splinters 一 weak hero.

0-9

'eek!'

that was the first thing myunghwan said when i tapped his shoulder, causing him to whirl around. the hand at his side was now over his mouth, his feet taking him a couple stumbling steps backwards.

'relax, it's me, yejun.' i offered him a bland smile, muscles sore and barking as they pulled. 'sorry for scaring you.'

the trepidation in his eyes melted into distress and concern as he beheld my face. 'are... are you alright?'

'yeah.' a bit more warmth crept into my voice. he was always so sweet.

i was aware i looked a right mess, although less than initially. the blow to my nose had left it bruised, and the swelling around my eyes and bridge of my nose itself had only gone down four days later, so looking like this was already an improvement. one could presume i'd used a paintbrush to paint a particularly purple splotch between my eyes.

most welts on my body i'd gotten from junha had finally died down from the angry purple i had initially supported, but as all bruises do, changed to a none-the-more pleasant yellow-green. it frustrated me that i hadn't been able to hit back then - leaving me with no choice but to endure the beating. that day, not only had my body and face taken a huge bruising, but my ego had, too, though i might not have showed it.

i'd been ignoring the notifications appearing on my phone, and had had to undergo the ultimate trial of control of feigning ignorance when moonsik came to ring my doorbell repeatedly every day. it hurt me in a way i hadn't expected - it was another reminder for how much he worried for me. but i didn't want moonsik to find out what junha had done to me because knowing him, he would have gotten all worked up and demanded to fight.

i wasn't really in the mood to act too cheery - it was such a pain to keep up this nice-guy facade - but for the sake of myunghwan, i still mustered the energy to force my jaw into a smile as i shrugged off-handedly at him, the very motion making my muscles quiver. the smile didn't reach my eyes.

and yet, myunghwan still looked like he was ready to burst into tears as he beheld me. 'you're hurt so badly. how did you withstand it?'

'i'm alright.' i clapped his shoulder by instinctive reaction, and immediately regretted it. i withdrew with a small hiss through the teeth that had his brows creasing. i wanted to reassure myunghwan, however, it seemed that the more i tried, the more i worried him.

thank the schedules that my parents weren't due back in south korea until the start of the next academic year to see me in this state.

'are you sure about this?'

i nodded. 'of course. i wouldn't have gone to such lengths in the first place otherwise. are you?'

he frowned. 'think so.'

'well, tell me if you ever want to opt out. oh, and by the way, please don't tell anyone about this. especially moonsik. i'm concerned about how he would react to this.'

myunghwan pushed his brows together and bobbed his head determinedly. 'alright. i promise.'

'great,' i said. 'then off to seongsan we go.'

-

she'd been gone for a week. had she left a note, he might not have been as worried. but the disappointment, followed by boredom, that taehyung had initially felt was slowly giving way to apprehension. one didn't simply just disappear.

the only people yejun had seemed particularly close with were moonsik and deoksu, both of which taehyung would prefer not to mix with. the two may have been acting the most carefree out of everyone in cheongang, but there were prices to be paid, especially as they were such strong fighters. there was that boy, the one with glasses, but taehyung hadn't seen him either for the entirety of the school day, and even if he had, he wasn't sure if he wanted to speak to him.