splinters 一 weak hero.

0-7

'jackass!'

i grabbed myunghwan's wrist and ran as hangyeol leapt at me, only for his arm to be gripped by moonsik. hangyeol's face crumpling into a fleeting sign of pain - and that was the last thing i saw as we rounded the corner. 'oh, man,' myunghwan panted, 'i'm... so... unfit.'

'we can stop running now,' i said. 'i'll walk you home. that lot won't be finished in a long while.'

myunghwan smiled a little. 't-thanks.'

i grinned. 'you're cute.'

he let out a small laugh. 'i really appreciate it.'

'well, fuck, that's what friends are for, aren't they?'

we walked in silence for a few moments before myunghwan glanced at me again. 'but... if anyone comes after us, we're seriously done for.'

i shook my head. 'you hardly see the top rankers dawdling on the streets. it's always goons.' i added confidently, 'i can deal with goons.'

he bobbed his head after a heartbeat of hesitation. 'okay.' we walked on until he finally hedged, 'um... this is good enough for me. i live one block down from here. are you sure you'll get back okay?'

there was genuine concern in his eyes, and it touched me more than i'd normally allow. 'don't worry about me. and hey, myunghwan,' i called from a few paces away, 'come join us more often.'

his blush painted his ears so bright i could see it as he nodded frantically and scurried away. 'ah - alright!'

i gave him a small nod before waving him off, waiting till he'd set off down the road for some distance before turning away. i wondered how moonsik was doing, along with deoksu and taehyung. hangyeol may not have been a remarkable fighter, but he had numbers on his side as well as helmet, a hulking mass of a delinquent who had earned him name due to his thick skull, both metaphorically and physically.

when i got back to the underpass, however, helmet was lying on the ground like a fat starfish, utterly unconscious and drool foaming at the corner of his lip.

the person responsible for this spectacle had the entire ruckus paused. it was a pretty great speech, if i must say so myself.

'stop right there, you sickening shitheads.' taehyung's signature smirk was, unsurprisingly, still there, though he spoke with an almost-bored drawl.

moonsik turned, and, when he spotted me, pulled away with deoksu, leaving hangyeol standing there. his face contorted upon seeing me. 'you! you fucking coward!'

'where's myunghwan?' moonsik asked, entirely oblivious to the raging second year behind him. 'didn't he say he wanted jjangmyeon?'

'i took him home before he could see this,' i said. 'we ought to keep it more pg friendly next time.'

moonsik looked sheepish. 'i'll invite myunghwan again to make up for it. oh, and you're paying tonight,' he reminded me gleefully.

'hey,' i said to taehyung who was hovering to the side, 'wanna come get fried chicken with us?'

'no, thanks,' taehyung said bluntly. 'i have other things to do.' he held his gaze with me for a split moment before turning and walking away.

'what a weird guy. i don't like him,' deoksu muttered.

'fried chicken?' moonsik inquired.

-

taehyung stared up at the ceiling, arms stretched out before him as he clutched his phone. post the incident today would have been a good excuse to hang around with yejun, but he didn't want moonsik or the other lanky dude with them.