Weak Hero| Butterflies [Donald Na x Reader]

An Old Friend

Summary: Second term is starting and you get a call from an old friend, just in time to distract you from your growing feelings.

***

Second term came sooner than you expected, and with the sudden influx of school work, you had to cut back on a few hours at work to keep up with the paperwork. Your teachers were being brutal as the finals for the last semester came back lower than usual and the school administration was breathing down their necks for it. While you did okay, you still got roped into the extra work because most of your classmates had done poorly. Well, not poorly, but there were a few 80's and 70's here and there and that threw off the A average your class usually got. It wasn't fair. You didn't think that everyone should be punished for someone's low scores. Maybe they were just bad test takers and struggled under the pressure.

Kingsley, who still sat with you in the AP courses you two shared, reminded you that Yeo-Il was one of the top schools in the region, so naturally, it could not afford to have its high raking drop. It didn't look good for them. It didn't look good for the Union.

"It is an unfortunate effect of having the Union present in the school. Some of the students don't think they need to study hard because they assume the Union will protect them indefinitely," Kingsley explained when you complained about the extra work.

"That makes sense, but won't they continue with the Union even after school? Doesn't that mean that you guys can just help them out in college, too?" You asked.

Kingsley smiled, he looked at you like you were some sort of idiot, "We can have the teachers look the other way when it comes to attendance, but not during the tests... it didn't look good when Ganghak tried it. How will they get into college if they keep this shit up?"

You sighed. You didn't want to admit that Kingsley had a point, but he was correct. If the Union guys forgot that they had to graduate eventually and live out in the real world, they would suffer for letting their grades drop. Even Jimmy, who admitted not being studious, was worried about life after school.

"Gotta grow the fuck up, one day, right... Can't be a gangbanger forever," he had said.

Eventually they would all grow up, and doing criminal activities would catch up to them. If they didn't stop before becoming adults, then it was likely that they would end up in jail one day.

"I don't want to rot away in a cell. You know, my ma isn't getting any younger and I want to make sure she has a comfortable life when she's older," Jimmy said.

He was determined to not stick to this life once he was older. He would, of course, milk all the benefits he could so long as he was young and the Union was around, but once he finished school, he wanted to move on.

Jimmy wasn't the only one you had heard this from. Jack also expressed a desire to leave the Union as soon as he was out of school. Jake seemed torn about it, but you knew that he stuck around because he was deeply loyal to Baekjin. He had commented that if Baekjin ever left, then he would, too. His loyalty, his debt, was to the leader of the Yeongdeungpo Union, and not the Union itself. And you were certain that if he left, so would his friends. Maybe not the Naksung Fam, but Dean, Timothy, and Eunchan, would all leave the moment Jake did.

All of this brought up a few questions; what were Baekjin's plans after graduation? Would he quit the Union and try to live an honest life? And... were you a part of those plans? Or were you just the high school girlfriend that would get left behind?

You had been struggling with telling Baekjin that you had fallen for him. He wasn't just your high school boyfriend anymore, he was the man you loved, and you did not want to tell him. You were afraid of being that vulnerable with him. If he knew how you felt, then he would have all the control, and then he was likely to get bored and move on. You had heard the horror stories. You dreaded the idea that one day he'd tire of you, so you kept it ambiguous. You showered him with affection, but you never, ever, said you loved him. He did the same with you. You didn't know if he loved you back, but you had seen how he looked at you sometimes.