Chapter 31 – Interrupted
 

V was already there when Insook showed up at the bleachers at lunchtime on Tuesday. He was lying on his back on one of the middle steps with his eyes closed, and she wondered if he had even gone to class this morning, since he seemed like he hadn’t moved in a while. He didn’t open his eyes as she came up to him, but hearing her steps, and feeling her shadow momentarily shield him from the sun, he guessed that she had arrived and just raised his arm towards her, lifting up a few sheets of paper in his hand without ever opening his eyes.

“What’s this?” she wondered aloud, taking the papers from him and looking at them.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, realizing that it was their Japanese script, all neatly typed up and separated in acts, ready to be memorized and played in front of an audience. He had even highlighted her parts in bright orange marker.

A smile crossed his restful face but he remained quietly lying there until she said, “you actually did it” her voice full of wonder.

He cracked an eye open and looked up at her, making it seem almost like he was winking, and she chuckled and rolled her eyes as she sat down next to him.

“Thanks” she said in an apologetic voice, and he nodded and waved a hand up, signifying it was nothing.

“Aren’t you gonna get up?” she asked, unable to help a little smile at him interacting with her while basically half-asleep.

“No, it’s comfy like this” and then he opened his eyes to peer at her before adding, “and I like the view.”

She turned to hide her embarrassment, and looked down at the papers in her hand. She was surprised, and really glad, because honestly she hadn’t thought he would do it.

“Did you manage to get some sleep last night?” he asked her casually, pulling her out of her reverie.

“Ahh, yeah…” she grinned sheepishly, “sorry about yesterday…”

He waved her off again and she decided to not dwell on it, so she just asked, “Shall we start practicing?”

“Sure”

“Don’t you need to get up?”

“No”

“How are you gonna read your lines?”

“I memorized them.”

“You… -! You memorized them?!?”

At that he opened his eyes to look at her shocked face and flash her a big grin, “I’m not the star of the drama club for nothing, you know.”

And then before she could dispute his claim, he launched into the first line of their skit. She replied with her own line – reading from the paper – and he kept going, while she watched him in wonder. Who was this boy, who could just casually write out a whole entire script in one night, and then have it all memorized the next day? An onlooker would have thought he was trying to show off, behaving the way he was, but she knew he really was as harmless and innocent as a child. Well, maybe not as innocent…

They rehearsed 3 more times and by the end of it, she wasn’t struggling with any of the words’ pronunciation anymore, and they started rolling off her tongue more naturally.

Halfway through their 4^th try, a stray leaf blew off from a nearby tree and fell on Taehyung’s face (who still hadn’t moved from his initial position) and made her burst out laughing.

“Ya! What is that!” he exclaimed, shutting his eyes even tighter instead of opening them, “Is it a bug?! Take it off! Take it off!”

She laughed even louder and replied “It’s just a leaf, Tae, you can take it off yourself.”

“Take it offfff!!!!!” he whined, trashing about like a baby and making Insook laugh so hard that she had tears in her eyes.

“Alright, alright, stay still…” she finally said, bending down over him and plucking the naughty leaf off his face, gently. “There you go. All clean” she went on, as if she was talking to a baby.

Her left hand had kinda remained on the side of his face, as she had taken the leaf off with her right, and just as she was about to pull it away, he brought his own hand up to hold it there. She looked down at him and his eyes were wide open, staring up into her own with an expression that was both piercing and sweet, and Insook suddenly felt her heart rate rise up to abnormally high levels. She turned away to hide the flush in her cheeks, but didn’t try to remove her hand, actually finding that she rather enjoyed the warm pressure of his fingers on hers, even though it made her heart beat uncontrollably fast. They stayed like this for a few seconds like a moment lost in time, not saying anything, until the school bell rang and broke the magic.

Insook jumped up in surprise, fumbling away at her notes as she put them in her bag and muttered “Oh we should go.”

V nodded, standing up in one swift motion, surprising her, and handing her his hand to help her up. She took it carefully, and quickly let it go the moment she was up.

They walked back inside the school side by side, but while Insook just walked quickly in nervous silence, V just strolled on, hands in his pockets, with the goofiest grin on his face.

***

Hoseok and Jimin had skipped class again. They’d run off to the deserted drama club room after lunch had ended, and had basically spent the whole afternoon making out on the old couch at the back of the room.

Hoseok had pulled away at the sound of the bell indicating the end of classes, saying that maybe it would be best they stop now, since someone might decide to walk in, but Jimin had just said “relax, club is cancelled because of tests, we’re fine,” and pulled him back down on top of him, tugging on his shirt.

Hoseok smiled as he kissed him back, mumbling something both teasing and sweet at the younger boy, who had scolded, “less talking, more kissing”, making Hoseok chuckle; and comply.

They’d left the lights turned off when they’d come in, so the place would still look deserted if anyone happened to walk down the hallway, so they both freaked out when they suddenly flicked on, bathing the room in harsh, artificial light.

Hoseok jumped back so fast, Jimin was actually more shocked by his reaction than by the sudden intrusion into their private little moment; but then he came back to his senses and looked at the door to see if the intruder had noticed anything.

“Oh, hey guys!” said Jungkook pleasantly, noticing them and walking over, “What were you doing in the dark??”

“Aaahh… hum…” fumbled Jimin, but Hoseok quickly swooped in and said “Aah, Jiminie wasn’t feeling well after lunch so I took him here to rest… but then I ended up falling asleep too…” he finished with a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head with one hand.

“Ahh… yeah hyung, you look a little flushed,” said the younger boy, totally buying their story, “do you have a fever?”

“Aah, I dunno… do you think so?” asked Jiminie, struggling for his normal voice, and Jungkook came over and put a hand on his forehead.

“You’re a little warm…”                   

Hoseok stood in the back, trying not to crack up and Jimin shot him a death glare, so he coughed, trying to cover it and said, “Maybe you should go home then, Jiminie.”

“Yeah maybe… Kookie, why did you come here though? Club’s cancelled.” asked Jimin, changing the subject.

“Oh yeah I know, but it’s kinda nicer to study here than in the library, and I was hoping Jin-hyung could help me with some stuff.”

“Jin-hyung?” repeated Jimin, “Why would he be here?”

“Well, he practically lives here, you know…”

And as if talking about him had summoned him, Jin walked through the door, calling out “oh hey guys”, and settling down at the table without giving them any more attention, so all 3 of them chuckled.

“Well anyways, since you’re here, I’ve been meaning to ask you…” started Jungkook, looking back at them.

“Ask us what?” Jimin butted-in, not letting him finish, which earned him a strange look from his younger friend.

“Well you said you’d let me do a dance with you the other day…”

“Oh that!” Jimin exclaimed, laughing nervously in relief, which earned him another strange look.

“Tell you what,” said Hoseok, slapping a hand on Jungkook’s shoulder, “why don’t you come by the studio tomorrow night and we can start planning something then?”

“Hyung, you mean it?!” Jungkook’s eyes went wide with excitement and Hoseok had to laugh, but he nodded and Jungkook went “wohoo!!” spinning around on himself and pumping his fists up in the air in a strange little dance.

“Well, I should go home and rest then…” said Jimin, making Jungkook stop his spinning.

“Oh yeah, you should take care, Jimin, I hope you feel better.”

Jimin waved him off, feigning sudden weakness and Hoseok put a hand on his shoulder, announcing “I’ll take him home.”

Jimin gave him a grateful smile and they shuffled out of the room, waving their goodbyes, before walking through the door. Jimin kept up his terrible acting until they were out of earshot and then straightened up.

Hoseok took one look at him and burst out laughing; a loud, mirthful sound accompanied by a heart-shaped smile that took up half his face and made his eyes into little half-moons.

“Ya…” scolded Jimin, but Hoseok looked so cute with his happy face, he couldn’t really be mad at all, “it’s not funny…” he mumbled.

“You’re such a bad actor!” cried Hoseok, still laughing, “are you sure you belong in that club?”

“I panicked ok?! I thought they caught us! I was nervous!”

“They didn’t though, so relax” said the older boy, calming down a bit and patting Jimin’s shoulder.

“Well they nearly did…”

“You’re the one who wanted to stay there, need I remind you…”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Hoseok made a funny little chuckle and looked at Jimin as if he wanted to say something, but then thought against it and just ruffled the boy’s hair.

“I guess the drama clubroom is out, then…”

“Yeah…”

“You’re going to have to find another place to have your way with me…” Hoseok teased, and Jimin went bright red, which made him laugh out loud again.

Jimin thought that he had never been so embarrassed in his life, but at the same time, he really loved the sound of Hoseok’s laugh, so maybe it was worth the price of a little bit of shame.

***

Insook was just walking through the school gates, fussing in her bag to locate her iPod, when she felt someone tap her on the right shoulder. She turned, but there was nobody there, so she frowned and turned to her left to find V standing there next to her, grinning stupidly. She shook her head and they started walking together.

“Wanna go somewhere?” he asked lightly, smiling with his eyes, “we could practice our skit over coffee and donuts!”

“Oh, I can’t, I got something…” she answered with an awkward smile, avoiding his eyes.

“Come oooon…” he said, bending over and looping an arm with her, “I know you wanna be a good daughter, but this counts as studying too.”

“No,” she laughed, “That’s not it, I already promised someone else I’d study with them.” she apologized with an awkward smile.

“Oh,” he said, dropping her arm suddenly and pouting. “Someone?”

“Uh-huh?” answered Insook innocently, looking across the street to avoid his gaze.

“Rapmon?” he asked, his voice suddenly dropping all of its mirth and becoming dead serious.

“V…”

“It’s him, isn’t it?” he asked, spitting the words out.

She rolled her eyes and glanced at him nervously, wishing she didn’t have to answer, but then he looked at her with raised eyebrows, as if saying “well?”

“Yes! Yes, it’s him! What?!” she snapped, slightly annoyed.

V’s face fell.

“We’re just studying!” she exclaimed, trying to defend herself.

“Pfffft…” V scoffed, and his face hardened as he added, “you know it’s not just studying…”

Insook was so irritated by his behavior, she thought about arguing, but then she just walked off, and he stood there staring at her walk away. However, she stopped suddenly a few steps away, and turned around, marching back towards him with a rather scary expression.

“You know, you said you’d wait!” she exploded, wagging a finger at him as he stared at her with a dumfounded expression.

And then she spun back around and stormed right off again.