Thin Ice- SunSun

[Chapter 3]

One more kick to the stomach was enough to see the bright shine of the boy fade away. Sunghoon was conflicted, watching this violence unfold right in front of him. The fact that his bus was 5 minutes away would normally be more than enough reason for him to not get involved. Plus, he never saw a reason to snoop into other people's business. He wouldn't want help from a stranger, so why would they want help from him? 

Taking multiple glances at his watch, Sunghoon gritted his teeth, unsure of what to do. With a final scrunch of his face, he swiftly turns around, deciding to just forget about the boy. Their words echoed in the alley behind him, so as he walked away, he couldn't help but listen in.

"Put up a fight! C'mon we do this everyday Sunoo, you could at least make it interesting for me."

Sunoo. The boy now had a name. This played with Sunghoon's humanity more than he thought it would, causing every word to feel sharper, digging deeper and deeper into his conscience. This boy wasn't just any boy, Sunghoon already felt a strange attachment to him, now knowing his name made it even harder to leave. 

"You look so pathetic down there, what happened to that confidence you had a minute ago?"

Unconsciously slowing down his steps, Sunghoon became carried away in the drama unfolding behind him. 

"Seriously, thinking that acting like that is normal!"

"Do you not have any shame?"

All it took was those 6 words to stop Sunghoon walking away; to stop him from just forgetting about what he saw. Not meaning much to others, these words would mostly go unnoticed. But Park Sunghoon wasn't like others, these words struck a very delicate nerve. 

It's like a whole new side of Sunghoon took over, rushing back towards the action. As the bully took a powerful swing, he was surprised to find his fist hadn't made contact with Sunoo's face at all, but instead had been stop dead in its tracks. Sunghoon was now clenching this fist with both hands, whilst staring intensely into the eyes of a boy who wanted to kill him.

"Who the fuck is this?!"

"Looks like Sunoo's got himself a boyfriend, Si-Woo." His friends snicker.

Snatching back his fist, caused the furious boy to tumble backwards. His friends, though that term should be used lightly, found it hilarious that someone had finally stood up to Si-Woo. This gang of thugs had always thought of Si-Woo as weak and now they could see it clear as day. 

"All talk Si-Woo! Is this the reason why you only pick on the little ones?" 

"He's all over the place, I guess he's finally met his match!"

Sunghoon could see how pissed off Si-Woo was getting, his ego surely bruised by his friends taunting. With anger reminiscent of a bull, there was no going back once you offended the beast. 

"You don't even know who you're messing with, so it's best you back off now!" Getting right up in someones face, a classic intimidation tactic. The tall, muscular, cocky boy, spent years bulking himself up, building up his strength and pushing people around, just to form a threatening reputation. One blink should send someone running. 

"Maybe I'm not the one who needs to back off, clearly it's you who's in the wrong here." A boost of adrenaline shot through Sunghoon body, helping him stand his ground. He couldn't back down easily now, he had to go all in. 

"Hah, like you know anything!" Cracking his knuckles first, followed by his neck, Si-woo was getting ready for a fight. "Let's have some fun then!"

Sunghoon felt slightly unsettled by the boys smirk, and even more so by the glances the boy was taking, it felt almost as if he was sizing up the competition. Keeping his eyes fixed on Si-woo, Sunghoon saw every move he was making. Focus was always one of Sunghoon's strongest attributes, and this turned out to be his saving grace. For without it, Sunghoon would have never noticed the split second of worry cross Si-Woo's face.