Chapter Text
Gyujin sat on his bed, arms grasping his knees to the chest, and his eyes firmly on the box sitting at the edge of the bed. He doesn’t know how long he has been sitting like that. Minutes? Hours? He hasn’t dared to open it yet, fearing what he will find inside.
Is it even worth it? Is any of this humiliation worth anything?! But he had tried denying it. It only resulted in Yongdong’s broken leg, his bruised ankle, and countless bruises on each of their body. It was scary. The bullying had never gone that badly till then. It was as if Seongjun commanded his pack of hounds to beat them to death. When two of his mother’s shop windows broke, that was when Gyujin realized that Seongjun always got what he wanted. If it is not given, then he will take it by any means, and it would be his mother’s life that gets trampled in the fight.
That was how Gyujin ended up nodding his head in agreement to Seongjun. Promising to do what the older boy wanted. Now hours later, he is sitting in his room refusing to look at the phone that is blasting notifications from his impatient bully. He knows that soon the phone will ring, and if he ignores it, the next ring will be on his doorbell. He can’t let that happen if he wishes to live till his graduation.
He hesitantly reached for the box. It was a white one tied with a blue ribbon. It looked expensive. More than anything Gyujin could ever afford. He opened the box to find what appears to be a stocking. Black ones with laces and stuff. Clearly meant for a girl’s legs. He looked at his own bruised ones. This is where the stockings have to go. Shame curled in Gyujin’s spine. Disgusting. Perverted. But… he has to do it.
Gyujin pulled the stockings out one by one. It's okay. It is just like wearing socks. A slightly longer pair of socks. That's it. That’s all. You can do it. Gyujin mentally calmed himself before pulling the stockings up his legs. It only reached his mid-thigh. It felt so soft against his skin. Fitting snuggly, hugging his legs…the black color felt like such a contrast against his pale skin. He stretched his legs out, and no matter from which angle he looked, it was just plain ridiculous.
Before he could chicken out, he grabbed the phone and clicked a couple of photos. He opened the chat and sent the photos, and turned his phone off. He could feel tears brimming in his eyes. He ripped the stockings off his legs and put them back in the box before pushing it under his bed.
He could feel panic climbing up his chest. He has done it. He has sent a photo of his legs in stockings to his bully. To his tormentor. What will Seongjun do with them? Will he show it to his friends, to the entire class? Telling them how pathetic Gyujin is and how he could make him do anything he wants. God, why did Seongjun even want such photos in the first place?
When he was cornered last month in the library by Seongjun alone, Gyujin was expecting the usual punches or insulting remarks. But instead, Seongjun asked whether he wanted the bullying to stop. At first, Gyujin thought the boy was joking or trying to pull his leg. There is no correct answer to it. But when it took too long for him to respond, the boy caged him between his arms and told him that he could stop the bullying if Gyujin wanted. He looked really serious, and Gyujin nodded his agreement even though he knew that the boy would ask something in return.
He expected money, or again his mother’s id, or something like that. Instead, Seongjun asked, ‘ I need you to send me photos whenever I ask them.’ Gyujin thought that he was asking for the girls' upskirt pictures like last time, and immediately shook his head in denial. He will just get beaten rather than do it to the girls. ‘I can’t take those kinds of pictures.’ That's when Seongjun smirked and said – ‘Not the girl’s pictures. But yours.’
Gyujin was honestly confused. He wanted his selfies? Why?
Then Seongjun explained what kind of photos he wanted, and Gyujin was mortified. He knew what kind of asshole the boy was. But this! Gyujin was angry. He pushed the boy away and called him a pervert before running away. He knew that he would get punished for what he did then. But at that moment, he was so pissed and disgusted by what he heard. Why in the hell would Seongjun want such photos if not to humiliate him? How could he think Gyujin would ever agree to something like that?
Then, from that evening onwards, he became the primary target of all of Seongjun’s gang. The bruises became even more difficult to hide from his mother. He thought he could survive it….such a fool. Seongjun never raised a hand at him, though. Weirdly, he never did, other than the occasional shovel or hair pulling. He just stood aside and watched everything in amusement. He would whisper as he lay on the floor, beaten to blue and purple by his friends, that he could stop all this if only Gyujin said yes.
But he clung to his stupid pride. Until his mother got involved, that is. Now….
What will happen tomorrow when he walks into the school? In his head, he could see the children mocking him, the photos pasted all over the locker rooms. The teachers calling his mother. A suspension…
The more he let his thoughts run wild, the more anxious he started to become. Gyujin was awake the whole night. Clutching onto his phone, praying to all the gods out there to help him. It is very unlikely, considering how the gods have turned a blind eye towards him for the last whole year.
But also, there was a tiny hope. What if Seongjun keeps his word and stops bullying him at all? Is that even possible?