Friday, 31^st October 2014

Yoongi woke up, looking around the somewhat illuminated room groggily. It was morning, surely, but it still seemed dark outside, making him wonder whether he’d woken up earlier than he ever did.

He unlocked his phone, its light shining across the room as it reflected off of every surface it could reach. He squinted his eyes, looking at the top of the screen. 5:30 AM. Despite being surprised, he couldn’t help but grin. He wasn’t late, for once.

He looked to his right, and froze immediately. What was Junghwa doing here?

He then remembered what had happened last night, and let out a relieved sigh. She fell asleep, and Yoongi had no choice but to let her stay over.

He slowly smiled as he looked at her face, which looked content, relaxed and carefree. Junghwa usually seemed very tired every time they went over to each other’s places, though she would never admit to being so. For him, it was a strange comfort to see her so… stress-free for once.

His hand, which was already placed on her head, began to her hair gently, making intricate knots in them with his fingers.

It was inexplicable. Yoongi couldn’t quite put his finger on it as to why, but he had a sudden desire to protect the girl lying down next to him. After all she had done for him, whether it be intentional or accidental, he wanted to help her through the painful emotions that she endured, ever since her mother, and afterwards her father, had unfortunately passed away. He wanted to help her get through this. He knew the pain of losing a loved one.

He knew how much it hurt to not have someone beside you to get through it, before Namjoon and Taehyung, and the other four came along. But he never realised how much better he would feel about himself after accepting the past and working towards the present. It was all because of her.

He glanced down at her face, letting out a small chuckle as she snored gently, slightly open.

Yoongi blinked. For the first time in the two months that he’d gotten to know Junghwa, he realised that she was strangely… pretty. He blinked again. How could he have never noticed this before?

He looked at her again, noticing how her hair fell across her closed eyes, how her nose was pointed, and at the same time, curved, how her lips formed a small pout as she stirred in her sleep. She really was pretty-

Wait… what? Why am I even looking at her like this?!

Yoongi began to blush as he realised that he’d been staring at her for god knows how long. He carefully prised his arm aside, and slowly lifted her arm from around his waist, before sitting up on the edge of the bed, letting out a shaky sigh.

Jungkook unlocked his phone. 5:45 AM.

He was about to scroll through his messages when he remembered that Junghwa was still over at Yoongi’s. He rolled his eyes, before letting out a resigned sigh. He quickly opened his WhatsApp chat with Taehyung, and sat up immediately as he rapidly typed into the message box.

Jungkook: dude, Junghwa was over at Min’s last night >.>
Taehyung: seriously…?
Jungkook: lol yeah
it’s not that I mind them going out but
Taehyung: then what’s up?
Jungkook: it’s complicated… I really can’t explain it, but I just- forget it.
Taehyung: no, tell me
Jungkook: it’s nothing, never mind.
Taehyung: Jungkook -_-
Jungkook: I don’t think she’s ready for anything at the moment
like there’s something I need to be sure of
Taehyung: you’re not going to tell me, are you?
Jungkook: it’s kinda private so I really can’t
only time will tell, I guess

Yoongi walked back into his room after changing into his uniform. He immediately pulled a jacket on; it was beginning to get colder as the days passed. Winter was inevitable, and it was approaching fast.

He sat down on his chair, taking his bag which hung on the edge of his bed. Ripping the zip open, he felt a sudden rush of panic surge through him.
He slowly took out his black jersey, which had the school’s initials written across the front and number fifteen written on the back, along with ‘Min’ written above it. The jersey number was written in white, but had single yellow stripes down the sides, as well as at the sleeves and neck. He took out a pair of shorts, which had a single yellow stripe running down the left side, while the letters ‘SAHS’ were written on the right.

He exhaled heavily. He hadn’t played a proper basketball game in three years, and he couldn’t deny that he was panicking at the moment. How was he going to do this?

He looked at his clock. 6:00 AM. He sighed, putting the thought out of his mind as he turned to face Junghwa.

“Yah.” He tapped her shoulder gently. Junghwa mumbled indistinctly, but didn’t budge.

“Yaaaaaah~!” He whined, now grabbing her shoulder as he gently shook her back and forth. Junghwa let out a series of profanities, before opening her eyes, her face screwed up in irritation.

“What is it?” She grumbled.
“Wake up. It’s six.”
“Ah, Yoongi~ why are you here?” She moaned, hiding her face into her pillow.
“More like why are you here?! This is my flat, or did you forget that you conveniently fell asleep?” Yoongi rolled his eyes. “Get up! Get ready, we have to get to school early, we have cleaning duty today!”
“, I slept over?!” Junghwa sat up, blinking rapidly.
“Yeah, you did.” Yoongi slowly smirked, ruffling her already messy hair. Junghwa smacked his hand away, before jumping off the bed.

“I’ll come over in ten, okay?” She nodded, running out of the room as fast as her legs could carry her. Yoongi eyes followed her as she dashed out, his bewildered expression turning into one of bemusement as he heard the front door slam shut. Shaking his head, he grabbed his backpack and his sports kit before walking out of his room.

He looked to his left, and noticed that the door to his ‘memory’ room was open – and for some reason, Yoongi didn’t feel sad about that anymore. He let out a breathe chuckle as he walked to the door, and peeked inside the room.

As he walked in, he was overcome by the memories of his middle school life, how he had ended up showing Junghwa this room when he hadn’t even shown his own sister, how his friends discovered his long-kept secret and, in turn, discovered him.

“You guys aren’t dead yet. You’re alive in here.”

His hand unconditionally went up to his chest, as he wistfully smiled. He grinned, almost as if he was saying goodbye, but only for the moment, as he closed the door. Out of habit, his fingers moved towards the key, but stopped himself from turning it. He looked down at his hand, which shook slightly as he contemplated about his forthcoming actions.

He smiled again as he let his hand drop, walking away from the door that remained unlocked.

Taehyung was lying on his bed. He had been staring at his ceiling for quite a while now, and had slowly lost the track of time. Ever since he talked to Jungkook a while ago, he found it hard to keep the conversation, and what everyone else had said the previous night, out of his mind. In fact, there was something that had been bothering him for the last few days. He had an idea as to what it was – but strongly refused to accept that possibility. He didn’t know of the consequences that would follow should he accept it. 

But no matter how much his brain tried to put it out of his mind, it kept gnawing at his thoughts like a computer virus that couldn’t be exterminated no matter what you did. He hated it – and yet, his heart burned to accept it.

He thought of the conversation again, before letting out a frustrated growl.

Taehyung tugged at his school tie uncomfortably. He should get going, he couldn’t ditch May when they had cleaning duty that morning.
He closed his eyes briefly, before glancing at the clock placed upon his bedside table. 6:15 PM.

“You’re five minutes late.”

Yoongi smirked as Junghwa slinked back into the apartment. She rolled her eyes at him before grabbing the pork bun that suspended from his mouth in a dangerous equilibrium. Yoongi arched his eyebrows as she put the bun into , giving him a cheeky grin.

“That happens to be my breakfast, Jeon Junghwa.” Yoongi snatched it back from her, biting into it as they walked outside his apartment.
“Well, now it’s ours, Min Yoongi.” Junghwa snatched it back from his hand.
“You’re lucky I’m kind enough to share.” Yoongi rolled his eyes as she bit into it again. He quickly locked the door to his flat, before tucking away his keys in his pocket.

“Oh, very lucky.” Junghwa nudged him, giving him another mischievous grin. The pair dashed down the stairs, due to their elevator unfortunately not working again.

“Good exercise for you!” Junghwa laughed as they rushed out of the building. “Now you’re more than prepared for today’s match.”
“Shut up, how high are you?!” Yoongi chuckled.
“I’m so goddamn high!” She shouted, grinning at him broadly.
“What the , how are you so hyper in the morning…” Yoongi rolled his eyes. “Did you pop acid or something?”
“Yeah, and I can see three of you.” Junghwa gasped. “Duuuuuude, you’re like a hybrid being, so colourful!”
“Get away!” Yoongi shouted as Junghwa playfully smothered her hands across his face.

“Geez, drugs are bad for you, you know?” She snickered.
“Okay, I get it, now get off my face, Taehyung’s looking at us funny.”

Junghwa backed away from Yoongi, looking at Taehyung with a sheepish smile.

“Hey Tae!” She grinned. Taehyung blinked momentarily, before hesitantly smiling back.
“Hey.” He nodded. “You’re awfully chipper, for 6:20 AM.”
“Sorry! I’m excited ‘cause it’s Yoongi’s first match today!” Junghwa grinned.
“Oh, yeah!” Taehyung grinned. “Good luck, man! Hope you do well today.”
“I hope so.” Yoongi smiled sheepishly. “How come you’re up so early?”
“Cleaning duty.” Taehyung sighed, as he fell into step with Junghwa and Yoongi. “What about you both?”
“Yeah, we’ve got cleaning duty too.” Yoongi shrugged.
“You always do everything together!” 

Taehyung couldn’t hold back the question that had sprung up to his tongue. His voice had shown a tinge of irritation, which made Yoongi look at him incredulously, but Junghwa merely shrugged it off, giving him a slow smile. 

"That's 'cause Miss Joo always puts desk partners together for cleaning duty." She pouted. "But I'd much rather have you as a partner, Taehyung, Yoongi never does anything!"
"Because he's the laziest piece of to walk this planet." Taehyung snickered, looking at Yoongi with a devious smirk. 
"Hey, quit ganging up against me." Yoongi pouted at them. 
"Hey, you all gang up against the me and call me the dumb blonde of the group, and that's okay?" Taehyung shot back.
"He got you there." Junghwa laughed, before giving Taehyung a high-five. Yoongi looked at the exchange suspiciously, puzzled as to why Taehyung was suddenly kissing up to her. However, he decided to put it at the back of his mind, as he slowed his pace, so that he was behind them by a few steps. After they reached the bus stop, he looked at his watch. 6:25 AM. They still had five minutes left. 

Silence engulfed the three friends as they waited for bus 55501 to come.

"Hey, Jimin and Hoseok aren't coming to school today." Taehyung spoke up after the silence got to him. 
"Ah, they have this choreography to practice for an underground competition." Junghwa looked at him. "Jungkook's not coming either, otherwise he'd be here instead of you."
"Ah, he's crazy, I swear." Taehyung shook his head.
"Tae, you have no clue... anyway, Seokjin's coming in today but he's got some stuff to organize so he won't be there for lunch either. So it'll be just me, Namjoon, you and Yoongi." Junghwa glanced at Yoongi uncertainly, raising her eyebrows in a questioning manner. "You will be there, right?"
"Doesn't he have the match?" 

Taehyung looked at Yoongi curiously. Yoongi, who had opened his mouth to speak, abruptly sealed his lips, as he looked at Taehyung again. There was definitely something amiss about the way Taehyung was behaving. 

Curious as to why Taehyung might be like this, he swallowed his words, as he nodded, smiling wistfully. 

"I have to leave early with Namjoon. The match starts at 1:45, we're going to need to get some practice before that."
"Aw, alright." Junghwa smiled sadly. "So I guess it's just me and Tae, then."
"You sure you can't go later?" Taehyung looked at Yoongi pitifully, but Yoongi could see that Taehyung was ecstatic at having Junghwa's company for himself during lunch. He shook his head, and looked away as the bus came. 

"Yoongi-?! What the -"

Namjoon, who was walking behind Taehyung and Junghwa, let out an angry growl as Yoongi pulled him away from them. Taehyung looked back at them, arching his eyebrows. 
"Guys-?"
"Namjoon, you idiot, we have extra practice." Yoongi smiled forcefully as he held onto . "Remember? Let's go!"
"What the - we do?" Namjoon looked down at his hand, trying to pull it away as he glared at Yoongi angrily. "No, you idiot, we never practice before matches-"
"Namjoon, this is what happens when you don't listen to Daehyun during practice." Yoongi rolled his eyes, before smiling again. "Come on, Joon, we can't be late."

Namjoon opened his mouth to protest; however Yoongi's grip on Namjoon's hand had become significantly tighter and he looked at Namjoon, showing no intention of letting go. Namjoon let out a resigned sigh, before smiling at Junghwa sadly. 

"I forgot about practice. Looks like I'm going to have to leave." He sighed. 
"Oh, that's too bad." Taehyung spoke up. "We'll just go on ahead then?"
"Yeah, yeah-" Namjoon waved him off, before fist-bumping him. "Peace!" 
"Good luck, you two." Junghwa grinned, holding her arms out. "C'mere."

Namjoon immediately walked into her arms, giving her a tight hug before patting her head, telling her to take care of Taehyung ("Yah! I'm not a kid!" Taehyung responded hotly.)

As Junghwa moved towards Yoongi, Namjoon noticed a change in Taehyung's expression. It wasn't very evident, but Namjoon knew him long enough to not miss out on that. As Yoongi pulled her into a long, tight hug, he noticed Taehyung's hands curl into tight fists as he disguised the anger on his face with an emotionless look. As soon as Junghwa let go of Yoongi, Taehyung's placid expression morphed into a small, relieved smile.

"Later, you two!" Junghwa grinned as she walked to the cafe with Taehyung. Namjoon's eyes followed them as they walked towards the cafeteria - Taehyung ruffled Junghwa's hair, an action that drew loud shouts of protest from the girl. He looked at Yoongi, arching his eyebrows. 

"What's with Taehyung? He's acting... weird." Namjoon mumbled. 
"Why do you think I lied about practice?" Yoongi muttered.
"It wasn't obvious... but he seemed pissed when you hugged Junghwa." 
"I noticed that..." Yoongi shrugged, before looking at Taehyung disappear into the cafeteria, his arm slung around Junghwa's shoulders. 

"I'm playing a hunch. And something tells me that I might be right." 

"Let's sit here?" Taehyung nodded at Junghwa as he placed his lunch tray atop one of the tables in the far corner of the cafeteria. Junghwa nodded as she put her tray next to his. As she was about to sit down, she let out a sudden gasp. 

"Ah, , I didn't take my Xanax..." Junghwa sighed. "Have any water?"
"Nope, but you can get some from the cooler outside." Taehyung smiled apologetically. 
"I'll be right back." She winked, before dashing out of the cafeteria. Taehyung sighed, waiting for a while before boredom hit him. Deciding to surf the internet until Junghwa got back, he looked into his bag for his phone. As his hands fell on something hard, he pulled it out, but it wasn't his phone. 

"Oh, , how'd this end up in my bag?" Taehyung arched his eyebrows as he looked at the red photobook his sister had given him. 

Almost immediately, it was pulled out of his hand, but it wasn't Junghwa. 

"This doesn't look like study material, Kim Taehyung." The student council member looked at Taehyung suspiciously as he held the red book in his hand. "Please don't tell me this is something like a burn book." 
"Yah, Seowoo!" Taehyung looked at him in shock. "It's private!" 
Seowoo looked at the front page curiously. It was blank, so it didn't give anything away, but if he opened it, Taehyung was done for.
"What is this, anyway?"
"I believe he said it's private."

Junghwa arched her eyebrows as she snatched the book out of Seowoo's hand. Seowoo looked down at Junghwa with surprise, before his face contorted with anger. 

"Give that in, Junghwa." He growled. "Or else I can put you in detention." 
"Oh yeah? For a student council member, you're pathetic." Junghwa scoffed, before, to both of their surprises, standing up on a chair. The whole cafeteria fell quiet as everyone diverted their attention towards her. 

"Seowoo here," She pointed her finger at the boy, before speaking again. "He thinks that this book here is a burn book and that it belongs to Taehyung. While Taehyung can be a total diva at times, he's not Regina George to keep a burn book with a list of the people he hates." 

People who understood the reference began to chortle loudly, amused by the situation in front of them. 

"I can assure you that this is mine and that it's not a burn book." Junghwa smirked. "But it's nice to know that Seowoo likes to catch up on chick flicks like the Mean Girls, don't you think?"

Everyone in the room let out gasps, while some of them said 'Oooh~' as they watched the student council member being dissed by the girl. As she stepped down from her chair, he glared at her, his cheeks red with embarrassment. 

"I know you've got something against Taehyung." She poked her finger into his chest, her smirk turning into a fierce glare. "Now while that's none of my business, it is my business when my friend's in deep . I know you probably thought that you could get away with it because the other guys aren't here. Well, you really underestimated me, didn't you? Now off, before I degrade you more than you already deserve."

Seowoo gave her a defeated look, before he slinked away amidst everyone's chuckles. Junghwa sat back down at the table, grinning broadly. 

"Thank you for the save." Taehyung smiled gratefully. 
"You're welcome." She smiled, tucking the book away into her bag. "I'll give this back to you after we leave. And don't worry, I won't look at it."
"I wouldn't mind it if you did." He shrugged. "I trust you enough to show it to you anyway."

Junghwa looked at him in surprise, before her lips curved into a wide smile. 

Taehyung blinked, as he felt a strange feeling in his chest... a strange but good feeling. He looked at Junghwa again, the way her wavy hair fell across her one of her eyes as she looked up, and he found it amusing when her lips became smaller as she pouted. Her nose was pointed and at the same time, curved; in a funny way, it made her look cute. He couldn't bring himself to look away from her eyes, and he was so mesmerised by her that he even forgot to breathe at times. 

He knew what it was about her that affected him so much... but he didn't know what had taken him so long to come to terms with it himself. 

But now he came to terms with it, and he was so sure of why she affected him so much, why he couldn't stop thinking about her for every living minute of his life for the past few days. 

Taehyung liked Junghwa.