Taehyung thinks that Namjoon went a little too far.

"I'm not going to faint again," Taehyung reassures him. They are sitting at Namjoon's dining room to study as usual, "I ate before I came here."

Sitting between them are peppered tuna salad with a touch of fresh rosemary, lightly browned herb-crusted halibut, and prawn and scallop paella blessed with Spanish flavour make up the five-star seafood course.

Namjoon sighs, "You can eat them after we are done, but it's going to get cold though," he snatches some fine-grain rice under the halibut with his chopsticks and shoves them in his mouth.

"Fine," Taehyung picks up his chopsticks too. He delivers a piece of soft tuna into his mouth beneath his mask. The fatty fish melts on his tongue instantly. The pleasing salty taste explodes in his mouth, "Mmhmm. This is good! I can't believe you made all these!"

Namjoon grins proudly, "When I'm bored, I cook.” It was not a lie entirely, he does cook eggs and ramen if he does not feel like eating whatever the maid makes him. He does not tell him that he woke up at six in the morning just to get everything ready. He made sure to lock the kitchen up too, so Taehyung will not see the exploded cake bits and the flooded flour pond and other evidences of failed baking. “You want coke for dessert?” he asks.

"Nah. I’m good. So you cook instead of shopping for beauty products and uploading a million selcas on Instagram after?"

Namjoon grabs a handful of Taehyung’s hair and shoves his head aside, "Hey, watch it! I'm giving you food!" then he sits back, "Yeah. I do those things too," he admits quietly.

Taehyung laughs. Namjoon can make out his heart-shape smile under the surgical mask. A pang of guilt hits him again. If only Namjoon does not wear his colonge… He reaches out and places his palm against his cheek, his thumb grazes the barrier.

"Sorry," Namjoon drops his hand when Taehyung stops laughing, "Eat more," he puts some seasoned bell peppers in Taehyung's bowl.

Taehyung eats, and his eyes glued onto to Namjoon's hand. What was that all about? he wonders. Like everything else that’s going on with him, Namjoon pretends that the touch meant nothing. He pretends that everything is fine as long as no one talks about it. Taehyung suddenly feels nauseated. All the food that Namjoon made for him are going to come up from his stomach again.

After all the food were cleared away. The workbooks take the spot on the empty table.  

"Before we start, I want to try something new," Namjoon pulls out a presentation board that titled: "Taehyung's 'Good-Job' Board." Taehyung raises a WTF eyebrow.

"Since starving yourself for two days straight was not the most effective way to cure your ADHD. Obviously, fainting didn’t help you to focus on my lesson," Namjoon's voice reeks of reproach, "let's try an incentive system! You will earn a gold star every time you can focus for thirty minutes."

"Twenty."

"Thirty."

"Ten."

"Twenty."

"Okay. Twenty minutes it is," Taehyung grins.

Namjoon would have messed up his hair more as a punishment, but he presses his hand to his thigh, not wanting to make another mistake. He clears his throat, "You will earn a gold star after twenty minutes of concentration. After you earned fifty-"

"Twenty."

"Fifty."

"Ten."

"Twenty."

"Okay. Twenty gold stars it is!"

Namjoon groans.

"What? Twenty/twenty is easy to remember!" Taehyung whines cutely.

Namjoon coughs, "Whatever. After you earned twenty gold stars," here comes the hardest part for Namjoon, "you can ask me a favour."

Taehyung lights up instantly, "Any favour?"

He is taken aback by Taehyung's eager eyes that indicate that he wants to devour him alive. "I guess?" Namjoon begins to doubt his brilliant plan.

"So after 6.66666667 hours later I get to have a favour from you?"

How did he even...? then Namjoon sighs, "Yes."

Taehyung whines again, he kicks his feet under the table like a little kid, "That's too long! How about twenty/nine?"

Namjoon throws his hands up, deciding that he's too tired to debate in math, "Fine."

Taehyung's smile fully returns. After twenty minutes and nine gold stars a.k.a three hours later, one secret will be revealed.

It's a shame that Namjoon can't see his smile.

***

The alarm wakes at five a.m., but Hyerin is already conscious before then. Then she brushes her teeth and slips into her shorts and t-shirt before having a toast for breakfast. At five-twenty, she goes out of the house without waking up her family. Her morning routine began since the day one of her freshman year.

She arrives at the neighbourhood tracks and fields at five-twenty-five. The painter above her is colouring the sky in strips of apricot orange and magenta. It is energizing to know that someone else too is determined to shake up the world at twilight. Just like the sneers and leers she get from her classmates, the sunrise is familiar in an approving way. For an hour, Hyerin has the whole ground to herself. Her torso leans on her right leg to stretch out her muscles. She finishes her stretches at five-thirty. Then she begins her morning jog around the track.

That's the secret she keeps for staying fit despite of skipping every P.E. class. At the first dozen steps, she focuses on her how breathing and her muscle groups work in harmony. She is also aware that her s bounce against the gravity, but she learns to ignore that and enjoys the world as her own playground. Usually, after one round about the track, her mind begins to wander. She would have much prefer running around the quaint neighbourhood for a change of scenery. However, that would mean being seen by the public, and then the purpose of her early morning run would be defeated. Only being by herself would she feel acceptance. By asserting strain on her own body, she masters a sense of control: it's me who makes my breathing hard, no one else is. It's me who makes myself lose the fat, no one else is. I'm the master of my own body and no one can affect it with their thoughts and criticism. Hyerin tries to reassure herself since the past few years.

Still, she runs in full circles.

***

Spy Seok is lurking in the dark behind the stinky garbage can. The life of an agent is far from glamorous, and the agent has long gotten used to it. Target appears at his eight o'clock. Spy Seok retreats deeper into the shadow, until the Target draws closer...until it hits its mark.

"Hi!" Jin jumps out and lands right in front of Hyerin's locker. Hyerin screams and slaps him blindly. Hyerin gasps when she realizes it's Jin. "Are you okay?" she peers at his red cheek, "I didn't know..." She's sick and tired that nothing goes well whenever she meets Jin.

"I'm fine..." though he takes a step back.

Hyerin’s heart is still beating fast from the adrenaline...it is probably the adrenaline. She stares at him, waiting for him to state his purpose, but he only looks at his shoes. "Do you want to tell me something?" she prompts.

"My monologue..." Jin manages to tell his white sneakers, "...I will show you again..." when she doesn't speak, Jin dares to look up. He tries holding her gaze as long as he can.

"Awesome," she finally breaks into a smile, "Let me grab my stuff first."

Jin waits, his eyes are trained on the floor the entire time. "Let's go," she says after she has her backpack on her shoulders. He trails behind her to the direction of the theatre.

Hyerin notices that Jin keeps a safe distance from her while strutting down the hallway. Her upright posture strikes stark contrast with Jin’s slouched back. She spins on her heels and stops abruptly, causing Jin almost running into her. He blushes. He can't look down anymore, so he meets her crossed expression, "You look like my stalker walking behind me."

"S-Sorry," Jin stammers.

Then her eyes turns to slits of crescent moons when she smiles. She turns around again, but this time she matches her pace with his while still leaving a comfortable distance between them. "Relax," she coaxes when she feels that he's tensed walking besides her, "It's normal for friends to walk together."

“Friends”. Somehow, the word overshadows everyone else’s stare on Jin. There's nothing wrong, Jin tells himself and resists hiding behind Hyerin.

"They are probably staring at me, not you, anyway," Hyerin suddenly says. Before Jin can decipher what she meant, they are at the side door of the school theatre.

There's no spotlight this time once they are in the dark room. Jin finds the light switches on the wall and the stage is lit with a flick of the wrist. Hyerin scrambles for a seat at the front right away. She prepares herself for another breathtaking performance. She’s already seeing Jin lighting up on his own. Spotlight is unnecessary for him to warm her soul.

Jin takes a deep breath. He avoids looking at her direction and retrieves his unfinished monologue from his memory, along with the character’s emotions. He conjures up the longing and hesitation - it was a dialogue from his heart, “Something unspeakable creeps up on me day in and day out. I do not speak it. I do not see it. I do not hear it.

“I do not answer,” his voice hitches, “if you do love me back, because chances are, you do not know your heart,” he pauses. “Heart is made up of muscle; your heart is made up of confusion,” Jin paces the stage agitatedly, “Mine too. If our hearts are made up with the same material, do we think the same way? Are we the same person?”

For a fleeting second, Hyerin thinks that he’s talking to her, but of course he is talking to his only audience! She shivers as she keeps on listening to Jin, “How are we the same person if your heart is in confusion, if you do not know yourself? Speak! My darling, speak!” Jin is shouting now with desperation, “Speak to your heart’s content… whatever your heart is...” his voice trails off to nothing.

Hyerin loses her voice to speak. She is most sorry when she sees his most sorrowful eyes. Hyerin leaps to her feet when she thinks he’s going to cry, then she falls back onto her chair when clearly Jin was acting. He was acting, right? Her heart is beating fast because of his acting too! Not because of Jin, right? If that was an act, then why did it feel so real? Jin is a marvelous actor, Hyerin concludes. To Hyerin, Jin is just an enchanting performer; nothing more; nothing less.

After he has composed himself, Jin walks off the stage to where Hyerin sits. “That was so good!” Hyerin praises, “I was tearing up! Were you thinking of someone? It can’t all be acting!”

Jin looks at the seat next to Hyerin. This way, his eyes won’t give away anything, “I wasn’t thinking of anyone.”

“Oh,” Hyerin bites her lips. “Oh”? What does “oh” mean?! Hyerin asks herself as heat creeping to her cheeks. What was she expecting anyway?!

Jin takes a peek at Hyerin and finds her... blushing? “Um… I actually was...thinking of someone… I guess,” Jin admits softly, and he sees her face going brighter.

“Um… that’s good,” Hyerin mumbles. “That’s good”?! What does “that’s good” mean?! Hyerin gets up. She hates being flustered. Jin makes her feel stupid when she can’t control what comes out of . “Good for you, Jin!” she forces a smile, “I know you will get over your stage fright! Ah, look at the time!” Hyerin interrupts before Jin can have any words out, “I need to give my rubber ducks a bath… I mean my dog Ducky a bath…” what the is she saying? “Yeah. See you tomorrow, Jin!” Before Jin can say his goodbye, Hyerin makes her hasty escape like other times when she met Jin. She always leaves Jin empty and all alone in the end.

Jin thinks he’s the only one left in the theatre after Hyerin was gone. He misses the phantom-like amused chuckles in the dark.

***

He places his hand behind Jungkook's ear, "Look at me," Yoongi whispers. It was soft but assertive, startling Jungkook. He looks up and there is no escape from his intense, passionate gaze. Yoongi leans in, "I love you."

Session #12

"I'm very pleased with all of you guys’ works, it seems like you all have a basic idea what a stigma is," Henry looks at everyone in the eyes, "Stigma can be used against a group of people unjustly. It's important that we recognize it and reclaim equality."

"Yeah. Yeah. We get it," Jimin waves his hand, "Can we move on to something more fun?"

Henry smiles then instead of looking offended, "Sure. Let's do role play!"

"Role play?" Namjoon asks dubiously.

Jin gasps, "Like acting?"

“‘Role play: used as a method for cognitive-behaviour therapy where therapist and patients rehearse real-life situation,’” Jungkook recites.

"Thank you, Jungkookie," Henry continues, "What happened with the police last time reminds us that one of the goals for this therapy group is to be functional in the society. Functional, that's it, not completely change who you are," Henry assures before Jimin will jump on his throat, “I figured we still need a lot more practice.”

"Sounds fun," Jimin grins, "I'm the best actor ever."

For a second, Henry thinks that he spots Jin’s competitive look, he chuckles, "We will see. I prepared a list of scenarios. For each one, we need you guys to respond to each situation as if it's actually happening. And then I'll demonstrate the correct response behaviour."

Jimin bursts out laughing, "You? Show us what the correct behaviour is?"

A few snickers can be heard, which only adds fuel to the fire. "Uh, oh," Yoongi feigns a tragic tone, "Here comes Tom & Jerry."

"I will show you, Park Jimin," Henry says through gritted teeth, “I will show all of you.” Yoongi only rolls his eyes. "Anyway, today's theme is ‘love and friendship’," Henry sighs dreamily, which causes a round of groans, "And ‘party’!" Everyone fakes enthusiastic cheer, which Henry ignores, "For the first Situation, we need three volunteers," he eyes his preys slyly, "Namjoon, Taehyung, and Jimin will be our volunteers."

Taehyung shivers under Henry's grin, "What do we need to do?"

"There are two best friends who fall  for the same person..."

"Not it!" Namjoon shouts, “I’m not the girl!” Namjoon and Jimin stare at Taehyung until he reluctantly nods, "Fine. I'll be the girl."

After a few seconds of huddling, the drama unfolds.

Author's notes: Yay (fake) drama! This will be the last chapter before I'm going on a vacation! Don't worry I have hidden chapters so this story will be updated while I'm gone! 

Hope you liked the JinXHyerin bits and Namjoon's tutor bits. Any comments, subscribes, and upvotes are much appreciated!

Until then!

-suzyelf

Light, Camera, Action - Super Junior D&E