CAUTION: Love Ahead! | HAOBIN |

Twenty-One

"Let's see you try whatever you want to." Hanbin challenged him back with a similar mocking grin. It was as if time stopped as the two of them, Hanbin and Jae-Yun, stared at each other with much enmity and hatred in their eyes.

Jae-Yun was satisfied with something for the first time since he was re-admitted to the school.

He had finally found an opponent worth fighting.

But that didn't mean he was going to let go of his frightful little prey, he thought, looking over at Zhang Hao.

"See you around then, Hanbin..." Jae-Yun whispered with dark and sinister eyes, an empty look in them. Hanbin nodded with a firm glare as Jae-Yun gave him a final smirk before exiting the scene.

As soon as Jae-Yun had left, Zhang Hao turned and came face-to-face with Hanbin, who now seemed unbothered. With an angry expression, he exclaimed, "Why the hell would you challenge him back like that?! Don't you know what sort of person he is? He could do much damage to you!"

"Calm down, Hao hyung," Hanbin said, raising his hands to place them on the older boy's shoulders but stopped midway when Zhang Hao flinched. "This...this is the reason I don't want him to get away with it!" he said, pointing at Zhang Hao's frightened face.

"He has scared you to the point where you're unable to meet his eyes, flinch even when someone else touches you, tremble when he's around, and don't even get me started on your stutter. You barely even speak when he is near you!" Hanbin snapped. "I don't want you to live like that. I want you to feel free and not chained every time he's around you. I want to protect you, and if I'm not around, I want you to protect yourself!"

Zhang Hao kept looking at Hanbin as he uttered these words, feeling emotional himself as he struggled to keep his tears in. He let out his tears causing Hanbin to tear up as well, both of them understanding the other's point of view.

"I...don't know..." Zhang Hao whispered vulnerably, wanting nothing more but to do so himself—protect himself, like Hanbin said. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't find it within himself to overcome the previous fright.

"You can, Hyung. You have to." Hanbin said, holding his hands to show support. "He's nothing but a pest. Don't pay any attention. That's what he likes—attention. Don't give him any, and he'll leave you..."

Zhang Hao shook his head, whispering a small 'no'.

"He isn't...doing it for attention..." he meekly said as Hanbin raised his eyebrows.

"What else for then?"

Hanbin's question was met with silence as Zhang Hao kept his mouth shut, contemplating whether to say it. He couldn't decide whether to keep it a secret or let it out in the open. He knew for one thing that he trusted Hanbin, but he didn't know how they would receive the secret he had kept to himself for all these years.

Noticing the older male's hesitation, Hanbin silently sighed before comforting him. "You don't have to say it to me if you don't want to. I'll call in one of the other members if there's anyone you're comfortable with." He paused, thinking of a person, and a name almost immediately popped up. "Matthew?"

"It's not that I'm uncomfortable with you..." Zhang Hao softly said, unsure of how to put his thoughts and feelings into words. "I just... don't know if I should say it..."

"Why not?" Hanbin asked, noticing the underlying consciousness in Zhang Hao's voice.

"If Jae-Yun comes to know that I've revealed all of his secrets, he'll kill not only me but also you guys, just to make sure no one else knows. I...don't want to risk that." Zhang Hao said, insecurity lacing his voice.

Hanbin smiled, a genuine smile, as he reached out a hand to grab the other male's cheeks softly before pulling him closer, attaching their foreheads together before saying, "Don't worry about us, Hao Hyung."I think you should tell us if you have any troubles; figuring things out as a group helps better than solving problems on your own.

Zhang Hao looked at Hanbin who only held a sincere look on his face. He felt that he could put his trust in the older male and his group of friends that he was now starting to consider his own.

"Alright," he sighed, "can I tell it to all of you at once?"

"Anything you want." Hanbin said, nodding with a reassuring smile, "I'll gather up the boys after school if you want to."

"I would like that then..." Zhang Hao nodded, fully positive about his decision.

'Emergency meet-up! Today, 6:00 p.m. Whose house?'

'What for?'

'Don't tell me this is for another cupcake party!'

'My house is free'

'Alright then. At @jiwoong18736's house. No, no cupcake party this time. Sorry, champ @yunjingamertea. Tell you when we meet up, @taeraekimviceprez.'

' 'kay. See ya'

'Will be there'

'Got it'

'Bye'

"What is this sudden get-together for?" Gunwook asked as soon as he walked into Jiwoong's house, where he saw Hanbin, Zhang Hao, Taerae, and Jiwoong sitting in a small circle.

Hanbin looked over to Zhang Hao, who gulped, but said, "I wanted...want to disclose something..." in a tiny voice.

"What about?" Taerae asked.

Zhang Hao glanced at Hanbin for help, not knowing how to say it.

"He wanted to reveal secrets concerning Jae-Yun..."

"...and...myself" Zhang Hao completed Hanbin's sentence, "concerning Jae-Yun and myself..." He finished off, earning a pitiful stare from Hanbin, which turned into one filled with pride and admiration within seconds—not to forget, love.

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How was it?

Let's all wait for Zhang Hao's secret...in the meantime, what do you think it might be?