Them ° SVT Vernon

08

Hansol hated to admit it, and he honestly never even told his family, but he hated being a halfer. Maybe it was because of standing out in a crowd, maybe it was because of being bullied.

Okay, mostly it was the latter.

"Ow." He breathed out, feeling his back hit the fence behind the school. He was in an isolated part of the yard, nobody would be near here to help, and they precisely knew that.

"Nice job on the essay, halfer." The leader of the pack, Youngjun, spoke roughly. He was standing tall over Hansol, who had fallen down on the concrete floor. "Might go easy on you this time."

"Young, where's his wallet?" One of Youngjun's minions, this one named Kong, asked after ransacking his backpack empty.

"It's not in his backpack?" Youngjun asked them, and he recieved a response of simultaneous shakes of the head. He turned to Hansol threateningly and lowered his voice. "Where did you keep it, halfer? It's not on you, is it?"

Hansol breathed heavily, tired of all the pushing around. "Screw off, pitbull." He sighed out, spitting right on Youngjun's face.

The delinquent slowly wiped the spit off his cheek, a low chuckle following the action. "You know what, halfer? Your attitude's been pissing me off these last few weeks." He whispered, then forcefully grabbed Hansol's face. "Might be time I educate you on manners."

But before he could lay another hand on him, a scream interrupted their session.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE LAY A HAND ON CHEWIE!"

Youngjun and the others shared a look, but Hansol only sighed.

Miyu suddenly came running in, her uniform tattered messily after sports training as usual. But what was different was the fact she had a baseball bat in her hand.

"Shit, she brought a weapon." The delinquents started to back away.

"KIM YOUNGJUN! YOU AND YOUR DOGS ARE DEAD THIS TIME!" She growled like a mad man, preparing to swing the bat as she arrived. As an element of surprise, she had taken off her shoe and threw it towards one of the dogs' head. It hit bullseye.

She swung at one's legs, hitting him right in the thigh. She then pulled another one's hair when he attempted to take the contents of Hansol's bag, kicking his nuts and tossing him aside to scramble away after. When Youngjun was hesitating on running away, she didn't hesitate to walk towards him.

"What is it? You want to take a hit from this, shitface?! COME AT ME!" Miyu screamed like a mad man, prepping her fingers around the baseball bat. Her actions completely terrified the bully, and he ran away following the rest of his group.

Han Miyu was a name known through the hallways of her high school. People knew her as the girl who excelled in sports, but most also knows she's a master in martial arts as well. This particular group of bullies had made a mistake of underestimating her last time, which costed two of them to be sent to the infirmary.

Since then, she was feared and respected as the protector of her classroom, but some people still refused to take her warning seriously.

"FUCKING RUN, BITCHES! I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN BULLY CHEWCHEW! YOU'RE NOT FUCKING SPECIAL!"

Panting heavily from the screaming and running, Miyu threw the bat aside aggressively, ignoring it as it hit the brick walls. She walked over to his bag and its scattered contents, shoving his books into it with a glare on her face.

Hansol sighed. "Madcap." He called calmly.

She ignored him, continuing to gather his books.

"Madcap." He tried once more, pushing himself up from the floor.

Still no response. It was obvious she was frustrated, either at him or the bullies, but Hansol would guess both.

He bit his lip. "Miyu."

"What?!" She snapped at him.

He sighed. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you-"

"Damn right you're sorry. You told me they stopped- you told me they backed off after I warned them last time!" She yelled at him in frustration mixed with worry. "Fucking hell, Hansol, to think I fucking trusted your honesty when it came to your own. Fucking. Wellbeing."

"I'm sor- oof." He stopped when Yoora shoved his backpack to his chest. "I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to worry."

"Wow and look how well that worked out!" She shot with thick sarcasm, angrily marching away from the scene.

Hansol sighed, but rushed after her nonetheless. He stood in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. "I'm sorry, Miyu, I promise it won't happen again." He told.

She scoffed. "No need to bluff with your empty promises. I already had Yunhee record it and send it to the principal." She told.

Hansol looked like he was about to object, but Yoora interrupted him before he could.

"I know," she cut him off, "that they'll probably call your dad about it, but honestly I don't care anymore. I kept this secret for a year now, Hansol, and I don't intend to keep it any longer, especially when it costs your health. I'm tired of covering for you, and I'm tired of them hurting you."

He knew she was right. He knew that it was for the best, that it was probably better for him that the secret was out anyway. He knew that she did it for him. So he didn't complain anymore.

He exhaled. "Thank you."

Miyu nodded silently. She then snapped her head to him with slitted eyes. "I'm still mad at you though."

"Oh come on!" He whined, then pouted at her like a puppy. "How about I treat you to Ma's red bean bread? Will that make it up to you? You can even have two if you want."

She bit her lip, as if contemplating on it. "Are you hurt?" She ended up asking.

He shook his head vigorously. "I'm not. You came before they had the chance of doing anything." He answered immediately.

Miyu didn't look convinced.

"I promise!" He raised both hands up.

Though she's been holding it a while, Miyu couldn't take it anymore and let out a small chuckle. "Fine. But you have to piggyback me home since I lost my left shoe because of you and I hate getting my socks wet."

"Deal!" Hansol grinned in satisfaction and hunched down his back without hesitation.

She laughed slightly, then jumped on his back as he held on her knees for support. He then proceeded to carry her all the way home, as promised.

"Where did you manage to get a bat?"

"Oh I was at baseball practice before I came and I figured it'd make a sufficient weapon, so I brought it with me."