!tw! School violence/bullying

12:15pm

It's another one of those nights, hongjoong can't sleep again.

He just laid there mindlessly, nothing to think about nor anything thing to look forward to.

He just laid there making no effort to put himself to sleep.
The ruffling of the bed sheet right beside him laid his brother, yeosang.

He slept so soundly, as if the world was finally at peace.

What time was it again?

It felt way too long since hongjoong laid down on the mattress he shared with the other.

His hand wandered to reach for his phone in the dark.
It's probably just 3 pm right now-

Oh never mind, it's 12pm.

It had only been 1 hour since he and his brother went to bed?!
How was that possible, it felt like hours since so!

Hongjoong sighed in his place, why is he even suprised, it wasn't the first time this has happened to him.

Hongjoong contemplated for a while whether he should just get out of bed and do something rather than doing a series of absolute nothingness.
Maybe he could get some chores done, maybe read a book or maybe even get his chemistry project done that was due by the end of the month.

He turned to his side once again eyeing his brother who snuggled into the rags they called blankets.

Just like him, hongjoong knew that yeosang rarely slept soundly like he does right now.
It has almost been months since hongjoong had finally succeeded to convince him to even try to get some sleep for a decent amount of time rather than just living off two hours of sleep everyday.

Hongjoong knew his brother would probably be at some club drinking with his friends or something if he didn't drag the other back home, he wouldn't know.

Not wanting to wake up his brother, he decided that it was best that he just stayed in his place.
It's not like he actually needed to get anything done right now.

His hand picked up the phone by the ground once again.

Hongjoong figured if he can't go back to sleep he might as well past the time by scrolling through the contents of his phone.

Nothing special, the usual.

Videos of kids pulling lame unfunny pranks on minimum wage workers, high school teens dancing with their friends to a trendy song and pictures of rich people's lives that flooded the screen.

Hongjoong wasn't that interested in any of the contents displayed, he just wanted something to keep him distracted of all the mindless late night thoughts.

'Can't sleep?'
A notification popped up.

He clicked on the notification immediately knowing who the message was sent from.

Wooyoung
Can't sleep?

Hongjoong
Yeah, how did you know?

Wooyoung
Saw that you were online dumbass

Hongjoong smiled, typing back a reply knowing damn well that the person he was texting definitely meant no harm.

Wooyoung was an online friend of hongjoong.

The boy was an influencer online who mainly post selfies and pictures of his sponsorships and what not.
Wooyoung's followers were uncountable, mostly either creepy men or supportive women.

Hongjoong always cringed at the amount of attention wooyoung got whenever he posted another picture of his, he ought to think that he would be extremely uncomfortable if he ever got that much attention.

That's why he went by an anonymous profile online, with no sort of profile pic nor any pictures of himself online.

The two started talking with each other for four months now.

At first wooyoung was the one who approached hongjoong saying that he wanted to be friend him and of course hongjoong was abit skeptical about it at first.

Hongjoong had no sort of identity in the online world, he could be a serial killer for all wooyoung knows.
Why on earth did he want to talk with someone like him?

At first hongjoong declined, seeming the approach of an influencer out of nowhere seemed somewhat suspicious.

Well, he would have declined either way, hongjoong didn't like to engage with any sort of human relationship.

Tho as time goes on, he found the other to be quite harmless and rather relaxing to be around.

And without him realising, he had warmed up to the boy and the two had already been talking for nearly four months.

From the times they texted, hongjoong had acknowledged that wooyoung had a rather sassy and cheerful personality depending on his mood.
He wasn't afraid to use sarcasm or joke around with the other, which was a clear sign of comfort.

Hongjoong
Seems like you can't sleep either.

Wooyoung
Well yeah...

Unlike the usual cheerful tone wooyoung had, he seemed more solemn and conserved lately.

Hongjoong hadn't questioned anything about the boy's behavior mainly because he didn't want to cause the boy any discomfort in case it was something personal.
Although today he seemed a tad bit more gloomy than usual.

Hongjoong
Is something bothering you lately?
You seem more.... Gloomy than usual lately.

Wooyoung
It's nothing to worry about, I promise
It's just some irl problems
I'll get over it
I'm sure of it

Hongjoong
Well, you can always talk to me about it if you feel comfortable about

Wooyoung smiled down at the message he was sent.
Typical hongjoong, always so understanding.

If the boy were to be right here with him, he would've suffocated him in a tight hug.
Maybe that's what wooyoung always wanted.

To hug the boy he called hyung.

Even though the two had been talking for quite a while now, wooyoung had actually never seen what hongjoong had looked like.

It wasn't like he wasn't curious at all or anything, he would think about it for hours picturing how his hyung looked like.
Maybe that was just his curious and nosey self coming into view.

Once he had a question in his head, he could never let it go.

Although somedays, he would fear if the person he was talking to was secretly a middle aged man who just wanted wooyoung to call him hyung all the time.
Wooyoung would always find himself shivering at the thought.

He could have asked hongjoong about it, but instead, he chose not to.
Wooyoung had picked up from the times he asked hongjoong about his personal life.

Wooyoung
Hey how was school

Wooyoung decided to be a good caring friend for once and ask about how the other was at school instead of doing his usual teasing.

Hongjoong
Oh
It was ok.

Wooyoung
Just ok?
Hyung, tell me about it

Hongjoong
Its nothing interesting really
Now how was your day

He seemed to dodge the question.
Hongjoong even seemed quite uncomfortable talking about anything that related to his personal life.
No matter what it was.

Wooyoung as the good friend that he was of course didn't want to cause the other boy any uncomfort so he dropped any question about the boy he had in his head even though it keeps him up at night.
If it doesn't make his dear friend feel bad in any way he wouldn't mind losing a mere few hours of sleep.

With a sigh, he placed his phone down on the counter by the bed he rested his elbows on.

He looked out the window by the bed.
Again, the moonlight that bled through the glass looked as magical as usual.
He inhaled softly through his nose, the scent of the rain separated by the white wall was strong and fresh.

It reminded him of the relaxing scent of a faraway forest.
The rain was soft and solemn.
Just like a sentimental song played during a treasured moment.

Wooyoung rested his chin on his palm, he wondered if the weather around hongjoong's place was as calming as right now.

"are you cold?"
Wooyoung mumbled to softly, a small giggle escaping his lips when he felt a soft squeeze on his palm.

Eyes filled with adoration, he glanced at the person lying on the bed.

Eyes still closed shut and lips still as pale as an angel's robe, only the beeping of the heart monitor by the bed that hummed to his question.

***

6:05am

Mingi sighed to himself, eyes darting around the streets of Seoul.
His eyes landed on the ground beneath him.
The leaves that crunched beneath the soles of his shoes.

Many other people who wore a similar attire as him strotted pass the boy towards a tall building, the one everyone seemed to be heading to.

Girls who chatted alongside with their friends, loners who just hung their head low listening to their own music, boys who hung their arms around each other's shoulders.

Of course there were many other students alongside mingi, the ones named were just the most common ones he spotted.

Quickly, mingi reached the building he walked towards to.
A tall mostly white painted building with a huge sign plastered over the entrance reading, 'KQ high' stood proudly right on top the gates to the building.

Mingi and many others payed no attention to the arrogant looking logo and walked past the gates mindlessly.

***

6:07am

Seonghwa dropped his bag to the ground with a thud.
He glanced around the old dusty room he stood in, the tile flooring seemingly to leave footprints within the dust from every step he took.

This was his favorite hangout spot.
An empty classroom at the fourth floor.

The room was stacked with many abandoned chairs and desk, either they were just the spares or were just broken.

Seonghwa stepped over to the window, peering out the dusty glass that has seemed to pile up from the neglect of the place.
The view wasn't much, just an overgrown tree smooching against the glass.
Seonghwa would be sure that the tree would be poking in the room if he were to open the window.

The branches of the tree seemed to have taken up majority of the view from the window, now only leaving the scene of a frail leaves swaying through the bright weather.
Even so, the small hints of sunlight peeking through the tough branches and onto the classroom floor shone brighter as ever.
They lit up the room just well, being the only source of light for the room since the light switch wasn't working.

Seonghwa liked it like this.
It wasn't anything luxurious nor expensive like he was used to, it was dusty and rather old.

For some reason, it felt quite comforting.
The atmosphere was nostalgic, in a way.
Although he didn't remember being in any other placed that made him feel this way except where he stood.

"hey"
Heard a voice behind him

"zoning out again, emo kid? "

Seonghwa, immediately putting on a smug look on his face turned to face the other who stood behind him with a similar smug like grin.

"hey, you're earlier than usual."
Mingi chuckled as he tossed his backpack to the side of seonghwa's.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked over to stood alongside seonghwa's.
Both of the boys stared out to the window admiring the bare branches of the tree that stood outside.

" the bus came early"
Mingi shrugged.

Mingi and seonghwa were friends since elementary.
Despite the lack of the two having much conversations unlike many other friends would do, they still stuck to each other everywhere they went.

Sometimes it's just like that, not everything needed to be said, and that's how their friendship went on.

Somedays, they would just stare at nothing with a full silent atmosphere and just call it a day.
And on Somedays, they would just do stuff alongside each other without even having said a word to the other and call it "hanging out".

It was surely an odd relationship but it was one that both seonghwa nor mingi minded.
They felt at peace with each other.

A few minutes passed and through the silence, seonghwa noticed silent hints of the soundings of footsteps.

Seonghwa tilted his head as he stared at the window, noticing a third reflection on the glass standing behind the two boys.
"you're late"

The reflection jumped at seonghwa's voice who seemed to have deepened while talking to him.

"I-I'm sorry, my phone didn't ring a-and I missed the alarm a few times...."
Xion rambled in a panicked state.
His eyes flew across the tile floor, desperately looking for something to look at other than seonghwa's intimidating gaze piercing through his skull.

He knew he had angered the two.

Mingi turned to face the boy and placed his hand on his shoulder.
The action was most likely to be considered reassuring if it was not for the uncomfortable amount of strength the taller put into it.

Xion winced at the amount of pressure his poor shoulder was feeling.
Mingi leaned down to reach the other boy's height.

Xion shuddered at the intimidating aura that glistened in mingi's gaze.
"never mind that for now"
Mingi darted his eyes to examine the boy.
"we'rent you supposed to bring us something today? Where's your bag?"

Xion's hand reached out to scratch the back of his neck, the patch of skin behind his ear soon turning red from how rough he scratched.
"I left it back at the classroom, I-I can go back and get it if you want"

Xion turned away to the direction of the door but stopped in his tracks when he heard the oldest of the three let out a huff.

The huff would've sounded like pure laughter but xion has heard that tone way too many times to recognize what that huff meant.
The tone that was nothing but pure sarcasm.

With a tsk, seonghwa turned his head to glance at the shorter, "I gave you such simple instructions, yet you still can't follow them correctly"

"first, you arrived late. Then second, you left your bag back in the classroom. Seriously, can you be anymore useless?"
Seonghwa tilted his head slightly, as if he was thinking about something.

Xion felt himself start to sweat from the awkward tension that filled the room.
He was gonna be beaten up again.
He just knew it.

Oh how could he make such a stupid mistake!

He knew the day before he was demanded by seonghwa to pick up some items for him and yet he didn't even bring it with him while meeting up with the other.
Xion knew something was missing when he was on his way to the abandoned classroom!

If only he payed more attention...
If only he went back and checked!

"I don't want to use my fist for now, I don't think getting blood on my hands would do me any good....."
The older turned his gaze to his friend, "mingi, you can deal with him after school, I don't feel like being wild today"

Eh?
Seonghwa yawned nonchalantly as he worded the sentence.

His yawn was immediately interrupted by a loud 'SHRING!' sound of the school bell.
The one that indicated it was almost time for class.

Mingi and seonghwa rolled his eyes in annoyance and left the classroom back to their classes, not forgetting to pick up their belongings on the way out.

"after school, back alley", mingi reminded xion, not even caring to spare the boy a glance.

Seeing that the two had left, leaving xion and his thoughts to himself.
The boy immediately let out a soft grunt in frustration, running his hair through his fingers and pacing around the room anxiously.

The silent of the walls that barricaded every outside noise did not seem to ease xion's panicked state as well.

The times of xion's high school days were always the same.
They did not treat him well.

Every one in the town has heard of KQ high.
All of Seoul has heard of the place.
The clean and tidy walls, the friendly looking staffs, the huge grand building that stood near the town's center and the smart and disciplined looking students that strolled past the inviting gates of the school.
It was the high school where the most talented, smartest students stood.

People talk about it everytime, whether it be students achievement, scholarships, school upgrades.
The people just couldn't stop blabbering about it.

"No one's doing it like them!"
They would all boast proudly to crowds.
Although, every time someone would start flaunting the school's benefits, there would always be a small flicker of noise that flashed before you even knew it.

The noise that disguised itself within the crowds of people who stood with admiring eyes for the school.

Of course, that would always be the snickers of the students of the said school.
It was a snicker that was laced with dread and disgust.

Indeed, they were right, no one's doing it like them

It was truly a mystery that how the wild nature of the students lived to grow larger everyday yet the angelic mask of the school still was the image shown to the public.

Of course the public didn't know.
No one knew.
Only the ones who lived through hell had knew.

Beyond the prestigious walls of KQ high, there stood a pyramid of wolves who each desperately tried to climb to the top of the food chain.
While many cubs were left in the dust awaiting death.

Simply said, KQ high is a fucking nightmare.

Fights would break out everyday.
they would be everywhere.
Some that the people would chant as a few fought, creating a bloodbath.
Some that would happen in secluded areas, ones that people would refer to as 'one sided beat ups'.

Many school properties would naturally be damaged during the process but as always they were threwn in abandoned classrooms and hid amongst the spares.
The scene would be thrown a huge white rag over it and just like that, no one would bother to check anymore.

Just like the classroom xion stood in.

See, xion wasn't always the outcast that he was.

Amongst the pyramid stood three floors, the people of the floors all of different kinds.
'the wolves' of course stood at the tip.
The ones that were powerful, intimidating and strong.

They were the elites of the school.
The ones everyone dreaded yet wanted to become the most.

In the second floor stood 'the loners'.
They were mainly students that tried their best to blend in and not stand out to any of the wolves.
They followed all the rules and made sure nothing of them seemed out of the abnormal.

Many won't recognize or even acknowledge their presence walking by, and that's how they wanted it to be.
Because they knew that once they were spotted by one of the wolves they would be kicked to the bottom of the pyramid.

Where knelt, 'the outcast'.

Once you land on this floor, there's no way of climbing back up.
The names pretty self explanatory.

The lowest class.

The servants.

The ones with no strength and no power.

Their mere purpose was to serve the ones at the top and complete each task they demanded.

If you don't, then well.....the elites will be upset.

Naturally, their fist will be their solution.
It always will be, in the grounds of KQ high.

Xion mainly started off as a loner.
The ones that remained hidden in the food chain and just quietly observed as shit went down.
It was rather peaceful for him like that although sometimes it did get kinda lonely.

Though, he didn't quite have a choice at that time, it was either get eaten up by the wolves of the school or just hide amongst the grass.
And between the two of the options, of course he always swore to himself that the less violent route was the better answer.

Alas, peaceful bubble didn't last long.
It all happened because of that one small slip up.
If only if he didn't commit such a mistake his life would probably still be in tact.
It mainly happened during his freshmen years.

How unlucky, already getting picked on during the first year.

The weather that day was unbearable.
It was scorching hot, every surface exposed to the sun could practically be used as a cooking stove.

Unfortunately for xion, he wasn't feeling very well that day.

The sun, it was just too much for his frail body.
He never was one who can adjust to heat, he hated hot weathers like such.

That day, during recess, xion walked along the accustomed path to reach the cafeteria.
The path had a huge field right by it, xion could spot a few senior students playing some kind of ball game on the field.

He wasn't sure what kind, xion wasn't a sports person in anyway.

He winced at the students behaviour, playing ball games under such a hot weather?!
They must be fucking insane to do so.
That or maybe they're used to hot weather.

Xion didn't pay much attention to them, he didn't need to.

'Get to the cafeteria. Buy a drink.'
Was what was chanting in his head repeatedly.

He felt lightheaded from the heat and his surroundings seem to spin with every step forward.
A heatstroke, maybe?

Suddenly, an item flew right in front of his head.
Xion flinched violently, the item was an inch away from head, it could've hit him!

What the hell?!

He stood still in his place, in shock as the item went right pass him.
The item bounced off the wall harshly and rolled towards his feet.
A ball....

Xion crouched down and picked up the ball.
It didn't take him much to gather the information.

Quickly he turned his head towards the field.
And to none of his suprise, the seniors on the field had their attention right on him.

One of their faces lit up to a pretentiously wide smile, xion could tell the smile was obviously faked even from such a far distance.

"oh my! I'm so sorry! the ball didn't hit you, did it?"
Xion, still shocked by what just happened, couldn't form any words and just shook his head in reply instead.

He glanced towards the other boys on the field, all facing him, as if they were guessing his next move.

He couldn't see their faces very well.
Xion guessed it might just be that his eye sight was getting bad or the heat was getting to him.

They didn't say a word, only the boy that talked first was the odd one out, which made the situation even more awkward on xion's part.

The boy couldn't help it but feel intimidated.

"that's great then! Now, I'm really sorry about what just happened but....could you please toss the ball to me, please?"
Xion nodded hesitantly.

Surely he couldn't deny the other, despite his weirdly wide smile, he knew a hint of malice was hidden behind his smile.
Same with all of the other boys there, even though they were at a far distance and xion couldn't exactly see each of their features, he could still sense a hint of malice from the boys.

But still, xion's hands were shaking.
The distance was way too far...
His sight is blurred, way much more than before.

His head was throbbing at this point and his limbs felt weak.

He needed a drink.

Just throw the ball, then leave.
Its that simple.

They won't possibly want him for anything else.

It's fine.

Just throw the ball.

Do it.

Throw it.

And he did.

His head was burning.
He immediately ran away.

Ignoring whatever happened behind him, he sprinted straight to the cafeteria.

It was none of his business anymore.

Right?

Seonghwa watched as the ball flew from the younger hands.
Quickly, flying closer to them.

'Despite, the small frame of the boy, he had quite the throw.'
Was what he had in mind.
Unless if you'd ask him that right now, he'd probably answer quite differently.

The sunlight was quite bright that day, even he would admit that the weather was abit hot for his liking.
He watched as the ball flew upwards and the shadow was quickly blinded by the beaming light.

He squinted his eyes and stared near the direction of the sun still had his eyes locked on the ball.
It wasn't when he realized the ball quickly flew downwards right at his direction.

Ah.

A few gasps and wide eyes quickly turned to him as the ball smashed right onto the left side of his forehead.
Seonghwa, head tilted down stared at the ball that has now rolled away to a fair distance from him with wide eyes.

The silence through the field still evident as no one dared to break it.

Mingi walked up to the older, face full of concern, "hey, you alright?"

Seonghwa didn't mind to spare the other a glance and shifted his eyes to the boy who was running the opposite direction instead.
He didn't even turn his head back.
The corner of seonghwa's lips lifted slightly and his eyes grew to one that contained a look of amusement more than anything.

A small huff of laughter escaped his lips and mingi concerned look turned into a confused one, clearly taken aback.
A few of the boys on the field giggled along as if it were helping the tense atmosphere.

Seonghwa turned to one of the boys who seemed closes to xion's distance, "hey, what's his name?"

The boy looked around for a second, unsure if he was the one that was actually called.
After he confirmed so, he replied, "I think it was..... Xion? I might be wrong, he was quite far from here", he fiddled with his uniform looking back to search for the boy who ran out of their sight.

"I've seen him around a few times on campus, he's a freshmen, I can go ask around if you want to know what class he's in!", another suggested.
A obnoxiously mischievous smile plastered across his face.

Seonghwa nodded hearing the boy's words.
His hand came up to wipe the sweat on his face, his mind still thinking about the boy who had already ran off.

" xion huh? "

Xion could never stop thinking back to that day.
Even till now, he would occasionally space out thinking about what he could have done right that day.

There were many routes he could have took, but he chose the worst one.

But then again, it was a mistake.

It wasn't his fault, it was just an accident.

The next day since the incident happened, he noticed how everyone around him kept staring at him as he walked through the hallways of the school.
Even if he didn't know most of the people who were staring at him, they seemed to know the boy very well.

A few snickers sounded when he passed by which made him tilt his head down even lower.

Why was everyone staring at him?

Xion felt overwhelmed by the amount of attention surrounding him, he wasn't used to it, nor did he like it.

"hey, over here!"

Xion lifted his head to see a boy in front of the staircase he was headed to.
The boy had a wide grin on his face, one that looked obnoxiously fake.

The boy that was on the field yesterday?
That was definitely him, xion hasn't mistaken.

What does he want from him?

As he approached the boy, he very quickly hung his one arm around xions shoulder.
The action startling the other as he wasn't quite used to anyone acting so friendly with him.

The boy did it as if the two were best friends for years.

"come on!", the boy wasted no time and dragged xion up the stairs his feet nearly not catching up from the speedy boy.

Well, xion didn't mind going with the boy to where ever he was taking him.
There was ten minutes till the first class started, he didn't have anywhere to be.
Plus, It took him away from the many pair of eyes staring at him in the hallway.

Although a part of him felt uneasy about the whole situation.
The boy was definitely one of the more "elite" students in the school, and being dragged away by one of them was definitely not a good sign.

"oh, I never really introduced myself haven't I?", the boy turned back with a cheeky grin, still walking up the stairs.

"my names haechan, remember it, you're about to anyways!"
The boy now known as haechan then flashed another obnoxious grin towards xion.

Xion could have been calm about the introduction if it weren't for the last few words of the sentence that were an obvious threat.

'remember it, you're about to anyways!'

" I'm-"

" No need to introduce yourself. I already know who you are, xion."

What?

They only met just now..?

The situation made xion felt uncomfortable.
He decided that there was no need to keep up a conversation with the other so he just kept his mouth closed.

The stairway seemed to go on forever, xion felt out of breath while haechan guided him towards a hallway on the fourth floor, the fake smile never leaving his face.

"here!"
Haechan beamed as he pointed towards a door at the end of the hallway.

Xion uncontrollably gulped as he walked up to the room where the light seemed to dim a bit darker.

He reached out to the door handle, eyes darting back to haechan, questioning if he should open it.
Haechan nodded in reassurance, and the boy's grip on the door handle tighten.
Xion opened the door, and immediately froze at the sight.

"oh, is he the one?"

Hyunjin.

Johnny.

Mingi.

And....

Seonghwa.

"pfft, you're telling me this was the guy who hit you in the head?" hyunjin laughed as he pointed at xion, his tone asking a seemingly insulting question.

What?
Hit who?

According to his memory he didn't hit anyone in the head.
He was sure of it!

"I- I didn't hit anyone in the head I'm sure of it! Please you must have mistaken me for someone else! I never hit any-"
Xion rambled panickingly but was immediately cut off with a punch to his face.

"he's noisy"
That voice,.... Johnny.

"you might not remember, but you definitely did
I'm sure of it"
Haechan mocked from behind.

Xion turned to him but saw the boy leaning against the now locked door.

"he said you threw a ball right at him without even looking, that's talent right there if you ask me.
Too bad I wasn't there to see it."
hyunjin said holding his laughter, seonghwa throwing a playful offended look at him.

"are you sure you don't remember?

That's strange, how are you the one that doesn't remember when I'm the one who got hit?"

Seonghwa stepped forward to xion, the height difference much more apparent now that he was closer.
Xion, clearly intimidated stepped backwards so that the distance between them wasn't as uncomforting.

Seonghwa, amused by the action stepped forward once again making the boy's fear more apparant by the second.

Suddenly, seonghwa lifted his feet of the ground.

And without xion even noticing the other's action, he was kicked right on the stomach.
Xion felt himself tumble backwards and soon, his back hit the wall.

He grunted in pain, not used to such harsh pressure on his torso.

Seonghwa's action seemed to have excite many others in the room, all of them stared with the same sickeningly smug grin on their faces.
Xion stared up at the boys with predator like stares, questioning himself as to what kind of trouble has he gotten himself to.

The moment he stepped in the room, he knew something bad was going to happen due to the dangerous assortment of people in the room.

Haechan,
now that he think about it, he has heard that name floating around.

Haechan was a known troublemaker amongst the school grounds, he loved to play sick pranks on anyone and anywhere.
It didn't matter if it was female students, old teachers, or even a student with a disability, his bomb of mischief would land anywhere.

Hyunjin,
he was your typical trust fund kid, rich parents to back him up in every trouble he ran into.

Hyunjin was spoiled, anyone could just tell by the expensive watches he wore everyday, a new pair of branded shoes every day of the week and from the sleek Rolls Royce his personal driver drove him to school with everyday.

Life was easy for him, xion betted.
The boy had no worries, no responsibilities and no one coming for his neck.
Xion envied the boy's carefree lifestyle.

Johnny,
he was always an odd one.
He was always quiet and solemn, not much of a talker.
He was mysterious and conserved, not much people knew much about him.
Although he wasn't super rich or anything he was still part of the group that people feared in the school.

Mainly because of his larger form and intimidating looks, the boy was accepted into the crowd right away.
If only xion looked more intimidating than he did then he wouldn't be in this situation....

Mingi,
not much was known about him either.
He again also had a larger and fierce form.

Maybe that's one of the criteria for being accepted into the elites of the school?

He had been friend's with seonghwa for a very long time, xion heard the two went way back even before high school.

He was mainly known for his impressive strength.

Even though the boy doesn't do 1v1 fights that much, whenever he does, it would still become the talk of the school for a whole damn month.

Every person who spread the topic would word it in such a cruel way, making mingi to have some sort of negative reputation.
Of course no one actually knew if the boy's personality was like with the cold and ruthless image he has built up, resulting in people avoiding him in every aspect, only seonghwa would be the one to know what mingi's true persona was like.

They were best friends, it would be weird for him not to.

Lastly,
Seonghwa.

Other than being the son of a well known politician, seonghwa was also a top senior student of the school.

He was a genius in every category.

No matter academics, sports, crafts or even reputation and looks wise, he aced it all.
Every time xion watched the boy pass by, he couldn't help himself but envy the boy's confident aura.
He had a reason to be confident and he envied so.

But all his goods aside, seonghwa was a bully.
He acted as a disciplined and likeable student in front of the adults and mocked the weak and younger when they weren't around.
He often used his physical talents on taking his anger out of students.

He was the one that stained the inner walls of the school, causing havoc amongst the once used to be peaceful school.

Yes,
the school was once a safe place where students actual priorities were to study.
Xion wasn't quite sure, since he did enroll later than seonghwa did, but he had heard that seonghwa beaten up a few seniors his first year of enrolling.

The seniors were heard to be seriously injured, at least a few broken bones was the minimum damage.
His father and the school, of course covered it up for him.

It was like nothing ever happened.

But of course, people talk, and that's why till now the rumor still stays afloat.

Ever since he did so, the school turned upside down completely.

People hungry for power.

No one actually cared for studies and their future anymore, only the feeling of being feared and respected that mattered,
And seonghwa was the cause of that.
A freshmen when it happened.

"you're an outcast",
He heard seonghwa huffed.

It was never until then when xion realized how even just mere words could struck someone with terror.

***

6:01pm

The shrilling sound of the bell pricked xion's ears, he immediately straightened his posture with an embarrassing squeak.

He looked around the room and saw people chatting with their friends as they left the already half empty classroom, a bag in their hands.

Right, it was the last bell that had just rung.
Luckily everyone was so focused on leaving the room no one heard the small shriek xion let out when the bell rung.

Sigh.

Xion had been occupied by thoughts that infiltrated his head all day, he barely even knew what happened or how long it has been.

The teachers probably had listed important notes he was required to write down, or assignments he had to complete, but he didn't hear any of them.
Xion knew there wasn't anyone to ask about it, everyone already had left.

Plus, he was a fucking outcast.

Stupid.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

He was already failing his classes due to the times this has happened.

Everytime a situation like this occurred, he just did absolutely nothing about it and accepted the teachers mean words for him the next they when he had to tell them he didn't do any of the homework given.

Why the fuck was he even sulking about something like this right now?
It was the norm for him.

A thud sounded to his right.

Xion jumped at the sudden noise.
Usually when someone came in the classroom when everyone but him had already left was mainly to "hang out" with an outcast like him.

He knew how things worked around here.
Mainly a fake friendly act, then ask him for something.

Well, that was what he thought anyways.
Intead of an overwhelmingly heavy arm around the shoulder, he caught sight of his classmate who sat on the desk right beside him walk past him.

Hongjoong.
A loner, of course.

He always wore a mask and a grey hoodie on top of his school uniform, plus, an additional beanie covering all of his hair.
Well, it was the basic loner attire of the school, he wouldn't be surprised, its the attire almost everyone used to blend in the crowd.

The boy didn't even spare him a glance and walked towards his desk, acting like the other didn't even exist.
Well, no big deal he probably just left something and came back to get it.

Yup, as expected the boy reached for his desk right beside xion.
Hongjoong picked up thin yet worn out book from his desk.
Judging by the amount of note tags sticking out from the pages, it must be his notebook.

He's gonna leave now.

Again, as expected-

Hongjoong glanced towards xion and tossed the book right on his desk.
Nope, xion took back his words.

He now stared back at hongjoong with perplexed eyes.

This could only mean one thing, hongjoong wants him to write his notes for him.
Even though the two never talked much during the year, but xion could already tell hongjoong was a quiet and calm person.
He was shorter than xion, and also, reminder, a loner.

As If his life wasn't hard enough, he just had to want to step over him as well.

Out of everyone, him.
Fuck him, fuck everyone.

"No", xion snarled, he already had enough, he was not gonna let another person think they could make his life even more of a living hell.

"No to..... what? I didn't even say anything.", hongjoong said calmly.

"No, I'm not gonna write your notes for you! I'm sick of it, everything, stop thinking that I'm just a robot and you guy's can do anything as you please with me!"

Xion stood up and slammed the table with both hands, his chair falling to the ground, falling onto the tile floor creating a louder than expected sound.

Xion expected hongjoong to be taken aback or maybe even mad at his sudden outburst, but instead the boy just quirked an eyebrow, a small huff sneaking pass his mask and into xion's ears.

"what's so funny!"
Hongjoong ignored his question and looked down to the ground, a loud exhale that escaped his lips this time.

"you know, I was gonna lend my notes to you. Knowing you, you probably didn't pay attention to class and missed everything the teacher said again"

Ok, out of everything, xion was definitely not expecting that from him.

"how-"
"everytime I take a look at you during class you're spacing out, you think I don't know that? "

"but looking at your reaction, it doesn't seem like you really want my help so...."
Hongjoong reached out to retrieve the note book, xion's eyes widened.

"N-NO,..... Don't take it back please, I need it!"
Hongjoong turned his gaze to the boy who now has his hand on his, eyes pleading pitifully.

Seeing the boy in this state, he retracted his hand back into the pocket of his oversized hoodie.
He turned to look at the window, the blue sky was now replaced with a beautiful autumn shade.

It was getting late.
Without saying a word, hongjoong left the classroom not even turning back to say a word of 'goodbye' to xion.

Xion's eyes never left the book in his hands.
That was it?
That easy?

He obtained the book just like that?
Normally they would ask for something in return if this happened, maybe a beating after school, some money, or maybe a task.
But hongjoong didn't even say a word to him.

.....
No, this can't just be it.
He must have something up his sleeve.
Xion has gone through this so many times, no way he was gonna fall for a trap as dumb as this one.

Should he go look for hongjoong and return his book right now?

Impossible, it's too late for that.
But what if hongjoong asks for something terrible the next day.
This must be a trick.
It must be.

There's no way anyone would randomly come interact with an outcast just out of the blue.

That doesn't happen, especially in this hell of a place.

Everyone knows the rule to not associate with outcasts, it's the rules.
You become one with the outcasts if you break the rule.

Hongjoong must know that.
There's no way someone who attends the school doesn't know.

That bitch.

Its too late to do anything.
He already has a mouse trap stuck to his tail.

***

7:24pm

Xion returned back home, his back felt sore from the heavy backpack he carried.

The meet up with mingi at the back alley wasn't anything special, the taller just threw him a few punches and kicks here and there.

At least it wasn't a time where they wanted to "have fun" with him and tried getting creative with their hitting methods.

It still hurts tho.
No matter how many times he has gotten beaten up by the people at school, he could never get used to the excruciating pain that came after every hit.

The sound of a boring show playing on the TV made him shift his attention towards the couch.

The boy's mother sat on the couch lazily.
She definitely heard the sound of her son coming through the front door but it doesn't seem like she even cared to look.

"how was school?", she asked the boy right behind her.
"good"

Seeing that his mother wasn't paying any attention to him.

Xion darted to his room, making sure to not slam the door harshly, he didn't want his mother to come in and scold him and make his day worse.

What a joke.

Good?

That school is anything but good.
How long can he keep this up?

He doesn't feel like going to school.
Today, yesterday, tomorrow....
Everyday.

He hated school.

A/N

Who's the dumbass who decided to write 7500 words for the first chap of a story
*points at self*

Kinda wanted to see what the image of the school and half of the main characters looked like from one of the outcast pov's.
So that's why xion was the most mentioned one this first chap.

Well anyways hope you like this whole teenage drama concepts.
Although am warning you rn that there are gonna be alot of triggery topics in this story(I'll put a tw at the start of it dw)