Chapter 16 – Making Friends

Jungkook was already sitting at their table when Insook walked into art class on Tuesday morning. He was intensely staring at a video on his phone and didn’t even seem to notice as she settled her things down. So she just walked over to the back section of the room and grabbed some supplies and the portfolio that held her group’s current projects. They were working on abstract creative drawings at the moment, focusing on the use of lines and shadows. She put the folder on the table as she returned, noticing that Jimin had also arrived, and that he was laughing loudly, smacking the younger boy on the back, as she sat down.

“Kookie, you’re such a fanboy!” Jimin exclaimed, with tears in his eyes.

Insook looked up, wondering what they were talking about.

“Shut up, Rapmon-hyung is really cool ok! That performance was amazing!” retorted the youngest, defensively.

“I know, I was in it” replied Jimin, flashing a goey smile to a non-existing audience.

Jungkook rolled his eyes. Jimin grinned wider and sat down, drumming his fingers on the table as if he still had too much energy that needed to be released somehow.

“Even if you were in it, you didn’t SEE it.” said Jungkook, pointedly.

“Fine, show me.” Jimin held out his hand for the phone but the black-haired boy pulled it away.

“No. I don’t think you can really appreciate it…” he sneered.

“Kookie…” Jimin said in a warning tone.

“Was it really that good?”

They both looked up in surprise as Insook spoke up, and she almost regretted saying anything, but then Jungkook slid his phone across the table and said, “Here, have a look.”

Insook grabbed the device and clicked on the reload button for the video. It was a bit sloppily recorded, since the person who had made it was obviously very excited, but she could see an excited crowd, jumping along and cheering to Namjoon’s red-headed friend’s fast-paced rap. She barely recognized the boy since he looked so different than he usually did at school. A short while later, Jimin and another boy came on the screen, dancing, and then Rapmonster, looking very much the rap superstar, strutting around the stage with cocky swagger as he delivered his lines. She was so engrossed in her watching that she almost didn’t hear Jungkook when he spoke up.

“They’re good, huh?” he grinned as she handed the phone back to him. She nodded, smiling at him.

“I’m surprised you didn’t come since you’re friends with Rapmon” added Jimin and she turned to look at him, surprised.

“We’re friends?”

He let out a small laugh. “Aren’t you? I saw you with him yesterday, I just thought…”

“Ah, yeah, I guess…” Insook fumbled with her words, “it’s just… rather… new?”

She thought he was going to laugh at her, but instead, the charming boy just replied, “Oh, well, you should definitely come next time then. BTS hyungs rock!”

“They really do!” piped-up Jungkook, a second later.

Insook stared at the both of them and nodded, giving them a slightly dumbfounded smile. She’d shared her table with these two for over three months now, but this was the first time they’d actually included her in any kind of conversation. She smiled to herself quietly, thinking that maybe making friends at school wasn’t as hard, or as bad as it had seemed in the first place.

They kept chatting about the performance a little. And then the bell rang so they had to be quiet as the teacher started the class. But soon enough they were left to their own devices and could start working. Insook retrieved her picture from the folder, and so did Jimin, but then Jungkook exclaimed “hey! Where’s my drawing?!” He flipped a bunch of papers over but obviously came up unsatisfied and looked up at Jimin, and then at her, with the roundest puppy eyes Insook had ever seen.

“Hey don’t look at me…”

“Ahh, Jungkook, I’m sorry.” A voice said behind them.

The black-haired boy turned around, looking ready for the worst, as the teacher stopped right by them.

“I got your picture over here” said the teacher, producing an almost finished drawing, full of intricate lines and curves that twisted into all directions. The boy breathed an audible sigh of relief. Insook looked down at her own picture and winced.

“I had a look at everyone’s drawings over the weekend. I kept the best ones here with me and forgot to put them back. Sorry” apologized the teacher as he placed the paper in front of Jungkook on the table. The corners of the younger boy’s mouth tugged up slightly at the indirect praise.

“Actually,” the teacher went on, “I wanted to ask you. If you can finish it before Friday, I’d like to put it up with the rest of the pictures that are going to be on exhibition for the festival this weekend, do you mind?”

“My picture?” echoed Jungkook, puffing up brightly.

“Yup, if you can hand it in by Friday” the man nodded.

“Yes, sir!”

The teacher laughed, patting him on the shoulder, and then walked off to check on another table. Jungkook looked up at them, beaming.

“Aaaah, look at our Jungkookie!!!” exclaimed Jimin, looking like a proud mama as he ruffled his dongsaeng’s hair, who just sat there grinning like an idiot instead of telling him to shove off like he normally would.

Insook couldn’t help but smile.

***

The rest of the day went by at its usual excruciatingly slow pace, but soon enough, the last class came to an end and Insook trudged her way to her locker. She was in no particular hurry to get home, so she took her sweet time switching her books, and was surprised when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Hey!” said the voice she knew well by now, “Whatcha doin’?”

The teenage girl closed her locker door, revealing Namjoon standing there, leaning on one arm, grinning down at her. ‘I’ll never get used to this…’ she thought, mentally shaking her head.

“Just going home,” she answered, hiking up her backpack on your shoulder.

“Good” said the blonde boy, propping himself upright, “and no you’re not.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re not working with your class for the festival?” he asked, and she just shook her head in response.

“Great, then you can come help me” he nodded to himself as he grabbed her arm and started leading her in the opposite direction.

“Help you what?” she asked, helplessly following along. “Actually, I’m supposed to be meeting my friend…”

He stopped and turned to look at her. “Our class is doing a haunted house for the festival, but… I think we were a little too ambitious, and maybe left some of the prep suff a little too last minute and now…” he trailed off, raising his hands sheepishly. “I thought you were just going home, but if you have plans, of course, I don’t wanna force you.”

“Ahh…” said Insook, feeling bad. “Well, what could I even help you with though?”

“Loads!” he exclaimed, putting his arms around her shoulders and leading her towards the staircase, considering his case won. “How’s your handwriting?” he asked.

“Alright, I guess?”

“Great!”

They climbed the stairs to the senior floor and he brought her over to his homeroom. It looked like a storage factory had imploded in there as there were cardboard boxes everywhere. Here and there, students where cutting up things, drawing on things, and piecing things together with glue-guns… Insook recognized the two boys who always hung out with Namjoon – Min Yoongi and Jung Hoseok – who were working in a corner while chatting casually.

“Guys,” said Namjoon, walking over to them, “this is Insook from 3-4. She’s gonna come and give us a hand” he said, putting a hand on her back as he introduced her.

The two boys looked up to see the short girl giving them a little bow and exchanged a not-so-subtle side-glance as she greeted them.

“Insook, these are my good friends Suga and J-Hope.”

“’sup”

“hey”

She nodded to them again, feeling a little overwhelmed.

“So, can you write well?” asked Suga after a while, breaking the awkwardness.

“Huh?”

The red-haired boy got up and presented her a printed paper that said “Horror House” in a fancy font that looked like it was dripping blood.

“We tried, but we’re all sh*t at it.” he said, pointing to some cut-out pieces of cardboard that had been thrown aside, which sort of remotely looked like the letter “ho”.

“We need to write it like that on these boxes here,” added J-Hope, getting up as well, “real big, and then we’ll cut ‘em up and spray paint ‘em red and put them up outside the room on Friday.”

“Oh I see.” said the teenage girl, after receiving J-Hope’s slightly clearer instructions. “I guess I can do that.”

“Yusss…” chorused all three boys and she couldn’t help but chuckle.

***

V was on his way to the drama clubroom when he saw Rapmonster pushing Insook up the stairs next to him. He stopped in his tracks and stared as they whizzed by, neither of them noticing him.

He shook his head and kept on climbing towards the 6^th floor, but then paused as he reached the 3^rd floor, which is where the senior rooms were located. He made a detour and started poking his head into various classrooms. He struck gold at the third one and quickly ducked out, only slowly, surreptitiously peeking back in.

In a corner of the room, by the windows, he spotted Insook, down on all fours, drawing something on a large piece of cardboard. Rapmon was standing behind her and laughing, and then squatted down on her level to whisper something in her ear, which made her blush, and him laugh. V’s fist tightened and he forcibly turned around from the scene. He exhaled angrily and then made his way back towards the stairs.

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Guys!!!! 
Omg, I'm so sorry it took me so long to upload this!! 
I've been really busy with the begining of the school year and also Bangtan's comeback and all the fangirling and streaming and voting!! Being a dedicated fangirl is hard!! lol. but finally, I could sit down for a bit and write a new chapter! It's perhaps not as polished as my normal chapters usually hard, since I usually review them several times before posting them, but I really wanted to share it with you as quickly as possible,.. so if you find any obvious mistakes or typos... let me know!!

btw, how are you finding BTS's comeback?? They just finally released the version of the MV today and omg, i almost died... Jungkook!! V!! Jiminie!!! aaahhh my heart...

anyways, I hope you like this chapter! i'll try to be quicker next time!! Peace!

- AoH