Chapter 17 – Unexpected Proposals

 

The next day, Rapmon managed to coerce Insook into helping his class out again. A couple of his classmates kept casting strange looks at their little group, wondering why she was there, but mostly they just left them alone. They’d made good progress the day before and had already finished the lettering for the sign that would go outside the room, and now they were working on sowing some of the costumes together. Or more to say, Insook and Suga were sewing while Rapmon stood nearby, alternatingly bossing them around and chatting excitedly about a song that BTS were working on.

 

“I’d really like to hear it when you guys are done…” said Insook, shyly, without looking up from her work. It was the first time she’d actually spoken up in the whole conversation.

 

“Of course” Rapmon turned and flashed a smile in her direction but she wasn’t looking. “As soon as Hobi hands in his part we should be able to record it, and then you can be the first to hear it.”

 

She looked up and he was beaming at her so much that his eyes were just tiny little slits and a cute dimple popped up in his cheek. She looked right back down, focusing on the fabric in her hand, and nodded, hoping that her face hadn’t gone completely red. But she needn’t have worried because the blonde boy’s attention was already on something else.

 

“Where is that guy anyways?”

 

“Didn’t he go to the bathroom a while ago?” Insook tentatively provided an answer.

 

“How long ago was that?” asked Rapmonster.

 

Suga looked down at his watch, “30 minutes, I guess.”

 

“Nobody needs that long in the bathroom” muttered Rapmonster. “That friend… he must’ve ditched again.”

 

“Well it’s not like you’re very much help either…” mumbled Suga, innocently, without looking up from his stiching.

 

“What are you talking about?!” retorted Rapmon with fake offense, then he winked and added “I provide the moral support.”

 

***

 

Hoseok, who was wandering around the school, trying to escape his duties, ended up on the 6^th floor without realizing it. There was noise coming in from one of the rooms at the end of the hallway and he popped his head in, looking around curiously.

 

A group of kids were rehearsing on the makeshift stage in the drama clubroom. He watched them for a bit, impressed with their acting skills, and then scanned the room, looking for one particular person. He smiled as he recognized Jimin, sitting with Jungkook on one of the couches and chatting, not paying attention to the performance.

 

A girl noticed him standing there and let out a little gasp. “Oh! Sunbae! What are you doing here? Can we help you?”

 

At her exclamation, several of the kids in the room turned to look at him so he straightened up and flashed his trademark smile.

 

“Hyung!” called out Jungkook, happily.

 

“Oh sorry, I was just curious.” answered Hoseok, sheepishly. “I can leave if it’s a bother.”

 

“Of course not,” Jin smiled, kindly, “please come in.”

 

The dark-haired boy gave him a little bow and walked over to the two trouble-makers on the couch, and they both stood up to greet him.

 

“You guys are putting on a play for the festival?” he asked them.

 

“Yes!” exclaimed Jungkook over-excitedly.

 

“Just a small part though…” added Jimin, looking embarrassed. And then he leaned in to whisper, “but we don’t have much to do so it’s kinda boring…”

 

“Yahh! I heard that!” shouted V from the stage.

 

The three boys giggled.

 

“Oh well if you’re not busy, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

 

“Oh?” Jimin perked up.

 

“We were so good last weekend… How about we do something for the festival too?” suggested J-Hope.

 

“You mean a dance?” asked the brown-haired kid, eagerly.

 

Hoseok nodded, a small smile playing on his lips.

 

“But can we do it? It’s only 3 days…” frowned Jimin.

 

“Pffft….” Hoseok waved him off with cocky confidence, “with our skill? We can be ready in a day.” He smirked.

 

“But where are we gonna do it?” asked Jimin, even though Hoseok could tell he was getting excited.

 

“You leave that to me… I know people… so what do you say?” he added, looking up at his friend eagerly.

 

“I say let’s go!!” exclaimed Jimin, which made Hoseok laugh.

 

“Hey!” called out Taehyung as Jimin was bending to retrieve his backpack from the ground. He looked over to see his clubmate walking over to their little group and replied “what?”

 

“You’re leaving?! What about rehearsals?!?!”

 

“I got 3 lines, Tae…” protested Jimin.

 

“The play is in less than a week!!” V was saying, throwing his hands up in the air.

 

“Don’t worry… It’ll be fine.” Jimin reassured him with a smile, but V only breathed loudly through his nose, and walked right back to the stage, shouting out “fine!”

 

Jimin and Jungkook chuckled.

 

“Is it really ok?” asked Hoseok with a worried look, “I don’t want to get you in trouble…”

 

“Don’t worry about it,” replied Jimin, putting a hand on his shoulder. “our Taehyungie can be overly theatrical, especially where this club is concerned… let’s go!”

 

“Aww man…” pouted Jungkook, his voice thick with envy.

 

“Don’t worry Jungookie…” said Jimin, ruffling the younger boy’s hair, “I’ll make sure to look especially cool just for you.” And he flashed him a greasy eye-smile that made Jungkook scrunch up his face in disgust and push him away.

 

“Fine! Just go!”

***

 

It was already 7 o’clock by the time Insook left school that day. She’d never left school that late before, but somehow, she was walking out with a smile on her face. Namjoon and Suga were still in there, but they had insisted that they could finish the rest of their tasks by themselves and that she should go home. She was walking towards the station with a little bounce in her step, lost in her thoughts and replaying the afternoon’s events in her head when she felt a soft tap on her shoulder. She looked up and recognized V walking next to her.

 

“Oh, hi V” she said, pulling her earphones out and tucking her iPod away.

 

He just smiled at her sweetly in response, and once again, she wondered how many different sides there were to this boy.

 

“You’re going home pretty late.” he stated as they walked.

 

“You too” she smirked at him, and he laughed.

 

“I had club practice. We’re putting on a play for the festival.”

 

“Oh really? Cool?”

 

“Will you come watch it?” he asked, sounding like a puppy.

 

“Uhh… sure?” surprised by the request.

 

“I’m the lead” he grinned.

 

She laughed again, “Why am I not surprised?” and he flashed her a mouth full of teeth.

 

“Do you have time now?” he asked, “I feel like I haven’t seen you at all this week…” he trailed off, looking at the ground as he said it.

 

Insook, felt a little tingle at the comment, though she wasn’t quite sure why.

 

“Ahh…” she said, “yeah… sorry about that…”

 

“So do you?”

 

“What?”

 

“Have time?”

 

“Oh. Yeah. Sure?” she gave him a confused half-smile and his smile was back in a flash.

 

“Let’s go here” he said, dragging her into a nearby park.

 

They walked around, looking for a seat as they chatted about what their respective classes were preparing for the festival, but all the benches seemed to be occupied by old people or couples, and there wasn’t anywhere to sit. So they just kept walking in circles.

 

Suddenly, as he spotted an old man getting up and leave, V launched into a run and hastily sat down, securing a place for them. Insook laughed, before walking up to him, and watched as he reclined and stretched his whole body, letting out a loud sigh of contentment.

 

“You’re crazy, you know that?” she chuckled, looking down at him.

 

He looked up at her, shading his eyes against the dying sun and grinned widely. “But you like it, no?”

 

“Hmm…” she pretended to think really hard as she sat down next to him, so he nudged her playfully with his elbow, “yeah, I like it.”

 

V was about to say something, but suddenly, Insook’s stomach rumbled loudly, which instead sent him into peals of laughter.

 

“Sorry….” mumbled the teenage girl, mortified.

 

“Ah no… it’s fine,” said V, waving his hand and trying to catch his breath, “I’m sorry for laughing… it was just such a funny timing…” he added still chuckling.

 

Insook blushed furiously.

 

“Here, wait up.” said the boy, and again, he took off at a run.

 

Insook watched him go, perplexed. He stopped a little while away, in front of a food vendor and purchased something. He came back a minute later, carrying a steaming styrofoam bowl of deobbokki and presented it to her with a flourish, which made her chuckle.

 

“You didn’t have to do that…” she said, still laughing.

 

“Oh well actually, it’s for me.” he said, sitting down next to her and plucking one of the spicy rice cakes with a toothpick, before popping it in his mouth.

 

She laughed again as she watched him eat.

 

“Well go on!” he said with his mouth full, so it sounded more like “weeee oooo uuuhh.”

 

Insook shook her head, but grabbed the other toothpick and put the steamy piece it was attached to into . They chewed silently for a few seconds, and V even had time to pop another one in before she finished hers and smiled.

 

“goooo ahh?”

 

“What?” she laughed.

 

V swallowed, wiped his lips with the back of his hand and repeated, “good, huh?”

 

“Yup” she smiled before grabbing another one.

 

“So anyways, Insook, I’ve been wanting to ask you something.” said the ashen-haired boy, playing with the toothpick in his hand.

 

“Whaaah?” asked the girl, who’d just put another very spicy piece into . He turned to look at her and chuckled at her expression.

 

“Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

 

Insook nearly choked on her rice cake, and had to fish a water bottle from her backpack and gulp nearly half of it down before she could breathe again. When she looked back up again, he was looking at her eagerly, as if he still somehow expected a positive answer.

 

“Where the heck did that come from” she asked him, with eyes round as saucers.

 

“I like you” he simply stated. “Is that so strange?”

 

“Well yeah…”

 

“Why?”

 

“Cuz…. Guys don’t ‘like’ me…” she mumbled.

 

“Says who?”

 

“Says my 18 years of single existence” she retorted, rather sullenly.

 

V chuckled. “Well, I like you.”

 

Insook was still trying to make sense of the situation, but she looked down at her hands.

 

“I like you too V…” she started and the boy perked up and smiled, “but I thought we were friends… I like you as my friend…” and just as quickly, the smile was wiped from his face.

 

“That’s not really the reason though, is it?” he asked, not looking at her, and Insook felt bad for disappointing him.

 

She waited a while before answering him, “………..…… no.”

 

V sat there quietly, trying to process his thoughts, before he finally opened his mouth again.

 

“He doesn’t like you, you know” said the boy, looking at some unknown point in the distance with sudden ferocity.

 

“I know…” she answered softly, with a sad sigh.

 

They sat in silence, not looking at each other, for what seemed like hours, although it was in fact only about a minute.

 

Then suddenly V said, in a very cold, very un-V-like voice, “He’s a bad guy. You shouldn’t like him.”

 

Insook was so surprised by his change in character that she turned to look at him. “Namjoon?”

 

He glanced at her for a second and nodded.

 

“I thought you guys were friends?” she said, remembering how casually they’d talked with each other at the party. ‘Although thinking back on it, he did leave rather abruptly that time too…’

 

“Not anymore” answered V mysteriously, before getting up, grabbing his backpack and walking off.

 

“Where are you going?!” she cried out, getting up and running after him.

 

He stopped, looked down, and pushed a hand towards her, in a signal for her to stay away before she got any closer.

 

“Just… I’ll be fine tomorrow, ok? For now, just let me go back alone” he said in a low, quiet voice, not looking at her. His fringe was falling into his eyes; hiding them, and Insook wondered for a split second if he wasn’t covering them on purpose.

 

Then he walked off and she just stood there, half-eaten plate of deobbokki in her hand, wondering what the heck had just happened.