mask | DODAM

YEDAM

"are you on your way now?"

"yes, hyung. don't worry."

"you do realize that's the only thing i can do, right?"

"i know, i know. just wait a bit. i need to stop by somewhere first, then i'll be out faster than you can say treasure," yedam said to his older brother, who had called to ask about the whereabouts of the masked male. with that, the call ended.

yedam was just now leaving his last class of the day. after a week full of many tests in majority of his classes, the masked male was glad that it was all finally over. and now, he has the entire weekend to rest and catch up on some sleep that he lost over the week due to testing. the second year university student hated how all the professors stuffed all the tests onto one week, expecting the students to study for hours and hours on end and still manage their health.

making his way towards the nearest vending machine, the masked male placed a quarter into the machine and pressed the sequence of buttons that were needed in order to get strawberry milk. jihoon had told yedam about doyoung's presence in today's group date, so he decided to give the first year university student his strawberry milk when he meets him at the front.

now making his way out of the building, yedam held the milk bottle firmly in his hands, a small smile forming on his lips at the thought of spending more time with doyoung. he became more energetic and giddy at the idea.

as the distance between yedam and the front of his faculty building became smaller and smaller, the masked male was getting more and more excited. that was, until he was suddenly pulled back harshly by his wrist and dragged down the hallway from where he just came from.

a strong impact against his back was what greeted yedam as he was pushed against the wall harshly by his attacker. that collision almost took all of the breath out of yedam, causing him to slide down to the floor weakly, feeling as if he couldn't move.

his back had endured so many pushes against walls that one were to believe that it would be invincible, yet it still managed to exhaust the masked male every single time. the force of his back colliding with the wall was too strong, or maybe yedam was just weak.

"what's up, bang yedam? seems like it's been a while since we've met, hasn't it?" the masked male's attacker asked, well, more of commented, and yedam didn't have to look up to know that it was his bully and his four friends.

the second year university student's bully had a point; yedam hasn't been attacked in nearly two weeks now, which was a pretty long time considering that the gang of bullies usually disturb yedam at least three times a week with whatever atrocious plans they have in mind.

"we've been spending some time to prepare a present for you, and we think you're going to love it," one of the bully's friend said, reaching into his backpack and pulling out what yedam already knew to be baby powder.

"hm... let's see..." one of the other boys' said. "what's the worst that we've done so far?"

"drowning him in baby powder?" yedam's attackers were referring to the time in high school where they forced yedam's mask off his face and poured baby powder all over his face, causing him to inhale some of it through his nose and mouth while hyperventilating and trying to cry for help.

"what about baby powder shower?" they were referring back to when they poured six bottles of baby powder all over yedam, leaving him unconscious, near to death, and in the hospital. that event happened a little under a month ago, right before yedam met doyoung.

these five boys that were tormenting yedam at the moment were the same people who have been bothering him since high school. the oldest one was two years older than yedam and the youngest one was the same age as the masked male. even after they started graduating high school, yedam was still left with at least one of them, who would continue to fulfill the duty of making the second year university student's life miserable.

"why don't we make today's one of the worst ones?" the leader of the group asked, turning towards yedam and grabbing the collar of his shirt to force him to look up. the oldest, who was coincidentally also the leader, wound up his hand and prepared to throw a punch to yedam's stomach area. the masked male had felt a blow there way to many times to know that it was painful and done with so much force that it literally knocked the air out of him. he even broke a rib once due to a really strong punch from his bully.

the oldest threw the punch, but yedam was able to dodge it with the littlest amount of energy and strength he had left. the bully's hand collided with the brick wall behind him, and a hissing noise from pain was all that could be heard. blood was seen dripping from the leader's hand, the male himself shaking it and trying to cool himself down from that strong impact.

as that was going on, two other members from the group pinned yedam against the wall after seeing his attempt in escaping the situation, which turned out to not be very effective. the one member who had a bottle of baby powder in his hand ripped yedam's mask from his face and opened the lid of the baby powder bottle, placing it directly under the second year university student's nose.

yedam could feel the hyperventilation coming faster than light speed. the feeling of his throat closing in on him and the struggle for air was something that he forgot for about two weeks time when there wasn't an instance where he came in contact with baby powder. all interactions with doyoung occurred from seven feet away, and the bullies hadn't disturbed him during that time either. yedam forgot how much he hated the closing of his throat, the struggle for air, the rapid shaking of his left hand.

the bounded male felt himself falling into a state of unconsciousness, feeling light headed and dizzy. the hyperventilation was coming up, and if he didn't escape soon, he would most likely pass out as well.

"hey! what are you doing?!"

all five of the bullies' heads turned towards the direction of the voice, and with the little strength yedam had left, he too, turned toward that direction to see a fuzzy image of what seemed to be jihoon and doyoung, running towards the bullies and chasing them away with yedam's mask and the bottle of baby powder.

jihoon, as yedam could see through his blurred vision, was extremely tempted to run after the bullies and figure out their identities, but the health condition of yedam was more important that the panda-looking male decided to let them go this once.

"curse the fucking masks they wear on their ugly as shit faces," jihoon said, not bothering to censor himself in front of the younger boys. while the third year university student was busy cursing the bullies out, doyoung had knelt down next to yedam and tried to help him stand from his fallen position.

jihoon momentarily seemed to forget that yedam isn't able to get near doyoung because the younger smelled like he was a bottle of baby powder, and due to the overwhelming scent of the product that once again filled yedam's nose, the no longer masked male reached hyperventilation, and soon found himself passing out with the world turning black around him.

[YEDAM]