Wounded Wings :Screams Of Silent Souls

chapter-2

Jungwoo watches as Ethen runs out the door, cheeks glistening from the tears escaping his eyelids. He didn't know the boy at all, let alone knew he existed until today when he caught him staring at Jack with emotionless eyes.

The raven haired boy didn't know that this kid was the one he heard everyone refer to him as 'Chunky Chimmy' or 'Heathen'. Someone as tiny and defenseless as him.

"Hey! That's rude!" Jack snaps at Oscar , who started the remarks, "At least he has brains rather than a poor excuse of a big ego."

Oscar glares at Jack and abruptly gets to his feet.

Big mistake.

Jungwoo shoots up from his chair instantly, along with Duke, Sobin and Robert, all waiting for him to try something on Jack. Being popular always brings people who like to start problems. Unfortunately, Jack is always targeted since he's too polite and perfect. Luckily for him, he's never alone.

Oscar eyed the four boys and slump back down to his chair, a heavy glare to the wooden desk in front of him.

Thought so.

The bell suddenly rings and Jungwoo began to gather his stuff, eyes drifting off to Jack, who stands from his chair with his backpack and goes to Ethen's stuff he left back. Jungwoo furrows his eyebrows and follows the blonde, "What are you doing?"

"Taking his stuff to him," Jack answers bitterly, "He didn't deserve that treatment."

Jungwoo slowly nods and turns around to leave but sees the tiny brunette haired boy storming back into the classroom. His eyes are puffy and swollen, clearly from crying, gaze settled on the floor as he makes his way to his desk, not notcing the two boys already there.

Jungwoo couldn't help but rake the boy's attire, as if he's on his way to church, in which explains why they call him 'Saint Ethen' all the time. He looks like a saint. Jungwoo licks his lips nervously when the boy looks up, freezing in his spot. The eye contact they made was so intense that made Jungwoo shift in his stance with sudden nerves.

Despite his shy composure, Ethen's eyes hold something in them.

Something luring.

Orbs that screamed innocence.

Jungwoo gulps.

Ethen fixes his eyes to Duke and parted his lips when he sees his backpack on Jack's hands. He instantly rushes over and yanks his backpack from Jack, "What are you doing?! There's nothing for you to take to show to the world!

Jack stares back at Ethenn, a clear offended look on his face. Jungwoo blinks to Ethen's statement, about to speak for Jack's defense but snaps his lips shut when Ethen's eyes began to tear up again.

"I-I didn't take any-"

"Right," Ethen snaps and closes his backpack. He averts his eyes to the ground and walks away quickly, shifting the lace of his backpack over his shoulder.

Jungwoo and Jack stand in silence, not believing that actually happened. More than ever, Jungwoo felt a slightly intrigued for the tiny boy.

Who is he?

"He didn't even say thank you," Jack mumbles with a small pout on his lips. Jungwoo turns to his best friend and sighs, placing a hand on his shoulder and leads him out of the classroom instead of saying anything.

All Jungwoo could think about was Ethen. How has he never noticed him before? He knew the names but never put the face to them.

But..... He has never heard of Ethen Jones before.

And pretty sure hasn't seen him before in his entire life.

As Jungwoo goes to his locker, many girls pass by giving him winks or tries to lower their shirts to show more of their chests. All Jungwoo could do is swallow the disgust and send a friendly smile, Jack doing the same but more in a genuine manner, as he gets to his locker.

How can Jack be so calm about this attention? Jungwoo never understood it. It always disgusted him how the girls or guys try to attract his attention in a s****l manner. Yeah he loves physical entercourse, but they aren't going to lure him in.

It's not going to make him like the person any more just by seeing skin.

"Yo jungwoo!" A hand slaps his back, making him look up to his friends all crowded around him as he gets his stuff him his locker.

"Yes?"

"What are you doing after school? We are planning to go out drinking for a while for pre-gaming," Sobin says states while leaning against the locker beside Jungwoo's.

Jungwoo sighs when he closes his backpack, "As tempting as it sounds, I can't. I have to be home, strict dad rules after crashing his car the other night," he tells them, closing his locker.

"What? Doesn't he have like 50 other cars?" Duke asks, his arms wrapped around Jack's waist from behind.

"That still doesn't mean he wouldn't get angry," Jungwoo huffs and walks with them to the exit of the school doors.

Suddenlly Jack jumps in front of him, arms crossed over his chest, "But you are going to the football game, right? Or I will literally go to your house and steal your kneecaps!"

Jungwoo couldn't help but smile at his best friend before nodding, "I'll go to the game, don't worry."

From there they parted way, Jungwoo going inside his black Tesla car. He plumps down on the seat the minute he gets inside and throws his backpack at the passenger side, a wave of anxiety striking him.

He really doesn't want to go home.

He closes his eyes for a few minutes to calm down his racing heart, starting the car up and moves out the parking lot and out the school. In reality what he told his friends about going home due to his strict dad was a lie. Jungwoo's dad couldn't give two shits about what happened to that car. Jungwoo just.... Needed a moment.

Away from the world for a minute.

The need to be alone to drown in his own thoughts.

So when he finally gets home, going through the black gates and around the fountain, he turns the car off and shuffles inside his large house. As always the house is clean, not a speck of dust anywhere in sight. A few maids walk around as Jungwoo goes up to his room, not surprised it's clean, thanks to the maids. Jungwoo's mom works around this time, usually coming back later on today for dinner, while his dad is probably in his office, always working.

They are always working.

The only time they speak to him is when they ask him about school or pressure him to be on top of his classes. Always the pressure. Sometimes he feels like he can barely breathe because of how suffocating his life feels like.

When he's in his room, it's like it all weighs down on him.

The reality of his emotional state.

His lips shifted to a frown as Jungwoo walks to the bathroom, splashing his face with water to refresh himself, cooling himself down. His doe eyes slowly rises to the mirror, taking in his reflection. He doesn't even know what to see anymore or should be looking for. This life he's living doesn't even feel like it's his, it's always controlled by his parents or someone else. The freedom many people talk about when they speak of their lives is something he craves for. Every morning he has to wake up, thinking of words to say that won't make him sound like he's depressed or is fight his own mental war. How he should sound, look or behave. It's all scripted in his brain. Always the need to be perfect is getting to his head, shattering and tearing apart the person he once was.

Or maybe never was.

"Who are you Jungwoo?" He whispers lowly, feeling the tears beam his eyes, "I don't even know anymore."

His chest feels hallow, his mind not connected with his body anymore. Not once in his life has anyone truly cared about him. No one would ask, text or call him to see if he's okay. They just jump to the conclusion that he's okay since he always puts on a mask with a smile; always pretending to be okay. Even his friends.

Don't get him wrong, he cares about his boys, but they don't see through him. Jungwoo doesn't want to weigh down his burden onto them, so he holds it all in, letting it break himself apart slowly.

They're just part of the illusion to be perfect.

Jungwoo's phone suddenly buzzed from his pocket, snapping him from his dark thoughts. He sighs and takes out his phone to see multiple text messages. From different types of people.

Lizzy:

Hey hottie, want some pictures? ;)

Gen:

It's been a while since we've done anything, want to come over? :*

Tyler:

I've been thinking a lot about you lately, care to let me please you?

And so the messages continued on like that from different people, only adding onto Jungwoo's pain. They only want him for his appearance, because he's popular.

Jungwoo just wants this all to stop. For people to just stop looking at him in this type of way, but he doesn't have any other option. He has to be perfect.

Be perfect to get through it.

So with a tear streaming down his cheeks, he ignores the messages and leaves his phone on the counter as he walks to his bed. Jungwoo peels his sweater off, revealing a white t-shirt. He lays down on his bed and closes his eyes, trying hard to block out the world around him.

Can he be saved?

Will people always see him as an object of beauty with no soul?

No one cares about how he feels.

No one cares about how much of a negative effect this is causing to his mental or emotional state.

He's just living without feeling alive.

Just.... Empty.

Jungwoo flutters his eyes open, seeing his wrist full of scars in front of him. Emotionlessly he trails each scar with a finger, many old and others new. The satisfaction he feels when the bade rips his skin has became addicting, being so near death when the blood streams out of the wound. So close to ending everything.

But never having the guts to end it all offically.

No matter how much he wishes he could.

His throat clenches and the tears continue to stream down his cheeks, letting out a small sob to escape his throat. Jungwoo hugs himself, curling up into a tight ball.

"I don't want to cry," He sobs to himself, "Why can't I be happy?!"

So he cries, and cries all his pain. Even after when his tears ran dry, the ache still remains inside his chest. He has everything, yet he's still empty.

This depression he has carried on for years haunts the dark corners of his mind, slowly eating him up.

And everyone is blinded by his smile to notice how broken he truly is.