ɪ'ʟʟ ʙᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ➻〚𝙣𝙘𝙩 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙤𝙩7〛

Flashback: The Way They Are

"What do you want now, Jongseob?" I deadpan to the largest of the three, Jongseob, whose slightly taller and more muscular than I am. The key to dealing with them is to seem as though I don't care about them and to not seem intimidated. I'm hella scared right now, but if I show that weakness, they'll beat me up worse. My encounters with them are getting excruciatingly more difficult to bear, each time I encounter them I seem to get more battered up, inside and out, by them. I feel cornered, with nowhere to run, but my only option is to weather the storm, and that's exactly what I'm doing.

"Fucking pansy. You're a joke, you little fag. Pathetic," he spits at me, walking closer to me to look more intimidating. His two cronies follow right behind him, and he keeps advancing until I'm trapped against the lockers in the hallway.

"Fuck off. I don't care about all the shit you're giving me," I growl back, trying to shoo him away. But that doesn't work, of course. 

With one iron-fisted punch, he wallops me right in the stomach, causing me to instinctively grab at my stomach and crumple to the floor in pain, scrambling to get away. That's going to leave more than a bruise. Grimacing, I stand back up, looking directly at Jongseob, anger in my eyes.

"You goddamn queer. You and those disgusting creatures that take care of you are cancer to society," he sneers coldly.

My face goes red in anger. If it were up to me, I'd strangle that fucking boy, but all that's going to do is hurt me in the long run. My family is already discriminated against by the school board and teachers, so if I fought back with Jongseob, I'd probably be expelled for defending myself, whereas Jongseob will probably get away with it, continuing at the school as if he'd never laid a finger on me before. Those are the injustices I have to face, despite the fact that I'm not even part of a sexual minority. 

Jongseob can throw whatever slurs he wants at me. They hurt, but I get over it. But when he starts mentioning my mothers, that's when I can't take it any longer. He can't just take away my family's dignity in a few words, so I always do all I can to maintain the strength of my emotions and integrity of my mind, even if he batters my body up. 

"Don't you fucking talk about my parents like that, dipshit. You're trash, Jongseob. Jackass," I retort, his face twisting in anger. He releases a punch right at my lip, practically busting it open. My head crashes against the metal lockers, and I growl in pain, cringing.

"You think your little faggy ass is so smart, huh? Those sluts who birthed you are already fucking rejects, but they're even more of rejects because they gave birth to a pansy-ass fag," Jongseob sneers, the guys in his pathetic little posse pinning me against the lockers harder. I'm in unbearable pain, and they're making such a racket in the hallway that I can't believe some teacher hasn't walked in on this scene.

"I sure as hell do, you bastard! Call me a fag all you want, Jongseob, but you say one more fucking word about my mothers, and you're ended," I growl, writhing around in an attempt to get out of the grip of the other boys, who are keeping me pinned as well as barking more disgusting insults at me.

"Is that a threat, Jeno?" he laughs dryly, picking at the mangles skin around his fingernails, "If you weren't such a twink, I'd be scared. But you are, you pathetic creature. Fuck your faggot mothers."

I'm usually a calm person with a mellow demeanor, but not around them. Anger boils inside me, and my attempts to get out of Jongseob's cronies' grips grow stronger and more desperate, but they're too strong for me.

Though I haven't given up thus far, I start to become winded, pummeled by punch after punch to the gut, my energy draining out as my head spins. But when I think all is lost, a familiar voice yells, "What the fuck do you think you're doing? Put Jeno down!"