Chapter=38(W-Why am I the only one suffering here?)

"Tell him this is the last warning. From now on, he is strictly prohibited to watch tv, playing, and guffing around and not even being allowed to step his foot outside of the door unless and until it's an emergency! Let him know!"

Mum, "..There there..!"

Hiding behind the door newmoon listened to everything. But so what? He wasn't in a position to protest anything in the first place. He silently walked away with a head hung low!

Being able to escape from his dad with the help of his mum, was already enough for him. Only god knew what will he do if he had stayed there for a longer time.

He plopped on his bed and he dazed out at the blank wall. On the side, his younger brother was playing with some wooden sticks.

Newmoon's brows furrowed. He already was on the verge of a shit mood and now seeing john being all lively and shiny for some reason he lost his cool and vented his all emotions to him.

Before knowing, his hand itself raised and hit him on the back of the shoulder.

"Uwaaa!~~!!"

Being beaten for absolutely no reason little john cried out loudly. Enough to be heard by dad and mom.

"WHAT HAPPENED?"

As predicted, dad's yelled out.

However, instead of quickly shutting john's mouth or doing something to make him stop weeping, newmoon stood straightly as if he noticed something.

"…"

Both of the parents rushed instantly to the room. Seeing John, mum quickly ran towards him and hugged him gently.

"Shh! Now be quiet john! There..there!"

Large veins popped out in dad's forehead. His eyes shot up, "YAA~ WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?"

Before dad finished the second sentence, his hand swung in the air and he smacked newmoon on the head. Newmoon lost the balance on his foot and fell to the side almost hitting his head on the nearby table.

"…"

The bell rang inside his head and the vision started to spin. It made him recall the same incident 2 years ago. Everything was similar except the pain. Somehow, the pain he held in his heart was a thousand times greater than the pain he was feeling in his head.

"Newmoon! I'm asking you something!! You punk?"

Dad roared with red eyes.

"Piteuu!"

Newmoon spits out the saliva.

Seeing how he was turning deaf to his words, Dad clenched his teeth and approached him furiously.

"How dare-!"

Mum grasped his hands.

"What are you doing-?"

"Dad, did you see john's report card?"

Hearing it out of blue, dad was dazed for a second.

With a pause, newmoon looked up slightly and stared at dad with a fearless gaze.

"No- Have you ever checked his result?"

He asked in a cold tone.

"?"

"?"

Both of them were bewildered.

At the end of the newmoon's lips, it slightly curved up.

"Surely, You did right?"

Another vein popped over his forehead, "Now, where is that coming from-"

"-THEN WHY DON'T YOU SAY A FUCKING THING TO JOHN?"

Gritting his teeth, immediately afterward he burst out his anger and pour out every single bottled-up range as though he could no longer hold it.

Pointing at the paper on the table, he yelled, "His academic results are even worse than mine."

Tears filled his eyes as he continued in a trembling tone, "He is weaker than me but..W-Why am I the only one getting scolded, beaten every day, every minute, and every second?? There isn't a day that I avoided-?"

Gathering all the courage and withstanding his tears, he added more, "Why you never laid a single hand on him? Why do you never scold him even for his mistakes? Like me, he has also barely passed his grade! Then why aren't you calling him and giving him earful lectures already?"

"W-Why am I the only one suffering here?"

He eventually gave up and a series of tears fell down his cheeks.

While mum was taken by the unpredictable action of the newmoon, on the other hand, dad was in utter silence.

"I-I think I know the answers!"

He wiped the tears.

A cold expression in his eyes.

"..Because you prefer him more than me right?"

Dad was startled as if he was somewhat shocked. He opened his mouth and then closed his mouth.

"Newmoon! STOP!"

Mum declared in worried tune.

Turning to her, a newmoon instituted, " WHY? Why should I stop? OH! I think I know, Now that the truth is coming over to the surface, his pride is getting hurt right?"

Every word he spoke sounded like a sharp knife stabbing flesh. Both his glare and voice were more violent than before.

"New-"

"Mum you don't need to calm down me anymore! I am in the best shape than ever. I know why he looks down upon me! After all, I was a child he never wanted me to be born in this world. That's why he despises me to deal-!!"

A large 'slap' was heard in the middle of arguments. Dad slapped newmoon.

Newmoon, "?"

Mum, "?"

Having hit him once again, dad left the room silently for the first ever in his entire life, or at least as far as newmoon's memory served him best.

Only when he gets a slap from his dad, did he get a little bit of silence? Even in the end, he gets the beating. His heart turned all bitter and throbbed in an instant. In overwhelming emotions, he took out all of his school uniforms and got out of the room. He didn't bother to give a pitiful look to his mum too!

…

It was the first time he ever got to school so soon without eating his meal. The beating from his dad was enough to make him lose his appetite. Without a distraction, he quickly went to his class and plopped down in his class and sleep down pretending to be sick. The same familiar action he did when he first joined the school 2 years ago.

Meanwhile, a certain footstep headed towards him. He thought it might be someone who would be soon passed through him but no- it stopped directly at him.

Newmoon's head was laid down on the floor so he peeked at the shoes of the unknown person.

It was flawless.

Before he could think more, he heard,

"A-Are you sick?"

At this point, he felt a déjà vu for an instance. For a brief moment, he thought maybe it was there who might have returned to school-?

His face froze when he felt the lost long feeling.

It was non-other than. Yoo Minhae!

During the 2 years, all he did was look up at them from time to time and saw them getting various awards in the field of academics as well as for extracurricular activities. The fact he never made it to the same section as them, he was helpless but to admire them from afar. At first glance, it was just a curiosity that nahee put in his mind but as time passes it was deeply engraved in his mind. Despite being alone all year, he never really felt the uncontrollable urge to make friends because his heart would be filled up once he glanced at them. He only felt the strong emotions to hold the warmth in close.

Now, Seeing him out of nowhere, newmoon almost screamed let alone his heart. In a second, he forget all of his suffering and pain and he ascended to heaven.

He stood up excitedly!

"Oh, it's you! I thought I thought it was somebody else."

Minhae, "Hmm?"

Raising his eyebrows, he wonders, "Do you know me? But I don't think we have ever crossed paths!"

Now it was awkward to respond. Stretching his back, newmoon laughed, "Haha! How can one not know your name? A famous best friend pair from our school. Everybody is aware of you two!"

The back side of their head, he was going crazy with the thought of 'He is talking, he is talking with me!'

Hearing it, Minhae slightly blushed in embarrassment, "Haha! Now that can't be helped! Oh right, Were you expecting somebody else? Earlier you were!"

Newmoon stared at him with a firm eye and shook both of his head and hands, "No-No! I wasn't expecting anyone else. It's just I-I felt a déjà vu!"

A thought bubbled up in his head, "Indeed I was yet not!"

Minhae, "…"

Seeing how he was lost in his thought, newmoon flushed once again and he quickly confessed the truth as if he was possessed by some ghost.

"No-No. I'm speaking the truth. Trust me. It wasn't a girl! It was a boy! Who was my very first friend? Blah Blah!"

Meanwhile a phrase of 'What's wrong with him' was hanging in his face. However, newmoon couldn't figure it out and he kept on diving into his anxieties more and more.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Finally, he is talking to me, and i-!"

He wanted to disappear.

"Who are you talking to minhae?"

Another firm voice added.

As newmoon turned his face, he saw the other pair, Ahn Oasis!

"I must be blessed by the divine god! Another pair!"

Newmoon muttered under his breath as he bowed his head to him and Minhae as well.

"Woah! Man! Save that respect for the homeroom teacher for later! We ain't that renowned person!"

Compared to earlier, this time oasis tone was lifted into a bouncy tone.

"Is it just me or. I think he kinda looks happy?"

A voice in his head said. But he quickly shrugged it off thinking it was impossible that way.

Little did he know, he wasn't completely wrong.

Oasis stood in front of him and took his time scanning him from head to toe.

"?"

Both of them grew an extra inch within those years. They were about 170 cm taller. While newmoon at 150cm. In front of the giant pairs, he was like a chicken.

"Didn't know they were this tall! They've grown!"

Newmoon awed them secretly cause he never had a chance to stand there face-to-face so close. He knew they were but not until a minute ago!

"Um! Are you a boy?"

After a long silence, it was this question of oasis, that broke the spirit of newmoon!

He had never expected from him and so was Minhae!

Minhae quickly smacked him with his elbow.

"Yaa! That hurt! But I'm serious! Don't you think so? Take a good look at him."

"Ha-Ha!"

Newmoon could only laugh nervously.

"Sorry Friend! Pls, Forget what he said!"

Minhae genuinely apologized.

"No- it's alright! I get that a lot!"

"See? Unlike most of the boys(Us), he is small, has a small round shape face and if he grew hair I'm sure people would surely misunderstand him."

Before even newmoon could say something, Minhae had already flicked his forehead.

"Ouch ouch ouch!"

Oasis rolled down on the floor covering his forehead.

"You're evil Minhae!"

"Same word goes to you too!"

Minhae replied.

Although newmoon felt a bit sorry and guilty for that flick, still oddly enough he felt some sort of warm sense of protection from Minhae.

~Badump!

"Anyway! Forget about him. Btw what's your name? I'm Yoo Minhae, 15 years old!"

"Oh! He is 3 years older than me!" he thought as he lifted his chin with admiration.

"I'm Kim Newmoon! And I'm about to turn 13 years old the next month!"

"Woah! You're way younger than us!"

"Hey! Don't leave me!"

Oasis dusted his clothes and stood up,

"And I'm Ahn Oasis! The same year as Minhae but he is a few months elder than me!"

"Newmoon~"

In a strange expression, Oasis murmured it a few times.

"Newmoon! Has anybody said that your name is weird? I mean unique?"

"No?"

As though Minhae sensed something, he instantly glared at the oasis as a hint to back away. But one thing newmoon learned from oasis so far!

He wasn't the type to back down. Whatever it was in his mind, he would say or do it. From what he had seen, even Minhae was having difficulties with him.

"It almost sounds like a name derived from some kind of 'Werewolf' movie! Haha!"

Newmoon's eyes beamed in enthusiasm, "Is that so? I didn't know!"

"Newmoon, you might not know but he is fooling with your name!"

Rubbing his temple, Minhae corrected him.

"No- I was geuiniune this time!"

Oasis argued as if he was wronged.

Newmoon could only give an awkward laugh at them.

His eyes flashed as if he recalled something from the past. His heart filled up with the surreal incident that he just encountered. Not even in a dream did he think he would get so close to them to the point they would be sharing the same smiles with newmoon.

Maybe this is how a friendship feels.

Thinking of it, not long after his eyes got filled with a pool of water again.

Since morning, he had been on the verge of emotions. Unlike the other day, he was easily swayed by his feelings and even simple things made him lose his cool.

"What is this?"

He thought! Then, He quickly rubs his eyes afraid of seeing them catching him.

Unfortunately, it couldn't get passed down to minhae's eyes. Not in his presence.

Suddenly, Minhae grabbed newmoon's hand.

"?"

"?"

The entire environment got stiff.

"U-Um Minhae I think you're mistaken about that. My hands are here!"

He wriggled his hands in mid-air.

"Hey! Are you alright? Did something happen?"

Minhae asked in a worried tone.

Newmoon flinched unable to utter a single word. Not only that his entire body got frozen on the spot too! Why? Cause he felt a certain sense of familiarity in his words. His Jina noona used to ask the same question whenever he was in trouble and upon hearing it, newmoon's emotions become weak, finally helpless and ended with crying.

But he was able to control it in front of them.

Newmoon flinched unable to utter a single word. Not only that his entire body got frozen on the spot too!

Hearing it, oasis glanced at newmoon with a serious expression.

"ha-ha?"

For some reason, all he could do was pull off the awkward smile on his face. Even though he wanted to deny it completely, his mouth was just going against his will.

"Minhae?"

Oasis called him.

Retracting back his hand, Minhae answered, "I just saw for a split second but he was..crying!"

"What?"

Oasis's jaw almost falls in disbelief.

He quickly shifted his gaze to newmoon once more but this time he focused on his eyes only.

Newmoon step back a bit and lowered his chin in nervousness.

"Now that I am seeing it closed his eyes are a bit swollen too! Did you perhaps cry a lot beforehand too?"

Bam! He figured it out in an instant. One find the first part while the other one completed it.

Although it was just a guess, it was too surreal.