Noah's hand was shaking for even holding a tumbler, "T—Thank you…" he said with a low voice. "I… I need to leave now…."
"Wait, just sit down and rest first, and also…." I stared at him deeply. I also got curious about what happened. "What happened to you?"
Noah hesitated. He shook his head and smiled bitterly, "It's nothing serious…."
Of course, I knew why he refused to tell . It was about his secret as a gay. I didn't have anything against that since I believed love is love, as long as both parties consented. But I knew plenty of people who opposed it and even dehumanized soone with a different sexual orientation.
"Uh… you're beaten like this, and you still said it's nothing? Oh, co on! Do you need to die first before telling ?" I protested.
Noah chuckled lightly, "That's funny. Because I don't think I'll ever tell anyone—not anymore."
"Not anymore, huh?" I sighed. I sat at his left side and introduced myself, "Oh well, my na is Emmy. I'm still a junior here."
"A junior?" Noah looked surprised. "Why are you here? Juniors usually don't dare to co here."
"Well, because I'm avoiding my bully right now," I replied. Of course, I was lying. I had no bully in this life because I was avoiding them. Though, I wasn't sure of what would happen next.
But one thing for sure, if anyone dared to hurt , then I'd hurt them back 10x worse.
Noah zipped his mouth instantly. He lowered his head and shook it lightly, "Ah, so we're the sa."
"The sa?"
"Well, I was hiding from my bullies too. But they found and beat up real bad. They ended up tossing here because a teacher is heading in our direction…."
"Ah…"
I went silent imdiately. What he experienced was the sa as I got back then. Whether it was girls or boys, the bullies in various forms and sizes, they would still beat you up ruthlessly.
And usually, the reason behind that was either too petty or so unimportant.
I didn't know how to comfort him after I heard his experience. We were like two people in the sa suffering, sitting together trying to keep our sanity in check while lanting our fate.
"Since you refused to tell the reason, may I know who beat you up?"
"It's my childhood friend. I think of him as a best friend, but it turns out he is one of them."
"One of them?"
"The… the one who hates my kind," Noah replied with hesitation.
"Did you… tell sothing to this ex-best friend of yours about your secret?"
"Yeah, I thought he'd take it kindly and continued to be supportive. But he didn't. He hates instantly, cursing because I'd go to hell for it."
"So he bullied you instead?"
"Yeah, he ganged up with his friends and beat up often. He also taunted for it. I keep asking him why, what was his reason for beating up badly."
"But he never tells the reason. I'm just a sandbag at this point…."
I saw him start trembling again. I couldn't hide the fact that I had so pity for him. Because he seed to be a fine guy, only because of his sexual orientation, people bully him to suicide.
"Ah, I don't know if I should continue school or not. I'm tired of getting bullied…."
"You can't tell your parents?"
"They don't care. They don't even care if I went ho like this. They're busy with their divorce paper anyway…."
Ouch.
His situation was bad. The more I heard from him, the more I felt like he and I had a lot in common.
"A—Anyway, thank you for listening to . But I need to go now."
"You haven't told about your na," I said.
"My na is Noah. I'm a sophomore already, one year above you. But you don't need to be scared of . I'm just a bullied kid," Noah smiled bitterly.
He tried to get up, but his body was injured. He couldn't even stand for more than two seconds. He staggered and fell to the ground.
I caught him before his face hit the ground and sat him down again, "You're terribly wounded. You should rest first, but not here. This place is too cold. I have a safe place for us."
"A safe place?"
"Just follow ."
I propped him to get up and helped him to the Pottery club room.
The corridor was empty these days because not many people wanted to join club activities during cold winter, especially those who did outdoor sports.
I unlocked the door and let him rest inside.
The club building didn't have heating, but the students could put their own heating inside.
I asked Logan to send a heater for the club room, which he sent about three days ago.
"T—This is a pottery club room, right?"
"Yep."
"Uh… are we allowed to be here? They said that pottery club room is owned by a rich kid—"
"That rich kid is my president. Don't worry, he doesn't bite."
Well, he didn't bite, but he definitely chomped those who dared to go against him, Logan looked intimidating enough without saying anything, glad he wasn't here, or Noah would be terrified.
Noah sat near the heater for warmth. I poured a cup of hot tea for him and then let him rest first.
This was the least I could do because I kept rembering what happened to in my previous life when I saw him.
I was also beaten and thrown by a few people whose faces and nas I rembered clearly. That ti, I had no one by my side, not even the teacher who cared for , because I didn't have any guardian.
So whatever happened to wouldn't change anything, even if I died right in front of their eyes.
Since no one helped back in my previous life, at least I could help Noah to escape his hell.
I sat in front of him and asked again, "So, mind telling what really happened?"
"I can't. I really want to tell you sothing, but I know you'll hate for it," Noah refused. He looked anxious for an obvious reason.
I didn't think soone like Noah would tell about his secret as a homosexual. He was too traumatized because of what his ex-best friend did to him.
"Don't worry about it. You're a sophomore, and I'm just a junior. Our circle is different, and I have no bad intention to you."
Heh, circle. There were three mbers in my friend circle, , , and I.
Noah lowered his head for a long ti. The silence between us was quite serene, I suppose. I knew it was hard for him to tell such a big secret to a random stranger.
I was about to drop it. I'd think of a better way to get him telling the secret. I didn't want to stress him out after the traumatizing incident.
It was also my fault for being too eager.
"Hey, if you don't want to—"
"Your na is Emmy, right?"
"Uhh.. correct."
"Well, Emmy, my secret… I'll tell you."
"H—Hey, if you don't feel like it, you don't need to. Sorry for being pushy…."
"No, not at all. I also want to tell this soone. I don't know if you'll hate or not after this. But…"
"If you really hate , then let leave this club room in peace, and may we never know each other again, okay?"
"I'm all ears whenever you're ready," I said, sitting with a solemn face in front of Noah.
I knew coming out like this to a total stranger was difficult. But that was what he proposed. We were just strangers. If I disliked the truth, I might as well pretend we never t and continue to be strangers.
He cleared his throat and stared at my eyes intently. He took a deep breath and uttered his secret slowly but surely, making sure that I heard everything.
"Emmy, I'm a homosexual—a gay. I don't like girls, and I'm in love with soone—a man, of course. I cannot help my own feeling because it's so strong in my heart."
…
…
"S—So, is it goodbye? I know it's difficult to stomach. You don't need to force yourself," Noah said. "I'll leave now. Thank you so much for your help and hospitality here. I hope you forget about what happened today."
"Huh? Why forget? Your secret is… you're gay, right?"
"Y—Yeah…"
"Well, you can't change what's inside you since the beginning. I don't see any problem as long as you don't do sothing illegal."
"Wait, you're not disgusted?" Noah asked, full of surprise on his face.
"Disgusted? Why?" I frowned, acting I was baffled. "This is 2016, and soone still thinks being gay is shaful? Oh, co on!"
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