Chapter 10

Another day, another drama.

Jungkook sighs as he looks around at his new friends and the ones he hasn’t met yet. Yoongi is staring blankly at his textbook, Namjoon is dutifully studying and Sumi, Yoongi’s girlfriend, is reading her notes. He hasn’t spoken to Sumi yet but based on what Hoseok has filled him in on, she seems to be the glue of the group.

He looks at Jennie and Hoseok, who he considers his best friends. Hoseok is frowning deeply and appears to be reading the same sentence over and over again. Jennie is organizing her notes and smiling with confidence.

Yesterday, he met Yoongi and Namjoon. Namjoon seemed like a smart guy who accepted Jungkook immediately, but Yoongi looked wary at that time. The more he thinks about it, the more Jungkook believes he will never accept him like Hoseok has.

Jungkook has always been a lonely guy. He had one friend in Middle school, but that friend moved away. So Jungkook buried himself in his schoolwork and still achieves high grades. He never felt compelled to seek friends or meet new people. He was fine as he was. But then he ran into her.

Jennie.

In the cafeteria a few months ago, Jungkook almost crashed into Jennie, who had just got her food. In that moment, just like in a movie scene, he fell for her. He almost fell on her, but she saved them both. She laughed and apologized for almost knocking him over.

He’s been watching her ever since, gauging what she’s like and whether he should bother trying to talk to her.

He knew that she sat behind him and he knew they had a few classes together. On top of that, she seems friendly and cheerful around her friends.

Last week, he used all his courage to turn around and finally speak to her. He never planned to become friends with Hoseok, and he never planned to make more friends from that. He told Hoseok that was his plan, but he didn’t really care for it. However, after meeting them, Jungkook’s world changed drastically. He becomes excited for school so he can see his friends, especially Jennie.

He actually enjoys studying with them – not that he hated studying, he just had no feelings towards it at all. Hoseok brightened his world just by simply accepting him.

Now, as he sits in front of Jennie and Hoseok, he ponders the repercussions of friendship. Drama, love, hate, gossip, all the things Jungkook never missed came along with them.

But, even though he hates drama more than anything, and even though he doesn’t want to get involved in their problems, Jungkook finds he still enjoys their company and sometimes feels lonely without them. Loneliness isn’t a feeling he has ever had before. It was almost like he entered high school and his emotions just shut off. Jennie gave him life and Hoseok poured life into him.

How did he miss out on such luxuries his whole high school life?  

A few weeks later…

“Finally! Exams are over!” Sumi sighs happily as Hoseok, Yoongi, and Namjoon follow her out of the exam hall, stretching and yawning. Sumi hasn’t seen Jennie since exams started at the beginning of the week. She knows she is avoiding her, but she can’t muster up the courage to speak to her. When she’s alone with her thoughts, she can’t help blaming Jennie for her and Yoongi’s problems. It’s not Jennie’s fault, but at this point, Sumi just wants to blame someone else for a change. It’s easy to blame Jennie when Sumi is so angry at her.

“Hobi,” Namjoon nudges Hoseok’s arm, looking at Yoongi’s apprehensive face, “Let’s go find Jungkook and Jennie,”

Hoseok gets the picture quickly this time. He waves at Sumi and Yoongi before following Namjoon away.

Sumi and Yoongi dawdle in silence for a while before Sumi speaks up, breaking the tension.

“I sent off my manuscript a few weeks ago,” Sumi says proudly. Yoongi frowns at her unexpectedly.

“Why am I only hearing about this now? This is great news,” he asks, sounding a little disappointed.

“Sorry, I’ve been so focused on the exams,” Sumi shrugs, “I just thought you should know,”

“I see,” Yoongi replies blankly, “Is it a good publishing company?”

“Yeah, they are the best,”

They fall into silence again, shuffling their feet until they reach a bench on the main path leading towards the school gates. Yoongi sits down first and Sumi follows. They sit awkwardly as if they’ve only just started dating.

“Sumi,” Yoongi sighs, “What would you do if I decided to go to America?”

Sumi freezes. She looks up at Yoongi, her heart beating fast. Sumi has already made it clear that she doesn’t think it will work, but then again she has never said it explicitly.

“I don’t think we’ll last the distance,” Sumi says truthfully, “And I think you can still succeed in your dream if you stay here,”

Yoongi’s frown deepens, his mouth a thin line. Sumi knows she’s made him upset, but she’s not sure why.

“I… I can stay in Korea and do music,” Yoongi agrees, “But I can’t stay in Korea and do Hip hop for a living. I need to study in America,”

“Why? Aren’t there musicians you can learn from here?” Sumi snaps, folding her arms.

“I want to join a specific agency,” Yoongi explains, “If I pass the auditions, they’ll send me to America for 3 years at least. Namjoon is going to audition as well. I want to audition with him so we can debut together and learn together,”

“Why this agency?” Sumi continues to prod at Yoongi’s dream, making him feel like he’s trying to get his mother to agree to a field trip he desperately wants to attend. This thought angers him even more.

“Because it has some amazing people there!” Yoongi snaps, throwing his arms up in anger, “Why did you send your manuscript to that particular publishing company?”

“What are you talking about?” Sumi growls, “My publishing company doesn’t want to send me abroad!”

“So? I don’t want you to publish your manuscript through that company now!” Yoongi argues.

“That makes no sense! It’s my decision!”

“EXACTLY!” Yoongi booms, making Sumi wince, “This is my dream, and this is what I want to do! Who are you to force me to do what you want me to do?”

Sumi opens to argue back, but she can’t think of anything to say. He has a point, why is she trying to treat him like a child?

After taking a moment to calm down, she responds.

“3 years is a long time,” Sumi mumbles, “You won’t be able to visit because you’ll have no money, I won’t be able to visit because I’ll be working, and we’ll slowly stop talking, stop caring, and break up,” Sumi takes a deep breath, “Or you’ll move onto some… attractive… American girl because you have no one to cuddle!”

Yoongi scoffs, glaring down at her as he clenches his fists in his lap, his body turned towards her.

“If anyone is going to move on, it’s going to be you,” Yoongi growls darkly, “I’ll be too busy to care for girls. Plus, we don’t cuddle anyway so there won’t be anything to miss,”

Suddenly, Sumi stands and slaps Yoongi across the face.

“Nothing to miss huh?” She grunts, her voice shaking with emotion. She turns to walk away, but Yoongi stands and grabs her arm.

“I didn’t mean that,” He mumbles. Sumi turns to look at him, anger still coursing through her body.

“You made your point clear,” Sumi turns to face him. She pokes him hard in the chest, “You won’t miss me because there is nothing to miss,” Poke, “You think I’m mothering you when I just don’t want to break up,” Poke, “And you’re obviously just looking for a time to leave me without making it too hard on you,”

Yoongi grabs her hand and pulls her into his chest, his eyes narrowed.

“Yes, you’re mothering me,” He murmurs, his hand tightening around her wrist, “But I will miss you and I will love you, no matter what happens to us, you understand?”

“Yoongi, let me go,” Sumi whimpers. Yoongi relaxes his grip but he doesn’t let her go.

“I think you’re the one waiting for the day you can break up with me,” Yoongi accuses, “I think you’re the one who doesn’t love me,”

“Of course I love you!” Sumi’s voice cracks. The pain in her chest is too unbearable. Tears start falling down her cheeks against her will.

“Really? You have a cruel way of showing it,” Yoongi sighs and steps back, letting go of her hand before rubbing his forehead.

“I’m not cruel, this situation is cruel,” Sumi's voice shakes as she steps away from him, “I need to go, this is getting nowhere,” Sumi starts to walk away, but she doesn’t get far. She hears Yoongi’s voice float out to her, words full of venom and truth.

“What else is there to say?”

Sumi bites her lip as she starts walking faster. Her head hurts from trying to hold in the tears and her chest trembles in pain. Her eyes dart around as she tries to think of a solution. Something, anything, for them to keep their relationship and follow their dreams.

3 years is too long for them to be apart. They will change and move apart. Yoongi will either be absorbed in his work or he’ll find someone who shares his dream. Sumi will be caught up in her writing – if she is successful. But she can’t give up her dream and move to America, she’ll go crazy and they’ll break up. Yoongi can’t give up his dream and stay by her side, or he’ll end up like the underground rappers he met, barely getting by and no improvement or collaborations with his favourite artists. He’ll resent her for the rest of his life if she forces him to do that.

But the thought of breaking up hurts her so bad she would rather die. But at this point, what else can they do? They’ve reached an impasse.

Where do they go from here?