𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐲 ❅ 𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐲𝐮𝐤

[ 𝟐𝟕 ]

Yujin motioned Hyunsoo to scoot over and placed herself to sit on the edge of the crates, the two sitting together in comfortable silence and relishing the tranquil moment. 

Yujin was the first to break the silence and asked, "Did you sleep well last night?" while looking at the boy sitting next to him.

Hyunsoo simply shook his head, though the bags under his eyes should be an obvious answer already. Yujin exhaled through her nose, "Me neither," she answered with a chuckle, and the air fell quiet again.

"Yujin?"
"What's wrong?" 
"How did it go?"

"How did what go?" Yujin hummed in confusion before realizing what he was indicating and asked again, "You mean with Eunhyuk?" Hyunsoo nodded at her question, curiosity displaying in his eyes as he spoke, "Did you two make up?"

After a moment of pondering, "Yes- I suppose so," Yujin replied with a quick shrug. "That's good, I'm glad," he told her, a small smile grazing his lips. She glanced at the boy next to her, meeting his eyes and saw him looking at her with emotions she couldn't quite decipher.

"You looked so down before, but you look much happier now, so I'm glad you made up with him," he spoke. 

"If you're happy, then I'm happy too," he swallowed nervously as he continued on with his sentence, his voice getting smaller and smaller with each word that came out.

Upon hearing his words, Yujin huffed out a chuckle before pinching his cheeks, "You're adorable, kid."

Hyunsoo's face grew hot at her touch but his expression immediately fell, fading into one of sadness when he heard the word "kid".

The feeling of dejection bubbled up in the pit of his stomach, and he wasn't entirely sure why. Was it because of the name "kid"? Or was it because how Yujin only saw him as a kid, and nothing more?

His change of expression certainly didn't go unnoticed by Yujin, and the girl couldn't help but wonder what happened.

"Uh- I'm happy we made up too, being mad at someone drains so much of my energy!" she giggled, trying to lighten up the mood.

Hyunsoo quickly shook his thoughts away and his lips tugged up into a tight-lipped smile once again, humming at Yujin in understanding. "Yeah, it really does, doesn't it?"

"When was the last time you were mad at someone?" Yujin asked him after hearing his words, trying to spark a conversation as she kept her gaze on him and waited for his answer. The long-haired boy stayed quiet, seeming to be deep in thought.

A pained expression made its way across his face before he opened his mouth and responded vaguely, "About a year ago,"

Yujin tilted her head, obviously curious about what had happened. She opened her mouth to ask again but stopped right before any words could come out. The girl hesitated and decided it was probably for the better if she hadn't continued asking, she didn't want to overstep or appear to be nosy after all.

"I was angry that he did this to him, he told that boy to jump in front of a bus..." Hyunsoo continued speaking about the incident, which was a surprise to Yujin.

He continued on, "I couldn't do anything else. I was angry, I didn't know what else I was supposed to do to stand up for him and myself." With every word that came out, his voice progressively became quieter and soon, tears began glimmering in his eyes.

Yujin's eyes lingered on him, awaiting Hyunsoo to continue his words. "I- I couldn't stand up for myself..." his words fell to a whisper, his voice wavering slightly before he bit his lip to hold in his tears that were threatening to fall.

It hurt him every time he remembered the incident, where his actions caused the death of his classmate's mother. Even after all this time, it still pained him both physically and mentally to think about it. 

The small scars and shallow cuts that covered his arm still had a dull ache to them each time he thought about the amount of pain he had caused to those around him, and he hated himself for it, for everything.

Hyunsoo never meant for it to happen, all he wanted to do was help the boy, and to stand up to the heartless bully.

Yet deep in his heart, the boy believed that he was the reason behind the death of his classmate's mother, the reason behind the death of his family. 

He was the reason behind it all. 

The pained look on his face broke Yujin's heart, her chest twisting with an unfathomed emotion. She didn't know what exactly happened to Hyunsoo that day or even who he was talking about, but she could feel her heart squeezing together as if she was experiencing the same pain as he did.

Slowly reaching for his hand, Yujin took it into her own and squeezed it softly. Hyunsoo glanced up at her, his eyes were distant and hazy with the unbearably torturous memories of his classmates.

The awful things they did, not just to Hyunsoo himself but the other innocent people in their class as well. He hated them, he despised them.

"Hey," Yujin voiced out, snapping Hyunsoo out of his trance. With another squeeze to his hand, she told him in the most gentle tone she could manage, "Everything's gonna be okay, Hyunsoo. I'm here, I'm always here for you."

She squeezed his hand even tighter, "Now, you can stand up for yourself and fight," she spoke. "But what if I couldn't?" he asked her softly while his gaze remained on his lap. "Then I will stand up for you, and I will fight for you," Yujin answered without a second thought.

"We got this. You got this."

/author's note/

hii everyone! thank you for reading another chapter, i hope you enjoyed it!

please feel free to vote if you liked it, and i'll see you all in the next chapter^^ take care and stay safe, everyone!