In a world where everyone is born with the knowledge of their soulmate's name, 19-year-old Lee Jiwon lives with the fact that her supposed soulmate's real name is 'Rap Monster'. 

First of all, what kind of name is that? I mean— whose parents in their right mind would name their child 'Rap Monster'? Secondly, is his first name 'Rap' or is it 'Monster'?  I don't even like rap. Oh god, what will he name our kids? It's enough to drive her mad. Of course, this bit of information is a secret nobody can find out, so she doesn't tell a soul, only keeping it hidden in an impenetrable box in her depths of memory. 

In this world, it is common for individuals to give up on their soulmates simply because they can't be found. Naturally, by logic it is also conventional for friends and family to help find one's soulmate. So questions about it are not abnormal. You probably want to know how she replies to questions like these, right? Let me tell you; her answer is always the same.

"His name's 'Kim Taehyung' apparently." It's a practiced answer; a habit of sorts; so much so that she might start believing it herself.

Now, Jiwon doesn't exactly know why she's chosen this name in particular. But for some reason, the name sounds incredibly familiar, even to the extent of a close friend, but at the same time she's sure she knows absolutely nobody by this name; like an unshakeable case of déjà vu. The fact comes around to bother her occasionally. Eventually, she settles because the name is at the very least... believable (because... 'Rap Monster'?) and not too uncommon. She can only hope nobody finds out, otherwise she'll probably die of embarrassment. She makes a mental note to request him to get a name change as soon as they meet— if they meet at all.

There are two ways to go about this problem:

1. Google 'Rap Monster', find him on Facebook, on every social media platform she can find. 

Only she has already done this and according to the internet, this 'Rap Monster' person doesn't exist. But that's impossible. It's a fact embedded into every string of her being, so there's no way she could be wrong. Even so, Jiwon finds herself starting to doubt everything. What if he's not even born yet? Oh... my God.

2. Wait for him to find her instead.

Here's where the issue lies. 'Lee Jiwon' isn't exactly an uncommon name. In fact, a quick Facebook search yielded 122 'Lee Jiwon's in Korea alone. Keep in mind that the figure doesn't include the 'Lee Jiwon's too young to have an account, or the males with the same name.

You're probably wondering why people don't just give their children more unique names. It's definitely already a thing, though most parents have chosen to stick to the traditional naming system. So, tell her: how in the world is 'Rap Monster' going to fish for her amongst a sea of girls with the same name? For now, our main character can only wait and wait... and wait.

"Jiwon! Oh my God, hurry up!" Her friend, Yoonseo is some metres out in front, frantically waving with both her arms. "It's our first class of the year. We can't be late."

Jiwon is jogging at a comfortable pace, shaking her head. The extra weight of her backpack is no joke. "Jeez, it's not like we've never been late before."

"You potato, did you forget already? Seo Wongu is teaching this class. He's gonna murder us even if we're a minute late."

And without another word— just a look of terror stretched across her face, Jiwon launches herself forward, sprinting past Yoonseo with no issues.

"Hey! Wait up!"

To their relief, their stern-faced tutor is nowhere to be found in the small classroom. Instead, a short, stocky man is standing before the class marking the roll, it seems. He grimaces a little. Nevertheless, he nods his head toward the empty seats, wordlessly urging the two late-comers to take their seats. At a glance, only two seats are available, though they're a couple seats apart and in different rows. Yoonseo huffs, forced to be away from her friend while Jiwon lowers herself into the seat, the plastic contouring poorly to her bottom. Silently, they both pull out their books.

"... Kim Seomin." "Here."

"Kim Soojin." "Here."

"Kim Taehyung?" "Present."

Kim Taehyung? Did he just say Kim Taehyung? Wide eyes become narrowed when Jiwon scrunches her brows, turning to face the boy sitting beside her. The boy is an interesting character alright; amongst a sea of black heads, his hair is dyed a light shade of copper brown with strands of emerald green in his bangs. His lucid eyes, although looking straight ahead, remind her of iron and of honey with a vague hint of enigma. He is indeed very good-looking. But right now, that's not even the most important point.

Bringing a hand to her forehead, she facepalms herself. A 'Kim Taehyung' really did appear. In any other setting it wouldn't have been a concern. The point is that Yoonseo, the nosiest girl alive is also in the same room— she had to have heard the name too. Knowing her, she'll try to set them up, Jiwon knows she can't escape her fate. A cheeky grin already decorates Yoonseo's face as she juts a finger toward the boy as if asking Jiwon whether the boy is in fact, really that 'Kim Taehyung'.

The male in question is now shooting suspicious glances at both girls who seem to be communicating with only their eyes. Jiwon's nose is scrunched up, nodding towards Yoonseo's hand because it's still pointed. Put down your goddamn finger, Yoonseo!

The brows on Taehyung's face are almost touching when he leans in beside Jiwon to whisper. He points a finger at his own cheeks. "Is there something on my face?"

"Hm? Oh—no..."

"But your friend's pointing."

Flustered, Jiwon makes up a rubbish excuse for which Yoonseo will probably put her in the ground for. "Uh—she thinks you're good-looking, that's all."

"Oh," is all he says when he straightens his back. Figures, he's probably heard the compliment more times than he can count on both hands.

Meanwhile, Jiwon is wracking her brain for a way out. Crap... how do I get out of this? Ah, of course! Yoonseo can just ask for his soulmate's name... tell her my soulmate is another guy with the same name... yeah, that's right. The answer seems logical enough.

"...iwon?" The teacher continues. "Lee Jiwon? Hm, is she not present?"

"Oh—I'm sorry," Jiwon eventually stutters, snapping out of her trance. Her hand is stuck up into the thick air. "I'm here."

There's a frown on the teacher's face. "Pay attention next time."

"Yes, sir."

The class finally starts with Yoonseo's name being called. Jiwon is about to pick up her pen just as a mysterious folded note is dropped onto her desk. She follows the hand of the sender to face Taehyung and his lips curl in a little smile. For a moment, she has no idea what to make of this, she'll have to clear the air with him later anyhow. When he faces the blackboard again diligently, she unravels the piece of lined paper to reveal a message messily scrawled in green. There are smiley faces everywhere.

'Nice to meet you, Jiwon.'

Lunchtime has arrived and the students are leaving the room single file. Jiwon is packing the last of her belongings into her backpack when Yoonseo makes her way over. Meanwhile, Taehyung is still seated at his desk even though his bag is already packed.

"Are you girls having lunch together?"

"Yeah, you wanna join us?" Yoonseo interrupts before poor Jiwon can say a thing. Why Yoonseo is so happy, she thinks she'll never know.

Oh God, Jiwon thinks, because there are two issues at hand. Taehyung is most likely initiating because he thinks Yoonseo is interested in him. Secondly, Yoonseo probably has little interest in him anyway and instead is making an attempt to pair Jiwon with him. She understands the boy will be disappointed when he finds out her soulmate isn't him. Wait, so does that mean his soulmate has the same name as Yoonseo? Crap. I've created a monster.

"Sure," he nods back. "I'm a transfer, so I don't have anyone to eat with yet. You're... Yoonseo, right?"

"Yeah!" She laughs, draping an arm over the taller girl's shoulders. "You've met Jiwon, right?"

"Sure have."

The two continue their friendly banter until they've reached the cafeteria and it seems like Yoonseo's finally found the talkative friend she'd been asking for. Jiwon remains quiet, lazily trailing behind them because she's never felt the weight of guilt so heavy before. Yoonseo enters first, seating herself in the lone seat on one side of the 3-seater.

"You guys sit there! I'll grab us some food!" Yoonseo exclaims as she scrambles towards the serving area. As a result, Taehyung and Jiwon are left in an awkward stillness on the same side of the table.

"Is your friend always this enthusiastic?" Taehyung chuckles, his voice beautifully deep.

Jiwon's eyes follow her friend standing most impatiently at the end of the queue. "She has her ups and downs like everybody else, but most of the time she's stuck in the default 'up' position, I guess."

"Ah right, that's nice. You seem to be the more grounded, quiet type though. How did you two become friends?" He questions, making her wonder how obvious her personality is at first glance. Maybe she should open up a little like Yoonseo's always asking her to do.

"I've known her since elementary school. We're neighbours too. Um... enough about me. So, you said you were a transfer?" Jiwon asks to be polite. "Which department did you transfer from?"

"From the acting department, but at a different college. Things were becoming a little depressing there anyway, so I transferred," he explained, sighing. "I was a little sad to leave, but I'm kinda glad I joined music here now, actually!"

"Oh, really...? Mind me asking why?" She responds feigning ignorance. Her eyes widen the tiniest bit as her stare bore holes in his own. Don't say Yoonseo, please don't say Yoonseo.

"Hey! What're you guys talking about?" Yoonseo returns to her seat with a tray full of food still with that silly smirk plastered on her face as if she knew just when to interrupt. Taehyung proceeds to pick items from it.

"Music," Jiwon shouts a little louder than anticipated. She adjusts her volume when Yoonseo flinches. Taehyung is also giving her funny looks. "We were just talking about his transfer from acting."

"I see. So, Taehyung, I'm sure you've been asked this question plenty of times," Yoonseo theorises.

"Uh-huh."

She turns to face Jiwon for a moment though the question is obviously directed at Taehyung. She holds her hand in front of her lips to avoid grinning too much. "What's your soulmate's name? I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

Jiwon in her seat is willing to die to leave the conversation. Her regret now sits like ice in the pit of her stomach, though she can't bring herself to look away.

The boy clears his throat before adjusting himself stiffly in his seat, the question seeming to stir something uncomfortable within him. "My soulmate?"

"Yeah, what's her name?"

Jiwon, still seated beside the boy, has her fists bunched tightly under the table when he finally replies, but his answer is not what either girl is expecting. "Um... 'Min Dahyun', I think."

"You think it's 'Min Dahyun'?"

"No, no. I'm certain it's 'Min Dahyun'," he retorts, though it does little to diffuse Jiwon's suspicions, so she narrows her eyes. Surely that's a lie, she thinks. Yoonseo, on the other hand seems to in his words like a thirsty sponge. "There, I said it. What about you?"

"Some guy named Park Minhyun," Yoonseo sighs while Jiwon's gaze is glued to Taehyung to gauge his response. "But it's such a common name..."

To Jiwon's surprise he remains indifferent, even throwing in a light-hearted joke. "Yeah, but it could also be a girl's name~" Oh, so maybe he's ok with it.

"Ohmygod, please don't say that. I'm straight, you know."

In another unexpected move, Taehyung asks Jiwon for her answer too. Her reply is already lined up in her head: Kim Taehyung, that's always been her response, her perfect lie. But now that a boy with said name is here physically, in all his handsome glory, she cannot, for the life of her, bring herself to say it—especially because it's not true. Her soulmate is 'Rap Monster' and she regretfully reminds herself that. It crosses her mind that she should probably make up another name on the spot, though that's out of the question—the force of Yoonseo's glare is too strong. You might think that Jiwon's fear sounds trivial, but it seems to have grabbed her by her dry tongue.

Yoonseo senses her friend's hesitation. "It's some guy with your name."

Taehyung doesn't seem to take the news so well. He turns wide-eyed and slack-jawed to face Jiwon, who is casually avoiding his gaze. She hides behind a loosely bunched fist. "My exact name?"

"Yeah, your exact name," Jiwon makes a failed attempt to shrug it off. "But it's not like it's an uncommon name."

"Yeah," he says with something Jiwon hears as doubt in his voice. "What a coincidence. Ah—is that why you guys were pointing at me earlier in class?"

"Mhm... what a shame," the girl sitting on the other side groans. "I was gonna set you guys up too!"

"Yeah, that is a shame."

Fast forward 3 months; Jiwon and Taehyung are good friends. The sun at dusk is just peeking over the horizon, painting the cloudless sky with streaks in the shade of peaches and salmon. Being winter, it's bone-chilling cold. Nevertheless, because it's a weekday, with hands into pockets, they trudge together through the inches of fluffy, white snow in the direction of Jiwon's home. Thankfully, it's no longer storming. At dinner time, this street in particular is empty with only the rustling of their jackets audible.

"I said you don't need to walk me home, seriously. Look, it's still bright out."

"And I said I'll walk you home as long as we have the same classes. Now that Yoonseo's transferred, you don't have anyone to walk with you. There're creeps around here, you know?"

"You're the creep, creep!" Jiwon laughs, delivering a playful slap to his arm. "Why would you walk out 20 minutes this way when you live 2 minutes from campus?"

Jutting out his bottom lip, he forges heartbreak. "How am I a creep? I'm offended, Jiwon."

In that moment, Taehyung's phone rings. Jiwon assumes it's a friend because he only answers the call with a gruff "yeah". He pauses in between words to listen. "Right now? Uh—maybe later. I've got something to do now. Mm, bye."

"What is it?"

"Nothing much, a friend's just throwing a little birthday get-together at his place. Asked me to be there."

Stopping in the centre of the footpath, Jiwon trains her gaze on her friend. "Just go, we're already home anyway."

He follows her pointed finger to spot a modest 2-story home across the pavement, looking as if it were the result of years of hard labour. Its modern exterior is a dramatic change from the ivy and vines still growing in the crevices of the old stone path.

"Come with me."

"Where? The party? I don't even know your friends."

"I'll just introduce you to them. They're music students too, from the college I used to attend," he gives another little push as if he can sense a 'no' coming on. "Come on, I'll walk you home later."

"Alright deal," she's at her front door when she accepts. "But I need a quick shower. You can come inside too; my parents won't be home til next week anyway." At Taehyung's risen eyebrows and dropped jaw, Jiwon belatedly realises her mistake. "Oh—wow. I didn't mean it that way. J-just don't say anything. Come in."

"Wait." Abruptly, a hand is shot forward to grab her by the arm at the door. Taehyung refuses to even allow her time to compose herself. His gaze tells her he's genuinely curious. "Are you blushing?"

"Me? Pfft. No... it's just hot in this jacket." She's blushing alright, but it isn't cute. Her blush doesn't carry a soft pink as if she'd been kissed by a spring rose— no. She's freaking beetroot red; the stuff of hot blood and it was all right there in her puffed cheeks contrasting against her fair skin. But the other half of it is true too, the inside of her down jacket is cooking her alive, but without it she's sure she'll freeze.

Now dressed in a relaxed pair of jeans and a woolly cardigan, the girl adds the finishing touches to her makeup. "Tae, come up!" 

"You sure?" Comes the echoing reply. With her answer, he practically flies up the stairs from the living room and into her room beside the staircase. The room contains a good-sized bed, neatly made. Jiwon sits cross-legged on the covers patting her damp hair dry with a towel.

"Come sit," she pats the space next to her. Instead, rubbing his nape, he declines, opting to sit in a straight-backed chair by her study desk instead because it's not covered with tons of clothes like the one back home. "So, I looked up 'Min Dahyun' on the web and there's only 11 girls with that name. How have you not found 'the one' yet?"

A pause. "Well—I've already spoken to one. We spoke for ages too... but she wasn't mine."

"How can you be sure? You asked her?" Jiwon asks slipping on a pair of thick white ankle socks.

"Yeah... her soulmate is her cousin apparently."

Her jaw drops. "Wait, what? Is that even possible? But that's—"

"—Illegal, I know."

"Wow. That ."

"Yeah, so how about you?" He crosses his legs. "Have you found any other 'Kim Taehyung's?"

"Um—well, there seems to be more than a couple of you, so I'm still sifting through," she looks up, meeting dark eyes already staring back. And she withdraws just a bit because those eyes... seem to be staring right through her and her lifelong lies. All of a sudden, she feels little. "Hey, have you heard of... you know, any cases of people knowing not their soulmate's real name, but their nickname instead?"

A pair of narrowed eyes and a slight head tilt later, he concludes, "I've never heard of that. Why? You—"

"—No no, not me, just a random thought."

Taehyung's friend's house isn't far by foot, it's in the same neighbourhood. From the sub-zero temperatures outside, the heated interior of the living room is a blessing to the skin. At first glance, the space is modern and Jiwon takes in the Mediterranean vibe she gets from all the potted plants, broad leaves reaching upwards, but what catches her attention isn't the sheer number of shoes at the door, nor is it the savoury aroma of hot food— it's the music; hip-hop so loud it makes her skin tingle. The bass thumps in time with her heartbeat as though they are one, filling all of her. Over the noise, she can hear distant chatter and laughter, though it's impossible to make out individual words.

The lone girl jumps on instinct when a stranger strides up to her, hand extended with palm facing upwards. In the dimly lit room, her first impression of the boy is that he must be a delinquent; she only says that because his hair is pink. It's hot pink— you know, the very colour of flamingos? His single-lidded eyes are narrowed, rigid, cold and hard staring holes into her as if she were an enemy. At the same time, she can see so much strength despite years of weathering. They sit above lips thick and pink. With his arm still extended, she has no idea what he's after. Maybe he's about to tell her to 'get lost' having arrived unannounced.

"I'll take your coat."

"Hey, Joon. Don't be rude," Taehyung turns back to Jiwon, who's clutching her leather satchel to her chest for dear life. "This is the birthday boy, Namjoon. And Joon, this is my friend from college, Jiwon."

"Jiwon... as in Lee Jiwon?" The words that leave his lips are impossibly deep. His scowl deepens and the girl's spooked to say the least. That tends to happen when scary strangers happen to know her name.

Soon, the 3 are joined by the 5 noisy others from the kitchen and it's like she's been slapped in the face by every colour on the visible light spectrum. Colour everywhere. The most boyish of the group sports a vibrant orange head of hair while another about his height has styled hair a pastel green like mint ice-cream. The 3 others have their hair dyed in more natural shades ranging from amber to chestnut brown. Their clothes are eye-catching as well, what, with all the chromatic jackets, leather pants and the suspenders. In all this, Jiwon only feels detracted.

"Oh, this is the Lee Jiwon?" The orange-haired boy asks, emphasis on the word 'the'. Jiwon can barely see him poking above the shoulders of his taller friends. His voice is highly pitched, but the overall vibe from him is unbelievably cute. "Hi! I'm Jimin! Nice to meet you."

"Ah, we've heard a lot about you from Taetae," an apron-wearing brunette adds, smiling with a pair of kind eyes. He is reminiscent of her own mother. "I'm the eldest, Seokjin."

Oh, so that's why they know. She even raises an eyebrow to Taehyung, because 'Taetae'? Really?

Taking turns, the boys introduce themselves and she does the same. Now, she won't admit it, but with so much to take in and so many blinding colours, she really only remembers one person: Kim Namjoon, simply because she knows better than to forget the birthday boy.

The boys urge her to join them in the kitchen where Seokjin has already allegedly cooked hot meals and prepared snacks. Meanwhile, Namjoon hasn't moved from his spot and it worries her, because shouldn't a birthday boy at least look a little happier on his 20th birthday? "I'll put away your coat for you."

And she gives in, stripping herself of the thick coat and handing it to him with both hands.

"Don't worry," Taehyung whispers when Namjoon's moved away. "He always looks mad— cool guy though. You hear this song?"

For the first time this night, Jiwon pays attention to the rap. Passionate is the first word that comes to mind. The words seem to deliver a raw declaration to its listeners— in the form of a personal reflection. Although the synthetic instrumentals nor the swearing are her style, the lyrics are— for lack of better word, beautiful. So when Taehyung tells her the both rap and lyrics are Namjoon's own, she's dumbfounded to say the least.

During the night, they eat and they converse until somebody brings up the brilliant idea of 'Truth or Dare'. Truth is, Jiwon's played her fair share of the game, though she's seldom been game enough to choose dare; that only happens under the influence of alcohol, but there's no chance of that tonight. Answering a truth question is easy enough especially when she can basically guess what they are anyway. She suspects that maybe the boys are a little high from alcohol consumption... only thing is there's been no alcohol. Ok, so maybe they're just idiots, because the questions aren't what she was expecting... far from it.

In the first round, Hoseok spins the bottle to land on Jungkook. The boy goes for the easy way out. "Truth."

"Ok, what..." Hoseok sings, building up the suspense. Everyone's leaning in with high expectations. "... colour is your underwear?"

"Red, like fire truck red." Jungkook finds that he has to yell over the splattering laughter.

It's now Jimin's turn... and it lands on mint-topped Yoongi. Even before anyone says anything else, Jimin asks a truth question as if he could read minds. "So, Yoongi, have you..." Again everyone's eyebrows are raised. "... ever peed in a swimming pool?"

What the heck are these questions? Jiwon grimaces. She turns to her friend for refuge, but beside her, Taehyung is probably laughing the hardest; it came from him like a sprung leak. She could tell he wasn't yet done from the way his eyes roll in their sockets. His shoulders are shaking uncontrollably. For a moment, she becomes absorbed in his laughter, his giggles and snickers enough to take her someplace far away.

"Dude, everyone's done it." Yoongi replies nonchalantly. Everything about him, from the way each syllable lazily leaves his lips to his subtle hand gestures, screams 'swag'. "Next."

Going around the circle, it's now Jiwon's turn, so at least there's no chance of it landing on her this round. Exhaling, she spins the heck out of the glass bottle, marking her one true nightmare— surprise, surprise, the birthday boy.

"Just ask him a question, Jiwon," Taehyung nudges, leaning in because it's so loud. It's then that she realises he's a little too close for comfort; their thighs and upper arms are grazing against each other where they all sit in a circular formation on the low-pile carpet. It's clear there's plenty of extra space between him and Jungkook on the other side. Not wanting to be rude, she casually rubs her knee against his pants, hoping he'll realise and move away on his own. And he does... except he moves even closer, if that were possible, placing a hand on the small of her back. Jiwon freezes under his touch and even more so when his breath tickles at the neck. "He's gonna choose 'truth' anyway."

"Right. Um— everyone probably already knows this, so this is more for my records than anything else," She announces and Namjoon does nothing but stare back with that same astringent gaze. "What's your soulmate's name?"

The room erupts in hollers and laughter louder than the music. Even the tamer ones like Yoongi and Seokjin let out ear-piercing 'whoops' and 'ho's, though Hoseok is undoubtedly the rowdiest. Could it be that nobody knows who his soulmate is?

"Oh! What a killer question!" Hoseok shouts.

"Answer it, what're you waiting for?" Seokjin chides, but he's also giggling. "Don't make our special guest wait."

"Yeah," Jungkook agrees. "Even we don't know who it is, thanks for asking!"

For the first time this night, Jiwon seems to notice something— something a little funny about the way Namjoon crosses and uncrosses his long legs on the floor, glancing from the bottle, then to something else above her head. His Adam's apple bobs up and down. He just appears... uncomfortable. "... Lee Jihye."

Although she doesn't object, immediately she picks the name as a blatant lie. Why does she know this? Because she's been telling the same lie her whole life. She's basically an expert— did you forget?

The boys are all staring elsewhere wide-eyed now, nodding like they can't process the information just handed to them.

"Wow, that is probably the most common girl's name..." Jimin huffs.

"I know a Seo Jihye, wanna ask her out instead?" Hoseok jokes before getting socked in the abdomen. He lets out a series of grunts, his body folded over. "I-I'm ok!"

"That's why we don't dare to ask." Taehyung leans in again to whisper behind his hands.

The hip-hop music in the background had stopped playing sometime ago, yet Taehyung still hadn't moved away. He's so close she can make out the distinct musty scent of his aftershave from his cologne.

"Ok, my turn!" Taehyung declares. And it's a perfect spin, landing on Jiwon dead on. Around her, the group are either giggling out loud like a bunch of prepubescent school girls or trying to stifle their laughter with the back of their hand. It doesn't go unnoticed. "Ah, Jiwon, truth or dare?"

"Uh... I'll go with the theme. Truth."

"Mm..." Taehyung purses his lips, rubbing his chin with his fingers as he thinks up a question. Jungkook beats him to it.

"Do you know that your soulmate is in this room?"

"Huh?" Is her first response. This irks her in more ways than one. The boys seem to have been told that her soulmate is a certain 'Kim Taehyung'. And a soulmate is only a soulmate when the names you have in mind are each other's... Oh crap.

Upon turning back to the boy in question, he's not only avoiding her gaze, Taehyung is as red as what she imagines Jungkook's boxers to be. And that's never a good sign.

"Go, Tae. What're you waiting for?" The boys collectively urge, shoving him towards her.

She remembers to soften her expressions and dig up her heart from her stomach to hide the imminent shock she's about to be dealt. "Wha— what is it?"

"Um, can we talk in private?"

They've entered a bedroom; Namjoon's it seems. Empty soda cans line the computer desk arranged in a pyramid formation. Her eyes spy weeks of clothes sprawled across the chair and the floor and even a lone sock hanging off the bed. The walls were freshly painted with the shade of eggshells, she could scent it in the air, but with the multiple posters of hip-hop royalty, the room was dark.

"Sorry about my friends, they're a little crazy."

"Why're you apologising?" Jiwon's smile is gentle. "I can see where you get your wackiness from."

There's hesitation on both ends. Jiwon shifts her weight from foot to foot, her hands pushed into her pockets because this is not where she had imagined herself when she first told that one lie. In the middle of the room, Taehyung is gauging her reaction. His bottom lip is caught between his teeth.

"Jiwon... I have something to say to you," Their eyes meet again when he comes to stand in front of her. His pair looks at her lovingly and might even be a little wet. "I haven't exactly been truthful."

Oh no.

"The name I know... isn't 'Min Dahyun', it's 'Lee Jiwon'." His smile widens even further, but his voice is so shaky and soft Jiwon can barely make out words. It's clear he's more than nervous.

Oh no no.

"I spent 2 years running after the last girl I met. I just— just kept at it. I'd fall, but I kept running, even when I hurt myself. After that didn't work out, I was so scared of failure, so scared of standing up that I didn't want to try again. But you— when you showed up late to class that day, I didn't think it'd happen again so soon."

Her gaze is wandering now, unable to force herself to look him in the face. The guilt has come back with a vengeance, but it now sat not in her stomach, but in her head. What she has done she cannot undo. A confession right now would be out of the question.

Then he carries on, even starting to laugh a little. People tend to think of laughter as coming from the mouth, but with Taehyung it isn't like that. He laughs with his eyes; the way they change to a look of relaxed joy. "I wasn't even planning to tell you so soon. I guess I wanted to get to know you better. I've always been nervous to see you, but at the same time, here it feels safe."

His modest grin was a cure, a device of sorts that transported Jiwon far away from her problems, her tension. It's genuinely so sweet with just the right touch of shyness that an unexpected warmth surges through her, making her feel more human. His smile could be likened to a ray of sunshine and she, a sunflower bending in the breeze.

"—Jiwon, what's wrong? Did I say something?" He lays his hands on her shoulders and keeps them there. The touch feels like a warm blanket calming her more than his words will.

"Huh? What?" She presses the back of her hands to her eyes. Tears, hot tears. She's crying and doesn't even know it. What she feels is completely alien. Is it guilt? Or is it compassion? It might even be affection because really, it's the closest thing to love.

Rushing to a box of tissues from Namjoon's bedside table, he tilts her head up with gentle fingers on her chin. He replaces her hands with his own, tapping and dabbing at her closed eyes, careful not to disturb her mascara. "Jiwon, don't cry... please? I'll protect you from now on, ok?"

Taehyung really is the sweetest boy alive. Jiwon's not sure whether she can keep lying to herself anymore, being the weak-natured person she is. She wonders whether the boy will be strong enough to forgive her. All this over something so trivial. "Taehyung, I—...

"—It's ok if you don't wanna answer me now. We can take our time."

"No, I—" She takes a step backwards.

With a strong grip, he stops her, holding her hands to his chest as if he can feel her slipping away. Any words about to leave her lips are replaced by gasps. The grace in his face is gone, replaced by an expression of boldness. "—Be mine."

A/N:

So Jiwon's in huge trouble, but I'd love to be in her shoes, just for a day (who's with me?).

What do you think her next move is? Dun dun DUN!

Thanks for reading this bit of emotional diarrhoea, ya'll!

H.