ㄖㄩㄒ匚卂丂ㄒ- ㄒ乂ㄒ

III

Warning! This chapter contains homophobia, violence and injury. Please proceed with caution.

C.SB. POV

Soobin sprinted down the corridors, head whipping around, looking for the three girls amongst the students roaming the hall, eventually spotting the plaited blonde hair of the tallest girl, and running in that direction, squeezing past various other highly confused wizards. After a couple minutes of walking the historical halls of Hogwarts, the girls stop in front of an empty wall. Befuddled at why on earth they had stopped, the Hufflepuff peaked around a corner, only to watch two grand doors form on the wall in a burst of light. They walked inside nonchalantly, and after a few seconds of blinking in shock, Soobin realised the doors were going close, and so he ran as fast as his long legs would carry him, fortunately making it inside just before they slammed behind him.

Wandering into the room, his dark eyes scanned for the people he had been following, only to find the room seemingly empty. Raising an eyebrow, he called out "Hello? I'm sorry to bother you but one of you ladies dropped your textbook and I wanted to return it..." These words echoed around the spacious room, wind howling outside, a broken window allowing a chilly draft to invade the room. Seeing no form of life, Soobin sighed heavily and turned around to leave once again, only find the very trio he was looking for. A bright, dimpled smile spread across his face and he walked closer to the three witches. However, the Hufflepuff very quickly recognised them now he could see their faces, and that grin turned into a frown of horror almost instantaneously, upon realising it was a trap.

The tall Slytherin girl with the stiff blonde plait, strode up to him, Soobin now recognising her as Lilith Vanguarde, someone who he avoided on a daily basis. Knowing Lilith's identity, he now figured that her companions must be Ashley Fleuren, a petite French girl with mousy black hair, tied into a firm side bun at all times, and aqua eyes as cold as winter, and Eleanor Tolsey, a curvaceous glasses wearing Slytherin, her damaged auburn hair straightened into lank submission and hazel eyes glimmering with malice. A second or two had passed since Lilith had approached him, and next thing Soobin knew, he'd been pushed to the floor. "What the hell are you looking at, you fucking fag?!" She spat at him, standing over him with a hateful gaze. He remained silent, causing the girl to scoff and gesture her friends over.

Glaring dead into his eyes, she yelled "WHY WON'T YOU SPEAK TO US, YOU FUCKING FREAK?! DO YOU NOT WANT THE TRUTH? YOU'RE A WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT THAT NO ONE CARES ABOUT, SO WHY DON'T YOU GO AND DIE ALREADY!?" At each insult, Soobin could feel verbal knifes stabbing him repeatedly, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, but he refused to give the girls that satisfaction. He refused to let them get the best of him. Seeing his hurt expression, Eleanor started laughing. "That's what you get for tricking me in Astrology! I THOUGHT YOU WERE NICE, BUT THEN YOU TURN OUT TO BE THE WORST KIND OF FREAK!" With this, the ginger heavily kicked him in the stomach, causing Soobin to yelp in pain.

Seeing they finally got a reaction out of the Hufflepuff, the other girls started kicking him in the stomach too, their pointy shoes digging into his flesh. Agony kept on increasing for what felt like days, and Soobin clenched his eyes shut, determined not to show any more weakness in front of his attackers. Then, the kicking stopped. Not that he could tell, as he was in so much pain from the constant assault. Soobin only realised that the girls had left when he heard the door slam shut once again. As soon as that sound reached his eardrums, he broke down, a seemingly infinite waterfall of tears streaming down his face, choked sobs echoing around the empty room. He couldn't stop, the pain felt like it would never fade.

'Why me?', he thought wondering why out of all of the people in this damned school, the girls had to chose him to harass this way. All he had ever done was be proud enough to be himself, even if that wasn't the case openly till a couple of years ago. Why was that such a huge issue? Or was he really a freak? Would the world be better off if he wore the mask society gave him? And the last question was why he didn't tell his friends. To Soobin, he would choose his chosen 'family' over the one he was born to. They made him feel safe, they made him feel proud to be Choi Soobin. And the intrusive thought that if he told them, that they would suffer so much worse. He didn't want it to, but every so often, an image crossed his mind:

Taehyun, beaten and bruised in a puddle of his own blood, clothes torn. Beomgyu, crying alone in a bathroom, his legs injured to the point he couldn't stand. Hueningkai, being restrained by men in bleeding porcelain masks, trying to force a spike lined mask of a smile onto him. And then last of all, Yeonjun, trapped in a cage, made out of paper, each piece filled with the words 'I order you', surrounded by people betting the highest price to kill him.

Soobin didn't know what it meant, but he didn't dare to try and find out. So, with a loud, pained groan, he pushed himself up from the cold, hard floor of the Room of Requirement, and strode out of the room and to his next class, Divination, which he shared with Yeonjun, in silent teeth bearing agony, not removing his mask, the one which hid restrained tears and pleas for help.

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Chapter Three done! Hope this was...enjoyable to read? Or you want to slap me for doing this, but uh, that aside.
Stay safe my little moons and I'll see you in the next chapter!
Star