Cannon

Time: High school. Jiho, age 15. 1st year. Jaesun, age 16. 2nd year.

TW: School bullying, violence, derogatory language, expression of trauma.

Jaesun ran through the halls as fast as his feet could carry him. Let me get there in time! He prayed. It was not the first time they had gone after Jiho, but the gang members had been more consistent with their threats over the last few months. 

"Oi! Jaesun! Where are you off to?" A classmate asked, stopping Jaesun in his tracks. 

"Have you seen Jiho!?" Jaesun asked frantically.

"Didn't you guys meet up?" The classmate asked with a raised brow before another guy popped up and added "A girl from 2nd year dropped by, saying that you were waiting for him at the usual spot,"

A cold chill ran down Jaesun's spine and sent him into another sprint. The rooftop! he panicked and felt his heart sink. If he was right then this was not going to end well. The sprint up the stairs made his lungs burn like crazy by the time he reached the large metal door. He pushed it open and scanned the rooftop area desperately searching for Jiho. 

"Oh-hoo~ there he is! The knight in shining armour," the gang leader teased with a wide grin. "What? Here to pick up your princess from the ball?" He clicked his tongue and threw a glance over the shoulder towards his gang members.

Jaesun froze at the sight. Jiho was hanging lifeless by the collar in the grip of one of the members. His face was messed up and his uniform was torn to shreds in several places, and his hands were tied behind his back.

The leader grinned as he turned back to Jaesun. "Don't worry, it was an amazing party, but you see we couldn't just leave him up here in the rain, so I had to arrange an escort when he passed out on us," he clicked his tongue again and rolled his eyes. He stepped closer and placed a firm hand on Jaesun's shoulder. "Make sure you clean this up properly," he whispered with a low and warning growl.  "My father won't take it kindly if this gets dragged to court, and I won't leave your little princess alone either," he snickered and waved his hand at the other members. "We're leaving!" He commanded.

Jaesun clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. The gang had never dared to lay a hand directly on him since his family was of a higher social status, but that only fed the gang leader's inferior complex. In turn, he felt helpless when witnessed Jiho suffer needlessly as a result.

Jiho was shoved into the ground when the members vacated the rooftop area. Jaesun's heart dropped as he ran to Jiho and untied his hands. "Jiho-ya," he called with a shaking voice.

Jaesun got down on both knees and carefully pushed Jiho's wet locks out of the way, so he could see his face. His stomach turned when he noticed all the bruised and torn areas all over his skin. With a gentle arm, he pulled him up into a tight hug. Tears welled up from a bottomless pit of anger. The absence of power to resist, and the guilt of being the cause of all this made him feel like a monster. 

If only he weren't the son of a wealthy family, if only he hadn't been so confident about his preference and gender identity, then none of this would have happened. 

He hugged Jiho tight trying to fight the tears that kept streaming down his face. The rain felt soft and warm over his back as he sobbed with a pain stabbing at his heart. Amid the emotional chaos, his phone started buzzing in his pocket. He reached for it, hand shaking from the shock, Jaewon hyung the screen showed, he picked it up and couldn't help but hyperventilate when he tried to speak. "H-hyu- hic- hyuuung!" He sobbed and felt his throat clasp tight from the pressure.

"Where are you?" His brother asked in a firm but calm tone.

Before Jaesun could catch up with reality he heard the sirens of an ambulance in the distance and soon after the sound of footsteps came rushing from the staircase. His brother and a team of paramedics swept both him and Jiho out and off to the hospital. Jaesun couldn't stop shaking or crying when they carried Jiho away. Luckily, Jiho got away with superficial wounds for the most part, and the gang hadn't attempted rape as they tried a few years back, but this was still just too much for him to take.

A few hours later, when they had finished tending to both of the boys, Jaesun found himself sitting in a chair next to Jiho's bed in the VIP hospital room. The pain kept wringing in his chest just by seeing his friend in this state. If only he was stronger and had more power… could he then protect those dear to him?