we were young (it wasn't real love) [1/2]
Title: we were young (it wasn't real love)
Pairing: Minseok/Luhan
Rating: PG-15
Word Count: 14.7k
Warnings: Language, mild violence
Summary: Minseok has been on autopilot for the past two years of his life until the appearance of his former best friend, Luhan. School 2013!AU.
Author's Notes: This story was written for seokmonsters 2015, using prompt #368. A big thank you to the prompter. And thank you, M, as always.
“Minseok.”
No response.
“Kim Minseok!”
The sound of a wooden ruler coming into contact with his desk is what brings Minseok back to the reality of vandalised desks and unfilled lines in textbooks. Kim Minseok tears his eyes away from the soccer game outside to look at his unimpressed teacher, Mr Zhang. The alien language on the board tells Minseok that it’s math class and the unanswered question on the board speaks of his fate in the next two minutes.
“Kim Minseok, show your attentiveness to this class by answering the problem.”
It’s one of those questions that Minseok hates. There’s a symbol that looks like the letter E with zigzags, like the letter M rotated to the left. Saving himself from further embarrassment, Minseok knows that he can only do one thing.
“I don’t know the answer,” he says. Some of his classmates who have the slightest bit of human decency decide to look away, while others look more interested in the exchange that’s about to take place.
“Maybe if you take all the concentration that you had looking outside and change it into something productive, you might be able to graduate.”
Knowing what’s expected of him, Minseok bows a good ninety degrees, all the while apologising in the process. Some snicker at him and the others look at him, mostly with pity, wondering how he’s unable to grasp the concept of sigma. When the bell rings dismissing the students, Minseok doesn’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse that he’s free from school for the rest of the day.
~~
He wakes up too late. Minseok jolts awake when something at his subconscious nags at him, namely the absence of an alarm going off at the right time. The rays of sunlight filtering through his window tells Minseok that it’s not 6:30 A.M., and that’s what gets him to get up from bed. There are unanswered text messages on his phone - most of which are from his homeroom teacher, endless questions about his whereabouts.
As he picks up a fruit to make up for his missed breakfast, Minseok grumbles as he recollects the reason for his tardiness. The night before, he was out until late doing his part time job since a customer had requested for ice cream to be delivered when they lived a good forty-five minutes away from Minseok’s place. It was a ridiculous job, especially since he didn’t get paid when the customer found that their ice cream had melted. This is one of those times in which Minseok envies the teenagers who have their parents supporting them financially.
When he enters the classroom, no one looks surprised to see him. The English teacher reaches out for a note explaining his tardiness, and Minseok takes out the note that he had forged earlier. Once he has confirmed that everything is back to normal, Minseok takes his seat and rests his head on the desk, much to the discontent of his classmates.
“Does he ever do work?” One of the girls ask.
The one sitting next to him called Baekhyun shakes his head. “He doesn’t even talk.”
Minseok turns his head away from the class but he listens in on the questions about himself and his intentions of going to school. He hears a particular comment about being on autopilot, probably the most accurate observation anyone has made about him. He shuts his eyes and allows himself catch up on sleep, when a tight grip on his shoulder sends alarming signals throughout his body.
“Hey there, Sleeping Beauty.”
It’s quite sad that although Minseok’s eyes are closed, his ears are not. Granted, his senses don’t work that way, but his wishful thinking is what gets him through the day. It doesn’t hurt to be the slightest bit optimistic when his life is going down the drain.
“What,” Minseok groans, knowing that being silent for too long would only prompt more anger. He opens his eyes to look up at Oh Sehun, knowing that his classmate values the respect that he gets from the rest of the class.
“What do you mean ‘what’,” Sehun deadpans. Despite the cold hardness of his desk, Minseok’s cheek refuses to part with it. When Chanyeol and Zitao step up from behind Sehun, Minseok hesitantly pulls himself up, not wanting to deal with the three of them in one morning. Having Sehun breathing down his neck is more than enough.
“Go buy me milk and bread,” Sehun continues, ignoring the uninterested look on Minseok’s face. As expected, Sehun doesn’t offer any money to compensate for the errand. Minseok swears he can almost hear his pocket money begging for mercy.
“Why don’t you go get it yourself?” Minseok replies with a monotone voice, albeit a little too loudly. “You have long legs. Go use them. They’ll grow even longer if you drink more milk.”
His seatmate, Baekhyun, shoots him a fearful look. Minseok can only shrug, knowing that the only reason why Sehun likes to pick on him is because of his hesitance in acknowledging him as the most respected member of their class. Maybe it’s because of that blasted customer from the night before, but Minseok is anything but patient today. The feeling of regret over his snarky comment soon hits him when Zitao leans down to meet him eye to eye.
“What did you say?” Zitao asks, his eyes looking darker by the second.
“Zitao,” Sehun reprimands his friend, “not now.” He cocks his head to the side, and Zitao takes that as his cue to step back. Minseok continues to hold his breath, staring down the three guys who look unimpressed with his attitude. Seeing that Minseok isn’t going to budge and such an exchange during school hours is useless, Sehun leads his friends out of the classroom.
Once he’s certain they’re out of sight, Minseok lets out an exasperated sigh. Baekhyun shoots him a questioning look but he turns away before Baekhyun has the chance to utter a word. Minseok picks up his backpack, deciding that the school day is too long for his liking.
“Where are you going?”
Minseok stares at his classmate looking at him with concerned eyes. Kim Jongdae has always been a kind and considerate soul, Minseok has to give him that much; but he also gets involved in things that he shouldn’t think twice about, namely Minseok’s wellbeing.
“Going to buy lunch,” Minseok says. Jongdae raises an eyebrow and that’s all it takes for Minseok’s lie to fall apart.
Jongdae places his hands on Minseok’s arms, turning him around before leading him back onto his seat. “Just don’t pay them any attention, Minseok-ah.” He pauses for a moment before taking out a carton of milk and placing it on Minseok’s desk like a gift.
There’s an unpleasant feeling stirring in the pit of Minseok’s stomach as he reaches out for the milk box with the intention of returning it to its rightful owner, but at the sight of Jongdae’s soft eyes, Minseok knows that it’s hopeless. He spends the rest of his lunch time staring at the damned carton, wondering why it’s making him feel guilty.
~~
Minseok should really know when to keep his mouth shut. It’s one of those things that he has written on “Things to Improve On” on the back of his mind but has never gotten around to doing so. If there’s anything he can commend himself for, it’s his sense of intuition. As he turns around the corner into an alleyway, the cold and tense atmosphere is more than enough to send chills down his spine.
“Look, we caught a rat,” says a deep voice. There’s a saying that one can always hear Park Chanyeol before they see him. Knowing the group’s tendency to never go to places alone and acknowledging that his short legs can’t beat Chanyeol’s longer limbs, Minseok braces himself for what’s about to come. He doesn’t have to turn around to know that Sehun is standing right behind him.
“Just get this over and done with,” Minseok mutters under his breath. There are no sarcastic comments or threats, only the incomings of experienced fists. Minseok places his hands over his head as he feels his knees give underneath him. He winces in pain as a leg makes a particularly sharp contact with his ribs. He gasps for air as breathing begins to become difficult, all the while looking up at the other end of the alleyway, curious as to how there aren’t any passersby who seem to show the slightest hint of having a conscience.
Knowing that this isn’t going to end soon, Minseok shuts his eyes tight, enduring the pain. There’s a voice nagging at the back of his mind screaming, this is enough, fight back! Minseok breathes sharply through his nose, his muscles tense as he prepares himself for his counterattack. He pushes himself up from the ground, kneeling up to see the look of satisfaction on Sehun’s face. Just as Zitao is about to deliver another punch, a hand firmly grips Zitao’s, stopping him from further movements.
“What is this?”
The sound of the newcomer’s voice chills Minseok to the bone. Zitao turns to the intruder with a vicious look in his eye, whereas the latter just looks at him with nothing but a sweet smile on his face.
“Oh, Minseok,” says the intruder, “I didn’t see you there. I take it that you’re having a great time with your new friends.”
Exhausted and frozen, Minseok can only form one thought at the sight of the intruder. One: Perhaps Minseok isn’t as fit anymore. Two: Puberty hasn’t done much to change Luhan.
~~
Fate seems to despise Minseok. His mother’s death when he was four is more than enough proof, especially when it created a barrier in the relationship between Minseok and his father, who now works in the countryside. If there was anything that fate did to show its complexity to Minseok, it happens on the following Monday when the morning greetings are over, cueing his time to sleep.
The unusual, pregnant and expectant silence that follows instead of the morning announcements should have warned Minseok of something unusual, but it’s the following words that makes him tense in his seat.
“We have a transfer student. Please introduce yourself.”
Sensing an ominous aura, Minseok turns his head towards the front to welcome the newcomer. When the transfer student says, “I’m Luhan, please take care of me,” with a calculating look in Minseok’s direction, it’s when he’s finally reminded of how cruel fate can be. Minseok wants to point his fingers at fate, blaming it for these circumstances, but he knows that what goes around comes around. He knows that fate will always make a way of tying those loose ends, whether Minseok likes it or not.
He takes a glance to his right, where Luhan is sitting two groups away from him, only to find that the transfer student is looking back at him with a cold, hard glare. All of Minseok’s defences fall apart with that one look: he feels something clawing at him at the pit of his stomach, tearing his insides apart, making his heart sink into oblivion. He takes a shallow, shaky breath, becoming aware of how difficult it is to breathe. Maybe it’s always been this difficult to live.
~~
For reasons that Minseok will never understand, people love to talk - about the current events, the weather, the entertainment industry, but nothing irks him more than hearing people talk about others, creating speculations that are wilder than the most popular television drama. But that’s why they love it even more - when there’s something out of the ordinary that’s in their midst, they’ll turn it into the biggest plot twists they can ever come up with.
“I heard he was sold to a Chinese group as a slave when he was younger,” says the guy sitting in front of Minseok, as they dwell in the silence between classes. “And that he fought his way out of China to get here.”
That sounds like it could be a novel.
Sensing the juicy gossip, Baekhyun chirps up: “I heard he was a prostitute smuggled into South Korea.”
Shut up, Baekhyun.
“Nah,” says another. “There are rumours surrounding his name saying that he was the best fighter in Gyeonggi-do.”
Minseok tenses in his seat, his mind racing at a hundred kilometres per hour. How in the world do these people come up with such rumours? Judging from his seat, he can tell that Luhan heard that comment, too. Looking at the vacant look on his face, one would think that he is ignorant of the gossip about him. His clenched fist says otherwise.
As if on cue, the door opens as Sehun walks into the room followed by Zitao and Chanyeol. The chattering stops as Sehun walks towards Luhan, stopping by his desk and staring him down. Luhan tightens his jaw but doesn’t say a word as Sehun looms over him, the smirk on his face looking more cynical by the second. Minseok’s heart sinks to the bottom of his stomach when Sehun looks at Luhan like he’s a meal he’s about to devour. Luhan maintains his cool, staring back at Sehun with an equally threatening glare. Minseok will never understand the need for a hierarchy in high schools, and why students are so worked up about them to this kind of level.
“He’s just a pretty face with a big mouth. Nothing special about that.”
“Oh Sehun,” snaps the math teacher. The class looks up to Mr Zhang with wide, curious eyes, surprised at how quietly he entered the classroom. “Go back to your seat and stop disrupting the class.”
Without the slightest hint of regret or any signs of apology, Sehun turns to take his seat, not missing the sight of Luhan’s lips curving up into a smile. Minseok wonders why that good-looking piece of shit couldn’t make things easier for himself.
“And Luhan, please solve the first question on page fifty-two of the text book.”
The class scrambles to open their books to the designated page. Any student at Converse High knows better than to get on Mr Zhang’s bad book. Luhan looks down on his desk, and it’s then when Minseok realises that it’s completely clean of any signs of stationery.
“I don’t have any books,” Luhan answers as Mr Zhang gestures for him to stand.
“I thought you wanted to graduate this year,” Mr Zhang reprimands him. “It’s hard to do that when you don’t own any text books. Do you even have any interest in graduating or do you want to be held back by a year again?”
Collectively, the class turns to Luhan with sharp, prying eyes. Luhan looks at their teacher with a cold, hard stare, before he mutters, “I want to graduate. I will do things when I can, and I will do my best.”
Baekhyun looks up at Luhan in awe, and Minseok wonders how many insects could get trapped in Baekhyun’s dropped jaw.
“He’s a year older than us?” The class murmurs in a somewhat amazed and respectful tone. Minseok can understand their surprise: with Luhan’s wide, almond eyes and angelic face, one wouldn’t even dare to think that Luhan is over the age of sixteen.
“Quiet,” Mr Zhang says, and the whisperings stop. He takes one last look at Luhan before continuing, “Let’s proceed with the lesson. Luhan, make sure that you get the supplies you need if you want to graduate. You can’t just hope to sleep through your classes and expect to graduate.” The math teacher turns his head in Minseok’s direction, and the rest of the class follow his gaze. Minseok raises his head and gives his teacher a lazy grin resembling that of the Cheshire cat’s.
~~
It’s a quarter past nine in the evening when Minseok finishes his part time job. The thought of a peaceful night of rest is more appealing than anything else, even more than the smell of freshly cooked street food. He thinks about buying ramen, but the sight of the bookstore nearby stops him in his tracks. Minseok opens his wallet to look at his total sum, and decides that his ramen can wait.
He walks through the aisles, taking down the appropriate supplies before spending the money that he earned after a week of hard work. With a polite smile and a lighter heart and wallet, Minseok walks out of the shop and turns around the familiar-looking corner that leads to a street of long ago.
He stops walking when he reaches the house with a black gate with an old abandoned pet cage inside. Two years ago, there were two dogs and the gate had been a sharp, bright red colour: a careless paint job done to honour Manchester United. Minseok takes a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. The answer comes a few moments later, in the form of a ten year old girl bouncing down the front steps of her house, pigtails swaying from side to side along with a bright grin on her face.
“Seokkie! Is that you?”
The sound of the nickname hits Minseok with a wave of nostalgia, and the images of a crib and old Doraemon dolls come to mind. A much older woman appears by the gate before Minseok gets the chance to reply to the little girl.
“Minseok.” He doesn’t know why, but with just one word - his name - he can feel the disappointment and resentment seeping through her bones.
“I… uh…”
“What are you doing here?” She asks once she’s recovered from the shock of seeing the boy at her door. Minseok has never been good with words, so he raises the plastic bags full of his purchases as his form of reply. He’s suddenly not sure if this was a good idea.
“I… I wanted to give this to Lu-”
“What are you doing here?” Luhan walks out to join the rest of his family. He bends down to his sister’s height and coaches her to going back into the house. He turns to his mother who is looking at Minseok with furrowed brows and a worried frown on her face. “It’s okay, mom, I can take it from here.”
His mother protests, looking between the two guys, before realising that there is no way for her to win this. She turns to Minseok one last time before saying, “stay away from Luhan.”
They remain quiet for a few moments, waiting to hear the sound of a door closing for the sake of their privacy. Once they’re certain that Luhan’s family isn’t within hearing range, Luhan turns to Minseok with a raised eyebrow.
“I would like to say that my mom is overreacting as usual, but she isn’t.”
“I know,” Minseok says timidly. He hands the plastic bags over to Luhan, who looks down on it with a confused look on his face. “They’re books - for school - so you can study properly and -”
“What are you doing?” Luhan asks.
“I said I was here to give you these books-”
“No,” Luhan says, cutting him off. “I mean what are you doing? Do you think I’m a charity case or something?”
Minseok shakes his head as the frown on Luhan’s face gets deeper. It’s a look that Minseok doesn’t like, and he hates knowing that he’s the reason for it. He knows that no matter how much he tries, he will always get a similar reaction from Luhan, but it doesn’t mean that he’ll stop trying.
“Go home, Minseok.” The tiredness in his voice sounds too old to be coming from an eighteen year old. He opens his mouth to protest, but the stern look on Luhan’s face tells him that there is no room for argument.
“I’m sorry,” he blurts out. Luhan looks surprised for a moment before a scowl masks his face.
“Minseok,” Luhan says with a warning tone, and Minseok knows that he’s taken it too far. He nods in understanding as he steps back from Luhan’s gate, the feeling of dread welcoming him like an old friend.
~~
It’s annoying. It’s really nagging at him; how the routine Minseok has been set on following for the past two years are slowly beginning to change due to the introduction of the Wild Card. Minseok lives in the comforts of constants and mundane things, but it’s as if a tornado is coming and everything that he had built in the past few years are falling apart.
“Here, Luhan-sama,” one of the guys say, placing a sandwich and a carton of milk on his desk. “Please enjoy these.”
“’Sama’ is Japanese, not Mandarin,” Baekhyun mutters under his breath.
The atmosphere in the class immediately turns stale as Park Chanyeol narrows his eyes in contempt. The class takes a collective sharp intake of breath, and Minseok wonders how Luhan manages to attract so much attention without trying.
Minseok glances over his shoulder before turning his head to the side to catch a glimpse of Luhan’s expressionless face. If there’s anything that Chanyeol hates, it’s the lack of reaction. Minseok takes a deep breath, bracing himself as he stands up, gathering attention to himself instead.
Baekhyun looks up at him with owlish eyes and before Minseok gets the chance to divert the attention to himself, Luhan grabs the milk and pushes it into Chanyeol’s hands. “You can have it if that’s what’s getting you so worked up. I’m lactose intolerant anyway.”
Minseok brings his hand up to his face, and Baekhyun almost laughs at the sight of his comical face palm. Despite Chanyeol’s tall height, he hates being looked down on more than anything. Luhan really knows how to get on people’s nerves, and Minseok wonders how he’s survived for so long.
“You can have the doughnut too, if you want,” Luhan tells Chanyeol, ignoring Minseok. He gives an angelic smile in Chanyeol’s direction before he turns away, his smile morphing into a scowl as he walks out of the classroom.
~~
Each passing day with Luhan in his class suddenly feels a lot longer than it should. Minseok finds himself staring off into the direction of Luhan’s desk instead of the soccer game outside and the gnawing feeling at the bottom of his stomach refuses to go away.
It doesn’t help that the class has found an interest in Luhan, always pestering him with questions wondering if the rumours about him being a fighter are true. Some girls think that it’s not true, believing that Luhan is too angelic to get himself caught in such businesses and they should leave him alone while the others think that with his sweet face, he could be a murderer for all they know. Luhan’s refusal to acknowledge any of the rumours fuels their interest even more and Minseok wants to continuously slam his head against his desk because why are things suddenly more complicated?
He was going to spend the last year of high school with a relaxed mindset, only handing in homework when it’s vital, but otherwise he wasn’t going to make an effort to socialise or get himself caught up in the class affairs. But Luhan is here, and Luhan has always been an exception -
“You’re not eating this, are you?” Zitao asks as he takes Luhan’s lunch tray off him. It’s quite ridiculous, really, how the class is in awe of Luhan but no one would dare to stand against Sehun’s group to defend him.
Luhan’s stomach grumbles in protest, but his expression remains blank as he watches Zitao walk away with his share of food. He shakes his head before walking away from the cafeteria, leaving the company of his classmates.
Minseok sighs, his own hunger suddenly forgotten. The bell rings and the class scrambles to go to their next class, but Minseok remains seated for a few moments before he finally gets up and takes out his wallet. He gets to class three minutes later than the others, and when he does, he places a bottle of mango juice and a sandwich before Luhan.
The rest of the class looks up in surprise at Minseok’s actions. Even Sehun had been unable to get Minseok to do anything for him, and if Luhan could, then that meant Luhan is the true king of the class-
“Minseok,” Jongdae hisses as he pulls him aside, just as Luhan looks down at the food blankly, looking as if they’re unfamiliar objects. “What’s happening? Is Luhan bullying you? Is it because he really was the best fighter in his hometown?”
At the mention of his name, Luhan looks up at Jongdae’s hand wrapped around Minseok’s arm, and his gaze darkens. Jongdae manages a gulp and he tightens his grip on Minseok. “You don’t have to do anything he says, you know. We’re in Seoul, not in his territory-”
“I’m not,” Minseok says, apparently too loudly, because even from across the classroom, Baekhyun is looking up at him with wide eyes that look like they could bulge out of his eye sockets any moment from now. He pulls his arm away from Jongdae’s hold and sighs. “No one makes me do anything.”
Minseok realises it was the wrong thing to say when he notices Sehun leaning down to whisper in Luhan’s ear. Judging by the slight shift in Luhan’s expression to one of horror, then back to his impassive face, Minseok can tell that he might have just made their situation worse.
~~
Despite minor inconveniences, Minseok likes to walk the long way home. Sure, it takes up more time and he passes too many stray and malnourished animals for it to be considered as a dodgy part of town, but Minseok likes to keep quiet and uses such opportunities for thinking. He walks past a Chinese restaurant and ignores his cravings for dumplings, and settles for the street stall selling hot cakes instead. He tries to fight off the sigh as he spends more of his hard-earned money, but he knows that he can’t feel any regret with his decision of buying food or those expensive textbooks -
“Minseok!”
The boy in question turns his head at the unmistakable sound of Baekhyun’s voice. Minseok freezes, suddenly feeling an irrational fear of Baekhyun being around a shifty area of town. Although Minseok and Baekhyun aren’t particularly close, Minseok can’t help but feel uncomfortable about this setting.
“I’ve been looking for you,” Baekhyun says breathlessly. He bends down to catch his breath for a few moments, and Minseok waits patiently for Baekhyun to continue. “Luhan… They… Him…”
“What?” Minseok asks, alarmed. Did something happen to Luhan? Is it his fault? What did he land himself into -
“Sehun… Luhan… Bridge…”
The syntax of Baekhyun’s message should leave Minseok puzzled, but it’s one that leaves him anxious instead. Without waiting for his order to be filled, he runs toward the direction Baekhyun came from, keeping in mind the location of Luhan’s possible whereabouts. He gasps as he feels the adrenaline coursing through his veins. The sensation that was once familiar now felt like a stranger. He runs as fast as his legs could carry him, all the while making sharp turns around corners, avoiding passersby and any possible collision that could hinder him from reaching Luhan in time.
He sees them on the field near one of the old, run-down bridges. It doesn’t take Minseok long to recognise that Sehun is standing over Luhan, looming over him with a rock in his hand. But it takes Minseok a moment too long to realise that he’s stepping on Luhan’s left foot, and the realisation spurs Minseok to run faster than he’s ever done in his life. For the first time in two years, he feels the overwhelming sense of fear. May God help his soul if he can’t protect Luhan this time--
He reaches them just before Sehun makes his blow, and Minseok grabs the rock out of Sehun’s hand, surprising him.
“So you did bring your friend,” Sehun says, recovering from the shock of Minseok’s counter-attack. Luhan looks up to see what the hell Sehun is talking about, and fails to hide the surprise in his expression.
“Minseok, what are you do-”
Luhan doesn’t manage to finish his sentence as Sehun charges forward and Minseok ducks to avoid Sehun’s raging fists. Minseok sidesteps away from Sehun, only to run into Zitao’s rock hard chest. Minseok steps back in surprise, leaning to the side just in time to avoid the full blow of Zitao’s kick.
“It’s hopeless. There’s three of us and only two of you. Well, soon to be one,” Chanyeol says from behind him as he wraps an arm around Minseok’s neck, trapping him in a headlock. Any signs of rational thinking disappear when he notices Sehun and Zitao ganging up on Luhan. Minseok takes a sharp intake of breath before he brings his elbows up and slams them against Chanyeol’s abdomen. He comes free from the taller boy with an ‘oof’ that doesn’t sound too good, but it’s the least of Minseok’s worries.
Minseok turns to Chanyeol and it’s then when his fists begin to get out of control. Compared to Zitao and Sehun, Chanyeol is a slower fighter so Minseok has the greater advantage. Knowing that Chanyeol is beginning to feel winded, Minseok decides to continue kicking at his abdomen, and Chanyeol falls to the ground gasping for air. Minseok isn’t showing any mercy as Chanyeol extends his arms for help. He begins to cough, and Minseok only slows down once he’s certain that Chanyeol will be out of the way until he can get Luhan to safety.
Minseok advances on Zitao afterwards, taking him down by surprise. Zitao, a well-experienced martial artist, refuses to go down without fighting Minseok. Zitao raises his fist, aiming at Minseok’s right eye, but he moves to the side at the last moment, and Zitao hits his cheekbone instead. Taking advantage of the split second in between, Minseok punches Zitao’s face before moving onto his abdomen. Knowing that he can’t take any risks, he reaches out for Zitao’s arms, twisting them before flipping him down onto the ground. He thinks about throwing a few more punches, but he stops when he sees Zitao cough up blood.
Sehun turns to him in surprise once he realises that his friends are lying down on the ground, defenceless. It doesn’t do anything to discourage him, though. Sehun charges in full force, and Minseok takes the seconds in between to recognise the wrong points about Sehun’s fighting stance. At the last possible moment, Minseok pivots and extends his right leg to kick Sehun in the face. Sehun goes down with a sharp thud, and Minseok looms over the boy, grabbing the big rock that he had seen him use to threaten Luhan earlier.
“Look at you,” Luhan says, sounding almost hysterical, “You haven’t changed at all, Minseok.”
He wants to prove Luhan wrong. But everything that he has done in that afternoon says otherwise, and the temptation to bring down the rock on Sehun’s leg doesn’t change even with the way Luhan is talking to him. Sehun braces himself for the impact, and Minseok steps on his ankle, making the boy wince in pain. The sight makes Minseok stop on the spot. The sight of a defenceless, hurt boy on the floor with a leg outstretched before him looks familiar - it looks too familiar -
Minseok drops the rock on the ground, and he rushes to Luhan’s side when he recognises the presence of police sirens that sound like they are getting closer by the second. He wraps an arm around Luhan’s back and they trudge on to avoid any further trouble.
“What about them?” Luhan asks with a raspy voice, “Aren’t they going to tell-”
“No,” Minseok says with a stern voice. “I know them well enough. They would also have to explain why they were there, and they already have police records here. They’ll also try to get away before the police arrive.”
Luhan nods in understanding. They walk the rest of the way in a silence that was tired and uncomfortable but somehow familiar.
~~
They come to school the next day with evident bruises, raising a million questions between the students in their class. The teachers look at them suspiciously and a little bit fearfully, but they can’t help it. All of them know that Sehun, Zitao and Chanyeol do not get along with Luhan, but the involvement of Minseok is what leaves them puzzled.
“What happened?” Jongdae asks worriedly as he falls into step with Minseok as they walk towards the cafeteria. “Are you okay?” He reaches out to touch the bruise in Minseok’s cheek, but Minseok steps back at the last moment, offering a nod as a reply. Jongdae doesn’t appear convinced though, as he leans forward and asks, “Did you get caught up in the brawl?”
“No,” Minseok says, perhaps a little too forcefully. The worried look on Jongdae’s face only deepens, and Minseok sighs before turning to fully face him. He places his hands on Jongdae’s shoulders, and he becomes aware that this is the first time he is voluntarily touching Jongdae. “Don’t worry about me, okay? If there’s anything - you know that I can always fight back with my mouth.”
Sensing that Minseok wants the topic to be dropped, Jongdae nods in resignation, realising that perhaps Minseok does care that Jongdae is worried about him. With a sigh of relief, Minseok drops his hands and manages a smile. Jongdae looks surprised to see the curves of Minseok’s lips lifting up to what appears to be a genuine smile, and he nods in understanding. Maybe he was reading too much into the bruises on Minseok’s face.
Minseok’s attention quickly shifts away from him when he notices Luhan walking out of the cafeteria, the bruises on his face looking more terrible than the ones on Minseok’s face.
“Whoa,” Jongdae couldn’t believe that someone could look that bad and still go to school. “What happened to Luhan?”
“I’ll go ask,” Minseok says offhandedly as he walks away from Jongdae to join Luhan. He walks a few steps away from Luhan, knowing that he wouldn’t want Minseok to be walking next to him, especially at school. Luhan walks up the stairs, knowing that he’s being followed, and he walks out into the school rooftop. Minseok follows without question. When they’re certain that they’re out of earshot, Luhan turns to Minseok with a hard look on his face, surprising him.
“Stop this act, Minseok,” says Luhan. “You need to drop it now. No matter what you do you can never make up for what I lost.”
“Luhan-”
“You do not know,” Luhan cuts him off, making Minseok appear smaller, “You do not know how it felt. If you’re really apologetic, then give up the most important thing to you. Only then will I acknowledge that you know what you did.”
“The most important-”
“Oh, look.”
Luhan and Minseok’s conversation is quickly dropped at the arrival of Sehun and his friends. Minseok lets out a long, exasperated sigh. He isn’t really in the mood for this.
“It’s the best fighter in all of Gyeonggi-do. And Luhan.”
Minseok freezes and even Luhan looks surprised. Sehun steps forward, grabbing Minseok by the arm to look at him in the eye. “I didn’t know you had it within you, Minseokkie. How did you manage to hide that from us for the past two years?” Minseok remains unresponsive, looking like he hadn’t heard Sehun speak until Sehun turns to give Luhan a smile. “Or does it only come out when harm comes to those who are important to you?”
Minseok stiffens under his hold. Zitao and Chanyeol step forward and Minseok twists his arm, freeing himself from Sehun’s grip. “Leave Luhan alone. You all still appear to be well enough to go to school, and if you take one more step I will make sure that you can’t go anywhere for a very long time.”
Sehun smirks before cocking his head to the side, gesturing for his friends to back off. The sick smile on Sehun’s face angers Minseok, but it scares him more than anything else.
“Did we just find your Achilles’ heel?” Sehun asks in an innocent tone.
Minseok has to try hard to not clench his jaw, knowing that any change in his body language would only satisfy Sehun. Sensing that he’s getting on Minseok’s nerves, Sehun steps away with a haunting smile. “Alright. Let’s go and leave these two alone. Judging from the expressions on their faces, they have a lot to talk about.”
Neither Luhan or Minseok let their guard down for the span of five minutes. Only then does Minseok turn to Luhan, ready to dwell into their previous conversation, when Luhan speaks before him:
“You know, you gave me the wrong textbooks, right?”
“What… do you mean?” Minseok asks, tilting his head in confusion. The action would have looked cute with his round eyes and round cheeks, but Luhan looks at him with an impassive expression on his face.
“You gave me grade 11 textbooks. We’re in grade 12. You really don’t even look at your textbooks, do you? How do you expect to graduate?”
Minseok opens his mouth, ready to answer, but it seems Luhan isn’t expecting anything when he suddenly walks away from him, leaving Minseok speechless.
~~
The bruises on their faces only continue to fuel rumours and Minseok is so sick of it.
“Did you know that as the greatest fighter in Gyeonggi-do, Luhan was not only respected, but also feared?”
Minseok isn’t really in the mood for this.
“What do you mean ‘feared’?” Baekhyun asks.
One of the girls turns to face him. “I heard that Luhan wasn’t just satisfied with being the best fighter, but that he also wanted to become the best soccer player. He got envious of anyone that was as good as soccer as he was, and he beat them up. There are rumours that he even broke the leg of a soccer player just so they couldn’t get scouted.”
“That just means he’s less than nothing, then,” Zitao speaks up. The group of students chattering turn to face him, and he looks at them with a bored expression. “Yeah, we fight to sort out a hierarchy and to work in groups. But beating up a soccer player - and crushing their dreams? That’s so low.”
For the first time in all of his years in Converse High, Minseok thinks this must be a miracle. The students look up at Zitao and nod in agreement, making comments on how Luhan must have such a sad life to do such things.
The whispering stops when Luhan walks into the room. The students stiffen in their seats, and Luhan looks visibly uncomfortable by the sudden change in the atmosphere. He turns his head to look at the only one who didn’t react at his entrance - to find that Minseok is looking at him with a sad expression on his face. Noticing the silent interaction between Luhan and Minseok, Jongdae moves towards Minseok, wrapping an arm around him to keep him close. Luhan narrows his eyes and walks out of the room.
~~
The rumours are only getting worse. Jongdae and Baekhyun have begun a league called ‘Protect Kim Minseok from Luhan,’ with the reasoning that Luhan must be the cause of Minseok’s bruises. The rumours only continue to fly around the school, to the point that when their class had P.E. the teacher had to remind the students to show good sportsmanship and not hurt one another.
“But you know what happened to that boy that he injured?” Baekhyun chirps up in between their classes. “The boy couldn’t play soccer anymo-”
“Stop it,” Minseok says, his voice a little too loud as he stands up, unable to take it anymore. He looks to the right to see the rest of the class looking at him, but all that matters now are those wide eyes full of hurt that are looking at him. “Luhan didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Minseok,” Jongdae says in a sympathetic tone, “You don’t have to be scared of-”
“I’m not scared of him!” Minseok snaps and the class quiets down. “You shouldn’t be scared of him! No one should be scared of him!”
“What do you-”
“You have it all wrong,” Minseok says in a long sigh. Luhan tenses in his seat, and Minseok takes no notice. “Luhan isn’t the best fighter in Gyeonggi-do. I am. Luhan isn’t the bastard that injured a soccer player. That bastard is me. I injured Luhan. I’m less than nothing, don’t you understand? You got it all wrong. It’s my fault. It’s always been my fault.”
Minseok looks up to see the surprised and disgusted looks on his classmates’ faces. With his face hot with shame, Minseok takes his bag and walks out of the classroom. He can’t help but notice that there’s something he can do better than fighting, it’s running away.
[2/2] →
Pairing: Minseok/Luhan
Rating: PG-15
Word Count: 14.7k
Warnings: Language, mild violence
Summary: Minseok has been on autopilot for the past two years of his life until the appearance of his former best friend, Luhan. School 2013!AU.
Author's Notes: This story was written for seokmonsters 2015, using prompt #368. A big thank you to the prompter. And thank you, M, as always.
“Minseok.”
No response.
“Kim Minseok!”
The sound of a wooden ruler coming into contact with his desk is what brings Minseok back to the reality of vandalised desks and unfilled lines in textbooks. Kim Minseok tears his eyes away from the soccer game outside to look at his unimpressed teacher, Mr Zhang. The alien language on the board tells Minseok that it’s math class and the unanswered question on the board speaks of his fate in the next two minutes.
“Kim Minseok, show your attentiveness to this class by answering the problem.”
It’s one of those questions that Minseok hates. There’s a symbol that looks like the letter E with zigzags, like the letter M rotated to the left. Saving himself from further embarrassment, Minseok knows that he can only do one thing.
“I don’t know the answer,” he says. Some of his classmates who have the slightest bit of human decency decide to look away, while others look more interested in the exchange that’s about to take place.
“Maybe if you take all the concentration that you had looking outside and change it into something productive, you might be able to graduate.”
Knowing what’s expected of him, Minseok bows a good ninety degrees, all the while apologising in the process. Some snicker at him and the others look at him, mostly with pity, wondering how he’s unable to grasp the concept of sigma. When the bell rings dismissing the students, Minseok doesn’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse that he’s free from school for the rest of the day.
~~
He wakes up too late. Minseok jolts awake when something at his subconscious nags at him, namely the absence of an alarm going off at the right time. The rays of sunlight filtering through his window tells Minseok that it’s not 6:30 A.M., and that’s what gets him to get up from bed. There are unanswered text messages on his phone - most of which are from his homeroom teacher, endless questions about his whereabouts.
As he picks up a fruit to make up for his missed breakfast, Minseok grumbles as he recollects the reason for his tardiness. The night before, he was out until late doing his part time job since a customer had requested for ice cream to be delivered when they lived a good forty-five minutes away from Minseok’s place. It was a ridiculous job, especially since he didn’t get paid when the customer found that their ice cream had melted. This is one of those times in which Minseok envies the teenagers who have their parents supporting them financially.
When he enters the classroom, no one looks surprised to see him. The English teacher reaches out for a note explaining his tardiness, and Minseok takes out the note that he had forged earlier. Once he has confirmed that everything is back to normal, Minseok takes his seat and rests his head on the desk, much to the discontent of his classmates.
“Does he ever do work?” One of the girls ask.
The one sitting next to him called Baekhyun shakes his head. “He doesn’t even talk.”
Minseok turns his head away from the class but he listens in on the questions about himself and his intentions of going to school. He hears a particular comment about being on autopilot, probably the most accurate observation anyone has made about him. He shuts his eyes and allows himself catch up on sleep, when a tight grip on his shoulder sends alarming signals throughout his body.
“Hey there, Sleeping Beauty.”
It’s quite sad that although Minseok’s eyes are closed, his ears are not. Granted, his senses don’t work that way, but his wishful thinking is what gets him through the day. It doesn’t hurt to be the slightest bit optimistic when his life is going down the drain.
“What,” Minseok groans, knowing that being silent for too long would only prompt more anger. He opens his eyes to look up at Oh Sehun, knowing that his classmate values the respect that he gets from the rest of the class.
“What do you mean ‘what’,” Sehun deadpans. Despite the cold hardness of his desk, Minseok’s cheek refuses to part with it. When Chanyeol and Zitao step up from behind Sehun, Minseok hesitantly pulls himself up, not wanting to deal with the three of them in one morning. Having Sehun breathing down his neck is more than enough.
“Go buy me milk and bread,” Sehun continues, ignoring the uninterested look on Minseok’s face. As expected, Sehun doesn’t offer any money to compensate for the errand. Minseok swears he can almost hear his pocket money begging for mercy.
“Why don’t you go get it yourself?” Minseok replies with a monotone voice, albeit a little too loudly. “You have long legs. Go use them. They’ll grow even longer if you drink more milk.”
His seatmate, Baekhyun, shoots him a fearful look. Minseok can only shrug, knowing that the only reason why Sehun likes to pick on him is because of his hesitance in acknowledging him as the most respected member of their class. Maybe it’s because of that blasted customer from the night before, but Minseok is anything but patient today. The feeling of regret over his snarky comment soon hits him when Zitao leans down to meet him eye to eye.
“What did you say?” Zitao asks, his eyes looking darker by the second.
“Zitao,” Sehun reprimands his friend, “not now.” He cocks his head to the side, and Zitao takes that as his cue to step back. Minseok continues to hold his breath, staring down the three guys who look unimpressed with his attitude. Seeing that Minseok isn’t going to budge and such an exchange during school hours is useless, Sehun leads his friends out of the classroom.
Once he’s certain they’re out of sight, Minseok lets out an exasperated sigh. Baekhyun shoots him a questioning look but he turns away before Baekhyun has the chance to utter a word. Minseok picks up his backpack, deciding that the school day is too long for his liking.
“Where are you going?”
Minseok stares at his classmate looking at him with concerned eyes. Kim Jongdae has always been a kind and considerate soul, Minseok has to give him that much; but he also gets involved in things that he shouldn’t think twice about, namely Minseok’s wellbeing.
“Going to buy lunch,” Minseok says. Jongdae raises an eyebrow and that’s all it takes for Minseok’s lie to fall apart.
Jongdae places his hands on Minseok’s arms, turning him around before leading him back onto his seat. “Just don’t pay them any attention, Minseok-ah.” He pauses for a moment before taking out a carton of milk and placing it on Minseok’s desk like a gift.
There’s an unpleasant feeling stirring in the pit of Minseok’s stomach as he reaches out for the milk box with the intention of returning it to its rightful owner, but at the sight of Jongdae’s soft eyes, Minseok knows that it’s hopeless. He spends the rest of his lunch time staring at the damned carton, wondering why it’s making him feel guilty.
~~
Minseok should really know when to keep his mouth shut. It’s one of those things that he has written on “Things to Improve On” on the back of his mind but has never gotten around to doing so. If there’s anything he can commend himself for, it’s his sense of intuition. As he turns around the corner into an alleyway, the cold and tense atmosphere is more than enough to send chills down his spine.
“Look, we caught a rat,” says a deep voice. There’s a saying that one can always hear Park Chanyeol before they see him. Knowing the group’s tendency to never go to places alone and acknowledging that his short legs can’t beat Chanyeol’s longer limbs, Minseok braces himself for what’s about to come. He doesn’t have to turn around to know that Sehun is standing right behind him.
“Just get this over and done with,” Minseok mutters under his breath. There are no sarcastic comments or threats, only the incomings of experienced fists. Minseok places his hands over his head as he feels his knees give underneath him. He winces in pain as a leg makes a particularly sharp contact with his ribs. He gasps for air as breathing begins to become difficult, all the while looking up at the other end of the alleyway, curious as to how there aren’t any passersby who seem to show the slightest hint of having a conscience.
Knowing that this isn’t going to end soon, Minseok shuts his eyes tight, enduring the pain. There’s a voice nagging at the back of his mind screaming, this is enough, fight back! Minseok breathes sharply through his nose, his muscles tense as he prepares himself for his counterattack. He pushes himself up from the ground, kneeling up to see the look of satisfaction on Sehun’s face. Just as Zitao is about to deliver another punch, a hand firmly grips Zitao’s, stopping him from further movements.
“What is this?”
The sound of the newcomer’s voice chills Minseok to the bone. Zitao turns to the intruder with a vicious look in his eye, whereas the latter just looks at him with nothing but a sweet smile on his face.
“Oh, Minseok,” says the intruder, “I didn’t see you there. I take it that you’re having a great time with your new friends.”
Exhausted and frozen, Minseok can only form one thought at the sight of the intruder. One: Perhaps Minseok isn’t as fit anymore. Two: Puberty hasn’t done much to change Luhan.
~~
Fate seems to despise Minseok. His mother’s death when he was four is more than enough proof, especially when it created a barrier in the relationship between Minseok and his father, who now works in the countryside. If there was anything that fate did to show its complexity to Minseok, it happens on the following Monday when the morning greetings are over, cueing his time to sleep.
The unusual, pregnant and expectant silence that follows instead of the morning announcements should have warned Minseok of something unusual, but it’s the following words that makes him tense in his seat.
“We have a transfer student. Please introduce yourself.”
Sensing an ominous aura, Minseok turns his head towards the front to welcome the newcomer. When the transfer student says, “I’m Luhan, please take care of me,” with a calculating look in Minseok’s direction, it’s when he’s finally reminded of how cruel fate can be. Minseok wants to point his fingers at fate, blaming it for these circumstances, but he knows that what goes around comes around. He knows that fate will always make a way of tying those loose ends, whether Minseok likes it or not.
He takes a glance to his right, where Luhan is sitting two groups away from him, only to find that the transfer student is looking back at him with a cold, hard glare. All of Minseok’s defences fall apart with that one look: he feels something clawing at him at the pit of his stomach, tearing his insides apart, making his heart sink into oblivion. He takes a shallow, shaky breath, becoming aware of how difficult it is to breathe. Maybe it’s always been this difficult to live.
~~
For reasons that Minseok will never understand, people love to talk - about the current events, the weather, the entertainment industry, but nothing irks him more than hearing people talk about others, creating speculations that are wilder than the most popular television drama. But that’s why they love it even more - when there’s something out of the ordinary that’s in their midst, they’ll turn it into the biggest plot twists they can ever come up with.
“I heard he was sold to a Chinese group as a slave when he was younger,” says the guy sitting in front of Minseok, as they dwell in the silence between classes. “And that he fought his way out of China to get here.”
That sounds like it could be a novel.
Sensing the juicy gossip, Baekhyun chirps up: “I heard he was a prostitute smuggled into South Korea.”
Shut up, Baekhyun.
“Nah,” says another. “There are rumours surrounding his name saying that he was the best fighter in Gyeonggi-do.”
Minseok tenses in his seat, his mind racing at a hundred kilometres per hour. How in the world do these people come up with such rumours? Judging from his seat, he can tell that Luhan heard that comment, too. Looking at the vacant look on his face, one would think that he is ignorant of the gossip about him. His clenched fist says otherwise.
As if on cue, the door opens as Sehun walks into the room followed by Zitao and Chanyeol. The chattering stops as Sehun walks towards Luhan, stopping by his desk and staring him down. Luhan tightens his jaw but doesn’t say a word as Sehun looms over him, the smirk on his face looking more cynical by the second. Minseok’s heart sinks to the bottom of his stomach when Sehun looks at Luhan like he’s a meal he’s about to devour. Luhan maintains his cool, staring back at Sehun with an equally threatening glare. Minseok will never understand the need for a hierarchy in high schools, and why students are so worked up about them to this kind of level.
“He’s just a pretty face with a big mouth. Nothing special about that.”
“Oh Sehun,” snaps the math teacher. The class looks up to Mr Zhang with wide, curious eyes, surprised at how quietly he entered the classroom. “Go back to your seat and stop disrupting the class.”
Without the slightest hint of regret or any signs of apology, Sehun turns to take his seat, not missing the sight of Luhan’s lips curving up into a smile. Minseok wonders why that good-looking piece of shit couldn’t make things easier for himself.
“And Luhan, please solve the first question on page fifty-two of the text book.”
The class scrambles to open their books to the designated page. Any student at Converse High knows better than to get on Mr Zhang’s bad book. Luhan looks down on his desk, and it’s then when Minseok realises that it’s completely clean of any signs of stationery.
“I don’t have any books,” Luhan answers as Mr Zhang gestures for him to stand.
“I thought you wanted to graduate this year,” Mr Zhang reprimands him. “It’s hard to do that when you don’t own any text books. Do you even have any interest in graduating or do you want to be held back by a year again?”
Collectively, the class turns to Luhan with sharp, prying eyes. Luhan looks at their teacher with a cold, hard stare, before he mutters, “I want to graduate. I will do things when I can, and I will do my best.”
Baekhyun looks up at Luhan in awe, and Minseok wonders how many insects could get trapped in Baekhyun’s dropped jaw.
“He’s a year older than us?” The class murmurs in a somewhat amazed and respectful tone. Minseok can understand their surprise: with Luhan’s wide, almond eyes and angelic face, one wouldn’t even dare to think that Luhan is over the age of sixteen.
“Quiet,” Mr Zhang says, and the whisperings stop. He takes one last look at Luhan before continuing, “Let’s proceed with the lesson. Luhan, make sure that you get the supplies you need if you want to graduate. You can’t just hope to sleep through your classes and expect to graduate.” The math teacher turns his head in Minseok’s direction, and the rest of the class follow his gaze. Minseok raises his head and gives his teacher a lazy grin resembling that of the Cheshire cat’s.
~~
It’s a quarter past nine in the evening when Minseok finishes his part time job. The thought of a peaceful night of rest is more appealing than anything else, even more than the smell of freshly cooked street food. He thinks about buying ramen, but the sight of the bookstore nearby stops him in his tracks. Minseok opens his wallet to look at his total sum, and decides that his ramen can wait.
He walks through the aisles, taking down the appropriate supplies before spending the money that he earned after a week of hard work. With a polite smile and a lighter heart and wallet, Minseok walks out of the shop and turns around the familiar-looking corner that leads to a street of long ago.
He stops walking when he reaches the house with a black gate with an old abandoned pet cage inside. Two years ago, there were two dogs and the gate had been a sharp, bright red colour: a careless paint job done to honour Manchester United. Minseok takes a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. The answer comes a few moments later, in the form of a ten year old girl bouncing down the front steps of her house, pigtails swaying from side to side along with a bright grin on her face.
“Seokkie! Is that you?”
The sound of the nickname hits Minseok with a wave of nostalgia, and the images of a crib and old Doraemon dolls come to mind. A much older woman appears by the gate before Minseok gets the chance to reply to the little girl.
“Minseok.” He doesn’t know why, but with just one word - his name - he can feel the disappointment and resentment seeping through her bones.
“I… uh…”
“What are you doing here?” She asks once she’s recovered from the shock of seeing the boy at her door. Minseok has never been good with words, so he raises the plastic bags full of his purchases as his form of reply. He’s suddenly not sure if this was a good idea.
“I… I wanted to give this to Lu-”
“What are you doing here?” Luhan walks out to join the rest of his family. He bends down to his sister’s height and coaches her to going back into the house. He turns to his mother who is looking at Minseok with furrowed brows and a worried frown on her face. “It’s okay, mom, I can take it from here.”
His mother protests, looking between the two guys, before realising that there is no way for her to win this. She turns to Minseok one last time before saying, “stay away from Luhan.”
They remain quiet for a few moments, waiting to hear the sound of a door closing for the sake of their privacy. Once they’re certain that Luhan’s family isn’t within hearing range, Luhan turns to Minseok with a raised eyebrow.
“I would like to say that my mom is overreacting as usual, but she isn’t.”
“I know,” Minseok says timidly. He hands the plastic bags over to Luhan, who looks down on it with a confused look on his face. “They’re books - for school - so you can study properly and -”
“What are you doing?” Luhan asks.
“I said I was here to give you these books-”
“No,” Luhan says, cutting him off. “I mean what are you doing? Do you think I’m a charity case or something?”
Minseok shakes his head as the frown on Luhan’s face gets deeper. It’s a look that Minseok doesn’t like, and he hates knowing that he’s the reason for it. He knows that no matter how much he tries, he will always get a similar reaction from Luhan, but it doesn’t mean that he’ll stop trying.
“Go home, Minseok.” The tiredness in his voice sounds too old to be coming from an eighteen year old. He opens his mouth to protest, but the stern look on Luhan’s face tells him that there is no room for argument.
“I’m sorry,” he blurts out. Luhan looks surprised for a moment before a scowl masks his face.
“Minseok,” Luhan says with a warning tone, and Minseok knows that he’s taken it too far. He nods in understanding as he steps back from Luhan’s gate, the feeling of dread welcoming him like an old friend.
~~
It’s annoying. It’s really nagging at him; how the routine Minseok has been set on following for the past two years are slowly beginning to change due to the introduction of the Wild Card. Minseok lives in the comforts of constants and mundane things, but it’s as if a tornado is coming and everything that he had built in the past few years are falling apart.
“Here, Luhan-sama,” one of the guys say, placing a sandwich and a carton of milk on his desk. “Please enjoy these.”
“’Sama’ is Japanese, not Mandarin,” Baekhyun mutters under his breath.
The atmosphere in the class immediately turns stale as Park Chanyeol narrows his eyes in contempt. The class takes a collective sharp intake of breath, and Minseok wonders how Luhan manages to attract so much attention without trying.
Minseok glances over his shoulder before turning his head to the side to catch a glimpse of Luhan’s expressionless face. If there’s anything that Chanyeol hates, it’s the lack of reaction. Minseok takes a deep breath, bracing himself as he stands up, gathering attention to himself instead.
Baekhyun looks up at him with owlish eyes and before Minseok gets the chance to divert the attention to himself, Luhan grabs the milk and pushes it into Chanyeol’s hands. “You can have it if that’s what’s getting you so worked up. I’m lactose intolerant anyway.”
Minseok brings his hand up to his face, and Baekhyun almost laughs at the sight of his comical face palm. Despite Chanyeol’s tall height, he hates being looked down on more than anything. Luhan really knows how to get on people’s nerves, and Minseok wonders how he’s survived for so long.
“You can have the doughnut too, if you want,” Luhan tells Chanyeol, ignoring Minseok. He gives an angelic smile in Chanyeol’s direction before he turns away, his smile morphing into a scowl as he walks out of the classroom.
~~
Each passing day with Luhan in his class suddenly feels a lot longer than it should. Minseok finds himself staring off into the direction of Luhan’s desk instead of the soccer game outside and the gnawing feeling at the bottom of his stomach refuses to go away.
It doesn’t help that the class has found an interest in Luhan, always pestering him with questions wondering if the rumours about him being a fighter are true. Some girls think that it’s not true, believing that Luhan is too angelic to get himself caught in such businesses and they should leave him alone while the others think that with his sweet face, he could be a murderer for all they know. Luhan’s refusal to acknowledge any of the rumours fuels their interest even more and Minseok wants to continuously slam his head against his desk because why are things suddenly more complicated?
He was going to spend the last year of high school with a relaxed mindset, only handing in homework when it’s vital, but otherwise he wasn’t going to make an effort to socialise or get himself caught up in the class affairs. But Luhan is here, and Luhan has always been an exception -
“You’re not eating this, are you?” Zitao asks as he takes Luhan’s lunch tray off him. It’s quite ridiculous, really, how the class is in awe of Luhan but no one would dare to stand against Sehun’s group to defend him.
Luhan’s stomach grumbles in protest, but his expression remains blank as he watches Zitao walk away with his share of food. He shakes his head before walking away from the cafeteria, leaving the company of his classmates.
Minseok sighs, his own hunger suddenly forgotten. The bell rings and the class scrambles to go to their next class, but Minseok remains seated for a few moments before he finally gets up and takes out his wallet. He gets to class three minutes later than the others, and when he does, he places a bottle of mango juice and a sandwich before Luhan.
The rest of the class looks up in surprise at Minseok’s actions. Even Sehun had been unable to get Minseok to do anything for him, and if Luhan could, then that meant Luhan is the true king of the class-
“Minseok,” Jongdae hisses as he pulls him aside, just as Luhan looks down at the food blankly, looking as if they’re unfamiliar objects. “What’s happening? Is Luhan bullying you? Is it because he really was the best fighter in his hometown?”
At the mention of his name, Luhan looks up at Jongdae’s hand wrapped around Minseok’s arm, and his gaze darkens. Jongdae manages a gulp and he tightens his grip on Minseok. “You don’t have to do anything he says, you know. We’re in Seoul, not in his territory-”
“I’m not,” Minseok says, apparently too loudly, because even from across the classroom, Baekhyun is looking up at him with wide eyes that look like they could bulge out of his eye sockets any moment from now. He pulls his arm away from Jongdae’s hold and sighs. “No one makes me do anything.”
Minseok realises it was the wrong thing to say when he notices Sehun leaning down to whisper in Luhan’s ear. Judging by the slight shift in Luhan’s expression to one of horror, then back to his impassive face, Minseok can tell that he might have just made their situation worse.
~~
Despite minor inconveniences, Minseok likes to walk the long way home. Sure, it takes up more time and he passes too many stray and malnourished animals for it to be considered as a dodgy part of town, but Minseok likes to keep quiet and uses such opportunities for thinking. He walks past a Chinese restaurant and ignores his cravings for dumplings, and settles for the street stall selling hot cakes instead. He tries to fight off the sigh as he spends more of his hard-earned money, but he knows that he can’t feel any regret with his decision of buying food or those expensive textbooks -
“Minseok!”
The boy in question turns his head at the unmistakable sound of Baekhyun’s voice. Minseok freezes, suddenly feeling an irrational fear of Baekhyun being around a shifty area of town. Although Minseok and Baekhyun aren’t particularly close, Minseok can’t help but feel uncomfortable about this setting.
“I’ve been looking for you,” Baekhyun says breathlessly. He bends down to catch his breath for a few moments, and Minseok waits patiently for Baekhyun to continue. “Luhan… They… Him…”
“What?” Minseok asks, alarmed. Did something happen to Luhan? Is it his fault? What did he land himself into -
“Sehun… Luhan… Bridge…”
The syntax of Baekhyun’s message should leave Minseok puzzled, but it’s one that leaves him anxious instead. Without waiting for his order to be filled, he runs toward the direction Baekhyun came from, keeping in mind the location of Luhan’s possible whereabouts. He gasps as he feels the adrenaline coursing through his veins. The sensation that was once familiar now felt like a stranger. He runs as fast as his legs could carry him, all the while making sharp turns around corners, avoiding passersby and any possible collision that could hinder him from reaching Luhan in time.
He sees them on the field near one of the old, run-down bridges. It doesn’t take Minseok long to recognise that Sehun is standing over Luhan, looming over him with a rock in his hand. But it takes Minseok a moment too long to realise that he’s stepping on Luhan’s left foot, and the realisation spurs Minseok to run faster than he’s ever done in his life. For the first time in two years, he feels the overwhelming sense of fear. May God help his soul if he can’t protect Luhan this time--
He reaches them just before Sehun makes his blow, and Minseok grabs the rock out of Sehun’s hand, surprising him.
“So you did bring your friend,” Sehun says, recovering from the shock of Minseok’s counter-attack. Luhan looks up to see what the hell Sehun is talking about, and fails to hide the surprise in his expression.
“Minseok, what are you do-”
Luhan doesn’t manage to finish his sentence as Sehun charges forward and Minseok ducks to avoid Sehun’s raging fists. Minseok sidesteps away from Sehun, only to run into Zitao’s rock hard chest. Minseok steps back in surprise, leaning to the side just in time to avoid the full blow of Zitao’s kick.
“It’s hopeless. There’s three of us and only two of you. Well, soon to be one,” Chanyeol says from behind him as he wraps an arm around Minseok’s neck, trapping him in a headlock. Any signs of rational thinking disappear when he notices Sehun and Zitao ganging up on Luhan. Minseok takes a sharp intake of breath before he brings his elbows up and slams them against Chanyeol’s abdomen. He comes free from the taller boy with an ‘oof’ that doesn’t sound too good, but it’s the least of Minseok’s worries.
Minseok turns to Chanyeol and it’s then when his fists begin to get out of control. Compared to Zitao and Sehun, Chanyeol is a slower fighter so Minseok has the greater advantage. Knowing that Chanyeol is beginning to feel winded, Minseok decides to continue kicking at his abdomen, and Chanyeol falls to the ground gasping for air. Minseok isn’t showing any mercy as Chanyeol extends his arms for help. He begins to cough, and Minseok only slows down once he’s certain that Chanyeol will be out of the way until he can get Luhan to safety.
Minseok advances on Zitao afterwards, taking him down by surprise. Zitao, a well-experienced martial artist, refuses to go down without fighting Minseok. Zitao raises his fist, aiming at Minseok’s right eye, but he moves to the side at the last moment, and Zitao hits his cheekbone instead. Taking advantage of the split second in between, Minseok punches Zitao’s face before moving onto his abdomen. Knowing that he can’t take any risks, he reaches out for Zitao’s arms, twisting them before flipping him down onto the ground. He thinks about throwing a few more punches, but he stops when he sees Zitao cough up blood.
Sehun turns to him in surprise once he realises that his friends are lying down on the ground, defenceless. It doesn’t do anything to discourage him, though. Sehun charges in full force, and Minseok takes the seconds in between to recognise the wrong points about Sehun’s fighting stance. At the last possible moment, Minseok pivots and extends his right leg to kick Sehun in the face. Sehun goes down with a sharp thud, and Minseok looms over the boy, grabbing the big rock that he had seen him use to threaten Luhan earlier.
“Look at you,” Luhan says, sounding almost hysterical, “You haven’t changed at all, Minseok.”
He wants to prove Luhan wrong. But everything that he has done in that afternoon says otherwise, and the temptation to bring down the rock on Sehun’s leg doesn’t change even with the way Luhan is talking to him. Sehun braces himself for the impact, and Minseok steps on his ankle, making the boy wince in pain. The sight makes Minseok stop on the spot. The sight of a defenceless, hurt boy on the floor with a leg outstretched before him looks familiar - it looks too familiar -
Minseok drops the rock on the ground, and he rushes to Luhan’s side when he recognises the presence of police sirens that sound like they are getting closer by the second. He wraps an arm around Luhan’s back and they trudge on to avoid any further trouble.
“What about them?” Luhan asks with a raspy voice, “Aren’t they going to tell-”
“No,” Minseok says with a stern voice. “I know them well enough. They would also have to explain why they were there, and they already have police records here. They’ll also try to get away before the police arrive.”
Luhan nods in understanding. They walk the rest of the way in a silence that was tired and uncomfortable but somehow familiar.
~~
They come to school the next day with evident bruises, raising a million questions between the students in their class. The teachers look at them suspiciously and a little bit fearfully, but they can’t help it. All of them know that Sehun, Zitao and Chanyeol do not get along with Luhan, but the involvement of Minseok is what leaves them puzzled.
“What happened?” Jongdae asks worriedly as he falls into step with Minseok as they walk towards the cafeteria. “Are you okay?” He reaches out to touch the bruise in Minseok’s cheek, but Minseok steps back at the last moment, offering a nod as a reply. Jongdae doesn’t appear convinced though, as he leans forward and asks, “Did you get caught up in the brawl?”
“No,” Minseok says, perhaps a little too forcefully. The worried look on Jongdae’s face only deepens, and Minseok sighs before turning to fully face him. He places his hands on Jongdae’s shoulders, and he becomes aware that this is the first time he is voluntarily touching Jongdae. “Don’t worry about me, okay? If there’s anything - you know that I can always fight back with my mouth.”
Sensing that Minseok wants the topic to be dropped, Jongdae nods in resignation, realising that perhaps Minseok does care that Jongdae is worried about him. With a sigh of relief, Minseok drops his hands and manages a smile. Jongdae looks surprised to see the curves of Minseok’s lips lifting up to what appears to be a genuine smile, and he nods in understanding. Maybe he was reading too much into the bruises on Minseok’s face.
Minseok’s attention quickly shifts away from him when he notices Luhan walking out of the cafeteria, the bruises on his face looking more terrible than the ones on Minseok’s face.
“Whoa,” Jongdae couldn’t believe that someone could look that bad and still go to school. “What happened to Luhan?”
“I’ll go ask,” Minseok says offhandedly as he walks away from Jongdae to join Luhan. He walks a few steps away from Luhan, knowing that he wouldn’t want Minseok to be walking next to him, especially at school. Luhan walks up the stairs, knowing that he’s being followed, and he walks out into the school rooftop. Minseok follows without question. When they’re certain that they’re out of earshot, Luhan turns to Minseok with a hard look on his face, surprising him.
“Stop this act, Minseok,” says Luhan. “You need to drop it now. No matter what you do you can never make up for what I lost.”
“Luhan-”
“You do not know,” Luhan cuts him off, making Minseok appear smaller, “You do not know how it felt. If you’re really apologetic, then give up the most important thing to you. Only then will I acknowledge that you know what you did.”
“The most important-”
“Oh, look.”
Luhan and Minseok’s conversation is quickly dropped at the arrival of Sehun and his friends. Minseok lets out a long, exasperated sigh. He isn’t really in the mood for this.
“It’s the best fighter in all of Gyeonggi-do. And Luhan.”
Minseok freezes and even Luhan looks surprised. Sehun steps forward, grabbing Minseok by the arm to look at him in the eye. “I didn’t know you had it within you, Minseokkie. How did you manage to hide that from us for the past two years?” Minseok remains unresponsive, looking like he hadn’t heard Sehun speak until Sehun turns to give Luhan a smile. “Or does it only come out when harm comes to those who are important to you?”
Minseok stiffens under his hold. Zitao and Chanyeol step forward and Minseok twists his arm, freeing himself from Sehun’s grip. “Leave Luhan alone. You all still appear to be well enough to go to school, and if you take one more step I will make sure that you can’t go anywhere for a very long time.”
Sehun smirks before cocking his head to the side, gesturing for his friends to back off. The sick smile on Sehun’s face angers Minseok, but it scares him more than anything else.
“Did we just find your Achilles’ heel?” Sehun asks in an innocent tone.
Minseok has to try hard to not clench his jaw, knowing that any change in his body language would only satisfy Sehun. Sensing that he’s getting on Minseok’s nerves, Sehun steps away with a haunting smile. “Alright. Let’s go and leave these two alone. Judging from the expressions on their faces, they have a lot to talk about.”
Neither Luhan or Minseok let their guard down for the span of five minutes. Only then does Minseok turn to Luhan, ready to dwell into their previous conversation, when Luhan speaks before him:
“You know, you gave me the wrong textbooks, right?”
“What… do you mean?” Minseok asks, tilting his head in confusion. The action would have looked cute with his round eyes and round cheeks, but Luhan looks at him with an impassive expression on his face.
“You gave me grade 11 textbooks. We’re in grade 12. You really don’t even look at your textbooks, do you? How do you expect to graduate?”
Minseok opens his mouth, ready to answer, but it seems Luhan isn’t expecting anything when he suddenly walks away from him, leaving Minseok speechless.
~~
The bruises on their faces only continue to fuel rumours and Minseok is so sick of it.
“Did you know that as the greatest fighter in Gyeonggi-do, Luhan was not only respected, but also feared?”
Minseok isn’t really in the mood for this.
“What do you mean ‘feared’?” Baekhyun asks.
One of the girls turns to face him. “I heard that Luhan wasn’t just satisfied with being the best fighter, but that he also wanted to become the best soccer player. He got envious of anyone that was as good as soccer as he was, and he beat them up. There are rumours that he even broke the leg of a soccer player just so they couldn’t get scouted.”
“That just means he’s less than nothing, then,” Zitao speaks up. The group of students chattering turn to face him, and he looks at them with a bored expression. “Yeah, we fight to sort out a hierarchy and to work in groups. But beating up a soccer player - and crushing their dreams? That’s so low.”
For the first time in all of his years in Converse High, Minseok thinks this must be a miracle. The students look up at Zitao and nod in agreement, making comments on how Luhan must have such a sad life to do such things.
The whispering stops when Luhan walks into the room. The students stiffen in their seats, and Luhan looks visibly uncomfortable by the sudden change in the atmosphere. He turns his head to look at the only one who didn’t react at his entrance - to find that Minseok is looking at him with a sad expression on his face. Noticing the silent interaction between Luhan and Minseok, Jongdae moves towards Minseok, wrapping an arm around him to keep him close. Luhan narrows his eyes and walks out of the room.
~~
The rumours are only getting worse. Jongdae and Baekhyun have begun a league called ‘Protect Kim Minseok from Luhan,’ with the reasoning that Luhan must be the cause of Minseok’s bruises. The rumours only continue to fly around the school, to the point that when their class had P.E. the teacher had to remind the students to show good sportsmanship and not hurt one another.
“But you know what happened to that boy that he injured?” Baekhyun chirps up in between their classes. “The boy couldn’t play soccer anymo-”
“Stop it,” Minseok says, his voice a little too loud as he stands up, unable to take it anymore. He looks to the right to see the rest of the class looking at him, but all that matters now are those wide eyes full of hurt that are looking at him. “Luhan didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Minseok,” Jongdae says in a sympathetic tone, “You don’t have to be scared of-”
“I’m not scared of him!” Minseok snaps and the class quiets down. “You shouldn’t be scared of him! No one should be scared of him!”
“What do you-”
“You have it all wrong,” Minseok says in a long sigh. Luhan tenses in his seat, and Minseok takes no notice. “Luhan isn’t the best fighter in Gyeonggi-do. I am. Luhan isn’t the bastard that injured a soccer player. That bastard is me. I injured Luhan. I’m less than nothing, don’t you understand? You got it all wrong. It’s my fault. It’s always been my fault.”
Minseok looks up to see the surprised and disgusted looks on his classmates’ faces. With his face hot with shame, Minseok takes his bag and walks out of the classroom. He can’t help but notice that there’s something he can do better than fighting, it’s running away.
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