bare knuckles.
@qrkjoohyun
heroes are looked at as brave, courageous. they’re looked at as perfect figures who can stand up to any adversary they may face. they’re ideal, wondrous; they don’t turn away in the face of danger. they smile at it, and take it on headfirst.
jeongguk aspires to be that. so much, desperately so; but if only, if only. his fingers shake, his voice trembles-- forked tongue sliding from between his lips in frantic moves. his expression panicked, body stiff. his eyes stare at the scene before him, a girl being bossed around by people taller than her. and realistically, bullying is normal in any school setting-- even in ua. jeongguk should know this, but the shock still settles into him.
but still. heroes do something; they don’t just stand and stare. so he swallows, throat tight with apprehension as he takes a shaky step forward, mouth parting as his voice raises in a shaky tremor.
“h-hey!” he calls out. it sounds more like a squeak than anything, and he can feel himself sweating-- teeth wanting to bite down into his lip, but he refrains. venom won’t make this better; he feels like he already wants to vomit from the fear, much less his own toxins eradicating his insides. “y-you guysss!” the s’s in his words strengthen-- a hiss to his tone he doesn’t mean to be there. “y-you cut that out! it issssn’t right beat up girlsss!”