SAD BOY [HHJ] ✔️

[ 08 ]

E I G H T
THIRD PERSON'S POINT OF VIEW

"HYUNJIN, YOU'RE LATE... AGAIN."

Hyunjin's heart almost dropped when he heard his father's voice. Quietly, he closed the door and removed his sneaker and put on his slippers. He timidly flitted his eyes onto his father, who was seated in the living room. To be honest, it was around eight in the evening or night, if you will, and his father was having one of those scary parent moments. The one where they waited for their child and turned in the lamp next to them as they scared the living daylights out of them. Only in this case, Hyunjin was scared. Terrified actually.

It sounded stupid but he resented getting abused by his parents. Obviously you didn't like it. But the more it happened, the more he hated it. It's like hearing an annoying person talk over and over again. And you tell them to shut up when you reach you're breaking point. He wondered when his breaking point would come. The boy eyed the cane in his father's hand. How old school.

"I-I'm sorry I'm late. I-I was out with my friends."

"Do you think that's even a proper excuse? At least give me a decent excuse, boy!" The elder male growled out, watching the flinching male stand in front of him. "Hands."

Hyunjin outstretched his arm, his pale skin covered in faded bruises and scars shown to his father. "You should just listen to us. Then we wouldn't have to do this."

"But I can't give up my dream."

Wrong choice of words.

Pain flushed his arm immediately when the cane came in contact with his skin. Hyunjin held in his grunts as his father's nails sunk into his creamy skin, cutting through the first layer of flesh he had. The color of red rose up to his skin quickly, a familiar color to him. The boy waited for the next hit, his eyes closed tightly when a thought came into his head. More of an image rather than a thought.

It was Kiyomi. When they were at Lotte World, he was with the group when Jisung brought ice cream for everyone with his allowance. A very kind gesture from him. But he didn't miss the moment when Kiyomi's eyes lit up when she saw the chocolate ice cream, the smile nor the crescent shape her eyes formed as well.

And for some reason, the next hit wasn't as painful. The more images of her that came to his head the less they pained. Don't get me wrong, it's not like he was enjoying getting hurt. But, it seemed she was helping him make it more bearable.

And it was in that moment, when he thanked his head for capturing those memories of her. Because now he wanted to live a little more. He wanted to thank her.

Thank you for letting me see you be happy.

• • •

"Can I see your answers for the maths homework? I forgot to do it." Felix queried, meeting his best friend's blank eyes. "Please?" He begged, giving her his best puppy eyes. Kiyomi shuddered in disgust, slapping her math papers at his arm. "Sure. If quit doing that." She poked her tongue at the pout he had on his face, rolling her eyes and looking back at her work. The poems Hyunjin and her worked on were in front of her. She remembered after that day he said he would redo his because he had a new idea. Yesterday, during her Korean class he gave her his new poem.

the little angel

the little angel knows a devil.
little angel doesn't know that she helps him.

she helps him survive.
survive the depths of hell
and the pain brought along with it.

the devil is scared now.
he fears he'll hurt the little angel.
turning her into a fallen angel.
or even worse: a demon.

he wants her to continue helping
but he wants her to stay away
before she gets herself hurt.

what should he do?

"You know... now that I think about it, Hyunjin has come to school a lot more recently."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Felix broke Kiyomi out of her trance, wondering about Hyunjin's poem.

"I mean, he used to skip class before but now he shows to all the lessons. It's a good improvement. I just wonder why." Kiyomi shrugged while he did too, both attending their school work. But then she looked at the empty desk next to her. The bell had just rung. She trailed her eyes over to Felix.

"Are you sure about that statement?"

• • •

Kiyomi patted her hands dry on her school skirt, leaving the bathroom. She was about to head to class for the remainder of her ten minute break but then she saw the staircase next to the bathrooms. She saw them every time she went to the bathroom. What was up there? Where did it lead to? Her fingers opened the lock screen of her phone, she saw that she had five minutes left. Why not go and check?

The soles of her black shoes clacked against the tiled stairs, the white walls quickly looking bland. Within a minute she had arrived at the door. Kiyomi quietly out her hand over the knob of the door, twisting it. She opened the door, peeking her head inside of it. Her eyes widened when she saw a familiar figure.

The boy who had skipped today's class.

Hwang Hyunjin.

What was worse was what he was doing. He was fixing up the wounds on his hands. No wonder why she found it so suspicious that he wore his school blazer all day yesterday. Her heart broke seeming him since at the pain he was in. "What parent does that to his child?" He murmured loudly, thinking that he was alone as he applied a cream to the nail dents in his skin, over the red scabs.

Kiyomi put a hand over her mouth, gaping at what she had just heard. This was his parents' doing? That meant... every other wound he had, they were from his parents. Her mind raced. She didn't know what to do with that information. She gently closed the door, leaving silently. The female stared off into space as she went down the stairs. She felt terrible. Here she was thinking that Hyunjin was a cold brat of a guy, hurting girls time to time as well as guys.

But here he was... taking in all the pain.

He was the one getting hurt.