made fun of him and let loose with suggestive jokes about what he and Jongup did behind closed doors, but this was the first time he had pushed it this far and actually touched him.
The realization made Daehyun feel nervous. Just how far would Kyung go to get to him?
---
“How was your morning?” Jongup asked, shoving a carrot into his mouth. Daehyun wrinkled his nose at the choice of lunch and dug his face into a bowl of noodles.
He shrugged. “Not great, but I survived.” He admitted, sticking to his promise of not keeping things from his friend. Well, not keeping everything from him. One secret he would like to keep hidden for a little while longer.
“What happened?” Jongup demanded, throwing his food down. “Did someone mess with you again?”
“They mess with me every day, Jongup.” Daehyun said quietly, looking around and making sure his tormentors weren’t in the cafeteria yet. “I usually just ignore them.” He hesitated. “But today…”
“Today what?”
“Kyung…” He bit his lip. “Kyung touched me.”
The tone of Jongup’s voice was frigid. “You mean he pushed you? Hit you?”
Daehyun shook his head, face aflame. “No.”
Jongup closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose for a moment.
“I’m going to kill him.” He finally muttered, shoving his chair back from the table. “I’m going to rip his spleen from his-“
“Jonguppie!” Daehyun grabbed at his arm, trying to get his attention. “Stop. Stop please! It’s over now, okay?” He pushed his shoulders back down into the seat.
The other boy turned to glare at him. “Why didn’t you stop him? God, Daehyun. You have got to start standing up for yourself! I keep telling you this!”
“With what?” Daehyun hissed. “My huge body? My muscles? Look at me, Jongup! No matter what I do they’re just going to keep coming at me!”
Jongup’s lip twitched. “It’s not your fault you’re such a tiny little thing, Daehyunnie.” He cooed, pinching the annoyed boy’s cheeks. His expression turned serious again. “But at least tell a teacher or something when I’m not around, okay? And if he does it again? Then I get to kill him.” He promised, chomping angrily into a celery stick.
---
“Hey, are you ready? Hyung told me not to make him wait very long.” Jongup said breathlessly as he caught up with Daehyun at the end of the school day. “We’ll walk you home.”
“I live on the opposite side of town from you.”
Jongup scoffed. “So?”
Daehyun nodded, searching for his Science book. “Whatever. I just can’t find my book. Go ahead and go on out, I’ll run to the classroom and see if I left it there.”
He ran towards the room, dodging students rushing out the door. There was his book, just as he figured, sitting on his desk.
“Daehyun pabo.” He muttered, scooping it up and turning to leave.
His mouth dropped open as he encountered Jaesang and Kyung leaning against the door, their expressions pure evil.
“Hey Jung.” Jaesang sang sweetly as he pushed the door closed behind them. “Whatcha doing?”
Daehyun whimpered when his body was pushed roughly against the desk behind him.
“What do you want?” He whispered, his eyes trained onto the floor. He didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing the fear in his eyes.
Jaesang laughed and ruffled his shaggy brown hair. “We just want to play. Don’t you want to play with us?”
He shook his head and clutched his book tighter to his chest. The taller boy was so close that he could feel his breath on his face.
Kyung came around to the back of the desk and gripped on tightly to Daehyun’s shoulders. “I bet you would like the games we could play with you.” He murmured hotly into his ear. His hands ran slowly down Daehyun’s arms until they locked tightly around his elbows.
Jaesang grinned at the boy behind him, his fingers finding their way to the button on the quivering boy’s pants.
“Why do you look so scared?” He asked, his voice deadly calm. “We’re not going to do anything you won’t like, trust me.”
Daehyun heard the sound of his zipper being pulled down and let out a strangled gasp, finally starting to struggle to get free. He may have been young and inexperienced, but he knew enough to know that this was not going to end well for him.
“L-Let me go!” He cried, jerking his body from side to side. That only made Kyung squeeze his arms tighter, a yelp escaping his throat at the pressure on his skin.
“Don’t fight or I’ll make it to where you can’t even speak.” Jaesang ordered, yanking on the shirt that was tucked into his pants. “Good boy.”
Daehyun knew there was no way out of this. Not when he was so weak and there was two larger, stronger boys on top of him. He decided the best way out of this was to just give in and let them do what they wanted. They were going to anyways and he didn’t want to end up with broken bones or worse.
He turned his head to the side, clenching his eyes shut as cold air hit his bare legs. Jaesang pulled his pants down to his knees and stepped back, his fingers working quickly on his own button.
A knock on the door interrupted them just when he had moved his body back between Daehyun’s slender legs.
“Daehyun?” Jongup’s voice rang through the closed door. “Are you still in there?”
“Jongup!” Daehyun screamed, his heart starting to beat wildly, knowing his best friend would help him. “Jongup he-“
A hand was slapped over his mouth before he could yell out that he was in trouble, but he knew Jongup would be able to tell by the terror in voice that there was something horrible going on.
“Open the door!” The door started vibrating as fists started to pound heavily on it. “Open the fucking door!”
“Daehyun?” Himchan’s voice sounded worried as the doorknob twisted uselessly. “Are you okay?”
The two boys above him shared petrified glances at the sound of Jongup’s high-pitched shrieking outside the door. They released their grip on the tiny boy, causing him to drop ungracefully to the ground.
“What do we do?” Kyung asked, his eyes darting around the room looking for another way to escape.
Jaesang pointed to the window that led out to the courtyard and they ran over and pried it open just as the locked door finally burst open from the combined strength of the two brother’s.
“Hey!” Himchan rushed into the room first and grabbed Kyung, who hadn't shimmied himself out the window yet, by the back of the shirt, throwing him backwards into the floor. He pressed his foot into the moaning boy’s chest and glanced over at his brother who was helping a shivering Daehyun fix his clothes. “Is he okay?”
Jongup nodded. “He’s just rattled.” He glared at Kyung. “I’m going to kill you.”
Daehyun grabbed his arm and shook his head. “I want to go home, Jonguppie.”
He bit back his anger and helped his friend up, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. “Hyung?”
Himchan’s eyes were still locked onto Daehyun’s own watery ones. “You two go on outside and wait for me.” He turned his murderous gaze back to the boy on the floor. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
Giving Kyung a knowing smirk, Jongup pressed Daehyun into his chest and led him out the door and into the hallway.
“W-What’s he going to do to him?” Daehyun asked, still not allowing himself to shed a single tear over it. They didn’t deserve his tears.
“Hyung may be full of himself, but he’s pretty scrappy.” Jongup replied proudly. “You don’t want to ever get on his bad side.”
They waited out by the steps for Himchan, Jongup still not releasing his grip on his friend.
When the older boy finally appeared a few moments later, his fist was scratched and bloody. He took one look at Daehyun, who was still wide-eyed and trembling, and let out a deep growl. Himchan grabbed Daehyun’s hand with his good one and dragged him along behind him, Jongup hurrying to keep up.
“Are you okay?” He asked gruffly, his jaw clenching at the agony of not being able to beat that little shit up till his own mother couldn’t recognize him. “Did they…” He sighed. “Did they touch you anywhere, Daehyun-ah?”
Daehyun’s face flashed with red, ashamed at having to be asked that.
“No.” He said so softly that he was barely heard. “You got there before they could.”
Himchan nodded, relief etched into his features. “Good.” He squeezed Daehyun’s fingers in his. “That’s good.”
“Hyung?” Jongup spoke up behind them. “Daehyun is supposed to go to his home today. You’re going the wrong direction.”
“He’s coming home with us.” His voice left no room for discussion. “You can call your mother when we get there.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence, Himchan still refusing to release Daehyun’s hand from his.
Daehyun didn’t know how to react to the feeling of someone’s palm pressed against his. Jongup didn’t count. This was different. This made his whole body feel warm and gooey. Himchan was protecting him, Himchan was taking care of him.
If he hadn’t of just been through the most traumatic experience of his short life then he would say this was a happy feeling coursing through his veins.
But he didn’t like Himchan.
Himchan was just his best friend’s brother.
His best friend’s brother who had just punched someone for hurting him. Not even Jongup had resorted to those measures yet. He only ever just yelled at the bullies and threatened to tell an adult.
But Himchan had hurt himself for him. Hurt the one thing he took the most pride in. His body.
Daehyun bit the inside of his cheek and sneaked a glance at the still angry boy beside him.
Himchan noticed his gaze and turned to look at him as they walked, smiling gently and pulling him closer until their arms brushed together.
Gulping, Daehyun hurriedly shifted his gaze away at the unexpected sweetness he was receiving.
Oh no, this was not good at all.
(three)
Rated: PG13
Length: 4K
"Do you have to tutor tonight?" Jongup asked as Daehyun stole some food off his plate.
Daehyun shook his head. "No, do you want to do something later?"
He grinned. "There's a new movie out that I've been hearing a lot about. Do you want to go and see it together?"
Jongup's movies weren't really all that interesting to Daehyun, but he agreed to go anyways. Movies with Jongup usually also included popcorn and drinks.
He tried to explain the plot of the movie, but Daehyun had spotted Jaesang and his friends entering the cafeteria and he was currently trying to burrow lower in his seat to stay hidden.
"Daehyunnie?" Jongup asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "Are you okay?"
He nodded, eyes sliding once again over to Jaesang's table.
Jongup followed his gaze and sighed. "Have they been bothering you again? I told you that you need to fight back! I'm not always around to protect you!"
Daehyun ignored him and pushed his glasses back up his nose.
"Hey guys!" Jaesang said brightly, slipping into the seat next to them. He reached over and grabbed the cookie Daehyun's mother had made for him. "What's up?" He asked, shoving it into his mouth.
Jongup glared at him and crossed his arms over his chest. "Go away. We were having a conversation."
Jaesang rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around Daehyun's shoulders. "But Jung and I haven't spent any quality time together today. Have we Jung?"
The smaller boy shot Jongup a helpless look, forcing him to reach over and shove the arm away.
"Do not touch my friend." He warned.
This only seemed to enrage the larger boy, his eyes widening in anger. "And who the hell do you think you are to order me around kid?"
"Your worst nightmare, that's who."
Jaesang laughed and cracked his knuckles. "I'm going to kill you, you know that right?"
Before the two got any further in their argument, Daehyun stood up and grabbed Jongup's arm.
"Come on, Jongup." He murmured. "Let's go."
"Aww," Jaesang pouted. "Is your girlfriend getting upset? That's alright, I'll let you go this time." We winked, but the look in his eye promised that this wasn't over yet.
"Dammit Daehyun." Jongup said angrily as they stormed out of the cafeteria. "I thought his had stopped. How long has it been going on and you didn't tell me?"
He bit his lip and turned his head away, not wanting him to see his watery eyes.
Jongup stopped walking and grabbed him by the arm. "It never stopped? Has he been doing it every day?"
Daehyun lowered his eyes and shrugged. "You're my best friend, Guppie. I didn't want you to be worried."
"I'll always worry about you." Jongup looked hurt that he would actually be keeping something from him. "No matter what." He laid his palm on the other boy's shoulder and made him look into his eyes. "You know that you can tell me anything, right?" He said sincerely. "Anything. I would never judge you. Ever."
Daehyun frowned and wondered why he was being so intense with him all of a sudden. "I know." He finally answered. "Same here."
Jongup waited for a moment, hoping he would continue. When he didn’t, he shot him a disappointed look, confusing Daehyun even more.
“Well, just keep it in mind.” He muttered, leaving him behind to head towards his next class.
Daehyun still had no idea what Jongup was trying to impress upon him, but knowing his friend he wouldn’t be able to keep it to himself for long and would be spilling his guts soon.
---
The movie was lame, just as he had predicted. Jongup had watched it wide-eyed the entire two hours while a bored Daehyun worked his way through three tubs of popcorn, two sodas and a box of candy.
“What did you think?” Jongup asked excitedly as they left the theater and headed towards the subway.
Daehyun mentioned a few scenes that he had remembered seeing.
“You hated it.” Jongup replied, his eyes twinkling as he tried no to laugh. “I know it’s not your type of movie, but you picked that stupid cartoon last time so this was my turn.”
“It wasn’t stupid!” Daehyun cried, shoving him away. “It was cute!”
Jongup opened his mouth to reply, but froze when a group of girls emerged from a restaurant in front of them. His eyes trailed across their bodies and he swallowed nervously.
“Jongup?” Daehyun waved a hand in front of his face. “You okay, buddy?”
“Pretty.” The other boy whispered, tugging on his arm until he turned his attention to the girls. “Pretty girls.”
Even though Daehyun had zero interest in them whatsoever, he nodded and agreed.
“You don’t have to lie to me, you know.” Jongup scoffed and walked ahead of him. “You tell me I’m your best friend and that nothing has ever come between us, but you just keep lying!”
Daehyun’s mouth dropped open at the unexpected outburst. “What are you talking about, Jongup?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. It’s nothing. Let’s just go home.”
They walked the rest of the way to the subway in silence. Jongup bought their tickets and crossed his arms angrily when they sat down.
Although Daehyun was dying to know what was wrong with his best friend, he had known him long enough to accept that when Jongup got angry you better just stay out of his way. He could get very whiny and very childish if he was mad at you.
The house was quiet when they got back to it. Jongup slammed the bathroom door behind him, making Daehyun flinch. There was no way anyone slept through that, he was sure.
He stood nervously with his back against the hallway wall, waiting for Jongup to get out of the bathroom so he could brush his teeth. He thought about just grabbing his bag and heading home, but it was late and he hated being alone in the city at night time.
“Who slammed the door?” Himchan’s sleepy voice came from behind him. “Daehyun?”
“Sorry hyung.” He apologized. “Jongup slammed it on accident.”
“No I didn’t!” Jongup yelled from behind the door.
Himchan rolled his eyes and pulled his shirt up to scratch his belly. “What is he mad about this time?”
Daehyun bit his lip. “I don’t know.” He replied in a soft voice. “I did something, but I don’t know what it was. He won’t tell me.”
Patting his shoulder gently, Himchan yawned before answering. “Don’t worry about it. You’re the only kid that can stand my brother. He won’t stay mad at you for long.”
After giving him a small smile, Himchan headed back to his room, shutting his door a lot softer than Jongup had done.
The pouty boy left the room and passed by Daehyun without even acknowledging him.
“Jonguppie!” Daehyun grabbed at his arm as they entered the bedroom, his tooth brush quickly forgotten. “Why are you like this all of a sudden? I’m sorry I didn’t like the movie, but is that really enough for you to ignore me?”
“That’s not why I’m mad.” Jongup slumped and threw himself onto his bed. “It’s just that I don’t know why you hide stuff from me. I know there are some things you don’t want to tell me, and I was okay with that, because I knew you wouldn’t keep anything else from me. But now that I know you’ve been hiding what Jaesang has been doing every day, well then what else are you not telling me? How can I trust you?”
Daehyun cocked his head to the side and pulled his eyebrows together. He didn’t really understand what his friend was talking about.
Jongup flipped over onto his back and stared accusingly at him. “I want to know your biggest secret.”
“I want to move to Japan.” He answered instantly.
“That’s not a secret. You’ve been saying that for years. Tell me something that you’ve never told anyone, something you’re scared to say out loud. If you tell me your secret I can tell you mine."
His mouth fell open at the knowledge that his friend could see right through him. There was no way that he knew… that. Right? Daehyun thought for sure he had done a good job at keeping it a secret, but maybe he was wrong. Maybe Jongup had known the whole time but had never mentioned it out of respect for his privacy.
Jongup could see the pure terror on Daehyun’s face and knew he still wasn’t quite ready to admit anything yet.
“It’s okay, Daehyunnie.” He said, his eyes softening. “You don’t have to tell me anything until you want to. Just stop keeping everything from me, alright?” He bit his lip. “I’m your best friend and you should be able to tell me anything.”
“I’m sorry.” Daehyun whispered. “I just don’t want to worry you. You get stressed out too easily.”
Jongup rolled his eyes and stood up, slapping an arm around Daehyun’s tiny shoulders. “Don’t worry about me. If I didn’t spend all of my time taking care of you then what would I be doing all day?”
“Yah!” Daehyun pushed him away. “Maybe you should get a life!”
They wrestled and laughed, glad their first argument was over and that they were still best friends after it.
---
“I’m picking you up today.” Himchan reminded Jongup before he left the house on Monday morning. “So don’t be late. I don’t have all day to wait outside the school for you.”
Jongup scoffed and shoved another bite of food into his mouth. “You know you’ll be happy standing there and preening for all the girls.”
Smiling brightly, Himchan adjusted his hair in the mirror. “It isn’t my fault that I’m so handsome. You should be proud to have me as a hyung.”
“Yeah, sure.”
He could hear Himchan yelling at him as he left, but he didn’t bother to stick around to hear what he said. His brother was always scolding him for something or another.
When he got to school he grinned when he saw Daehyun waiting for him by the gate. “Daehyun!” He called, waving excitedly to him. “My mom said to tell you she bought some more of that chocolate you like!”
He groaned and stomped his foot. “My mom’s off work tonight! I have to go home after school!” He pouted and mumbled angrily under his breath as they headed into the building. “Make sure Himchan doesn’t eat it all. Last time I only got one piece.”
“Oh but hyung doesn’t eat sweets!” Jongup widened his eyes exaggeratedly. “How dare you accuse him of stealing your chocolates!”
“We all know he sneaks them when everyone goes to bed.” Daehyun answered back dryly. “I got up in the middle of the night once for a glass of water and he was stuffing his face in the kitchen.”
Jongup cracked up as he grabbed his books from his locker. “What did he say when he saw you?”
“He said that I never saw him and gave me 5,000 won to keep my mouth shut.”
“But you told me anyway?”
Daehyun winked. “No secrets between us, remember?”
They waved goodbye to each other, both annoyed over the fact that their early morning classes weren’t together this year.
Daehyun had a good morning until third period, the one he dreaded the most every day. It was math class and he had the unfortunate luck of sitting next to Kyung, one of Jaesang’s lackey’s. Usually Kyung left him alone, preferring instead to copy off his homework, but sometimes he was in a teasing mood and would take it out on the smaller boy.
Today looked to be one of those days.
“Hey Daehyun, looking sexy in those glasses today.” He grinned, tugging on his hair as Daehyun tried to subtly scoot away. “Did your grandpa pass them down to you or something? They’re almost as big as your face. I guess you like that at least something about you is big, right?”
Daehyun flinched, being teased over being so tiny was worse than being bullied to him. His mom told him that their family was just late bloomers and he needed to give it time, but it sucked being the smallest person in middle school.
“So Jaesang told me he interrupted you and your boyfriend last week.” Kyung laughed and slapped his hands on the table. “Then he said you ran off to go make out in the bathroom. Everyone knows you two spend every night with each other. What do you guys do when you’re all alone, huh?” He brought his face in closer to the blushing boy beside him and Daehyun felt a hand rest heavily on his leg. “Do you let him touch you, Jung?” The fingers glided slowly upward, Daehyun’s whole body starting to tremble in fear at the tone in his classmate’s voice. “Or do you touch him?” He gulped when he felt a tickling on his inner thigh. “I think you’re the one that wants to be touched, Jung.”
“Alright class, open your books to the next lesson.” The teacher’s voice boomed out from the front of the room, jerking Kyung back to attention, the weight on Daehyun’s leg finally gone.
He let out a deep breath that he wasn’t even aware he had been holding. Kyung always made fun of him and let loose with suggestive jokes about what he and Jongup did behind closed doors, but this was the first time he had pushed it this far and actually touched him.
The realization made Daehyun feel nervous. Just how far would Kyung go to get to him?
---
“How was your morning?” Jongup asked, shoving a carrot into his mouth. Daehyun wrinkled his nose at the choice of lunch and dug his face into a bowl of noodles.
He shrugged. “Not great, but I survived.” He admitted, sticking to his promise of not keeping things from his friend. Well, not keeping everything from him. One secret he would like to keep hidden for a little while longer.
“What happened?” Jongup demanded, throwing his food down. “Did someone mess with you again?”
“They mess with me every day, Jongup.” Daehyun said quietly, looking around and making sure his tormentors weren’t in the cafeteria yet. “I usually just ignore them.” He hesitated. “But today…”
“Today what?”
“Kyung…” He bit his lip. “Kyung touched me.”
The tone of Jongup’s voice was frigid. “You mean he pushed you? Hit you?”
Daehyun shook his head, face aflame. “No.”
Jongup closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose for a moment.
“I’m going to kill him.” He finally muttered, shoving his chair back from the table. “I’m going to rip his spleen from his-“
“Jonguppie!” Daehyun grabbed at his arm, trying to get his attention. “Stop. Stop please! It’s over now, okay?” He pushed his shoulders back down into the seat.
The other boy turned to glare at him. “Why didn’t you stop him? God, Daehyun. You have got to start standing up for yourself! I keep telling you this!”
“With what?” Daehyun hissed. “My huge body? My muscles? Look at me, Jongup! No matter what I do they’re just going to keep coming at me!”
Jongup’s lip twitched. “It’s not your fault you’re such a tiny little thing, Daehyunnie.” He cooed, pinching the annoyed boy’s cheeks. His expression turned serious again. “But at least tell a teacher or something when I’m not around, okay? And if he does it again? Then I get to kill him.” He promised, chomping angrily into a celery stick.
---
“Hey, are you ready? Hyung told me not to make him wait very long.” Jongup said breathlessly as he caught up with Daehyun at the end of the school day. “We’ll walk you home.”
“I live on the opposite side of town from you.”
Jongup scoffed. “So?”
Daehyun nodded, searching for his Science book. “Whatever. I just can’t find my book. Go ahead and go on out, I’ll run to the classroom and see if I left it there.”
He ran towards the room, dodging students rushing out the door. There was his book, just as he figured, sitting on his desk.
“Daehyun pabo.” He muttered, scooping it up and turning to leave.
His mouth dropped open as he encountered Jaesang and Kyung leaning against the door, their expressions pure evil.
“Hey Jung.” Jaesang sang sweetly as he pushed the door closed behind them. “Whatcha doing?”
Daehyun whimpered when his body was pushed roughly against the desk behind him.
“What do you want?” He whispered, his eyes trained onto the floor. He didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing the fear in his eyes.
Jaesang laughed and ruffled his shaggy brown hair. “We just want to play. Don’t you want to play with us?”
He shook his head and clutched his book tighter to his chest. The taller boy was so close that he could feel his breath on his face.
Kyung came around to the back of the desk and gripped on tightly to Daehyun’s shoulders. “I bet you would like the games we could play with you.” He murmured hotly into his ear. His hands ran slowly down Daehyun’s arms until they locked tightly around his elbows.
Jaesang grinned at the boy behind him, his fingers finding their way to the button on the quivering boy’s pants.
“Why do you look so scared?” He asked, his voice deadly calm. “We’re not going to do anything you won’t like, trust me.”
Daehyun heard the sound of his zipper being pulled down and let out a strangled gasp, finally starting to struggle to get free. He may have been young and inexperienced, but he knew enough to know that this was not going to end well for him.
“L-Let me go!” He cried, jerking his body from side to side. That only made Kyung squeeze his arms tighter, a yelp escaping his throat at the pressure on his skin.
“Don’t fight or I’ll make it to where you can’t even speak.” Jaesang ordered, yanking on the shirt that was tucked into his pants. “Good boy.”
Daehyun knew there was no way out of this. Not when he was so weak and there was two larger, stronger boys on top of him. He decided the best way out of this was to just give in and let them do what they wanted. They were going to anyways and he didn’t want to end up with broken bones or worse.
He turned his head to the side, clenching his eyes shut as cold air hit his bare legs. Jaesang pulled his pants down to his knees and stepped back, his fingers working quickly on his own button.
A knock on the door interrupted them just when he had moved his body back between Daehyun’s slender legs.
“Daehyun?” Jongup’s voice rang through the closed door. “Are you still in there?”
“Jongup!” Daehyun screamed, his heart starting to beat wildly, knowing his best friend would help him. “Jongup he-“
A hand was slapped over his mouth before he could yell out that he was in trouble, but he knew Jongup would be able to tell by the terror in voice that there was something horrible going on.
“Open the door!” The door started vibrating as fists started to pound heavily on it. “Open the fucking door!”
“Daehyun?” Himchan’s voice sounded worried as the doorknob twisted uselessly. “Are you okay?”
The two boys above him shared petrified glances at the sound of Jongup’s high-pitched shrieking outside the door. They released their grip on the tiny boy, causing him to drop ungracefully to the ground.
“What do we do?” Kyung asked, his eyes darting around the room looking for another way to escape.
Jaesang pointed to the window that led out to the courtyard and they ran over and pried it open just as the locked door finally burst open from the combined strength of the two brother’s.
“Hey!” Himchan rushed into the room first and grabbed Kyung, who hadn't shimmied himself out the window yet, by the back of the shirt, throwing him backwards into the floor. He pressed his foot into the moaning boy’s chest and glanced over at his brother who was helping a shivering Daehyun fix his clothes. “Is he okay?”
Jongup nodded. “He’s just rattled.” He glared at Kyung. “I’m going to kill you.”
Daehyun grabbed his arm and shook his head. “I want to go home, Jonguppie.”
He bit back his anger and helped his friend up, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. “Hyung?”
Himchan’s eyes were still locked onto Daehyun’s own watery ones. “You two go on outside and wait for me.” He turned his murderous gaze back to the boy on the floor. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
Giving Kyung a knowing smirk, Jongup pressed Daehyun into his chest and led him out the door and into the hallway.
“W-What’s he going to do to him?” Daehyun asked, still not allowing himself to shed a single tear over it. They didn’t deserve his tears.
“Hyung may be full of himself, but he’s pretty scrappy.” Jongup replied proudly. “You don’t want to ever get on his bad side.”
They waited out by the steps for Himchan, Jongup still not releasing his grip on his friend.
When the older boy finally appeared a few moments later, his fist was scratched and bloody. He took one look at Daehyun, who was still wide-eyed and trembling, and let out a deep growl. Himchan grabbed Daehyun’s hand with his good one and dragged him along behind him, Jongup hurrying to keep up.
“Are you okay?” He asked gruffly, his jaw clenching at the agony of not being able to beat that little shit up till his own mother couldn’t recognize him. “Did they…” He sighed. “Did they touch you anywhere, Daehyun-ah?”
Daehyun’s face flashed with red, ashamed at having to be asked that.
“No.” He said so softly that he was barely heard. “You got there before they could.”
Himchan nodded, relief etched into his features. “Good.” He squeezed Daehyun’s fingers in his. “That’s good.”
“Hyung?” Jongup spoke up behind them. “Daehyun is supposed to go to his home today. You’re going the wrong direction.”
“He’s coming home with us.” His voice left no room for discussion. “You can call your mother when we get there.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence, Himchan still refusing to release Daehyun’s hand from his.
Daehyun didn’t know how to react to the feeling of someone’s palm pressed against his. Jongup didn’t count. This was different. This made his whole body feel warm and gooey. Himchan was protecting him, Himchan was taking care of him.
If he hadn’t of just been through the most traumatic experience of his short life then he would say this was a happy feeling coursing through his veins.
But he didn’t like Himchan.
Himchan was just his best friend’s brother.
His best friend’s brother who had just punched someone for hurting him. Not even Jongup had resorted to those measures yet. He only ever just yelled at the bullies and threatened to tell an adult.
But Himchan had hurt himself for him. Hurt the one thing he took the most pride in. His body.
Daehyun bit the inside of his cheek and sneaked a glance at the still angry boy beside him.
Himchan noticed his gaze and turned to look at him as they walked, smiling gently and pulling him closer until their arms brushed together.
Gulping, Daehyun hurriedly shifted his gaze away at the unexpected sweetness he was receiving.
Oh no, this was not good at all.
(three)