bet | lee donghyuck

- twenty one

"i heard you needed a place to stay." chenle's voice rang through the phone.

i couldn't say anything. i was still too busy catching my breath.

"sooyoung? are you there?" he asked.

"yeah, no, i'm here." i rubbed my head in attempt to stop the throbbing that was making its way into my brain.

"do you need a ride? i can pick you up. just tell me your address, i'll be there shortly." chenle insisted.

"actually, i, uh..." i ran out of words and just became silent again.

"sooyoung?" he asked again, making sure i hadn't hung up.

"i'm here, i just, i don't actually know where i am." i finally breathed out, looking at my surroundings.

it was still daylight, so i could clearly see that the only thing worth staring at was the sign across the street for the 7-eleven i was leaning against.

"uh, well," now it was chenle's turn to run out of words. "i could just use gps like mark and donghyuck did."

"yeah, you could do that." i mumbled, hearing jingling of car keys and a car door opening on the other line. "hey, thanks for doing this. you really didn't have to."

"are you kidding?" i heard a car engine start through the phone. "i'd do anything for my burnt macaroni buddy." as he spoke, i could almost hear the smile that was appearing on his face.

"hey, i've gotta focus on driving, because i just got my permit so i've gotta be careful. i'm going to hang up, but please don't go anywhere, okay?" he spoke again, this time, his voice was more calming and reassuring than before.

"okay, just please be safe." i added before we both said our goodbyes and hung up. i put my phone back into my hoodie pocket and leaned my head against the brick wall.

prepared to be waiting for a while for chenle to find me, i closed my eyes and tried to go to sleep.

"JOHNNY!" a voice in the distance disturbed my quiet time, and my head popped up to see what was going on.

at the opposite corner of the convenience store, i saw a group of boys pummeling someone on the floor. watching the scene were two boys, probably friends of the one getting beat up. and wow, they were mortified.

without thinking, i ran over to them thinking i could try to stop the fighting. as i approached them, i saw the two bystanders more clearly, and i realized one of them was jaemin.

he looked extremely panicked and was too shocked and scared to do anything about the situation.

as if it was instinct, i rushed to the boy's (who i assumed was johnny) aid and desperately tried to pull him out of their grasps.

once the bullies saw me trying to help johnny, the tallest of them (and seemingly the oldest) pushed me away from him.

"what do you think you're doing?" he asked in a threatening tone.

"what do you think i'm doing? i'm trying to make sure you don't beat up my friend." i retorted.

"friend? i bet you don't even know his name." he tested, crossing his arms.

"his name is johnny. i've known him since second grade and we met due to our struggle in science class. his favorite color is purple and he'd kill me if i told anyone because even he admits it's a 'girly color'. once, he came over to my house late at night because his parents ended up getting into a fight and he had nowhere else to go. he has been with me through thick and thin, so don't you dare tell me who is and isn't my friend."

i let out a sigh as i finished my completely made-up rant.

i look behind the shocked bully to see the hitting finally stop. the others looked at me in shock. as did johnny.

"h-how dare you talk to me that way." the bully in front of me said, still shocked and stuttering a little at a loss of what to say.

i ignored his question and asked my own. "what's your name?"

he gulped. "moon taeil." he replied.

"well, taeil, now that i have your name, i can fully report you to my dad, the head of the police department, for assault and harassment." i said, smiling sweetly.

by now, i was completely bluffing. i hadn't seen my dad in at least 6 years. and he sure wasn't the head of anything special.

taeil scoffed and grabbed his buddies by the shoulders.

"i'm not scared of you." he guffawed, turning on his heel away from me. "come on, boys, we have better stuff to do than associate with scum like this." he said, leaving me, johnny, jaemin, and the other mystery boy on the corner.

"are you okay?" i asked johnny, giving him a hand to help him off the ground. he gladly accepted it.

"yeah, i'm fine. thank you so much, uhhhhh?" his voice died down, and i assumed he was waiting to hear me tell him my name.

"sooyoung." i finished his sentence for him. "my name is sooyoung." i smiled at him, and he smiled back.

"it's nice to meet you sooyoung." he chuckled a bit before continuing speaking, a bright smile appearing on his slightly bruised face. jaemin and his friend were making their way over to me and johnny. "so, second grade, huh?"

"yeah how'd you come up with all of that? i'm sure you've never seen johnny before in your life." jaemin chimed in.

"quick thinking, i guess." i replied, playing with my fingers.

"yeah and how'd you know my favorite color is purple?" johnny asked.

i rubbed my arm and shrugged. "lucky guess."

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wow finally a longer chapter !

heyo thanks for 400 reads :))