"uh? excuse me?" mingyu's voice sounded dangerously deep as he loosened his grip around wonwoo, facing the four teens who interrupted their little moment "were you talking to me?"
"yes you." the tallest among them made a step closer to mingyu, being hyped up by the rest of his group "do i have to repeat myself? we don't want fags like you on our beach."
wonwoo found shelter behind mingyu's broad posture, secretly checking out what they were dealing with. the four boys that stood in front of them couldn't possibly be older than fourteen, fifteen at most. to top all that, wonwoo couldn't remember seeing them before, meaning today had to be their first day here.
"those are some filthy words for such young boys." mingyu crossed his arms and cocked a brow as he looked down at the boys that were a good few inches shorter than them "i friendly request all of you to go back to your mother and leave us alone before things will escalate."
"shut your fucking mouth, fag!" a second, blue haired boy spat in defense, trying to come off equally as intimidating as mingyu "you're not welcome here."
"well that's too bad for you, we've been on this exact spot for the past few days. i'm not letting a toddler tell me what to do." a sly smirk appeared on mingyu's face, one that even managed to frighten wonwoo in the process.
his comment visibly filled the younger boys with more aggression. "so i'm friendly requesting you once more to leave us alone and find a different spot. the beach is big enough for all of us." mingyu came with a peaceful solution.
if it wasn't for wonwoo, who was slightly trembling behind him, he would have used violence to fix the issue in front of him. but for once he wanted to adjust himself to wonwoo's level, which was a lot easier to do so. he might use it on a more regular base if it ended up being helpful.
"or how about you just leave? we were here first and we don't want disgusting freaks like you in our sight." at this point mingyu was fuming with anger, his hands clenched into a fist.
"i'm asking you one more time politely." mingyu hissed between gritted teeth, "leave now or i'm punching the beating shit out of the four of you."
it was wonwoo who now felt the responsibility to stop mingyu from doing so, knowing it would escalate if he didn't do anything at this point. he rested a hand on mingyu's shoulder, drawing in his attention at once. "mingyu-"
"-not now wonwoo, i'm taking care of something here." mingyu tried to act the nicest he was capable of towards wonwoo, gently removing the hand of his shoulder.
"i think i'm about to puke." one of the boys exaggerated, slabbing one of his buddies against the shoulder.
"we're supposed to be scared right now?" the tallest among them snorted, nearly folding his entire body from laughter "come on, as if you would actually hurt a fly."
and this time mingyu didn't hesitate to strike a punch straight into the first face he saw, which was perfectly aimed for the blue haired boy. "MINGYU! WHAT THE FUCK!" hansol aggressively jumped in between, using his full force to jerk mingyu back by his shoulder, making the tall boy stumble and nearly fall back into the sand.
"what was that good for? i'm trying to protect myself and wonwoo against these.." mingyu looked up from hansol to the group of four, trying to imagine something mean yet still acceptable for wonwoo's ears "..jerks!"
"mingyu they're barely fifteen! are you out of your mind?" hansol argued back, trying to drag his body away from the snickering group of minors, who were visibly enjoying the whole act that was put up in front of them. even the blue haired boy who had a small river of blood running down his nose laughed as if he wasn't in pain, hiding away behind his tough image.
"i don't give a fuck! they called us fags and- wonwoo? where are you going!" mingyu's attention instantly averted to wonwoo, who made it's way back towards the narrow path that lead them back into the forest. guilt rose up in his chest when he realized he was, yet again, the cause of the main problem.
"run after your little boyfriend!" the boy beside the blue haired teen yelled, making mingyu turn around on a dangerously slow pace, finally managing to frighten the boys with just a single facial expression.
"if i ever see you here again i won't hesitate to smack my fist into the first who dares to speak a fucking word to me, understood?" mingyu's eyes spat fire and it was the last thing the boys had seen of him before he turned around and took a sprint towards wonwoo.
he ignored hansol calling his name out multiple times, desperate to fix the thing he ruined. never had he been so certain of something in his entire life. and right now, it felt as if that exact thing was slipping between his fingers. as if he spilled the chances that were given to him.
"wonwoo!" he called, finally managing to keep up with wonwoo's pace.
wonwoo looked up, pushing his specs a little higher up his nose before he looked at mingyu with the same emotionless gaze his eyes usually held. the one where mingyu could barely tell what he was feeling. but unlike other times, mingyu was certain he'd seen a spark of sorrow in the elder's eyes, making him regret his former actions even more.
"was it necessary to use violence?" wonwoo proceed to ask calmly, his expression not changing for the slightest bit.
"i'm so sorry you had to see that wonwoo." mingyu apologized, trying to keep their moment of eye contact "i really tried to use my words instead! but they just kept going and going and i was scared they might've hurt you."
"mingyu. you're twice their size. they would never in their lives have the actual gut to attack you." wonwoo stuffed his hands all the way in his pockets, glueing his eyes to the unpaved road they walked on, gently kicking against a pebble "you could have just walked away instead. let them talk, it shouldn't be of any matter."
"walk away? but i'm not a coward." mingyu voice softened when he saw wonwoo's expression changing as well.
"and that's the difference between us mingyu. i am a coward. i rather run away from my problems than face them." then wonwoo expression changed so drastically, even mingyu nearly lost track. he smiled. fondly. showing his bright white, sharp canines. "i realize now how stupid that sounded. perhaps violence is a better option."
and when wonwoo looked up, showing mingyu the widest and most honest smile he had given since they first met on the beach, mingyu realized something very important. he was so certain of this one specific thing, feeling and person.
and he would definitely not let go of any of those any sooner.
