vi. (1/1)

I was laying on my stomach inside the basement practice room, hunched over and concentrated on home work. Maknae-wannabe-leader gave us a break—if it wasn’t for Hoseok hyung complaining about his aching elbow, Jungkook would’ve continued going over the routine for the thousandth time.  “But the competition Jin hyung signed us up for is three weeks away,” he paced back and forth, constantly yelling words that no one bothered to listen to.  “Why are you always so stressed? You’re too young to fuss about these things,” Yoongi hyung shook his head and chucked a bottle of cold water towards Jungkook. The latter caught it on time and gulped the whole thing down. I didn’t bother to eavesdrop further into their conversation as I attempted to complete another question.  “This is the first time I’ve seen you do actual school work, Taehyung,” Hoseok hyung sat in front of me, scrutinizing the worksheet I was writing on. Jimin scooted over as well and nodded in agreement.  “I made a bet. Now shut up because I’m trying to concentrate,” I murmured, chewing on the tip of my pencil. I don’t understand the purpose of trigonometry; as far as I was concerned, the path I’m currently taking has nothing to do with math, let alone trigonometry itself. The two continued watching me and before I realized it, they were already lending a helping hand.  “Who’d you make the deal with anyway?” Jin hyung was involved once Hoseok hyung and Jimin gave up trying to figure the problem out. They complained, stating that they were already having severe headaches. I’m not too surprised—they don’t really last too long when it came to anything school related.  “The girl…” I trailed off before continuing, “Seolhwa.”  “Your girlfriend?” Jin hyung inquired, earning a smack on the forehead from Jungkook. The older threatened to hit him back and the maknae recoiled, whimpering almost cat-like. He composed himself quickly and faced me.  “Last time I heard from her, she stormed out of the room complaining about your attitude and now you’re making bets with her as if you two were close,” the maknae rolled his eyes and suddenly everyone (except for Namjoon hyung who was responsible for buying snacks) became an investigator and shot bullets of questions one after another.  “Was that the cute girl that went here last time?”  “Girlfriend? I thought she wasn’t your girlfriend.”  “What is Jungkook talking about? Don’t tell me you made a girl cry, TaeTae.”  “Is she going to give you a kiss if you complete your homework?” Park freaking Jimin.   I was close to poking his eyes out with my newly sharpened pencil but Jin hyung was quick to hold my arms back. Yoongi hyung was the first one to burst out in fits of laughter and like a domino effect, everyone followed suit. I grunted in annoyance and collected my things, bitterly stuffing them back inside my bag.  “Aw come on, you’re no fun,” Jimin stood up and pouted, dusting off his shorts. I scoffed.  “She promised that she’d do my cleaning duty for one day, that’s all. And stop saying that she’s my girlfriend—Cookie over there is getting jealous,” I pointed at Jungkook, which will hopefully deviate their attention away from me. He started protesting, spurting out words that wasn’t considered rational at all.  “I’m going to go home before the devil beats me to it,” I announced, halting the Hoseok hyung and Jungkook’s bickering.  “But we’re not finished practice—heck we haven’t eaten dinner yet,” Yoongi hyung blocked the door way and I rolled my eyes. Just then, Namjoon hyung came bursting inside, sending my fellow Daegu friend head first towards the floor.  “I’m here with the—” he was put to a stop when the situation hit him in the head—quite literally by Yoongi hyung’s shoes. Namjoon dropped the plastic bag of food down and rushed to hyung’s side, who was cursing like it was his last day on earth. I quietly slipped out the door, making sure no one noticed my absence.  I was already three blocks away when a hand grasped my shoulder. My first instinct screamed bloody murder so I whirled around, ready to throw a punch but I came face to face with the source of constant teasing by the crew members. My stomach churned from the familiarity and immediately dropped my fist, frowning towards the female specimen in front of me.  “You don’t need to show off that you’re a thug—I already know you are one,” Seolhwa’s sarcasm dripped like a melted ice cream on an extremely hot and humid day.  “Don’t scare people like that, stupid,” I grumbled and walk ahead, leaving the all-too-optimistic girl behind. Hearing nimble and light footsteps behind me, I craned my neck only to find her trailing after me.  “Why do you always have to appear everywhere and follow me?”  “You really need to stop flattering yourself, Kim Taehyung,” she rolled her eyes, “And I’m not following you, this area just happens to be where Junhong lives.”  I scoffed and shrugged. “Whatever you say, Busan lady.”  “The name calling has to stop,” she pouted and we started walking on the same direction. The moment was seized by silence and the two of us didn’t want to break the seemingly serene atmosphere. I turned to my street area and thankfully, she followed suit. She got on my nerves most of the time but I can’t help but fret for safety since the last time we walked together, she had an asthma attack.  “See you tomorrow, seat partner,” she dashed off inside an apartment building, leaving me wide eyed confused. I rolled my eyes and walked towards my so-called “home”. Each footstep seemed heavier than the previous one as my heart hammered against my chest. The knot on my throat eased a little when there were no visible lights from the inside.  The strong smell of alcohol reached my nose as soon as the door opened. I searched the wall for the light switch and illuminated the living room, which looked a lot messier than the last time I saw it. Bottles of beer and soju were at every nook and corner—thankfully they were intact and not shattered into tiny pieces this time. Removing my shoes, I cautiously made my way in and started picking the garbage up. Might as well keep it clean before gets trashed again.* * *  “I’m going to chop your head off.”  “Aw come on, it’s all part of the get up.”  “Get up my ass. The color you chose was pink, for heaven’s sake—pink!”  “Oh quit your whining, would you? It’s done anyway, so you can’t really do anything about it.”  Jimin, the self-appointed genius when it came to fashion, decided it would be a brilliant idea to get our hair dyed. He reasoned that it would be suitable since the competition was nearing its date and of course, everyone agreed but me.  “Don’t worry Taehyung, you look adorable,” my throat ran dry and I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Hyesoo noona ran her fingers through my hair as and I shivered under her soft touches. We made eye contact through the mirror and her eyes lit up brightly—something that the stars’ twinkle can’t compete against. She turned the hair dryer on and proceeded to rid my hair of its dampness. My gaze traveled from her eyes down to the smile that lingered on her lips, all the way to the deeply carved dimples that adored her cheeks.  To say that Nam Hyesoo was the definition of perfection would be too much of a fabrication. She was simply every lad’s dream woman: mature, quick-witted, classy, elegant, and—  “Finished yet?”  —And taken. A pair of arms encircled her waist, taking her by surprise.  I could feel my heart getting squeezed as I took the snapback from my lap and wore it over my head.  “Jimin and I are heading out. See you around, Hyesoo noona,” I saluted awkwardly and mustered up a grin. “And Yoongi hyung, don’t stay out too late with her. We still have rehearsals later on.”  I pulled the smug Jimin from the salon’s couch and hurriedly left the suffocating atmosphere.  “Still not over Hyesoo noona, huh?” Jimin clapped my back and sighed dramatically. I frowned and nudged his sides roughly, earning an exaggerated moan of pain from him.  “What can I say? First loves never work out. Just give up on her and find yourself another girl to latch on to.”    “I don’t latch on to girls, thank you very much. Maybe you should take your own advice, Almighty One,” I rolled my eyes and begrudgingly kicked an innocent pebble on the ground. “It’s just not fair—I knew noona first.”  “You never declared her as your girlfriend, Tae. Yoongi hyung had every right to ask her out,” I said nothing and Jimin grew quiet.  “And besides,” he began, a playful grin spreading across his face, “you still have Seolhwa.”  Let’s just say that Jimin was almost sent to the emergency room that day, thanks to my fist.   Don't you just love the pink-headed Taehyung? Heh.This update took a lot longer than expected. I apologize for the wait. Also, this chapter is a bit eh because I'm currently half asleep and half trying-to-grasp-the-situation-a.k.a-i-don't-know-what-i'm-saying. OTL. OH WAIT. I almost forgot. Congratulations to these wonderful boys for winning the MMA Newcomer Award. I'm so proud of them for achieving their goal this year dasjfshlkfjhsdfkjdshf ಥ⌣ಥI guess I'm off to bed.