Initial Author’s Note – I know I said I wasn’t going to write anymore/at all, but to be honest here’s one more.

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Since he could last remember, the definition of ship was described as “a vessel larger than a boat for transporting people or goods by sea”. As a verb, it can also be defined as “to transport goods or people on a ship”.

 

That was the definition he was used to—and he was pretty confident about that definition— until yesterday.

 

“A what?” Taehyung sips on his soda. “Ship?”

 

Somin shrugs, reaching in and grabbing a fry from his tray. She dips it in her own plate of ketchup. “That’s what they told me.” She responds. “She literally went up to me and said, ‘I think you and Taehyung are a good ship’.” She notes, the crispy fry devoured almost immediately.

 

Matthew looks up from his burger. “They shippin’ you two?” He asks.

 

Taehyung shrugs. “Where are they taking us? How come it’s just me and Somin?” He takes a final bite out of his bacon cheeseburger. “We can’t all go?

 

Jiwoo looks up from the magazine she was reading. “No, silly.” She explains nonchalantly. “It means they like you two as a ‘ship’.”

 

“They want us to become like a boat?” He asks innocently, crumpling up the paper that covered his now-eaten burger. “That makes no sense. No sense at all.” He fixes his shooting form and aims the paper ball towards the trash bin behind Jiwoo.

 

He misses, but he doesn’t miss Jiwoo’s forehead. She grabs the paper ball and tightens it, aiming it directly back at the black-haired man.

 

“Tae-oppa, you need to practice your aim skills.” She laughs as it hits his nose directly. “And it means they like you together. You guys are cute together. They’ll call you a ‘ship’.” She explains, shrugging. “It’s a slang. Check the internet if you want.”

 

Matthew nods. “C’mon Taehyung, get with the times.” He laughs and pats him on the back, turning to wink at Somin. “Congrats on the ship though.” He fixes his snapback and continues eating.

 

Taehyung rubs his hair in frustration.

 

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The black-haired man lies down on his dorm room bed, scrolling through his phone.

 

“Ship…” He mutters. “Ship…” He searches the internet for the slang definition of the term. “The desire for two people to be in a relationship.” He drops his phone and rubs his temples furiously. “How does that relate to a ship though?” He stretches and lies flat on his bed.

 

“It’s just a word, Tae.” Matthew, laying down adjacent to the confused man, yawns. “Don’t think too much of it. People like what they like. I think it’s a girl thing.”

 

Taehyung shrugs, and returns to his phone. He opens up his messages and sends an emoji—an emoji of a ship, to be specific. It didn’t mean anything specifically, but he knew she would respond to it.

 

A few seconds later, his phone buzzes. He opens it up.

 

Jiwoo responds to his text message. “Are you still stuck on this ship thing, Tae-oppa?”

 

He sends her another message. “It’s confusing and it doesn’t make sense.” He sends another emoji of a ship and presses send. He laughs.

 

A buzz. He opens up his phone. “Just ignore it.” She responds. A second later, a sleeping face emoji follows.

 

Taehyung laughs to himself again, ignoring Matthew’s 'you're getting a bit extra' looks towards him, and turns to fall asleep.

 

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“Extra cheese, with pepperoni and pesto.” Jiwoo tosses the plate of pizza towards Taehyung. Taehyung bows sarcastically to accept it, and claps his hands together. “Last one in the cafeteria today.”

 

“You know me so well.” He grabs the knife that he had and slices it down the middle. Leaving to grab a napkin from the dispenser nearby, he returns and places the skinny pizza half on a napkin.

 

Jiwoo nods and grabs the slice, placing it in and chewing thoughtfully. It was their routine during the cafeteria’s weekly ‘American Thursdays’. “Pizza’s kinda hard today.” She notes.

 

He takes a bite out of his. “You took too long getting ready for lunch.” He replies in-between chews. “I don’t know why you put lipstick on when we’re eating pizza.”

 

She throws a piece of pepperoni at his face and whacks his arm.

 

“Oh.” She said, changing the topic. “I have something for you.” She reaches into her shirt’s front pocket and pulls out two tickets. “I almost forgot to give it to you. Got this from a girl in my last class, she said she can’t make it that day.”

 

Taehyung grabs the tickets and looks at it. “Soccer game tickets?” He looks at the description. “Oh wow, it’s even really good seats.”

 

Jiwoo nods. “Yep.” She says, wiping with a napkin. “She says to take Somin.”

 

Taehyung looks up from the tickets. “Somin?” He repeats. “I can’t take you?”

 

The blonde girl shrugs. “I mean, you don’t have to.” She says. “But I mean, these were a gift. It’s kind of weird if you don’t follow what she asks.”

 

He looks back down at the tickets and sighs. “True,” He notes. “But Sominnie doesn’t know anything about soccer.”

 

Jiwoo laughs. “Teach her.”

 

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The end of the soccer game comes to a close, and Taehyung spends almost half of the game trying to explain the term ‘offsides’ to Somin.

 

“Thanks for bringing me Taehyung…” Somin smiles, holding a large cup of cola and placing a couple of fries in . Taehyung, distracted by the intense soccer game, nods. “… even though I still have no idea what’s going on.”

 

He’s too distracted during the final seconds to reply. “Oh!” He says in delight. “Goal!” He watches the keeper fail to stop the ball from entering the goal. “They win at the last minute!” He pumps his fist in the air.

 

Somin laughs, clapping along with the crowd.

 

He quickly pulls out his phone and unlocks it. “Did you see that?” He types excitedly, pressing send almost immediately.

 

His phone buzzes. “You’re so lucky you saw it live!”

 

He types again, a grin plastered on his face even though no one would see it. “Yeah, it was pretty amazing.”

 

Somin leans on Taehyung’s shoulder. “Is that Jiwoo?” She asks, taking a sip of her soda. Taehyung nods, showing her the message. “I think she’s watching it at home.”

 

“Oh,” Somin muses. “You know, I know you know that I don’t watch soccer, but we both do know that Jiwoo does.” She pauses. “Why’d you bring me? Not that I mind, but you know.”

 

Taehyung shrugs. “Jiwoo’s classmate gave me these tickets and told me to take you.” He says, grabbing the cola from Somin and sipping it slowly.

 

“Is that girl’s name Jinsol?” Somin asks, but Taehyung doesn’t know. She sighs loudly. “She’s the one who keeps talking about us being a ‘ship’. I have her in a class too.” Somin walks with Taehyung down the stands and out the arched exit.

 

“Her?” Taehyung says. “I don’t even know who Jinsol is.”

 

Somin nods. “Yeah, she’s a year or so younger than me. She loves ‘shipping’ people together.” She mentions. “She likes playing matchmaker, and I guess this was her attempt.” Somin laughs and flips her hair back. “Don’t mind her though! At least you got to watch this game live!”

 

Taehyung thinks understands, but at the same time doesn’t. “I guess a free game isn’t bad at all.” He laughs along with her.

 

They walk towards the bus stop, and wait with a small crowd. Soon, it begins to sprinkle, and Taehyung is glad that Somin suggested to bring an umbrella. He holds the cup of cola with one hand as he uses the other to open and hold the large umbrella to cover the two of them.

 

Somin thanks him. “You know, it’s probably because the four of us are so close,” she starts. “People tend to think we’re dating or a good match.”

 

Taehyung agrees. “Maybe.” He says, taking another sip of soda.

 

“It’s probably why Matt’s always shipped with Jiwoo, too.” She laughs, leaning in to cover her hair from getting wet.

 

Taehyung loses balance and almost drops the soda.

 

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The definition of ship is described as “a vessel larger than a boat for transporting people or goods by sea”. As a verb, it can also be defined as “to transport goods or people on a ship”.

 

To Taehyung, it should stay that way.

 

He strolls into the cafeteria, looking for his trio of friends. He finds them in the last table in the corner, with Jiwoo trying to shoot and make a cheese ball into Matthew’s mouth. Somin is beside them, laughing and clapping along.

 

Shrugging and a bit hungry, he strides toward his friends, a tray of various cafeteria snacks covering the whole area.

 

“I heard they’ve been friends for quite some time…” He could hear voices of younger girls whisper.

 

“Look at them, so cute!”

 

He finds a seat next to Somin and sits down quietly.

 

“Oooh, did you hear? Taehyung and Somin went to a soccer game together last weekend? What a nice pair.”

 

Somin gives him a small smile and grabs a fry from his tray. She turns to Jiwoo. “You should have seen him at the game, though.” She laughs, munching carefully. “He was so excited!”

 

Jiwoo pouts. “Yeah, I wish I could have gone.” She sighs. “Must be nice, Tae-oppa called me until 4am about it!” She lifts her sweatshirt up to show the tank that was underneath. “At least he got a nice souvenir in exchange for me staying back at the hall.” She reveals a red tank with one of the soccer team's emblem on it.

 

Matthew laughs and puts an arm around Jiwoo’s shoulder. “At least you were able to spend time with me, right? Best day ever right?” He asks jokingly, and Jiwoo punches him lightly.

 

“You wish,” She laughs along with them. “It was just dance practice, but okay sure Matthew. It was lit.” She chirps sarcastically.

 

“Aww, look at them! His arm is around her shoulder.”

 

“They look so happy!”

 

Taehyung grabs a fork and pokes at a piece of chicken. Slowly, he places it in his mouth and chews.

 

“Yeah, for reals. I ship it.”

 

He drops his fork.

 

That damn word.

 

“No.”

 

Taehyung awkwardly stands up from his seat, causing the cafeteria to stare at the black-haired man causing a small scene.

 

“No!” He exclaims.

 

Everyone continues to stare at him.

 

“No!” He repeats himself, crossing his arms. “I don’t ship that. I refuse!” He points to Matthew and mouths a small ‘sorry’. Matthew shrugs, nods, and makes a ‘shoo-ing’ motion for him to go on with his speech.

 

He walks towards the food selection area and takes a deep breath. “The only ship I ship is with Jiwoo!” He declares, moving his hand to point to her. “I ship her! She’s the one. She’s nice, she’s funny, she’s kind, she looks so pretty when the wind blows—or even if it doesn’t blow it’s just the same…”

 

He takes one more breath. Matthew is wincing at his cheesy words, and Somin hides her face behind his back.

 

“… and she’s the only person I would choose to be on a ship with!" He exhales. "I don't even like sailing!”

 

Jiwoo, along with the other members, facepalm.

 

“What are you saying?” Jiwoo whispers to the hyperactive man as he returns to his seat next to her. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

 

“I…” He breathes. “I… have no idea. I think I need to sit down.” He runs his hands through his hair and places his head on the table to hide from the embarrassment that was slowly rising within his body.

 

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“Did you hear what happened at the cafeteria?” He could hear voices of girls’ whispers around him as he walked by.

 

Taehyung slowly walked down the hallway, his dark blue backpack slung on one side. He looks to his left, where Jiwoo jogged up alongside him.

 

“You were pretty embarrassing earlier.” She chuckles. “Way to make a scene.”

 

Taehyung shakes his head. “Don’t remind me.” He says, using his free hand to rub his forehead. “Let’s pretend that never happened.”

 

She laughs again. “It’s okay.” She takes her arm and wraps it around his, walking side-by-side in sync. Her voice gets quieter. “I agree.” She says in an uncharacteristically timid manner. “… I wouldn't mind being on a ship with you.” He blinks at her response, flustered.

 

“Oh my gosh, look at them! They’re so cute. I totally ship them together.”

 

Finally gathering his composure, he smiles, tugging Jiwoo’s arm closer to his.

 

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The definition of ship is described as “a vessel larger than a boat for transporting people or goods by sea”. As a verb, it can also be defined as “to transport goods or people on a ship”.

 

That was the definition he was used to— but to Taehyung, this new definition is okay too.

 

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Final Author’s Note – Just a quick thank you to all the readers of my previous story! I hope you enjoy this one (re-disclaimer: I am an accountant not a writer so please excuse the mess), and I hope you let me know what you think!

 

Edit 1: Changed last sentence. Mah bad, this one was my original intent but I brain-farted.