Lunchtime.

Taehyung sunk to the bottom of the all too familiar bathroom stall, feeling defeated and ultimately ashamed.

The recurring words "you're the kid that puked on me!" Washed over him like a torrent of sadness, reminding him of his blunders, not more than two weeks ago.

Ugh...she hates me, doesn't she.

I don't know what to do...she thinks I'm a loser, now.
And for the next fifteen minutes, he detrimentally relieved and relished his previous misfortunes in realtion to Jennie, each time never failing to put himself down.

Why...why me?

Thankfully, soon after, Taeyong and Jimin seek him out, in the sad state that he is.

"Hey, Tae, we were looking for you. You okay?..

Hey, Jimin, what's up with Tae?", Taeyong enquired anxiously, intent on getting to the bottom of his friend's sudden isolation.

"Not too sure, but I know that he tripped over Jennie during P.E. , she had a minor outburst, and he sat out the entire lesson. That's probably it, why he's in there, all alone".

"Ding-ding-ing-ding", Taehyung answered from inside the stall, frustrated.

"Well, at least we know you're not too bad, since you're making your usual wisecracks...

But still, how do you feel? I can't be of too much help, but-"

"I feel like ".

There's a small pause between the other two freinds, as they took a moment to fully register the admission of emotion.

"Ugh...care to elaborate? If there's something on your chest, then it's best to-"

"Oh, there's something alright. Where to start: maybe at the fact that I've embarassed myself in front of Jennie at least 5 times, or that most of those times, there was a nice* little audience* to witness it, each person telling their freinds about what a ing idiot Kim Taehyung. Oh, and best of all,what about the fact that I feel like a ing failure, and'll probably die alone? There's a lot to get through".

Jimin have both Taeyong *and the stall a remorseful look, realising that Taehyung's incoherent , profane and sarcastic outburst, probably helped stop a full on mental breakdown.

He went into full on support mode, out of (platonic) love for his friend.

"Listen. I'm not sure if this advice really helps, but why care about what other people think? Why care about what Jennie thinks? These people aren't important to you, and you said that you're not into Jennie, so-"

"I LIED, OK? I LIKE JENNIE, I ING LIKE JENNIE, OK!?

Not just, 'she's attractive', not just 'i'm shy around girls'...

I think I genuinely like Jennie...

So that's... that's why I care, alright?!"

The two freinds found themselves bewildered.

They had seen Taehyung fall for girls...but he had never fell far enough to do something like this*.

They stayed silent, letting Taehyung excrete all that brooding, negative, crushing, lusting energy.

Look, almost every day, I find myself looking at her, admiring her, thinking about her.

And...every time...this one thought comes up. This one invasive thought.

Talk to her.

But each and every time, I get this sudden wave of anxiety: am I good enough?, does she remember what I've done to her? Will she reject me?

And then...I rid myself of the thought until I see her again, untill this whole vicious cycle starts all over again.

 

Ugh...I don't know what to do...Jennie kim has my anxiety at an all time high", Taehyung concludes his rant, feeling both exhausted and relieved.

Taeyong thought real hard before he spoke.

"So...you really like Jennie, huh?..."

"Yeah, and I've no ing clue how I'm even gonna look at her again: this is the third time I've done something stupid".

"...well...you puking wasn't really your fault. You got nervous, and Jennie happened to be in the way. Not really your fault, but unfortunate.

Second, you walked in on Jennie in the shower. You didn't knock before entering. A small mistake, so it's nothing worth-"

"Whoa, wait, holdon. You walked in on Jennie in the shower? ?" Taeyong backtracked, now placing himself in one of those "it's funny, but I shouldn't be laughing" type situations.

"Yeah, and it's not funny!", Jimin nudged with his elbows, wiping Taeyong of that grin.

But after some momentary re-evaluation, Taeyong threw in his two cents.

"You know what? It is funny, ok? It's hilarious, I should be laughing even more than I am right now, and do you know why?"

"You're not really helping-"

"Let me finish, Taeyong interjected, taking his time to get to the point.

It's funny, because it's a mistake.

A small, inconceivable mistake, that you should laugh at. Oh, so you saw your crush in your freinds bathroom? You should think about how crazy that was, laugh off your mistake, and move on, ok? Because by acknowledging and laughing at your shortcomings, you'll be able to cope with them.

Like, haha, whatever, I failed my midterms, haha".

"Ah....I don't think that's much of a good example...", Jimin commented, recognising the Misfortune in such a concept.

"Ah, whatever, my point still stands: what's done is done, what's the point in lingering on it?"

"Meh...

... that's not too bad advice", Jimin nodded,  getting behind the idea.

 

"Yeah, it's pretty good...but what do I do about Jennie? It's not like I can just avoid her."

"Isn't that obvious? You're going to make Jennie your girlfriend".

Cue the breif Interlude.

After that, Taehyung never opened a bathroom stall door  the way he did, choking and spluttering at such a suggestion.

You're joking, right?"

"Well...not really: you like Jennie...so why not try and date her?"

Taehyung wasn't properly comprehending this information.

"Jennie?...me?... dating?"

"Yeah! Why not?" Jimin reaosoned, smiling at such a concept.

"W-wh-how would that even work? You know how girls treat me...so why would I put myself through that?"

"Well, you like her, so it's worth a shot", Taeyong now chimed in, beginning to see the somewhat fair logic in Jimin had come up with.

Taehyung facepalmed in self-resentment. Sinking slightly back into the stall.

"She...she won't like me! I mean, just looking at me, sulking in a bathroom: who'd want this?"

Jimin found a response, but not after thinking real hard about how to negate tae's attitude.

"Aigoo...

Look, tae...

I know you're getting that feeling...that rejection feeling...

But for once... just trust us, man.
And besides... it's not like you're just gonna ask her out on the spot. You'd obviously take a few weeks, get to know her...

hell, I could help you out".

"I don't know..."

Taeyong gives another 2 cents.

"C'mon, if you like her like you say you do, then what's the harm in trying?"

"Ah... I'm still not sure...

The bell goes, signalling the end of lunch, and interrupting Taehyung's train of thought.

Uh...

I'll-i'll think about it" he finally came out with, postponing the suggestion for now.

"C'mon, man... it's only a matter of time till she gets a girlfriend!" Taeyong singsonged, exiting the bathroom and on the way to class.

[5 minutes earlier]

Jennie Kim hears murmurs of her name near the bathroom.

Jennie...what are they talking about?, She thought to herself, investigating the murmurs through the walls of the boys' bathroom.

"I LIED, OK? I LIKE JENNIE, JIMIM, I ING LIKE JENNIE, OK!?"

The girl pauses in utter shock, unclear on what to think.

Who...the is that?

Someone...likes...me?

~*~

Taehyung agonised, the mop feeling like a toothbrush on the vast flooring that is the school hallway near the entrance.

Being one of the top schools in Seoul, something as trival as the hallway was some sort of grand spectacle: the(soon to be) polished marble floors, the finished oak wood, decorating the doors and window frames to other rooms, the seemingly expensive mats near every room, hell, even the overexpensive grandfather clock near the stairwell at the end.

The smell was pristine, clean feeling, like it had been newly renovated.

Taehyung would've been able to take this all in, to appreciate it, if it weren't for the fact that he had been doing so for the last hour and half.

You see, Mr Kim had followed up on Taehyung's unnaturally brown hair colour.

"For each day that you don't remove that stupid dye, I'll have you do a 2 hours of cleaning each day", Taehyung recalled the strict and pretentious teacher ordering, screwing his face up as he remembered Mr Kim's.

"Well, it was sort of my fault...

But still...a punishment like this?...

Ji Yang  doesn't have to get rid of *his brown hair...

And Jennie, too..."

Wait, don't I have night school lat-

Tap, tap , tap , tap.

Someone was coming down the staircase.

Taehyung lowered his mop and paused, curious to see who'd come down them, but not before eyeing the clock in confusion.

Who's could that be...and why are they still here at 8pm?

Tap, tap , tap, tap.

The steps got lower and lower down the staircase.

Welp, I'm about to find out.

Tap, tap , tap, tap, tap.

Taehyung nested the mop in the bucket against the wall, moving towards the end of the hallway.

A figure steps onto the set of stairs, in view of Taehyung.

Their skirt shows them to be female.

Taehyung, being Taehyung, took interest.

Hmm, skirt's a little short... hmm, I wonder who that is... I've seen that chain befo-

Taehyung tried not to faint, when the face of this elusive individual.

OH THAT'S JENNIE-

"Uh, hey!", He started, giving a friendly smile.

She reciprocatied, more out of obligation than anything else.

"Hi".

"So uh...how come you're here so...late?"

"Ah, nothing much, just catching up...I wasn't here the whole term, so Mr Kim was just filling me in".

"Hmm...cool, ok", Taehyung nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer.

"So what about you, mister, ah... interviewer?"

"Ah, I got kept back...

Interviewer?", Tae added, a little confused by the comment.

"Ah, I don't know... just the way you said it...

I feel...interviewed", The female admitted, a little awkward.

"Oh, , sorry, I didn't mean to-ah-"

"It's fine."

"Sorry... it's just... I was curious".

"Well, no worries, then".

Jennie concludes the conversation, heading towards the exit.

As Jennie went off, Taehyung watched, the words of his freinds replaying iteratively.

"You should date her, man!"

, I should, shouldn't I?*

I could do it now...

, am I good enough-

Aish, no time to think about that, I'm losing an opportunity!

Taehyung hurried down the hallway, in a somewhat desperate bid to catch up to Jennie.

His original plan was to call out to Jennie, but before he knew it, he was grabbing at her wrists from behind (in the stereotypical kdrama fashion)

She jolted, moving away from Taehyung.

I didn't it up, did I?

"Hey, uh j-Jennie?"

"Uh, yeah?" She answered as as called, although a little spooked.

"I-i uh, w-wanted to know i-if...

Are you free, on Friday?"

Taehyung froze: he was doing things before thinking properly, and was skeptical of whether he should be doing so.

"Uh, yeah, I guess", Jennie nodded, not thinking too much about the question.

"Ah, ok, cool...

Y-you now I was just thinking...

You...me...

Jimin...", Taehyung added, realising that Jennie didn't really know him, and it'd be weird for Jennie and him to be spending time alone.

"Oh, really? Where at?"

"I don't know...Jimin was thinking...say, a movie?"

Jimin, wasn't thinking that at all, Taehyung was pulling venues from thin air.

"Really? Why didn't he just ask me directly?"

I'm lying, aren't I?

"He might, but I'm asking in advance, just to...make sure".

"Ah, ok...

You know what...

Why not?"

Taehyung wanted to throw his arms up in victory, as if he were a man who'd bet on the winning horse.

"Ok! Cool...

It's a d-

It's gonna be a great day".