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The silence was deafening except for the sound of flipping pages. I stirred in place and felt a bed under me. Was I...home? Had I not left for school yet? I tried to turn onto my side as I did every morning before I got up. But sharp pains began surging throughout my body when I made the attempt. My entire back felt bruised, my tailbone on fire. A spot on the back of my head stung. I whined and groaned. Every movement triggered more pain.
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A warm hand touched my arm. That's when I opened my eyes. Carefully, I peeled my eyelids apart. The lights on the ceiling were harsh. I took my time. Only after I adjusted to them was I able to see where I was and who had touched my arm.
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Through the initial blurriness I could recognize that I was in a curtained cubicle located in the infirmary. The figure sitting by my bedside took me a while to guess. When my vision cleared, I was surprised to find Seokjin sitting there. His eyes were practically drowning in concern. But that didn't keep him from giving me a comforting smile when I awoke.
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"Seokjin-shi."
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"Try not to move too much, okay?" He advised.
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"It hurts." I said weakly. "Where's Hoseok?"
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"He went to collect your school work from the rest of your classes today. He asked me to stay and look after you." Seokjin leaned toward me, his elbows propped on his knees. "Yurim, do you remember what happened? How you fell?"
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Wrinkles formed on my forehead as my mind slowly processed things. "Fell?"
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And then the flashbacks hit me like a wooden paddle. Finding Jungkook at the top of the stairs, falling, and...that unremorseful grin. I shivered.
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"Jungkook." I muttered unintentionally.
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"Jungkook? Was it him? Did he push you?" Seokjin inquired eagerly.
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The front curtain whipped open. It was the nurse. "Oh, you're awake?" She then raised a brow at Seokjin. "You were supposed to tell me right away." Her gaze returned to me, "I'll call your parents now to tell them you're awake and ready to be picked up."
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My face went pale when I thought about my parents knowing about this. Their worry will already be nuclear. Finding out that this wasn't an accident would be astronomical. All I knew is that they couldn't know. For both my sake and theirs...
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"Nurse Kim, there's something Yurim-shi needs to tell you about her fall." He nodded toward me, expecting me to tell her about Jungkook. But I couldn't. If I did they'll have to notify my parents and even the principal. Furthermore, if the school decided it a worthy enough case, they'd have to investigate it. And for what? No one was around at the time of the incident. And if there was someone, they'd never expose Jungkook unless they wanted to be pulverized. I'd have no proof on my side and I'd just come off as someone seeking attention. The nurse looked to me expectedly.
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"Um..." My head hurt, both physically and mentally. In the end I just couldn't tell. "I...was just wondering...how I got all the way here." I evaded weakly. Seokjin looked at me, confused.
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"A classmate of yours carried you in. He said he found you unconscious in one of the stairwells. Poor thing looked worried sick." The woman seemed touched. "He was kind of rude but worry could do that to a person I suppose."
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"I see. Thank you for taking care of me."
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"It's only my job. I'll go call your parents now." The nice nurse closed the curtain again. Leaving me and a troubled looking Seokjin alone. I wondered if he was disappointed in me for not coming clean about Jungkook. I didn't want him to be disappointed in me. Not when we were getting along so well lately.
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"Hard to picture Hoseok being rude," I chuckled. I went for small talk. "But I guess she was right about worry. It can definitely make people behave differently."
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Seokjin shook his head at the floor, his face severely sullen. I braced for what he'd say next. No doubt something like, why didn't you tell her? Or, I thought you didn't lie.
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"That's the thing." His eyes met mine. "Me and Hoseok came together. You were already here when we arrived."
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"Huh? But then...how could you have known where I was?"
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"Hoseok received a text from you telling him to come to the infirmary. But now I'm guessing it wasn't you."
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I thought curiously about it. "I guess it was just a good samaritan. That's a first. No one usually looked out for me but Hoseok. I've been lucky recently." I smiled thinking on Seokjin having my back these days and even Minho in PE today.
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Seokjin gave a small smile. "I still wish you told her what really happened. But I guessed you had your reasons." Despite being right about his disappointment and even the slight tone of disapproval in his voice, I was grateful that he was patient enough to trust me.
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"I don't want to get my parents involved. Not yet anyway. Besides, after that encounter with Namjoon and what happened today, who knows what else they're willing to do to anyone else that steps in..." A flurry of unpleasant thoughts played through my head. I don't know what these kids were really capable of but they were proving to be more than just a typical gang of school bullies.
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They were much worse.
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TAEHYUNG
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The meeting place was the roof top today. I lounged on a pile of wooden palettes while Namjoon had fun strolling along the edge of the building. The breeze was nice and the clouds weren't such bad company. I took advantage of the lighting and took a few selfies while I was here. There were a few people I knew must've been wanting some.
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We waited for Jungkook to return. Namjoon gave him a job to do. I personally didn't see the fun in spending day after day on that girl. It was better to get these things over with. Or at least Jungkook and I thought so. Yoongi was a mystery as to what he liked and didn't. Perhaps it depended on his mood.
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But Namjoon was different than all of us. He had his philosophies and deep knowledge about people. I never cared to think of humanity all that much but he does seem to make a lot of sense. Especially about the whole 'selfishness being a person's natural state' thing. He was the only person who accepted me. Everyone told me I was too vain and evil. Namjoon said I was right to be who I was, that I was quicker to realize my true self. And those who criticized me were only in denial of their own vainness and evil nature. And it was true.
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That woman I seduced called me cruel for leaving her and calling her ugly while she was in a vulnerable state. Yet she was the one who sexually exploited a minor, cheating on her boyfriend in the process. People were hypocrites...
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"I wish you wouldn't send me to do petty work." Jungkook wandered toward us. I hadn't even noticed him walk through the door.
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Namjoon hopped down from the edge. "But you enjoyed it well enough I'm guessing." He grinned at Jungkook's stone-like face but we both knew he must've had some fun.
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I chuckled, "cute."
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A sudden BOOM made us all whip our heads toward the door. I watched incredulously as Yoongi sprinted up to Jungkook and delivered a loud punch to his face. Jungkook stumbled backwards.
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"Hyung!" I exclaimed.
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Namjoon stood back and observed with interest while the two started their brawl. Circling around them to keep safe distance. Yoongi swung. Jungkook redirected it and sprung an uppercut to his chin. Then jump-kicked Yoongi in the chest, throwing him to the ground. I never had a taste for getting my hands dirty so I just watched like Namjoon.
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Jungkook walked up to Yoongi who had just spat a mouth full of blood on the ground. Shakily, he stood up again. Both of them breathless.
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"Didn't like seeing your girlfriend bruised and broken?" Jungkook gave a bloody smirk. "I knew you'd be a problem eventually."
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"I knew you were all talk. Shut up and come at me." Yoongi was slightly hunched but focused.
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Jungkook rushed in to grab him. But Yoongi hopped forward and kicked him in the neck. He crumbled to the ground. Yoongi jumped on him, his fists raining down as fast as he could manage. I'd never seen him show so much emotion before. Anger and annoyance were common but there was something else. Fear? What could Yoongi be afraid of?
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Somehow the younger one was able to sweep Yoongi's feet off the ground. Causing him to stumble. Jungkook grabbed him by the shirt and threw him to the ground. It was his turn. Still holding him by the shirt, Jungkook delivered punch after punch. They weren't as fast as Yoongi's but they were powerful. More and more blood spattered with every punch.
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Yoongi gradually lost his strength and wits to resist until his arms fell uselessly to his sides. Still conscious of each punch, he had no choice but to take it. He was done. But Jungkook didn't care. I looked away feeling pity for their good looks.
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"What a waste," I clicked my tongue. That's when I noticed something interesting. We weren't alone.
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Jungkook was too busy killing Yoongi to notice. And Namjoon, after circling those two like a vulture, had his back facing the door to the roof. I suppose I could've told them someone was coming. But I was too curious to see what would happen. I learned too much from Namjoon.
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The newcomer sneaked up on Namjoon first. Like lightning his leg struck the blonde three times, twice in the torso, once in the head. He switched legs and kicks Namjoon's head again into a three sixty spin. Our leader staggered away. The newcomer dashed for Jungkook then jumped into a back kick, slamming into his head. Jungkook flew back, his grip on Yoongi gone. Both Jungkook and Namjoon recovered themselves, anger painted on both their faces.
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"Waaa..." I stared in amazement as the newcomer now faced two opponents. "Who knew he was this tough?" I chuckled.
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"Looks like you wanna die too!" The tattooed lunatic shouted.
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"This really is interesting." Said Namjoon, rubbing his jaw. "I never thought you'd actually have the guts to show up. Just like how I didn't expect Yoongi's tragic dissention. I'm learning so many new things about my classmates. But you were so insignificant I already forgot your name."
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Sa...so--oh what was it? Seok? Yes! Seok--something! Seokju? Seokgu? I racked my brain trying to remember this kid's name. Seok...Seok...
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OH! NOW I REMEMBER! "It's Hoseok!" I declared pointing to the sky. A proud smile on my face.
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At the mention of his name, Hoseok looked toward me. Jungkook and Namjoon took the chance and kicked at the same time. But Hoseok was fast. He stepped toward Jungkook, caught his leg and swept the other out from under him. Namjoon came from behind.
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With Jungkook's ankle in tow, Hoseok kicked the leader in the chest before doing a series of rolling and wrapping around Jungkook's leg. After reaching a pretzel-like formation, Hoseok squeezed and pulled the boys leg until there was a pop. Jungkook growled while Hoseok rolled away.
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Namjoon was quick to close distance before Hoseok could fully stand. He swung his feet that made contact with the newcomer's face. Namjoon grabbed him by the hair and punched his head into the ground. He kicked him while down with all his strength. Again. And again. And again. And-
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Hoseok caught his foot and threw him off balance enough to stand up. Kicked Namjoon's knee which collided with the ground. Took him by the hair and kneed him in the face.
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The kid, Hoseok reluctantly stayed put while Namjoon tried to create distance between them, disoriented. Hoseok didn't charge but telling by the look in his eyes, he wanted to. I wondered, why not just act? He went this far, why not finish it?
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I rolled my eyes at myself. Namjoon's cold assessing mind really rubs off on you. I remember the good old days when people were just empty dolls for me to play with. Now he has me thinking deeply about everything!
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Namjoon stumbled away until he stood up. He was furious to find his nose bleeding so much. It appeared he was just as shocked as I was about Hoseok's skills.
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"You surprised us this time. But we're not done." Namjoon spat his blood on the ground before storming off toward the door.
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"Oh! I guess we're going now!" I realized. I hopped up cheerfully before I skipped over to a limping Jungkook. I offer an arm but he pushes it away and continues limping stubbornly. I pouted, "I didn't want to get blood on my clothes anyway!" I then walk over to Yoongi who must've crawled and leaned against the wall during Hoseok's fight. "Yoon-yoon, why'd you have to do that? Now I might not be allowed to be nice to you anymore." I crouched down by him, remembering something Jungkook said earlier. "Was it really because of that girl?"
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Yoongi breathed deeply. His face covered in blood, one eye swollen shut. "You..."
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"Hm? Me?" My heart became hopeful. Was he going to bid me a touching, bittersweet farewell?
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His good eye looked up at me. "You talk too much."
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"Aish!" I raise a hand to smack him but I didn't want to soil it. "Min Yoongi, if I find out you like her or something--I won't hold back. She wasn't worth any trouble before but now she'll pay." I got up in a huff and stomped toward the door. How dare he defend the ugly girl that turned me down?! That's unforgiveable!
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