bully; yugbam

[part seven]

"D-do y-you a-at l-least n-need h-help?" Mark asks. He can't just sit there and watch Yugyeom finish those papers by himself. That would be cruel.

"U-um, if you w-wa-want to h-he-help," Yugyeom replies, a small smile on his face.

Mark nods, and he grabs half of the stack. Yugyeom smiles in relief and watches as Mark finishes one paper in one second.

"You k-kn-know, you d-do-don't h-ha-have to h-he-help me," Yugyeom mutters as he returns to work.

"I-I w-want t-to." Mark softly smiles. "I-it w-would b-be c-cruel o-of m-me i-if I-I d-didn't h-help."

"You sure?" Yugyeom bites his lower lip.

Mark nods.

--

"T-th-thanks for h-he-helping me a-ag-again, h-hy-hyung," Yugyeom says as they walk out of the library, each of them carrying half of the stack.

"N-no n-need t-to t-thank m-me, G-Gyeom," Mark says as he sends a smile toward the younger. "I-I w-want t-to h-help y-you. B-besides, y-you n-needed t-the h-help."

Yugyeom nods, feeling grateful for having a friend like Mark. But wait, he doesn't even know if they are friends. What if Mark doesn't want that? What if he just took pity on him? What if-

"Y-Yugyeom?" Mark speaks up, snapping Yugyeom out of his thoughts. "A-are y-you o-okay? Y-you l-look a-a b-bit p-pale."

"I'm f-fi-fine," he assures, shaking his head. He bites his lower lip, and glances at Mark. It's now or never. "H-he-hey, h-hy-hyung?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Are you my f-fr-friend?"

Mark looks a bit surprised at the question, but he grins. "O-only i-if y-you w-want m-me t-to b-be."

"I-I do."

"G-good, b-because I-I w-want t-to b-be y-your f-friend, t-too."

--

It is finally lunch, and Mark disappeared during fourth period. He was sitting next to Yugyeom, and the next time Yugyeom looked next to him, he didn't see the purple-haired male there anymore. Yugyeom found it a bit odd because he didn't recall Mark asking permission to leave, or having to ask to go to the bathroom or anything like that.

Yugyeom sighs as he closes his locker. He had carried the stack of papers with the help of Mark, but now he needs to carry them by himself. He struggles a bit at first, but soon gets the hang of it, and goes toward where Bambam and his crew usually hang out.

A few minutes later, Yugyeom arrives, and he lets out a shaky breath. The last time he had gone to Bambam's and his friends's hangout place, they had beaten him up, and he ended up with a sprained ankle and wrist. But he knows he will get worse if he doesn't show up.

"Oh, look, the nerd's here," one of them smirks as they notice Yugyeom coming toward them.

"Did you finish with my papers, Kim?" Bambam demands, crossing his arms. "If you didn't, you're really dumb for coming here."

I'm smarter than that, Kunpimook, Yugyeom wants to say, but he doesn't, keeping his mouth shut. He just fakes a small smile and hands the papers to Bambam. The older male scoffs, and grabs them, before throwing them in the trash can nearby. Yugyeom isn't really surprised. He is just sad and disappointed that he and Mark spent the entire second period working on those papers.

"Do you need a-an-anything e-el-else?" Yugyeom asks, wanting to leave.

"Yeah," another replies, "for you to stop stuttering."

Yugyeom clenches his fists behind his back and holds his tears back. They all know why he stutters, but they still make fun of him for it.

"Where's your little friend?" Bambam asks. "He helped you with the papers, didn't he?"

"N-no," Yugyeom says in a small voice. Next thing he knows, he is kicked to the floor.

"You know, Kim," he hears Bambam's voice, "I have a few perks of hanging out with you." Bambam grabs a fistful of Yugyeom's hair, pulling it up. "I know your ways, and know when you're lying to me. I thought you knew better than that."

"Fuck you, Kunpimook."