Chapter 3 : The hardships of the hit list candidate

Park Tae Chan

My worst nightmare?

Pfft – I snorted at his statement. What does he know about nightmares? Seeing my lack of reaction, the boy arched an eyebrow at me and I could practically hear Minji having a fit behind me. I narrowed my eyes as I studied his face and wondered why he looked familiar.

“I’m sorry, but who are you? Seriously…” I asked again.

He huffed in disbelief and glanced around the empty corridor before returning to glare at me. Oh that glare was so familiar! Where have I seen it before? I racked my brains until I finally remembered.

“Oh, toilet boy!” I cried out happily. Whoops – that didn’t come out right, and judging by his expression he wasn’t happy about it either.

“What?!” he scowled at me.

“Err –“

“What did you call me?” he took a step towards me, forcing me to back up against the wall column. I glanced sideways and realised that Minji had miraculously disappeared. Sheesh – why was she so spooked out anyway?

“I didn’t mean it that way…uh; I just recalled that we bumped into each other once! Urm…outside the toilet?” I had to stop myself from squirming under his glare. The term ‘if looks could kill’ must’ve been made for him.

An evil grin suddenly appeared on his face and my heart skipped a beat. Evil or not, he was downright handsome when he smiled!

“We met more than once… Park. Tae. Chan.” He drawled out.

“We did? Wait, how did you know my name?”

“When you’re on JK’s hit list…”

I blanched at his words. Oh no, what did I deserve to appear on that dreaded list? I had no idea of the hit list existence until today – furthermore; I’ve never even met the guy!

“I’m on his list??! Why?” I gasped in horror. “How did you know about this? Was it like, posted up somewhere??”

For a moment he looked confused by my outburst and frowned at me. “Don’t you know who I am?” he asked.

Huh? Why was he changing the subject? How could I know who he was when I’ve just transferred here? I sighed and crossed my arms. Other than bumping into him, I don’t recall having seen him anywhere else. He couldn’t possibly be an old schoolmate, right?

I took a closer look at him and the bruises under his eye as well as the cut lip. A flashback of a student wearing a face mask in the convenience store slammed into my mind and I stumbled backwards into the wall again.

The fates must be playing with me. It was the very same scary student whom I wanted never to meet again – although just a few hours ago I was anxious to find him, I wasn’t actually serious about it!

“Oh…I remember,” I said, trying to come off as innocent. “We – we met at the convenience store as well. Haha.” I faked a laugh. His frown deepened and I gulped. “For the record, I was not checking out the bruises on your face…I just thought you seemed familiar and –and, well I didn’t mean to rush out like that but I was in a hurry until I left my phone…”

I broke off and straightened my back. “Hey, wait…my phone! Do you have it?” I clapped my hands excitedly causing him to take a step back this time. “Is that why you’re here? To return it?” Oh my, silly me. It was a good thing I figured it out before I embarrassed myself further.

“I’m sorry for misunderstanding and jumping to conclusions.” I giggled. “I thought perhaps you wanted to beat me up or something.” I heaved a relief sigh. “Actually you wanted to return my phone, right?”

He didn’t return my smile. Instead, he fumbled in his pocket and pulled out my phone; dangling it in front of me. Just when I reached out to take it, he raised it high away from my reach and smirked.

“Hey!” I protested and made another swipe for it. “What are you doing? Give it back.”

He pocketed my phone and continued smirking at me. “You didn’t misunderstand.”

“Huh?” I stared at him with a puzzled expression. From the way he was smirking, I knew I wasn’t going to like his next words.

“You didn’t misunderstand – That was exactly my intent.” He cornered me back into the wall. “Park Tae Chan, I’ve been looking for you not to return your phone but to welcome you as the next candidate on my list.” He sneered at me. “On my hit list.”

He raised his hand and I flinched at the gesture. He couldn’t possibly think of hitting a girl, right? Hearing him snicker, I squint my eyes open and saw him move away after giving my head a firm pat. With a flick of a wrist, he threw an object at me and instinctively I caught it.

“Your welcome gift.” He said simply and walked off with a wave.

I glanced down at the object in my hands and felt dread settle in my heart as visions of my scholarship floated away. I held in my hand a name tag with the very name I was warned against.

JEON JUNG KOOK

*** ***

“He took my phone.” I said for the fifth time to a very distracted Kang Jun. “Hey, are you even listening to a word I just said?”

He sighed on the other line. “Tae Chan…I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m a little preoccupied right now.”

“With what?” I said in an irritated tone. It took me a lot of work to convince Tae Ra to allow me the use of her phone just so I could call him. Yet here he was being preoccupied.

“I’m supposed to meet Hani at the library and I’m running late.”

I felt my breath lodge in my throat. “Hani…” I repeated dumbly. “I’m facing a crisis here and you care more about being late for HANI??”

“Tae Chan-ah…can you please be more understanding and stop overacting? I’ll get you a new phone and we can talk then, alright?”

Tears of frustration pooled around my eyes and I lost it. “DON’T BOTHER!” I screamed into the phone before hanging up.

How could he treat me that way? Didn’t he care what I was going through? He barely even listened when I told him about the possibility of me being on a bully’s list.  I felt miserable.

“Everything ok?” Tae Ra poked her head into my room and looked at me with wide eyes. “Are you crying??”

“No!” I looked away to hide my tears.

“My mistake then…must be all the dust in your room making your eyes water.” She stated and narrowly avoided being hit by my pillow.

“Fine…I’m not ok!” I flopped myself on the bed and covered my face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Everything is wrong! I hate it here…I hate this school, I hate that we had to move, I hate leaving everything I know behind – I just hate it!” I yelled out furiously.

“Tae Chan…” she moved towards me but I scooted further on my bed. I was on a roll with my tirade and it felt good to explode.

“I hate that she left us and I hate it that you didn’t stop her! I HATE YOU.” The minute the words left my mouth, I regretted it. Oh no, I went too far this time.

Tae Ra stared at me with a blank expression but I knew better. I could see the flash of hurt in her eyes as she slowly nodded and walked out of the room. Pausing at the door, she heaved a sigh. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

“Onni…” I whispered after her as she closed the door shut.

This was all my fault. Why oh why did I let anger get the better of me? I should’ve just controlled my feelings instead of bursting out the way I did. I laid down on my bed and stared into space. All this pent up emotion finally took a toll – what with the fear of losing my scholarship plus my frustration with Kang Jun – in the end I let it out on my sister.

I heard a burst of loud music coming from my sister’s room and groaned. This was bad. Despite being an adult, Tae Ra still relieved her frustrations with loud senseless music like any other teenager and I felt responsible for this outcome. When she reacts this way…it’s not a good sign.

*** ***

I pulled tufts of grass from the ground and dug my heels into the dirt. It’s been nearly a week now and life was hell. School was turning out to be a torture now that I was officially announced as JK’s next victim – however, the endless teasing was nothing I couldn’t handle – no, the part that made me miserable was the fact that Tae Ra was giving me the cold treatment.

She stayed in her room most of the time and breakfast, lunch and dinner were quiet affairs. Even the rides she gave me to school remained in awkward silence.

I sighed and stood up as the bell rang, signalling lunch break was over. Dusting my skirt, I made my way back to class. This was how I spent every lunch break – sitting in the garden, hidden from everyone. It was a welcome break each day after having to face the insulting remarks throughout class. I was also beginning to run out of sarcastic responses.

“Hey short stuff, I was looking everywhere for you.”

I rolled my eyes and cursed my luck. Forcing a smile on my face, I turned to face my main tormentor Ji-yoon. “I guess it must be really hard to find me among the crowd of tall students, huh.”

She frowned at my comment. “Trying to be witty again?”

“I’m surprised you understood!” I shot back in mock astonishment.

“Why you –!”

“Park. Tae. Chan.” She was rudely cut off by another voice.

I glanced sharply to my right. Jung kook was strolling leisurely towards me with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. I narrowed my eyes at his approach and felt my eyes widen in amazement. The bruise on his eye had faded and he no longer had a cut on his lip. During the week that I was avoiding him, he must’ve gotten a haircut – he looked ridiculously handsome and I felt my breath catch.

It was funny how in a short span of time he had gone from the cute-but-rude-boy into the troublemaker-stranger and now the handsome-bully. I forced myself to get a grip as I recalled that he was exactly that, a bully.

Eyeing him with suspicion, I backed away as his friends took up the task of distracting Ji-yoon. “Wh-what do you want?”

He smiled innocently and placed a hand on my shoulder. Leaning forward, he made eye contact with me. “It’s time you found out what it’s like to be on my list.”

I scoffed in disgust. “I think I know what that is, thank you very much.” Damn my legs for feeling jittery. I willed myself to return his stare.

He chuckled with amusement. “If you think being out casted, insulted and teased by the students as a part of my list, then you are sadly mistaken.” He clucked his tongue and moved to stand behind me.

“What do you mean?” I asked, not daring to look behind.

“Whatever you have been experiencing since the day it was made known you were on my list – is not my doing. I don’t play through others.”

I crossed my arms in a huff. Although I felt afraid, the unfairness of the situation gave me enough courage to counter back. “So you’re saying they’re doing everything on their own account? Correct me if I’m wrong, but if there was no silly list in the first place…none of this would be happening.”

I heard him hissed with displeasure before he grabbed me roughly by the elbow and whirled me around to face him. “What?”

Ignoring his question, I continued on. “And what do you mean by play?? Am I some toy that you decided to play with?”

He scowled at me and his grip tightened “As a matter of fact –“

“Jeon Jung kook.” One of his friends called out in a warning tone. I watched as he approached us and placed a restraining hand on Jung kook’s shoulder. I spied his name on the tag – Kim Tae Hyung – and realised that this must be one of the famous sunbae’s in the school.

Even though I was ignored, that still didn’t stop me from listening in on people’s daily conversation. And one of the constant topics always revolved around the famous seniors in the school – the good looking but with a random personality Tae Hyung, the cute and outgoing Jimin and last but not least the charismatic but cold school president, Se Joon.

Since it was no secret that Se Joon disliked the troublemaker trio, it wasn’t difficult to figure out that the cheeky boy who was teasing Ji-yoon was Jimin. Jung kook the hoobae and his sunbaes Tae hyung and Jimin…what a weird combination.

With the appearance of Tae hyung, I took the opportunity to remove myself from Jung Kook’s grip. He was practically simmering with anger now and I was thankful that I wasn’t alone with him. With a nod, I walked away.

When Jung kook moved as if to follow me, Tae hyung held him back again and shook his head. “I think that’s enough for now.” He said firmly while signalling me to go with a tilt of his head.

I didn’t need further invitation. I escaped from his sight.

 

Jeon Jung Kook

“Hyung!” I turned to Tae hyung with a frown. “I wasn’t going to do anything harmful…I barely even started!” I complained.

“You look ready to throttle her…” Tae hyung shrugged

“I was not!” I replied heatedly.

“Jimin – what do you think?” Tae hyung pulled him away from Ji-yoon. He narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re still here?” he said testily causing her to blush and pout before allowing her friends to tug her away.

“Ahhh, you had murder in your eyes!” Jimin said before avoiding my aim for his cap. He gave me one of his trademark eye-smiles and hid behind Tae hyung.

“I’m serious! I had everything under control.” I defended myself.

“Uhuh – ok.” Tae hyung said expressionlessly as he led the way to the senior building.

I was about to follow them when Jimin turned and stopped me. “Hey, this is off limits for you. Remember what the principal said?” he reminded me.

I shrugged carelessly. “So what?” I moved forward. Again he halted my progress.

Jimin’s smile faded. “She might call your dad.”

That got me thinking. I sure as hell didn’t need him to make another unexpected trip back home just because of something as minor as this. I sighed and turned away, reluctantly trudging back to my class.

“Jung kook-ah!” Tae hyung suddenly called out. I glanced over my shoulder. “Maybe you should start making friends your own age instead of terrorizing them!”

They both then burst into laughter and high fived each other before running off.

I rolled my eyes and continued on. “Ha-ha. Very funny.” I muttered under my breath. I had friends…I mean I used to have friends my own age. It wasn’t my fault that they all drifted apart.

A waft of heavy perfume penetrated my nostrils and I stopped in my tracks. If I didn’t know better, Ji-yoon was hiding behind the entrance waiting for my arrival. She was probably planning to bug me with date requests again and I was in no mood for that.

I’ll just have to find another entrance.

*** ***

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, I thought to myself as I almost slipped for the second time.

I have to admit that Ji-yoon has certainly improved her tactics to get me. She had actually positioned her friends at every possible entrance leaving me with no choice but to do the unthinkable.

And my form of unthinkable was to climb the ledge and enter through the window. As I crouched low and passed each class window – looking for a chance to climb in unnoticed – I had slipped twice on the narrow ledge and it was only a matter of time before I fell over.

Shouldn’t it be free period now? Why were all the teachers still in class? I can hardly get in unnoticed this way. I muttered a curse under my breath and carefully peeked over the class window sill. Finally – A half empty class and no teacher!

Opening the window wider, I hoisted myself up and sat on the sill to catch my breath. Due to the curtains billowing from the breeze, I remained hidden and no one noticed my presence. Gauging my time to walk out quietly, my attention was suddenly drawn to a group of boys surrounding a girl at her table.

“Don’t you want to play with us?” one of them was asking as he rudely kicked her table, causing her books to slip off.

“Not interested.” She stated and bent to pick up the fallen books. Upon straightening, she lifted her eyes and caught sight of me just as I realised it was her.

Park Tae Chan.

Instead of acting flustered, she merely raised her brow and continued on as if she didn’t notice me. But I knew she did. Damn it. Why was this girl always disregarding me? It irked me that for someone who was on my hit list, she didn’t seem bothered nor intimidated by it.

I continued watching as they kept on teasing her while she tried her best to ignore them – it was obvious that she was reaching her limit though, and I wondered how was she going to handle them. I noted that with Ji-yoon, she simply used sarcasm to throw her off, unfortunately that didn’t seem to work with the boys.

One of them pulled up a chair and sat beside her, carelessly flinging his arm across her shoulders. “Come on. Don’t be such a spoil sport.”

I felt something shift in my heart and a burning sensation arose. The sudden urge to forcefully remove his hand from her was so powerful that I was taken aback. This was the first time I had ever reacted this way and it left me confused.

I decided to ponder about that later and deal with the issue at hand first. As I hopped off the sill and strode towards them, several students gasped at my presence.

It was unfortunate that they didn’t notice me as I stood behind them – unfortunate for them, not me. I cleared my throat. No response.

“What. Are. You. Doing?” I ask slowly. One of them turned to glare at me.

“Mind your own bus –“ he broke off when he saw who it was. I smirked at him.

He immediately moved a step to make way for me but I ignored his offer and chose to lean on a nearby table, crossing my arms and frowning to create an intimidating effect. It worked, as usual.

The ones standing stiffened and the unlucky guy who had his arms across Tae Chan’s shoulders remained frozen in place. Giving his arm a pointed stare, I jerked my head slightly to demand he remove it.

Without hesitation he immediately complied and stood up hastily. All three boys then bowed their heads and avoided eye contact. A heavy silence filled the classroom as every student watched the proceedings with bated breath.

Nonchalantly, I approached them and taunted each by straightening parts of their uniform – the collar, the tie, the blazer – while giving off a warning.

“I don’t recall giving any of you permission to mess with my candidate.” I narrowed my eyes. “Did I?”

“It’s our fault. Please forgive us!” the one closest to me said and bowed even lower than before.

“I don’t –“

Suddenly there was a loud scraping of chair as Tae Chan stood up abruptly with an annoyed look on her face. With a scoff, she gathered her books, grabbed her bag and walked out of the classroom without a word.

 The silence was lifted as everyone started whispering about her actions. I cursed inwardly. Her behaviour threw me off balance and I was left without a clue on what to do. However, at this moment I needed to save face.

Snatching out my phone, I switched on my camera function and snapped pictures of the boys’ nametags as well as images of every student present in the classroom.

“Breath a word and I know who to find.” I warned. Fear crossed their faces and they watched me with wide eyes. “As for you boys…” I smirked at them, “expect some very special treatment soon.”

With a satisfied nod, I exited the classroom, intent on finding my victim.

*** ***

A few blocks away

“Hey, look…” Jimin pointed out his phone to Tae hyung. “I just got a whole bunch of pictures from Jung kookie…”

Tae hyung who was dozing off on his table, cracked open an eye and glanced at the phone screen. “What does he want now?”

“Well, the main target is these boys since he included their nametags. For the others…I’m not sure.” Jimin tsk-ed unhappily at the vague message left by Jung Kook.

Tae hyung sighed and lifted his head. Since he knew Jung Kook better than Jimin, it was up to him to explain the workings of his mind to Jimin.

“He probably screwed up and wants us to do some damage control – starting with those three boys.” Tae hyung muttered in a bored tone.

Jimin brightened instantly. “Great! I just finished a whole chapter on modern literature and could do with some exercise.” He stood up and headed out of class. “You coming?”

Tae hyung grinned. “I’m right behind you.”

*** ***

“That wasn’t a very smart move.” I leaned down and whispered into her ear. She gave a yelp of surprise and earned a reproving glare from the school librarian.

Following a hunch, I had made the library my first place to search and came out lucky.

Lo and behold, there sat my elusive victim with her head stuck in a book. No one would have guessed that a few moments ago she was being teased and taunted by her classmates nor having the guts to turn her back on the one and only Jeon Jung Kook.

She gave me a withering glance before turning her attention back to her book. “Actually –“ she whispered, “that was one of the smartest move I made.”

“Not if you want to kiss your scholarship goodbye.” I countered back and took a seat opposite her.

 

Park Tae Chan

I felt my heart sink in despair at his words. The urge to wipe off that smirk from his face with a hard slap was strong and I had to bite the insides of my cheeks to stop myself.

I stared at him in disbelief and hated the next words that came out from my mouth. “Fine, you win. What do you want?”

He leaned back, not bothering to hide the look of surprise on his face. “Wow – that was easy.”

I scoffed and placed my book on the table, lacing my fingers and putting my ‘game’ face on. “I’m waiting.”

He in turn placed an elbow on the table, rested his head on his hand and eyed me suspiciously. “Too easy…” he muttered softly.

I sighed and closed my book with an irritated snap, all the while never breaking eye contact with him. Didn’t he know how important this scholarship was to me? How could he threaten and dangle it so carelessly in front of me only to turn suspicious the minute I readily give in?

He must have sensed my seriousness because he finally said “Ok…what I need you to do is pretty simple. Be my servant.”

I balked. “What?? No way, over my dead bo –“ I broke off when he mumbled something about my scholarship, reminding me that I was regrettably under his thumb.

Clutching my fists in anger, I gritted my teeth and nodded. He smiled and stood up. Despite the burning anger in me, I couldn’t help but feel a slight rush at his smile. How could someone so mean have the most sweetest and innocent smile?

“It’s settled then. I’ll see you after school.”

I shook my head and came back to earth as his words registered in my head. “I’m sorry, what??”

He continued on as if he didn’t hear me. “YAH!!” I shouted after him but still he didn’t turn around.

“SHHHHHH!” the librarian motioned to me with a finger to her lips.

*** ***

“Onni…” I said cautiously as she answered the phone.

I had faked a tummy ache and was currently in the nurse office sneaking a call out to my sister. Desperate times called for desperate measures. There was no way that I was going to wait until school ended to see what Jung kook had in store for me.

“Tae Chan? Whose number is this – where are you calling from? Is everything ok?” Tae-ra answered in a rush of concern.

I felt guilty – slightly.

“Oh…I’m calling from the nurse office in school.” I paused and continued before I changed my mind. “I’m not feeling so good and was wondering if you can pick me up?”

“Now?” there was a long pause on the other line and I crossed my fingers hopefully.

“Onni?”

“I’ll be there.” She answered before hanging up.

Half an hour later

“The nurse seemed pretty reluctant to let you go.” Tae ra said as she drove away from the school gates.

I heaved a sigh of relief and congratulated myself on my escape plan. “Huh? Oh – she thought I was faking it.” I said

“Weren’t you?” Tae-ra countered back, suspicion lacing her tone.

“Of course not!” I protested.

“Hmmm…” she mused and focused on driving.

Inside, I was jumping for joy. The coldness from her expression for me was gone and I felt a burden lift from my shoulders when she had arrived to fetch me with a look of concern. When she dropped by the pharmacist before heading home, I knew that my sister had truly forgiven me and everything was ok between us.

“I’ll cook you some porridge…why don’t you go take a shower first.” Tae-ra said when we reached home and I hurriedly complied.

Early dinner was a peaceful affair where we occasionally joked around like how we used to and it ended with me helping her out with the dishes.

“So…” she said as she wiped the plates and stacked them on the rack. “Want to tell me why you lied?”

“Huh?” I adopted a confused expression. “Lied? About what?”

She slanted a look at me. “There must be a reason why you felt you had to lie about your tummy ache to escape from school.”

Damn. I grimaced inwardly. I knew there was no fooling about with Tae-ra. She was always sharp and lying to her was never easy. To think I actually celebrated with a mini dance in my room, thinking I had gotten away with it.

“Errr –“ I fumbled for an excuse and continued scrubbing the pot vigorously.

She sighed and held on to my hands to stop my scrubbing. “Tae Chan-ah, I know you are having a hard time right now. But I wished you would tell me what is going on instead of keeping it all in.”

I gulped and contemplated between telling her the truth and lying again. What would she do once she found out that I was on a bully’s list? That my scholarship was in jeopardy? No. I couldn’t let her worry about me. Not when she was clearly stressed by work.

Besides, if I think about it rationally, there was no way someone like Jung Kook or Ji-yoon can jeopardize my scholarship offer. It’s not like they owned the school or anything. Fear got the better of me earlier, making me hastily accept Jung Kook’s wish for me to be his servant.

Tae-ra eyed me questioningly, waiting for my answer. I decided half-truths was the way to go.

“It’s nothing, really. I’m just not getting along with some people in school and wanted to avoid meeting them after school.”

She raised a brow. “You’ll still see them tomorrow…aren’t you just putting off something inevitable?”

I raised my hands in surrender. “I know, I know. At least they would’ve cooled down by tomorrow.” I reasoned.

Tae-ra pursed her lips as she mulled over my explanation, finally nodding as she accepted it. “Ok…” she shrugged her shoulders and rinsed the last of the dishes. “I knew that temper of yours would get you in trouble one day.” She joked and flicked the dish rag at me.

I laughingly avoided it and ran to my room, glad that she wasn’t prying anymore.

“Hey, wait.” She called out. I turned in time to catch her phone mid-air as she threw it over to me. “Kang Jun left you a message.” I glanced sharply at her. “I didn’t read it, I swear!” she proclaimed innocently.

“Ok, thanks.” I said, clutching tightly onto the phone and headed to my room for some privacy.

“Oh, onni –“ I said and popped my head back out. “I - I don’t hate you, you know…and, I know it’s a little late but I’m sorry.”

She smiled and shooed me to go on with my business. “I’ll give you ten minutes, and then I’ll want my phone back.”

“Yes, sir!” I saluted her and closed my room door.

 

Jeon Jung Kook

Why that little – !

She stood me up! I kicked an empty plastic bottle out of my way and it ended up bouncing against a wall and hitting Jimin’s knee.

“Yah, yah! Watch it!” Jimin cried out in pain.

Tae hyung who was coming up from behind doubled up in laughter as Jimin hopped on one foot while clutching his injured knee.

“It’s not funny!” Jimin said as he hopped over to Tae hyung and tried to smack him.

He laughed and dodged Jimin’s attacks easily. “Serves you right for embarrassing me a moment ago.”

“I was doing you a favour!” Jimin protested with wide eyes. “You were the one who said you’d NEVER date older women!”

“Telling them that I was a e was not helping either.” Tae hyung shot back.

Jimin chuckled and shrugged innocently as he approached me. Despite feeling indignant over Tae Chan’s stunt, I couldn’t help but return Jimin’s grin. This hyung’s cheeriness was infectious.

 “I have a friend who is a e and another with split personality…” Jimin squinted at me, ignoring Tae Hyung’s shout of displeasure. “One minute you’re kicking bottles at me and the next you are smiling.”

Reminded of my earlier anger, my scowl returned and I sat on the sidewalk in a huff. “Ahhh, sorry about that. It wasn’t intended for you.” I apologized referring to the bottle incident.

Jimin waved away my apology and sat beside me. “Let me guess, girl trouble?”

I gazed at him with wide eyes. “How did you –“

“We might have stopped them from saying a word to anyone else, but they still blabbed to us.” Tae Hyung interjected.

“Huh?” I looked up as he stood in front of us.

“Your damage control…” he sighed as I continued looking puzzled. “We approached your targets and demanded why you weren’t please with them. – the classmates were more than happy to brief us about what happened.”

Oh…I remember now. They must’ve found out about Tae Chan’s defiant act against me right then. I nodded in understanding. “So you’re sure they won’t breathe a word?”

“What do you take us for?” Jimin smacked me on the shoulder looking affronted.

“Ok, ok…” I held up my hands in surrender as Jimin continued poking my ribs. “But that wasn’t the reason I’m pissed now.”

“It’s not because of her?” Jimin asked.

“Uh – well, it still is. But for another reason.” I bit my lip in thought. In a span of a few hours, Tae chan has managed to get on my nerves more than once and I lost out on all accounts.

“This is the first time someone has gotten you all riled up.” Jimin grinned. “I should meet her.”

“You have.” I pointed out.

He gave me a sidelong look and made a face. “Technically I haven’t. All this time I remained in the background like a lamp post as you both exchanged insults.”

I snorted at his reply and stared at my shoes, deep in thought. As per my initial thought, Tae Chan was a challenge. But having a challenge who doesn’t play along was no fun. As if reading my thoughts, Jimin sighed.

“You need to step up your game.” He said suddenly. “Since your usual tactics doesn’t work with her, maybe you should bring it up a notch.”

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously. Surely Jimin wasn’t suggesting I taunt her physically, right?

“Double your attacks.” Jimin shrugged.

“If you’re suggesting I beat he –“

“No!” Jimin protested with wide eyes. “That’s not what I meant.” He pouted sulkily. “What I meant was for you to show more presence. It’s obvious that relying on the rumours to intimidate her is not working…maybe you should literally be there to keep her on her toes, you know.”

I straightened as the idea grew on me. “Hyung!” I cried out in a surprised tone. “That…was…really…SMART.”

“I have my moments.” Jimin said smugly before pulling his cap low over his eyes and acted the part of a wise man staring into space.

Park Tae Chan. I’ll make you regret for making the fool of me today.