A/n: let me clear up some colouquial/relatively unknown terms I may or may not use within the story:

Ascii: a type of code used within computer language.

Cuff: to get with someone else, usually in a relationship.

Air: to ignore.

C++ : a programming language, that both I and Taehyung are learning (it's kinda hard tbh)

Gosh, I sound so formal.

~N

P.s.
I can't make any promises, but I'll do my best to ensure this chapter exceeds the quality of the last; chapter 4 was lackluster, in my own personal opinion.

 

Bang!
Bang!

It was lunch, 1 day later, with 3 out of the 5 friends launched into a frenzy of laughter.

That aforementioned banging noises, was Taeyong, banging on the table in silent hysteria, his sides almost literally splitting.

We already know Taeyong, the ride-or-die, fair haired, broad shouldered and mind speaking group member, who always seems to just say whatever's on their mind, whether it's wanted or not.

Meanwhile, Zuho was coughing up a storm, the prescidenting humor proving a little too much for his lungs. 

Zuho had a stark contrast in comparison to Taeyong. He was vastly more of a casual friend in relation to Taehyung. They'd share jokes, game together, maybe hang out a little, but that was more or less where things ended. Furthermore, he was a lot more considerate, taking time to analyse what he intends to say and it's impact.

Then there was Jin, who felt unable to even slightly control the unending stream of giggles coming from his diaphram.

{At this point I'd like to briefly break the atmosphere and logic of the story to paint a picture: imagine the STOB IT meme; that's how Jin was laughing.}

Now, Jin. Jin's personality, stood intermediately between Taeyong and zuho. He *was* the ride or die, 100% reliable friend to both Jimin and Taehyung, but at the same time not afraid to throw shade and give a good roasting.

Taehyung didn't even bother entertaining the banter going on between the three freinds opposite him.

It wasn't offensive nor rude, but simply down to the fact that he wasn't really up to being laughed at today. In a "ah, this is what they do" type attitude, he sat non chalantly, coding in visual studio from his laptop.

Jimin put another rice cake in his mouth, he too letting the situation play out.

Back to the hysteria.

"So let me get this straight. You two saw Jennie getting from Baek, so you decide to bash into her, face masks on, and whoosh her off?" Jin re-iterated, giggles dying down.

"Yeah", Jimin confirmed.

"So then, Jin continues, smiling, you split up, and Jimin heads into the-"

"-Loading area and falls into purple paint cans, yes, I Know, ok?" The boy hurries, trying to save face.

Jin , Taeyong and zuho, for the nth time, return to their shared amusement and delight, at Jimin's Social expense.

So much for the laughter dying down.

"Weren't the paint cans in the middle of the pathway? How'd you not see them?", Zuho enquired.

"I don't know! The adrenaline?! I just *didn't* see them, ok?"

Taeyong did some thinking, before coming out with "Oh , so you where that person running around covered in purple?"

"Oh yeah: I saw that from the outside window!, Jin added, currently Rolling.

Hehe, people where Calling you ' the purple man'!"

"Ugh, come on guys, is it really that funny?"

"Kinda is", Taehyung humbly chimed in, running some c++ program.

"Way to be supportive, Taehyung! Jimin whines, earning Taehyung a snicker.

There's a short pause, this time frame giving the joke more than enough time to die down.

Hey, Tae...when we split up, what happened between you and jennie?"

The intended answerer paused, as if calculating his answer.

"Well... nothing much really...I helped her sit down on a bench, she said her thanks, and more or less, that was it", he finally explained, revealing the lack of or drama.

"Hmm, knowing Taehyung, he must of done something weird", Taeyong mocked, addressing Taehyung in third person.

"Not really. I mean there was an awkward sort of staring before I left her, but apart from that, nothing much really happened".

Jimin digested what he heard with a slight sense of familiarity. 

The "akward staring", the lack of detail when recalling events. it all had off one common aura.

The, Taehyung is crushing, but is too shy to admit it, aura.

Jimin simply shrugged the implications off, being too acclimitised to even make fun of it anymore.

"Tae...do you like Jennie now?"  Jimin enquired, with a tone that simply reeked of "been there, done that".

Taehyung froze at the question, as his best friend had done accurately to predict.

Despite Jimin's boredom of Taehyung's consistent crushing, Taeyong and Zuho couldn't get enough of it. In a few  brief words, they were overly subscribed to the ventures of Taehyung's (somewhat lackluster, in terms of success) love life.

A reason as to why they were so overly obsessed with (especially at this age)such a trival matter was the simple concept of, to put it into a slightly more vulgar and colouquial sense, my friend is cuffin, good on him.

Despite the abundance of positive interest there were times where they'd never fail make fun of Taehyung's failures at love, although what threw such activity away from bullying was the fact that it was almost always of Taehyung's own volition, or at least very harmless.

Zuho couldn't contain his grins, as Jimin uttered "Jennie" and "like in the same sentence".

"Jennie? The girl you helped out...?", Taeyong suggests, like some sort of overly elaborate and annoying autocomplete.

"Ah, crushing again, are we?" Singsongs zuho.

Taehyung clicks away at his razer, building a c++ project and trying to get it to run.

He ever so slightly pivots his attention towards Zuho, outputting a short and just barely coherent "uh...not really..."

"Ah, you're quiet. Too quiet. Too readable, unfortunately, Taeyong observed, with his engaged and uplifted expression.

Are you sure nothing happened?"

There's a slight pause, and all eyes are on Tae.

 He looks up from his monitor, feeling what in Taehyung's mind can only register as judgement, or expectation.

"Yes, Nothing happened! Now could you all stop looking at me like that?"

Cue another pause.

"Yup. You like Jennie", Zuho concludes, grin as bright as day.

"Ugh, whatever", Taehyung resigns, turning his full attention back to his barely working program.

Right fingers crossed, he runs the program with his left.

In defiance, visual studio throws a complier error, causing Taehyung to slap his head in frustration, and return to the ongoing conversation.

Zuho furthers it with a casual and inquisitive statement, aimed primarily at Jimin and Taehyung(as Jimin and Taehyung were in different classes , as opposed to the other three freinds).

"So, what you guys got next?" 

"Ahh...

P.E., I think", Chim Chim finally came out with, after fumbling through his mentally noted school schedule. 

"Ahh, I see, Seokjin nodded, a small grin forming.

 

Say, Taehyung... you're class 10a, right?

Isn't...

Jennie in your class?"

Oh boy, here we go.

"Yeah, what about it?" The questionee responds, rather defensive, precsidenting some sort of incoming Tennie banter.

Did I just make up a ship name in my head?*

There's another pause, Taehyung entertaining the foreign concept of "liking" Jennie.

Me? Like Jennie? I'm not too sure...

Well, she is kind of pretty.

Prettier than Baek, at the very least.

Of being in her presence, her long, light, vulminous brown locks.

Of witnessing her petite figure, accompanied by her ever so slightly sunkissed skin.

Of being near her bright red lip-

"Taehyung... you're bright red...!" Jimin singsongs, finding the will to entertain such banter.

There's a small wave of smirks across the table, untill Taehyung whines back:

"At least I'm not purple, huh?!"

A tsunami of laughter ensues, as Jimin begins to wonder why he had even bothered to say anything.

 

~*~ 

Jennie  retrieved a textbook from her locker, thoughts lingering.

Ugh...I shouldn't have been like that...now that upperclass 'll be on my tail...

What's her problem, anyway? It's not like I did anything to her...

Maybe it's because I'm new.

...ugh, why am I thinking about this so much, anyway? If she wants to make trouble for no reason, that's her problem.

But, what if she comes back, what am I ought to do?...

You know what, forget it. We'll cross that bridge when it comes to it.

Jennie almost slammed the locker shut, symbolising her willingness to rid Baek from her mind.

"Stressed much?" A close voice calls out, in English.

Uh? Who is-

No. ing. Way.

Jennie's face widened with excitement, her eyes brightening at the sight of a familiar face.

"Rosé?!" 

Excited beyond belief, Jennie moved to hug the long term freind, book in hand.

Rosé accepted the embrace, exhaling In refreshment.

"Hey, Jennie: how's it going? You seemed stressed just now". 

Rosé, mostly referred to as "Chae-young" in Korea, had a long standing relationship with Ms Kim, spanning from now, to early childhood.

She was slightly taller than Jennie, harbouring a more rounded face and brighter cheeks, not to mention plumper lips.

Her figure was somewhat similar though, give or take some slight curves.

Rosé's general appearance aside, what really set her aside was the trademark (and bordeline dark)red colouring in her hair, hence the odd nickname.

Her personality was rather witty and perceptive to boot,  picking up on almost every social cue or symbolic deviations in tone. Put simply, it was damn near impossible to get anything past her, especially if she cared about you.

With that in mind, the embrace between the two friends ends, and Rosé pushes a little at Jennie, trying to figure out what was up.

"You sure you ok? You seemed a little stressed just now".

Chae-young's expression dropped instinctively, smbolising concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine, nothing worth worrying about", Jennie lied, in a resolved smile.

"You sure? I worry about you, Jen".

"Yeah...

So, How come you're in Korea?" 

"Ah, you see...

My father got transferred out here for his work, so I'm gonna be living here for a few months. And you, you're on exchange, aren't you?"

"Yeah, the son of my host family goes to this school..."

"Really? What's his name? I might know him, you know".

"Really? You've made friends *that quickly?" 

"Yeah, duh: I'm Rosé", she states jokingly.

Jennie scratches her head, trying ever so desperately to recall the name of the aforementioned boy.

"Ah... I can't remember his name.

He had... Dark hair, brownish eyes".

"Really?..." 

Chae young scans the school hallway in emphasis, observing the countless students with dark bowl cuts and brownish eyes.

Jennie's eyes roll in pool ball fashion as Rosé remarks: "that certainly narrows it down, doesn't it?"

"Ah, I just can't rem-

Ah, it was *Jimin!" She snaps her fingers in realisation".

"Ahhh, Jimin, huh?" 

Jen picks up on Chae-young's emphasis.

"Ahh? What does that mean?"

"Hmm, nothing...

Just that... He's cute".

Jennie's eyes rolled again, knowing that this represented the typical Rosé she had come to know.

"What, you tryna pair me up with him or something?"

"No... I'm just saying... he's kinda attractive...and him being in your class and all...you wouldn't be blamed if you took advantage of the... opportunity".

Jennie shook her head in disagreement.

She placed her bagpack between her legs, bending to place her highly ambiguous textbook inside.

"Nothing's gonna happen, ok? He's gonna show me around, help me settle in, and that's it. As far as I'm concerned, we're not even freinds".

"Aish, that's disappointing. I love a good love story, you know..."

"Yeah, you sure do.

There are three loud beeps in rapid succession, signalling all students to head to their next lesson. Rosé sighed, not being able to talk to the freind she'd just been reunited with.

"Ugh...looks like i have to go now..., Chae-young regretfully admitted, turning away from her "Jen".

Jennie turned away too, heading to her next lesson.

Oh! Jennie...

Wait!

What do you have now?" Rosé asks, out of curiosity.

"P.E., I think".