Different

°•♤•° Chapter One °•♤•°

°•☆•° Word count: 1,280°•☆•°
°•♡•° Time to Read: 9 mins °•♡•°

TW- Slurs, bullying, slight violence

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"God, I hate summer," Minho muttered, as he walked down the sidewalk on the way to school. It was the first day of school for the new year, and he was already dreading it. The sun's rays beat done on him, only irritating him more.

He stopped walking for a moment and pulled off his school jacket, which he was required to wear since it was their first day back. He slung the light grey coat over his shoulder, picked up the bag he had set down, and continued on his way.

As he got closer to the school, he started seeing more people wearing the academy's uniform, which was made up of a white button-down, a light-grey jacket, and either light-grey pants or a light-grey skirt. The seams of the uniforms were sky blue, which helped to distinguish what school the students were representing.

As Minho walked up to the school building, he looked around at the student population. Students were clustered together in groups, already establishing where they belong. A group of girls squealed and held hands as they reunited; boys huddled together, comparing their class schedules.

Another year with these people. Greeeaaat.

Minho sighed and entered the building. This was his second year at this high school, so he already knew the layout of the building. He also already knew everyone in his grade, at least by name. He had made a point to memorize all 153 names of the students in his grade, seeing as how he had earned the title of "that popular hot guy." He didn't want to disappoint people by not knowing their names when they greeted him. He felt that it would be rude for everyone to know who he is, while he didn't even know their names. But, just because he knew them, does not mean he liked them.

Just as Minho had reached the second floor, he heard someone shout his name.

"Oh, hey Chan. How was your summer break?," Minho asked.

"About as interesting as it could be. I didn't even get to go to the beach once!" the older boy complained. Chan had spent most of the summer working out, and it showed. The sleeves of his school uniform tightly hugged his arms, and it was a wonder to Minho how Chan had managed to button his shirt over his chest.

"The last time I saw you, your arms were half the size they are now," Minho commented with a smirk, grabbing Chan's bicep. Chan's ears turned red at the comment.

"Is it really that noticeable," he asked, laughing from embarrassment.

Minho leaned down to Chan, and whispered, "Have you seriously not noticed how everyone has been gawking at you?"

Chan, now sick of being teased, jokingly smacked Minho's arm. "Come on, or we'll be late for class."

They walked to their first period and quickly took their seats, making sure to save two spots for their other friends, Hyunjin and Changbin.

Just as the bell rang, Hyunjin and Changbin came flying into the classroom. "I'M NOT LATE, THE BELL RANG AFTER I REACHED THE DOOR," Hyunjin yelled, as he made his way to Chan and Minho. The teacher just glared at their entry, then went on with attendance.

"Hey, we would have been here earlier if someone hadn't gotten us lost," Changbin remarked, staring at Hyunjin as he took his seat.

"Wait a minute there buddy, you were the one who said we should turn right at the convenience store when we were supposed to turn left. This is your doing." Hyunjin crossed his arms with a huff.

"You guys seriously couldn't remember the way here? What are you, freshmen?" Minho chaffed.

"No, freshmen are more mature than them. I'd say their middle schoolers," Chan laughed.

Changbin just gave them the finger while Hyunjin stuck his tongue out at them.

Minho raised his eyebrows. "Point proven."

The rest of the day passed by slowly. Minho tolerated hours of teachers droning on about school rules and syllabi, so he was ready to go home. He didn't have any of his friends in his final period, so he decided to meet up with them outside the building.

As he was walking down the hallway, he heard a noise come from a classroom to his left. He decided to shrug it off and keep on walking. But then, he heard the undeniable sound of someone crying. Not sure of whether he should let his curiosity win or not, he slowly inched towards the partially opened door of the classroom.

"What did I tell you about associating yourself with me? I don't need people knowing I used to be friends with a retard like you," a disembodied voice said through the door.

Minho flinched at the word. He hated that word. It was full of ignorance and stigma that could be prevented through even the slightest bit of empathy and education.

He opened the door enough to where he could see inside the room without being noticed. What he saw was a shorter, brown-haired boy being held up against the wall by a taller, black-haired boy. The smaller boy had chubby cheeks and eyes full of tears. The taller boy's teeth were clenched and his eyes bulged.

[A/n: the bully is just a random character, not any other idol. Don't get any ideas.]

"I'm sorry," the brown-haired boy whimpered.

The other boy scoffed, "You are so pathetic." He gave him one last shove and the smaller boy fell to the floor, holding his chest. "Stay away from me, freak."

Before the bully could walk away, Minho slammed open the door and punched him square in the jaw. The black-haired boy stumbled backward, holding his jaw in complete shock.

"Picking on those weaker than you, are ya? Seems you're the pathetic one," Minho spat, his eyes full of rage. [A/n: I didn't mean to call Han weak, I didn't know how else to word that 😭]

The other boy glared at Minho and scoffed, "Get out of here, this is none of your business."

"It's definitely my business since it's my job as an upperclassman to look after the younger students. Also, you interrupted my good day so now I'm just pissed."

The student just gave him an amused look. "Whatever, I'm done here." He started to walk out the door, giving the boy on the floor one last glare before disappearing down the hallway.

Minho ran over to the boy on the floor, "Hey, are you okay," he asked.

The boy just nodded, still clutching his chest.

Minho wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to leave him there, alone and in pain. He gave the underclassman a once-over. His cheeks were stained with tears, and his eyes were red and puffy. But, despite that, he was the most beautiful person he'd ever laid eyes on.

He finally came to an answer.

"I should probably introduce myself. Hi, my name is Minho. I'm a second year. What's your name?"

The boy gave Minho a confused look before answering. "Han Jisung, I'm a first-year, " the boy sniffled, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

"Um, how about I walk you home? I don't want to leave you alone after that; plus I don't want that asshole to follow you home or something, " Minho explained.

Han's eyes grew wide at the suggestion. "No, I'm fine. I don't want to bother you-"

"You wouldn't be bothering me. I'm offering to help you because I want to." He gave Jisung a reassuring smile, then stood up and reached out his hand.

"Now come on, if we don't hurry it's going to get dark."

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