[WARNING]

"please put your pencils down. your exam time has finished. close your exam booklet and hand it in over to me on your way out," yedam's history teacher announced to the class as the time for the very last exam came to an end.

the past two weeks were very hectic for yedam; not only did he have to finish recomposing his song for his music composition class, but he also had to study for all the other subjects that he was taking as well. it took up all of his schedule, and the actual exam week was the busiest of them all. even though his exams were not all taken in the same day, it still filled up the masked male's schedule with the constant studying and reviewing.

yedam got up from his seat after he finished packing up his bag and placed his exam booklet on the teacher's desk while making his way out of the classroom, stretching his arms up as he passed through the open classroom door. exams were finally over and the semester break had started the moment that the masked male stepped foot outside the classroom and made his way to the elevators to exit the building.

the second year university student was going to meet up with jihoon and everyone else in about half an hour in order to give everyone some time to make their way to his faculty, specifically those who were in the medicine faculty all the way across campus, namely jeongwoo and yoshi.

although the masked male didn't have to leave the building this early, since no one would be arriving until half an hour later, he still decided to go to the front of the building and find a bench to sit on while waiting for his friends and older brother to arrive.

but as he exited the elevator and was making his way to the entrance of the faculty building, a hand made its way over the masked male's already covered mouth and yanked him backwards, knocking him off balance and his squeal of surprise being muffled.

the second year university student felt his feet leave the security of the firm ground as the person who had grabbed him threw yedam over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and was now running away from the entrance to the back exit of the school, where nearly no one ever traveled, with yedam held securely in their arms. even after flapping around, kicking, and moving his arms, the masked male wasn't able to escape the strong grasp that held onto him.

"try to escape and i'll do much more to you than you think," the person said lowly, loud enough for his words to be audible enough to the small male but quiet enough that it didn't draw suspicious looks towards their direction from other students. however, that didn't stop the third year university student from trying to escape, and it definitely wasn't beneficial that everyone who passed by the two males thought they were just playing around.

it didn't need to be directly told to the masked male for him to know that the person carrying him was one of his bullies, whether it was the leader or one of his friends. although he forgets things after passing out from being bullied and doesn't really remember the faces or the voices of his bullies, it was undeniable that the actions of the male who just kidnapped him had any desire other than to bully the said male. and not wanting to get caught up in that mess was yedam's main drive for trying to escape. also because the masked male could smell the scent of baby powder coming from the larger male, which already gave him some signs of hyperventilation. obviously his scented masks didn't help with his allergy all the time, especially when he came into close contact with people who use baby powder.

after many attempts at getting free from the bully and failing every time, the second year university student felt his body being thrown against the brick wall at the back of the school, and he was thrown hard. as his back came in contact with the rough exterior of his faculty building, yedam let out a loud cry of pain as he fell to the floor, feeling his spine crack somewhere and the warm blood staining his shirt on the back side.

he felt crippled, unable to move. his back was in so much pain that the second year university student couldn't even hold back his tears as they poured out of his eyes and stained his mask as well as the ground beneath him. it was the worst pain he had ever felt in his entire life, and it was even worse that he couldn't push himself up to at least try and run away or fight back. he was already vulnerable from the start with nothing to do, nowhere to go.

the leader of the five bullies grabbed the collar of yedam's shirt and pulled the smaller male slightly up from the ground, in a position where the masked male's legs were still on the ground but his torso was raised up, twisting his back in an upward motion and causing more pain to course through his body, leading to yedam letting out another pained cry. the bully that was holding him up forced the mask off of the second year university student's face and brought his face close to the smaller male.

"you know..." the bully's voice was low and hoarse, almost as if he was trying to force his voice to produce such a low tone. "my younger brother gave me a ton of extra baby powder about a month ago, and guess what? we haven't used all of them yet."

yedam could feel the bully that was holding him up smirk underneath that black mask of his that was covering the lower half of his face. the upper half was covered up by his hair, so the second year university student was unable to get a good look at him.

"be glad that we only used five bottles of baby powder on you this past month-" the bully stopped his words before letting out a small chuckle. "hell, it isn't even a month. more like two weeks."

yedam was staring intensely at the taller male through his tears, his blurry vision, and his messy hair as a means to try and intimidate the other. but of course, he miserably failed. the bully was able to see through him and found the whole purpose of the staring contest the masked male was initiating, and as a result, he punched yedam's cheek, causing his head to turn downwards sharply before letting go of the collar of the second year university student's shirt.

the other four boys crowded around the masked male, who was lying defenseless on the ground with a blood stained shirt all along his back and some large scratches on his face from the collision with the ground he just experienced. the five bullies then began to kick and punch yedam everywhere: his stomach, his chest, his face, his arms, his legs, everywhere. the masked male felt that there wasn't a single place on his body that they didn't abuse, essentially making him bruised all over.

after the five students finished gaining their satisfaction from inflicting physical harm on the vulnerable second year student, the leader of the five bullies began to speak again. "there are still about twenty bottles left that i haven't used yet."

unable to move, yedam felt his his clothes being striped from his body. first, his thick coat that was keeping him warm in the cold weather outside. next, his secondary jacket to add extra layering. then, his shirt, and lastly, his pants. the masked male was left in his underwear in the cold winter weather of december, and his body instinctively started shivering.

the bully continued to talk while one of his friends walked off to the side, smirking through his mask, as yedam could see from the expression in his eyes with the little strength he had left. "i feel that there's too much baby powder left, don't you?"

a rhetorical question, but the three remaining friends nodded their heads anyway, agreeing with the tall male. the bully looked to his left and right, taking in the reaction from his friends, before turning back to yedam, who was lying helplessly on the ground.

the main bully knelt down to one knee, getting as close to yedam's face as he could, before continuing to say the last of what he wanted to say. "and since there's still a lot left, i thought, why not share it with you? after all, you seem to love baby powder so much that you're always covered in it when we see you."

the masked male used the last of his strength to shake his head, not wanting the bullies to do what he believed they were going to do, which was give him another baby powder shower. the bullies' leader saw this action from yedam and punched the second year university student, causing his head to be thrown to the ground once again and drawing another scratch on the side of the masked male's face.

"seunghun! here!" a voice called out, catching yedam's attention. with the last of the strength the male had, he turned his head up to see the leader of his bullies turned towards his other friend, who had came back from wherever he was, and caught a black bag that was thrown to him. he dropped the bag on the floor by his feet and gave a glare to his friend, pointing to the said male while taking off his black mask.

"idiot!" he accused to his friend. "now he fucking knows who i am. and now he fucking knows who you guys are as well!"

"but he doesn't know our names. how will he know who we are?" one of yedam's bullies on the side called out. the leader, now known as seunghun, shut his eyes tight and massaged the bridge of his nose, inhaling sharply before talking.

"i told him about you guys. we've been over this! goddamnit jinyoung! you had one job! one! fucking! job! and that was to not expose who we are!"

"s... s... s-seunghun... h-hyung?" the second year university student managed to mutter out to the older male, who turned his head upon hearing the masked male talk. he knelt down in front of the younger and punted a finger at him, giving him a disgusted look.

"don't call me hyung. i will never let anyone like you call me that," seunghun spatted out, pushing yedam's head with his finger as he finished his sentence.

the tears in the masked male's eyes started to fall more rapidly upon realizing who his bully was all along. seunghun, the older brother of doyoung, the only "friend" that was in his faculty, the person who treated him nicely just like his younger brother, the person that doyoung had introduced him to.

"w-why...?" the second year university student was confused. he was confused as to why things turned out this way, confused as to why his bully was the same person that he had somehow gotten along with well after being introduced to each other by the older male's little brother, confused as to why seunghun treated him nicely, like a friend, when the third year university student was really his abusive bully.

"your older brother, jihoon. he was starting to get onto me. so have your friends," seunghun let out a scoff, turning his head during the process and looking back towards the masked male on the ground. "you know, you have some very smart people in your life. gaining your trust was one way i was able drive their attention away from me. and maybe i was lucky for my brother to be there and block all of your friends' accusations towards me because of his unawareness of the entire situation."

yedam clutched his jaw, extremely mad and disappointed at the entire situation. doyoung didn't deserve to live like this, ignorant of his older brother's actions towards other people. "y-you... will be exposed t-to him... one of these days-s."

another scoff. "ha! like he's going to believe anyone who tells him that his older brother is secretly bullying his boyfriend behind his back. he'll just continue to defend me and deny whatever accusations they make towards me."

"t-then i'll tell him-m. he'll b-believe me," yedam said, determination and seriousness in his voice. the masked male felt strength suddenly make its way back to him, allowing him to say the words that he was currently saying. however, still weak and physically unable to move, the second year university student couldn't do more than put up a fight with seunghun through words.

"he won't believe you if you're not alive to tell him," seunghun shook his head a couple times before talking, emphasizing that what yedam was planning to do wouldn't work when the third year university student was done with him. the leader of the bullies gestured towards the masked male by flicking two of his fingers, signaling to his friends with the gesture, and the four of them, who were surrounding the two boys during their conversation, each poured an entire bottle of baby powder over yedam's freezing and exposed skin, causing an immediate severe allergic reaction.

the second year university student was already weak as it was, being physically and mentally exhausted. it didn't take very long for his hyperventilation to follow behind the white product that was being poured all over him while he laid unmoving on the ground, defenseless, helpless. a terrible rash began to appear on his pale skin as soon as the baby powder came in contact with it.

this process followed over and over, with yedam continuously hyperventilating while his bullies continued to pour what seemed to be an endless supply of baby powder over him. the masked male couldn't move, couldn't breathe, and couldn't think straight as his body only got weaker and weaker with every passing second.

and the next thing he knew, yedam's vision cut off, taking away all the color of the world and covering it with a black screen, drowning him in darkness with the sudden thought of doyoung lingering in his mind.

[YEDAM]