There's no rule saying that the new kid, the smart kid, had to be bullied. Mark was that kid; quiet, likable, new enough to be interesting and typical enough to be forgotten quickly. Taeyong was everything but. Always saying exactly what was on his mind, attending the same school since the start and seemingly trying for a notorious image, always interesting, always in the spotlight, and always sleeping during calculus. With his bright red hair and legs that rested more on his desk than any book he owned, Taeyong was exactly what Mark Lee had been hoping to avoid when his family moved into Seoul. But, new kids never get it there way, don’t you know?
"They say his family's super scary"
"Just 'scary?' Have you lived in a cave your whole life?"
"Why? Why?!"
"His family is pretty much a gang!"
"I heard it's not just 'pretty much' ~~ It IS a gang! The real deal!"
"Omo! Really? I've seen everything now... How can he afford this school?"
"You think gangs these days are the same? They're always reaping in illegal money!"
"And they probably evade taxes!"
"No wonder... look at all his ear piercings and expensive rings!"
Taeyong lifts his head abruptly and the students all hush each other with a finger to their lips while glancing at him nervously. They speak as if he's not right there listening to everything they have to say, and then choose to shut up because he reacted. What were they expecting? He turns to them slightly and smirks, a fair warning for them to shut their cakeholes. They all shove their heads into books, suddenly really interested in their academic works. Cowards; can't even say it to his face, huh?
"Ignore them," Jaehyun drawls.
Taeyong scoffs. It's easy for him to say that, his family's probably worse. Taeyong lifts his eyebrows at the others grouped around him. Doyoung's simply chatting with Lucas while Jungwoo steals bites of the bread in his hand. Sicheng is playing a game on his phone, uninterested (and probably not even understanding) what the other students had to say. Come to think of it, all of their families are pretty bad. Guess they got used to the trash talking, but Taeyong was still a little too soft on the inside. Having his servants beat the living shit out of anybody who remotely hurt his feelings in any way didn't help him become hardened to the reality. The reality that was high school. His home, his business, his family (he'll admit), were all harsh, but they could never beat the kids these days that went to war everyday in high school. They'll rip you apart, sprinkle salt on old wounds, use cunning tactics, threats, you name it - they'll do it to stay on top of every hierarchy they can manage to think up. To stay on top of all of that, Taeyong fought tooth and nail, with everything and anything that dared to stand in his way for longer than a minute. Until he came along.
"You really going to let him keep sitting there? That's your spot," Jaehyun juts his chin in the new student's direction and Taeyong pretends to be uninterested as he turns to watch Mark. The thick black framed glasses, neat hair, perfect bow and uniform to top it all off. Bleh - they were the type Taeyong hated the most because he actually admired them for having their life together. Yet, they were always complaining about how hard it was to be perfect. Disgusting. Mark looks up, sees that Taeyong is watching and throws an awkward smile accompanied by a half wave, his confused fingers dangling in the air mid-hello. Taeyong quickly turns and looks at Jaehyun trying to be convincing:
"Yeah, let him have the seat. I was getting bored sitting in the same place anyway."
It IS a story about gangs so rated M for violence and language (just to be safe)
TRIGGER WARNING for.... *don't keep going if you can be triggered by mentions of sensitive topics*
violence, and blood, (self harm and suicides possibly included. Just to be safe I'll put a warning since the get go)
