Silence ensued for some seconds after he said that, then his voice resounded again,
“They hit you, physical touch was involved, so it’s bullying”.
Silence ensued for some seconds once again before Kai stated again,
“And you said it was terrible”.
“Very terrible, it hurt a lot. Do you know what it means for the whole school to be staring at you awkwardly, making hurtful remarks about you, and so on?
Though it wasn’t the whole school that was involved in this act, many of them were. It was terrible, that’s the honest truth”. Ryan uttered.
“If it keeps going like this, I think you’d need to do as I said. Report to dad so he can step in and put an end to everything”. Kai said.
“I don’t think I’d do that”.
“What do you mean?”.
“I don’t think I’d report to dad even if it keeps going on for a long time”.
“Why?”.
“I don’t want them to consider me worse than a weakling. They already consider me a weakling, reporting to dad so he could step in and put an end to everything would only make them consider me worse than a weakling, and I don’t want that”.
Kai was just glancing at Ryan with a kind of perplexed facial expression after he finished making that statement. And it lasted like that for a few seconds before Ryan’s voice resounded again,
“There’d be changes after dad steps in, but I don’t think everything would end just like that. They’d consider me worse than a weakling after everything, so they’d keep staring at me awkwardly,
It might even become worse, and you know being stared at awkwardly hurts a lot, especially when it is coming from numerous people. The mocking would end, the hurtful remarks would end, side-talks, and so on,
But I don’t think the awkward stares would end after that…as said, it might even become worse”.
Kai was still glancing at Ryan after he finished making that statement, but the perplexed expression wasn’t on his face anymore. He’d gotten to understand what Ryan was talking about.
But he wasn’t really in agreement with what Ryan was saying, the fact that he doesn’t plan on reporting to their dad no matter how long those things keep happening to him in his school.
Who knows…they might never end, they might keep going on like that until he graduates.
This was what Kai was thinking of along with other things, that’s the reason why he wasn’t in agreement with what Ryan said.
“Do you mean what you just said? You don’t think you’d report to dad even if those things keep happening to you in school because you don’t want them to consider you worse than a weakling?”. Kai’s voice resounded.
“Yes, I mean what I said”. Ryan responded.
“Even if it keeps draining you mentally?”. Kai stated again.
“Yes, even if it keeps draining me mentally”.
Kai sighed as he was just glancing at Ryan not knowing what else to say. It lasted for a few seconds before Kai’s voice resounded again,
“Why would you care if they consider you worse than a weakling? I mean, they already consider you a weakling. Why would you care if they consider you worse than it? It is your mental health we are talking about here”.
“As I said, the hurtful remarks, bullying, mocking, and so on would end after I report to dad, and he steps in, but I don’t think the awkward stares would stop,
And as I said, being stared at awkwardly can hurt a lot. And I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it this time ’cause they didn’t touch me nor did they say anything about me,
Reporting to dad again would be completely useless at that time. And I’m sure those awkward stares would most likely keep going on like that until I graduate. I’m trying to avoid that”. Ryan explained.
Kai sighed again while glancing at him, then he uttered, “What if they never stop? What if people keep making hurtful remarks about you, staring at you awkwardly, mocking you, and so on until you graduate?
This isn’t a situation of it lasting for a long time before it stops, this is a situation of it going on until your graduation. What would you do if this happens to be the case?”.
For the first time since Kai began conversing with him, Ryan couldn’t give an immediate answer to his question…
There was silence for close to a minute before Ryan’s voice resounded,
“If that happens to be the case, then I’d just have to bear with it until I graduate”.
“Are you serious?”. Kai inquired with a bewildered facial expression.
“Dead serious”. Ryan retorted.
..Kai became short of words again, he didn’t know what to say anymore, he was just glancing at Ryan.
Then Ryan uttered again, “But I don’t think it would keep on going like that until I graduate”.
“Why do you say so?”. Kai inquired.
“They’d get tired at some point. As time passes, they would be reducing, until it gets to a time when those things would stop happening to me”.
“How sure are you that it would happen this way?”.
“Not very sure, but sure to an extent”.
Kai sighed again while shaking his head a little, then his voice resounded again,
“So this is your final decision, you wouldn’t report to dad no matter how bad things get at school”.
“Yes”. Ryan stated.
“What about reporting to the teachers? I’m sure they’d be able to help out in stopping those things happening to you. Since you don’t want to report to dad, then you can report to the teachers. What do you think about that?”.
“Still a bad idea, that wouldn’t stop students from considering me worse than a weakling. Whether I report to dad, or report to the teachers, they’d still consider me worse than a weakling”.
“What if I choose to report to dad without notifying you?”. Kai inquired.
Silence ensued for some seconds after Kai asked that ’cause Ryan didn’t give an immediate answer to his question…
Ryan had to glance at him for some seconds before answering the question, “Then I’d be furious at you ’cause you did what I was against”.
Kai nodded his head a little without saying anything, then Ryan’s voice resounded again,
“Would you report to dad without notifying me?”.
“No, I wouldn’t, I can’t afford to betray you”. Kai responded.
A little smile appeared on Ryan’s face after Kai gave that response, then he uttered again,
“Thanks, I know you’re worried about how I would be able to keep my mental health in check while those things are happening to me. But you don’t have to worry too much, I’d be fine”.
Kai nodded his head a little before saying, “I’m trusting your words, make sure to keep your mental health in check and be fine”.
“I’d do just so”.
Silence ensued for some seconds after that, then Kai’s voice resounded again,
“Did you meet familiar faces at school? I’m speaking in terms of students like you”.
“No, I didn’t. All the students in the same level of learning as me back then had already graduated. So I’m not familiar with the students in my classroom though many of them had been attending that academy for long”. Ryan retorted.
“What about in terms of teachers, did you meet familiar faces?”.
“Yes, more than one, the head teacher of that academy before I went into comma is still the head teacher now. My class teacher before I went into comma is still my class teacher now,
And I met other subject teachers I was familiar with. And you know what? They were all surprised to see me, they were in shock”.
“Why wouldn’t they be in shock when you were in a comma for a long time? They didn’t hear from you for a long time, so some of them might even be thinking you didn’t wake up from the comma or something”. Kai stated.
..Yes, this was something he was already aware of, it wasn’t a new thing.
Kai patted Ryan’s right shoulder a little before saying to him, “Make sure to be fine”.
And after making that statement, he stood up from Ryan’s bed and walked out of his room. As for Ryan, he didn’t stand up from his bed or anything, he just sat there thinking about the conversation he just had with Kai.
He wouldn’t report to his dad no matter how bad things get at school, and he wasn’t regretting why he told Kai this…he wasn’t regretting his decision at all.
A few minutes had passed since Kai left his room, and Ryan was still sitting on his bed when he heard a knock on the door. He glanced at the door before muttering to himself,
“And who is that again? Is it Kai? Does he want to discuss something else with me?”.