The Truth Untold | kth.

- eleven: i'll be protecting you from now on -

With the end of the basketball game, Taehyung no longer had to practise after school; however, his habit of walking to the bus stop with Hanna after school was not interrupted. The two of them continued doing so every day, growing closer to each other.

A week passed peacefully, and it was the lunch break on Thursday. Thirsty, Hanna walked alone to the water dispenser, which was at the corner of the corridor.

After filling her water bottle, Hanna was about to return to the classroom, but was stopped by a strange girl in another class— Seo Minji. Minji stood right in front of Hanna, blocking Hanna with open arms, and Hanna could tell from Minji's expression that this wouldn't be a friendly encounter.

"Who are you? Do we know each other? What do you want?" Hanna asked, trying her best to keep her composure although she was panicking deep inside.

Coincidentally, Taehyung also left the classroom to get some water at that moment, and happened to see Hanna speaking to a girl he didn't know— it was obvious that the atmosphere was very tense. Driven by curiosity, he decided to take a step back and hide at the corner of the corridor, eavesdropping on the girls' conversation.

"All that matters is that I know who you are, Choi Hanna. I was wondering which lucky girl could dance with Taehyung in the talent show, and then prepare drinks for him at the basketball game," Minji folded her arms, glanced at Hanna contemptuously, and scoffed, "But it turns out it was just the daughter of a gambler.

"I've done my investigation. Your father was addicted to gambling, ran away from home four years ago after owing loan sharks a large sum of money, and no one has heard from him since then. What is someone like you doing around Taehyung? Don't you have a bit of self awareness? You're just the daughter of a gambler!

"I bet no one in the school knows about your family situation, huh? What do you think will happen if I go tell everybody about it? You probably won't be able to lift your head up in front of the others any more, will you?"

Taehyung was about to step forward and defend Hanna, but was caught off guard by Hanna's sneer. Dumbfounded, Taehyung continued hiding, secretly observing Hanna's reaction.

"So here you are, trying to threaten me with the little information that you've collected? And how am I supposed to react? Tremble with fear? Cry while saying that I'd never be seeing Taehyung again, and then beg you to never tell anybody? If so, I'm sorry, but I have to let you down. Go ahead and tell everyone about my family situation— see if I care!

"I didn't do anything wrong, so why can't I lift my head up and live with dignity? Playing petty tricks like this won't keep me away from Taehyung, but will only make you look like a clown. So live kindly, my friend, and stop your little tricks."

After saying what she wanted to say, Hanna turned to leave; however, completely irritated, Minji grabbed Hanna by the wrist furiously, and would not let Hanna go.

"How dare you-" Minji raised her voice exasperatedly, but her words were cut off by Hanna.

"You didn't listen when I talked to you nicely, and now you even want to use force, huh? Don't blame me for what I'm about to do, because you forced me to do this— your mouth is too filthy, I have no choice but to wash it for you." Enraged, Hanna immediately splashed the water in her water bottle on Minji's face.

"You bastard!" Minji screamed in disbelief after being splashed with water. She raised her hand to slap Hanna, but before her hand could touch Hanna's cheek, the person behind her grabbed her wrist tightly and stopped her.

"Stop it! Enough is enough." A deep voice reprimanded from behind Minji, with apparent anger in his tone.

Before Minji could react, Taehyung pushed her away fiercely and took Hanna's hand. "Let's go." Taehyung said to Hanna, and brought her to the school rooftop without looking back.

Along the way, Taehyung and Hanna held hands; with Taehyung's big and warm hand wrapping her small and slender hand, Hanna unknowingly gained a lot of courage.

-

Standing face to face on the school rooftop were Taehyung and Hanna, letting the breeze blow through their hair.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Taehyung asked worriedly, and only heaved a sigh of relief after Hanna shook her head and said she was fine, thanking him for his help.

"Good job, Choi Hanna," Taehyung smiled comfortingly and gently stroked Hanna's hair, "You're really braver than I thought."

"What if I say I was scared at first?" Hanna looked at Taehyung with watery eyes, "But then I remembered what you said to me in the park last time. You told me to be more self-confident, so I told myself not to panic and respond calmly."

"In that case, you did an even better job, because you remembered my words and started to change yourself." The smile in Taehyung's eyes deepened, "Keep it up!"

"About my father..." Hanna lowered her head and said, with nervousness in her tone, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about him earlier, but I didn't hide it from you on purpose. Although I didn't do anything wrong, there's still nothing to be proud of having a gambler father, so if no one asks, I never talk about him."

"It's alright, I can totally understand that." Taehyung comforted tenderly, "It just breaks my heart to think about how it must've been so difficult for you, yet I wasn't by your side. I wish I was there for you."

"Actually..." Hanna forced a smile, with tears welling up in her eyes, "After my father left, I wasn't sad, but rather relieved. When my father was still here, he would start binge drinking every time he lost money, and beat my mother when he was drunk. I was too young to protect my mother, so I could only hide under the table and cry. That's why after my father ran away from home, my first reaction was to heave a sigh of relief. Am I terrible for feeling this way?"

Taehyung's heart ached with pity for Hanna after listening to her confession, and pulled her into a tight hug.

"You've worked hard, and you're already doing really well." Taehyung murmured softly in Hanna's ear, "All the bad memories are now a thing of the past, for I'll be protecting you from now on."

Upon hearing Taehyung's comforting words, tears started flowing down Hanna's cheeks, and the tears wet Taehyung's shoulder. Sensing the damp feeling on his shoulder, Taehyung hugged Hanna tighter. He started patting Hanna on the back, and whispered repeatedly in her ear, "It's okay, things have passed now. I'll be protecting you from now on..."

-

A/N:

Here's chapter eleven!! Hanna's background was revealed in this chapter, and her relationship with Taehyung also became a lot closer.

I hope you've enjoyed reading it, and I'll see you in the next chapter ♡