the 8th member of bts

school

The sun was out that day.

[Y/n]-- no, Jihyun didn't feel like smiling. He didn't feel like looking up, speaking or even breathing. He was homesick already and he wanted to sigh at that. He missed the UK's wacky weather and its unique smell of alcohol and manure. He missed the sound of cows when he would go to the countryside. He missed the little old lady who would always give him a free taste of her amazing apple crumble. He missed it so much but it was gone.

Ni- Jiae seemed excited and positive but [Y/n] could easily see through her. She had a secret boyfriend, at least he thought it was a boyfriend, who she loved so much. She fell for 'him' so hard and he could see the heartbreak in her eyes. It made him feel even worse knowing his happy go lucky sister felt miserable as well.

Jisoo didn't really care. He said he didn't like the people in his school mainly because they all acted their age. At the age of seven, he was serious and hardworking which was concerning. Jihyun suspected that the sudden loss of his father really did affect him a lot.

"We'll be staying at my sister's place! Don't worry, we'll move out in and into a new flat in a few months time,"

Jihyun didn't believe his mum. She was a single parent mum who worked as a nurse who had three children, one that was a fifteen year old girl who was doing her GCSEs in the UK, an eleven year old boy who is just about to start secondary school and a seven year old boy who is still in primary school. He was pretty sure he would work together with her sister to help support each other.

When they arrived to the flat, Jihyun instantly noticed that it was small.

Very small.

It was smaller than the ones back in the UK. The walls were a cream colour and some parts of it were scribbled on, probably from their five year old coursin Jiwoo. There was carpet at least but there was hardly any furniture.

Their aunt, Minyeon, greeted them all with a hug and a gift to welcome them to Korea. But their cousin, Jiwoo, just stared in curiosity.

It turns out Jiwoo was a very shy and reserved boy who liked to play by himself with trucks and cars. A typical boy really. He was adorable as time went on and he got used to Jihyun and his family. He even made a homemade card for Jiae's fifteenth birthday which was on the 1st July.

But as summer ended, Jihyun started secondary school.

But thankfully there was good news. Jiae would be going to the same school so he would be able to hang out with her. At least he'd have someone.

- - -

Never mind.

Classes were terrible.

Every time he would walk into a new class room, eyes would stick like honey onto him. Mouths would whisper things to each other as those eyes would squint in confusion. Of course they did. His weird pale skin and freckles along with his strange walk and attitude made him seem more foreign.

People stayed clear of him because he was foreign. People kept on thinking he didn't know korean or he was mute. People didn't like him or his smiles and looks.

Except for two people.

Baehyun was a popular boy who played football and had a smile fit for a king. Even if he was twelve he was a real charmer. So, of course, he made friends with the timid and friendless boy.

Jihyun always sat with his sister and her few friends she had made in a day. She always had been a social butterfly; just like her dad. But this time - after a few weeks of starting school - Jihyun had sat beside Baehyun who was sitting all alone waiting for only him. Baehyun was a nice boy. He loved sports and was very extroverted which was very unlike Jihyun who despised sports and who liked to be with himself. Baehyun became his new best friend that kind of replaced Michael, although, Jihyun would never forget him.

Jihyun, after about three months in school, thought he had found a place in this new world.

He had to jinx it.

Three students who was in his class as well - two boys and one girl - observed the new friendship. Jihyun, who was a nobody and who was weird, was friends with Baehyun who was like a celebrity in their year?

No

It wasn't going to happen.

The three students started picking on him because they thought he couldn't speak. The bullying was subtle at first. The three would call him small names and joke about it. It made Jihyun chuckle awkwardly while feeling confused as he didn't mind the comments since making him annoyed or offended was very hard. When they realised that it wasn't affecting Jihyun, they began mocking him when he would get annoyed. They called him Ghost for his unique pale skin and solitary personality. They treated him like a ghost as well. When he would walk past them, they would bump into him and sometimes even shove him. Then, they would say sorry, and say that he was so pale he almost was transparent. That he was so quiet, so short, that they didn't realise or see that he was there. They would ignore him as well. They would get everyone in the class to do it. When he needed help and he was put into a group, everyone in it would flat out ignore him and pretend he wasn't there. He hated being ignored. It made him feel as if he didn't matter, that he was just there for no reason. He felt like he was an actual Ghost and he let them torture him. All because he thought it would stop eventually. He would always look down just so he couldn't see them. And maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't too.

Baehyun, of course, witnessed this and was so confused when everyone would ignore Jihyun. He tried to tell the teachers but all of them said that they were probably just teasing Jihyun and were having a bit of fun. Bashing couldn't do anything but try and protect Jihyun.

Jihyun found out the hard way that that's not how you handle bullies. It's not how you handle people who didn't even bother to know you and instantly think just because you came from a western country meant that you didn't know Korean and that you were automatically stupid.

So he had enough.

He remembered one of the bullies' shoulder nudge into his roughly, a numbing pain speeding into his elbow before he turned around swiftly. His expression said it all. Lost eyes fuelled with rage and confusion before he yelled a couple of words that made them stop "I'm not stupid! I know what you say to me and I know Korean!"

Then he stomped off, Baehyun running after him, as three teenagers shocked and a bit troubled. Some of the children passing by saw this and reported it to the principle of the school. He took in the three and Jihyun to know what happened.

"We were only teasing,"

"We didn't know we were hurting him,"

"We thought he knew we were joking,"

Of course they would make those excuses. Jihyun knew for a fact that, yes, they did know that they were hurting him, and no, they weren't just teasing or joking around. Their words hurt and cut him deep just because he looked a bit different and sound weird and wouldn't speak because he just didn't want to.

"Jihyun?" The principle asked softly and nicely, a hint of a fatherly tone laced into it "How did you feel?"

Jihyun's eyes peered up which he hadn't done in a long time. He hadn't stared someone in the eyes in months, maybe years, and it felt nice to. Because he knew he wasn't being judged for it. The principle was a nice man and he knew that.

"I felt hated. I felt unwanted. I felt lesser than a human," Jihyun mumbled  "...I felt like a ghost,"

The principle suspended the bullies for a week. It felt good to have them away for a short while. And because of that, people actually decided to get to know Jihyun. And he finally got some friends.

That was when Jihyun realised Korea wasn't that bad.