Jiwon cried into Minseok's shoulder for a few minutes. Jiwon wasn't usually a violent person. He just felt so much anger towards Seojun at the time because he was supposed to be Kittichai's friend, yet he left him. It made it worse because the man was a cop and still couldn't protect the younger man.
Jiwon followed Miseok as he led him over to some seats and made him sit down. The orange haired man sat down right beside him. Jiwon leaned into him as he sniffled. Jiwon looked at his phone and opened his gallery. He looked at the pictures of him and Kittichai together, it brought back his memories of when they first met and when they were in high school.
Flashback: Jiwon sat on the curb of the street by himself eating an ice cream cone as his mother approached him.
"Hey sweetheart? Why are you out here all by yourself? Where are your friends?" His mother asked as she sat down next to him.
"They aren't my fwends." He said as he took a mouthful of ice cream.
"Why do you say that?" She coaxed.
"They are soo mean!" He pouted. "They call me names and everyting." Jimin spoke, mouth still full of ice cream.
"Oh, what do you mean? What kind of names do they call you, sweetie?" His mother asked gently.
"Honey, can you come here for a second! It's important!" Jiwon's father called from the porch, interrupting their conversation.
"Let's talk about this later, okay?" She gave him a kiss on the forehead before she stood to leave, "also, I wanted to say, a new family is moving into the house across the street. They have a son and he is around your age, maybe you two can be friends. You definitely should go meet them if you get the chance, they're nice." She said before taking her leave.
Jiwon let out a small sigh as he picked up a stick from behind him and started drawing imaginary circles in the street, completely lost in thought.
"He'll probably end up being like all the other neighborhood boys, why should I even bother trying to be friends with him," Jiwon thought to himself. While he was lost in thought he failed to notice the three boys his mom thought were his friends, approaching him. He still moved the stick in circles, when they stopped in front of him. The first boy kicked the stick out of Jiwon's hand causing him to blankly watch as it slid down the street.
"Hey wimp." The first boy prodded Jiwon's shoulder. Jiwon simply ignored him and continued to stare at the lost stick. "I said HEY." The boy spoke again as he kicked Jiwon's foot.
"What do you want, Jae?" Jiwon asked in an annoyed tone.
"What does he want?" The second boy chuckled humorlessly. "I think you already know."
"No, in fact I really don't know." Jiwon retorted.
"Really?" The second boy asked with a hint of amusement as he grabbed Jiwon by the collar and yanked him off the curb. "You owe us lunch money from earlier today, or did you forget?"
"I don't owe you any-!!!" Jiwon began, but was thrown into the middle of the street. He fell onto the rough pavement, scraping his hands as he extended them to soften his fall.
"Want to say that part again, I must not have heard you correctly." Jiwon made eye contact with Jaesung.
"I. don't. owe. you. anything." He repeated himself, sneering at the group of boys. The third boy growled as he kicked Jiwon's hands out from under him. As his only support was kicked out from under him, his face harshly connected with the cool pavement of the empty street. The third boy stepped on the side of Jiwon's head, keeping him against the pavement. While Jiwon was being held down, another foot crashed into his abdomen causing him to cough as the air was knocked out of his lungs. The third boy removed his foot from Jiwon's head and took a step back as their leader crouched down in front of him. Jaesung grabbed the back of Jiwon's hair and yanked it backwards so that his head turned upwards to look Jaesung in the face. The action caused him to narrow his eyes at him before he spit in his face.
"Disgusting!" Jaesung slammed Jiwon's head back against the pavement. Jiwon was left dazed for a moment, barely taking notice that the third boy put his foot back on his head. He shifted his eyes to look up at the second boy who had simply become a bystander.
"Why do you even hangout with them Yongrae?" Jiwon grumbled a question, causing Jaesung to turn and look at Yongrae.
"Yeah, why don't you tell him why you hangout with us Rae." Jaesung chuckled cockily.
"I hangout with them because I want to." Yongrae stated simply.
"I like to hangout with them because they think like me." The third boy then added.
"Like you Minho? So basically you're saying they're stupid?" Jiwon retorted from under Minho's foot. Jiwon's remark led to Jaesung kicking him straight in the nose.
"Shut your face!" Jaesung snapped.
Jiwon was beaten up pretty badly, but he still refused to back down. "You aren't like them, Yongrae, and you know it. You were always smarter than them, there are far better friends than them."
Yongrae pushed Minho off of Jiwon and replaced him. He bent down so that he was face to face with Jiwon and whispered something that only Jiwon could hear, "I am smarter, that is why I am not laying on the pavement where you are." Yongrae shrugged his shoulders before stepping away and speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. "Anyone is better than you, after all who would ever want to be your friend?"
Minho returned to his previous place on Jiwon's head and added to what Yongrae had said, "I mean what boy would want to be friends with you? You look girlier than most of the girls in the whole fourth grade, hanging out with you just makes us look gay."
"You will never have a real friend, I'll make sure of that. I doubt anyone would even want to be friends with you anyway, wouldn't want to catch your gayness!" Jaesung cackled as he stepped on Jiwon's fingers and began to apply pressure. Jiwon cried out in pain as he felt two of his fingers beginning to snap.
"I'll be his friend." A boy said from behind Jaesung. All three bullies whipped around to face the stranger causing Minho's foot to slide off of Jiwon's face. Jiwon scrambled to his feet in a hurry and fled back over to the curb. Once he was out of reach, Jiwon turned and examined the boy who had interrupted Jaesung's relentless attacks. The boy had brown hair that was slicked back, yet fluffy, with some loose hair that dangled into his face. He wore black converse high tops, a red and black striped sweater with stylish holes in it, along with black skinny jeans that had more holes. To Jiwon, the boy looked really cool. The boy's eyes were really round though, which made him look rather innocent compared to how he dressed. Jiwon stood off to the side, observing the situation as it played out.
"Who on Earth are you, you runt?" Jaesung looked the boy up and down, clearly judging him. "New kid on the block?"
"You don't know?" The boy tilted his head slightly to the side out of curiosity.
"No." All the bullies said in unison.
"Then it probably was none of your business." The boy shrugged his shoulders unbothered. He then looked behind the three bullies, making eye contact with Jiwon. "Do you guys feel inferior to him or something? Maybe because you like some girl and she likes him instead?" The new kid questioned the bullies as Jiwon still observed silently from the curb. Jiwon could tell that the new kid had hit the nail on the head from the way that Yongrae and Minho looked over to Jaesung.
"That's bull crap!" Jaesung shouted at the new kid, approaching him; he was slightly taller than the new kid and got into the kid's face. He looked down at the new kid with a look of disgust and spat in his face. The new kid wrinkled his nose as he calmly wiped the spit off of his face with his hand. He looked at the spit on his hand and then looked back at Jaesung with a cocky grin. The new kid slowly wiped the remaining spit onto Jaesung's shirt sleeve. This caused Jaesung to glare at the boy with pure rage.
"What? I was just returning the favor." The new kid teased, clearly looking for a reaction. That comment earned a few snickers from Jaesung's friends.
"You asked for it!" Jaesung snapped and swung his fist at the boy. The new kid smacked Jaesung's wrist from the side with the palm of his hand, which made Jaesung miss him. When he missed he became even more furious. He quickly turned and latched onto the boy's sweater with his left hand. He was planning to hold the new kid in place for his next attack. Jiwon watched as the new kid stuck his arm over the bullies arm and twisted his own arm under it. The new kid brought his arm up and around Jaesung's causing his arm to twist awkwardly. The boy then grabbed the back of Jaesung's head with his other hand and pushed it down, the motion made it easier for the boy to flip him. Jiwon watched as a small dust cloud blew out from under Jaesung as he crashed onto the pavement. A few moments passed, but Jaesung continued lying there trying to regain the air that was knocked out of him. The new kid took advantage of his weak state and stepped over top of him, bending down to tie his sleeves together. After the new kid tied his sleeves together he stepped on the side of Jaesung's head, just like they had done to Jiwon earlier. The action made Jiwon question how much of the scene the boy had witnessed.
"Now then, if you want to pick on him," The boy gestured over to Jiwon, "You're going to have to deal with me." He looked down at Jaesung, who was still under his shoe, "Do I make myself clear?" Jaesung remained silent which seemed to make the boy irritated. The boy applied more pressure to the bullies head with his foot causing Jaesung to flinch in pain. The new kid looked down at Jaesung before he removed his foot, bending down he grabbed his hair and held his head up. "Maybe I didn't say it loud enough for you." He snapped at Jaesung and forced him to his feet by his hair. He grabbed the bully by the shirt with his other hand and released his hair. He punched the kid in the face with a loud crack, Jiwon could see the spit fly from where he stood. The boy then threw the bully backwards which made him fall onto the pavement once again. "Now do I make myself clear?" The new kid said as he slowly bent down next to the defenseless bully. This time Jaesung nodded his head frantically. The new kid narrowed his eyes at Jaesung before he turned to look at the other two. "Come collect your trash and take it elsewhere." The boy ordered the remaining two bullies as he gestured to Jaesung who was trying to squirm away. They quickly untied Jaesung's arms and ran away, glancing over their shoulders occasionally at the new kid.
The boy turned his full attention to Jiwon. As the boy approached him, Jiwon took a step back, tripping over the curb. When he fell backwards he landed on the curb awkwardly.
A small, "Oh," escaped the new kid's mouth as he witnessed Jiwon's clumsiness. Jiwon adjusted himself quickly so that he sat on the curb properly, his ears turning red in embarrassment. The new kid crouched down in front of Jiwon and squished his face with his hands. The boy visibly examined Jiwon's face thoroughly before he let out a scoff. "Look what they did to you." The boy said bitterly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a band-aid with the hulk on it.
"Spiderman is better." Jiwon voiced his opinion without thinking, but quickly covered his mouth. "Good job, idiot. What if he really likes the hulk and hates spiderman and then doesn't like me because of it." He internally scolded himself. He looked at the boy, worried, but was surprised to see that he was smiling. The boy's smile was as innocent as his round eyes.
"So cute." Jiwon stated his thoughts out loud again, which caused the boy to laugh.
"I'm Park Hosung, but I prefer to go by Kitt." The boy said as he laughed. "I just moved into the house next door. Let's be friends." Kitt continued to laugh as he stuck the hulk band-aid on Jiwon's wounded face.
"Kitt? Where does the nickname come from?" Jiwon asked curiously.
"My mother is from Thailand so I have a Thai name and my father is Korean so I also have a Korean name. My Thai name is Kittichai Shinawatra."
"Kim Jiwon, nice to meet you Kitt." Jiwon smiled warmly at the boy.
8 years later: The two boys had become really close over the years and spent most of their time together. Jiwon had learned that Kitt was two years younger than him, but he skipped two grades because he was highly intelligent. On top of his intelligence, Kitt also knew how to fight because his father was a commander in the military and taught him quite a few martial art moves when he would come home. Kitt even taught Jiwon how to do Morse code so that they could communicate during class. Most times they shared test answers from across the room by tapping their fingers or pencils, and the best part was that the teachers were oblivious to it. They never suspected students to cheat from across the classroom. To put it simply, Jiwon and Kittichai were basically inseparable since they met.
The two friends sat in a tree out back of their school during lunch. Jiwon had been zoning out most of the lunch period, lost in thought.
"You okay Ji?" Kitt asked him.
"Hey Kitti?"
"Mhmph?" Kitt mumbled as he took a bite of his lunch.
"What do you plan to do after high school?" Jiwon asked Kitt curiously.
Jiwon waited patiently as Kitt cleared his mouth of any food before he responded, "I am not really sure, I haven't given it much thought."
"Oh..." Jiwon muttered quietly. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes before Kitt spoke.
"Why do you ask, is there something you want to do?" Kitt questioned him now.
"Well we are seniors now, and I don't really know what I want to do after school." He said in a small voice. "I don't have any ambitions, what do you think I should do?"
"I think you should be a model." Kitt said.
"No,no, I'm being serious." Jiwon chuckled shyly at his friend's suggestion.
"I am being serious." Kitt stated with a straight face.
"Oh..." Jiwon began to consider it, before he shook his head in disagreement. "I don't think I have what it takes to be a model."
"Stop looking down on yourself Jiwon-ah. If you don't have what it takes, then who does?" Kitt reassured him.
"You think so?" He questioned doubtfully.
"I believe you could make one of the top models in the industry within five years. I'll even bet on it" Kitt encouraged him.
"If you lose the bet, what do I get in return?" Jiwon asked with interest.
"A friend for life." Kitt joked with him.
"Can't it be something better?" Jiwon whined dramatically, kicking his feet as if throwing a tantrum.
"Ya! I didn't think there would even be a debate." Kitt said as he held his heart, pretending that he was offended.
A/N: The exclamation 야! (ya!) can mean "Hey!" or "Oh my!" in English. There may not be any singular meaning behind this expression. Instead, it can be used to exclaim many different moods and reactions.
"But Kitti-"
"I-I thought I would be the best prize if you won the bet. I guess I was the only one who felt this way." Kitt interjected as he wiped away fake tears.
"And I suppose you'd be wrapped in ribbons too?" Jiwon couldn't help but laugh at the other boy's dramatics.
"Don't tempt me." Kitt winked as he also began to laugh.
"Seriously though, what do I get if you lose?" He asked again, still chuckling at Kitt's ridiculous act.
"How about if I lose, I teach you every combat move I know." Kitt suggested.
"And if I lose?" Jiwon questioned suspiciously.
"You take me anywhere of my choosing?" Kitt smirked as if he had already won.
"Ya! I don't have that kind of money!" Jiwon panicked.
"Oh, but you will." Kitt beamed, "top model my friend."
"I envy your confidence, Kitt." Jiwon rolled his eyes.
"Don't hate me cause you ain't me." Kitt said , earning an elbow in the side from Jiwon.
"Fine, you have a bet." Jiwon finally gave in to Kitt's antics...
When school ended Jiwon was walking back home by himself. Kitt normally walked home with him, but the younger was on cleaning duty this week so he had to stay and clean the classroom. So he made his way home slowly so that Kitt would be able to catch up to him before he reached home. As he walked, someone called out to him.
"Hey wait! Is that who I think it is!?" They called loudly, which was followed by loud footsteps approaching him. "Oh it is!" The person said as Jiwon's shoulder was pulled back slightly so they could get a look at his face. He raised his eyebrow at the person who so rudely touched him. "Hey, you remember me right WonWon?" The man questioned.
Jiwon jerked his shoulder forward, freeing it from the man's grip and continued walking. He made it painfully obvious he was ignoring the man.
"Aww don't be that way WonWon <3" He said in an annoying voice that Jiwon could never forget. The man grabbed his arm now and spun him around like couples do when dancing.
"Minho." Jiwon said the man's name as if it was poison on the tongue. He shoved Minho backwards to escape his grasp.
Jiwon hadn't seen Minho since the sixth grade because he moved to Daegu, which made Jiwon relieved. By high school all of his bullies were gone, or didn't bother him anymore. Jaesung had remained for another two years, but he was too terrified of Kitt to bully Jiwon anymore. In the seventh grade Jaesung had unexpectedly attacked him in an alleyway on his way home and left him unconscious. Kitt had stayed at school to collect and deliver some test papers from some students, when he got home Jiwon's mother had asked Kitt if he was with him. Kitt went looking for him and found him beaten and unconscious by a dumpster. Kittichai was seething with anger and went and did something that would traumatize anyone. He broke into the window of Jaesung's bedroom in the middle of the night, wrapped him up in his blanket and beat him senseless. Kitt even went so far as to break Jaesung's arm. Kitt threatened that if he ever hurt or even so much as looked at Jiwon the wrong way, he would break Jaesung's other arm and then his legs. After being beaten in his own home in the middle of the night, one could only imagine how paranoid Jaesung became. Jaesung had become too scared to even look at Jiwon, so he started to skip school more and avoid anywhere Jiwon was. Eventually Jaesung went away and ended up somewhere else. Some rumors say his family moved, some say that he was sent to prison, and a few mention that he was sent to an insane asylum. Nobody was sure where though. Yongrae, on the other hand, met a girl and she changed him for the better. Yongrae has even had some decent conversations with Jiwon. Kitt didn't fully trust Yongrae, but was still civil around him since he never really did anything wrong.
"What did uhh... What's his name, get tired of hanging out with you? Did he finally figure out you're a fag or something?" Minho questioned rudely as he slung his arm over Jiwon's shoulder. He let out a scoff and rolled his eyes at Minho's typical insults. "If you aren't saying anything, that must mean that it's true." Minho snickered and flicked him on the forehead. The moment he had flicked Jiwon, someone snatched Minho's hand from his shoulder and twisted it backwards.
"OW OW, easy, easy. That hurts!" Minho cried out.
Jiwon turned to look at the person who had removed the arm, he saw Kitt who was angry yet, slightly amused.
Minho chuckled nervously, "K-Kittie" He stuttered. causing Kitt to raise a brow as his nickname came out of someone else's mouth, Jiwon knew Kitt only let one person call him that and that was Jiwon himself.
Kitt twisted Minho's hand more, "fag?"
Jiwon knew that Kitt was aware that he wasn't into guys, not that it mattered; but Kitt even knew exactly which girl in class Jiwon had been secretly crushing on for the past six years. He didn't even have to tell Kitt, since Kitt was over observant sometimes. So he knew Kitt could easily tell which girl Jiwon's eyes automatically found as they entered the room or passed in the halls.
"If you want to keep your hand functional, I suggest you disappear." Kittichai growled at the man.
"I have something important I need to attend to anyway, so I'll be going first." Minho chuckled nervously again before briskly walking away in the opposite direction. Jiwon's friend watched Minho as he left, eyes narrowed.
"Are you okay Jiwon? He didn't do anything to you did he?" Kitt asked.
"He didn't do anything." He said honestly.
"That's a relief. I guess I should teach you how to defend yourself, especially when you become a top model." Kitt said as he reached out and ruffled Jiwon's hair. Afterwards the two decided to head to his house. Kitt ended up hanging out at Jiwon's for a while watching movies. Jiwon was rather happy that day and took quite a few silly photos with Kitt. Creating fond memories with him.
Present time: Tears fell from Jiwon's eyes at the memories. He couldn't accept that Kitt would go out so easily, he was always a fighter. He shook his head in denial and looked outside. As he sat contemplating a sound came from the roof.
*tap,tap,tap... tap...tap...tap... tap,tap,tap.* (..._ _ _...) Everyone looked up as if they were going to see through the roof.
"Is it a monster?" A woman questioned in a panic.
"It seems too organized." Taehyun stated.
*tap,tap,tap... tap...tap...tap... tap,tap,tap.* The sound came again, casuing Jiwon to sit up straight.
"Is that..?" Seojun began.
Everyone went silent as the taps came a third time.
"It's morse code." Jiwon stated from his seat.
"Are you saying there is a person up there?" Yeonsu questioned doubtfully as the code repeated itself again.
"Minseok-hyung can you pick me for a second?" He asked his orange haired friend.
Minseok gave him a puzzled look, but didn't ask any questions. He grabbed the blonde by the waist and hoisted him into the air. Jiwon then smacked his hand on the roof in reply.
*tap...tap,tap,tap.* (._...) He looked down at Minseok as the "okay" to put him down.
*tap,tap,tap...tap,tap* (..._..) Followed what Jiwon had said, it then went silent afterwards.
"What were they saying?" Minseok queried.
"They were saying S.O.S, so I told them to wait and they responded with 'they understand'." He stated his knowledge. "We have to stop the train in order to help."
Jiwon watched as Seojun was the first to step forward. He approached the first set of doors before turning to look at Yeongsu and Taehyun.
"I'm going to ask the conductor to stop the train, okay? Be my backup?" Seojun asked the two boys.
"Of course." Taehyun agreed, while Yeongsu shook his head.
"I've got no choice in the matter." Yeongsu shrugged as he gestured to Taehyun, Jiwon assumed that Yeongsu wouldn't let Taehyun go without him. So Jiwon watched as they all readied themselves as they began to slide the door open to the next train car...