He went down the first floor hallway and reached the principal's office. Changbin and his buddies were inside when Jaemin opened the door and walked inside. He was filled with rage, not caring about the principal's presence inside the room.

"You bastard! I told you not to bother my friend!!!" Jaemin grumbled. His eyes were completely red as he grasped Changbin's collar to land a punch on his face. 

Changbin was scared by the sudden change in Jaemin's attitude. He knew that he was different from before; he knew he was capable of killing them at that moment...

He screamed out of fear and closed his eyes, "I swear that I didn't want to pick a fight with him!!!! Look at our faces!!! He was the one who started it and made us like this!!!..." 

Mr. Jang grabbed Jaemin's arm and shouted, "Kim Jaemin! If you don't want to get suspended, get out of here right now! I already have a lot on my plate!"

Jaemin groaned, "It's all your fault, Mr. Jang, that innocent kids keep getting hurt!" and stormed out of the room after pushing Mr. Jang away. 

He pulled out his phone out of his pocket frustratingly and called Sohyun a few times, but he didn't answer. God Dammit!...

~

Sohyun stared at his phone ringing, but he didn't have the courage to answer Jaemin's call. He didn't want Jaemin to know about what he did. 

So he rejected his call and then texted him.

<I have a stomachache, so I'm on my way home with mom. Can't answer the call.>

Sohyun's message was marked as written, but there was no answer from Jaemin. 

Hm?... Why doesn't he reply?...

Sohyun's mom parked the car in the hospital parking lot and then said, "Let's go, Sohyun."

"Alright, mom." He muttered as he got out of the car. Arrogant bastard... Isn't he worried about me at all?... He could've asked how bad my stomachache was! Or even an "Okay" was fine!...

Sohyun sighed and followed his mom, unsatisfied.

~ 

Tomorrow morning, when Jaemin arrived at school, he walked straight to their classroom and spotted Sohyun already behind his desk. He furrowed his eyebrows and gritted his teeth as he was still standing near the door. 

Sohyun turned his gaze on Jaemin when he sensed Jaemin's presence and smiled brightly, "Yo! Jaeminz!"

Jaemin stepped closer to him and grasped Sohyun's wrist. "Come with me for a second." And then he dragged Sohyun out of the class to the boy's bathroom. 

Sohyun was taken aback by Jaemin's frustrated expression. "Hey! What's wrong?! Where are you taking me?!" 

Jaemin slammed the bathroom's door open and pushed Sohyun into one of the stalls, closing the door behind them. 

Sohyun's heart was beating fast. "W-why... are..."

Jaemin zipped down Sohyun's hoodie without saying anything and took it off. 

Sohyun muttered anxiously as his body was frozen. "H-hey!!!"

"I need to check something..." Jaemin groaned while taking off his knitted sweater.

Sohyun's face turned red, and he grasped Jaemin's forearms. "There's... Nothing... To check!"

Jaemin continued unbuttoning Sohyun's shirt without listening to Sohyun as he was whining and wiggling in his place, trying to get out of there. 

"Stay still!" Jaemin snapped at him as he took his shirt.

Jaemin's eyes fell on Sohyun's tanktop underneath; he then asked, frustrated, "Just how many layers have you worn?!" 

Sohyun grumbled, "I get colds easily! You jerk!" 

Jaemin sighed and checked Sohyun's arms; his elbows were wounded and scratched. He then pulled up his tanktop and glanced at Sohyun's belly; his belly area was bruised. 

As Sohyun noticed what Jaemin was trying to do, he pulled down his top, bewildered. Shit... Does he know?... What should I tell him?...

Sohyun stared at Jaemin's furious eyes, "Jaemin... I..." 

Jaemin squinted his eyes, scanning Sohyun's face. He rubbed Sohyun's face with his thumb a bit, and another bruise was found under the foundation that Sohyun used to hide his messed-up face. "Did you think you can fool me by putting on make-up and covering your body?..." 

Sohyun's heart was pounding rapidly. "How did you find out?"

"The whole school is talking about your fight and how they got expelled..." Jaemin said.

Oh... I hadn't thought about that... Rumours surely spread fast at this school!... Sohyun thought, unable to speak. 

Jaemin leaned against the stall's wall and crossed his arms. "Why would you put yourself in danger?"

Sohyun answered shyly as he was putting his clothes on again, "I want to get rid of them for good..."

"I told you that I didn't need your help!" Jaemin groaned. 

Sohyun gritted his teeth, "And I told you, I would take care of you!"

Jaemin slammed his fist on the wall next to Sohyun's face as his heart throbbed in pain. "Are you dumb?... How many times should I repeat my words?!"

Sohyun gasped in shock, "What's wrong with you seriously?! Isn't that good they're gone now?!!!! Why are you so mad?!"

Jaemin said angrily, "If you use that brain of yours, you will know why!" Then he got out of the stall and left the bathroom. 

Sohyun kicked the stall's door, "Aaaaagh... Annoying! This guy is annoying!!!!... Screw you, Kim Jaemin!!!..." 

Sohyun's stomach throbbed in pain, "Ow!... It still hurts... huff... I'd had an easier solution to end this game, killing Jaemin in the first place! He would have rested in peace!... Agh!... And my mind would've been in peace, too!" 

He pressed his palm on his stomach and got back to class. 

~

Days have passed with Jaemin avoiding Sohyun.

Jaemin was consumed by his overwhelming emotions as this matter was now gone...

He was mad at himself for being a coward...

He was mad at himself for being useless...

He was mad at himself for being helpless...

He didn't like the fact that his grandmother was gone because of him...

He didn't like the fact that Sohyun kept getting hurt because of him...

He didn't like the fact that Sohyun was able to pull something off that Jaemin had been struggling with for months...

Everything seemed simple yet hard for him...

Everything seemed so pointless to him...

He couldn't stop himself from overthinking... 

He couldn't stop himself from feeling a dark void in his gut...

He still had this belief that staying away from Sohyun would be the best choice for both of them...

He wanted to be with him yet was scared of the consequences...

He wanted to be with him, yet no one wanted Jaemin around him...

He wanted to be with him, yet he had no confidence in protecting Sohyun from the likely unfortunate incidents...

Jaemin was lost in a pessimistic circle of overthinking...

~

In the midst of all the exams, one month has flown by quickly like that. All of them were so busy that they literally had no time to hang out with each other or even have a simple talk. 

Nevertheless, Hanna was clinging to Sohyun the whole time by forcing him to study with her for exams. Ironically, both of them ended up at the bottom of the list together with their low scores. 

As a result, Jaemin placed first for the first time in a while, given that Sohyun had always ranked first...

After their exams were finally done, something was stuck in Sohyun's mind, which was bothering him a lot, not letting him go at night.

Sohyun was curious about what had happened to So-Ah's body. 

He wanted to know whether she was really dead or not... 

He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened to his family after she was gone...

As a result of these thoughts rushing through his mind, Sohyun decided to go back to his old neighbourhood on Sunday morning.  

He got out of the bus and walked down into their old alley. He peeked around for a while, looking for his parents or brothers. However, their house seemed to be vacated. There was no trace of So-Ah's family...

As one of their neighbours was passing by, Sohyun called her and said, "Excuse me, maam."

She stopped and looked at him confused. "How can I help you, young boy?"

He asked, "By any chance, do you know what happened to this family who lives here?" 

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you know them?"

Sohyun nodded his head, "I'm So-Ah's friend, but it's been a while since I couldn't contact her." 

The lady let out a sigh of grief and said, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but that poor girl passed away in an accident." 

Sohyun's heart crumbled in pain, "Ah!... Um... What about his family? Where did they go?"

She sighed again, "After they received their daughter's life insurance money, they paid off their debts and moved out of here to a better neighbourhood."

Sohyun's face turned pale, unable to comprehend the harsh truth that he had just discovered. 

The lady asked, "Are you alright?!" 

Sohyun muttered, "Yes! Thank you!" Then he turned around and walked away.

So... I'm truly dead!... Sohyun pressed his palm on his chest as the pain was getting worse. 

"What is this feeling?..." He mumbled while his hands were trembling anxiously.

"They already forgot me and moved on..." Sohyun was about to hyperventilate. He felt a tightness in his chest, and his breathing became shallow and rapid. His heart raced, and he felt like he couldn't get enough air. He felt lightheaded and dizzy, and he struggled to catch his breath.

He crouched down on his knees as tears flowed down his eyes. "This... is... unfair..."

How could they be so cruel?...

How could they not even care about my death!...

I hate them...

I really despise them...

Sohyun was more heartbroken than ever...

He could've felt that his heart was shredded into pieces...

He cried out loudly for So-Ah's pitiful life...

"Why is everyone so cruel to me?!! Why is no one like me?!!!!..."

He cried out loudly alone in his old neighbourhood...

.

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