Another side of him

Yoona parked her car on the side of the road, feeling lucky to have found a free parking lot quickly in the centre of crowded city. The car’s headlights turned down as she clicked her keys. She walked across the road and pushed through the door of small urban café standing in the corner of the pavement. Once she stepped in, she registered a familiar person waving at her direction.

„Yoona, here!“ A female voice spoke up loudly enough for her friend to hear. Yoona smiled immediately, making her way towards Sulli, who had raisen up from her seat in meantine. They hugged each other tightly after not having contacted each other for quite a time.

„I missed you, Sulli!“ Yoona said as she unwrapped her arms from the younger girl’s shoulders.

„Me too, I haven’t seen you for how long, three weeks? Ah, you must be busy, don’t you? I can see dark circkles under eyes,“ Sulli stated with a worried face, her lips puffing.

„Well, there have been some technical problems with camera during the drama shootings. I hope they fix that soon, because reacting the same scenes over and over again is quite exhausting,“ Yoona sighed. Sulli nodded in empathy.

A waitress came to their table and she ordered herself a cappuccino. Sulli had been already sipping on hot chocolate as she had arrived sooner a few minutes.

„Anyways, you told me there was something emergency you wanted to talk about, what is it?“ Yoona went on, when the waitress left, „And have you moved into Haechan’s apartment yet?“

Sulli chuckled bitterly and shook her head, „I actually wanted to talk about him. How should I say this?I broke up with him.“

„You what?! No way!“ Yoona sprang back in utter surprise, her back hiting the padded back of chair.

„We had been arguing a lot during the proccess of moving and truthfully, he just frustrated me. So I decided to end things with him,“ Sulli ran her fingers through her long, black hair. Yoona inspected her expression closely, however there was no hint of sorrow or regret painted on her face.

Yoona had met Sulli in her uni days. They both had majored in acting and took classes together. The previous year, they had finally graduated, hence Yoona was able to finally take up more classes in her entertainment company and even get casted for a drama. Sulli, on the other hand, decided to stay at university to get a higher degree.

Six months ago, Sulli was introduced to Haechan through Yoona’s boyfriend. Yoona wasn’t close to him, but Sulli had boasted about what a charming gentleman he was. And when Yoona heard that Haechan proposed to Sullli to move in with him, she was more than happy for the couple. So it was hard to imagine that Sulli had broken up with him out of nowhere.

Sulli continued, „He just became so boring and stubborn! He was never willing to bring me to places I wanted! Or just do things I wanted, whatever. Just exploiting me with luxurious presents isn't my thing, I didn't even ask for it. Anyways, when he offered to me to live together, I thought that our relationship would improve. It didn't. So I had enough, I wasn't willing to be his toy just for anymore.“

„Just a toy for ? You must be exaggerating, Sulli,“ Yoona commented.

„Well, we did nothing besides that? He was a lazy ,“ she said, as she mixed the chocolate drink in her mug. A moment later, the waitress brought Yoona’s hot drink. Yoona thanked her and shifted the cup a little further from her to prop her elbows on the wooden table.

„How did he feel about the breakup?“

„I can’t say that we ended it on a good note, but I think he might have expected it for a while. But at the end, he was still surprised that I actually broke up with him.“

„I hope you’ll find a better man soon.“

„Stop that,“ Sulli laughed, “I’m not in the mood for dating right now. So don’t even think about telling Sanghyuk to find someone for me.“

„I won’t,“ Yoona smiled reassuringly.

„Good. How’s Sanghyuk anyway? Does he still have a packed schedule?“

Yoona nodded, „And do you know what? I feel that I might have a same problem as you had with Haechan. Like sometimes he does show up at my place, but that’s all. The other times I often feel more like at work than on a date, when I’m with him.“

„No, no,“ Sulli cried, „what are you saying, Yoona.“

„I don’t mean that I don‘t love him anymore, I just-„

„He’s like this with you, because you’ve been together for over two years. He doesn’t have to text you constantly or take you out on romantic picnics. Your relationship is stable and healthy, believe me, it is,“ Sulli said and put her hand on Yoona’s hand, which was mixing the cup of cappuccino with a spoon.

Yoona locked her eyes with her best friend. Maybe Sulli was right. Maybe she was just making a fuss about something nonexistent.

Suddenly, Taehyung’s face popped inside her mind. She remembered the reason why he came with the idea of their trip from two days ago. He wanted to distract her thoughts from Sanghyuk. Even a young high schooler found her complaining pitiable.

She was embarrassing. Why could she not mature up? How could she talk like this behind her boyfriend’s back?

„You are right. I just need to get used to the fact, that our relationship has escalated to the point, where we don’t have to communicate much anymore,“ Yoona spoke quietly and slowly as if to convince herself.

Sulli knitted her eyebrows, an uneasy feeling causing an itch inside her. She hoped that what she had just said was right. She just wanted Yoona to be happy.

„Let’s pay and go over to my place.“

„Why now?“

„We are going to a pool party at Wendy’s. I’ll borrow you some pretty bikini,“ Sulli winked at her fellow friend.

The party was in full swing, when they arrived. They had been already welcomed by Wendy, the owner of the residence. She wasn’t close enough to Yoona nor Sulli to be called good friends, but she was well-known among people for being extroverted and friendly. And the more people attended her parties, the better. Only a person like Wendy could held a pool party inside her house in the middle of winter.

Yoona looked around the large, shielded room. Most people were holding drinks in their hands or bathing in a round swimming pool in the centre of the room. Everyone was dressed in swimwear, most of the girls who weren’t in the water had flimsy robes on top of that.

Yoona wasn’t an exceptation, but she wasn’t particularly shy neither, because there was no was she could meet with an uncomfortable encounter with guys at this kind of place. Calling these people celebrities would be false and overstated, but this party was far from a typical weekend party.

Lively music was playing from one-metre-high loudspeakers, but the volume was kept to the extent, where people could held conversations comfortably without having to scream over each other.

It was a rather sophisticated party, no one was getting knocked out by alcohol and there was no couple making out in public fiercely, in Yoona’s sight at least.

Sulli had left her for a while, catching up with a few friends on the other side of the room. Yoona on the other hand hand been sitting on a sofa, having a group chat consisting of two older boys and one younger girl. She had met them individually before on several events, which she had attended with Sanghyuk, but she had never really got a chance to get closer to them. They had only exchanged a few words before, but this time, they seemed more fun to talk to.

She was laughing to one of the boy’s hilarious story, when Wendy approached them with a huge smile on her face.

„You guys having fun?“ She interrupted the boy’s talk.

„Of course! Wanna come sit with us?“ The younger girl replied.

„I actually have to go supply beer,“ she laughed, „but thanks. Let’s take a selfie together?“

She walked in between the group and a second later, a clicking noise could be heard. Yoona tugged the corners of her lips up quickly.

„Thanks guys!“ Wendy said as her eyes were fixed on the phone screen, examining the photo. She left shortly after. The others sitting on the sofa exchanged puzzled expressions between one another. A light laughter escaped their mouths.

Yoongi was sitting on one of the bar’s seats, propping himself on the counter as he was scrolling down his SNS accounts, head bobbing along with music at the same time. His phone suddenly vibrated briefly, indicating a new message; from Taehyung precisely.

‚Yoongi! Where you at?!‘ was written on the display.

‚At Wendy’s party, why,‘ he replied.

‚My neighbour is over there too. Did you meet her yet?‘

‚Your neighbour? Who the hell are you talking about?‘

‚The neighbour, that drove me to your garage…‘

Yoongi creased his forehead, getting more confused with each sentence Taehyung typed. Suddenly, a blue underlined link popped in their chatbox. Upon clicking on it, he was sent to Wendy’s Facebook page.

He had already seen the photos from the ongoing party, which she had uploaded a while ago, since he had been tagged in one of them.

But, when he received a new message from Taehyung saying, ‚The second picture from the bottom, that one on the right,‘ he was awe-struck by how pretty her features were. She was wearing a simple blue bikini and a flower-printed robe on top of that.

‚Not a bad chick. Want me to boast about you in front of her or what?‘ He typed into his phone.

‚Noo don’t do anything stupid, Yoongi. I was just surprised that you two are at the same party.‘

Yoongi took the last slurp of wine and left the glass on the counter before leaving the bar corner. Truth to be told, if a good friend of him, who had already found his way to success in music industry, hadn’t invited to this party, he would’ve never gone to such a place.

His territory were night dim clubs at the heart of town, where barmen served beer and vodka instead of wine and where people danced all night long to a loud, fast music.

And so, when made a circle around the pool and his eyes finally landed on the tall, slim girl with hair tied into a messy bun, he didn’t expect such a warm greeting from a high-class girl.

Yoona was heading to the pult with beverage, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to be met with a monolid, black-haired boy, his eyes on a few-inche lower line than hers. He smiled at her nonchantly and spoke, „Hi, I’m Yoongi.“

Yoona clutched her eyebrows together, searching a picture of his face or name in her mind, but she failed. She was clueless about who the person was, but he didn’t give off any bad feeling yet, so she replied with a smile, „Hi there, Yoona. Have we met before?“

Yoongi chuckled as he put his hands into the low pockets of his swimpants. His abs flexed for a second as he chuckled, his gummy teeth showing, „No, but you sure must know about Taehyung.“

„Ah, Taehyung! You know him?“

„I used to go to the same school he’s in right now. And well, as much as boring it sounds, I’ve helped the school principle to open a music after-school club so we play together in one band now.“

„Oh, I’ve heard your music for once already, it wasn’t bad at all actually! You guys have some good composition there,“ she tapped his arm and he couldn’t help but return her compliment with a grin. His voice could sound monotone or even uninterested to other ears, but the truth was that he put lots of effort of time into what he loved – music.

„Thanks, Yoona. So I heard from my mate, that you two live under one roof?“

Yoona nodded. The two continued to chat about their career; about Yoona’s wish to become a recognized actress one day, which had helped Yoongi to earn more respect for her.

They had exchanged words about Yoongi’s dreams, about him majoring in music and forming a school band for extra money to pay for his rent, but eventually growing to like being part of the band and having actual fun with the younger boys.

In connection to the band, he had mentioned Taehyung again. When Yoona described him as a cute boy with innocent mind wiht a serious voice, Yoongi bursted out laughing. He imagined him behaving completly different in front of her. He probably hid his weird little dances and hilarious, ugly faces as well.

„That description was quite blant honestly. That boy has so much to him,“ Yoongi said, his hands fumbling for the phone in the pockets.

„It’s not like I know him that well,“ Yoona defended herself. Yoongi smiled and passed his phone to Yoona. She looked at the screen full of square photos. It was Taehyung’s Instagram profile site consisting of his blurry, somewhat artistic selfies, adorable puppies, deserted nature and more.

„Just to help you get a closer look at him.“

„I don’t think that I was completely off with my description though?“

And then she hit the button, which sent her to photos where he had been tagged, “Oh.“

The first picture was taken in someone’s house, his body was sprawled on a leather sofa, arm thrown over a red-haired girl in skimpy clothes, who must been more than happy about Taehyung holding her waist due to her cheeky expression. Taehyung himself was smirking smugly. In the caption stood, ‘Met this bloodily attractive guy tonight. Won’t share haha.‘

Yoona lifted her eyebrows in surprise. He was a teenager though, so it should be completely normal for him to go to such parties, right?

Still, she couldn’t surpress the uncomfortable sensation increasing inside her as she scrolled down the similar photos, where he was holding a girl or alcohol or both. She wasn’t making a bad picture about him, that would be unfair and childish of her, because people, who often partied weren’t necessarly troublesome or irresponsible.

The fast flow of thoughts were suddenly halted, when another photo captured her interest. He was standing behind a microphone, eyes cloudy and dark, partly covered by messy hair strands. They were gazing directly at the camera, piercing through boldly. She blinked. She was unable to unite this person and Taehyung into one complex person. He gave off such a strong, mysterious vibe in the photo.

She raised her eyes and looked at Yoongi, who was somehow holding a new glass of cocktail. She quickly returned his phone, not realizing that she had been too indulged in Taehyung’s photos.

„I take it back. He is more… wild than I thought,“ she commented as Yoongi put the phone back into the pockets.

„He is a good boy nevertheless,“ he said reassuringly, to which she nodded approvingly.

„Well, I shall go find my friend. Hope to see you next time?“ he said.

„Sure, it was nice to meet you, Yoongi, “ she waved at him and silently watched as he retreated to another room.

Taehyung was staring mindlessly at the huge blackboard in front of the class, pretending to listen to teacher's boring and incomprehensible words.   

He wiggled on his chair, thinking about excusing himself to bathroom so that Mr. Kim wouldn't call him out, when his phone (perfectly hidden behind his pencil case) screen lit up. He looked up carefully, making sure that the teacher didn't have eyes on him and only then did he check his notifications. 

For a few seconds, it seemed that a irrelevant account followed him on SNS, but it didn't take long him to realize that the owner of the account was Yoona. He gulped, mantaining his poker face, occasionally glancing in front of him. 

Had she met Yoongi? Was he his typical sassy personality and make fun of him? Perhaps not, but still, his heartbeat sped up in thought of those two speaking about him. He felt that he got opportunity to start a conversation with her though and he didn't want to miss that. 

'Yoonaaa. You have been stalking me, huh?' He sent her through private chat box. He played with his pen, rotating it in his hand. Mere minutes had passed, but he was feeling desperate already. His spirit sprang up, when his phone lit up again. 

'I met your friend Yoongi and he showed me your account. He's pretty cool hehe.' Taehyung's face scrunched up slightly upon reading the message silently. Yoongi was supposed to make a good reputation about him, not himself.  A tinge of jealousy zipped through his head. 

'I wish I was there with you guys. It's so boring here at school.' 

'Poor you. But you've skipped classes because of me once already, so don't even dare thinking about doing it the second time haha.'

'Okay, mom. Do you have work on the filming set today?'

'Nope, I'm heading to the company in one hour though.'

Taehyung stared at the phone screen, his fingers hovering above it. The truth was that he did not how to reply. She must have had a good time over there with people around her age until he texted her, bothering her with meaningless messages. He was so dumb.

Taehyung straightened himself, when he noticed three dots appear at the bottom of the chat box, indicating that Yoona was typing. 

'When does your last class end?' she asked.  

'Right now actually. Like in seven minutes. Why?'

'Well, there's this huge discount at the supermarket in the town center. I was thinking about doing the shopping before heading to the company. You wanna come with me? I can drive us there.'

'That sounds good. I'll go with you.'

'What's your phone number? I'll be waiting in front of your school.'

Taehyung hid his huge grin behind his arm, which he had casually propped on his desk. They quickly exchanged their phone numbers. At the end of the day, despite having to be stuck at school and Yoongi getting to see Yoona in bikini, Taehyung felt that he had won. 

 Author's note: Quite a lack of Taehyung/ Yoona's moments in this chapter, right? Don't worry, I'm planning on writing more of them in the next chapter haha. And sorry for all the typos and grammatical mistakes, English is not my first language! Comment down below what you are thinking about the story so far :)