*** Chapter 15: Red Notes ***

Monday morning, as usual Jihoon and the others were arriving at the gate of their college. Before they parted ways to go to their respective departments, Jihoon sent his big brother a silent look.

No, it was a silent glare.

Jimin knew exactly what it was because they had just had their infamous cat-dog fight yesterday.

“Yes, Jihoon-a.. I know,” Jimin sighed in defeat.

“Promise me again, hyung. You know it is hard for me to believe you in this kind of things,” Jihoon dared to demand his older brother.

“I promise you I will not seek trouble or go anywhere near Kang Daniel, although he had done you wrong,” he looked straight into his baby brother’s eyes, and the younger could not ask for anything more.

“Thanks, hyung. I appreciate it. Let me deal with it myself.”

Jimin opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something more, but then he chose not to. They had had enough verbal fight about this yesterday, and he did not want to add another inconvenience.

“Take care…” he only managed to say those words before he ruffled his brother’s hair shortly.

Jihoon did not resist it and then he took a deep breath as he was watching his brother walked away to Dancing department. At least he managed to get his brother’s words not to do anything to Daniel.

Taehyung grabbed Jihoon’s shoulder lightly and rested his arm on it. “That goes pretty well.”

“Yeah..” Jihoon patted his own chest. “Please look after him later on your practice, hyung.”

“Sure.”

Taehyung gently affirmed, and then they start to walk to their building. They met Guanlin at the lockers corridor. The basketball players packed their attires inside their lockers, and Jihoon left his boxing gloves in his. He planned to hit gym directly later after his classes were done, and he did not want to bring those heavy gloves to classes. Thankfully, their college was providing these lockers for the students.

As usual, these popular boys’ lockers were full with love letters from their fans. Taehyung still held his position as the record holder in Acting department about the most love letters received, although he had changed lockers multiple times. Bangtan fans always find a way to know which lockers belong to their idols.

At some points in the past, Taehyung was tired of throwing all those various papers into garbage can that he decided not to touch his locker until a month passed. But his locker got overloaded that even from afar, everyone could see that some papers were sticking out from the supposed ventilation bars, which the fans used to slip their love letters in. Therefore, he took the conscience to empty his lockers at least once a week because he did not want to trouble the cleaning staff. He needed to use the space in his locker anyway.

“You always throw away all of those without even reading it, hyung?” Guanlin asked non-chalantly while opening letters in his own locker.

“Yeah,” Taehyung answered. “Somebody actually gets jealous if I ever pay attention to any of this…” he playfully blinked at his lover who was busy dumping his own letters too, but the boy noticed it and sent him an innocent smirk.

“But it can be some important announcement or notes from… well… clubs.. or friends…” Guanlin thoroughly search his pile of papers.

“No one used printed papers to announce something these days. We have our announcement board, and gadgets,” Taehyung kept going back and forth to the bins to throw his stack. “And even if they do, they do not use pink-slash-colorful heart-shaped or other obnoxious shaped and perfumed papers like these.”

“Are you reading yours, Guanlin-a?” Jihoon was walking back and forth to the bin too, but not as often as Taehyung needed.

“Yes.. They are fun in some ways…” the youngest boy threw a silly smile. “I didn’t get this much experience in Taiwan, because… well… everyone know who I am, and most people did not dare to play fire… with my family…” the boy uttered the words lightly as he was used to it, and at the moment he was enjoying the funny words printed on his fan letters.

“Well, you’re new here, but even within weeks, you already have your fair share of fans. No wonder, you’re tall, handsome, and athletic. But wait until you literally have no more space in your own locker to put your stuff,” Taehyung remarked as he threw his last bits of papers. “You might wish to change lockers secretly, although it did not really work for me.”

Guanlin chuckled lightly and wondered how annoying it would be, but he did not think of it anymore as he followed Jihoon to head for their class.

As much as Jihoon wanted to forget his incident with Daniel last weekend, he could not hear enough of it. Not much of surprise for him if the gossips about what happened in the musical rehearsal last Saturday started to spread amongst the students. Some of his classmates already in anyway, and some girls actually glared at him in envy.

Jihoon tried his best to act as calm as usual because he did not wish to make such a fuss over the incident. Although he admitted, that somehow, he was feeling uneasy about this.

However, the Wink Fairy did not want to think much about it and he drowned himself focusing on the lessons. He knew he still needed to deal with Daniel at some point, but for goodness’ sake, he wanted to forget it for a moment.

Their last class ended a bit later than usual that afternoon. Jihoon encouraged Guanlin to leave first because the basketball team was starting to enter the annual competitions, and they were keeping up the pace with their practices. Classes were indeed important, but Jihoon knew it better for the players not to come late for practices if they did not want to run another lap of warming up by the courtesy of the silent glare from the basketball coach. The coach, with the new assistant, a.k.a. ex-captain, a.k.a. Min Yoongi, knew all the schedules from the whole team members. Therefore, no one would have a chance to ditch on them, unless it was an extremely important business.

Jihoon stayed in the class a little longer to discuss his project group –with Guanlin- with the assistant professor. After he finished and got a better understanding about what he had to do with the project, Jihoon left his class only to find Woojin already walked to his direction. His bestfriend’s class must have ended some time ago.

“Are you done?” Woojin asked.

“Yeah. Let me get my stuff at my locker first,” Jihoon answered and they head to the lockers.

It was obvious that Woojin would tag along with him to go to the gym. It was the mutual quality time for the Pink Sausages anyway.

Jihoon arrived at his locker and opened it casually after entering his lock code as usual. He knew there might be some new love letters already, but never even once, he found love letters written in red hot papers, in small cuts, like the size of post-it notes, and in notable amount of pile, because some papers were flying down as he opened the door. He just cleaned up his locker that morning. These papers must be slipped in today.

Woojin grabbed one paper that was flying down. He started to get his own fan letters, but he was always curious with what others got.

But to his surprise, the paper was not written with affectionate words, but rather, curses instead.

“!!!”

Woojin was utterly shocked to read the word written with awful ugliness. He searched for another paper and found another curse on it.

“Die you!!”

Jihoon did not notice anything and started to reach for the papers to throw it away, like usual, but then he saw some scribbles himself.

“!!!”

“Ugly!!”

“Fatty!!!”

“!!!”

Jihoon could not hide his surprise too. Although the hand-writing was so ugly, he could read the words clearly. Woojin gathered some more papers, and more swearing words were found.

“ off!!!”

“Go to hell!!!”

While Jihoon was left in evident shock because he’d never imagine that he would receive such cruel words, Woojin took the liberty to study the papers. He was agitated that someone dared to hurt his bestfriend like this.

Or perhaps, the culprit was more than one person, since Woojin noticed the different type of papers, and also handwritings. The scribbles were so awful that perhaps the senders wanted to hide their identity by writing in obvious broken or even more, with their passive hands.

“What the hell is this?!” Woojin did not hide his distress. “What do they…”

But Woojin’s words were cut because he heard a loud bang from his side. Jihoon was banging his hand to the metal lockers. His other hand was clutching his chest.

“Jihoon-a… you okay?” Woojin threw all the papers away and supported his twin-soul.

“I’m okay… Woojin-a…”

“But…”

“I’m just shocked… That’s it…” Jihoon grimaced and massaged his own chest.

Woojin noticed it. Jihoon just had his attack last weekend, and he might be left vulnerable still.

“Breathe, Jihoon-a… breathe…” Woojin gently massage his friend’s back.

Jihoon nodded weakly and proceed to do as the sparrow suggested. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, and he kept repeating the sequence until his heartbeat was slowed down. It was lucky enough for him that he could control this small attack.

After noticing that Jihoon’s breathing was back to normal, he made the shorter boy leaned on the lockers while he scraped the papers out of Jihoon’s sight and threw it on the garbage can.

“Woojin-a… Don’t tell anyone about this…” Jihoon warned his friend when he gained his energy back.

“But…”

“Please…”

Woojin knew from the look of his beloved friend, that he did not to make anyone worried about him, especially a group of boys called you-know-what.

He looked around and actually the corridor was a bit empty at this time of the day. Even the one-two persons passing did not give a damn care about them. People these days were busy with their own business. But somewhere in his heart, Woojin knew that if this thing kept happening, sooner or later, the infamous hound named you-know-who would hear the news.

“Do you know why you get these?” Woojin showed his concern.

Jihoon closed his eyes, taking another deep breath. “I’m not sure. But I think I got the hunch…”

Just when Jihoon was about to finish his sentence, someone was shouting, calling his name from afar.

“Park Jihoon-ssi!!”

Both Pink Sausages turned their heads to the direction where the voice came, and Woojin got what Jihoon meant. Kang Daniel was running, approaching them.

“His fans…” Woojin hissed. And Jihoon nodded.

As much as Jihoon wanted to avoid meeting the superstar because of the shocking surprise that had just happened to him, the pretty boy knew he should not runaway. He had matter to settle with the bulky wolf.

“Park Jihoon…” Daniel reached them but he stopped a while because he needed to catch a breath.

“Sunbaenim, I have something to tell you,” Jihoon wanted to spend less time with the superstar by directly getting to the point, but Daniel beat him for it.

“Me too. I want to say I’m sorry,” he said quickly before taking another deep breath. “I know my action last Saturday was very rude and inconsiderate. But I did it because I…”

“I have a boyfriend, sunbaenim…” Jihoon cut to the chase.

“I… what?” Daniel somehow looked dumbfounded.

“I have a boyfriend, and I will appreciate it if you’ll never do something like that anymore,” Jihoon reconfirmed. “I know that we need the chemistry to play as Hans and Anna, but that is the furthest we will go. I hope you understand, sunbaenim.”

Daniel was taken aback a bit with Jihoon’s bluntness. He knew it from Jihoon’s rejection back then, that the younger boy disliked his action. But he still hoped for a little chance to get closer to his partner, and somehow wished if their relation would come true in real life. He even asked his bestfriend, Seongwoo, to find if Jihoon was single or not, so he could make a move. And the information he got clearly said that the cute boy was available. And he also knew that it was because of Park Jimin’s protective barrier.

“Well.. then…” Daniel was not sure about what to say. “I’m truly sorry. I thought you were single. Because…”

“I’m sure you know at least a little about my brother, right?” Jihoon was confident that everyone in SIA should have heard a thing or two about the infamous basketball captain. “I did not want any unnecessary intrusion from my brother, that’s why I’ve been keeping my relationship low. But the rumors, about what you did to me, have spread all around this college. You are aware of this too, aren’t you?”

Jihoon sent an inspecting glare, and he knew that the superstar was not surprised when he mentioned about the rumors, so he knew what he said was true.

“Both my brother and my boyfriend know about this too. But I’ve stopped them to do stupid things to you, and I’ll really appreciate it if you go no further, sunbaenim,” the shortest boy continued, and his look was a bit intimidating.

Woojin swore that he was witnessing Jihoon in his badass mode, which was a rare occurrence lately. If he had not known Jihoon for life, he would be shivering at the fact that someone so feeble and vulnerable just moments ago, could turn into a badass slayer like now.

But Daniel was Daniel. No one knew about the hard life he had before to reach his current fame that a soft scolding like this actually meant nothing for him.

“Okay, I know,” Daniel replied firmly as he did not want his junior to look down on him. “But I still hope that we could be friends,” as a matter of fact, his words did not sound like asking permission, but more like an unbeatable statement.

Jihoon crossed his arms in his chest. “I’m not sure, sunbaenim, my boyfriend will not like it.”

“Oh yeah? Who is he anyway?”

“That’s none of your business,” Jihoon answered frankly.

Daniel studied Jihoon’s expressions a little, and he recalled every fact that he knew. “I bet he is a part in our play, isn’t he?”

Jihoon said nothing, although his heart skipped a beat.

“Could it be.. that Chinese boy?” Daniel guessed.

“Guanlin is a Taiwanese. And no. He is not my boyfriend. Just don’t play the game, sunbaenim. I will never tell you anyway.”

“Okay okay..” Daniel raised his hand as he noticed that Jihoon was getting more irritated. In fact, he did not want the cute boy to hate him. “But note that we will stick to play as Hans and Anna until this semester ends.”

“No worries, sunbaenim. I know that. I want to become professional anyway.”

“Good then,” Daniel nodded. “See you at rehearsals.”

The superstar felt dejected, but he did not want to show it to his juniors. At least, although he was bluntly rejected, he did not want to look pathetic. He wanted to keep his dignity and prayed so that he could survive the play.

Jihoon kept his stoic look and waited until Daniel was lost from his sight before he heaved a long sigh and took a deep breath.

“You okay?” Woojin asked. He had been quiet all along Daniel’s confrontation, because he knew his bestfriend wanted to settle things himself.

“Yeah…” Jihoon took another deep breath. “I’ve made myself clear, right?”

“I think so. Let’s just hope he doesn’t bring any more troubles to you,” Woojin confirmed. “But his fans… do you think they are really the one behind this?”

“You know how the fandom works, Woojinie… Some crazy fans are very possessive towards their idols. Everytime someone famous is involved in a romantic scandal, the fans bash the said partner…”

“Well.. It’s true… The rumors about your kiss must have spread wide…” Woojin agreed.

“Yeah…”

“You need to be careful, Jihoonie. You sure you don’t want your brother to know about this? His protection could be very useful now.”

“You are talking as if he was an underground mafia in this campus, Woojinie…”

“But the feel is similar…”

“Yeah, but no…” Jihoon reject firmly. “I do not want him to worry about me…”

Woojin sighed as he could not believe that his twin-soul was so stubborn even when his safety was at stake here.

“But promise me, you will tell me if anything bad happened again,” only once in a blue moon Woojin casted his protection ward around Jihoon because actually he knew about his friend’s capability that the Wink Fairy did not really need his help.

But now they were dealing with invisible enemies. It was best to have more precautions. Jihoon realized it better that he gave a firm nod to his bestfriend.

“Now let’s get going to the gym,” Jihoon took his stuff. “I’m in dire need to release all this tensions.”

*******

Days went by with Jihoon became more vigilant than before. He was afraid that he might find another dead threats in his locker, that’s why he’d been avoiding to use it. It’s not that he was afraid of the letters, but most of the time, he was with Taehyung and/or Guanlin. He truly did not want to make his beloved persons worried.

True to his fear, once he was alone because Taehyung and Guanlin had gone to the basketball court, he opened his locker and found tons of red notes with similar threats.

It’s even become clear to him now because the notes confirmed his suspicion that the culprit was Daniel’s fans.

“Stay away from Daniel oppa, you ugly pig!!”

“What have you done to uri Daniel?!”

“You crazy is forcing our Oppa to be a disgusting gay like you?!!”

“Spread your leg somewhere else, you !!!”

“How dare you kiss our Oppa?!!”

“Daniel is mine!! off!!”

Jihoon flinched as he read the nasty words. He knew he should not read them. However, he could not help himself finding some words when he scraped the papers and throw it to the garbage bin.

He decided it then, that he should not open his locker when he was not alone. Or perhaps he should file in a request to change locker. But then he remembered Taehyung’s words that day, that it might not help at all. Crazy fans would always find a way to find him.

The Jeojang Kid noticed it too that these crazy fans must have made a move in secret because of Bangtan influence in the campus. Daniel might be a super star, but Bangtan had numerous loyal fans in SIA. Rather than worrying himself, Jihoon worried about what he had to do if the words reached his brother. He did not want to trouble Jimin because the older had done enough for him. He should defend himself.

Yet apparently, the bullying started to go beyond Jihoon’s limits. At least Jihoon was thankful that Daniel was not making any more trouble during the rehearsals. But his fans, it’s a different story.

One day Jaehwan came to him, giving a bag that looked like a souvenir, because he could see that something was wrapped nicely inside the paper bag. Kim Jaehwan was a genius student who ran through double major. It was his 2^nd year in Music Departement, but he studied Acting too starting this year by extension course, because he had a dream to establish an entertainment company, he wanted to learn everything.

He went to the same classes with Jihoon, and when he gave the gift to Jihoon, he said that it was from a random girl he met on the entrance of Acting department building.

“You really live up to the name of Park Ji family, Jihoon-a,” Jaehwan said. “Both you and your brother are very famous, that you started to receive anonymous gift like this too. And I guess thanks to you people are noticing me too? They even know that I am your classmate…”

“You are popular too, hyung,” Jihoon stayed humble. “Only rare species of student are able to have double major here in SIA. Surely they know you. You are composing the scores for my musical too.”

“Really?” Jaehwan look cheekily cheerful. “You think I’m famous? Then perhaps I have to prepare myself because I’ll start to receive love letters too, soon…”

“Don’t even dream about it…” Minhyun interrupted their conversation. “Only real celebrities and Bangtan team-related persons receive such treatment in this campus. You won’t make the cut…”

“Eyy, hyung, don’t crush my dream.”

“You always dream too much.”

“What’s wrong with dreaming too much? Everyone must have a dream…”

Jihoon let out a light chuckle seeing Minhyun and Jaehwan having funny chats between them. Hwang Minhyun was his classmate too although the boy was older than him by some years. After graduating high school, he chose to get some job first so he could save some money to pay for his own education. He did it just because he did not want to burden his parents.

All of them then turned serious when the professor entered the room and started the class. Jihoon kept the gift bag aside and focused on the lesson.

When the class was over, Jihoon just hurriedly grabbed all his stuff because he wanted to follow Guanlin to the basketball practice. He lived up to his name as personal cheerleader of the team whenever he had the time. On the way to the court, the curiosity took him though, because he could not wait to see what gift he got from his fan.

The fan was wrapping the gift beautifully, but once he unwrapped all the ribbon and papers, he saw something that he wished he should never see.

The gift was from a fan, indeed. But it was not his fans.

The clear cut glass looked like a trophy, just like the trophies he saw on award shows. But he clenched his fists reading the words printed in the clear glass.

“World’s Number 1 , Park Jihoon.”

*** to be continued ***