Ryujin, Yuna and I: A high-school story

Chapter 8 (A Damsel in Distress)

Chapter 8

After the party that night, everything changed. Ryujin and I barely talked when we met along the school hallways, and I couldn't even bear to look at Yuna. I couldn't help but think to myself: Was this all my fault? I hurt two girls so badly that our friendship was thrown out of the window. I didn't mean to do it, but nonetheless the damage was done.

A few days after that fateful night, I saw Yuna in the hallway. After days of cowering and avoiding her as much as possible, I finally plucked up the courage to try and walk up to her and apologise for everything that has happened. I was about to open my mouth and call her name when suddenly, a boy came out of the classroom she had been waiting outside for.

I swallowed my words back. There was no way I was going to embarrass myself like this in front of such a large crowd. The boy took Yuna's hand and Yuna smiled back at him. I felt jealousy course through my veins and coil around me like a snake, threatening to suffocate me. But at least I had to know who I was up against. I took a closer look. Wasn't the Park Haechan sunbae? He was a year older than me (and thus two years older than Yuna). They were walking towards my direction and I quickly looked away, waiting for them to pass.

I couldn't believe what I had just seen. Why was Yuna hanging around with someone like him? This was not going to end well. Everyone in the school knew who Park Haechan was, but depending on who you were, you would have a vastly different impression of him. Haechan sunbae was almost two completely different persons around guys and girls. Around girls, he would always be this sweet, charming sunbae that was uncontrollably charismatic and attractive to girls. But guys would be able to see past these fake exterior and see him for what he truly was-- a human scum. Behind the backs of girls, he was a complete d*ck and as*hole. He was a jock from a rich family and there was a rumour that his parents knew the principal. He was a big bully and picked on juniors he didn't like but everyone also knew that he was a lecher and always took advantage of the girls hanging around with him. There was another rumour circulating around that once he had gained the trust of the girls, he would do unspeakable things to them, before tossing them away as though they were now worthless.

Seeing Yuna hanging around a guy like him made me worry for her safety. I wanted to stand up to Haechan and expose all his dirty deeds to the whole school, but there were people who had done that before, and they either ended up in the toilet with a bloody nose or simply left the school, never to be seen again.

As fate would have it, I saw Haechan and Yuna again while I was at the cafeteria. They were queuing for food and Yuna was in front of Haechan and he was... he was about to touch her? Who would even dare to do this sort of disgusting abomination in public. I couldn't bear to look at it anymore. I stood up, about to leave.

"Park Haechan, what are you doing?"

A boy with fair skin, probably of mixed ethnicity stood up and shouted. For a fleeting moment, I realised that I was not the only one up against sunbae Haechan.

Haechan turned around, quickly putting those filthy hands of his back into his pocket. He scowled at the other boy and for just a split second, I felt relieved that I wasn't the one who Haechan would go after, but shame quickly rushed over me. Just a few moments ago, I wanted someone to stand up and fight against Haechan alongside me but now I was acting like a coward.

As I walked past them, I heard Yuna turn around and ask him "What's wrong?" and he still had the cheek to say,

"Oh, it's just a friend saying hi. Don't worry about it."

I felt like puking up the lunch I had just eaten.

For the next two lessons after lunch, I couldn't focus on the lessons at all. I was so disturbed by what I had seen. Park Haechan was trying to touch and take advantage of Yuna. I couldn't help but feel a sense of worry brewing deep inside me. Everyone knew that Haechan was a complete jerk and playboy and changed his girlfriends as quickly as one changed clothes. But that was not the worst, I couldn't bear to see Yuna get hurt by such a jerk. That night when she saw me at the party with Ryujin, her heart probably shattered into a million pieces, I couldn't let her get hurt again.

"Ring!" I walked out of the class with a heavy heart. I was heading along the hallway when I saw Haechan and the rest of his gang come out of the toilet. Sleeves rolled back, smirking, with stains of blood on their white uniform. It couldn't, could it? I pushed open the door. There he was, the same boy who stood up to Haechan just now. He lay sprawled on the floor with blood oozing out from his nose. The red liquid stained the floor, mixed together with his tears. I took one step closer.

I stretched out my hand, helping him up. I wanted to ask if it was Haechan and his friends who did this, but didn't I already know the answer?

"Don't worry, you're really brave to have stood up to him. You're fine, OK?" He mustered a weak nod. I asked him more questions, his name, his class, what had happened? I offered to bring him to the sick bay to get his injuries checked at, but he said no.

"I don't want my parents to know that I've been beaten up on my first day at school."

"You've been really brave, to stand up to someone in an unfamiliar environment. I'm sure your parents won't mind."

He still shook his head, I decided not to persist.

"Look, give me your number. If you need any help, just give me a call."

I punched in the numbers he gave me and saved the contact as "Mark Kim". As we passed through the school gate, we headed our separate ways. I turned back and wanted to ask him something, but he never looked back.

I took out my phone and wanted to text Yuna.

Yuna, it's me, Kyungsoo. I'm sorry about what happened that night, can we meet up? I want to properly apologise.

I considered giving an explanation in the text, but I typed and deleted, typed and deleted, I realised that some things were better said face-to-face.

I looked at the message, I noticed that Yuna had already read it.