Aphenphosmphobia » k.jw & w.yh

six.

"You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have."

~ ❀ ~

Just as his hand touched the metal knob of his door, Jungwoo heard a loud slamming of a door, the door probably colliding with the wall beside it. Jungwoo was shaking, his mind thinking about things he could get out without his Mom noticing him. He looked to his side to the mirror, the bruise finally faded out of his face. And he's thankful of Yukhei.

Gulping, Jungwoo turned the knob, and opened his door. Keeping his head down, not wanting to have eye contact with the woman who had hated him so much. He would avoid her, so she couldn't touch Jungwoo, because the teenager knows that if her temper gets to her, she won't be thinking that his son will go to school with scratches or bruises on his face.

Jungwoo could feel his stomach aching, he was really planning on cooking this morning, but his Mom had his plan go streaming down the drain. But Jungwoo still walked to the kitchen, and when he looked up, he saw his Mother holding a cup of steaming coffee to her lips as her eyes stared intently at Jungwoo, he couldn't move, but he did look away.

"The fuck aren't you at school yet?" His Mom snapped, making Jungwoo flinch, and he did not answer. "I'm asking you nicely, boy."

"S-Still early." It was true, Jungwoo doesn't leave for school in a few more minutes.

"Is that how you talk to your Mother?" Jungwoo could feel his body shutting down on him, her tone freezing every reflex Jungwoo should have. And then Jungwoo felt the impact of something hard hitting him, and the aftermath of the heat, he knew he was damned. The mug broke into pieces, the coffee spilling onto the perfectly clean tiled floor. "Clean that up." She said, before walking away.

Jungwoo sucked a deep breath, his hand touching the part of his face that the mug hit, he didn't mind it anymore. Instead, he crouched down and collected the glass shards, throwing them into the trash and getting a rug to wipe the coffee with. He placed the rug back to where he got it and looked at the clock.

"Shit." Was all he said before running up the stairs and changing into proper clothes. He took a bath earlier, just wore house clothes because he thought he still had time to cook.

He quickly shouldered his bag and immediately opened the door, his frantic state going out the window as his Mom stood right in front of his door, her face not looking amused by Jungwoo's actions.

"You better come home early today." She said, before walking away again, and Jungwoo didn't miss that sly smirk on her face.

Suddenly, Jungwoo remembered why he was hurrying, he ran outside of their house and walked to school, considering it was just a few blocks away, and he had missed the bus.

By the time he got to school, his bangs were sticking onto his forehead, and he was huffing as he walked in. The ache in his stomach didn't even help, but he didn't go to the cafeteria, he had to get to class. Or else.

Jungwoo got inside his classroom just moments before their teacher walked in, surprising them with a quick quiz, and PE next, and Jungwoo already regretted not eating breakfast.

In a blink of an eye, the class had finished their quiz, it wasn't that hard, actually, well, for Jungwoo. They walked to the locker rooms and changed into their PE uniforms, Jungwoo avoiding everyone as he grabbed his uniform.

Even changing was a hassle, all of the other boys had finished changing, not even walking inside a cubicle, nope, just removed their clothes and put on the PE uniform. But Jungwoo didn't, he waited until everyone else had gone outside before he walked to the cubicle, changing into his PE uniform and running to his class.

"We're testing your speed today!" Mr. Kim shouted, his whistle tied around his neck, bouncing as he walked around, looking at everyone's reaction.

Jungwoo hated PE classes, it just wasn't his forte, especially when it came to groupings. Today, he was quite thankful that speed test doesn't really need touching, Jungwoo sat on the bleachers, with the others, as some students lined up on the tracks, Mr. Kim's whistle being blown, and the four students running, their speed being taken by Mr. Kim and a few more students.

The teenager's mind slowly wandered, killing off the time that he had to wait, but it was too much. His mind snapped back when he saw Mr. Kim raising an eyebrow at him, his expression looking pissed and not impressed. And before Jungwoo knew it, he had to run 50 times across the tracks.

He wanted to reason that he didn't eat anything for breakfast, but Mr. Kim didn't even spare him a glance. Breathing hard, he started running, feeling the effect hit him hard, his legs weak. Jungwoo wasn't really the most physically fit teenager there is, but he liked to think that, except when it came to these moments that life tested his body.

Huffing, Jungwoo ran his last round, his legs aching, his mind throbbing and his heart thudding. And when he finally counted 50, he paused, closing his eyes as he wiped the sweat over his forehead. Combing his hair up, so it won't stick to his head, and not cover his eyesight.

"Jungwoo, run." The teenager bit his lip, walking to the start of the tracks, breath laboured as he readied himself to run another 100 meters. The whistle was blown, and Jungwoo started to run, but as he was about in the middle of the tracks, everything spun, and then black.

The class circled around him, their class president fanning him immediately, Mr. Kim shook his head and told someone to bring Jungwoo to the infirmary to get proper treatment, the teenager was carried to the infirmary, still unconscious, and it's a good thing too, because if he was able to tell if someone was touching him, he'd break down, again.

Jungwoo was placed on one of the white beds lined up inside the infirmary, the nurse quickly wiping his sweat off, and turning the AC to a higher setting, to cool Jungwoo off. And of course, like they do to every student that is brought to the infirmary, the nurse called Mrs. Kim.

"Hi, Mrs. Kim, Jungwoo's currently in the infirmary."

"Okay."

"I was wondering if you'd like to check on him, to know if he's alright."

"Sure." But there was something venomous on her voice.

~ ❀ ~

i think i'll update this afternoon again.

thanks for reading!

nothing happened in this chapter really... i just needed to post this so there's a backstory for the next shit's that's about to happen

also, if this reaches 350 reads all in all, i'll publish the next book, dojae.

ps. thank you for all the support❤️

i literally cried when i realized this had 200+ reads😭❤️

again, every comment, vote, and read is appreciated af.

luv ü!