TW: sexual harassment, read at your own discretion.
"hey taehyun, looking good as always!"
"what's up kang!"
"if it isn't our adorable star athlete AND model student!"
- KANG TAEHYUN was the face of the school. the golden boy. everyone gets it.
taehyun returned his smiles and waves to those who greeted him. girls stared at him in awe while some guys had looks of envy written all over their faces. teachers greatly favoured him and gave him great support.
"hello kai!" hueningkai says mockingly as he waves at himself causing taehyun to laugh.
"hey dumbass, you're not invisible to me okay," taehyun stated as they walked to class together.
"well, i'm popular with the girls while you're loved by literally everyone in the school!" hueningkai exclaimed as he sent a wink to a girl who walked past them. his actions justifying his recent statement when the girl immediately squealed and blushed.
"really ning? do you even know her?" taehyun shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"hmm.. no actually, i don't know her." hueningkai responded and laughed at taehyun who continued shaking his head.
as the pair entered their class, taehyun was greeted with the overwhelming amount of snacks he had on his desk. taehyun smiled slightly as he took the snacks and gave one to each to his of classmates.
"taehyun! they're for you, take it back!" a classmate shouted and the classroom suddenly burst with protests against the snacks he gave up. some classmates, however, said thank you and gladly accepted the snacks they received.
"wow taehyun, you're so sweet but an asshole too. you should've given me all the snacks if you can't finish it!" hueningkai pouted as he teased taehyun for the overwhelming amount of snacks he was carrying.
"well, it's too much snacks for you and i to finish. it's best to share ning," taehyun said softly as he settled back down on his seat.
"alright good guy!" hueningkai put his hands up in surrender and turned to flirt with one of the girls.
taehyun's smile immediately faded once class started. listening in class often led taehyun's thoughts to wander. however, his thoughts aren't the daydreams he longed to have. he instead reminisced the amount of times he's been hurt- physically and emotionally.
that day seemed to be a day where he wasn't having any bullshit given to him. until-
"you better prepare your pathetic self later on. i'm going to make sure you won't be able to go home walking," his classmate, dowon, sniggered at the timid girl who sat beside him.
"p-please leave me alone, i'll do anything you want but please stop disturbing me," the girl said quietly, her voice quivering in fear.
taehyun's ears perked up as he listened to their conversation. dowon was getting on his nerves. he absolutely despised the disgusting prick. he did more than just steal lunch money; trauma is what he was known for. everyone still wondered why the school hasn't expelled him yet.
"come on, why don't you just give it up to me? i'll make you scream for more; i'll even make you bleed," dowon's hand slowly crept up to the girl's thigh as she tried holding in her tears.
taehyun could hear her soft sniffles and whimpering and stood up to face dowon. he's had it.
"are you deaf? she told you to leave her alone," taehyun said coldly, his voice filled with disgust towards dowon.
taehyun stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared down at dowon intently. the class was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. even their teacher couldn't do anything.
taehyun's intimidating as hell when he's mad. dowon just scoffed and pushed the girl off from her seat before standing up to face taehyun. dowon's height hovered mockingly over taehyun but taehyun wasn't fazed.
"what are you going to do about it kang? it's not like you'll be there for her after school-" dowon paused and smirked.
"you can't even be there for yourself. you can't even top your brother!" dowon finished and cackled at taehyun.
as said, taehyun didn't have patience for bullshit that day- especially bullshit about his family. he was sick of being reminded that daniel, his older brother, was better than him. he hated that he had to live up to his parent's expectations and surrender his body to be abused when he failed. his patience had run out.
dowon continued mocking taehyun as the class looked at taehyun sadly. everyone knew he was always second best beside his brother. never equals, always a place lower.
taehyun clenched his fists and looked at the girl whom dowon had hurt. her eyes showed fear and hurt as the other girls in class embraced her in their arms. taehyun felt it in his heart that the girl wanted dowon to hurt just like the rest of them.
so taehyun did just that. he grabbed dowon by the uniform collar and threw the first punch;
you could hear the harsh impact it made on dowon's face as he lost his balance and fell on the floor. taehyun took this as the chance to continue to throw punch after punch at the screaming boy below him.
"don't you fucking dare touch anyone, boy or girl, in this class ever again-" taehyun bellowed as his hand started bruising with every punch made while the boy below him bled.
"mister kang, that's enough!" his lady teacher yelled out helplessly. taehyun had already set his mind to drown out the noise around him. all he saw was red.
"and don't you dare compare me to my brother," taehyun breathed out and continued beating up a helpess dowon.
taehyun was hurt. his heart hurt but the pain seemed to gradually disappear with every punch he threw. he bottled up all his feelings. dowon was unluckily the gateway for taehyun to let it out. dowon's pain was incomparable to the scars taehyun had all over his body.
"come on tae, that's enough!" hueningkai called out worriedly as he tried prying his best friend off from the bloodied maniac but unfortunately, was only pushed down to the ground.
suddenly, taehyun found himself pushed to the ground as well- coming face to face with a fuming mister kim.
"enough! everyone back to your seats this instant. kang taehyun and the people involved, my office, NOW." mister kim boomed as everyone in class scurried back to their seats.
realisation dawned onto taehyun as he looked at dowon, who's face was painted with red liquid.
"i'm out of control," taehyun sadly muttered to hueningkai, who could only sympathise with his best friend.
"don't worry tae. the girl dowon disturbed, minji, already explained everything to mister kim outside. you'll be okay," hueningkai comforted taehyun.
"i could've killed him," taehyun exclaimed.
"but he's not dead. now come on, mister kim is waiting for you outside," hueningkai pushed taehyun out of the classroom.
"thank you hueningkai," mister kim nodded towards hueningkai, who bowed in return before wandering off.
"taehyun, dowon will be brought down to the police station alongside minji, who will make her statement. although your intentions mean well, violence doesn't prove justice," mister kim paused and sighed.
"-because you keep a perfect record and this is your first offence, we will either call your parents down or you can voluntarily serve two weeks of detention." mister kim finished.
"detention. i'll serve it," taehyun bluntly responded. mister kim only nodded in response and wrote a slip for taehyun.
"see you later mister kang. you're a good person, although what you did wasn't the correct response to people like dowon." mister kim commented while taehyun just nodded his head tiredly.
"i'm sorry again mister kim," taehyun bowed and took the pink slip before leaving for class.
"at least i'm not coming home early tonight," taehyun thought to himself.