|Weak Hero| Dawn Na

Chapter 11

Bryce began to hang out with their friend group and offered to treat them to the snack bar. He was shy and quiet, but he continued to put in an effort to hang out with them. At first it was strange having an additional member, but they eventually got used to it. Whenever Dawn was hanging out with Juhee, Taeyong, and Seungcheon, Bryce would just hang out with Stephen and Gray.

One day, Stephen was hanging up posters on the billboard while Bryce, Dawn, and Gray stood to the side. Bryce decided to talk to Gray and Dawn. "Hey Gray, I saw that you landed first place on the test again,"

"Yeah, that's just how it panned out," Gray said. "Dawn, did you also get first place in your class?"

"Yep," Dawn nodded.

"That's fucking amazing," Bryce commented while sneering at Stephen. "That idiot Stephen scored first place once. What a fluke. Took a nosedive from glory, didn't he? Hahaha, turns out his real place is in the lower-mid range. Sometimes though, when I look at that fucker, I feel like he's so fucking fake. Does he think he's the students' guardian angel or something?"

"Stephen's not an idiot," Dawn frowned. "And he's not fake,"

"So he's some kind of saint when he always donates his prize money and hangs up posters?" Bryce scoffed.

"He's just a nice guy," Dawn told him. "He was this nice even in elementary school,"

"Hoo, that's all of it," Stephen finished up the last of the posters and walked over to them. "Takken revenge match today?"

"You think you can handle it?" Gray teased.

"I'll beat all of you!" Dawn declared even though she was the worst player out of all four of them.

Some girls at the entrance of the school had been watching them.

"It's Stephen Ahn and Gray Yeon from Class Four,"

"They're so perfect, omg!"

"Ugh, but who's that girl that's always with them?"

"Why's she always hogging them?"

"She should let the rest of us have a chance too,"

"Does she think she owns them or something?"

Dawn had heard all of their comments. Those comments annoyed her, but she decided to ignore them. 'Of course I'll hang around Gray and Stephen since Gray's my cousin and Stephen's my childhood friend. And what do those girls mean by I'm hogging them and that I should let them have a chance too? Gray and Stephen don't even know those girls exist! Those girls don't even truly know Gray and Stephen. They only watch them from afar,'

XXX

"Hah, this is boring," Bryce whined. "Don't you think we kind of hangout like losers?" 

"Losers?" Dawn sent an annoyed glare towards him. "We play Takken, chat, eat, and do our homework together sometimes. What about that exactly makes us losers?" 'He's been getting on my nerves a lot lately,'

"It's lame and boring," Bryce claimed. 

Sensing the tensions rising and not wanting an argument to break out, Stephen decided to lighten the mood. "If we're losers, then I'm the King of Losers, baby. Haha,"

Bryce laughed loudly at that. "PAHAHAHAHA! Stephen Ahn, the King of Losers! You can say that again. Fore real though, you're such a loser! Hahahaha! I mean, real talk, you're the dumbest of the three of us. I mean, Gray and Dawn shouldn't count. Gray just studies all day and Dawn's always the top of her class and even sometimes reads Gray's textbooks. But you? You're right around the middle in terms of grades. Actually, weren't you a little lower than that? Heh,"

"Wow! Bryce is roasting the shit out of me!" Stephen laughed. "Alright man, hahahaha!"

'It doesn't sound like Bryce is even saying that in a playful, joking manner at all,' Dawn wanted to speak up, but since Stephen was going along with it, she didn't say anything. 'It sounds like all he's doing is just insulting Stephen,'

"Seriously man, I doubt you'll ever get a girlfriend the way you are right now!" Bryce added. "Gray's got a better chance than you and all he ever does is study. Hey Dawn, would you even date someone like Stephen?"

"Let's see," Dawn paused and hummed loudly as if she was thinking deeply about it. "Stephen's nice, kind, caring, and selfless. Last time I checked, those were desirable traits one looks for in a partner,"

"Aww, are you confessing to me?" Stephen joked.

Dawn lightly shoved his shoulder. "Nope!" 'I'm pretty sure you're into Gray and he's into you,'

XXX

"Juhee, am I a bad person for not wanting Bryce in the friend group anymore?" Dawn had video called her friend once she had reached home. 

"I don't think you're a bad person for not wanting him around. I find Bryce to have gotten a bit ruder these days,"

"So I wasn't imagining that his personality's gotten worse," 

"But you can't force Gray and Stephen to not hang out with him. It's their choice if they want to stay friends with him,"

"Sooner or later they'll see that Bryce has changed for worse," Dawn sighed. "He seems to have something against Stephen. I don't get why. Stephen is so nice and he was the one who reached out to Bryce when we saw Bryce all alone. Right now Bryce makes a lot of verbal jabs at him, but Stephen simply brushes those off. If Bryce were to ever physically hurt my friend or my cousin...I'll step in,"

XXX

Dawn was taking a walk through town when she crossed paths with Oswald, his friend, and Bryce. "Hey, you're Dawn, right?" Oswald asked. "How about you quit hanging around those losers Stephen Ahn and Gray Yeon and start hanging out with us instead? We're on our way to Cafe Gamma. You should join us,"

"No," Dawn refused.

"What, are you into losers or something?" Oswald scoffed. "Come on, it'll just be a few drinks. It's not like you'll be the only one there. There's hot chicks from Songmin too," Oswald reached over to grab Dawn's wrist, but his own wrist was grabbed. 

"If you touch my daughter, I'll kill you," Orion glared down at Oswald.

Oswald couldn't immediately respond. Instead, he felt something he had never felt before: fear. He felt like a small prey in front of a fierce predator. After a few moments, he pulled his arm free. "H-Hey! Don't you know who I am!? Who do you think you are threatening me!?"

"Who do you think you are trying to force my daughter to go with you?" 

Dawn had only ever seen her father this scary one other time: when those robber had broken into their home and had taken her hostage.

"If you try anything with my daughter, you'll have to deal with me," Orion gently led Dawn away. "Dawn, are you alright?"

"Yeah," Dawn nodded.

"Who were they?" Orion glanced behind them to make sure those jerks weren't following.

"Oswald Yang, Bryce Oh, Joe Mook, and Desmond Kang," 

"If they continue to cause you any more problems, tell me," Orion patted his kid's head. "It's my job to look after you," 'Oswald Yang...I bet he's one of the sons of City Representative Oscar Yang. That brat must feel like no one can punish him since he has an upper class father,'

XXX

Later that night, when Orion was sure Dawn was asleep, he made a phone call. "Hey Craton, I need you to dig up dirt on Oscar Yang. I want to take him down,"

The Byuksan Arc won't be exactly the same as in canon.