14

“And you simply divide it by the results you got from the first ques-, hey, Hara, you listening?” 

Hara startles out of her thoughts when Hoseok snaps his fingers in front of her face. She blinks and smiles sheepishly. 

“Sorry, just a bit tired.” Hoseok does not look convinced. 

“You’ve been spacing out a lot since Monday,” he murmurs, and Hara averts her gaze because she is not used to pity and she absolutely hates not knowing how to respond without offending the boy sitting across from her. 

“It’s nothing, really.” 

“Hara, is it about what Sunny said in class?” Hoseok leans in a bit closer, eyebrows arched. “Hey, Hara, is that it? Of course it is, what she said was horrible. She can sometimes get ahead of herself, I’m really sorry, Hara.”

“How the hell do you even know about that, it's only been two days,” Hara mutters, busying herself with the pencil lying in front of her, the paper underneath untouched. 

“Rumours,” Hoseok explains sheepishly as he scratches the back of his neck, “they travel quite fast here.”

Hara scoffs humorlessly but continues staring at the paper on her table, her chest constricting in an annoying way, and she starts doodling on the sheet to distract herself from any bad thoughts presented by her anxiety. 

“I’m sorry,” Hoseok says after allowing her a couple of moments of silence. Hara looks up and hates the pity on his face. “She's probably upset that we haven't been hanging out with her as much as we usually do, I will talk to her and make sure she never does anything like tha-”

“You don’t have to,” Taehyung, who just came back from the lavatories, interrupts, dropping down in the seat next to Hara, “Yoongi hyung seems to have already handled it.” He then turns towards Hara and grins. “Nothing to worry about now, Hara."

"Wait, did you talk to him?” Hara asks and Taehyung frowns while slowly nodding.

“Yes, or as much as one can talk to him without being flipped off or something.” Taehyung shrugs and laughs but Hoseok looks a little uncomfortable despite the smile on his face and Hara knows where to dig. 

“I got the impression that Jungkook doesn’t quite like him.” She looks directly at Hoseok now. “I mean, he did kinda warn me to stay away from the outcast, Min.” 

“He calls him an outcast now?” 

Taehyung blinks in surprise but he looks a little offended on Yoongi’s behalf, and Hoseok just continues staring at his worksheet, jaw clenching every now and then.

Clearly, if Hoseok of all people is this quiet and uncomfortable, Min Yoongi is anything but an outcast.

“Is he- was he your friend?” Hara tries gently, looking to get a reaction from Taehyung. The latter bites his lip and darts a quick look at Hoseok who still hasn’t moved his head. 

“It is a bit complicated.” Taehyung sighs and plasters on a tired smile. “It’s a long story, I’m not sure if we’ll ever be able to cover the whol-”

“How long can it be, you’re all in your first year here,” Hara interjects, frowning. “I mean, you two had to dump a year because of failed exams, you explained that part. But why was Yoongi in my class? Is he a new student as well or did he also dump a year?” 

“He didn’t dump a year,” he explains, “he’s taking electives to get all A’s.”

Hara frowns. “What do you mean?” 

“He’s a year older than Hoseok hyung but he got here through a scholarship that would only work if he followed the whole course.”

“So he had to restart his first year?” 

Taehyung nods, running a hand through his hair. 

“He’s supposed to be in his third year, but he’s on his second year now. Me and Hobi hyung dumped but he didn’t. The only reason you’ll see him in some of your classes is because he is picking up those subjects to get straight A’s. He doesn’t need to, but he insists. Just like Jungkook.”

Hara suddenly thinks back to what Yoongi had said to her on the rooftop, realizing that he probably thinks she's on a scholarship like him.

Maybe that's why he told her to never give these people, these entitled snobs, the opportunity to look down on her. He probably knows first-hand what it's like.

Apropos entitled snobs. 

“What do you mean just like Jungkook?” Hara frowns. “He’s in every single class with me, I thought we were the same age?”

“He’s in his second year, but he dropped to fix his grades.” Hara tries not to gape in surprise.

“He’s taking the whole year again?” she asks, and Taehyung nods. 

“Yeah, he’s a freak like that.”

Jungkook is clearly in the middle of some kind of rivalry with Yoongi, but that makes no sense when Hara takes Taehyung and Hoseok’s reactions to him calling Yoongi an outcast into consideration. 

She then wonders why Yoongi is so harsh on himself, pushing himself to do better than great.

To be called an outcast must bear roots in some kind of confrontation that happened on school grounds, and Hara is itching to find out the truth.

“So what happened?” She looks over at Hoseok, but the boy remains passive, and then turns her curious frown to Taehyung. “Why does Jungkook call him an outcast if you two are on friendly terms with him?”

Taehyung blinks a couple of times, trying to find the correct words to explain the situation, but Hoseok suddenly stands up, his chair scraping against the floor, alerting some of the nearby students. 

He looks uncomfortable, his eyes a little teary and unfocused. “Nothing happened. Excuse me.” 

Taehyung gets the message, and he instantly changes the subject when Hoseok leaves the table. Hara plays along but can’t for the life of her ignore the curiosity nibbling on her brain. 

What exactly happened between these boys and why are they trying to dig it six feet under? 

Lunch break is quiet and uneventful, and Hara forces a fruit salad down when guilt boils in her belly because Hoseok’s smile is fake and his eyes are red rimmed. 

When the trio part ways for their next classes, Hara decides to spend her free hour working on her english assignment in the library, but on the way there she feels another pang of curiosity and turns on her heel, nervously jogging down the hallways in search of the fire exit. 

She can barely feel her legs when she reaches the rooftop, and she swallows harshly before pushing the door, slowly peeking her head out to check if the person of interest is present. 

And lo and behold, he is. 

“Free hour?” She walks up to Yoongi and leans against the railing next to him, leaving enough space between them. 

“Annoying professor,” Yoongi replies, dragging in a lungful of smoke before gently breathing it out through his nose. “You?”

“Free period,” Hara mutters, nervously tucking her hair behind her ear when a harsh push in the wind moves it around. She looks down at the schoolground, watching lone students make their way either to class or their cars. 

“You have a question.”

Hara snaps her head in Yoongi’s direction and ignores the pain in her neck from the sudden movement. He doesn’t even look at her but smirks knowingly, dropping the cigarette next to his foot before stepping on it.

“It’s written all over you. Work a bit on your body language, Kim.” 

Hara stares at him for a moment, offended, but she realizes he should have the upperhand in the situation given the bomb she’s about to drop on him.

She doesn't know if he's gonna tell her or not, especially since they barely know each other and because it's clearly a sensitive matter to Jungkook and the others, but she drags in a deep breath and shoots her shot. 

“Sure. I have multiple questions, actually, but I've set the bar at one reply only, given your lack of interest in talking to people.” 

Yoongi looks anything but amused. “Shoot.” 

“What’s your beef with Jungkook?” 

Yoongi’s expression doesn’t give away anything, his eyes the same dead ones, lips settled in a neutral line, but his fingers twitch by his side and he suddenly pulls out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. 

“Has no one taught you prying is bad?” he asks, struggling to light the stick when the wind picks up. Hara steps closer and shields the flame with her palms, making Yoongi freeze and look at her with arched brows. 

“It’s only bad when it can result in danger.” 

“What makes you think I won’t hurt you?”

It’s the way he murmurs it so calmly, an eyebrow arched, head tilted to the side, and now that he’s so near Hara can’t help but feel intimidated. 

But she’s Hara and does she hate feeling small. 

“Lawsuits are easy to file,” she replies, shrugging, “but paperwork and court cases are a pain in the .” 

Yoongi stares at her for a moment, silently taking in her features, and Hara stares directly back into his eyes, challenging him to back down first. 

He surprisingly does, and what’s even more surprising is the small chuckle that leaves his lips as he shakes his head and leans down to on the cigarette, the cherry coming to life and glowing bright red. 

Hara steps back into her earlier spot and resumes watching over the campus, very aware of the boy still staring at her, but she doesn’t give off anything but aloofness and Yoongi decides to take what he gets and snorts under his breath before leaning his elbows against the railing. 

“I wonder if we’ve crossed paths before,” he comments, “you seem like you’d survive back where I used to live.”

“Haven’t really been to prison before, so no, I don’t think we’ve met.” Yoongi laughs at that, it’s short but it’s genuine and Hara stores the knowledge about his dark humour in the back of her mind. “So, you gonna speak or do I have to swear on my mom’s life not to tell anyone first?”

“Why don’t you ask Jeon himself?” Yoongi asks casually, but his tone turns a little harsh when he says his name. “He won’t like it if the real version of the story suddenly debuts.”

“Why would his version be fake?” 

“Because he’s got a lot going for him,” Yoongi says, “wouldn’t want to risk losing it. Especially not when his dear father is involved.” 

It’s a warning, an indirect one, and Hara feels a shiver run down her spine and swallows thickly.

If Yunho is involved, it has to be something serious. Hara isn’t sure if she’s treading on safe waters, but she’s too deep in now and staying in the familiar cold seems like a better idea than returning to dry land. She decides to take the plunge. 

“What did he do, Yoongi?” 

She’s met with silence, maybe because she used his name for the first time, but Hara patiently waits and watches Yoongi’s jaw clench, cigarette forgotten between slim fingers. He’s very clearly going through a mental battle, and Hara hopes the results are in her favour.

“There was a boy- a student here,” he begins, voice low and toneless. Hara tries not to show exactly how invested she is and watches him play with the cigarette. “Very gullible. Very ing stupid. Got involved with me of all people.”

Yoongi’s jaw clenches and he smiles humourlessly. 

“It backfired, and he’s locked up in a cell. Indefinitely.” 

“What happened?” Hara gently asks, brows furrowed. Yoongi looks at her, eyes slightly narrowed. His adam's apple bobs when he swallows harshly. 

“ing od-ed.” Laughing, Yoongi holds the cigarette up. “What’d you think would happen to someone involved with a druggie?” 

Hara averts her gaze because Yoongi’s grin is delirious and his eyes are red. So that's what he meant by locked behind bars. 

“Jungkook always tried to get him away from me, but it wasn’t easy when Hoseok and Taehyung both hung out with me whenever they had the chance.” 

Hara watches Yoongi rake a hand through dishevelled hair.

“ed us all up.”

He doesn’t say anything after that, not for a long while, and Hara ignores the weight that has suddenly settled on her shoulders.

She knew it was bad, but not this bad. 

“You still smoke,” she points out after a while, not able to handle the quiet anymore. Yoongi has already finished his second cigarette and pulled out another one, halfway through it by the time she speaks up, and he arches an eyebrow. 

“This thing?” He scoffs. “What’s the worst it’s gonna do?”

“Give you lung cancer?” Hara says, giving Yoongi an incredulous look. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve already got a black lung, you’re inhaling this like air.” 

Yoongi shakes his head and places the stick between his lips, resuming his silent staring, and Hara looks away and mentally wonders what kind of a mess she has unravelled because of her curiosity. 

, it’s gonna be the death of her one of these days, and the worst part is she’s not even worried.