𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲

chapter 18

A/N: I'm sorry this chapter is so bad but I PROMISE THE ONES AFTER THIS WILL MAKE UP FOR IT 100%!!!!

"Yah, I know who Han Seojun's girlfriend is!" a certain boy shouts to his friends, and they all crowd around the phone he's holding up. They look at the photo of Seojun with his arm around Jugyeong's shoulder, before Semi walks over.

"Wait, but what about that girl from the other day?" she asks Sungyong, remembering that you wouldn't leave Seojun's side and how he wouldn't let go of you either.
"Ahh, the one Seojun kept protecting?" She nods, and they all become confused about who his actual girlfriend is.

Since you didn't join the math academy with the rest of your friends, they all decide to invite you to spend some time with them after one of their sessions. You laugh and chat with Jugyeong as you walk down the street together, on your way to meet up with Soojin, Taehoon and Sua to spend some time with them.

You suddenly pause when you turn around a corner into the next street and see a boy standing in front of you. You're about to just walk around him and continue your journey, but after recognising who it is you quickly grab Jugyeong's wrist and pull her to walk in a different direction.

You falter once again when you see another boy standing there, a smug smile on his face as he waves at you. Eventually the two of you become cornered by the rest of the group and you look around, not knowing what to do.

"She hasn't done anything wrong, let her go," you say, taking small steps backwards as Sungyong approaches you, "do whatever you want with me, just don't bring her into it." You can't think of anything else to say, but even if you did your words would've fallen short at the sound of their laughter.

They all just scoff at your words without responding, before one of the boys standing behind you grabs a handful of your hair and yanks it backwards to prevent you from running away - he could tell you were trying to look around for an escape. You gasp at the feeling of your head snapping back from the harsh tug, and you're unable to fight against his grip as you and Jugyeong both get dragged away.

Seojun takes his phone out of his pocket in frustration when he receives a call, huffing as he sees Jugyeong calling at such a bad time.
"Why is Im Jugyeong calling me right now?" he mumbles to himself angrily before answering the phone, not realising that Suho had stopped after hearing Jugyeong's name.

"Hey, Han Seojun. I've got both of your playthings here with me," Sungyong twirls a strand of your hair with his finger as he speaks into the phone. He's watching you as he speaks, both you and Jugyeong sitting beside him.

The three of you are sitting on the back sofa in the karaoke room that you'd been dragged to, the rest of Sungyong's friends singing happily as if nothing's going on. Seojun panics when he realises who has the phone.
"I'll be waiting here for you so hurry over. I miss you," he sings into the phone before ending the call and moving to sit on the table in front of you.

While he waits for Seojun to show up, Sungyong entertains himself by bothering the two of you. He has a lighter in his hand which he plays around with, bringing the flame up to your face every so often to make you flinch. He finds your reactions entertaining and continues like that for a while, but eventually gets bored and sets the lighter down on the table beside him.

"How long do you think it's going to take for your boyfriend to get here?" he speaks up suddenly, and Jugyeong's eyes remain downcast when she realises that he's talking to her.
"I don't have a boyfriend," she responds quietly, so his gaze shifts to you with a hum.

"What about you?" he asks, leaning closer to you with a smirk on his face, "he looked really protective of you that day. He wouldn't let you go." He leans back again and continues speaking before you can even think of a response. "You see, we haven't quite figured out which one of you is his girlfriend. Care to enlighten me?"

"He's not my boyfriend," you mumble when you feel his stare on you, your voice shaky. Please don't come here Seojun, you think to yourself, not wanting him to have to face this group of boys alone. He gets up when he realises he's not going to get a response from either of you, moving to sing with his friends while he waits for Seojun to arrive.

You place a hand over Jugyeong's which is balled into a fist on her lap, trying to reassure her somehow. Though the situation scares you to death you're relieved that he isn't bothering Jugyeong as much, so you just remain quiet. She looks up at you briefly before turning to look at the table where her phone is.

She reaches forward when all the boys are turned away from the two of you, grabbing her phone and quickly opening it to video call Sua. She quickly places it between the two of you so it's visible to her friends on the phone but not the boys, and you just fidget with your fingers out of nervousness.

When Sungyong returns after a few minutes he sits beside Jugyeong this time and watches her, while another boy walks over to sit beside you.
"Ooo can I have this one? She's pretty," he says, wrapping an arm around your shoulder while he uses his other hand to lift your chin to face him properly.

He just looks at you with a smirk, and your eyes widen in panic when his arm wraps around your waist and he begins to move even closer to you. You're trying to push him away and get out of his grip when you suddenly hear a loud noise. Your head snaps towards the door to see Suho standing there after having burst into the room, causing the door to slam against the wall due to the amount of force he had applied to it.

You all flinch at the sound, before the room erupts into chaos. Suho launches forward immediately after locating Sungyong at the back of the room, and you gasp when he punches him. Seojun enters seconds later, and when he sees one of the bullies holding onto you his mind goes into a frenzy. He lurches forward and punches him, causing you to step back in shock.

Jugyeong moves to stand in front of you when she sees that you're starting to shake in fear, and you instantly hold onto her arm. You shriek when you get pulled back suddenly, not realising one of the boys had managed to get past Seojun and Suho since they were distracted, but Seojun is quick to get him away from you and pull you towards him. Sua, Soojin and Taehoon run in minutes later to help, and eventually you all manage to get out of there relatively unscathed.

Suho takes Jugyeong home and Seojun takes you in a separate taxi, neither of you talking throughout the journey - you fidget with your hands out of anxiousness, your eyes downcast, and Seojun just watches you as he feels guilt wash over him. He reaches a hand out to place it over yours and you stop fidgeting, just staring at your hands in his, before he pulls you closer to him.

He wraps an arm around your shoulder to bring you into a side hug, and you place your arm over his stomach. You take in a shaky breath and bury your face into his shoulder, seeking comfort.
"Thank you for saving me," you whisper to him, and if it wasn't for the close proximity between the two of you he wouldn't have heard you. He stays quiet and just tightens his arm around you, feeling guilty that you had to go through that.

"It's not your fault," you lean away from his shoulder slightly to look up at him, knowing what kind of thoughts are beginning to plague his mind. The realisation of what happened is still hitting you, but you feel yourself calm down slightly because of Seojun's comforting embrace. Now that you're in Seojun's arms, you know you're safe.