Malsun Protecting Soonja(Yeonbin) /(말순, 순자를 지킬거야)

When Yeonjun was busy consoling Soobin, a boy peeked at them from outside of the room. Both of them noticed and sat back properly while Soobin tried to act normal.

"Um…may I come…in?" He asked, standing right by the door.

"Yes?" Yeonjun replied. As he didn't know who it was, he was curious and also surprised a bit.

"Um…hello!" He entered and stood a little far from the bed.

"I heard…um…" it was clear that he was hesitating to say what he wanted. He looked familiar to Soobin though he couldn't remember who he was exactly.

"First of all, take my hearty apology. Knowing or unknowingly, I've made you suffer enough and I'm truly ashamed of it." He bowed his head as he felt guilty and regretted his actions.

"Who…are you?" Soobin was confused as he couldn't recognize the person.

"I am…your classmate. Um…I was also in Kyunbin's team." He lowered his head. Soobin knew that name. It was the boy who directly or indirectly bullied him for the past few years. He was the uncalled leader in his group.

"Ah! Sorry, I couldn't recognize you." Soobin looked away and replied.

"No-no! It's fine! I just came here to apologize. You know I'm really ashamed of myself." He was still hesitating to talk.

"What do you want?" Yeonjun glared at the boy angrily.

"Please, listen me out." After replying, he turned his head to Soobin.

"You know I've always tried to make them understand that whatever they were doing with you, it's a crime. But, because of my protest, they also isolated me once. Since then I realized, I must listen to them even if it's wrong. To get what I want, I started to support them." He came closer as he was speaking in a low voice. Yeonjun stood up, grabbed a chair and placed it in front of the boy.

"Have a seat, first." Pointing at the chair, Yeonjun said and went to Soobin's side again. Although he felt anguish, he still wanted to hear the boy's words. He stood by Soobin's side, putting his hand on his shoulder. The boy sat down, sighed with grievance.

"When I heard the name of teacher Xyan, I couldn't resist myself. To be honest, my sister was also bullied by him. It was that time when I was just a freshman. She was a new senior back then. We had a fight so we didn't go to school or come home together. One morning when I was going to school, I saw her sitting and being very upset at home. I didn't ask anything and went to the school. But after coming back, I heard she was taken to the hospital. I rushed over there and got to know that she committed suicide. I was astounded. After she was discharged, she locked herself up inside her room. Mom, dad and I were very worried and scared as we thought she might do something harmful to herself again. She refused to tell us anything so I decided to dig up by myself.

I went to school and met her friends. Although they couldn't say much, they informed me that one of the teachers had a dirty look on her. So, I went deeper about the matter. When I nearly gave up as I couldn't be able to find anything, she opened herself up to me as she was mentally exhausted from thinking about it. I was very angry and looked for the teacher who did it to her. I reported him to the school committee, but I didn't have any proof back then. So, nobody was willing to believe me or my sister. Then, I went to the police, but they also asked for proof to file a report. I was disappointed, but not willing to give up. I started to follow the man and there was nothing that I could use against him.

After a long time, when I just got promoted to the new senior year, I came to know that the teacher was our homeroom teacher. I was looking for a perfect opportunity as always. And then, he came to us, bribed us just to get you. I couldn't push away the chance. That day, we knew he'd get you and I should've warned you. Then I thought, if I warned you, I won't get the proof I was looking for. So, I stayed silent. I placed the camera. I was outside of the house, without knowing how I'd burge in to take my camera back. And when I heard the crashing sound, I peeked inside through the window. I saw how you rushed outside. But, without giving you a hand, I went inside and witnessed the teacher's poor condition. Instead of saving him, I grabbed my camera and left.

After about an hour I called for an ambulance and gave them the address, hoping he was dead by then. Unfortunately, evil people last long and he managed to survive. After hearing the news, I went to the police station, submitted the whole video and finally could file a report. And to warn other people, I uploaded a clip of the video, blurring your face. I knew it might affect you, but I still chose to. I'm truly sorry. I should've talked with you first. But, you weren't available. I couldn't find you anywhere so I thought you'd also drop out from the school like my sister. Because of me, you have to go through so much. I don't know if you can forgive me, but I still want to apologize deeply." He sighed and stopped. He had more to say, but couldn't understand how he should talk anymore.

"So, you knew what he did to him all along?" Yeonjun frowned his eyebrows as if he was really irritated.

"Yes, but I didn't know how I should confront him. So, I couldn't bring myself to talk with you." He lowered his head out of guilt. Yeonjun went to him and before the other could guess what he was going to do, he grabbed the boy by his collar.

"How could you? Do you have any idea what you've done? Because of you…h…" Yeonjun couldn't finish as Soobin shouted.

"Yeonjun hyung!" When Soobin called his name, he looked at him.

"Please!" Soobin nearly begged not to cause any commotion.

"Hmph!" Yeonjun let him go although he wanted to beat the boy up as well.

"I get it. I can feel what your sister must've gone through. But, what you did wasn't anything saintly either. Do you know you can also be sentenced if I report you now?" Soobin said with a very poker face.

"I know. And I am willing to get punished." He replied while lowering his head more.

"I promised my late grandma that I'll graduate no matter what. Because of the video, everyone recognized me even though you blurred my face and you saw how your friends humiliated me. But, I couldn't transfer school because I knew I could never manage the huge fees to get admitted to a different school at once. So, I had to endure it all. The way every person in my class looked at me, the way they joked about it or they humiliated me, despised me, I had to endure it all. Do you get what I'm saying?" The tears started to gather in the edge of Soobin's eyes as he continued speaking.

"I'm so sorry." Rather than being sorry, he didn't have anything else to say.

"You're right! I might not be able to forgive you. But rest assured! I'll not report you. Moreover, you just did what you thought right. You just saw one side of the coin and didn't bother to flip it. Anyways, what's done is done. Don't bother it when you give it a blind eye for all this long. I'm fine so you don't have to worry." Soobin said with a sneer. The boy stayed silent for a moment, lowering his head as if he was sitting inside a court where the judge was giving him a hearing.

"Then, I'll see myself off now. Have a good day." He stood up, bowed his head and went away.

Soobin put his head on Yeonjun's stomach as he was tired of everything and needed some rest. Yeonjun pulled him closer, held him and slowly patted the back of his head.

"Do you wanna eat something?" Yeonjun asked gently.

"I wanna go home." Soobin replied in a low voice.

"Okay, I'll settle everything and take you home." Yeonjun kept adoring Soobin while he embraced his waist and leaned on him completely.

Their peaceful time together didn't last long when they heard a very loud and well-acquainted voice coming from outside. They looked at each other and parted. Without surprising them, Arin entered while shouting. She was blabbering nonstop while coming in.

"Hey! You punk! What do you think you are? Hulk? Or superman? Did you think we all were dead? Couldn't you at least call me before you went to that fucker? Do you know he had intention to kill you eventually! Do you want to die so much? Then why didn't you come to me instead! I'd at least smack some senses into that head of yours!" Arin was furious and she also didn't know what she was saying out of anger.

"Noona!" Soobin acted pitiful to calm her down.

"How dare you? Do you ever consider me as your noona? Tsk! As if! I'll…" she came towards Soobin while Yeonjun moved back to give her space to stand next to Soobin.

"I'm sorry." Soobin said with his pitiful eyes.

"Sorry, my ass!" Suddenly Arin started sobbing while hugging Soobin tightly. Yeonjun and Soobin were both astonished by her sudden breakdown.