my escape • study group x reader

chapter twenty-one • episode 6

Suddenly, there was a loud bang and a flower pot beside Ms. Lee's head exploded, causing everyone to freeze. Minwhan stood with his BB gun still pointed and a smile on his face. He shot again, just in time for Ga-min's mother to grab Ms. Lee and pull her to the ground so that the bullet would only pierce the glass door behind them. It shattered, even the wooden frame around it falling. The thicker piece of wood, that had originally been at the top, slammed directly on top of Ms. Yoon's head, knocking her unconscious immediately. She slipped to the floor slowly and blood began to pool around her head.

***

Ga-min's mother was rushed to the hospital and we were all left to give our statements to the police. Afterwards, the police escorted us home but to avoid being seen in a police car by my mother, I decided to get out with Se-hyeon at his place. We had discussed Ga-min and his mother the entire way there, explaining how guilty we felt for following them and leading the gang to that cafe. It hadn't been our fault, but then again, it kind of was. Nobody in the study group could get a hold of Ga-min, but we all hoped and assumed he'd be present at school tomorrow so that we could engulf him in hugs and apologies. We swore to not talk about the negatives of the day after we were dropped off, we knew that this late at night it'd be hard to handle.

"My dad's not here, he's working late...if you wanna come in." Se-hyeon said to me after the police car had driven away. He stood awkwardly, as if the question had triggered his anxiety.

I smiled at him. "I'd love to, I have to pee so bad."

He laughed, relief seeming to flood his expression before he turned to unlock the gate and push it open. He held the gate open for me as I entered, I jogged to the front door and slipped off my shoes as he locked the gate back. I entered his house, something I'd done many times, and practically ran to the bathroom down the hall. Some might say it's rude for someone to let themselves into another person's home, but this was Se-hyeon's home and what's his is mine.

When I exited the bathroom, I saw Se-hyeon's bedroom light flooding into the dark hall. I walked towards it and stepped into his room. He was shirtless with his back facing me, changing out of his uniform. I noticed dark purple bruises all over his back.

"Oh my god," I said without even realizing it. Se-hyeon's jumped and pulled his shirt on quickly. "I'm sorry, I just—That looks really painful."

He shrugged. "It's not as bad as it looks."

I raised an eyebrow and walked up to him, eyeing the cuts on his face. "Are you sure you shouldn't see a doctor? I mean, those bruises were really dark."

Se-hyeon smiled and turned his whole body to face me. "I'm fine."

I met his eyes. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm used to it."

"You shouldn't be."

He sighed and turned to find a specific book that was amongst the stacks on his nightstand, the ones he's recently read. The one he picked up was a college level nursing textbook. He handed it to me, "I found this at a bus stop, I used it to make sure I didn't have any broken ribs or internal bleeding. They're just bruises, they'll go away."

I flipped through the textbook. "Can I borrow this?"

"Of course," he nodded. "Now, turn around so I can change my pants you perv."

"Sorry," I mumbled, turning around and standing slightly outside of his bedroom door. I flipped through the pages of the textbook until he let me know that he was done changing. I turned back to him, glaring.

"What?" He asked, looking down at his pajamas to make sure they weren't printed with some embarrassing character on them, but they weren't. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Have you ever had friends, other than me, over here?"

"Why are you asking that so suddenly?" He asked, reaching for his floor mats that were tucked neatly beside his nightstand.

"Is your dad okay with you having friends over?"

Se-hyeon shrugged. "I've never asked."

"So no one else has ever been here? I'm the only person that's seen your room?"

He nodded. "Is there a reason for these questions?"

I smiled and shook my head. "You like me enough to invite me over then, it makes me realize that i'm not forcing you to be friends with to me."

Se-hyeon scoffed. "If I didn't want to be around you, I wouldn't be."

I nodded. "Good...which means you'll stand with me at the assembly tomorrow just in case Han-Yool's gang starts shooting?"

He smiled. "Of course I will."

I shot him a finger heart and dropped down onto his floor mats. "Movie?"

"Movie." He sat down next to me. No matter what happens from now on, Se-hyeon would always be by my side and I knew that. Sometimes i'd question it, sometimes i'd question everything. I'd wonder why life had been so good even though so many bad things had happened, I wondered why I hadn't relapsed even though this year had been one of the hardest, I wondered why I was so happy to be seated next to a friend. I knew that one day I wouldn't question it anymore, one day I'd accept it all and just be happy.

***

Ms. Yoon stayed in the hospital for days and Ga-min and had gone completely MIA since the incident. Even when we returned to school Monday morning, none of us had heard anything from him and he wasn't returning our calls. We were all gradually growing more and more worried but there wasn't much we were capable of doing. By the time the school assembly for Ms. Lee's petition came around, we had all decided to visit Ga-min after school. It was a unanimous decision but, what we didn't expect was for him to crash the entire assembly.

The assembly started with the vice principal shaming whoever submitted the petition and explaining how our school was not a gang trading ground, he even went as far to call Ms. Lee up to the stage in which she did not apologize and encouraged students to follow their hearts when it came to signing the petition. She announced the disciplinary meeting for Pi Han Yool when the gymnasium doors flung open and Ga-min entered. Se-hyeon and I watched as Ga-min entered, directly approached Pi Han Yool in the back of the ground and landing punch directly onto his face.

The entire crowd gasped and Se-hyeon and I exchanged fearful glances with one another.

"Is he trying to kill himself?" I whispered, watching as Pi Han Yool turned and sent a full spin kick into Ga-min's jaw.

Ga-min was hardly phased. "Getting hit hurts, doesn't it? You're just a person too, so stop acting so cocky."

Pi Han Yool responded only with a smile.