ILWAF Chapter 3 

-TAEHYUNG- 

I was shaken out of my dreamy sleep when my alarm went off, my arms immediately pushing it to the floor so it would hush. It was always like that everyday; luckily, it doesn't ever break.

I picked it up again and placed it on the desk. I washed my face before going to my younger sister's bedroom.

I knocked and pushed the door ajar, "Taeyeon?" 

I felt my heart stop when I saw a shadow sitting by the corner of the room, curled into a ball with sniffs escaping her lips. I approached her and knelt in front of her.

"Taeyeon? What's the problem, princess?" I asked as I put my hand on her back.

"O-Oppa?" Her voice cracked as she looked up at me with tears welling up in her eyes. I felt a soft tug in my heart when I saw a tear escape from her eye.

"What's wrong, Taeyeon? Did someone bully you in school? Does your head ache? Are you feeling well? Did Jinhee hurt you again-?" 

"No, oppa. In fact, she's my friend now. She already apologized for everything she did to me." she answered.

"Then, why are you crying? Can you tell oppa?" 

She wiped her tears away and let out a vigorous laugh. "I was practicing for our play!"

"Oh, really? Ha! That was nice acting! What play and what's your role?"

"Romeo and Juliet! I'm playing Juliet's role! Can you believe that, oppa?" she exclaimed while smiling so wide.

"Really!? Wow, that's really great! Can I see your acting sometime?" I asked, feeling so proud of my sister. I knew from the start that she had always wanted to have a leading role in their school's play and now she got it.

"Yes, sure. But not today, oppa." she answered.

"Yes, of course. We'll be late." I agreed and stood up from my kneeling position. "You go downstairs while I wake Taehyun up." 

"Okay." She gave me a salute before going downstairs. Next, I went to Taehyun, my younger brother's room. I found him on the bed, hugging the blanket instead of his pillow, and snoring so loud as usual. That was the main reason we made his room soundproof.

"Taehyun, wake up." I said while gently poking his cheeks. 

"Ergh..." he groaned and pulled my hand away from him. "What time is it, hyung?" 

"6:45." I lied, just to make him wake up. And as planned, he quickly stood up and went to the restroom, not sparing me a glance. I went downstairs and pulled out the box of cereals and box of milk from the fridge. 

"Here you go, Taeyeon." I placed a bowl in front of my little sister and she immediately poured cereals and milk on it.

"Thanks, oppa." 

"Hyung!" Taehyun ran downstairs with a scowl on his face. "How dare you betray me, hyung? I broke up with my girlfriend because you told me it's already 6:45! It's just 6:15, hyung!"

I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow at him. "Girlfriend?"

"Sleep." 

"What? You're girlfriend's asleep?" I repeated, confused. He shook his head.

"No, hyung. My girlfriend is sleep. Her name is sleep. And, I had to break up with her because you lied to me." he whined and faked out a cry as he sat in front of Taehyun and poured himself cereal and milk. 

"How come you've never introduced me to this girlfriend, who is apparently weirdly named Sleep, of yours?" I asked while wiping the milk off Taeyeon's chin, but looking at Taehyun. I frowned when they both sighed.

"Hyung, it's because I can only see her when I'm in bed!" My eyes widened at his statement. 

"B-Bed? Taehyun, you're too young for this! What has your girlfriend done to your innocent mind?" I panicked. "Did y-you..." 

"Hyung, what are you talking about? I'm still innocent, okay?" he said. "Forget about it."

"Well, okay. I hope you two go back to each other." I smiled. "But, why'd you two break up just because I lied about the time?"

"Hyung, I said please forget about it."

"Okay." 

~

"You, Taeyeon, don't fight with Jinhee again, okay? You don't want her bullying you again, right?" I said to my little sister when we arrived at school. 

"Yes, oppa. She's really nice to me now." Taeyeon answered and I gave an approving nod before turning to my little brother.

"And you, Taehyun, don't worry about your girlfriend too much. I know she still loves you and she'll come back to you. But, focus on your studies first before girlfriends, understand?" He sighed before nodding and I gave them both a pat on their heads before letting them go to their classes. 

When I turned to go to the place where Jungkook usually parks his bicycle, I go head to head with a guy, who turns out to be the same guy I was looking for.

"Taehyung!" he greeted with a wide smile that always amazes me by how it can brighten up anyone's mood immediately. 

"Yo, Kookie." I smiled back and hung my arm around his neck. "Did you watch over me yesterday while I was sleeping?"

"Uh, yes." He nodded.

"So, did you like it?" I asked, a smirk threatening to show up on my lips. His eyes darted upward to me because I was a bit taller than him.

"Like what?" he asked and it was cute how innocent he sounded.

"The view." I answered and he frowned.

"Why would I like your sleeping face? You actually looked like a monkey." I hit his hard and he let out a small groan.

"You're so mean." I said and pouted.

"I was just telling the truth!" he defended himself. I rolled my eyes and we were both surprised when Jimin suddenly showed up and put his arms around Jungkook and I, squeezing the both of us. 

"Guess what, guys?" he initiated with a playful smile and raised eyebrows.

"What?" Jungkook and I said in unison.

"Guess!" Jimin insisted.

"What?" Jungkook repeated.

"Guys?" I said and Jungkook and I burst into laughter. We just literally repeated Jimin's sentence.

"Aish, you two, seriously." Jimin rolled his eyes. "So, here's the news! I managed to get Yoongi's phone number yesterday." 

"Eh?" Once again, Jungkook's reaction was the same as mine. "Yesterday? How?"

"Let me tell you the story of how it happened..." And Jimin turned into a storyteller, telling us that his great crush's house turned out to be just near his and that they walked home together yesterday, Jimin asking a lot of things to the older, like "How was Daegu?", "Do you remember  me? We were classmates back then." (to which Yoongi shook his head and muttered a "sorry") and before they separated, Yoongi finally arriving at his place first, Jimin asked for his number. The other tried to hide his blush while giving the midget his digits. 

"And, tada~! I have his number now and he even told me I can call him anytime." And with that, Jimin ended the story.

"Well, congratulations. When's the wedding?" I asked and Jungkook stifled a laugh.

"Shush!" Jimin furiously hissed, causing some of his saliva to be ejected from his mouth and landed on my face. This time, Jungkook couldn't control my laugh.

"Yikes! Dirty water." I said in broken English while wiping his saliva off mu face, which made Jungkook laugh even harder, Jimin and I joining him eventually. 

"Hey, classes are about to start. Aren't you three going to go already?" A deep voice made us three stop and turn to see Min Yoongi standing before us. 

"Oh, um, okay. Thanks for reminding." I replied with a friendly smile. Yoongi gave a polite nod before leaving.

Jimin shouted, "Have a nice day!", which made Yoongi turn and smile at him. "You, too."

"Oh...my.... gosh." Jimin whispered each syllable, as if he could not believe Yoongi just wished him a nice day with his gummy smile. "Wow..."

"Hey, shut it. You're being too obvious! I bet Yoongi already knows you like him because of your transparency." I said.

"Really? Well, okay. No big deal." Jimin recklessly shrugged his shoulders as we made our way to the classroom. 

Classes started right after the three of us arrived and none of us uttered a word until the school bell rang. 

"Before I dismiss you all, I would like to inform you that your seat mate will serve as your study partner for the whole school year. You and your partners will help each other in all aspects of academic or even non-academic. Do you understand?" our professor said and we all muttered a 'yes' in response. 

"So, we're partners?" Jungkook asked with a smile, hope visible in his eyes. 

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Holy crap, guys." Jimin exhaled in awe as he approached us. "Yoongi said he loved me."

"You serious?" I asked, bewildered.

"Excuse me, he did not. I heard your conversation and what he said was he would love to be your partner." Jungkook corrected him and Jimin pouted.

"Isn't that the same thing?" he muttered. 

I ruffled Jimin's hair because he was just too cute, thinking about things like that. Are all guys like this when they fall in love? I never know because I have never fallen in love. 

When dismissal arrived, I stretched out my arms and started to yawn. 

"Hey, I'll be going already." Yoongi said while picking up his things and putting them into his bag. 

"Oh? U-Um, can I go with you again?" Jimin asked and his eyes blinked too much, maybe from nervousness.

"Yeah, sure. We could always go home together." Yoongi answered and pulled Jimin out of the room. Jungkook and I let out a snicker.

"Cute lovebirds." I muttered and Jungkook hummed in agreement.

"I'll just put my things in my locker. I'll be back." And then, he was gone. I placed my backpack, in which I secretly placed a pillow in, on the desk in front of me and I buried my face in there. I heard the door open before I fell asleep, hugging my backpack. 

I liked Jungkook, I have always did. I was just too scared to tell him. Because, what if he was homophobic? I'd never risk our friendship just for my heart's desire. 

But, yesterday, something happened that made me courageous enough to tell him my feelings. 

I was now chasing him on the long hallway, my heart thumping loudly as I repeated the words I was going to say to him in my mind.

"Jungkook, you're adorable, handsome, intelligent, talented, and many more. You're so perfect and I...just can't help my feelings. I know this is, um, weird and maybe you won't talk to me after this but, I just can't hold it in anymore. Jungkook....I like you. I'm...gay for you."

But my whole mind froze when I saw him stop in front of a room and waved at a girl who's exiting. I frowned when the girl clung onto his arms and kissed Jungkook. It was painful but what hurt me more was the fact that Jungkook didn't pull away. Instead, he was kissing the girl back. 

I completely froze on my place as I felt tears welling up in my eyes. Right, there were no chances Jungkook would like me. He's not gay. Why did I even think he'd like me? I'm so stupid.

"Taehyung? Hey, wake up." A soft voice entered my mind and broke my dream into pieces. My eyes fluttered open and a face of an angel greeted me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I answered while rubbing my eyes. What the heck was that dream about? 

"Y-You were crying so I thought of saving you. Were you having a nightmare?" 

"Oh, I was crying?" He nodded and looked at me worriedly. "I just...dreamt of my grandmother." 

"Oh...sorry." he muttered. 

"What time is it?" I asked, wanting to change the topic because I was really weirded out by my dream. 

"It's 5." he answered while looking at his wristwatch. "Do you want to go home already?"

"No, not yet. Do you want to eat somewhere?" He frowned at what I said.

"Yes, I want to eat. But, what about your siblings?" 

"We could bring them with us." I answered and his lips curled into a smile.

"Let's go!" 

We went to my house and rushed Taeyeon and Taehyun to change clothes. Jungkook was really happy to meet them and the two kids felt the same. Jungkook and I waited in the living room while the two get changed. 

"Your house is really nice!" he commented. "But, may I ask where your parents are?" 

"They live in Daegu. I really wanted to study here in Seoul and Taeyeon and Taehyun wanted to do the same. At first, they disapproved but with the kids' begging and my promise to study well and tale care of them, they let us go." I explained.

"Ah," Jungkook slowly nodded, "But, why do you want to study here?" 

"Well, I've heard universities here are really great." He nodded again and he was about to say something when Taeyeon and Taehyun came running to us.

"We're ready! Let's go eat with Jungkook oppa!" Taeyeon squealed excitedly and grabbed Jungkook's hand. He smiled sweetly at her. 

-to be continued-