Yerim:

        “Hey there beautiful.”
 

She was walking towards the library to meet up with Jungkook. She was carrying an Americano in hand, from the text she got it seemed after he dropped Joy off during their date last night—Jungkook drank because he felt like their date could have gone better and didn't. Yerim was there to try to lift his spirits up and say he did just fine. The voice calling to her surprised her. It was Taeyong. Beside him stood his friend Jaehyun, who she just recently started being acquainted with. She stopped and smiled at him.

“Hi.”

“I missed you and your face.”

She giggled—not clearly understanding why she did, considering she wanted to grimace from his comment—as he pulled her by the forearm. He had texted her last night as well, saying how sorry he was he could not be with her due to a family dinner. She was okay with it. They were still in a sort of “some” stage, and she did like him, but she wasn’t sure if she liked him enough to start a relationship with him. She was still young. There were other people out there and she should not settle, right?

“Are you free right now?” he spoke, bringing her back down to the present time due to her mind having wandered.

“No. I’m meeting with Jungkook.”

“You’re with him too much, don’t you think? I’m starting to question your relationship.”

“There’s nothing going on. He’s one of my closest friends.” This conversation was irritating her and the mad look in his eyes scared her. This wasn’t their first time discussing this, either.

“I’m sorry Yeri, I just like you too much and I’m worried he’ll take you from me.” She saw how Jaehyun rolled his eyes, they made eye contact and he smiled. It seemed like lately he wanted to tell her something.

“I want to keep my friends and even if we weren’t friends, he is my lab partner, and we have schoolwork to do.”

“Okay,” Taeyong smiled and cupped her face. She tried to shrink back but he brought their lips together before she could react.

Her initial reaction was to pull back and mumble a sorry. It was her first kiss. She wasn’t expecting it. She always thought her first kiss would be this romantic moment where she was with the person she liked, under the moonlight and he would slowly lean in—giving her time to mentally prepare and close her eyes before their lips touched. It would be gentle and sweet. The reality was her first kiss was hurried and unexpected. She felt no butterflies. She smiled weakly at the thought and spotted Jungkook outside the library, he was sitting on the stairs and from the looks of it—he had seen everything.

“I really have to go.”

Yerim didn’t allow Taeyong to say anything before she walked away hurriedly. She met with Jungkook who raised a brow as he stood up. She shook her head and went inside to find their usual corner desk they studied at. She set everything up and took out her books before Jungkook even sat down. He pulled the chair beside her out and sat, taking the Americano with a quick thank you. Yerim tried to work past her uncomfortably feelings; and why she dreaded the fact Jungkook had witnessed her first kiss. She pulled the book towards them and finally faced Jungkook. He hadn’t been staring at her at all and it relieved her.

“I’m having issues with this right here. How to use the formula makes my head hurt.”

She smiled as he pouted at her. She patted his head and paused when he looked at her. It was as if he was scrutinizing her. It made her stomach squirm with a foreign feeling. She gulped and moved to start explaining the formula to him. He listened and she would pause whenever he didn’t nod in understanding—something he always did.

“Okay, so that’s how the formula is done.” Yerim finished but belatedly noticed Jungkook wasn’t fully listening.

She was ready to pull him by the hair but didn’t when he scooted closer to her with a look in his eyes, like he wanted to ask her something very important. His intensity made her blush and she hoped he hadn’t noticed. That feeling in her stomach came back from how close he was to her.

“Girls like receiving flowers, correct?”

She blanked. That was what he was preoccupied with? Yerim didn’t have time for his stupid, schoolboy crush to pop up as it always did. She once again realized why every so often she wished they hadn’t been partnered. He would irritate her and sure he was cute, and she could see why girls would call her lucky—but moments when she knew his questions were regarding Joy—she had no patience. She couldn’t even figure out why lately she was weary of Taeyong or why the kiss did not make her as happy as she thought it would. She liked him, so why?

Yerim thought about how technically she was forced to spend time with Jungkook due to one class, if she was completely honest with herself, she didn’t dislike spending time with him. He was still fun, even if he was slow at getting the concepts of chemistry. He was improving and she relied on him too much now since he was her closes friend. Just whenever the subject was Joy, she was starting to get irritated.

“Kook, I’m about to email our chemistry teacher and tell him that there is no way I can continue being lab partners with such an idiotic person that only has time to think for himself and the girl he’s stupidly crushing on, though the said girl is obviously not as interested.”

“ Rim, way to hit where it hurts the most. I was only asking because I gave her flowers yesterday and I felt it did nothing. But I need you! Don’t you dare leave me. Chemistry is actually starting to make sense and it’s not as bad as I thought it was.”

Jungkook clung onto her arm as if she was really going to get up and abandon him on the first floor of the library. The people around them were starting to give them weird looks. She pulled her arm away and moved her seat away from him, leaving a more comfortable gap that no passerby could interpret differently.

“Yes, girls usually love getting flowers. It shows them that the person is thinking about them. If you start paying attention now, can you, I have plans.”

“Is it with that same guy I saw you kiss?” he said it while twirling his pen—almost nonchalant but there was something in his voice. An edge that had not previously been there.

Yerim smacked her head and hid. , she brought this upon herself. She looked at Jungkook, he wasn’t looking at her. “Yeah, we have plans later and I didn’t expect for that to happen.”

“I still can’t believe you gave him another chance after he stood you up.”

“He did not stand me up!”

“By the way I found you crying that day; it looked like he broke your heart. Moreover, you say I am the one with a stupid crush on a girl, who does not like me? You are seeing the guy who clearly didn’t tell you he was 'busy’ until after an hour. I don’t like him. You could do so much better than him, Rim.”

She regretted having told him. She almost forgot how he found her and sat there listening to her cries. It is what initially started their friendship. Before they used to bicker but that day, she saw a new side to him. Jungkook was a good friend and comforted her, listening to her. Now, now, he was just using information against her and she was not having it. She was young and in “love” that her pettiness was coming out. It wasn’t like she was his age; she was almost two years younger. She had a right to be immature. She had the right to wonder why her first kiss was so anticlimactic and why her heart was starting to race whenever Jungkook was around. She stopped—no, she could not go down that road, never. Never. Her mind had to stop wandering off to him whenever she found herself fondly think of his smile. No. Stop it, Yerim!

“Joy likes Jin and Taehyung, there’s literally no place in her heart for you other than a cute younger brother.”

The moment the words left , she regretted it. Her defense had been up, and in the process, she spoke her thoughts. Jungkook’s playful smile left, and he looked away from her. She could almost physically see his heartbreak and she was the one that brutally caused that to happen. She opened to apologize but couldn’t get the words out. Sure, what she said had been true, but she didn’t have any right to take his hope away from him.

“I know. I’m not stupid like Taehyung. I can see the way that she looks at Tae and Jin is different from how she looks at me. I was playing along because I wanted to trick myself into thinking maybe, just maybe I could change her mind. I didn’t seem to make her heart weaver yesterday at all. Why do you think I drank?”

Yerim watched him carefully. His eyes were getting glossy. Slowly she debated with herself whether to touch his forearm in a comforting manner. It was a battle between her brain, saying no and her body, still doing the action. Before she could, he pushed back on his chair and got up. Her hand hanging in midair, in the direction of where his arm had once been. He gathered his things and finally looked at her. The bunny smile she liked was not there and it hurt her to see the forced one instead. She had hurt him

“Sorry I took the teasing too far to make you mad.” She should be apologizing, not him. It made her feel even worse. “I do wish you luck with that guy, Lee something or other.”

Yerim stood up to stop him. “Wait, Jungko—”

“Oh, yeah before I forget.”

Jungkook bent down, pulled a daisy from under the table, and handed it to her. Her heart skipped at beat as she took it. It wasn’t the biggest of flowers and it looked like it had been plucked from the fields, but her stomach was still doing summersaults. This was the first time someone of the opposite had given her a flower. Other than, graduation and she didn’t count those because everyone got flowers. This was the first time someone thought of her.

“I saw the flowers on the way here and they reminded me of you. It’s also a way of thanking you for putting up with my annoying and slow learning self. You’re a saint Rim, and cute when you aren’t mad. So, smile more.”

He walked away after that, leaving her flushed and wondering that maybe she had been wrong about him. He wasn’t dumb and oblivious. No. Jungkook was none of that and he was attentive. Joy was lucky because he was so kind and would listen. He remembered. He remembered her favorite flowers and her eyes started to water as she saw his retreating figure. She still had his jean jacket too. It smelled of him. She liked it a lot more than she would admit and his voice when he wished her luck didn’t sound like he was happy. Did she just make them stumble some steps backwards in their growing relationship?

Don’t make my heart rate speed up like this, Jeon Jungkook. I may start delusions of my own.

⇤〜⑉⑅﹎⑅〜⑉⇥

Seokjin:

He smiled bitterly to himself as he scratched the back of his head. He knew something had happened when he received a text from Yoongi saying Sooyoung had met him and then almost 45 minutes later, Jimin finally sent the same text. She barely made it to Namjoon and Seulgi who only gestured at him from her spot.

His surprise was ruined, and he knew one name would pop up with this series of misfortune and that name was Kim Taehyung. Seokjin did not want to dislike his friend. He did not want to compete with his friend, but his friend was driving him insane. One moment he tells him to take care of Sooyoung and then the next; he was there again—being an obstacle. He didn’t know how he felt about it all. It was throwing his head for a spin. Ultimately, what he wanted was to know what his friend really wanted and what Sooyoung wanted.

She looked beautiful like always when he saw her. She had this bright smile on her face that made him forget everything and focus solely on the birthday girl in front of him. It was her birthday, and he was so happy she was born. She walked up to him and he did laugh aloud at seeing how ridiculous she looked with all the bouquets in her arms.

“Kim Seokjin, how do you expect me to carry this?”

She had said and he took some from her before pulling her in for an embrace. She had easily let him, and he wanted to think it was because she was completely comfortable with him and not for any other reason. He wanted to win fairly. Even if it meant letting her go to let her decide where her heart laid.

Seokjin looked down at his phone again. Irene had texted him asking if he had someone he liked—since it seemed that way. He replied with a yes. Seeing her name reminded him of what happened with her father, yet again. Irene then asked who it was. He let her know, not thinking she would know whom it was. Surprisingly she did and mentioned how she had seen Sooyoung out with Jungkook. He already knew that and let her know. His head was just ringing with her last text. She told him to confess again because she didn’t think Sooyoung really likes Jungkook that way and maybe all he had to do was ask her again.

He sighed, not knowing what to do. The person in front of him may have misinterpreted his sigh. They only smiled sheepishly to him, patting his shoulder.

“I’m sorry Jin, I really am.”

He faced Jinki and shrugged. “How long have you been in this business?”

Jinki slumped his shoulders after taking a pause. They were currently waiting for their patient. Down in the sublevel floors of the hospital—he was back again. “It was accidental. One of my friends was involved. I saw him as a younger brother, and I happened to be there when he was shot. I acted fast and saved his life. Not knowing the whole time Bae was there and witnessed it. I was—well…” he paused to gather his words, “…not supposed to have been seen. The things that we see down here can leave you feeling haunted. My friend, Baekhyun—I do not know where he is. Last I heard from Bae is that he ended up joining with the Lee clan and left for Japan. I only hope he’s fine.”

The doors burst open, and a body came in a gurney. Seokjin stood at the same time Jinki did. This time, it was a young female on the gurney. They weren’t conscious but they were alive. The slight moving of their chest let them know. He went to get ready for the surgery as Jinki told everyone else what they needed to do. He was busy washing his hands when a figure approached him.

“I heard you spoke to Irene.”

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