Brave

Ring. Yoona registered her phone buzzing from outside the bathroom in the bedroom. She quickly wiped her face clean with a towel. She walked over to her bad and unpluged her phone from the charger.

„Sanghyuk?“ she pronounced his voice sweetly with a hint of affection. She was just getting ready for their breakfast date. Was he near her apartment yet?

„Hi, babe, I’m sorry, but I have to cancel our date. The screenwriter I told you about invited me for brunch today, I couldn’t refuse that,“ he explained with no exhale at the end of sentence, no emotion - just a firm dot.

„Lunch? But it’s only 8 now, you still have a lot-„ she got cut off by a sharp cough.

„We've set up for ten o'clock already. I think he wants to discuss some potential future projects with me,“ he said.

„Ah, okay. I understand,“ Yoona mumbled and sat down on the edge of her bed.

„I will make it up to you. Actually I’ll pick you up at eight o‘clock tomorrow night. Dress up prettily,“ he continued.

„Are you asking me out for dinner?“ Yoona’s voice sounded much brighter now to his ears and she could hear him chuckle.

„Yes. I want you to meet this director from Busan. She’s not that famous, but I thought it would be a good opportunity for both you and her to collaborate.“

Yoona swiped her forehead with her palm and rested herself on the back of the bed. A slight disappointment flushed inside her. She appreciated Sanghyuk’s willingness to help her out with her carreer, but that was it. She wanted to show him that she can manage to get job offers by herself. Make him a proud boyfriend. 

No, he had settled a meeting for her. She couldn’t simply refuse that. She couldn‘t disappoint him.

„Okay,“ she replied finally.

„Great. See you tomorrow.“ They bid each other a goodbye and then Sanghyuk hanged the call up.

Yoona put her phone aside and looked out of the window. The morning sunlight was covering the street in a warm, calm tone. She wanted to go out badly. Just a short walk would do her good. She slid her wardrobe door to the left and grabbed a white along with denim jeans. After that, she put on her snickers and stepped out of apartment. She walked along the empty hall to the elevator, which was riding up at the moment. Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder, causing her to turn around.

Oh, Taehyung. "Hi neighbour, where are you heading to?" He smiled at her, at which she returned him one. 

„Just taking a walk before I go to the company.“

The elevator door slid open and both of them stepped inside silently. Taehyung pushed the button with number zero. He put his hands into the pockets and covered his body with his unbottened coat. The incident from a few days ago was still very vivid in his mind and until now was he still unsure whether she knew about it or not. However her calm behaviour suggested him that she might not have noticed it after all.

The door opened and a small empty hall appeared in front of them. He was following her out of the building, when she asked, „You are heading somewhere?“

„Yeah, to the Dongdyum street,“ he said.

„Mind me joining you for a while?“

„Sure,“ he replied with a grin.

Does she not know that I have school though? He thought, but remained silent nevertheless. They continued to walk side by side, their feet matching with each step. Taehyung suddenly softly pulled her arm, halting her at the zebra crossing. They had to wait for a green light, the cars filling the road in the early rush morning. Yoona spotted a young teenage couple standing at the opposite pavement, holding hands. A smile appeared on Yoona’s smile upon seeing their contagious laughter, but a sigh followed soon after. Taehyung looked at her, but before he could turn his gaze somewhere else, she had already locked her eyes with him.

The red light had switched to the green. They had ten seconds to cross the road. He hated the rush.

„The practising for your upcoming performance, how is it going?“

„It’s going well, I guess. We keep changing and adding things though,“ he made a big step forward to dodge the dirty mud in front of him.

„That’s good. I mean, the more ideas, the better,“ she said.

„And what about you? Are you still busy with the shooting?“ he asked, trying to hide the nervousness in the back of his voice.

„Actually no, the director told me I wouldn’t appear in the next few episodes so I have some free time now,“ she brushed the strand of hair behind her ear. She was now walking a step behind the younger boy. She was observing his slender body, moving forward effortlessly.

„That’s great, isn’t that? You can rest.“ They walked past a few people standing at the bus stop. He recognized a few students from his school getting out of the bus, that had just arrived.

„Not really. I would rather be shooting for the drama than go to practices or boring meetings with my boyfriend,“ Yoona replied bluntly.

„Boring meetings with your boyfriend? What is it?“ he asked, not sure what she had on mind.

Yoona sighed, „He always drags me out to meet people from the entertainment industry, which is great, but sometimes I feel like it’s just burdersome for him. He’s busy enough, now imagine having to accompany me to meetings and events every other week.“

„He just wants to help you out,“ an image of Yoona in evening dress showed up in Taehyung's mind and he could feel a slight irritation inside him, when the image of her was accompanied by images of other older men. 

„I understand that, but I would rather spend more time with him as a normal couple. Go on a date, hang out.“ The school building was right in their sight now, but Yoona didn’t seem to have noticed it. She was too burried in her own words, „Or am I too childish?“

„Yoona, I think you are overthinking it,“ he placed a hand on her shoulder, „And no, you aren’t childish.“ Taehyung saw with a corner of his eyes a few classmates of his point at him curiously, but he kept his stare on Yoona. 

„Let’s go somewhere?“ He suggested.

„What?“ Yoona blurted out, confused, „don’t you need to go somewhere? Wait,“ she finally looked up from the floor and spotted groups of students heading to the school entrance. „you have to go to school!“

„Ah, a few missed hours won’t do anyone bad.“ he showed her his cute box smile. Her before furrowed forehead finally flattened out and she nodded softly.

The two of them headed to the bus stop they had just passed and let the bus driver get them to a place Yoona had never been to. In a moment, they were surrounded by high trees with warm-toned leaves and huge rocks. The nature was covered with a thick layer of white clear snow, shining under the sunrays. All the sound was extinct.

„What are we doing here?“

„I always come here, whenever I am in a trouble. There are no people, who could recognize me, I can do whatever I want here,“ he explained, his eyes wandering all around.

I thought that he would deal with his struggles differently as a high schooler, she thought as she stared at his profile side. Didn’t he look a tad older than his age?

„That’s nice. So you brought me here to relax and talk?“

He turned to her and she noticed his amused face, „We can do that. I have another idea though. You see the highest rock over there? There’s a bungee jumping service up there. I’ve always watched people jump from that place. It seemed like fun, but I was always too scared to try it out alone.“ He laughed heartily, when she gaped open at him. „But I won’t force you to do anything you are not comfortable with of course,“ the few last words were spoken hesitantly, as he noticed a wide smile forming on her face.

„No, let’s go!“ She grabbed his arm firmly like an excited child. He laughed her at her sudden change of behavior.

„Yoona.“

„Yeah?“

„It’s the other way,“ he pointed with his finger to the opposite way she was dragging him. They both laughed and Yoona’s cheeks turned to a shade of pink. She let out of his wrist and they made their way up the metallic, spiral stairs, which she noticed only now.

Up there was a male worker dressed in a thick jumper, his nose red from the cold. The wind was blowing quite strong here. 

Taehyung explained that they came to try a couple jump to which the worker nodded and said, „I’m going to demonstrate a few positions for you and then you choose, which one you are the most comfortable with. I’m going to borrow your boyfriend for a moment, Miss.“ He glanced at Yoona before pulling Taehyung to the front. His ears turned red because of the misunderstanding, but when he stole a glance at her and noticed her cheese grin, he realized that she didn’t mind at all.

„You can hold each other like this,“ the worker put his arm around Taehyung’s waist and closed the gap between their sides.

„Or you can backhug each other or hug of course.“

They looked at each other, flustered by the minimalized options. Taehyung remained quiet, wanting her to choose on her own. If she proposed to do the hug though, he would be more than fine with it.

„We’ll just hold each other’s waists,“ she finally spoke up, looking at him reassuringly.

„Okay, I will need you to check your weight now to give you suitable safety harness.“

„Sure,“ Taehyung replied.

Yoona stepped on the scale first. The scale hand halted at number fifty.

„You are so skinny, Yoona!“ Taehyung blurted out, taken back by the number. She was wearing heavy winter clothes, so the actual weight must have been definitely under 50 kilos. Even the highschool females weren’t this thin and they were much shorter than her for sure. He knew that, because the girls were always talking about weight at his school. 

„I was born with a fast metabolism, it’s not that I’m on diet,“ she confessed nonchalantly. He was starting to worry that the hard jump could have damadged her porcelain body.

Once the process of weighing was done, the worker opened the closet with a key and pulled out two safet harnesses. As the worker helped Yoona put the equipment on, Taehyung was calming himself down. He let out a deep breath. His hands had got sweaty by this time.

Why did he suggest to going here at first place? He didn’t intend on taking advantage of her weak relationship. He didn’t want to look cool inviting her to do a bungee jumping. So what was he trying to do?

„Ahh, you aren’t scared, Taehyung?“ her low, slightly shaky voice startled him. So she was nervous too.

„A little, I guess?“ He scratched the back of his neck, a small laugh ressuring through his throat. She returned the awkward laugh and held his cold hand into hers, squeezing it. He was puzzled by her action, but found it adorable nevertheless.

„Me too, but don’t worry, noona won’t back off,“ her cheeks rose up as she smiled. Noona, he repeated in his mind. He felt a lump in his throat, unable to release any kind of sound nor breath. He wanted to hear it again, to make sure it wasn’t a mere imagination of his head.

He was brought back to the presence, when the worker asked, „You guys ready?“

„Yes.“

„I will do the countdown now. Bend your knees and jump on the number three,“ he instructed in a monotone voice, as if he had been saying the line for over thousands times.

Taehyung felt Yoona wrapping her hand around his waist. He hesitantly did the same, however his grip getting firmer eventually. He could feel her stomach raising and lowering hard under her jacket. He turned to the left to steal a last glance at her, but couldn’t take his eyes off her, when he spotted her expression. Her dry lips were trembling from nervosity as she was looking down at the ground. Her eyebrows wrinkled, almost touching each other. This was the signal, that made Taehyung realize that this was perhaps a bad idea. He quickly grabbed her sweaty hand, which made her look at him.

“We don’t have to do this. Maybe you would feel more comfortable to do this with your boyfriend, maybe this-“

„No, Taehyung, you brought me here and I’m grateful for that. I want to jump, just give me a moment, okay?“ She protested, grabbing his hand again in proccess. This time it felt even more casual.

„Sure,“ he reassured her. She was so brave, he loved it. Her courage pushed him even more not to show that he was nervous too. He had to stay calm and keep a steady face.

After a while, Yoona said, „I’m ready,“ and with that, he felt her arms around him once again. They both looked at each other as if to give each other’s assurance and courage.

„One…“ the worker begun counting.

„Two…“ Both of them were holding their breath in at this moment.

„Three.“

The second later, they leapt off the platform. The air hit their face hard and it stung, but that was nothing compared to the ticklish feeling burning inside their stomachs. It felt like riding up and down the frugal hills with car, but much worse. Taehyung squinted his eyes even harder with each passed second. He thought that the tug on his jumper couldn’t be stronger - not until a pair of long, slim arms hugged his form tightly and the female scream was muffled with his chest. It happened all too fast and before he knew it, he embraced her. Yoona let out another involuntary scream. Her legs locking his. Their veins were filled with adrenaline as the gravity drew them down and up harshly. Finally, he could sense the rope tighten around their bodies. They finally stilled down, hanging a few metres from the steady ground. He felt her heart bumping hard and loud against his.

Yoona’s breath was heavy and unsteady. She opened her teary eyes slowly, only to see the red boy’s face with his amusingly messed hair. But he was somewhat too close to her and that was the moment she realized she had hugged him. Or was it him? Anyways, she let go of him quickly. „Woah, that was something.“

„Damn, I think this was my last time I tried bungee jumping,“ Taehyung confessed with a laugh at the end of sentence. Yoona smiled heartily at the boy.

The staff member longered the rope and their feet finally touched the ground. They returned the things and left with a certificate in their hands.

„Thank you for bringing me there,“ Yoona said with a scrunched expression. They were now sitting in a nearly empty bus, sun shining on their faces, „It was fun.“

„I’m happy you liked it,“ Taehyung turned to the left to meet her gaze, „I wanted to clear your mind off, you seemed a little upset before.“

Her eyebrows raised up for a moment, as if thinking about what he meant by his claim. She then remembered her petty rant about her boyfriend. Why did she even do it? 

„I was in a bad mood, I guess. Just forget about it,“ she said finally with a firm voice. The words came out a little harsh, but Taehyung understood well; her romance life wasn’t his business. But still, the curiosity grew inside him every time she mentioned the Sanghyuk guy. The first time, she praised him, the second time she complained about him. It confused him.

Another question was, why she had been so friendly with him since the first time he and Yoona had met. She was a starting actress, had an apparently succesful boyfriend, meanwhile him, Kim Taehyung, was a normal high school student, just an ordinary guy. They visited each other’s apartment in less than a week, had dinner together, drank together, watched her first drama’s premiere together. They jumped from a five-hundred-metre platform together. Each time they were together, his heart beat slightly faster and he hesitated with the right choice of words. He found her attractive in many ways. But that still didn’t explain why she was willing to spend so much time with him, when she could just hang out with her same-aged friends.

The bus finally arrived at their destination. As soon as they got off the bus, the large school property with three buildings hit their eyes. Many students were outside since it was a time break. It wasn’t an ideal weather to spend outside in school uniforms only, but meeting one another near the gate was far easier for students than in the divided buildings.

Taehyung checked Yoona’s face at the corner of his eyes. He was about to bid her a goodbye, but she was faster, „I’ll walk with you to the gate.“

He agreed and they turned their heels to the school gate’s direction.

„Do you often skip classes?“

He blinked in surprise. „Not really, this is actually the-„ his sentence was suddenly cut off with a loud familiar voice.

"Tae, you idiot! You should’ve told me you were going to skip the damn physics, I would’ve joined you.“ Both of them turned to the direction of the voice only to see Jungkook with Jimin right behind him.

„Jungkook! You are on the school property, stop yelling,“ the elderly chemics professor, who just happened to be passing by, scolded Jungkook in a grumpy tone.

„Also, did I hear something about skipping classes?“ He eyed the boy suspiciously.

„Good day, Mr. Park! No no, you must have misheard that. Have a nice day, Mr. Park!“ Jungkook  sent an exaggerated smile to the teacher, who just shook his head and walked on.

„Such a douche, always keeping an eye on me,“ Jungkook mumbled under his breath, causing Jimin to chuckle at him.

„Who are they, Taehyung?“ Yoona tapped Taehyung’s shoulder. The two boys had approached them already, when he adverted his attention to her with a simple.

„Ah, these are my friends, Jimin and Jungkook,“ he pointed at them, „they are my bandmates as well,“ he said.

Yoona’s face brightened up, „Ah, I didn’t recognize you! I’ve seen a glimpse of you in the garage, your music is pretty good.“

Upon hearing this, Jimin exchanged his sly gaze with Jungkook. This girl must be their brother's crush. She was more beautiful than they had imagined though.

„Thanks a lot,“ Jimin smiled, „what’s your name?“

„I’m Yoona.“

„Well, Yoona, feel welcome to come see us on the Christmas party,“ Jungkook added. He spoke confidently, which didn’t even surprise Taehyung, because he was aware of his flirty personality. He was happy to see that it left no effect on Yoona though.

„Taehyung invited me already, but I think I’ll be busy around that time unfortunately.“

Jungkook smirked at the thought of his mate inviting such a girl somewhere. She looked smart and pretty. Quite Taehyung’s type.

„Come to our rehearsals then,“ Jungkook said, „you know where it is, right? We don’t meet up regularly, but I’m sure your neighbour here could bring you along anytime,“ Jungkook nudged Taehyung’s elbow. Taehyung’s eyes widened and glared at the younger guy in the blink of eye.

„How do you know that we are neighbours?“ Yoona questioned and crossed her arms playfully.

„Well, let’s say that we’ve had a little talk about you already,“ Jimin admitted.

„Oh, I hope you were saying only nice things about me then,“ she told Taehyung, who had been staying quiet the whole time, praying for his friends not to slip out some rubbish.

„There’s nothing I could complain about,“ he regretted what he had said seconds after they had left his mouth. Apparently his friends found it as cheesy as he did and couldn’t help themselves but gasp simultaneously. Yoona laughed loudly at their reactions.

The bell suddenly started ringing. Taehyung exhaled, sensing the relief. The groups and gatherings began to split out and students returned to their classes.

„You guys should go now,“ Yoona hushed them with the motions of hands, herself already making a few steps back.

„It was nice to meet you,“ Jimin said, to which Jungkook nodded in agreement.

„Same here, bye!“ She waved at them before turning around towards the gate.

„Ah, Taehyung! The next time you get a similar idea, invite me again!“ Yoona exchanged a warm smile with Taehyung, leaving the other two boys curious about why they had been together that morning.