Save the Princess
The Outcast Club
I Need U - BTS
-----------------------
A couple of days passed by, and in Yura’s eyes, the hallways of Hanyang High had gotten infuriatingly noisier, as if someone had maxed out the volume levels in the school.
Gossip and excited chatter had filled the school, and in exasperation, Yura decided to skip gym class for the day and take refuge at her personal haven – the bench underneath the oak tree at the back of the school.
It had been a while since she had been there, and she was surprised at how much she had and had not really missed being alone. She spent most of her time in the HFC Clubroom, and the other members usually occupied her time.
Usually, J-Hope would be rambling on and on about some television show he watched last night, while V would try to spoil it all by gesturing out the good parts before J-Hope could even get to them. Jimin would darkly mutter about how much he detested that bully that picked on him, Min Doyoon, from their music class, and Suga would help him verbally tear Doyoon to shreds in his snarky, sassy tone of voice.
Of course, Haera and Jungkook would be attached to her like leeches, bickering against each other for her attention. The only quieter ones would be Rapmon and Jin.
Yura found herself smiling in amusement as she enjoyed the warm breeze. There definitely wasn’t a dull moment with them around. It was odd that she found the silence odd. It was even more odd that she was a tad uncomfortable with the quietness.
Perhaps they were growing on her.
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
Haera’s voice tore through her inner thoughts as Yura’s head snapped up. The smile from her face slowly disappeared as she narrowed her eyes in the distance. Just a few ways away from her stood Haera and an unknown girl.
“I don’t know. They just told me to give you this.” The girl handed her an envelope, and Haera curled her hair behind her ear before opening it in expectance.
Warily, Yura crept closer to them, still hidden. She didn’t recognize the other girl at all.
“Wait, this is an…”
“It’s an invitation for the Eleven party.”
“The Eleven party?” Haera blinked in astonishment. “As in, the party that everyone’s been talking about? The party that one of the popular kids randomly decides to host at their house every year? That party?”
“Yeah,” the girl glanced at her nails in boredom. “We’re in the same class, so one of my friends asked me to give it to you. You should already know that the Eleven party is strictly limited, invitations only. Consider yourself lucky.” she managed to say this without being rude.
“I know, I just… I’ve never been invited to one of these parties before!” Yura could already tell that Haera’s eyes were twinkling with that pure innocence that was both despicable and yet, hard to hate.
“Yeah, same. I was invited, too,” the girl replied.
“Do you know who’s hosting it this year?” Haera asked curiously.
“Nope, but I heard it’s going to be awesome. The mysterious host supposedly has a pool, dance floor, and owns a three-story mansion. It’s going to be sick. Anyways, I’m leaving. See you tonight.” She quickly left.
“O-Okay, bye!” Haera hastily said, and when the coast was clear, Yura stepped out behind the bushes.
“Hey.”
Haera jolted and spun around at the taller female with a stupefied look before breaking out into her sweet grin, “Yura!” Proudly, she held out her invitation to her, “Look, look! I was invited to the Eleven party!”
“I know. I heard. And I came to tell you not to go to that party.” Yura stared straight into her eyes. Haera blinked slowly, as if not understanding her words. “H-Huh? W-Why not?”
“Something’s fishy. Whoever the popular host is, they shouldn’t be handing out freebies to random people. Especially not stupid party invitations,” she simply replied.
“S-Stupid…” Haera’s eyebrows creased even further. “…You think that my invitation is a ‘freebie’? I’m a ‘random person’?”
Yura didn’t understand why she was so miffed. “Well… yeah. You’re not part of the ‘popular’ circle of friends, and most of them probably don’t even know you exist. They only know you as the ‘girl from the Outcast Club,’ so why else would they invite you to their party?”
Haera stepped back underneath Yura’s stare. A twinge of anger hit the pit of her stomach, and hurt masked her face, “Yura… is that how you say things to other people?”
“What?” Now she was confused.
“Calling them ‘nobodies' and ‘random people’… And calling our club ‘the Outcast Club’ like the rest of them… Are those right ways to address someone?” Haera started to visibly grow heated.
“I still don’t understand why you’re getting mad. I’m just stating the truth.”
“But you don’t have to say it in that way!” she refuted.
Yura finally snapped, beyond irritated. “Listen, princess, everyone might sugar-coat things for you and treat you well when you’re there, but as soon as you turn your prim little back on them, those same people will curse you endlessly. You might hang onto me in desperation and ask for endless attention, but I’m not a person who will cater to your every need and your head after everything you do. Don’t expect me to be.”
“I thought… I thought we were friends, Yura,” Haera’s bangs covered her face as she balled up her fists. “…But I guess in your eyes, I’m just a ‘desperate attention-seeker,’ too.”
Yura blinked and couldn’t say anything, when all of a sudden, Haera raised her head to glare at her in humiliation. Tears welled up in her eyes as she bit her lip hard.
“That’s not…” Yura broke down at the sight of her tears and sighed wearily, “…I just wanted to warn you.”
“Yeah. Thanks for the warning.” Haera muttered darkly before turning around and ambiguously leaving Yura in the dust, unable to do anything else.
*
With an annoyed frown, Yura swung her backpack on an empty bus seat after school and plunked down. Yoomi had been sick today, so she had to take the bus back home. The whole day, she had been thinking about the confrontation that happened between the two of them. It just wouldn’t leave her mind.
I was doing her a favour. Yura shoved her earphones into her ears in exasperation before blasting her music. A muffled rock tune filled her eardrums. Why was she so upset? I didn’t say anything wrong.
“Whatever,” she grumbled to herself. If she gets herself into trouble, I hope she doesn’t expect me to get her out. I already gave her my warning.
Yura leaned back into her seat, remembering that Ken was picking up Shinbi today, and was about to close her eyes to sleep for the bus ride, when she saw a smaller, familiar figure near the entrance of the school.
She slowly straightened up to see someone who faintly looked like Haera hop into a car teeming with girls – girls that she vaguely recognized as part of the ‘popular’ crew. Before she knew it, the car sped off with Haera in tow.
The bus began moving, pulling Yura farther and farther away from the school.
Yura’s heart started to beat and she cussed loudly, earning a few offended glares from other passengers. She didn’t care at that moment. Something was going on and Haera was definitely on her way to that party. The sun was slowly beginning to set and a uncertain feeling was spreading through Yura’s gut.
Something was definitely wrong here, and she needed to contact someone fast.
Who’s the closest to her again? Namjoon? Yoongi? Yura tried to think. She was sure Suga wouldn’t be able to do much to bring her back in his condition, and although it might have sounded harsh, Rapmon would have been a better bet to chase after her without the need for a wheelchair.
A lightbulb went off in her head as she recalled that Jungkook had given her the paper of contact info for all the HFC members last time. She felt relieved as she dug through her skirt pockets, but felt nothing. She was sure she had put it in there…
Damn it! I left it in my other skirt at home! Yura cursed doing the laundry for the error in her uniform skirt and lost all hope. How do I contact them? They all left early today…
Aimlessly, Yura scrolled through her contacts list for something, anything, until one single name stood out from all the rest:
Jeon Jungkook.
“Mine’s the only one missing from the paper,” he had said. “Why put it on the paper when I can make sure it’s put into your phone myself? You never know when you might need it.”
Thank the Heavens for his grossly inflated ego, Yura silently thought and clicked the calling icon next to his name. Instantly, his photo – the one he set as her caller ID – popped up on the screen, and Yura tried to stop herself from shaking her head with an eye-roll. She failed.
In no less than two rings, Jungkook swiftly picked up the phone, “Well look who it is. Finally putting pride aside and calling me first, huh? I’ll have you know—”
“Listen, now’s not the time for fun and games. I just saw Haera get into a car with a few of the popular kids. She was invited to that party that everyone’s been so annoyingly talking about and she’s going there as we speak.”
“What?! The Eleven party?”
“You know what I mean. But I have a bad feeling about this, and my gut feeling is never wrong. I tried to convince her not to go, but…” Yura slowly blinked and recalled their argument before.
I said I ‘convinced her’, but was I really doing that? Or was I just… bashing her for not being popular?
“Yura? Yura!” Jungkook’s voice was loud and clear on the other line.
“W-What?”
“Traffic’s terrible here, but do you want to meet me someplace so we can go to the party and look for her together?”
Yura shook her head stubbornly, “It’s okay. I’ll head there first. I think I can get there in maybe 25 minutes. Come as soon as you can, for moral support.”
“Moral support?” Yura could almost see Jungkook raising a dark eyebrow. “Not for protection?”
“Please. I think I can handle them myself.” Yura snorted.
“Gotta hand it to you, for a tiny girl, you’re either extremely courageous or extremely crazy. Wait for me. I think the place is located… hold on a second… oh, I got it. It's a house party. I’ll text you the address.”
“What the… How did you even know the location?”
“I’ve got my ways. I'm infamous, remember?” he smirked, and Yura’s phone dinged with a new message. The address popped up on her screen. “Yeah, yeah, sure,” she muttered. “Call Haera repeatedly if you can. Try to get a hold of her, and if you do, call me.”
“No problem. Remember. Meet me off to the side of the mansion. Do not go inside. I’ll be there in about half an hour, so stay until I call you.” Jungkook warned.
“Sure, sure, just hurry up and get over here,” with a swift click of a button, the call ended, and Jungkook’s photo disappeared from her screen.
Yura stared at Jungkook’s contact info for a second longer before shutting off her home screen. She scooped up her backpack in one fluid motion and shoved her phone in her pocket, out of sight, before hitting the button on the bus to get off.
‘Wait for me’? Nice try, Jeon Jungkook, but I don't think so.
_______________________
Oh my goodness.
First of all, I'd like to give a big thank you and send a virtual hug to all the readers that have continued to wait patiently and diligently for my updates. It's been a long time since I've been able to update and I feel so bad for not being able to update in a while!
With birthday plans, BTS' comeback ON my birthday (whoop whoop), and work actually being dumped on me DURING the birthday week (I know, it D:), I've been so overworked and stressed that I've hardly had time to breathe! Whatever time I had, I tried to rest up, enjoy myself, and write a little bit of TOC in chunks at a time.
I've literally rewritten this chapter 5 times all with different scenarios and it was really difficult to get it the way I wanted... ^^;; but I think I'm satisfied with how it turned out!
Anyways, I don't want this to turn into a whole excuse list, but please know that I do feel bad about the lack of updates and I was really exhausted - emotionally and physically - during that time. I hope you guys all understand and will continue to support! :)
Although I'm not 100% sure when my next update will be, I'm positive that I'm not dropping this story, don't worry! (I will finish this! >:D)
Oh, and thank you all so much to all those who sent birthday wishes on my AFF wall and Twitter page on April 28th! I'm so grateful to all of you and read every lovely comment! <3
Until the next update, stay healthy, safe, happy, and hope you all have an amazing week! ^^
-muzikmaster.
[The Outcast Club] Well damn guys, I just updated. I kept you all waiting, didn't I? Hope you guys enjoy, and I'll be working on some more updates soon!
Comments