-Chapter 3-

Minna turned over in bed, her senses slowly returning as she awoke. Her bed felt warm and cosy, and the familiar orange sunlight illuminating her room made her let out a small happy sigh. She found herself grateful for the warmth and brightness, but didn’t entirely know why. She stretched and looked at the clock. It was still too early for her to be getting ready for class, but she didn’t feel like going back to sleep. She couldn’t remember her dreams but was sure she had had one.

Slowly, she sat up, yawning and looking about. A jacket caught her eye, hanging over the back of her desk chair. Sighing she pondered for the millionth time how to return it without making an awkward situation. She chuckled to herself, no matter how she did decide to return it it would be awkward, Kim Taehyung just had that effect on her. He was unapproachable and had a gleam in his eye that made Minna feel like he knew all her secrets. He was teasing, and Minna admit it, quite good looking too, but even so she just couldn’t talk to him comfortably.

An idea popped into Minna’s head. Who said she had to give it back directly? All she had to do was leave it somewhere where he could collect it. That way she could avoid meeting him again.

As she was already awake early, she got ready for class hours earlier than necessary, and when she was ready she picked up his jacket and made her way to school. She hadn’t been to school this early before and it was eerily quiet with the absence of students. She entered the main school building and went to the locker area for her class on the fourth floor. First, she opened her own locker, exchanging the books she needed into her bag. Quietly closing her locker again and taking a big breath, she opened Taehyungs locker.  His books were inside, messily and carelessly thrown in. There were papers and other belongings lying underneath the books in a chaotic fashion. She tutted and neatened the books into a pile, leaving room beside the books for the jacket. She swung his locker shut and turned to walk off but instead walked straight into somebodies chest.

“I’m so sorry.” She said, flustered, backing off while bowing her head. She looked up and fell open when she saw Taehyung. “Oh er… Taehyung…” She considered what she should say, but failed to find the right words. She remembered how he always avoided making conversation and took a leaf out of his book. She made a move to walk around him, wanting to escape the scene but he grabbed her wrist. She jumped to a stop and turned to Taehyung as he also turned to face her.

“You went in my locker?” He said quietly. It wasn’t so much a question as a statement, he had seen her himself.

“Yes.” She squeaked, worried about what he would do.

“Did you take anything?” He asked, in that same quiet and emotionless voice.

He walked over to his locker and as he began to open it she took the opportunity to run off to the classroom. She was gone too soon to see his eyebrows relax and a smile appear on his face when he saw his jacket. He shook his head and looked up just as she turned the corner at the end of the corridor. He lifted his jacket and checked inside, the only thing she moved were his books, neatened into a little pile which made him smile at first. He sighed in relief and closed his locker.

Minna didn’t stop running until she reached her desk in class. Forgetting that she was there earlier than usual, she was expecting there to be other students here that she could use to avoid a confrontation with Taehyung. He would never start a conversation with her in front of everyone else. But instead it was empty as none of the other students were at school yet. She hung her bag on the edge of her desk, then noticed something on her hand where Taehyung had grabbed her, a strange black powder-like substance. She rubbed at it but it just smudged across her skin. She considered going to the bathroom to clean it off, but then remembered that the stairwell from fourth floor to six was out of bounds while investigations and clean-ups took place.

It occurred to her suddenly, hadn’t that been the direction that Taehyung had come from earlier? Looking at the clock she saw that she still had an hour left until classes started. Taking a deep breath, Minna rose from her chair and walked to the doorway. Peeking into the corridor she confirmed that nobody was around and she made her way to the stairs. She crouched down and made her way underneath the tape that cordoned off the stairs to the fifth floor.  Carefully hopping up the stairs, she made sure to avoid pieces of debris that the fire had scattered along the stairs.

She gasped when she reached the top, taking in the sight before her. The smoke had obscured her view the day of the fire, but now that it was gone she could see just how much damage the fire had done.  The nearby walls were charred and a storage room nearby had been reduced to a blackened shell, whatever it had stored before forever burned from existence. Minna felt more scared now than she was when she was stuck here before, seeing how badly things could have been for her if it wasn’t for Taehyung.

She decided to look further, she wanted to find out for herself what the cause of this fire was. Taking cautious steps, she approached the area where the fire seemed to have started. The place most damaged was indeed the storage room, and slipping inside she took out her phone to use as a torch. 

She looked around but found that there was nothing left in this room. No lighter, no cigarettes, nothing to indicate the fire was started deliberately. There were no electrical items in the room either, so it didn’t seem to be an electrical fire. She snapped a few pictures that she could show to Jimin later and then turned to leave, deciding she wouldn’t be able to find any more evidence on her own. She was just about to turn her torch off when she saw something that caught her eye.

A glimmer of light at the corner of her vision made her turn, she was scared for a moment that it was a flame, but when she turned she saw no source of light.  She hesitated for a moment before deciding to walk closer, and noticed a strange carving etched into the wall. It looked to her like a symbol of some kind, similar to the shape of a tent which was drawn inside a circle, with strange wiggles underneath and to the side. Minna didn’t recognise it as any language or writing system she had seen before. She traced her finger over the carving but gasped and brought her hand back in shock as it burnt her skin, making her fingers pulse with pain. The fire had been gone for days but the carving was as hot as the flames had been themselves.

Scared and confused, Minna left the store room and head instead to the girl’s bathroom on the sixth floor. Turning on the tap, she washed her hands of the soot, and soothed the burn on her hand. She had been holding her phone in her right hand, and luckily for her used her left hand to touch the carving, so at least she would still be able to user her right hand in class to write. The burn was a straight line across the tips of her index and middle fingers, and was already turning a deep red colour, it looked like it would blister.

She stood there for a few more minutes, cooling her fingers. Several minutes passed and knowing the pain would not lessen further, she quickly checked that all traces of soot were gone from her hands before turning off the tap and heading back down to the classroom. She made it down just in time as more students started to arrive.

With 30 minutes before classes started, class monitors and staff were walking the corridors. Checking the coast was clear she hurried back past the tape and slipped into the classroom unnoticed, and she began to arranged her books for class. She neatened everything on her desk, sipped her water, and continuously checked the clock. It seemed like time was passing slower than usual, she needed a distraction but with no one around it was impossible. The tips of her fingers felt hot and uncomfortable but she did her best to ignore it.  Another 15 minutes passed and finally Jimin arrived.

“What’s this?” He said, pretending to look shocked. “Baek Minna at school this early, and without telling me!” Jimin walked over and sat in his seat immediately left of Minna’s.

“I had some things to do.” Minna replied, smiling now that Jimin was here.

“I stopped by your house to see if you wanted to walk to school together, Mrs Baek said you left hours ago. Just what have you been up to?”

Minna glanced around, but none of the other students had arrived yet so she leant forward and spoke in a low voice.

“I came to bring Taehyung’s jacket back.”

“This early?”

“I didn’t want anyone to see, that would raise questions. And I was kind of hoping Taehyung wouldn’t be here either.” Minna added sheepishly.

Jimin took in Minna’s awkward expression.

“wait up, so he was already here?” Jimin asked in surprise. He imagined Taehyung to be tardy, he was almost always the last person to walk into class.

Minna nodded. “He’s here. He caught me going in his locker… also, I think he was up on the fifth floor.” Minna absently rubbed at her wrist as she spoke. It was where Taehyung had stopped her from walking off. The motion didn’t go unnoticed by Jimin and he narrowed his eyes.

“What makes you say that?”

“He grabbed me by the wrist when he saw me in his locker. Afterwards I had soot on my hand.” Jimin looked at Minna’s wrist. “I washed it off, but it was definitely only after he grabbed me that I noticed soot there. There’s soot everywhere on the fifth floor.”

Jimin looked at Minna and asked slowly “How do you know that?”

Minna froze for a moment, but decided to confess.

“I wanted to see for myself what the fire had done, I wanted to see if could tell how or where it started.” Minna looked guilty down at her desk.

“The goody two shoes Minna sneaking into out-of-bounds areas, who’d have thought.” Jimin chuckled. “Well, did you at least find anything out?”

“I think it started in the storage room closet to the stairs. That day the rest of the storage rooms and classrooms were locked still, I tried to get into them myself to find an extinguisher to put out the fire. But that one by the stairs, I think it was open.”

“So, the only unlocked room on that corridor was where the fire took place? Interesting…” Jimin and Minna stopped to think. A student came into class, smiling at Minna and Jimin.

With their conversation no longer private they decided to postpone the conversation until they were alone again.  Minna rifled through her folder, taking out her homework sheets in preparation for class.

“Damn it.” Jimin said, watching her take out her sheets. Minna shook her head as she looked at Jimin.

“You didn’t do your homework again?” Minna asked.

“I was at the studio all last night so I totally forgot. Hey can’t I copy you. Please this is the last time I swear.”

“It won’t be the last time. You need to learn your lesson!” Jimin reached for her sheets but she snatched them up and held them away from his reach. However, Jimin was taller, all he had to do was stand from his chair and he took the homework from her hands.

“It really will be the last time!” Minna smiled and let him copy from her work.

Students continued to pour into class, and with just seconds left until class was going to start, Taehyung walked in and made his way towards his seat. Minna stared at his hands, and sure enough his right hand had a thin layer of soot. Preoccupied as she was with finding the evidence she needed, she didn’t realise how obvious she was making her stare. She looked up and saw Taehyung staring right back. He looked down to where her gaze had been then sat down, quickly hiding his hands in his pant pockets.

Minna bit her lip, and looked to Jimin. He was still too busy copying her work to have noticed the exchange. Minna tried her hardest not to look in Taehyungs direction. Moments later the teacher walked into class and she was able to push the incident from her mind. The teacher sat at his desk at the front, then looked up at Jimin.

"I hope that isn't homework you are hastily trying to write there, Jimin!" Jimin smiled awkwardly and put the sheets of work away, and Minna elbowed him in a 'told-you-so' kind of way.

After that the classes passed quickly and soon it was almost time for lunch. Their teacher stood from his desk and shuffled papers.

“Now before you all go for your break I have one last thing to say, you will be assigned your groups for the project this afternoon.  You cannot change your groups once they have been assigned so no complaining! If you have questions you can see me now, or in my office over the lunch period. Class dismissed.” Some students groaned at the reminder of the project, others immediately prepared to leave the classroom to find their friends.

Minna and Jimin head straight for their favourite place in the cafeteria and were shocked to see two people already there. Jungkook was sat with someone Minna didn’t speak to too often, but with whom Jimin was very good friends.

“Hopie!” Jimin called out to one of his fellow dancers, Jung Hoseok, who demanded to be called by his stage name ‘J-hope’.

“Jimin-ah, nice to see you. Minna you’re as pretty as ever, you know I’m still single if_” Jimin clamped his hand over J-hope’s mouth.

“Don’t listen to him he’s desperate and delusional.” 

J-Hope glared at Jimin while Jungkook and Minna let out a small laugh.

Jungkook moved a chair out and Minna sat at the table.

“Hi J-Hope. Jimin you can stop that now.” Jimin took his hand from infront of J-hope's mouth and J-hope smiled gratefully at Minna.

The boys laughed and played around together and Minna settled into her chair, pulling out her lunch. She was hoping to get a chance to tell Jimin about seeing the soot on Taehyung’s hand, but she wasn’t sure if she should bring it up with the other guys around. She didn’t know how good at keeping a secret they were.

“Noona are you okay, you’re a bit quiet.” Jungkook asked, noticing Minna was turning something over in her mind.

“Well, there is something. But I’m not going to say it if I can’t trust you guys.” Minna confessed.

The boys looked up in interest.

“What is it?” J-hope asked.

“You promise me that you won’t tell anyone else. Things will be difficult for me if this spreads.”

The boys nodded eagerly, and she decided to trust them.

“Well, earlier I bumped into Taehyung, the new guy in my class. Afterwards I noticed soot on my hand. I wasn’t sure if it really came from him so I waited, but when Taehyung came into class sure enough he had soot across his hands too. He was definitely up on the fifth floor this morning.” Minna told them. She waited to gauge their reactions.

“He’s brave! I wanted to go see the fire damage for myself but heard anyone caught up there faces suspension.” J-hope said.

“There’s something else.” Minna added, looking at Jimin for support. The other two looked at them in confusion.

“What is it?” Jungkook asked.

Jimin replied for her. “On the day of the fire, it wasn’t me who helped Minna down from the sixth floor. It was Taehyung.”

The other two gasped.

“He was up there too?” J-Hope asked.

Minna nodded. “He was the only person on that floor when the fire started, and he was up there today.” The boys broke into discussions on their own theories about the blaze, and the burns across Minna’s fingers tingled with pain as she remembered the storeroom. Did Taehyung really note have anything to do with this fire?

Really really thank you for reading this far! If you have constructive critism or support please leave a comment, I'd be glad to know your views. If you like this story leave an upvote, it's motivation to continue!