PRETTY WHEN YOU CRY. ❛ why'd you laugh? ❜ ꒦꒷
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synopsis : wherein kim namhyeop is looking for a new thrill and you're his perfect, pretty victim . . .﹆ׂׂʚ ❪🌃☁️🌑❫
〔 𝐚𝒓𝒅𝐨𝐮𝐫 〕 。 kim namhyeop x 𝒇!reader 𖦆 2624THOU 💭 req? 아니 ── implied stalking , toxic dynamics , mentions of bullying 痛 ; ; / 보여, 미소 짓는 너의 환영
⌗ note : i had a lot of fun writing this since this is different from my usual style of work (i think you'd be able to tell). i feel the ending was a little sloppy, so if you think so too, do let me know and tell me how i can improve :)) have fun !!
☆ REBL0G4K1SS
have you ever been in a maze with a ticking clock? once the clock strikes 12, your time ends and the walls cave in on you. except you don't know how long you have, or which way to go, and the walls are caving in on you. the maze is ready to devour you whole, and you can run as much as you want — as far as you want, but it will catch up to you anyway.
to summarize it, that was what your life felt like ever since you caught the eye of kim namhyeop.
it started when he found you bawling your eyes out during a picnic. you had been having an awful day as usual, being your classmates' favourite punching bag. you wanted to avoid drawing attention as much as possible, keeping to yourself the entire day, but they found you anyway. it always ended with you on the ground before them because they found a strange thrill from seeing you 'being put in your place'.
you had essentially given up on any hopes of them stopping or just letting you be; you knew there was nothing you could do. you had tried everything from telling your teachers to trying to fight back, and nothing had worked. so now, you had no other choice but to put up with the mistreatment.
however, on that particular day, it got too much for you to ignore. you went out of the shared dorm room that all your female classmates shared to sit out in the area where the camp was set up. the place you were staying at was near a forest and thus, it lacked the city noises.
you broke down, crying your eyes out while trying to hold back to avoid being too loud. that didn't quite work because namhyeop found you anyway.
he had just woken up to take a quick stroll before going back to sleep, but he was intrigued by the scene in front of him instead. he knew your name and that you were bullied, but that was about it. seeing you while you were so vulnerable was new to him. still, he wasn't completely heartless (or so he says).
namhyeop approached you, gently tapping your shoulder. you shuddered, scared it was one of your classmates. you looked up at him — bloodshot eyes and tears staining your face. you wiped your eyes with your sleeves when you saw it was him.
he paused, fully taking in your appearance at that moment. any normal person's first instinct would be ask if you were alright or what had happened. but not him. he simply stared at you for a good minute, taking in your features and appearance. and he found you absolutely beautiful, in his own sick way.
finally, after a minute (or long) of staring at you, he spoke up, "are you alright?"
you quickly got up, sniffling and rubbing your eyes with your sleeve as you nodded frantically.
you recognized him soon after. the top student, son of a rich doctor, the boy who developed an app for disabled people. it was the time when you weren't fully familiar with who he truly was and mistook him for a kind soul. naturally, you trusted him as you said, "namhyeop, please don't tell anyone about this."
"i won't, but why do you not want people to know?"
"my classmates… aren't the nicest people, if you know what i mean. those assholes." you sniffled as you continued, "i would really appreciate it if you could just keep this between us. if they find out about this, they won't let me live it down."
he paused, as if considering your request, before flashing you his signature model student smile as he responded, "of course. you can trust me."
you nodded, slightly relieved. your tears had dried up on your face at this point, and you headed back inside your dormitory. as you felt the mattress sink beneath your body, you exhaled deeply, wondering whether he could be trusted or not. before you could make any logical reasoning with yourself, you gave into the feeling of your eyelids getting heavier.
after the picnic, you didn't think much of the incident. you were back at school, and he hadn't seemed to say anything, but he did seem like he got along well with the bullies. you were skeptical, but not quite worried as long as he didn't put you in an awkward situation. you would catch him with his friends in the hallways but neither of you approached the other. you assumed he simply brushed it off. except he didn't.
ever since you had gotten back from the trip, your bullies hadn't bothered you, tried to humiliate or make a spectacle out of you. in fact, it appeared to you that they seemed to avoid you. not just them, most of your classmates.
you didn't pay heed to it, since you were simply relieved they weren't onto you anymore, but you should have.
a few days later, you had ended up staying back late in school. you fell asleep in the sick bay after taking medication for a headache, and nobody seemed to bother waking you up. it wasn't late when you finally did wake up, around 5 pm. you got up and headed to your classroom to get your things. you swung your backpack over your shoulder and walked out of your classroom.
just as you were about to approach the staircase, you heard a room shriek with laughter. you were curious to see what it was but decided against, choosing to go home instead. that was, until you heard someone scream.
you could hear a loud wail from the same classroom, joined with the sounds of amused laughter. you knew better than to approach that classroom, but you couldn't just walk away from it. you weren't particularly gifted in terms of strength, but you didn't want to let this go on — whatever it was.
your legs carried you to the door, and you peeked inside, spotting a few boys crowded behind a desk. there were about four of them, excluding the person whose scream she heard but couldn't see. you could only see the back of their heads as one of them spoke up, "hey, sangwon! you're being too fucking loud." the boy said, kicking the other in the stomach as he coughed.
you knew better than to go inside and intervene, putting yourself at risk again. you knew better than to push them away and help the boy on the floor. you knew better than this.
but you didn't listen to yourself at this moment.
as you helped up the boy, who was named sangwon, you turned to look at his perpetrators.
you could recognise a few of them, having seen them around often when you were bullied. they were either friends with your bullies or joined in on the fun sometimes, but the sight of them did not sting as much as his did.
kim namhyeop.
you hadn't expected this from him, having mistaken him for a kind soul. you pulled sangwon's arm around your shoulder to support him while he stood, given that his legs were giving out.
when you turned to look at him, you felt that you had seen a flicker of something apart from sheer amusement from the pain he caused to the boy, but you didn't pay heed to it. he stared you down, tutting softly as he spoke, "y/n, why are you still here? shouldn't you be at home right now?"
you felt something twist in your stomach. was he serious? that's what he had to say despite the situation they were in?
"are you serious right now?" you spat at him in disgust, "were you going to kill him or something? you fucking freak. i thought you were better than this."
you adjusted his arm over your shoulders, beginning to take small steps towards the door. the boys stared helplessly as you took sangwon away, knowing better than to mess with you. because messing with you meant messing with namhyeop, and that's the last thing they wanted.
you looked back only to see namhyeop stare at you with an intrigued expression.
you felt disgusted as you turned away, leading the boy down the stairs and eventually taking him to the hospital. you knew sangwon wouldn't report anything that happened, because it simply isn't worth it. nothing happens, and the cycle only becomes more vicious. he took the medication and decided to leave after his injury was dressed.
"thank you.. for helping me." sangwon spoke softly, his gaze fixed on the ground, "but you shouldn't have. they'll mess with you as well, now."
"don't worry about it. it's nothing i haven't seen before." you said in an attempt to comfort him, but it only made him feel bad for you.
"i am surprised we got out of there unscathed," he said as you both fell into step beside each other. you turned to look at him and then scoffed, "you look pretty scathed."
sangwon chuckled, perhaps for the first time that day, "yeah, i guess i do. i can't wait to get out of here and leave kim namhyeop behind."
you nodded along, trying to hide the feeling of your stomach twisting again. his name felt like a sting now. you hadn't expected him to be a saint; no one ever was, but you were grateful for him just being silent and keeping a secret. or so you thought. you continued talking until you left him at his doorstep and walked back home alone.
except you weren't alone. not really.
for the next few days, namhyeop didn't do amything. he didn't approach you or sangwon, and neither did his lackeys. sangwon was surprised but he enjoyed the peace and calm of not having the bullies onto him at all times.
during this time, the two of you managed to get closer. making friends had been hard for both of you, but now that the bullies had backed off, you believed things would be simpler now.
so, you'd hangout with sangwon outside of school. you'd go to the arcade, have study sessions together and even go shopping together.
you felt that everything would be fine now that you had made a friend, but unfortunately that wasn't quite it.
it had been a month since the day you confronted namhyeop and rescued sangwon from him and his lackeys. sangwon showed up to class with a cast all of a sudden, and naturally, classmates asked what had happened. he insisted that it was an accident and that he had tripped from the stairs, but you knew better.
you cornered him later, "hey, lee sangwon," he looked up at you, raising a brow, "i know you're lying."
"c'mon, seriously? you don't believe me?"
"no. i don't believe that you just tripped from the stairs."
"why is that?" he questioned, tilting his head now.
you scoffed, "if you did trip, you would've hurt your leg too. atleast a bruise. but you only hurt your arm. how am i supposed to believe that?"
sangwon avoided your gaze now, and you knew you were right. you gently grabbed his free arm, "sangwon, please just tell me the truth. we're friends, afterall."
when he saw the look in your eyes, he couldn't take it anymore. so, he told you the truth. all of it. all the ugly parts. and you hated it. he told you how they cornered him in a dark alleyway, how they beat him up, and finally broke his arm. your fingers curled into a clenched fist, your heart hammering louder in your chest.
you excused yourself later and went to find kim namhyeop. luckily, you found him easily. he was sitting at the rooftop, talking with his friends about something.
when he saw you approach, his stoic expression morphed into a warm smile. he dismissed his friends and they moved past you and headed down the staircase, leaving you and him alone on the rooftop.
"so, you finally came. i missed you, y/n." namhyeop said in a whiny tone, and it irked you to no extent.
pure rage ran through your blood. the fact that he sat here unscathed while your friend was hurt because of him made you furious.
he slowly walked towards you, "you seem angry. did something happen?"
you raised up your hand, "don't come any closer, or i think i might genuinely kill you."
he smiled knowingly, "ah, he told you. well, it was why i did it in the first place. i told you, you'll come back to me."
your jaw clenched as you stared at his smile. you wanted to hit him, but you were still holding back. you weren't sure whether it was the fact that you didn't want to hurt him or that you feared him.
"you hurt him on purpose. why? what kind of sick desire do you want to fulfill?" you spat at him, unable to withhold your disgust and contempt any longer.
namhyeop looked at you like he genuinely meant what he said, "his arm touched you."
"what?"
"his arm. you put it around your shoulder. i didn't like that."
you weren't sure whether this was truly happening. when you felt your stomach drop, you were sure of it. this wasn't a movie scene; this was real. and he was a fucked up person.
"what the fuck is wrong with you?" you grabbed his collar and yanked at it, "what the actual fuck is wrong with you?"
he chuckled. he didn't make any effort to free himself from your hold; in fact, he leaned into it. he smiled as he spoke, "if you didn't interrupt that day, i would've never laid my hands on him."
you felt your arms be drained of any strength for a moment. was he insinuating that it was your fault? that your decisions were the reason your only friend was hurt right now? your eyes started to burn, tears forming in your eyes now. you weren't sure whether you were crying due to the rage you felt or the guilt.
he continued, "you're so pretty when you cry, y/n."
"what the fuck are you talking about, you bastard?!"
he let out a chuckle, "do you remember that night at the camp site? you were crying about something and i saw you there. at that moment, i had decided that i want all your tears," he gently reached forward to touch your face, surprised at your lack of protest as he gently swiped a tear with his thumb, "i want to be the cause of your tears and i want to be the one whom your tears belong to."
you felt your breathing grow ragged as you listened to him. you hated every word he said, and yet, you couldn't push away his touch. you couldn't bring yourself to hurt him, despite being fully capable of doing so.
but what worried you the most was the thought of him hurting sangwon. you couldn't have the boy be hurt anymore because of you.
so, you decided to make a deal with the devil. you let go of his collar and took a step back, "i want you to promise you won't hurt sangwon."
he tilted his head. "where's the fun in that?"
"do as i say, and i'll do whatever you want."
he smirked, "anything i want?"
although the thought scared you, you nodded, "yes. anything."
namhyeop gently cupped your face, brushing his thumb over your skin, his touch feather light as he spoke, "since you said you'll do anything,
then go ahead and cry for me, y/n."
© celestialhymns 2025. 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱.










