Work Text:
The new foreign exchange student was… weird. Not in a supernatural kind of way (atleast Jim was pretty sure that wasn’t the case), just normal weird. Which was the norm for Arcadia.
His name was Yeon Si-eun - though Jim had no idea how to pronounce that - and he was from South Korea. Anyways, Jim had bigger problems than a new student.
…
It hadn’t even been a day and Steve was already bothering the new kid. It had to be some kind of record or something.
Jim had been sitting at his seat, doing nothing in particular, when out of nowhere Steve just threw all Si-euns stuff on the ground.
Jim sighed, while he got up to help or something. But halfway there, he paused. Si-eun was looking at Steve with eyes so full of rage Jim was unsure if he should even be in the same room as him.
Si-eun was also clutching a pen so hard, that Jim thought it might actually explode. Steve faultered with whatever insults, he was saying as the new kid sat just looking at him.
The whole thing was a spectical at this point. The whole class was looking at them, but no one was doing anything. Well, other than Mary who was recording the whole thing.
Jim almost junped at the sound of a voice. “You’re all so predictable.” Si-eun spoke quietly, “Now leave.”
The bell rang as he said that last part. Steve reluctantly walked away to find his seat. Jim really hoped this would be the end of this and that Steve would see, how much Si-eun didn’t care as a sign to stop.
But knowing Steve, he would most likely take that as a challenge. As Jim sat down next to Toby it was to him sounding almost like a fan girl, while he talked about how cool Si-eun was.
Jim spared a glance at Si-eun, who was writing something down, as he couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy about that look in his eyes.
And how it hadn’t seemed to have fully disappeared.
…
It was finally lunch and Jim was sitting with Toby, they were trying to quietly whisper about troll stuff.
Which more than likely made them look weird as fuck, but whatever. Jim couldn’t care less about being “weird” when all the humans in this town would get eaten if he didn’t get rid of Bular soon.
They were interrupted by a loud clang of metal. Steve - of fucking course - hadn’t left Si-eun alone. The metal clang had been Si-euns lunch tray hitting the floor, after Steve had knocked it out of his hands.
Si-eun stared at Steve with that quiet rage in his eyes. “Look, you can act all tough but you’re nothing but a pathetic loser.” Steve said, obnoxiously loud.
Jim and Toby stood up and started walking over, a crowd had already gathered.
“Stop bothering me.” Si-eun said, in a quiet voice that still clearly carried his anger.
“Or what?” Steve laughed, as he shoved Si-eun. It all happened in a matter of seconds, but for Jim it was as if everything was in slow motion.
Si-eun reached down for the tray and hit Steve upwards in the jaw with it - so hard that Jim was pretty sure he heard a crack - he then started beating Steve with the tray over and over in the face.
Si-eun then let go of the tray, when Steves face was so bloody that Jim could only see a red blotch instead of facial features.
No one moved for what felt like forever, Si-euns face then went blank and he just walked away, the crowd getting out of the way for him looking terrified.
…
Yeon Si-eun was looking at his blood stained hands. He was in a bathroom stall, feeling disappointed in himself.
It was supposed to be different here in America. There wasn’t meant to be anymore fights (Si-eun had promised himself he wouldn’t make a repeat of the incident).
Si-eun had probably just screwed everything up, he may have been able to get away with this in Korea, but he had no idea about America.
He put his head in his hands and sighed, as the bell rang. Now was the ultimate question; go to math or go home?
Who was he kidding, he was going to class. Not because he didn’t already know most of what they were learning - he was the top of his class back in Korea, his intelligence didn’t go down just because he’s in a new country - no, it felt like hiding if he just went home.
Hiding from punishment wouldn’t make it go away, it would just come back to haunt him tomorrow anyway.
Si-eun walked to class, while whispering from the other students followed him.
…
Steve wasn’t in class for obvious reasons, Jim was still shocked at what had happened.
He was pretty sure everyone was. Honestly Jim hadn’t thought Si-eun would show up for Math after what he did. But low and behold, a few minutes after the bell rang he walked in and sat at his desk.
Whispers filled the classroom. No one had told the teachers who had done that to Steve, scared out of their mind that if they ratted him out, they would be next.
However with all this whispering around Si-eun, you would be an idiot not to atleast suspect him.
Si-eun had some blood on his hands still, but he seemed to be ignoring it.
“Dude, how is he just sitting there like nothing happened?” Toby whispered to Jim, which was a good question.
“I don’t know, i mean what he did was brutal. I never thought i would say this but, i feel a little bad for Steve.” Jim replied, quietly.
The whole class quieted down when Ms Janeth walked in.
Jim felt uneasy as he looked at Si-euns eerily calm demeanor. He no longer considered him just weird, he was actively dangerous.
…
School was finally over and Mary was walking while on her phone.
She had taken a video of Steve getting absolutely beaten to hell, but she hadn’t posted it.
Shown it to her friends? Of course. Posted? No, she was a little scared if her posting that would get Si-eun in trouble, if a teacher saw it.
Not because of the ‘Si-eun might get in trouble’ part, but the ‘What if he finds out Mary posted it and beats her up’ part.
Because she might get loads of likes and shares from a video like that, but she sure as hell doesn’t wanna get beat up over it.
However she still really wanted to post it. Mary really didn’t know what to do. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she saw a familiar figure on a bench, making her stop.
The figure was Si-eun, who looked to be studying or something. It almost felt like all this thinking about him, had summoned him.
Should Mary walk in the other direction? Should she just walk past him without saying anything? Or should she say hi and hope she could get on his good side?
As she thought about this, she held her phone and pretended to be doing something, so if Si-eun turned around and saw her she wouldn’t just be staring at him. That would be very weird.
She finally decided on the third option and hoped to whoever would listen, that this wouldn’t backfire horribly.
Mary walked up and tried her best to be casual, internally this felt like she was making the biggest mistake in the history of mankind.
“Hi Si-eun.” Mary said while waving, hoping her voice came off as polite instead of sounding as scared she felt.
Si-eun looked up blinked a couple of times, as if the idea of anyone just saying hi to him was confusing in of itself. Before finally replying with a small; “Hi Mary,” as he hesitantly waved back.
He then looked down at the book in his hands again. Mary was a little surprised that he remembered her name, she was pretty sure he would have only heard it when he first got inteoduced to the whole class.
Mary walked away slowly, thinking.
After that interaction it was almost hard to believe that the person who beat up Steve to the point he had to go to the hospital, was the same guy as Si-eun who studies on a bench and speaks so softly the wind was probably louder.
Mary wasn’t going to post the video… but she was going to send it to the group chat with all her friends.
Maybe Si-eun wasn’t THAT bad of a guy, Steve was being kind of a massive jerk.
…
Si-eun stared at his phone, his face blank.
Someone had taken a video of him beating up Steve and posted it.
He was on the bus, on his way to school, scrolling on TikTok, when low and behold there he is.
It was posted a couple of hours ago and looking at the account he had no clue who this person was.
Their username was “🌸Darc🌸” with the profile picture just being a beautiful view from a mountain.
He wasn’t sure why he even wanted to know who posted it, it’s not like he would do anything about it.
What Si-eun did was probably seen as crazy to a normal person.
Si-eun sighed and put his phone away, he was almost at Arcadia Oaks anyway.
If a teacher saw that video he was for sure getting in trouble. Though how bad the punishment would be for that here in America, he wasn’t sure if it being a lighter punishment would be better or worse.
The implications would haunt him a bit, if he just got away with this.
…
School had just begun and Steve was still in the hospital.
Usually Eli would be excited for school any time Steve wasn’t there. However the reason he’s even in the hospital is just one seat over.
That brought Elis mood way down. He was practically shaking as he tried not to stare at Si-eun. Who was studying, which seems to be the only thing he does, well when he’s not beating people up it seems.
Mr Strickler was talking on and on about some of the alliances made between some countries in World War 1.
But Eli couldn’t concentrate, even though Si-eun wasn’t actually doing anything wrong right now.
Suddenly a loud monotone voice made Eli jump; “Si-eun Yeon would you please come to the principals office.”
The room was silent, as Si-eun quietly packed up his things and walked out of the room.
Eli should probably feel relieved with Si-eun not in the same room as him anymore, but it just made him afraid of what Si-eun would do.
It was clear what this was about to all the students, someone had probably taken a video of the “fight” if you could even it that.
Eli shuddered as he thought about what would happen to the person who had taken it.
…
Si-eun walked slowly to the principals office, not excited for what to come.
It was for sure about the incident from yesterday, a teacher (if not the principal himself) had seen the video and identified him as the one who beat the shit out of Steve.
Si-eun sighed deeply as he opened the door to the office. The princepal was sitting at his desk with a stern expression on his face. Si-eun closed the door, feeling a sense of dread and irritation.
“Do you know why I called you here?” Principal Levit asked, rhetorically. Si-eun just stared at him.
He knew why, they both know the other knows. This is a pointless question.
Principal Levit took out his phone and showed the screen to him. It was the video from yesterday, of course.
Si-eun stared past it at Principal Levit, he didn’t need to see it again, he was there after all. Principal Levit turned the phone off and put it down.
“This behaviour is unacceptable here at Arcadia Oaks and this incident should not be repeated. As punishment for this you will have after-school detention for two weeks, understood?”
After Principal Levit was finally done, Si-eun just nodded. He had never had detention before, but it honestly didn’t seem that bad.
If it was just staying at school and having to study or something then that’s the same thing he does at home anyway.
“Go back to class.” Principal Levit sighed, obviously not satisfied with how this very one-sided conversation went.
…
Class was almost over and suddenly the door opens and low and behold, guess who walks in? Si-eun, Mary had been like 99% sure he was about to get expelled.
When he had walked to the principals office Mary had felt a little bad, why? She wasn’t really sure. Maybe she liked him a bit, he was pretty cute.
She had been a bit worried for Darc when she saw she had posted the video. But looking at Si-eun now, she wasn’t as worried anymore.
He didn’t have that “i’m gonna kill everyone here” look in his eyes, that he had everytime he looked at Steve.
And he probably doesn’t know it was Darci that posted it anyway, so no need to worry.
Shit, she was staring wasn’t she? She quickly looked back to the boring ass history lesson that she prayed was going to end any second now.
Just then, she heard her prayers finally being answered as the bell for lunch rang.
…
Lunch was finally here and Claire was sitting with Mary and Darci.
Mary was complaining about how boring class was, which they all could agree on. It was pretty loud in the cafeteria, with all the students talking or shouting to eachother.
When suddenly evrrything went quiet. Everyone was whispering instead, which Claire could hazard a guess that it was because Si-eun just entered the room.
He was holding a tray with food, walking slowly while looking around. He looked a little like a lost puppy, which was a weird thought after what happened yesterday.
As Si-eun was about to pass their table, Mary did something unexpected.
“Hey, Sieun! You should sit with us!” Mary said, cheerfully, as if that guy hadn’t beaten a guy with a tray so brutally that he was still hospitalized.
Si-eun stopped walking, looked at them almost calculating, and then just… sat down and started eating his food.
Claire wasn’t sure what she was expecting to happen, but this felt a little anticlimactic.
There were whispers all around them, but Mary just started talking again like it was nothing.
Well, she did love attention. It was kind of weird, though. Si-eun just sat there, beside Mary. He didn’t really talk, however he seemed to be listening intently.
Claire tried her best to act casual, like this was just a normal talk at lunch.
Darci looked a little more unnerved though, as if expecting to get beat up at any moment.
However Si-eun gave no indication that he was going to beat anyone up.
As lunch ended, Claire walked to class feeling confused about how to feel about Si-eun.
He hospitalized someone yesterday, but that’s the only time he has ever acted aggressive as far as Claire has seen.
…
It was nice sitting with Mary and the others at lunch.
Even if Si-eun could see that Claire and Darci were uncormfortable with him there.
He had also heard Mary call Darci “Darc” a couple of times while there, so safe to say she was probably the one who posted the video.
Si-eun wasn’t really mad though, she seemed nice. He had forgotten how good it felt to have friends, but that definetely wasn’t what they considered him as.
Well, Claire and Darci atleast, Mary seemed to genuinely like him.
Si-eun missed Su-ho. And Yeong-i. And weirdly Beom-seok.
He wished Su-ho would one day reply to his texts saying he had woken up.
He wished Yeong-i would call him one day and explain why she left.
He wished he would run into Beom-seok and he would say he had changed and was doing better.
Si-eun tried to focus on class, they had math. He already knew all of this, everything felt so pointless.
Si-eun had heard the doctors, they had no idea if Su-ho was ever going to wake up.
Yeong-i was god know where and Beom-seok- he needed to stop this. With how his thoughts were going, he was probably going to have a breakdown in the middle of class.
Si-eun was trying to hold it together, really he was. But everything felt like it was closing in, and what if Yeong-i, Su-ho and Beom-seok were all actually dead, how would he know?
The answer is he wouldn’t. If Su-ho went critical and died, Si-eun would just be texting him forever with no response and who would go to his funeral other than his grandma?
And with everything Beom-seok was doing, Si-eun wouldn’t be surprised if. he- Si-eun couldn’t take being in this god forsaken room anymore.
He got up and walked out the class as Ms Janeth yelled about where he thought he was going.
He had no destination in mind, he was just walking. He wanted to be alone, he wanted to disappear. He wished he could just be invisible.
The destination he landed on was a bathroom stall, which maybe wasn’t the most mahical place. However he was alone, which was enough. He took out his phone and sent a text to Su-ho as he felt tears stream down his face.
“I got into a fight again. I’m sorry. I miss you so much I don’t know what to do” He wrote in korean.
Drops of tears were landing on his phone as he shut it off and put it away. He curled in on himself as he silently cried.
…
Walter had been walking to his office, when he had seen the newest student Si-eun walk into the bathroom looking like he was about to cry.
This shocked Walter a bit as he had seen the video of him beating Steve Palchuck up and he always had this almsot bored look on his face.
Though, he supposed appearances weren’t everything, he should know. He had moved away from the country he grew up in to an unfamiliar one, after all.
Walter walked slowly into the bathroom purpasely making his footsteps loud as to not spook him. As he walked in he was met with silence.
If he hadn’t been able to see Si-euns feet peaking out from under the stall, he would have almost thought it was empty.
“Are you quite alright, Si-eun? You’re supposed to be in class.” Walter said, he hadn’t actually heard Si-eun speak, ever he was pretty sure.
Everytime he would ask a question for the class, he never put his hand up and in the video he saw, he was silent the whole time he beat up Steve.
Alas, all he could do was hope for a response. After a few minutes of silence he decided to speak again,
“Do you want to go to my office instead of going back to class? You don’t have to talk, but you are always welcome to do so if you would like.”
There were a few beats of silence, before he heard the click of the door unlocking. Si-eun walked out looking like he had just been to a funeral.
There were tear tracks down his cheeks and his eyes were red. His eyes were staring into Walters, and it almost felt like he could see into his soul.
However Walter tried to keep a neutral expression as he started walking to his office again, this time with Si-eun walking slowly behind him.
Keeping his distance.
…
Si-eun stared at the back of Mr Stricklers neck. He was mostly only going with him, because this seemed better than class right now.
Maybe Si-eun could even keep his cool while there. Hopefully. As they reached the office, Mr Strickler took out some keys from his back pocket and unlocked the door.
He held the door open for Si-eun, however he just stared at him. He was not going into that room before Mr Strickler had already gone in there.
Call it survival instincts, if you will. After some akward few seconds Strickler finally took the hint and just went inside.
After which, Si-eun followed. It was a pretty boring looking office, there was a game of chess in the room however.
Which wasn’t a crazy thing to have in an office, but still interesting. Mr Strickler sat down at his desk and gestured for Si-eun to take a seat in the chair across from him. He sat down as Strickler began to talk.
“Do you want to tell me why you were sad?” Basic question. Si-eun didn’t want to think about that though. He stayed quiet, staring at Strickler almost hoping his gaze could make him explode.
“No? That’s okay too. We can just sit here in silence if that’s what you prefer.” Mr Strickler said and took out some papers from his desk and started grading them.
…
Walter wasn’t quite sure what he had expected would happen, but as he graded papers all Si-eun did was stare at him. It was a little unnerving.
When the bell rang meaning it was time for Walter to get to one of his classes, he put away his stuff and got up.
“Are you okay enough to go to class?” Walter asked, he had no clue of what was going on in Si-eun mind.
He seemed calm and composed most of the time, at a first glance you would never suspect him of being violent at all.
Walter was concerned for Si-eun, not just because of his violent outbursts. But whatever made him need to leave in the middle of class to go cry, didn’t seem like something small.
Walter barely knew him, but he could see in his eyes that there was something eating away at him.
Si-eun just gave a little nod and stood up to get to class.
…
History was as boring as ever. All Toby wanted to do was eat a Diablo Maximus borito. But that wasn’t the only thing he was thinking about.
He was super curious about why the hell Si-eun just up and left in the middle of class. He had looked a bit sad maybe?
Toby wasn’t sure, but he was also a bit worried. Only like a smidge. Si-eun turned his head towards Toby, in doing so catching him staring.
Toby turned his attention back to class, face heating up with embarrassment. Jeez, just his luck.
Toby glanced back at Si-eun who had returned to taking notes, he really should stop staring at him like that.
Hopefully it won’t get him beat up. The bell finally rung and Toby almost ran outta there, he was finally free, the day was over. Him and Jim biked home together as usual.
“You’ve been staring at Si-eun a lot.” Jim said, out of the blue.
“I don’t know if i would say a lot.” Toby replied, knowing he was talking absolute bullshit.
“Well, that dependes is your definition of a lot more than like 99% of the time in class?” Jim snorted.
“What are you trying to insinuate right now?” Toby asked, already knowing the answer.
“You totally like him!” Jim responded.
“No! He’s just an interesting guy, that’s all!” Toby said, knowing he was talking straight out of his ass.
“Sure, anyway bye i’ll see you later. Maybe you’ll be able to admit your feelings by then.” Jim yelled, as he biked towards his house.
Toby sighed, knowing he was totally right. It was kind of hot for someone to put Steve in his place and he didn’t seem like a horrible guy to be around.
He had even hung out with Darci, who had posted the video that got him in trouble without beating her up.
Toby was of course never going to telm Si-eun about his little crush, he would die of embarrassment if (probably more like when) he didn’t feel the same.
…
Si-eun was acutely aware of when he was getting stared at, and it was happening a lot after what he did.
But two common eyes on his back - specifically in class - are Mary and Toby(?).
It was fine though, Mary was kind to him and Toby didn’t bother him.
Si-eun was sitting on a bench, alone as always. It was a nice looking park, it had some pretty flowers.
But he wasn’t here to look at flowers, he was studying. Returning back to his room made him feel so empty.
There was no one there but him. Which is exactly like back in Korea, however it somehow felt more empty when he was in a brand new country.
No parents that he sees for maybe ten minutes a day.
No friends that could visit (No Su-ho). It was fine though, he was fine. He was shocked out of his thought by two familiar voices.
Si-eun looked behind him to see Jim and Toby, at a taco truck. What was with him and meeting people he knew in this park?
As they turned around with tacos, they saw him. Si-eun waved with his hand that wasn’t holding his pen, it would probably be rude to ignore their presense.
The two stopped for a moment before waving back with a yell of “Hi” from Toby.
Then they walked on, as they continued talking. Si-eun looked down at his notebooks and sighed.
He used to study all the time without this large of a feeling of loneliness.
Being friends with Su-ho had changed him, in a way. With Su-ho he had felt safe, secure (loved, adored).
What he had felt with Su-ho could never be replaced. Si-eun took out his phone and sent Su-ho a text.
“If you wake up please text me. You have to wake up. I can’t do this without you. I think i made a friend. Her name is Mary and she’s nice. I think you would like her.”
Si-eun put away his phone and stared blankly ahead.
Life felt so pointless.
…
Stuart had been having an amazing day. He had sold a bunch of tacos, made some money. Life is good.
He has a space in the park he usually sells his tacos, it’s a pretty nice place and it even has some flowers around.
However he has started noticing someone new in the park. Some teenager, who’s sat on the same bench for about 2 hours now.
He also sat there yesterday for like 4 hours, Stuart had been keeping an eye on him - not in a weird way - Stuart was just a bit worried, okay?
Sitting in a park for so many hours just studying isn’t normal, it looks extremely lonely. And today was so much more concerning.
The teen has been sitting and starring out into space for twenty minutes, not moving a muscle. It was kind of unnerving to say the least.
Stuart saw some kids walking up to him though, hopefully they were friends or something.
…
Si-eun was pulled out of his haze of a state by yelling. He blinked a couple of times before looking at the source of the noise.
It was Steve and some other kids that weren’t in Si-euns class. This was going to end badly, he didn’t wanna do this right now - or ever.
“Hey loser, you may have beaten me last time but you’re going to regret what you did, you’re outnumbered this time.” Steve said, his face still had bandages on just above the eyebrows.
Si-eun got up and held his pen tightly. Steve swung a punch, though with how weak it looked Si-eun didn’t know if you could even call it that.
He dodged easily, he just wanted them to go away. Steve lost his balance for a moment, caught off guard it seemed by missing.
Si-eun used that those seconds to pull out some brass knuckles from his pocket and hit Steve square in the face.
With the impact of the punch came a sickening crunch. Why couldn’t he have just left it alone?
Steves friends had seemed stuned at first but now went into action.
One tried a kick, the other a punch like Steves. Si-eun dodged thrm both too (they were really bad at the whole beating people up thing), Si-eun slammed his pen into the leg of the one kicking.
There was a cry of pain as he fell to the ground, Si-eun quickly took his pen back out, which got another yell of pain.
However in the time he had been distracted with the other one, the one who tried a punch had composed himself enough to kick Si-eun in the head.
He fell to the ground dazed for a second before getting up as fast as he could (how could he have let that happen?).
The other guy was smiling now, confident after getting that on hit in. He then tried a hook, but this time Si-eun was expecting it.
He instead went for his foot, stabbing it with his pen. They were done now, they had to be.
Why did this have to happen, all of it? He can’t do this anymore. Si-eun was breathing heavily.
Why couldn’t they just have left him alone? His legs were moving faster than his brain. He didn’t deserve to be here. Su-ho did though.
Why couldn’t it have been Si-eun instead? The cars screeching tires couldn’t stop fast enough, Si-eun barely registered the shouts and yells from passers-by.
Maybe he could be with Su-ho now (maybe he could be happy).
…
Barbara had been having a relatively calm day at the hospital, considering what her job was.
However that was when a teenager was wheeled in.
He had a broken right arm, sprained left ankle, bruised ribs, dislocated shoulder and some minor cuts and bruises.
Luckily there was no major organ damage or internal bleeding. Barbara was looking at the teens chart.
The kids name was Yeon Si-eun and this had apparently been a suicide attempt, according to witnesses.
She put down the chart, she had to go check on Si-eun and see if he needs some more medication.
As Babara entered the room, she was a bit startled by Si-eun just sitting there staring out the window.
“Hi Si-eun, i’m Dr. Barbara Lake. How are you feeling?” Barbara asked, warmly. Si-eun just looked at her for a moment, almost calculating before replying a simple.
“Fine.” Which was most likely a lie.
“Do you need anything?” Barbara asked, though she wasn’t confident in a truthful answer.
“No.” Was Si-euns short reply. Barbara just gave a nod before saying; “Well, if you ever need something, just press that button and a doctor or nurse will come to this room, okay?”
Si-eun nodded and looked out the window again.
…
Si-eun hadn’t been at school today and the whispers going around were starting to worry Jim a bit.
They said he had beat up Steve - again - and his friends, okay whatever, Steve really needed to learn to leave people alone.
But that wasn’t what was worrying him, it was what apparently had happened after. Rumours said Si-eun had tried to kill himself by jumping infront of a car. That couldn’t be true, right?
Sure, Si-eun didn’t seem that mentally stable - he beat up the same guy twice now - but he didn’t seem sad, well, maybe he was a bit lonely.
Maybe it actually did make sense, but no one had bothered to see how much he was struggling.
School was over and Jim had biked over to the hospital his mom works at.
He needed to see if the rumours were true, he really hoped they weren’t and it was just Steve spreading it as some horrible joke.
“Jim? What are you doing here?” His mom asked, confusion clear on her face.
Jim hesitated for a moment before finding the right words; “Is a guy named Yeon Si-eun here?”
He wasn’t sure why it felt like such a hard question to ask.
“Yes, there is. How do you know him?” His mom asked, confusion still there.
“He’s a friend from school.” Jim anwered, but his mind was far away from the conversation.
If him being in the hospital was true, was him trying to commit suicide also true?
“Oh, well you can go see him in the room down the hall to the left with the number 12A on it.” His mom answered, pointing him in the direction he should go.
Jim nodded before walking there. He really hoped Si-eun was okay, he didn’t know him that well, didn’t even know if he considered Jim a friend or what they could be called other than classmates.
But Si-eun didn’t seem like a bad guy, Jim didn’t want him to die. He gave a knock before going in the room.
He was met with the sight of Si-eun having a cast on his arm, and having a lot of bruises cuts and other injuries.
He had this look on his face like he was surprised to see anyone visiting him - Jim wondered for a moment if his parents knew what had happened before pushing the thought away.
It didn’t matter right now, they were in Korea anyway. Jim stood there akwardly, he hadn’t really thought about what he would say. Jim cleared his throat.
“Uhm, hi Si-eun, i just wanted to see if you were okay?” That sounded a lot more like a question then he intended it to.
Si-eun studied him for a moment before saying; “I’m fine.” Jim called bullshit on that, but he wasn’t about to say that out loud.
“That’s good, do you wanna talk or just hamg out?” Jim really didn’t know what he was doing, but he couldn’t just leave.
The thought of Si-eun being alone right now - feeling alone right now - made Jim anxious and sad.
Also it might be fun to just be in eachothers company, if anything hanging out with Jim can’t be any less entertaining than just sitting and doing nothing.
…
Si-eun was confused and pleasantly surprised to be visited by anyone. It was nice to see Jim, Si-eun had liked being alone a lot less than he expected he would.
Maybe it was because then there wasn’t really anything to distract him from the pain (or maybe he had crossed the line from being alone to being down right lonely a long time ago).
Jim sat akwardly on a chair beside Si-eun, it was a little cute.
“So, uhm, how are you feeling?” Jim asked, scratching his neck. Si-eun stared for a moment, hesitating.
He wished he could tell the truth, but the truth was ugly and wouldn’t do Si-eun any favours.
Telling anyone he was feeling horrible, never ended well for him (he tried to ignore how Su-ho would never judge him, how he had helped him when he was getting jumped).
“I’m okay.” Si-eun said, quietly, lying through his teeth. Looking at Jim, he knew he didn’t buy it. He didn’t call him out on that, though.
“That’s good.” There was too much concern in Jims eyes, Si-eun barely knew him, Jim had seen him beat the shit out of a guy. And probably heard about him doing it again.
Why would he even want to be near him? Let alone be concerned about him?
They sat in silence for a couple minutes.
…
This was akward, really akward. What the hell were they supposed to talk about? Jim should maybe have thought about that, just a tiny bit before going here.
“I’m gonna be honest here, I have no idea what to talk about.” Jim said, the stare from Si-eun making his face heat up. The silence was only making it worse, geez Jim was getting pathetic.
“What’s your favourite movie?” Si-eun asked, quietly. Jim had almost jumped out of his seat, when he heard his voice.
“Hmm, that’s a hard question. I’d say Back to the Future 1985, it’s a classic.” Jim replied, “What about you?”
Si-eun paused, looking out the window, before looking back at Jim. “Unlocked 2023.” He said, slowly.
“I don’t know that one, maybe we could watch it together some time?” Jim smiled at Si-eun, even though he felt like he was so nervous, that he was about to explode.
Si-euns eyes widened a bit in surprise. “Okay.” Was his only verbal reply. Jim felt happier than he probably should for it only being one movie.
…
Steve didn’t know how to feel. He had tried to make Si-eun did, sure, but he really hadn’t expected him to just… he didn’t even want to think about what he saw.
There was so much blood. Steve was at the hospital getting treated for his broken nose and getting checked to make sure his concussion wasn’t worse.
Maybe trying to fight someone while concussed hadn’t been the best idea… or even picking the fight to begin with.
But whatever, the point was, Steve was at the same hospital Si-eun also was at. It was weird, Steve had tried to beat him up but now that he had tried to kill himself Steve felt… worried.
Which wasn’t supposed to happen. He was mad Si-eun had beat him up sure, but he didn’t want him to die.
Should he go and check on him? No, no that’s stupid. What would he say anyway? ‘Sorry i tried to beat you up’? No, that’s weird.
But Steve was being kind of a jerk. Why had Si-eun tried to kill himself out of nowhere? He won the fight, noone was going after him.
It couldn’t have just been the fight, he hadn’t tried to do that when he beat Steve up the first time.
He really hoped it hadn’t been because of him.
…
Originally Si-eun was supposed to have had his first ever detention, however due to obvious reasons, that wouldn’t be happening right now.
He was looking at his texts to Su-ho, thinking. It was probably a miracle that his phone survived the incident with not even a scratch.
Si-eun sighed as he put his phone down on thr table beside him. He had no clue of what to tell him. How could Si-eun be this selfish?
What if he had been successful in his attempt and Su-ho actually woke up, just for Si-eun to be dead?
No, that would crush him. He probably shouldn’t die now. Maybe he just had to hold out until Su-ho woke up.
If he doesn’t- no need to think about that now. There was a knock at the door, Si-eun turned to look at it.
The door then opened to reveal it was Mr. Strickler, great. This couldn’t be good.
…
Walter was… sursprised to say the absolute least when he found out Si-eun had tried to kill himself.
Of course, this was all from witness statements. As Walter looked at Si-euns condition he couldn’t help just feeling sad. He had been struggling, Walter knew that the moment he had seen those tear tracks going down his face.
But how long? Had no else noticed?
“Hello, Si-eun i would just like to talk to you for moment. If that’s alright with you of course.” Walter said, trying to keep his voice as even as possible.
Si-eun just stared at him, his head tilted. His eyes always had this look, as if he could see all your secrets. Which, knowing what Arcadia has living right under their feet, wasn’t too absurd.
Walter cleared his throat, Si-eun obviously wasn’t going to talk.
“So, i’ll start off by asking, how are you feeling right?” Walter tried to give a warm smile, however his concern and uneasiness was probably becoming a little evident.
Si-eun turned his head to look out the window before replying; “Fine.” In the most monotone and unconvincing voice ever.
Walter smiled at the lie anyway. “That’s good to hear. Can i ask you what happened?”
Si-eun slowly turned his head back to Walter, his face was blank as always. Or maybe Walter just didn’t know how to read him.
“Why do you care? You could go back to teaching as if nothing happened. Whatever took place there doesn’t affect you.” Si-eun said, as his eyes bored into Walters.
They looked sad, in a way. It had been a surprisingly long answer, given how much he usually speaks. Which is not at all. But it also gave Walter insight into how Si-eun views people.
“You’re one of my students, i care about all of my students wellbeing.” Walter said, thinking about all the concerning implications that came from what Si-eun had said.
Did his parents often ignore things that didn’t directly affect them? Did they ignore him perhaps?
When Walter really thought about it all of Si-euns behaviour was very concerning in an of itself. Si-eun stared at Walter like he didn’t believe a word he said.
Did why Si-eun had been crying that time have anything to do with what happened today? Was it something back in Korea maybe?
“Well, if you don’t wanna talk about what happened today, we can talk about something else.” Walter said, sitting down on the chair across from Si-eun hospital bed.
“Do you have any friends back in Korea?”
…
Si-eun stared at his teacher, trying to will him away. His emotions felt all over the place. Why would he ask him that? Well, no, that makes sense.
He’s trying to get to know Si-eun better, it’s not really his fault he picked the worst question ever.
Did he have friends back in Korea? Yeong-i was god knows where. Seok-dae probably doesn’t count - does Su-ho even count?
If not then… no he didn’t have any friends back there. Si-euns gaze had dropped to the floor, as he shook his head.
“What did you do in your free time?” Strickler said, obviously trying to change subject quickly. Si-euns stare came back up to Strickler face, which had a twinge of regret plasted on it.
“Study.” Si-eun said, since saying he fought alot most likely wouldn’t help him in anyway.
Strickler kept his face from showing it, but his eyes showed that he didn’t think that was all to it.
“That’s nice, what do you wanna do after you graduate?” Si-eun had dreaded a question like this, however it was inevitable.
It was an obvious question, the answer not so much. Si-eun just didn’t have a passion for anything.
Thinking about living to be old enough to need a job at all, left him filled with dread. He didn’t want to live that long, he didn’t wanna live at all.
Not without Su-ho. Maybe… maybe if he woke up. Si-eun looked out the window, the hospital view was pretty beautiful.
“I don’t know.” It probably wasn’t what Strickler wanted to hear, but it was the truth.
…
Mary was pacing her room, contemplating. She had heard the rumours Si-eun was in the hospital - that he had tried to kill himself - and she was worried to say the absolute least.
Should she visit him? That’s what friends would do, but does he think of her as a friend?
Mary really hoped he did - actually she hoped he liked her more than that but that’s just daydreaming.
She should, but what could she say? Could she just… say she was worried? Yeah, she could do it.
Now she just needed to get there, she had a bike, that would have to do.
…
Strickler had finally left. Why he had come here, Si-eun wasn’t sure.
The school must have sent him, but for what purpose specifically he wasn’t sure.
Strickler had been asking personal questions, that didn’t really lead him anywhere. And the questions wouldn’t really determine if he was suicidal or not.
Si-eun was staring at his phone, what could he even say to Su-ho? He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by a knock, again. This time it was Mary who walked in.
“Hey, i just wanted to come check on you.” Mary said, with a bright smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. Si-eun thought for a moment.
“I’m okay.” Was his hesitant response. He wasn’t actually quite sure how he was doing.
“That’s great! So, i brought a game of Uno, since you’re probably bored to death here. Wanna play?” Mary said, cheerfully.
“Okay.” Si-eun said, nodding.
…
Si-eun had to be cheating somehow. Mary didn’t know how, but it has to be impossible to win 34 rounds in a row.
Mary threw down her cards, having just lost, again. “Okay, how are you doing this. It’s UNO, how are you gettting THIS good cards.”
Si-eun just raised an eyebrow at Mary, rude.
As she lost yet another game, Mary threw her cards in the air, dramatically saying; “I give up!”
Si-eun gave an amused huff, putting his cards down.
Mary was still extremely worried about Si-eun - but there wasn’t much she could do.
Other than be there for him and hope he gets better.
“I’m gonna sneak some fast food in here for you.” Mary said, standing up.