Behind The Mask - SKZ + BTS oneshots

Outcast

contains:
- jeongbin
- bullying
- meltdown
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Jeongin gets bullied, day in and day out, at school.

Everyone that met him could see right through him like he was thin glass, see directly at the way he was.

Easy to manipulate, get a reaction out of, easy to hurt.

That's what they saw, so that's what they did.

Even 15 year olds did. Aka, Jeongin's bullies.

Jeongin knew why he was this way, and whilst some people figured it out, most people just saw him as a freak or a target.

Most, except Seo Changbin.

Changbin was different himself, he hid it however, kept it behind a mask.

That mask kept his secret safe and kept him away from the bullying. Although it got to a point where he couldn't stand to see Jeongin be humiliated and pushed into meltdowns all the time.

He had to stop it.

It was a usual Tuesday, Jeongin stepping off the bus and immediately getting met with the sound of Hyunjin's voice.

"Jeongin." He spoke, malicious intentions hidden in his tone.

Jeongin just moved quicker, desperate to just get in the building and avoid at least one bully that morning.

Unfortunately, he never succeeded. Hyunjin always caught up to him and somehow had another couple of his 'minions' by his side. Jisung and Felix.

"Are you crying Jeongin?" Jisung's voice echoed, bouncing between each of Jeongin's ears as he quickened his pace.

He was. He was crying, his vision was blurring and he was running. Just running as far away from everything and everyone that he could.

He tripped, the voice of Felix spitting some toxic words that he couldn't focus in on. His hands and knees collided with the floor, but he brushed himself off and kept running.

He wasn't going in the direction of the school anymore, he didn't know where he was going. He didn't even know if they were still following him. He was far too overwhelmed.

He found himself by a field, running past the bushes that lined it and towards a brick wall. He didn't know what the wall was doing there, or what connected to it. But he didn't care, he just was thankful it was there.

He leaned his back against it, pressing his palms firmly against it to ground himself. Tears collapsed from his eyes, falling fast down his cheeks.

He took shaky breaths, attempting to calm himself before sliding down the wall to the floor and shoving his knees to his chest. And crying rougher, worse tears.

He stayed that way for a while, until he could hear a voice from in front of him. A calm, gentle voice and one he didn't quite recognise.

"Are you okay? I got rid of those boys, they don't have any respect so I punched them." The boy, who was sat beside Jeongin, spoke with a chuckle.

"Oh, thank you." Jeongin smiled, wiping the tears from his cheeks with the sleeve of his hoodie.

"They always mess with you, I couldn't stand to watch it." He said, his words making Jeongin feel seen in a way he never had been before.

"Really? Thank you." Jeongin replied, before adding: "They all think it's okay to be mean to me because I'm-"

"Autistic."

"Yeah, is it really that obvious?" Jeongin laughed nervously, picking at his fingernails as a way to stim.

"I don't think so, I just have a radar!" He grinned, "I'm autistic too, so I kinda recognised it."

"You're a better masker than I am then."

"Doesn't necessarily have to be a competition, it's a spectrum for a reason." The boy spoke.

"True." He paused for a moment. "I'm Jeongin, by the way."

"Changbin." The other boy smiled, leaning his head to the side and looking at Jeongin for a moment as if to ask 'may I?'. Jeongin nodded and so Changbin rested his head on the boy's shoulder.

Assuming Changbin was okay with physical touch, he rested his head on top of Changbin's.

"Don't we need to get to school now?" Jeongin questioned.

"And deal with those horrible bullies?"

Changbin smirked slightly, before adding:

"Nah."