I Did

TRIGGER WARNING: Vulgar language + descriptions of wounds.

Read at your own discretion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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With his head rested against the door of his locker, Baekhyun wished as hard as he could that this was all a dream and he could wake up in his bed to see it was the weekend. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. His wishes were answered with a horrific 'no' as one dark haired male was found standing to the right, arms crossed over his chest and giving an unamused expression.

 

"I heard what happened at the Red Room last night."

 

It was Huang Zitao, the preppiest guy to ever walk the campus grounds of the academy. He may not have been the ultimate 'kingka' amongst school society, but he sure as hell tried his best. He wore a big, fat, metaphorical crown atop his head at all times. Though there was indeed a hierarchy within the male student body, only Zitao took it with absolute seriousness. So much that others often would joke that he should transfer over to their sister academy full of girls, whom most of which took popularity almost as seriously as he did.

 

"So what? You're going to end my social life or something?"

"No. I'll let this one slide." Baekhyun huffed, opening up his locker just so he could use the door as a divider between himself and Zitao. It was bad enough that he had to stand there and listen to him talk. He didn't need to see his smug face, either.

"If you think for one second that I'd be one of your minions—"

"I do, actually," Tao interrupted. "I think you would. I know what you want and I can get it for you."

"What do you know about what I want?" He retorted, forcefully slamming his locker shut as he turned to face his peer. One more second having to converse with the other and he felt as though he would explode on spot.

"You want to go to all the parties and events, not all that primary school bullshit. You want the real deal. Being a part of my crew doesn't go without it's perks." Flashing a smug little smirk, Tao watched as Baekhyun stood nearly paralyzed. In Baekhyun's head, an uncountable number of thoughts rushed about. One part of him said that it was forbidden to ever be anything above acquainted with such disrespectful, cunning people like Zitao. Another part told him that he was right; Baekhyun truly did want to live the life of the party. "I'll leave you to think about it," Tao resumed, adjusting the satchel that hung over his shoulder. "When you've made up your mind, you know where to find me." Before Baekhyun was given a chance to respond, Tao had already walked down the hallway and disappeared.

 

The poor young soul was so confused. He thought after reuniting with Chanyeol the other night his mind had been cleared of any self-doubt.

He thought wrong.

 

 

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"Oh my god," a gentle voice called out, riddled with worry, "I didn't realize it was that bad."

 

Kim Jongin sat at his usual seat just at the farthest end of the classroom. Beside him sat the likes of Do Kyungsoo, the one person who Jongin could trust his life with. Though most of his time had been spent hanging out with other people and partying like there was no tomorrow, at the end of the day, Kyungsoo was his right-hand man. The one person who he knew would never betray him and always had his back.

 

Nervously fidgeting with the pencil in between his fingers, Jongin refused to look his friend in the eye. After last night's run-in with Byun Baekhyun, it turned out that not only did his nose bleed— it broke. He had to be rushed to the Emergency Room at four AM when he realized just how much pain he was in. The doctors were able to help him and released him that morning. His parents insisted he stay home to rest, but Jongin simply snuck out from his bedroom window and went to school. He thought that if he didn't continue to live his normal lifestyle then people would begin to think he was weak.

"It isn't that bad. It's just a broken bone. I'm not dead or anything," Jongin responded using a passive aggressive tone, the attitude in him just growing worse and worse as each second passed. Kyungsoo overlooked his sourness, already knowing that Jongin would act in such a way.

"Jongin... You have gauze covering the entire center of your face." He lowered his tone to a whisper, leaning in so no one else could eavesdrop. "Rumors have already spread like wildfire. Everyone is making fun of you."

"Then let them!" Jongin snapped back, grabbing the attention of every student and teacher in the room. "I don't care!"

 

There was a long silence as Jongin fumed with rage. He wasn't so mad that his nose had been broken, but rather that each and every person he'd crossed paths with since the incident that caused his injury had pitied him. They treated him like some sad, abused puppy. He was no where near that.

 

Under normal circumstance, the teacher would have scolded Jongin for disrupting the class. But he, too, could not deny noticing the medical gauze. Swiftly coming over to the back of the class, the teacher butted in between him and Kyungsoo.

"Please come with me outside. Now." Loosening the tie that was wrapped around his neck, the teacher escorted Jongin out the classroom and into the quietness of the hall. Once shutting the class door and giving a few glances to check they were alone, he finally said in a kind voice, "Do you have a doctor's note?"

Jongin shook his head, stuffing both hands into the pockets of his slacks. The teacher continued to question.

"You didn't have that wound yesterday. Are you supposed to be here right now?"

"What's it matter to you?" The student replied, quirking up a brow. "You're getting paid nonetheless. So just do your job and stop butting into other people's business."

 

There was a pause, the older male breathing in the stuffy hallway air deeply. Whether this student was being rude to him or not, he had to be the responsible one.

 

"I know you play on the lacrosse team... Jongin, you can't play when you have injuries like this." Jongin scoffed.

"I can still play as good as I did yesterday. A rearranged nose isn't going to cripple me or take away my skill."

"You're right. But playing may put you in danger of furthering the intensity of the wound... I'm sorry, I really am, but I have to send you to the infirmary." With a distraught look on his face, Jongin waited in place outside the classroom while the teacher went back inside to get another student. Soon after Kyungsoo came walking out with Jongin's backpack slung over his shoulder.

 

"Looks like you're going home after all..." The other only nodded his head in agreement, silently following alongside his life-long friend towards the school infirmary. The whole time Kyungsoo was there with him, waiting patiently as the nurse quickly contacted his parents and told them the situation. A handful of minutes later, the nurse returned to him and informed that his mother would be coming to pick him up from school.

Standing from his seat, Jongin immediately announced, "I'm going to get a drink of water," and stormed out the infirmary. 

"Me too!" Kyung called out, rushing to catch up. Not once did he leave his sight, continuing to pursue him wherever he went. He did this not because he was afraid of Jongin hurting himself or running off, but because he didn't ever want the other to feel that he was alone. He knew how hard Jongin's childhood had been with both parents constantly away for business, putting their work priorities over family.

 

As the boy with the broken nose wandered into the bathroom, Kyungsoo staggering behind. He couldn't help but feel vulnerable. Watching his reflection staring back at him in the mirror, Jongin brought his hands up as he delicately began to remove the gauze that hid his face from the world. Now he inspected his true self, taking note to every yellow-purple bruise that stained his skin. The fracture of his bone tilted off to the side, scarlet blood oozing from a minuscule cut just across the middle. Kyungsoo widened his eyes in absolute horror.

 

"Baekhyun did this to you, didn't he?"

"No," the other boy said in a melancholy monotone. "I did."

 

 

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"Where's Kai?" Yunhee asked aloud, searching about the students sitting at the bench but failed to find the face in question.

"He went home, I heard," Yifan replied as he checked his phone, "I tried calling him but it went straight to voicemail."

 

With a pout in her bottom lip, the light-haired girl cooed, "I hope he's okay! Ugh, I can't believe that Baekhyun. Why would he do something like that?"

"You have to admit though, it was pretty brave," Zitao added, glancing down at Yunhee from his typical spot on the tabletop. "No one's ever laid a finger on that boy."

"That doesn't mean he deserved it." Yunhee frowned, feeling sorry for her friend as she began to eat the pasta from her lunch.

 

"He's right." Yifan let out a gentle sigh as he ran his fingers through his perfectly styled hair. "Jongin's never been pushed around or faced with danger. He has to learn to take a punch or else, someday, it might get him killed."

Tao and Yifan both looked to each other from their opposite ends of the bench, staring in silence as if they could communicate that way. Despite having known each other since their toddler years and even being in the same clique, they'd hardly ever spoken a word to each other. With a special glint in his eyes, Tao mentally thanked the blonde for backing up his opinion. Kris nodded his head, the two young men instantly going back to flipping through messages on their cellular devices.

 

Kyungsoo came walking up the bench full of Jongin's friends from outside school campus, a heavy feeling of weariness causing him to lag more than usual. He'd walked all the way from the outskirts of the city and back to school just so he could look out for his friend.

"Hey, guys..."

Yunhee was the first to reply. "Oh, hey Kyung! What're you doing here?" 

"Kai's in a lot of pain right now. I was with him before he went home this morning. He's just so depressed and I know he's supposed to be recovering but... let's be real; He never rests." Few students nodded in agreement, listening to Kyungsoo's proposal. "I want to throw another party for him. His parents are out of town as of tomorrow, so we can just bring the party to his house. No one is invited but us, though," he explained, shooting all of them a stern look. "I don't want anyone to bring him down or try to ruin the party."

 

"That's actually a great idea! I can take care of the entertainment and drinks." Yunhee smiled wide, showing off her pearly white teeth.

Tao pushed his phone away into his pocket and said, "I've got catering handled."

One final idea was thrown into the bunch from the tall, quiet blonde, "I know a few ladies who might help comfort him."

Finding all of their cooperation and two-cents to be suitable, Kyungsoo rubbed his hands together.

"Great, then. Let's start at ten. That's when his parents are gonna be gone." Everyone bid their mutual companion farewell as he walked back off campus, in no mood to return to classes for the remainder of the day. He had a party to plan.

 

 

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As it usually did at the end of each school day, the bell rang loud and clear to be heard from even down the road. In that instance, thousands of students went jumping from their desks and rushing about the campus like free-range cattle to meet with their friends.

Huang Zitao, on the other hand, was all by his lonesome as he stacked up textbooks in his locker for the next day. Usually he would have some sort of party to go to or lives to ruin but it seemed as though nothing worthy was going to happen today. As he stood there blankly gazing into the inside of his locker, he thought to himself, 'Am I, the King of the school, really about to go home and do nothing?' Yet it seemed that some higher power must have been listening in to his concerns, for not but seconds later thinking this did someone with a strong figure and bleached blonde hair approach him at his locker.

 

Zitao turned his head to look up at the taller of the two, unable to hold back a smirk as he shut his locker closed.

"Aren't you going to say hello?"

Yifan scoped the halls that surrounded them, hardly hearing Tao's voice within all the frantic chatter of other students.

"In all this time, we've never gotten to know each other," he stated, ignoring any other comments and just speaking his mind. Though it was rude, Zitao was entertained by the cool display.

"Are you saying we should start now?"

"It wouldn't hurt..." Grinning to himself, Tao leaned up against the lockers behind him and played along with Yifan's 'cool' exterior act.

"Fine. I'll have to cancel my plans."

"I figured we could—"

"We're going to the mall," Tao quickly interrupted, thinking that if they were going to play some sort of discreet game then they'd do it his way. "You have a car, right?" Yifan gave a single nod, still a bit flustered. Normally he was the dominate personality in any relationship. Never before was he challenged like this.

"Yeah, of course."

 

Extending out his hand, the darker of them asked, "Can I have the keys, then? I'm driving." 

"You're driving?" Yifan raised a brow in suspicion, but Zitao still awaited calmly and didn't bother to respond. He sighed softly before digging through his pockets to take out his keys, reluctantly handing them over.

Tao took them gratefully and began moving towards the door at the end of the hall, gesturing for him to follow along. "Let's bounce already."

 

 

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"You still haven't really talked about what happened."

"Do I have to talk about it?"

"No, but... I guess you're right. I'm just a little confused."

 

Kyungsoo had eventually dropped by Jongin's home around the time that school was supposedly over. Luckily, the house maid had allowed him in and his parents were too busy to kick him out. Jongin laid down on his king-sized bed, Kyungsoo sitting on edge of it beside him. For nearly two hours they had been quietly talking, trying to relax in each other's company. But now Kyungsoo just had to bring up Jongin's injury.

"Everyone says that Baekhyun hit you, but earlier you told me you did it? This needs explanation."

 

Finding it too difficult to express his thoughts, even to his friend of many years, Jongin sat in awkward silence. For some time Kyung waited until it seemed unbearable, his unanswered questions itching to be solved. He reached over towards the end table next to his bed to grab a light-weight box of tissues, using it to throw at Jongin's face.

"Hey! What the hell?!" He shouted partially after the tissue box hit his forehead and fell off to the ground.

"Explain already! Once you tell me, then I'll leave you alone!" Whining under his breath, Jongin finally gave up his stubborn ways to appease Kyungsoo. Adjusting the new gauze that covered his fractured nose, he let out one last puff of vexation.

"Okay, okay! Yes, Baekhyun did hit me... but I'm saying it was my fault." Cautiously he moved his body to sit upwards and look at Kyungsoo straight on. "I pursued him wrongly, and even though I'm mad about it, I can't blame him."

 

Genuinely confused with the sudden change of heart, Kyungsoo retorted, "Since when did you start to care like that?"

"I don't know, honestly. I think I had some kind of epiphany when I was at the hospital."

"You didn't say to your parents what happened, did you?"

"Hell no," He scoffed, shaking his head profusely. "If I did then they would just use it as an excuse to sue. All they care about is themselves."

 

"So you're not going to try to get revenge?" Jongin hadn't even thought of revenge, let alone anything so petty in the past few hours. His heart wouldn't change overnight, of course, but now he seemed to see certain things from a different perspective. Despite his lack of faith, he did believe in fate. That everything happens for a reason. Clasping his hands together, the bronzed boy with bruised skin was stuck in a daze.

 

 

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Searching diligently through the clothes rack, Zitao finally came upon a classy black blazer that caught his interest.

"This could work for my homecoming outfit..." He muttered to himself, but was loud enough for Yifan to hear him clearly. The elder let out a small chuckle in disbelief.

"You're already thinking about the homecoming dance?"

"Of course I am!" Tao cried out, gently pushing the other backwards. Moving only a single step away, the blonde ignored his companion's distress and continued looking at clothes. "They haven't made any announcements yet but my friend in the student government says they already have a date for homecoming week and it's supposed to be coming soon," He explained as he took the blazer and held it in his arms along with several other clothing pieces. "It's going to be the first school event and first impressions are everything. So I have to be prepared."

"Hm. I've never been," Yifan commented, hardly concerned with the same trivial things as Tao.

 

For the boy who has always partook and worshipped any social gathering or events, he instantly was shocked.

"What do you mean you've never been? Never been to the homecoming dance?"

"Never been to any dance. It sounds boring, a whole night spent at some school party... Why pay money to go to some event where you're being monitored all the time by adults? I'd rather skip the whole thing and go do something that allows me to be comfortable." Despite admitting how he felt and giving his perspective on the situation, Tao was still not happy with his answer.

 

"Too bad. You're going this year."

"What?" He was dragged by the arm, the pair beginning to rush throughout the store on a journey to find some suitable clothing. "I was serious, Zitao. I don't have any interest in going to the dance. It's— It's not my thing."

"I don't care... Try this on." Huffing in annoyance, he snatched the clothes away from him and went ahead to try them on.

 

Nearly an hour spent of shopping for clothes passed until Zitao felt content. Confidently he strolled through the mall, texting another friend on his phone while Yifan lagged far behind with his arms full of bags.

"What's the hold up? Hurry!"

"These bags are incredibly heavy! I had to cough up the money for all this stuff, now I have to carry them too?" Tao nodded his head simply, not having a care in the world as he hummed a little tune. Without any further argument, Yifan followed the other out the mall as his personal pack mule.

 

 

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One leg crossed over the other and hands holding each other, Park Yunhee sat awaiting to meet with possibly the scariest man she'd ever known. Sweat on her palms began to form, her heart beating at what felt like a million beat per second. The door creaked open as he finally arrived, giving her a respectful bow before taking his seat at the other end of the desk.

"I'm sorry for my lateness. I just came back from an important business meeting."

"Of course. I completely understand, Mr.Wu," she replied, keeping the best pokerface she could. She always was nervous when meeting with Mr.Wu, the very man whose power could crush her within a second if he ever wished it. The situation was quite tricky, but she had to have hope if she ever wanted to make her family proud.

 

Once clearing his throat, the elderly man went on to explain, "I've tried my hardest to persuade him to find a proper lady. But he's stubborn, as you well know. I believe you can assist with my problem, and in return, I can assist with yours."

There was an awkward silence, Yunhee gulping down the saliva that seemed to drown her mouth. She gave a nod, afraid that Yifan could walk in at any moment and discover them.

 

"What's your proposition?"

"I plan on making Yifan my heir. He is smart, thankfully, and strong-willed. He has every makings to become a great successor for my company. But a man cannot be king without a queen by his side. Yifan has only ever meddled with low-lives who want to mooch off his wealth. He needs someone who has good standing with the public, who is as clever as he is. I believe you and Yifan would be a great team if you coupled together."

Yunhee raised a brow, unable to process everything right away. "You mean..."

"I mean if you can get Yifan to accept you as his woman, we will both benefit from it. Your family can acquire some of our wealth and ours can share the same reputation your family holds. By the time Yifan takes over, he will need help mending his horrible reputation. Being married to the Park's daughter will make it easier for the public to respect him. You understand, yes?"

 

"Father! I'm home!" A voice bellowed out from downstairs, causing Yunhee to jump up with anxiousness. She turned to Mr.Wu, who gestured with his hands for her to tend to him. Reluctantly she agreed, tip-toeing out of Mr.Wu's office and rushing to greet Yifan.

"Hey! Kris!" She called out joyously, putting on her brightest smile. Yifan turned around, giving the girl a confused look.

"What are you doing in my home?"

She thought of a quick excuse, struggling to hide her nervousness, "Oh, I was just, uh... waiting for you to return! I thought we could go for a walk? Maybe have dinner?" The ginger haired girl clung onto his arm, batting her thick eyelashes at him and praying he would accept her offer. Giving the girl a quick one-over, he came to the conclusion that if he didn't say yes she would never stop bothering him.

"Fine," he sighed out, setting the few shopping bags in his hand down on a nearby coffee table before escorting the ever-so-bubbly Yunhee back outside his home.

 

It baffled him at how much of a nuisance this girl was. Every aspect of her simply cooked his insides to a simmer. There had to be some way to get rid of her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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