Yeonjun went into school the next day smiling, wanting so badly to see Soobin again. Taehyun and Kai were right beside him as they walked into school together. They walked down the hallway towards Soobin's locker, where the four of them met up with each other every morning. Yeonjun furrowed his eyebrows when he saw a small crowd in the middle of the hallway.
As he moved closer, he saw Jungmin holding Soobin up by his collar against the lockers. Yeonjun's eyes widened and he instantly ran towards Soobin, dropping his backpack in the middle of the hallway.
He pushed through the small crowd and quickly tackled Jungmin to the ground, making him let go of Soobin in the process. Yeonjun twisted Jungmin's arm as he pinned him to the floor, "Listen to me because I'm only gonna say this once... Don't you ever touch him again."
Yeonjun pressed harder when he got no response, making Jungmin scream in pain, "Do you understand?!"
Jungmin nodded quickly and Yeonjun gritted his teeth saying, "Stay the fuck away from him."
Yeonjun released his grip and got off of Jungmin before kneeling down next to Soobin. Soobin was holding his stomach while the bruises started forming on his face. A stream of blood dripped down his nose and Yeonjun cupped his cheek.
"I'm here, ok?... I'm here, bin..." Yeonjun softly said as he heard everyone running away from them, "Tell me what hurts, binnie."
"M-My head..." Tears started streaming down Soobin's face, "M-My stomach."
"It's ok, bin... Let's get you to the nurse, ok?" Yeonjun said softly and carefully helped Soobin stand up. Everyone except for Taehyun and Kai was gone once they got up and started walking down the hallway.
Soobin held onto his stomach while his other arm was wrapped around Yeonjun's shoulder. Yeonjun held onto Soobin's waist tight as they slowly walked towards the nurse, leaving their backpacks behind. Taehyun and Kai grabbed their stuff and followed them to the nurse.
Once they got to the nurses office, the nurse instantly helped Soobin, wiping the blood off of his face from his bloody nose and giving him ice packs for all the bruises. The nurse left the room to file some paperwork, leaving Kai, Taehyun, Yeonjun, and Soobin in the room alone. Yeonjun stood up and went closer to Soobin, who was laying on the exam table and trying to hold all of the ice packs against his bruises.
Yeonjun held onto the ice pack against Soobin's cheek so that Soobin didn't have to and softly asked, "Bin, what happened?"
"I-I don't know... He just pinned me up against the lockers and started hitting me and calling me names... Thank you for stopping him."
"Hey, you don't have to thank me, ok?... I'm just glad you're alright."
"My head is pounding."
"Put your head down in bio, ok? I'll take notes for you."
"You don't have to do that."
"Maybe you should just go home and rest... You might have a concussion."
"What time is it? Do we have to get to class?" Soobin said and tried to get up, but ended up just falling back down on the bed.
"Bin, take it easy... We don't have to be there for another five minutes."
"I'm fine... It's gonna take us that long to get to class from here."
"You can't be serious... I think you should go home and rest."
"Yeah, hyung... You should take it easy... Maybe stay here for a little longer." Kai added.
"I'm fine..." Soobin slowly sat up and sat on the edge of the bed, "Let's get to class."
"But, Soob—"
"I'm not gonna argue with you, ok? I'm fine."
Yeonjun sighed, knowing Soobin wasn't at all fine, "O-Ok... But you have to tell me if your head still hurts during class."
"Deal."
. . . . .
Yeonjun carried his and Soobin's stuff as he helped Soobin walk to their first class. Yeonjun was upset, angry, and disappointed. They had such a nice day yesterday, and now they have to deal with this? Soobin held onto his stomach as he walked to class while his head continued to throb. Yeonjun opened the door for him as he slowly walked into the room. Everyone stared at them, including Jungmin.
Yeonjun glared at Jungmin as he and Soobin walked to their seats in the back corner. Soobin sat down and immediately started rubbing his temples, trying to make his headache go away.
"Rest your head, ok? I'll take notes for you." Yeonjun whispered softly.
"I-I'm fine."
Mr. Kim came into the room before Yeonjun could respond. Yeonjun sighed and looked at Soobin again, who already had gotten his notebook out of his backpack.
Yeonjun kept glancing over at Soobin, worrying about him the whole time. He saw Soobin rub his temples again and rolled his eyes. Why was he being so stubborn?
Yeonjun ripped off a piece of paper and wrote down a note for Soobin:
Please rest your head and let me take notes for you... I see you rubbing your temples. I know your head hurts. I'm worried about you
It hurts but I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me
I'm begging you please rest your head. You're gonna make it worse. Why are you being so stubborn? Please let me help you
I don't know if you can tell but this is really embarrassing and everyone is staring at me. I can take care of myself
I know you can take care of yourself Soobin... But it's ok to ask for help. I'm really worried that you have a concussion
I'm fine. Just leave me alone
Bin please let me help you. I care about you
Soobin read the note and sighed. He just folded it back up and put it down on his desk without writing anything back.
Yeonjun was about to write something to Soobin, but the bell rang before he could say anything.
Yeonjun quickly turned to Soobin and said, "Soobin... Talk to me... Please, tell me what you're thinking."
"I-It's stupid..." Soobin winced as he stood up from his seat, "I don't need your help, Yeonjun."
Yeonjun stood up and moved closer to Soobin, "You just struggled to stand up, Soobin. A-And it's not stupid if it's upsetting you... Please talk to me."
"Just stop, ok?... Forget this morning ever happened."
"Bin, please... Just tell me what's wrong."
"I don't wanna talk about it. Just leave me alone."
"O-Ok... You can talk to me when you want to, ok?"
"I never wanna talk about it, Yeonjun. Stop pushing me about it..." Soobin picked up his back pack and slung it over his shoulder, holding in the pain he felt as he did that, "We have to get to class."
Soobin started walking out of the classroom and Yeonjun quickly grabbed his stuff to chase after him. Yeonjun trailed behind him and said, "I'm sorry, ok?... I wasn't trying to pressure you. I'm just worried about you."
Soobin didn't stop walking and replied, "I can take care of myself." Soobin walked into his next class without sparing Yeonjun a glance.
Yeonjun sighed and slid his fingers through his hair in frustration. What did he say to make Soobin so mad at him? All he wanted to do was talk to Soobin about it, but it would just make him even angrier. Yeonjun hung his head low as he walked across the hall to his class, knowing he won't be able to see Soobin until lunch.
. . . . .
Soobin slowly walked over to their corner lunch table with his head hung low. He felt so bad about what he had said to Yeonjun earlier. Soobin knew he was just trying to help... today just wasn't going well for a lot of reasons.
Soobin made his way over to Yeonjun, and Yeonjun took another bite of his sandwich before putting it down, "Hey."
"Hey... Can we talk?" Soobin said quietly.
"Y-Yeah umm... Lets go in the hallway. There's less people there." Yeonjun replied before standing up from his seat.
They walked out into the hallway, leaving Taehyun and Kai completely confused. Yeonjun and Soobin stood there in awkward silence for a moment, waiting for the other to speak first.
Soobin gently grabbed Yeonjun's hand and rubbed his knuckles with his thumb, "I-I'm sorry about what I said earlier... I-I know you we're just worried about me a-and... I-I'm just really sorry, Jun."
Yeonjun sighed and softly replied, "You were right... I'm sorry for pushing you about it. We don't have to talk about it if don't want to."
"N-No, I-I wasn't mad at you because of what happened this morning... I-I mean I have no reason to be mad at you at all... I-It's j-just..." Soobin sighed and said, "Today just isn't a good day."
"I know, I'm really sorry that you got hurt and—"
"N-No, I'm not talking about that."
Yeonjun furrowed his eyebrows, seeing Soobin hang his head low, "Why? What happened?"
"T-Today ummm... Th-Three years a-ago... M-My p-parents..."
Yeonjun noticed Soobin's bottom lip start to quiver and quickly hugged him, whispering in his ear, "You don't have to say it... Soobin, I'm so sorry."
"I-I w-wasn't mad a-at you... I-I d-didn't mean t-to be—"
"I know, I know... ssssssshhhhhh... It's ok... I'm so sorry, bin... I got you, ok?"
Yeonjun held him for a minute, just letting him cry on his shoulder. He rubbed Soobin's back and whispered sweet things in his ear to make him feel better. Yeonjun tried to do anything in order for Soobin's pain to go away. He wished so badly that it was him who was hurting and not Soobin.
Soobin lifted his head up after a moment and quickly wiped his tears away. Yeonjun brought a hand up to Soobin's cheek, wiping away some of his tears with his thumb and frowning at his puffy eyes, "Hey, let's just not think about it right now... Do you have something to eat?"
Soobin shook his head, "I-I don't really have an appetite right now."
"I have tangerineeessss... You said you could never pass one up." Yeonjun said in an effort to make him feel better.
Soobin sighed and continued to hang his head low, "I-I don't know, hyung."
Yeonjun's heart shattered... Soobin almost never calls him that, "I-Is your head still hurting?"
Soobin silently nodded, making Yeonjun pout, "You can rest your head on my shoulder, ok?"
Soobin quietly whispered, "Thank you." before going back into the cafeteria with Yeonjun.
Soobin instantly rested his head on Yeonjun's shoulder as soon as they sat down. Yeonjun pouted and gently rubbed his back, "You sure you don't want something to eat? It might help your headache."
Soobin shook his head as he gently closed his eyes, "I'm not hungry."
Yeonjun sighed as he let Soobin sleep while he took another bite of his tangerine.
"Jun?"
Yeonjun looked up at Kai, "Yeah?"
"He should really go home."
"He doesn't have anyone to pick him up."
"We could call mom."
"I don't think they're allowed to take him home... They'd have to be his legal guardian to do that."
Kai sighed and looked over at Jungmin, gritting his teeth, "I swear, I could punch—"
"No, absolutely not."
"Jun, c'mon... He didn't even get in trouble."
"You have no idea how pissed off I am, but you need to stay calm."
"But it's so unfair."
"Kai Kamal Huening, if you go over there and hit him, you are being just as bad as him. Be the bigger man—"
"Jun?"
Yeonjun cut himself off when Soobin spoke, "Hey, what's wrong? You ok?"
"I-I need to tell y-you something..."
"What?... Bin, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to."
"H-He touched me..."
Yeonjun furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean?... I know he hit you."
"N-No..." Soobin leaned forward and whispered to Yeonjun, "Inappropriately."
Yeonjuns eyes widened, "He did what?!"
"I-I swear I-I told him to s-stop."
"That's it..." Yeonjun stood up, "He's fucking dead now—"
"Jun..." Soobin softly said and grabbed Yeonjun's arm, "It's not worth it."
"No, nobody fucking touches you li—"
"What happened to being the bigger man, Yeonjun?" Kai asked, cutting off Yeonjun in the process.
Yeonjun sighed as he felt Soobin squeeze his hand, "I-I'm sorry... I-I told him t-to stop, I-I swear."
"Hey..." Yeonjun said softly as he sat back down, "I'm not mad at you, bin... I trust you."
"I-I was just scared to t-tell you."
"Bin, I promise you can tell me anything... I'm not at all mad at you."
"I-I didn't want h-him to, I swear."
"I know you didn't, ok? You're the victim, bin."
"I'm so sorry."
"You have nothing to apologize for, ok?... Just rest your head until your next class, hmm?"
Soobin quietly nodded before putting his head back on Yeonjun's shoulder.