{Masked Performer} Chapter 12:

First day of school... with BTS!

“Hello. My name is Kang Jungsuh. Please take care of me...” Jungsuh bowed toward the class in a full 90 degree.

“Hello, we are BTS!” Bowing in the same manner as Jungsuh, the boys introduced themselves.

“Oppa!”

“It's Taehyung-Oppa!”

“Suga-Oppa!”

“Bangtanseoyeondan!”

“Kookie!”

Jungsuh sighed to herself and forced a smile as she looked around the class. There was a good amount of rich students in the class. They were pretty good-looking and seemed too preoccupied with BTS than to even glance at Jungsuh. Which wasn't much of an issue for her, gave her less stress.

But there was one person who had eyes locked on Jungsuh. It was Ji Hyun. She looked shocked and almost ecstatic.

After the awkward introductions, Jungsuh and the boys had taken their seats and continued on with the class. Yet, the boys seemed to ignore that whole concept of not giving too much attention toward each other. Each all sat in a seat close and around her in the back. Jungkook sat behind her, Taehyung beside her, Suga behind Taehyung, Namjoon in front of Jungsuh, Jimin in front of Taehyung, Jin to Taehyung's right, and Hobi to Yoongi's right. They were all just basically huddled to the back left corner of the room.

All of them in eye sight of her and each other. Great.

Not only that, but Ji Hyun was also close by. She sat in the seat in front of Jin, beside Jimin. She looked very shy and shocked. How could she not? Literally, BTS was sitting in the same room as her and nearby.

Jungsuh cursed to herself a bit in her head and groaned. “There goes a smooth and drama-free school year.”

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About two or more hours had passed and it was now lunch time. Jungsuh was sitting on a bench in the campus yard eating some kimbap she had packed. Admiring the scenery, she was mesmorized. It was a beautiful school campus and had a feeling of serenity and sincerity. Though, she doubted such emotional description was present in the students that attended the school.

A while ago, when she was heading to her next class, she ran into this girl and that girl was not very happy about it. It was a pure accident and Jungsuh had apologized, but the lady had to get all dramatic about it and curse out Jungsuh. Afterwards, everyone was staring at her and whispering all kinds of things.

“Why?” Jungsuh whined as she bit down into her kimbap. Speaking of her second class, she remembered another incident. Taehyung and Jungkook were also in the same class as her. Jungsuh tried hard to avoid them, being after homeroom, she dashed out of the class and hurried to the next one. But, she was caught by the two eventually.

Taehyung, being Taehyung, caused quite a commotion with their encounter and soon caused more eyes to fall on her. “Hello Jungsuh!” He greeted her purely as always. Gosh, he was a cute one but it wasn't much for the time to have him be all cute and cuddly. He ran to her and hugged her tightly with Jungkook strutting along with a wide grin.

Jungsuh could remember clearly, the innocent and adorable smiles they had, the pureness of their greetings, and the cold glares she got from the surrounding girls.

Already, she was gonna be the target of all-out war.

Jungsuh let out a painful sigh and looked up into the sky, pleadingly (with some kimbap in ).

“God... Please have mercy on my soul?”

“Jungsuh!”

“WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?!” Jungsuh cried out as her expression became sour.

Turning over to the voice ever so slowly, she spotted the seven boys walking over to her with huge smiles. “Jungsuh!” Jimin greeted with a cute grin.

Jungsuh swallowed her food and let out a weak smile. Once they had reached her, they greeted her with smiles and a few with hugs (Jin, Hobi, and Tae... again). Jungsuh was pleased yet distressed when meeting them. It wasn't because she hated them or was trying to be mean. More like she wanted to avoid any unnecessary attention. And being they are BTS, they would definitely bring her a lot of attention.

“Who would have thought that you would be transferring to Seoul Academy!” Jin smiled as he patted her on the back. He was glad she was here to be honest. Being that they were popular idols, a lot of attention would pursue them. That also meant that socializing would be harder and trust was less prominent. Since Jungsuh was already close to them prior to their enlistment into school, it was more convenient and comfortable.

“That means we will see you more often!” Jimin cheered as he took a seat beside her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Jungsuh awkwardly smiled and nodded. “I guess so.”

“You didn't deliberately come here to just be with us, did you?” Suga asked with his monotone tone. Jungsuh looked at him in disbelief and slight disgust. “No! I...” She hesitated. The man looked at her curiously and raised an eyebrow. “You what?”

“Hyung. Stop pestering and suspecting her.” Namjoon nudged with a look of annoyance. Yoongi was always the type of person who had a lack of trust in strangers, but Jungsuh was already pretty close to them. He didn't think that suspecting her was the most polite nor smartest way. “I didn't mean it in a mean way.” Suga defended.

“It's fine.” Jungsuh assured, noticing their small conflict. She took in a breath as she picked at her last kimbap. “I came here on a sort of scholarship... and was kinda forced here.” She answered.

The boys looked at her a bit stunned. “Scholarship?” Jungkook questioned. “Forced?” Jin also questioned. “That's... interesting.” Hoseok commented. Jungsuh nodded and plastered on a forced smile. “But it is cool here. Legit the place for all kinds of people.”

“We were kinda forced here too.” Jimin chimed in with a sweet smile. He looked down to Jungsuh's lap and took the last piece of kimbap. Still presenting his smile, the young man popped the thing into his mouth and gleamed. Jungsuh just watched with a bit of shock.

“You guys... forced here?” Jungsuh questioned. Jimin nodded as he munched and looked up to Namjoon. “Right, Hyung?” Their leader poked the boy in the head and sighed. “Aigoo... Why do you say it like that?” He nagged. Jimin pouted and looked down as he swallowed the food down. Though his sad expression immediately dropped as he turned back to Jungsuh and smiled. “Whatever the case, we are sorta on the same boat.”

Suddenly, Taehyung plopped beside Jungsuh and placed a gentle arm over her shoulders. “Jungsuh! I want kimbap too!” The young man smiled innocently at her and pointed to her now empty lunchbox. “Um... I don't have anymore, sorry.” Looking down at her box she sighed and looked back at Taehyung.

The boy gave a disappointed pout and groaned. “But it looked yummy.” He moped. “It sure was.” Jimin grinned. Taehyung glared daggers at his friend and huffed. Jungsuh sighed once more and patted the young man's head. “I'll make some extra for you next time.” She stated. This made him smile and perk up again.

“Really?! Only for me?!” He gleamed. Jungsuh chuckled and nodded. “I don't know about only you but, I will make some more to share next time.”

“Me too!” Jimin chimed in. “I'd like to try too!” Jin gleamed. “Me too! Me too!” Hobi added. Jungsuh laughed and smiled as she closed her box and put it away in her bag. “Sure. Next time, I'll make some for everyone.”

“You don't have too.” Namjoon said as he rubbed the back of his neck shyly. The members seemed very attached to her and them all suddenly asking her to cook for them was a bit over the top.

Jungsuh shook her head and assured him that she was fine with it. It would be a nice thank you gift for them always being so kind to her. She felt obliged to do so; it was only necessary as a close acquaintance.

Acquaintance. Something she had been calling herself in this odd relationship with these boys. She couldn't say she was fully engaged in their life nor were they in hers, and she also couldn't say that they weren't growing closer. Referring them as “friends” was something she wasn't quite accustomed to call them yet, but she couldn't just stay as an acquaintance. They were good guys. Just genuinely good guys who were unfortunate enough to run into her. An ill-fated introvert with a sorrowful and hidden past.