Chapter Text
Jungwoo woke up to the sound of loud screams coming from downstairs. He cursed to himself and looked at the clock that was on his wall. 6:30 AM and his parents were already screaming. He sighed. He didn't have to wake up until 7 AM to go to highschool but now he couldn't go to sleep either.
He sat on the bed, wincing when he finally sat up. The bruises on his tummy and chest still hurt. Last night, his parents thought that it would be fun to just kick him for studying in his bedroom. He just didn't understand his parents anymore. Not that he had understood them before anyways.
He decided to shower before going to school. He couldn't even do it last night because when his parents decided that it was enough for him, he just fell on his bed, exhausted after all the hits, and he fell asleep.
He unlocked his door to go out of his bedroom. He forgot to lock his door last night and now, he regretted it so much. His bedroom was the only place in the entire house where he felt safe and it was only because it was the only room in the house that he could lock.
He closed his door quietly and walked in silence to the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror for the first time since yesterday. He hadn't seen the bruises yet, but just with the pain he could feel he knew that it would be bad, especially in his abdomen.
The first thing he saw in the mirror was his face. He had dark circles under his eyes. Jungwoo had had troubles to sleep since his parents started mistreating him, which was when he was 8 or 9. However, the bags under his eyes looked worse than he remembered them to be a few days ago.
His hair was sticking into every direction, brown locks going everywhere. His hair was a little longer than what he was used to and it was a little curly, so he would have to talk to Ten to cut it for him. Yes, Ten knew how to cut hair and Jungwoo didn't have that much money to go to a proper hairdresser.
He smiled a little when he made sure that he didn't have any bruises in his face. He wasn't worried about having to hide it from Ten because his best friend knew about his situation since the two of them met. He met Ten when he was 12 yers old and Jungwoo was 10. By now, Jungwoo was 15 and Ten was 17 and he had helped Jungwoo since he knew about his relationship with his parents.
With his face free of bruises, he had one less thing to worry about. He knew that if he had anything on his face, the people who annoyed him at school would have one more thing to laugh about, even if it was cruel to do it.
He almost whimpered when he raised his arms to take his shirt off. He looked at the mirror again and saw blue, purple and red bruises everywhere, from his neck to his hips and even some blood from where his skin had been broken. One big purple bruise was located on his stomach. Well, he already knew that it would be bad so he wasn't that surprised. He felt how hard his father had kicked him yesterday.
He took off the rest of his clothes and entered the shower. He took a quick shower with cold water. It wasn't like he had any other option because his parents had already taken all the warm water. It couldn't be healthy to be showering in cold water at 6 AM in January, but he couldn't do anything about it. He was lucky that he hasn't gotten sick yet.
He tried to move as gently as he could to cause himself as less pain as possible, but it wasn't really working because he had bruises everywhere that hurt with every little movement.
He ended his shower quickly and put on an old blue hoodie and some black jeans. He brushed his hair a little and went to his bedroom again. He also applied an ointment that Ten had given him to treat his bruises. Ten always used it for his bruises (that he got from dancing). He looked at the clock again. 6:45 AM. He still had some time left before going to school, so he decided to study a little more for his math exam.
When it was 7 AM, he closed his book and took his bag. He made sure that he had everything and he went downstairs. He stopped walking to listen. The screams had stopped and he made sure that none of his parents were near the front door from where he was. He didn't see anyone there so he quickly left his house.
He crossed the street and knocked on the house that was just across of his. Ten's mother opened the door and smiled at him.
"Jungwoo, good morning, honey. Ten is having breakfast. Do you want anything?" She smiled as he let the brunet in.
"Can I have some fruit? I forgot to eat something before leaving" He asked while going to the kitchen. He knew Ten's house like he knew his own. He had been there more time than he had been in his house since he had known Ten.
"Good morning, Woo" Ten said, sitting in the table at the kitchen. He was eating a toast.
"Good morning, Tennie" Jungwoo said to his best friend. Ten's mother gave him an apple and a banana which he thanked her for.
They had breakfast while talking and, after 10 minutes, they left the house to go to their school.
"Woo, did something happen last night?" Ten asked, not really mentioning his parents but Jungwoo knew that it was about them.
"Well, just some bruises here and there and I would really appreciate if you didn't touch my stomach right now" Jungwoo said honestly. He didn't hide anything from Ten. He trusted him with his life and he knew that the older really cared about him, so he was always honest with him.
"Why didn't you come to my house then? Did you use that ointment that I gave you?" Ten asked, worried.
"Yes, I used it. I fell asleep last night and I didn't wake up until this morning. Sorry, I should have texted you" Jungwoo said, apologizing.
"It's okay, but please, come to my house when that happens" Ten said while putting his arm around Jungwoo's waist carefully. Jungwoo slumped against Ten, sighing tiredly. He really needed to sleep.
"Well, on the bright side, I want to introduce you some new friends. You already know Kun, right?" Ten asked.
"Yes, he seems nice" Jungwoo thought about the Chinese boy. He had met him a couple of times and he had been nice enough to not bother him like a lot of people in his highschool and not ask anything too personal. He was the same age as Ten and he looked really kind.
"Well, Kun has some friends and he told me that he wanted us to meet them" Ten said excitedly.
"Ten, be honest, no one wants to meet me. Most of the school hates me for some reason and nobody would want to be related with me in any way. I still don't know how you are still with me" Jungwoo sighed.
"Jungwoo, don't talk like that. I love you a lot and I really care about you. You are an amazing person and I know that Kun's friends are good people. If they aren't, I'll kick them for treating you badly. They have also started hanging out with more people so don't think that we'll be left out"
"Yes, okay. I trust you. But please, don't beat them if they don't want to talk with me" Jungwoo said smiling, knowing that his friend would kick them anyways.
Their conversation stopped when they arrived at the school. Jungwoo stood straight and started walking near Ten. He looked down, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone.
"Look, it's the walking trashcan" Someone said. He knew that it was directed at him, but he didn't say anything. He just grabbed Ten's arms because he knew that the shorter one would answer them.
"It's not worth it. Let's go to our classrooms, okay?" He said while dragging Ten with him.
"I'll really kill those assholes one day" Ten muttered and Jungwoo just smiled.
Jungwoo and Ten continued going to their classrooms. Ten's was near his, but the older couldn't really stay with him until the class started because his teachers always arrived soon and they were so annoying when it came to punctuality that Ten had to go to his classroom early.
They stopped walking when they arrived at Ten's classroom. Then, Jungwoo remembered something.
"Ten, can you cut my hair? It's getting too long and I don't trust myself with scissors" Jungwoo asked.
"Sure, I'll cut it after we eat later" At that moment, Kun appeared in the hallway, calling Ten.
"Ten, good morning. Oh, Jungwoo, good morning to you too" Kun approached them smiling.
"Good morning" Both of them answered.
"Ten, you remember that today during lunch you have to come and meet my friends. They want to meet you. And you too, Jungwoo. Don't think that I forgot about you" Kun said, smiling brightly at Jungwoo. How could someone be so bright and happy that early, Jungwoo didn't know.
"Of course I remember. I told Jungwoo on our way here" Ten answered.
"Kun-ssi, don't feel pressured to invite me too. I know that I don't have the best reputation around here and I understand that some people prefer to stay away from me" Jungwoo said, smiling a little to make the older understand that he appreciated the gesture.
"Please, don't be so formal, just call me hyung. And don't talk like that about yourself. There's nothing wrong with you. There are just a lot of idiots here that like to annoy everyone. You should come too, I would really like that" Kun smiled at him again.
"Okay, then I'll see you at lunch" Jungwoo said. The bell rang and he ran to his classroom after waving at the two boys.
Now, the worst part of the day began. When he was out of his classroom, in the hallways, he was always with Ten and he ignored whatever people said to him, but in his classroom it was different. Ten was older than him and that meant that he was alone in his classroom. There, a lot of people used him as something to laugh at, ignoring the fact that he just wanted to study and learn. Not everyone in his classroom annoyed him, but most of them did and the rest just laughed or didn't say anything about it.
During those eternal hours, he just had to put up with everything those people say to him. Not even the teachers did anything about it. Well, it wasn't like calling his parents would help either. He just had to endure it. It was usually some insults here and there, some jokes, sometimes they even hit him, but he could endure it.
The worst thing was when he had PE. He wasn't that athletic and he only really liked football. Those were the worst hours because his bullies liked to hurt him physically and call it a mistake. He couldn't remember the times he had gone to see
the nurse after one of those classes.
He entered the classroom and sat in his seat. He started taking out his things when one of his classmates started bothering him.
"Oh, look at who had finally arrived. I thought you wouldn't come today. Had a rough night, trash?" Woojin said, mocking him.
Jungwoo didn't answer him and that seemed to annoy the other boy.
"I'm talking to you, rat, so you better answer when I talk to you" He said while throwing his book to the ground.
Jungwoo sighed and just got his book from the ground, this time keeping it in his hands.
"Please, just leave me alone" He answered looking down.
"Oh, don't tell me that you are already crying. You are so pathetic" Woojin said, hitting his head when he finished talking. Jungwoo wasn't even crying but well, Woojin just wanted to make fun of him.
One of his friends, Byungho, sat in front of him.
"You can't even take a hit without crying. I didn't know you were so weak, shitface" He said and hit Jungwoo again. Jungwoo didn't say anything. He knew that whatever he said, the other two wouldn't stop until the class started.
Finally, after some more hits, the teacher arrived and the class started. That didn't stop the bullies though, but at least all they could do was insult him and not hit him again.
By the end of the first hour, he had a headache and his neck was hurting as well. He had done a good job at protecting his abdomen so it didn't hurt any further, but it still hurt to breathe and move.
After what seemed an eternity, lunch arrived and he could finally relax for a while. He could finally go with Ten to eat outside where there weren't many people. There he could just talk with Ten and prepare himself for the next few hours.
He waited until everyone left the class to leave. He knew from experience that it was the best to just wait. Teenagers ran like little kids when the class before lunch ended and he wouldn't want to be in front of them, even less if they loved to bully him.
Then, he remembered that he had to go to
the cafeteria with Ten to meet Kun's friends. He groaned. And he thought he could relax fo a while. He just hoped that none of them actually bothered him.
He started walking towards the cafeteria and he felt how anxiety started growing inside of him. His breath quickened and it was getting harder to stay calm. He didn't like to meet new people. Most of them would just ignore him or annoy him. Jungwoo didn't want to get also bothered by people who were older than him.
He went to the bathrooms to try to calm down a little. He couldn't get there while he was having a panic attack. He entered one of the stalls and tried to calm himself by breathing how Ten had taught him.
After a few minutes, he managed to breath properly and stop the anxious feeling in his chest. He felt tired, physically and emotionally, but Jungwoo knew that he couldn't skip any classes or his parents would have another reason to beat him.
He walked to the cafeteria, that was now full, and started looking for Ten or Kun. Ten had silver hair, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find him. He finally saw him waving at him and he started walking towards the table he was sitting in.
Jungwoo started getting nervous again. There were a lot of people there and all of them looked older than him. Ten got up from where he was sitting and grabbed his hand, making him stand closer to the table.
"Guys, he is my best friend, Jungwoo. I hope you treat him well or I'll kill you" Ten said, gesturing to the rest of the table.
Jungwoo gulped nervously and said "N-nice to meet you"
"Oh, we should introduce ourselves again" A boy with red hair said. Jungwoo had seen some of the people that were sitting in that table in the hallways sometimes, but he hadn't spoken to them in fear of getting more bullies.
"Hello, my name is Taeil. I hope we'll become friends" Another boy with red hair said. He looked young, but the book in his hands was for the last year, so he had to be older than him. He talked calmly and that made Jungwoo like him a little.
"So, you are the Jungwoo that Kun and Ten had been talking about. Well, I'm glad to finally meet you. I'm Yuta" Another boy, with black wavy hair, smiled at him from where he was sitting.
"Don't mind him. Kun hasn't said anything bad about you. I'm Doyoung, by the way. Nice to meet you" Doyoung smiled at him, too. Jungwoo looked at him. He smiled in his head when he thought that the boy with black hair looked like a bunny.
He saw Kun waving at him and Jungwoo waved back, appreciating the gesture that he had told the others about him but he hadn't said anything bad. He looked at the other side of the table. If he remembered well, Ten had told him that Kun and his friends would be hanging out with other people too, so he supposed that those were who he was talking about.
"My name is Lee Taeyong, nice to meet you" The same boy that talked first said. Taeyong had sharp facial features that made him look unreal. However, he had a smile in his face that made him look adorable with how his big eyes shined.
"Hello. Wow, I'm happy to finally meet you. Ten always talks about you a lot and it's nice to finally getting to know you. I'm Johnny" Johnny said. Even if he was sitting, Jungwoo could see that the older boy was tall, really tall. Buy, even if he seemed like a giant, he had a gentle smile on his face, making him look like a puppy.
"I'm Jaehyun and this is my friend Sicheng. He's a little shy but don't worry, he'll warm up to you soon" A handsome boy with brown hair smiled at him. Jungwoo noticed his dimples that made him look even better. The boy who was sitting by his side, Sicheng, smiled and waved at him.
"Hello, I'm Sicheng. I'm from China, like Kun-ge. Nice to meet you" He said soflty.
Jungwoo bowed and smiled back at them. After that, he sat between Ten and Taeyong. The moment he sat down, Ten put his arm around his shoulders. Ten was small, but Jungwoo had gotten so thin and skinny that Ten's arm surrounded his frame completely.
He relaxed then and took a deep breath. Well, that hadn't been that bad. He still couldn't trust them. He couldn't be sure that any of them wouldn't start bullying him after some time. He had to make sure that none of them would actually hurt him before trusting them.
But he hadn't expected them to be so nice to him. He was sure that most of the school knew that he was being bullied because his appearance wasn't the best. Yes, he showered and he was always clean, but his clothes and school supplies were old and broken.
His parents didn't give him any money or bought him anything like clothes or books, so he had to make money by himself to be able to have things like that. He had worked at a convenience store for a while but right now he couldn't work because of school. Whenever he had some money, Jungeoo always bought new clothes because he kept wearing his older clothes that looked awful by now. He couldn't buy clothes whenever he wanted and the same was for his school supplies. Jungwoo always made sure to use everything for as long as he could even if that meant that he looked like a stray cat.
People at school liked to make fun of him because of that, saying that he was poor and that he shouldn't even be at the same highschool as them. Jungwoo didn't mind that, but he always dreamed to have nice things that made him feel happy. He couldn't afford that now, sadly.
Ten tried to buy him some clothes and even give him some of his own, but Jungwoo always said no to him. Ten already did a lot for him, letting him stay at his house almost all day to reduce his chances of being beaten up by his parents. He couldn't bother his friend like that.
He looked around the table. Everyone was eating their lunch that they brought from home. Jungwoo usually didn't have anything to eat at school so he wasn't eating anything like the rest or them. Ten, as always, had noticed and gave him some of his lunch. It was Thai food made by Ten's mother. He ate a little but not so much. He wasn't that hungry to begin with, his nerves making him feel a little nauseous.
Ten was talking to Yuta and Taeil who were in front of them. Jungwoo decided not to enter the conversation, just listening was okay with him. He was really shy and the way his parents and people at school had treated him had made him even more reserved. It was really hard for him to talk to new people and even harder to trust them. He was lucky to have Ten, the Thai boy had always been good to him and he had learned to trust him little by little because Ten had showed him that he wanted to be his friend, a real friend.
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked and saw Taeyong smiling at him.
"Hey, aren't you hungry?" He asked.
"Not really. I usually don't eat lunch so I'm not really hungry" Jungwoo tried to mantain a normal conversation with him. He couldn't know if these people would be good like Ten or would treat him like his classmates if he didn't talk to them. So, he forced himself to talk to Taeyong even if that made him feel nervous and anxious.
"That's not good for you! How old are you?" Taeyong suddenly said and that surprised Jungwoo. What made him change so suddenly?
"I'm 15" Jungwoo answered nevertheless.
"I knew it. You are still growing, you can't just skip meals! Did you have breakfast this morning?" Taeyong sounded worried, genuinely worried, and that surprised Jungwoo even more.
"Oh no, Taeyong-hyung has started nagging. Jungwoo, good luck because he won't stop now" Jaehyun said, chuckling a little. Jungwoo was now confused. Why would Taeyong care about him when he had just met him? He couldn't understand.
"Well, he needs to eat to stay healthy and grow. Here, have this sandwich, I'm full by now" Taeyong put his sandwich in front of him. Jungwoo's eyes opened in surprise. He was about to talk when another voice interrupted him.
"Have some of my salad, too. You need to eat vegetables to be healthy" Doyoung also gave him some of his food and smiled at him.
Jungwoo was even more confused by now. Why were they doing that? He wasn't used to people being nice to him, so he was a little wary. But, both of them had been eating the same food that they had given him so it should be okay.
He whispered to Taeyong "Don't take this in a bad way but, why are you doing this? Why do you care?" Jungwoo asked confused.
Taeyong's face softened and he smiled at him.
"Jungwoo, Ten hasn't said anything about it, but we have eyes. You are very thin and you look like you need to eat more. I won't ask anything because I know that it's still early for me to know such a personal information, but I want to help you, okay? I know from experience that bullying can make you very shy and that it's hard to trust new people, but please, let me help you okay?" Taeyong had been looking into Jungwoo's eyes while he said that. Jungwoo hadn't expected such a sincere answer and the fact that Taeyong wanted to help him made him a little emotional.
Jungwoo felt how his eyes watered and he looked down. He couldn't cry in front of everyone but a tear escaped. Taeyong noticed and gave him a tissue. He caressed his back gently in silence, waiting for Jungwoo to be ready to talk again.
Once the younger boy was calm enough, he looked up again, making Taeyong look at him too.
"Better?" Taeyong asked. He had been whispering everything and no one in the
table had noticed their conversation. Taeyong didn't want anyone to ask inappropiate questions so he made sure that only Jungwoo and him heard this conversation.
"Yes" Jungwoo sniffled a little. He smiled at Taeyong and said "Thanks, Taeyong-ssi"
"You don't need to be so formal with me. Just call me hyung" He said while patting his back.
"Okay, hyung" He felt weird calling someone hyung. Ten had told him a long time ago to stop using honorifics with him because he really didn't care about them and he didn't have any other friends so it was almost a new experience for him.
Jungwoo started eating, now less nervous than before. Then he remembered something that Taeyong said.
"Taeyong-hyung, can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if you don't want to" Jungwoo asked carefully.
"Sure" Taeyong answered.
"You said you knew from experience that bullying makes you more reserved. Have you been bullied before?" Jungwoo asked
"Ah, that. Yes, I was bullied when I was younger. People laughed at me saying that I was too thin and that I was crazy just because I was shy. After that, I had a hard time trusting people, especially people that I didn't know. However I was lucky becasue I met Doyoung, Yuta and Johnny and they helped me a lot. I don't know where I would be without them" He told his story to Jungwoo while making sure that he ate everything.
Jungwoo was surprised that someone as good and handsome as Taeyong had been bullied in the past. He seemed to be okay now, but bullying really affects a person.
They continued talking through their lunch, telling some experiences and getting to know eachother better. Taeyong told Jungwoo that he had an older sister and a younger brother. He also told him that he wanted to become a dance teacher in the future because he loved dancing a lot. He promised to show Jungwoo sometime if he wanted to learn some moves.
Jungwoo also told him some things about himself. He didn't say anything too personal, but Taeyong didn't seem to mind it and, as he had said before, it was still too early to share things like that. Both of them knew that they had to learn to trust eachother but that it wouldn't be something immediate.
By the end of the lunch, Jungwoo was sure that Taeyong wanted to become his friend and that he really seemed to care about him. Taeyong could understand what he was going through and he told him that he could look for him whenever he was in trouble. Jungwoo really appreciated that.
When the bell rang again, signaling that classes would start soon, everyone got up from the table.
"Woo, what class are you going to?" Ten asked Jungwoo.
"127, you?" He asked.
"I have to go to the gym. I have PE now" Ten sighed and Jungwoo laughed. He knew that his best friend hated PE a lot because he didn't like his teacher.
"Jungwoo, I have to go to class 128, let's go together" Johnny said.
"I have to go to 125 so I'll go with you too" Taeil said.
"Okay" Jungwoo didn't know if he could really trust those two in front of his classmates. He knew a lot of people who didn't say anything to him when he was alone but when his classmates were annoying him they started to annoy him too. This could be an opportunity to know if they would be assholes when the others weren't around.
That also didn't mean that Jungwoo wasn't terrified. He was too scared to fight people of his age back, imagine people who were a few years older than him. Johnny was also really tall now that he was standing up. Taeil wasn't that tall, but Jungwoo was still smaller than him. He didn't think he could protect himself from them if they decided to hit him.
He gulped nervously and walked with the other two to their classes. Soon, a conversation started.
"So, Jungwoo, you said you were 15 right?" Johnny asked.
"Yes, why?" He asked trying to sound calm. His face didn't show how nervous he really was.
"Well, now that I think of it, if we all become friends you would be our youngest" Johnny said, smiling again. How a boy that was so tall could look so gentle? Jungoo had always associated big people with violence (thanks to his father) but Johnny seemed to be calm and kind.
"Oh, really? How old are you?" Jungwoo asked.
"Well, I'm 18, Yuta and Taeyong too" He answered. That meant that this was probably their last year in his highschool.
"I'm 19 so I am the oldest" Taeil suddenly joined the conversation.
"Then all of you are my hyungs" Jungwoo said. He suddenly felt excited to have so many hyungs when, a few hours ago, he only had Ten with him.
"Yep. Wait, Taeil-hyung, shouldn't you be at college by now?" Johnny asked.
"I should be, but I lost one year because I couldn't study. I had some health issues on the past that caused me to stay at the hospital almost every week and after that I came to live here so I had to change schools. That time was a mess" Taeil said, chuckling a little.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked such a personal thing" Johnny said, frowning at himself for being so careless.
"But, are you okay now? I mean, you don't have any health problems now, right?" Jungwoo asked, now worried.
"No, it's okay. I'm okay now and that was a long time ago. I also met Doyoung and Kun by that time and then we met Yuta who also came from another country. I guess I'm grateful now because I could meet them even if the circumstances weren't the best" He smiled at the memory.
"That's good. I wouldn't like to see you sick now that we are going to be friends, hyung. I'll make sure that you are always healthy" Johnny said, now the frown nowhere to be seen.
"I'll help you, hyung. We'll make sure that Taeil-hyung is always healthy" Jungwoo said, suddenly following Johnny. Taeil was blushing by now.
"Not you too. Doyoung is already acting like my mother, making me eat vegetables and drink water" Taeil said embarrassed.
"He and Taeyong will be good friends then" Johnny chuckled.
They had arrived at their classes that were side by side. All of the students were still out and that meant that the teachers hadn't arrived yet. Jungwoo thought that once they were at their classrooms, Johnny and Taeil would leave him alone to go with their classmates, but they stayed with him. They continued talking and joking, making Taeil even more embarrassed. They were having a good time but their teachers arrived and they had to get into their own classes. Jungwoo found Johnny and Taeil nice, but he still didn't trust them. Jungwoo's classmates hadn't done anything to him and that made Jungwoo happy but at the same time, he didn't know how the other two would react when his classmates did something to him.
The rest of Jungwoo's day was pretty uneventful. His classmates continued bullying him, his teachers continued to ignore him. When the classes ended, he went home with Ten. He was also accompanied by Jaehyun, Doyoung and Kun, who lived near them.
Ten cut his hair that afternoon, making it look fluffy and shiny. They spent the afternoon doing their homework together and then watching a film. Jungwoo went to his home before dinner, saying that he had to study. He knew that if he got home late, his parents would beat him again.
When he entered his house, he tried to be silent. But life didn't like him because his father was waiting for him on front of the door. The moment he stepped in, he was kicked by his father in his thighs. He fell down to the ground and his father started kicking his stomach. Jungwoo couldn't breathe, the pain was too much. His stomach was already bruised and now it was getting even worse.
After a while, his father stopped and left. He never said anything when he beat him. Neither did his mother. Jungwoo couldn't even know why his parents were mad at him because they never even told him. His father usually kicked or punched him. He had a lot of strength to do so. His mother, on the other hand, liked to use a belt or another object to hurt him. Jungwoo didn't know what to expect when it came to her.
He got up from the floor and went upstairs. He couldn't walk properly but he made it to his bedroom. There, he closed the door and locked it. He finally could feel relaxed.
Jungwoo got the ointment that Ten had given him a while ago for his bruises. He lifted his hoodie, wincing whem he touched his bruised stomach. If it was bad before, now it was even worse. He started coughing and, hell, did it hurt. When he could stop coughing, he tried to breathe to calm the pain but it even hurt to do so.
With tears running down his face, he applied the ointment and laid down. He tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in but no matter what positiong he was in, he was still in pain.
He didn't get much sleep that night.
The next day, he woke up earlier than the day before. He wanted to get out of his house as soon as possible and he wanted to avoid seeing his parents at all costs. He didn't think he could go to school if his parents saw him again.
He showered, with cold water again, and left his house. Luckily, none of his parents seemed to be awake. He went to Ten's house even if it was a little early. He had texted him before leaving his house to know if he was awake and Ten had replied that he would be waiting for him by the door.
He didn't even had to call him because Ten opened the door for him when he was about to. Ten ushered him inside. They sat at the couch alone. Ten's mother was at work and his father was still asleep.
"What happened? I know that something must have happened. You don't usually do this" He asked, taking Jungwoo's hand.
"My father saw me again yesterday. He kicked at the same place and I don't think I could have gone to school if he saw me again today, so I had to get out of there earlier" Jungwoo said, lifting his hoodie for Ten to see the damage. Ten gasped and got up. He disappeared in the hallway and then, he returned with the same ointment that he had given Jungwoo.
Ten put some in his hand and applied it to Jungwoo's stomach. Jungwoo winced, but he stayed still. Once he ended applying it, he started talking again.
"That looks bad, Woo" He whispered.
"I know, but I can't really do anything. You know that if I say this to anyone I could be put into adoption or something like that. I don't want to be separated from you" Jungwoo's eyes started watering at the thought of not seeing Ten again.
"It's okay, it's okay. Come here, I'm here with you, I'm not going anywhere" Ten hugged Jungwoo, running his hands through his hair, trying to calm him down. Jungwoo's situation wasn't the best, but he would be there for him. He was also afraid to lose Jungwoo but he couldn't just watch how his friend got destroyed day by day by his own parents. Ten knew that they couldn't really do anything if they didn't want Jungwoo to go away, but he was so angry at the situation.
"Let's eat some breakfast, okay?" They ate some cereals and they left.
When they arrived at their highschool, they saw Kun and Doyoung at Ten's class. Jungwoo talked with them for a while and then left to his own classroom. When he was almost there, he saw Jaehyun and Sicheng in the same hallway. Once they noticed him, they waved at him and told him to get near them.
Jungwoo felt nervous again, but he didn't have any problems yesterday with Johnny and Taeil, so he decided to go to them.
"Good morning, Jungwoo-yah" Jaehyun said smiling at him. Jungwoo tried to smile back, but he was sure that his smile wasn't nearly as pretty.
"Good morning" He answered. Suddenly, Sicheng started talking.
"What class do you have next, Jungwoo? I think we could go there together" Sicheng said and suddenly grabbed his arm and dragged him to his side. "Sorry, that kid almost bumped into you" He said while glaring at the other kid. Jungwoo noticed how Sicheng had just protected him from getting hit by one of his classmates.
"Thanks" He smiled at him. Sicheng stopped glaring at the other kid to smile back at him. He made Jungwoo stay between Jaehyun and him to make sure that no one did anything to him.
They continued talking until their teachers arrived. Jaehyun and Sicheng went with him until he entered his class. Jungwoo felt happy. Both of them had made sure that nothing happened to him at least until he had to enter in his class. Maybe they didn't know that he was being bullied, but they had protected him even if they didn't know what they were protecting him from.
His day continued as always. His classmates still annoyed him and everything, but he was happier to go to lunch. He had a good time, talking with Taeyong and Jaehyun. Doyoung also joined their conversation and he also started nagging. Ten was still by his side, offering his food which caused Johnny and Taeil to also share their food. He also talked with Kun and Sicheng, who told him how China was and that made Yuta talk about Japan as well.
Yeah, maybe his situation hadn't changed that much but he was a little bit happier than before.