Jimin was pretty sure Yoongi was avoiding him, for reasons he didn’t know. Actually, Yoongi had been acting strange ever since that dare Jungkook made him do. At first, Jimin thought Yoongi was just working hard on his project, bringing food back to their dormitory to eat during lunch and dinner or skipping the meals completely. However, he began to notice the way Yoongi would flinch at his slightest touches and would barely make eye contact with him when he talked. When the others complained about the exams or discussed potential problems that would be tested, Yoongi remained quiet and simply stared, as if his mind was somewhere else. Embarrassment? Anger? Guilt? Neither of the three seemed to be enough of a legitimate reason to convince Jimin that it was the cause of Yoongi’s odd behavior though. In fact, the others had probably long forgotten about it—unless brought up, of course.

“Do you think Yoongi’s angry?” He finally asked on Friday afternoon in the restroom after they finished their last exam for the week.

Taehyung eyed him curiously. “About what?”

“I don’t know? He just seems weird these days.”

“You mean in general, or just around you?” Taehyung wiggled his brows, only earning a nudge on the arm from Jimin.

“I’m serious.”

“That was a serious question.”

“I— Both?”

“Well, maybe it’s just stress? We’ve been passing in essays and taking exams the entire week.”

Jimin shook his head at the guess. “No, it’s more than that. He seems more distant. It’s like… It’s like he’s avoiding me,” he muttered, not completely confident on whether he wanted the other sophomore to hear and perhaps make inappropriate assumptions.

He wasn’t pleased when Taehyung stared back at him with the usual wide eyes. The male looked like he was going to say something, but instead pursed his lips. Jimin turned away from him to face the mirror above the sink. It must have been one of the first times he took a good look at his reflection since he got to Gangwon Academy because he was sure he didn’t have such evident dark circles beneath his eyes when he first arrived.

“Can I ask you a question?” Taehyung asked after the pregnant pause.

“You just did.”

“No, I’m being serious here. What happened between you and Jungkook?”

Jimin turned to the other male at the mention of the freshman. “What do you mean?”

“Look, it was pretty obvious that you had a crush on him. I’m sure Yoongi knew too, not just me.” When Jimin nodded in agreement with both statements, Taehyung continued, “But you don’t seem to like him that way anymore?”

“He’s not gay,” he replied flatly.

Taehyung raised a brow. “What do you mean he’s not gay?”

It was Jimin raising his brow this time. “What do you mean what do I mean? He told me he’s not gay.”

“When?”

“During some dance practice,” Jimin paused to recall the time, “two weeks ago maybe?”

Taehyung didn’t reply. He stared blankly at Jimin for what felt to be an entire minute before turning away with a sigh.

“How is this related to Yoon—”

“He lied.”

“What?”

Taehyung shook his head. “He’s not, not gay. I mean, I don’t know what his orientation is and I could care less, but,” he turned to Jimin with a hard gaze, “what he told you wasn’t true.”

Jimin didn’t know how to respond. He didn’t know how Taehyung knew this information or whether he could believe that the words he was hearing were true. He also didn’t know why Taehyung was telling him this. He no longer had a crush on Jungkook anymore, and whom Jungkook liked—male or female—had nothing to do with him, nor his concern on Yoongi’s behavior at the moment.

“He liked you, Jimin.”

What?

“He told me himself when Hoseok wasn’t around because he was worried that the word would somehow get to Yoongi, and—” the male shook his head again, “that’d be a mess. I think it was the same time he told you he wasn’t gay, about two weeks ago.”

Jimin’s head was spinning with questions. Why did Jungkook lie to him if he liked him? Why would it be a mess if Hoseok told Yoongi that Jungkook liked him? How was Yoongi even related to all this? Did Jungkook still like him? Yet, he couldn’t process the questions to form a cohe