✔ 𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠

¢нαρтєя Э.θ7

"Why?" asked Dae, immediately puzzled.

What was going to be dangerous about school, unless you were bullied?

"Were you afraid of school?"

"Nonsense! - Although, extremely scared!" laughed Beomgyu, pulling up the sleeve of his left hand and showing Dae his large scar that stretched from wrist to elbow. "I have a disease. Ever heard of glass bones?"

Wide-eyed, the youngest stopped chewing and stared at the scar. Yeonjun found it somewhat shocking and immediately it popped into his head what this glass bone disease called by the society was. Dae, however, was thinking feverishly. "I think I heard about it once. Is that where the bones have been replaced with glass?"

Yeonjun snorted softly at this question, but held his fist to his mouth as Beomgyu's gaze darted to him.

"More like your bones are like made of glass. They break very, very quickly. Depending on how bad the disease is." Beomgyu pulled his sleeve back down. "I've had to have two surgeries and I've had twelve broken bones. The idea of going to school was really scary, but I would have loved to go."

23-year-old Yeonjun already got a somewhat queasy feeling when he heard this. After all, he had more beatings in his school days than he had now, and he was now quite glad that he hadn't grabbed more during the burglary. The idea that he could have hurt Beomgyu, so he would have to make an operation wasn't pretty. Though with someone like the guy Sol had been talking to, he wouldn't care.

"Oh wow," came out of Dae and he lowered the piece of potato he had skewered with the chopsticks. "That mean I could break your fist if you give me a brofist?"

Beomgyu grinned and held out his fist to the boy.

"You want to try it?"

Dae was impressed and nodded slowly, raising his fist, but he brought it so slowly and carefully to Beomgyu's that their knuckles touched only minimally. But the touch was enough, and Beomgyu contorted his face in pain. "Ahhh!" He pressed his fist to his chest and covered it with his other hand.

"Oh shit," Dae immediately said and withdrew his hand, looking helpfully at Yeonjun who, startled, slammed both hands down on the table, causing all the dishes to shake.

First the burglary, and now this!?

"Dae!" Yeonjun cursed.

"I-I swear, I wasn't -..."

Beomgyu chuckled. "Calm down!" He held out his fist and wiggled his fingers in closing. "I messed with you, sorry," the long-haired apologized to them, but was amused. "I'm not that fragile."

"That was mean!" laughed Dae, but Yeonjun still had his hands on the table surface with fingers splayed, pulling up one side of his upper lip. "But good! You can often fool someone with that, can't you?"

"Can be good. I didn't have to fool anyone with it when I was a kid. Luckily, my bones have gotten a bit stronger, but you never know." Beomgyu still managed a smile, pleased that he had at least impressed the younger man, with his little prank. "What I was really trying to say, though. Only losers don't go to school like me, you know?"

Yeonjun ducked his head and started to scratch off the sticker of the glass bottle in front of him when he felt Dae's gaze on him. "And I don't want you to end up without a degree like me either."

Dae's uncertainty was still palpable, though, so Beomgyu turned to his brother. "Are you in a relationship right now? Do you have a girlfriend?" he asked Yeonjun directly, without mincing words, because really, one would immediately assume that about a handsome young man.