chapter six. [spell checked]

   jeongguk threw his backpack against the wall. yugyeom watched him with wide eyes. jeongguk never acted out, nor did anything even this loud. he watched the teen slump to his room, a pile of papers becoming a mess as they fly in the air. yugyeom hurried behind him as he slammed the door. why the hell was he acting like this? yugyeom neared the door, knocking slowly, "coming in, okay bud?"

  yugyeom sat at the end of jeongguk's bed, his hands feeling at the duvet. jeongguk had shoved himself under the blanket, his breathing muffled and wild. "whats wrong, did something happen?" yugyeom lifted the duvet off from the boy's slumped body.

tired. jeongguk replied, his hand falling limp to the bed again. tired of wondering, thinking. yugyeom blinked, unsure of what he truly meant by that. jeongguk stood and stripped of his shirt, throwing it to the carpet. his neck scar shining in dim light. a lamp on a bedside table lit the corner of the room, a window letting in dark light from an afternoon, rain tapping against a gray tinted window. un-potted plants lined a flower bed.

   "for real, jeongguk. somethings on your mind. i'm your older brother, why can't you just tell me?" yugyeom sighed, walking up to his younger brother and threading a comforting hand through his hair. "you never keep anything from me, why do that know?"

    I wish I could talk. you don't know how hard it is to watch others speak so clearly and stare in confusion as you start signing. they don't walk away once you've signed a simple word, because they can talk. if only i had gone with you that night, if only you would have picked me up, if you had taken me with you.

   "jeongguk, look. i want to go back in time and grab your hand and bring you along, but things just did not happen like that, and you'll have to accept that. please know i am so sorry i didn't take you with us, i just did not know dad would hurt you like that" yugyeom pulled him into a hug.

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   "how dumb are you?" a boy with brown eyes scolded jeongguk. "how can you not even speak?" the brown eyed boy kicked his stomach, making jeongguk grip it with a gentle hand, no sounds but ones of discomfort coming from his throat, which stung. he had been mishandled there as well, choked against the wall by brown eyed boy and his friends of misfits.

   "wow are you hanging that low now, myon?" a sharp voice came from around the corner. "you and your little possy of slaves are picking on him now? that's a low blow. i can't help but feel, jealous. why aren't you beating me to a pulp anymore? is it because he talked to me, once?! can i not have one decent friend that doesn't push me around with orders?"

  "taehyung, nobody called you here." myon moved his hair back, those piercing brown eyes shining. "i'm just picking on him because he's the one that doesn't talk. y'know him. hell, you're the one who pointed him out to me. you told me all about him, didn't you?" myon gave another harsh kick to jeongguk's side, making him whimper in a raspy breath.

  taehyung just lunged forward and knocked myon over. myon fell onto his back with a huff. anger eyes met each other and arms twitched from anger. "do you really want to fight in front of pretty boy?"  myon smirked when jeongguk's mouth dropped slightly, tears prickling his eyes. he was so confused as to what they were talking about. it sounded as if myon was teasing taehyung for watching over jeongguk for all this time. which in jeongguk's eyes was not a truly bad thing.

  even though, jeongguk did not want to admit, he needed basic protection; everyone did. jeongguk just happened to find his protector. a boy with faint red hair that slung around as a punch was thrown, messy kicks and jabs as limbs swung in circles, messy ovals. hair was pulled and blood was dripped, and jeongguk could only watch; he could watch as a red metallic substance stained pure white converse.

  "stop, stop!" a feminine voice called wearily, it was a teacher from down the hall, sprinting to the scene. "what has gotten into you two? this is no place to fight! this is a school. we should be learning, not slitting each other's throats."

   taehyung pulled away from myon, a bloody smirk growing on his face. "myon was hurting jeongguk. he would not back off." he stated simply, spitting on the tiled floor, a red substance. the teacher looked with disgust.

  "jeongguk can use his voice. i'm sure, thankyou. jeongguk, what happened?" she asked the boy, only to receive a scoff from taehyung. he took off his jacket and wiped the blood from his lips. he gave the teacher a lazy grin, and she could only be confused. taehyung found her confusion amusing.

  "he doesn't speak. you won't get a word from him, no matter how many times you wave or smile at him; nothing." taehyung sighed, tying his jacket around his waist now, "y'know i knew i recognized that bunny smile from
somewhere, i got a scar cross my chest because of him."

  jeongguk looked dumbfounded. he wanted to scream. taehyung knew him somehow, and it was driving him crazy from wanting to ask questions, sadly he knew nothing of sign language.

  "so, you won't get anything from him. not like he had much to tell, three asshats beat him up from something he couldn't control. whose really in the wrong here? me, for standing up, or these two hollow skulls for starting the fight in the first place?" taehyung tried to
soften his punishment, although the teacher just grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall, leaving jeongguk wondering exactly how taehyung knew him.

maybe he'd never know.

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