227 Asking for it
This evening Gu Shangyan headed to the Library once again. He had gotten some books from the Library and he had to return them on time and today was the last day to return the books. The library was just around the corner. However, before he could turn, he saw a group of boys circling a very familiar figure.
“Aye, princess want to come with us?” The tall boy in the group was holding a beer bottle and winking at her. He didn’t look old. At most, he would be a college student but he had the audacity to tease a girl with his friends.
“Bro, of course, she will come with us, ” The second boy chuckled. “If she didn’t want to, why would she be here so late in the night? Don’t you know what kind of girls leave home at night?”
Hearing his words, the other boys hooted.
“Look at her clothes, ” The third boy said, licking his dried lips. “Showing those long and long legs. I wonder what they will feel if they are wrapped around my waist.”
Yoona turned her face when she listened to their indecent words. Even though she was born in a foreign country, she still wasn’t very accustomed to this vulgar language.
“She is asking for it, ” The boys erupted into cheers.
Yoona knew that it was not her country and it would be better if she just left. She tried to leave but every time she would try to leave, the boys would stop her. All the limits were crossed when one of them tried to grab her waist. She jolted in shock and kicked the boy. Before he could touch her again, she kicked him again. She knew a bit of martial arts but it was not enough to fight five boys.
The next moment, she heard loud sirens of police vehicles and the boys looked here and there before running away.
Far from there, Gu Shangyan knew that jumping like an idiot to fight these boys would be an idiotic move. He wouldn’t be able to help her. So, he played the sound of a siren on his phone to scare away the boys.
When the boys ran away, he immediately ran to Yoona.
“Hey, are you okay?” Gu Shangyan asked her.
Yoona looked at him with teary eyes. “You are so stupid. Do you know the siren you played is from a cartoon show?”
Gu Shangyan ended up smiling. “But it helped, didn’t it?”
Yoona couldn’t stop her tears from falling and she hugged him. He staggered with the intensity of the hug. He had never hugged a female before. But when he realised how badly she was trembling, he wrapped his arms around her.
“Hush, you are strong, ” Gu Shangyan softly murmured and she cried. “Weren’t you brave a few minutes ago when you were kicking them?”
Yoona sobbed. “I know. I’m just so pathetic. Why did I leave the library so late? It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t left the library late, this wouldn’t have happened to me. But what’s my fault? My grandfather is sick at home. The sad atmosphere is not letting me study. My finals are around the corner. If I don’t come to study at the library, where do I go? Is it my fault?”
She couldn’t understand why this happened to her. Was it her fault? Like the guys said, was she asking for it? Her clothes…everything. Was it her fault?
“Hey, ” Gu Shangyan murmured as he broke the hug and cupped her face. “How is it your fault? Last I heard, everyone was granted the right to life and liberty. You can roam on streets even in the middle of the light. You can dress up just as you wish. And what’s wrong with your clothes? The only thing at fault here are those boys.”
Yoona sobbed even harder this time. She didn’t know what was happening to her. Her heart was accelerating and her legs had gone numb. She couldn’t stop crying. The fear had deeply settled in her heart. She was having a bad breakdown. It was as if she was nauseous but she couldn’t even vomit.
Gu Shangyan didn’t say much but he helped her to sit on the side of the road on a bench and wiped her tears gently when he needed to. He couldn’t even understand what she was feeling at this moment.
“I’m sorry for taking your time, ” Yoona said as he wiped her tears and snort with his handkerchief. “It’s getting late. You can go home.”
“Where is your home?” Gu Shangyan asked her. He realised that he was in the area of Lu Xuan’s father’s house. This library that he loved to come to was located on this side of the city.
“Just two lanes away, ” Yoona said as she stopped crying finally.
“Let me walk you home, “Gu Shangyan offered.
She said in a cracked whisper, “I can’t walk. I can’t feel my legs at all. It’s like they have gone numb.”
Even after crying for so long, she was feeling as if her legs still had pins-and-needles sensations. It would be okay if she would wait before recovering her numb legs to go home. However, she was afraid of staying here alone. She couldn’t ask him to stay with her either. It was getting late. But she felt safe with him.
Gu Shangyan racked his brain to get an idea to help her. In the end, he did get one idea. He kneeled on the ground and looked at her, “I will carry you home.”
Yoona just stared at him as she didn’t know what to do or say.
A few minutes later, Gu Shangyan piggybacked Yoona all the way home. She felt her heart beating so loud and fast that it could leave her chest any second and ran away. She didn’t know if she was having another panic attack or…
However, he didn’t stop or asked her to get down in the way. He only stopped when they reached her house.
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A/N: I feel bad for Yoona. Too bad that such cases are present all over the world. It doesn’t matter which country you are from. Almost all girls had faced this or heard about it from their family or friends. Isn’t it saddening?