CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

 

‘Friends’ isn’t really the word that can describe the relationship between Soojung’s childhood friends and the Ehra High students. Mainly because they still do hate each other, and nobody from their respective schools really know that they’re meeting after school. After all, they’re all doing this for Soojung.

 

Maybe they could be called as ‘partners in crime’, but they’re still rivals. That’s what they say. Even though have been spending afternoons together stalking Soojung in either outside her brother’s house or at a restaurant where the Jung siblings would usually meet.

 

But would you even imagine the arrogant and flashy heirs going inside a tiny and plain-looking ramen shop? That’s what the Ehra High kids have managed to do – invite them for a meal to talk in one of Soojung favourite restaurant. As soon as Jackson mentioned that it was her favourite, Jongin immediately forces his friends to come with him.

 

Uncomfortable and not used to the tiny space, Chanyeol, Jinri and Jongin sat beside one another opposite Mark, Jackson and Youngji while Sehun sat in between the two groups. Much to his friends’ surprise, Jongin didn’t hesitate to eat the cheap noodles in comparison to Sehun who just span it around pretending to eat and Jinri insisting that she was full, despite her boyfriend accidentally telling everyone that her stomach grumble before coming there.

 

After looking around, Jongin realizes that Taehyung wasn’t there. “Where’s the orange headed idiot?”

 

“He has another part time, so he won’t be coming.” Mark explains and the heirs’ mouth immediately becomes an ‘o’ shape after finding out that he has more than one job.

 

“Did you saw their faces? They’re so shocked that we have a lot more work!” Jackson laughs.

 

“Anyways, we’re here to tell you guys that we can’t meet up with you guys next week because of exam week.” Youngji explains while her two boy best friends nod along. “Well, I am going to study. I’m not sure about these two.”

 

“. We have exams next week as well, don’t we?” Chanyeol suddenly freaks out, forgetting that they also had exams but he hasn’t studied anything yet. “I’m doomed.”

 

“Aye, it’s not like you’re going to study.” Sehun teased, earning a smack from the taller boy. He himself doesn’t study either.

 

“Our exams will end on Friday, and I suppose yours as well? How about we all meet up on that day?” Jinri suggest and everyone agrees. “Okay, it’s a deal then. We’ll text you where Soojung will be on Friday.”

 

So far they have found out that she met up with Lee Donghae together with his brother, and she has been going to Jaejoong’s house a lot for some reason. She was with her sister once, and she also went to their family’s company but they didn’t actually enter the building since they have more chance on getting caught there.

 

“In conclusion, Soojung has been spending time with her family… and that Lee Donghae guy.” Mark states.

 

“Okay, you guys have already told us that he’s the child of a former employee of the Jungs, but I still don’t get it. Why are they meeting up?” Jackson asked confusedly. He remembers that when he and Mark went to the Jungs mansion, Youngji was really worried that her family would catch them there even if they explain that they were Soojung’s friends. “If Lee Donghae’s just an ordinary guy like us, why are the siblings meeting up with him? I mean, I could believe that Soojung’s friends with him, but I’m not sure about her sister.”

 

“Yeah, she’s super scary!” Mark agrees. “I don’t think she’s the type to be friendly with people like us.”

 

“Donghae oppa’s really close with the Jung siblings…” Since Jinri and Jongin were the only ones who were suspicious about Jessica’s real relationship with her husband and Donghae, she wasn’t sure what to say. She looks over to Jongin to ask for help, but he doesn’t say anything. “…especially with Jessica unnie.”

 

“Oh my gosh! When you mentioned the Jung siblings, I suddenly remembered something!” Youngji suddenly screams, making the whole group surprised. She then turns to Jongin and asks, “Remember last Sunday when Soojung stayed over the night at your apartment and-”

 

Jackson cuts her off in shock from what he heard. “Hold up, you’ve slept with Soojung?”

 

“Ha! He wishes he could.” They hear Sehun chuckle.

 

Jongin just pretends not to hear what he said, but he slightly blushes red. “Yeah, and you told her to go home immediately the next day. What about it?”

 

“Well, I would have not said that if only her siblings weren’t fighting.”

 

“Fighting?” Everybody says in union. “Why did they fight?”

 

“I didn’t really catch that. When Soojung arrived, she told us that we can have a day off so most of my co-workers left. I was about to follow her upstairs when… When Sehun called me.”

 

Now everybody’s eyes were on Sehun.

 

“I called you? Oh! Yes, I did! Because of our date!”

 

“You had a date with this guy?” Marks asks. The disgust in his tone was evident as he frowned.

 

“You told us that you’re not really dating him!” Jackson exclaims angrily.

 

“It wasn’t!” Youngji insists. “I mean, if you call ‘vomiting around the park’ and ‘walking like a zombie’ a date, then it was a really bad date.”

 

Jinri, remembering that he always for vomiting on her first date with Chanyeol, raises an eyebrow and judges him while her boyfriend sat beside her, laughing his off. “I guess we’re the same, eh?”

 

“What? I had a really bad hangover.”

 

Sehun continued to defend himself from the judgemental remarks coming from everyone. He wasn’t actually embarrassed by it, explaining that it’s normal to most people to vomit when they’ve drunk a lot. But as everyone continued to about it, Jongin thought of the possible reason why Jaejoong and Jessica could have fought. He knew how serious the two were unlike the youngest Soojung would usually pick up a fight with him, so the reason must be really big.

 

He couldn’t point out the reason why, but he knows some people who could tell him.

 

“Guys, let’s go to Luhan hyung’s house.”

 

 

“Wait, what happened to my little Soojung?” Yoona asked with a worried tone.

 

And with that, their hope of finding out what happened shutters. If neither Luhan nor Yoona knows, nobody in their group will ever know because they’re pretty sure as hell if they asked Jaejoong he won’t tell them. The room was filled with sigh as the couple exchanged looked worriedly.

 

“The last time I saw her was before Jongin’s birthday. She told me to teach her how to bake properly. Did something happen after that?” Yoona looks over to Jongin, wondering if he did something to her.

 

To defend himself, he raises both of his hands. “I didn’t do anything this time.”

 

“It’s not that she’s ignoring us, but she’s acting quite strange to everyone.” Chanyeol answers. “We think that it has something to do with her family so we went here.”

 

“Hmm, I just saw Jessica unnie two days ago at a mall and everything seemed fine.”

 

“Did she say something about Soojung?”

 

“No, not really. She just… looked a little different, and she told me that she has been sick for these past weeks.”

 

“Maybe that’s it? Jessica noona is sick, and Soojung’s obviously worried. We all know how much Soojung loves her sister. She probably can’t stop thinking about her sister even at school.” Luhan suggests, clasping his hands together as he spoke. But still, Jongin wasn’t convinced.

 

Sure they have talked about the Jungs, but what has Donghae has to do with all this? Why did Jaejoong and Soojung meet up with him without Jessica? Even though he doesn’t it to be true, his thoughts about Jessica and Donghae actually getting together won’t leave his mind.

 

 

On Monday night, Jongin was scheduled to have dinner with his mother together with the Jungs to talk about the wedding. Because of obvious reasons, he was looking forward to it, hoping that he could finally understand what was happening to Soojung.

 

Dressed up in a white dress, Soojung arrived at the Italian restaurant together with her mother, just minutes after Jongin and his own mother arrived. Her mother was all smiles, but she wasn’t. Sure she did smile when she bowed to his mother, but quickly after that her smile fades away, Jongin noticed.

 

He didn’t originally plan to be super quiet, but seeing how silent Soojung was throughout the dinner just confirms how bad she was feeling these days. It made him quiet as well, apart from eating he didn’t do anything else aside from looking at her. What Luhan suggested about her sister being sick suddenly popped out from his mind.

 

“August would be a great month to hold it, don’t you think?”

 

“If the wedding is going to happen on summer, wouldn’t it be a great idea to have a beach wedding?”

 

“I think that would be wonderful, mother.” Jongin smiles at his mother, and then turns to Soojung, who was in her own world, looking down to her soup. “What do you think, Soojung?”

 

With the sudden mention of her name, Soojung looks up to see everyone looking back to her. She didn’t really catch what Jongin had asked her, so she just awkwardly nods. “Uhm, yeah… Yes.” Because she wasn’t paying attention, Mrs. Jung looks at Soojung. She wasn’t glaring but the look she was giving her was stern and scary. Jongin thought that Soojung isn’t going to have a great night after this.

 

“By the way,” His mother suddenly spoke to him, making Jongin looking at her. “Soojung’s mother and I have talked about this before. You two are going to are going to have a pre-wedding photoshoot on Saturday. Don’t forget that, okay?”

 

Jongin just nods, looking back to Soojung. He hears her mother say something about her sister, and he noticed her bitting her lip. She catches him looking at her, but quickly looks away.

 

 

“Do you want me to pick you up on Saturday?”

 

Turning around, Soojung sees her fiancé walking towards her with hands on his pocket. She was currently waiting for her mother to come out of the bathroom when he approached her.

 

“That’s a nice offer, but no. Thank you anyways.” She bows.

 

Sighing quietly, he couldn’t take the fact that she was like this. The normal Soojung didn’t bow at him, nor did she have a poker face when she’s with her parents. She would insult him and push him when they were alone. Not like this, standing beside him awkwardly, secretly hoping that she was already at home.

 

“Listen, Soojung. You know that I’m always here right beside you, right? I will listen to every problem that you have.”

 

“Huh?” Confused, she raises an eyebrow.

 

“You’re having a hard time right now. Aren’t you?” Her expression immediately changes. “Why can’t you tell me?”

 

“Because it’s not my problem. I want to tell you, but it’s not for me to tell.” Soojung thought to herself, looking away from him. Why does she feel like crying now? “There’s nothing to tell you, Jongin. There’s nothing wrong. I’m simply just… Just tired.”

 

“Then it’s not about your sister?”

 

With the mention of her sister, Soojung’s eyes immediately widen. He can’t possibly know what happen to her, can he? The way that she reacted, he can affirm that there was something going on to Jessica and it’s the reason why she’s so distressed.

 

“There’s nothing to hide-”

 

“This is none of your business Jongin!” She says, a little too loud that it sounded like she was mad when in reality she was just scared. She trust Jongin and all, but still. This was her sister’s secret they were talking about. She was too focused on him she didn’t notice her mother already there. “You don’t have to interfere with it-”

 

“Jung Soojung! What’s happening here?” Her mother finally spoke, frowning. She had misinterpreted the scene thinking that the two were fighting. Both were shocked, but Soojung looked like she was about to cry soon.

 

 

The whole car ride back to the Jungs’ mansion consisted of Mrs. Jung constant scolding to Soojung for ‘acting rude’ towards the dinner. She just pretended to listen, not letting it get to her heart because she knows that if she do, she might just start bursting out in tears.

 

So that’s why as soon as the driver parked their car in their driveway, she hurriedly rushed inside the mansion to avoid hearing another word from her mother. That was until she accidentally bumps into her sister, who she supposes has also recently arrived home…

 

“Oh, what happened to you-”

 

“I am not done talking to you, Jung Soojung.” Their mother’s voice echoes once the servants opened the huge doors for her. She didn’t look very happy. “Did I tell you to go?”

 

“What’s wrong mother?” Jessica asks rather calmly.

 

While Mrs. Jung tells her older daughter how ‘rude’ her younger sister acted in front of the Kims, Soojung just looked down at the floor. Her mother explained how she never smiled in front of them and had even a bitter expression throughout the dinner. She even talked about how she fought with Jongin when it was just really a misunderstanding.

 

“I told you, we didn’t fight. We were just discussing things.” Unable to contain it anymore, she finally speaks up, but still not looking at her eyes.

 

“Are you talking back to me?!” Her mother frowns. “I didn’t raise you like this growing up!”

 

“I didn’t even grow up with you mother, remember?”

 

And with that, Soojung mentally curses herself. She only meant to think of saying that, but after seeing how shocked both her mother and her sister looked, she realized that she might have said that out loud. The next second happened so fast, with her mother’s hand slapping hard to her cheek, leaving a red mark. She was instantly reminded of how Jessica slapped their brother. But in comparison to Jaejoong who was just dumbfounded, Soojung felt hot tears forming in her eyes.

 

“It upsets me that you’re not like your sister.” Mrs. Jung spat out. She eventually lets her run to her room just like how she wanted in the first place. 

 

“You didn’t have to do that, mother.” Jessica mumbles, sighing quietly.

 

 

Taehyung would be lying if he told himself that he’s not scared of cancelling a plan that he had with Namjoon. He has been missing a lot of football practices together with Jackson and Mark and has also been spending less time with his hyung. And according to Seokjin, their captain wasn’t very pleased.

 

Fortunately for him, he catches him outside just when he was about to enter the locker rooms to change. He wouldn’t want to ask him in front of his teammates where he could be embarrassed or get yelled at, knowing how he will react.

 

Meanwhile, at the other side of the school, Jongin successfully enters Ehra High without anyone seeing him or making a fuss. The fact that he got in again after a year proves that the security in that school was really, really ty. He wondered if he better tell Soojung that she should make a donation at the said school. After all, she had a lot of friends there.

 

What was Kim Jongin doing at the school that he hated the most, you ask?

 

Not to beat up anyone, surely.

 

And if he was to beat up someone, he would beat up his friends for making him come all the to this ‘crappy school of stupid kids’ just to inform Jackson, Mark, Youngji and Taehyung that their meeting up is cancelled in the last minute. Since he was the only one free, he was advised (more like, forced) by his lovely friends to go to the rivalry school to tell them that their plans are cancelled. Well, Jinri could have gone with him, her photo shoot was in 2 hours still, but the girl refused saying that she won’t dare step in their school grounds.

 

“Wait a minute, why the am I here if Oh Sehun has the red headed girl’s number? I mean, he is seeing her. I suppose he has her number?” He thought to himself, stopping on his tracks. “He could have call her himself!”

 

But instead of going out of the school grounds and backing up, he had decided to just continue with it and finish it for once. He was almost in their football field anyways, the boys were probably there. He could just tell them, and they could tell Youngji, wherever she is.

 

He takes another step further to see if the boys were actually there, but instead he sees Namjoon standing opposite his orange headed colleague, Taehyung. He immediately goes a step back to hide behind the wall to avoid being seen by him. It’s not that he’s scared of him, he just genuinely didn’t come here to piss him off, something that he surely thinks Namjoon will feel once he sees him.

 

Though he does sound angry already…

 

“B-but hyung, I promise you this won’t happen again. It’s just… Soojung is currently having a hard time and we need to help her-”

 

“Soojung this, Soojung that! If she has problems why do you and the others care so much?! We have a match soon and that’s what more important! Get it in your head!”

 

Jongin’s eyebrow immediately rises by what he just said. He bites tongue to prevent himself to say anything, but he swears if he says something again, he won’t be hesitating to go out there and confront him.

 

“Don’t be like this. She’s our friend, isn’t she? She needs us.”

 

“Oh please, I bet that is just pretending that she’s lonely for attention-”

 

That’s when Jongin looses it. How dare he speak about Soojung like that, when all she has given him was nothing but kindness? How dare he say that Soojung’s suffering because she wanted attention? He promised himself that he won’t cause any trouble that would upset Soojung, but he can’t control his angry feelings anymore.

 

Steppeing out to the field, Jongin made sure Namjoon sees him first before speaking, “Say that to my ing face, !”

 

When he does notices him, Namjoon laughs half-heartedly, unable to believe that his greatest rival was in his territory. Oh, how brave he must be to step in his school, when he knows that he could be surrounded by his enemies. “Why, isn’t this interesting? You should have told me that you’re coming. My friends haven’t arrived. They won’t see me finally getting my revenge on you.”

 

Stunned, Taehyung immediately runs towards him before he could take another step forward torwards Namjoon. “Are you stupid? What are you doing here?” But Jongin was too mad to even answer. He practically shoves poor Taehyung away out of anger when the only one he really wanted to hurt that moment was Namjoon.

 

“Hey, don’t be so rude to our guest. He came all the way here just to piss us off.” His captain says sarcastically, not even backing away when he approaches him.

 

“You don’t know how much Soojung like being with you people, and you think of her like this!” Jongin shouts angrily, grabbing the latter’s collar. “She treated you like everyone else! And yet you pretend like a different person in front of her!”

 

Namjoon smirks, unfazed by his words. “Why would you think I would treat your fiancé as equal, when she’s no different from you and your friends? A spoiled, arrogant, rich brat-”

 

“You ing bastard!” Furiously, Jongin raises his fist to punch him.

 

 

“If you two didn’t copy off me then we shouldn’t have been scolded at!”

 

“Oh come on, Seokjin! You know how bad we are at Korean Literature.”

 

“Yeah, and Youngji doesn’t let us copy anymore. We were almost caught the last time we did it.”

 

“Well, it doesn’t surprise me.” Seokjin stops walking to ask them for the nth, “I mean, what kind of person throws paper balls with the questions written on it? And you do it front of the freaking teacher! No wonder he caught us!”

 

“Ah, should we send you a paper plane then?”

 

“That’s a lot more obvious, Wang Jackson!”

 

Suddenly, Mark, Jackson and Seokjin’s argument stops as they saw Taehyung run fastly past them, looking very distressed. It was when they called his name when he stops. When he did, he was unable to speak properly as he was panting and collapsed on the floor.

 

“They… They’re fighting.” The younger boy says in between his breathe.

 

“Who’s fighting?”

 

Rather that explain who’s fighting who, Taehyun just said, “Kim Jongin’s here.”

 

And with that, they already understand what he meant.

 

 

When the boys arrived at the field, they see Jongin slowly trying to get up. His uniform was so dirty, he had a wound on his cheek, and his hair was all messed up. Before Namjoon could kick him again, Seokjin, being the only person who could usually stop him and his crazy tantrums, blocks him. Both Mark and Taehyung backs him down, while Jackson helped Jongin to get up.

 

At first, he refused to be helped. But he couldn’t stand at all. He finally was able to do so when Jackson did help him. 

 

“Now you know what it feels like, bastard!” Namjoon shouts. He was about to attack him again, if only his friends didn’t tighten their grip on his shoulders.

 

“You better not come close to Soojung ever again, ‘cause I swear to God I will ing finish you.” Jongin warns as he was getting dragged by Jackson somewhere further to the field.

 

“Jesus Christ, Kim Jongin! Are you really stupid? Why did you come here? You do know that we hate you.”

 

He hears Jackson’s continuous scolding and wondered how Soojung could manage being friends with him. Slowly, Jongin was feeling better and he thought that he could walk again. So when they were close to the school gates, he shoves Jackson away, making him fall into the ground. Confused on how rude he was acting when he just helped him, he looks up to see him frowning.

 

“You’re just like him, aren’t you?!” The heir questions.

 

“Him? Who are we talking about?”

 

“You know exactly who I’m talking about!”

 

“N-Namjoon?”

 

“I thought the reason why you people wanted to be friends with Soojung was for money, but I was wrong. You people are sicker than I thought, playing with her like that, pretending to be goody good shoes when in her back you’re just making a ridicule out of her-”

 

“Kim Jongin, what the do you mean?”

 

“Do me a favour. Leave Soojung alone and if you don’t, you won’t like what will happen.” Jongin says firmly, making Jackson a lot more confused.

 

But he didn’t stop him when he started to walk with difficulty. He just stayed there, wondering what Namjoon has done to make him mad like that while some of his schoolmates whispered and just stared at Kim Jongin when he walked out of the gate.

 

 

“Kang Seulgi, can you hurry the up? If Soojung sees me like this-”

 

“Ha! I knew you force me into this because of her.” Seulgi smiles cheekily as soon as she heard her friend’s name. She has been helping (or should I say, has been obligated to help) him hide the wound Namjoon gave him yesterday with the help of makeup, but she herself was not a great user of makeup that’s why she was taking so long. “You know, up till this day, I cannot believe that you’re actually in love with her. It’s just-”

 

“Close your mouth and just continue what you’re doing please.”

 

“Uhm, excuse me? I was about to do my duties when you pulled me in your locker to force me to hide your stupid little wound by using makeup and you won’t even tell me how you got it-” Jongin rolls his eyes, regretting that he had shut her up. Instead of actually listening to the girl, his eyes spots Soojung walking behind her. When Soojung felt his eyes on her, she looks at him back and was about to bow as her sign of greeting, but then she notices his face…

 

“.” Jongin mumbles as he hid his face inside his opened locker.

 

“What now?” Seulgi asks, looking at the direction where he looked at. She then realizes that Soojung was about to go to where they were. “Ooohh. Well, I have to go now. Good luck, I guess.”

 

Soojung exclaims, her eyebrows knitted. “You told me that you won’t interfere with Ehra anymore.”

 

Jongin looks at her, surprised at how easily she guessed the reason for his scar. “Of course, you’d ask about them first. You really don’t give a about me, huh?” When she tried to look at it by touching his cheeks, he immediately removes her hands even though he really missed her touch.

 

“Please, Jongin. Don’t be like this. Tell me what happened.”

 

“What for? You won’t believe me anyways.” For the last time, he looks at her as he slammed his locker door close coldly, causing the people around them to stare at them. Sighing sadly, Soojung bit her lips and just watched him walk away.

 

 

Since she practically knows that Taeyong doesn’t want her around the rooftop, she had decided not to go there anymore and just went to the library. She wanted to study anyways since they had an exam soon. Usually, Jongin would be the one who would freak about because she wasn’t eating, but this time he didn’t care (even though he low key did). He was still pissed that she didn’t ask for him when she saw him.

 

Just 5 minutes before the next period starts, Jinri had told the boys that she’d be heading back to class to study, but they also wanted to come. She should have told them not to because they didn’t do anything but disturb her, especially Oh Sehun.

 

“Hey, am I the only one who wants to see Soojung and Jongin kissing?” He asks, earning her attention. She has heard a lot of times that they’ve kissed, but she hasn’t actually seen them doing it. “For some reason, I’m really curious.”

 

“Don’t they look like the type of people who would have on the bushes because they’re super ?” Chanyeol tells Sehun.

 

“I know right-”

 

“You ing idiots! Stop talking about me and her!” Jongin shouts, frowning angrily. “Besides, I don’t have feelings for her anymore, and I take back when I said that I love her because now I’m-”

 

“You love someone?” A voice coming from the door says, sounding very interested. But he didn’t need to turn around to find out who it is. Plus the look on his friends’ faces while they try not to look surprise and laugh really makes it up. “Did I hear it right, Jongin?”

 

“M-me? In love? Please, Soojung. You know me well.” He states when he finally looked at her, trying his best not to look nervous. As he continued to explain while stuttering, Soojung approaches him on his table. She pulls out a band-aid from her pocket and carefully puts it on where his wound was. She actually had to lean in to him a little closer when she did.

 

“Don’t you ever say that I don’t care about you...” Soojung states, their faces still close. “…because I do, idiot.” Slowly, she backs away, leaving him speechless and a little red.

 

It was really hard to get angry, or at least pretend to, at someone who was as beautiful as her.

 

“Oh yeah, good luck on the exam guys.” Soojung quickly says before leaving their room to head to hers.

 

“Thank you, love!” Jinri shouts for her to hear. She and the boys then look silently at the blushing Jongin who was still looking at the door where she left, but still with their cheeky little smiles.

 

“Well, wasn’t that just wonderful?” Chanyeol comments, breaking the silence.

 

“Okay, I’m not gonna lie, I was nervous.” Jongin admits. He runs his hand through his hair, calming himself down.

 

“So much for your ‘I don’t love her anymore’ bull.” Sehun chuckles as Chanyeol and Jinri laughed along.

 

author's note: 

Okay, I'm sorry to BTS fans for making Rapmon the antagonist. I need a bad guy for the story and I thought he would fit the character perfectly. Idk. Please don't kill me. *nervous laugh*

Anyways, I've wanted to update yesterday because it was my birthday (yay?) but then I realized that I haven't even finished this chapter. I didn't have a great one, but hey at least I had a gift from Kaistal. ;-)

Random fact: I was actually planning to put Soojung on Ehra High. I had to change it at the last minute because I realized that she wouldn't have a lot of moments with Jongin. ​