Just Before The Dawn [DaeJae]

Ten

 Youngjae entered the classroom the next day, missing the first lesson. 

Immediately, he noticed Jumin and one of his friends approaching him. 

Before he could get away, they grabbed his arms, pushing him against the wall. 

"Hey Youngjae" Jumin said, "Would you do us a favor?" 

Youngjae started shaking in fear from the sound of these words. Jumin's voice sounded threatening. 

"W-What?" he stuttered and the grip on his arm tightened. 

"Please be so nice and kill yourself before we go on class trip next week. We really don't want to share a room with someone like you." He moved his head in the direction of a sheet of paper pinned onto the wall next to them.        

'Rooms on Busan class trip, class 10.2' the headline said, followed by a list of room numbers and names. 

Jumin moved closer to the boy's ear. "If you come to the trip and try to sleep in our room, I will make you suffer." he whispered and let go of his arm, but before finally leaving the boy alone, he landed a hard punch in Youngjae's stomach, making him cough.  Then, the two went back to their seats. 

Seconds later, Mr Kim entered the room. When he saw the boy, still standing at the wall, he let out an annoyed sigh. "Mr Yoo, why aren't you on your seat? Not even speaking about your delay..." 

"I'm sorry..." the boy mumbled, still trying to deal with the pain and upcoming sickness in his stomach, and went to his seat. 

... 

Daehyun stood at the sink in the school's bathroom, trying to wash away the colorful lines Junhong had drawn on his arm with markers, calling it modern art. Suddenly, the door flew open and he noticed Youngjae rushing towards the toilet stalls. Then, he heard the boy cough, followed by obvious noises of throwing up. 

A bit worried, he went to the room with the toilets. "Youngjae? Are you okay?" 

There was no answer. 

"Youngjae?" 

It took a few seconds, then the younger eventually answered. "What?" 

"Do you need help?" He had noticed the weak shaking in the other's voice. 

"No... I'm fine..." Youngjae sat on the tiled floor, leaned against the thin wall, eyes closed. He tried to regain control of his breath. 

"Are you sure? You don't sound fine." He heard Daehyun say from outside the stall. He wasn't quite sure if he liked the fact that the older tried to help him, but it seemed like he wouldn't leave him alone that easily, so Youngjae decided to let him stay. 

"I just feel sick." 

"Can I don something? Do you want to drink some water?" 

"Y- yes..." 

"Okay. I'll be right back." 

Quickly, Daehyun went to his classroom - they had a lesson off at the moment - and grabbed his water bottle, before going back to the bathroom. 

But he hadn't been fast enough. 

When he came in, he saw one of Youngjae's classmates stand in front of the stall, kicking the door. "Dude, how weak are you? That wasn't even a hard punch and you go an throw up? Stop being such a baby, Mr Kim wants you back in class right now, so better stop whining and hurry up, fag." 

"What the hell are you doing?" Daehyun asked angrily, as he stepped closer to the guy and the other turned around. 

"I was told to go and get him. Any problem with that?" 

"I have a problem with the way you talk to him. This is not the way you speak with people who feel bad or anyone else in general. Leave him alone, I'll take care of this." 

"Fine. If you like dealing with faggots." He let out a short laugh, then left. 

Daehyun sighed. "Youngjae, can you open the door?" 

The other didn't answer, but the key was turned around and Daehyun opened the door and gave him the bottle of water. 

"That guy... what's his name?" 

"He's Jumin." 

"Ah... Is he always like that? It seems like he feels like he's the boss." 

Youngjae got up and gave him back the bottle. "Kind of." 

"What an asshole... Are you okay, though? He said something about punching, did he hurt you?" 

"I've been feeling sick the whole day. That isn't his fault." the boy said quietly, "Thanks for your help."