Bully Me ✔️

16. Demons Unveiled

"I hope you'll never be happy!"

"One day, you'll be as helpless as my son and you'll then feel his agony."

Matthew's mother spilled curse upon curse. They were poor but needed money for the boy's treatment. Sehyuk's parents offered full coverage of bills till he woke up in exchange for a settlement without involving the law. It was an offer she couldn't refuse. The family that led her son to that state were the ones who were her last hope.

Sehyuk couldn't face anyone after that. The pained and crying faces of his victims kept him awake. He locked himself in his house for one year till his parents pulled him out and forced him to attend therapy then applied for a university in South Korea a few months after it.

"I knew something was off about you the moment you asked me to bully you," Kihyun snorts, rolling his eyes at the boy. "I mean, who in their right mind would smile and grin stupidly after being beaten up? I hated how happy you looked despite the state you were in. I couldn't figure you out and wanted to see you break."

"Too bad you couldn't."

"Oh, I did." Kihyun raises his brow and tilts his head to the side. "That day, after we won the football match."

"Right! That happened." Sehyuk groans, slapping his hands over his face. "I don't know what I would've done if Jaemin didn't come in at the right time. He's such a great guy."

Kihyun hums, nodding his head. "Why exactly did you ask me to bully you?"

"Even after what I did, I got away with it easily. That thought had been eating me alive. I wanted something to hurt me so my guilt would diminish. So, when I saw you bullying Jaemin, it struck me that if I would be the one that's bullied, you wouldn't find another victim and I'd pay a part for what I have done in this way."

"That's messed up. And you used me for it. I want to punch you but that's what you want so I won't."

Sehyuk chortles, tapping on his mobile phone. "Gyeom is inviting for a movie night, want to come with?"

"No," the older deadpans, "that guy hates me with a passion. What's his problem, anyway? He's not the one I hurt."

"You hurt me, that's why. I'm his close friend."

Kihyun is reminded of his brother and sister-in-law, and how this situation is similar. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, but karma fulfilling its duty. Losing my legs for one and a half months has been the most helpless I've ever felt. It was so hard to adjust in the starting, even doing minimal tasks took me so much strength and willpower. Then I couldn't even play in the football match I had been looking forward to since I joined university." The blond boy sucks in his lips and releases a short breath. "Matthew's mother would be happy to know her wish came true."

Kihyun isn't sure what he's supposed to reply to that.

"Come on, let's go." Sehyuk pulls the other up. "They're having pizza and Gyeom says this Lim Jaebum guy makes killer pizza."

"What, does he use blood instead of tomato sauce for it?"

Sehyuk gags, lips contorting into a grimace. "That was such a bad pun, I want to punch you now."

Half an hour after hauling a taxi, the two stand at the step of a playroom.

The room is dimly lit with LED strips around the perimeter of the floor, the dullness calling in a homey mood. A pool, tennis, and air hockey tables are placed along the sides, facing each other, with large beige pillows cushioned on a thin mattress covered with silk sheets. Just opposite to is a large white wall where movies or games are projected.