Ch.8
Tomorrow became today and you were already excited to talk to your friends. You were going to make things right! They probably didn't even know you felt this bad. Jungkook seemed to be the only to notice something was up with you, but that's about it. In the end, it just meant Jungkook was a good friend for picking up on that. His actions towards you were still weird though. That might be awkward to bring up. Then there was also that girl that saw you two practically hugging each other. It doesn't matter now. You know the truth and that's all that matters. Math class is going to be a lot of fun today. Hopefully Taehyung and Jungkook forgive you for attempting to ignore them. Plus, the other members.
Stepping into Mr. Pyo's classroom, your eyes landed right on the two boys you wanted to see. A smile formed on your face without a second thought. You took long strides to your desk, setting down your bag. Jungkook lifted his head to look at you. His appearance today almost made you jump. He looked exhausted and had some acne. It would be rude to comment on that so you didn't. It was just strange to see him this way. Taehyung turned his head to face you, his earrings moving with his head movement. It never occurred to you that his ears were pierced, but it was so good on him! He gave you a light smile, unsure if you wanted to continue working hard in math today. Hell no!
"Taehyung-a!" You leaned over your desk. "Your earrings look so cool on you!"
"Oh, you think so?" Taehyung began to completely face you with his square grin. He lifted one of his fingers to touch the metal of his jewelry. It was a dangling chain earring that really matched him well. "Thank you! I got them when I was out with Jimin yesterday."
"Really?" You asked. It felt good to be conversing with him. There were no awkward pauses and things felt natural again. He didn't hesitate to tell you all about his day yesterday.
"Yeah, I was gonna invite you, but Namjoon said you went home." Taehyung pouted as you gave him an apologetic expression. You would have loved to gone shopping with them. It would have been so much fun, but you were too wrapped up in your own crap. That's not going to happen again.
"I'm sorry. Yesterday just wasn't my day." You sighed. Taehyung nodded in understanding and you wanted to give him a huge hug. These boys were too good to you and you tried to ignore them for your own reputation. Forget that. If people think you're a whore, then so be it. It'll be worth it to just hang out with them. "I'm here now though! Let's have fun."
"Definitely!" Taehyung jumped in his seat. He was bouncing in excitement, making his desk shake like there was an earthquake. Mr. Pyo stared up from his papers to glare at the two of you. His favorite students! Taehyung's back was facing him like always while you were in a fully engaged conversation with the boy. Everyone gave the two of you quick stares, waiting for Mr. Pyo to blow up. He appeared to be keeping his cool. "Jungkook got earrings too but didn't wear them. Can you believe that? He didn't even pay for them and doesn't wear them either!"
"Wait, he what!?" Your mouth dropped in surprise. Sometimes you forget they would do things you'd never do in a million years. Mr. Pyo slammed his papers down on the stand in front of him. Taehyung and you jumped in your seats. He's had enough of the two of you consistently chatting every day like this. He would always scold Taehyung, but you wished he wouldn't move the two of you apart. This seat was the best. Jungkook sat on your left, diagonal of you while Taehyung sat right in front of you. It was perfect.
"Kwon (F/n) and Kim Taehyung! Outside the classroom," He snapped. Mr. Pyo pointed towards the door. Taehyung gave the teacher a nervous smile with his hands up. All you did was get up and scurry out. Was he going to scold you in the hallway right now? Mr. Pyo never blew up like this before.
Taehyung stood outside the door with you. Furrowing your brows at him in confusion, he didn't know what was going on either. He shrugged in response and proceeded to poke his head in the classroom. Apparently, Mr. Pyo was going to resume class with two of his students in the hall. Then Taehyung being the way he is decided to question his teacher's actions. You stayed silent, biting your lip. Mr. Pyo was probably going to lose it again. And he did. He came by the door and slammed it shut. It left the two of you startled. Hopefully he doesn't call home. That call would make your sister lose her mind. She would threaten to send you back with Mom and Dad. You'll fight to stay here though. You're not going to leave any of them behind.
As the two of you stood in the hall, Taehyung began to laugh at the situation. It was strange to have him so amused after what just happened. He wasn't in least bit worried if Mr. Pyo was going to hand out detentions or worse. He only cracked up at the fact that Mr. Pyo had had enough of him. Mr. Pyo normally didn't pay attention to you, but Taehyung would get a scold after class consistently. Now you two were standing out in the hall like a couple of troublemakers. Soon you couldn't help but laugh yourself. This was suddenly becoming funny for no reason. Taehyung and you grinned like crazy at each other.
"He's so mad!" Taehyung whisper yelled.
"I've never seen him like that before," You admitted as he nodded.
"Great teamwork!" He held his hand up high. You chuckled at first and then gave him a stinging high five. "Haha, yes!"
"This is great." You leaned against the wall with your hands behind your back. Taehyung did the same, only with his arms crossed on his chest. The laughter died down, your smile slowly fading at you thought more seriously. Should you mention the rumors to him? Imaging the silver hair boy not joking around was a strange concept. "...Hey Taehyung?"
"Yeah?" He looked over to you with a small smile.
"I'm sorry for ignoring you the other day. I ignored everyone." You didn't share his gaze. You were too ashamed to make eye contact with him.
"...it's okay." Taehyung got closer to you. Once his shoulder was touching yours, it made you bring your head up to see him with a soft smile. He's too kind. "But what's wrong? I know you wouldn't ignore us for no reason."
"I'm that easy to read?" You joked, letting out a quick laugh. Soon you nodded, saying, "There's been a rumor going around about me. Have you heard it?"
The silver haired boy tilted his head, pushing himself off the wall. He gave you a face you've never seen on him. There was a lot of emotions that it was almost hard to read. Still, you were able to sense his confusion, anger, and all the big emotions. You experienced them all when you first heard about them floating around too. Being forced into that stall let you know all the information you needed. It's okay if you don't ever find the root. That's what you've decided. Instead, you're going to try to grow stronger from this experience! Ignoring your friends was the wrong move since they're all you have. It was a good lesson for you to have so whoever spread it to be harmful can suck it.
"Rumor?" His brows knitted together. "What are they saying about you?" He quickly wanted to know. It was embarrassing to reveal. The rumor was a lie, but it did involve your friends in it too. It put all of you in a bad light.
"They're saying...they're saying that I'm sleeping with everyone in the gang," You explained, "I don't know why. They think that you guys wanted me to be the slut of the group."
"Are you serious?" Taehyung scoffed in disgust. "Aish, some people have no real lives. Who do they think they are?"
"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now." You patted his shoulder, trying to calm him down. Taehyung looked down at you in shock. He wasn't expecting you be this calm or 'give up'. You figured doing it your way would be easier. Finding the source is impossible so why bother?
"What do you mean? I'll find out who started it. I can get all the guys to get people to confess." Taehyung started devising up a plan, but you had to end it there. That's the last thing you wanted. The gang shouldn't get involved in this rumor or people will be positive that they're thugs. This school may be very relaxed with how things are done, but even you doubt they'll accept little criminals running around.
"No, Taehyung. Really, it's fine." You grabbed both of his hands. "I just want to continue as if things are normal. Don't tell anyone. If they hear about the rumor, don't let them do anything."
"Are you sure? I think I can convince Yoongi to intimidate people into telling the truth," Taehyung offered as you shook your head.
"There's no way he would help me." You laughed. "Trust me. I'm fine."
Taehyung didn't want to accept, but inevitably nodded in agreement. The two of you stayed out in the hall for the whole class period. The whole lesson wouldn't be retaught, and Mr. Pyo stated that that was your punishment for speaking in class. When he went back into his classroom, Jungkook came out with his notes written down. A savior! He handed Taehyung the notebook and began rubbing his own shoulders. You gave him a worried look as he muttered something about his body aching. Taehyung chuckled and told you that Jungkook has been working out a lot. Jungkook nodded, saying he was sore.
'That's our muscle boy!' Taehyung slapped Jungkook's back. You giggled lightly, but Jungkook didn't take it the way Taehyung had intended. Suddenly, the brunette shoved Taehyung to the side with frustration. The mood shifted from a happy atmosphere to a perplexing one. Why did Jungkook react that way when he knew Taehyung was just having some fun? Taehyung uttered an apology to his friend for possibly smacking him too hard and Jungkook didn't say anything. Jimin showed up soon afterword and you were grateful for that. He made the mood return to normal.
Jungkook gave Jimin cold stare before walking off. What's wrong with him? He was fine, generous enough to give Taehyung his notes. Without warning, he becomes angry and cold. That wasn't like him at all. It made you want to say something to Jimin and Taehyung, but it's not like they even know what's going on with their friend. Jungkook didn't always talk, but he was still kind and friendly. You had no clue on why he was behaving this way. Maybe Namjoon would know? Maybe something personal is making him react like this?
"Jungkook-a doesn't really tell us his feelings." Taehyung frowned as he watched the youngest member force himself through the crowd. The brunette was rough with the other students surrounding him. Many students who were shoved to the side by him looked back, wondering what his problem was. Soon he was completely gone from the hall.
"He's been acting a little weird lately." Jimin nervously ran his fingers through his hair. He let out a deep sigh as you silently nodded.
"Yeah, it's making me worry. Do you know if anything is wrong at home?" You said to see them shake their heads.
"We wouldn't know. Jungkook doesn't really talk about home to any of us." Taehyung shoved his hands in his pockets. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll pass."
Jimin sided with Taehyung on this. You weren't so quick to come to any conclusion. Unlike the rumors, you could figure out what was going on with Jungkook. He wouldn't like you prying into his life. To be honest, he would hate it for any of the members to get too involved. It almost felt like he had just as much walls up as Yoongi did. All of you didn't speak about Jungkook anymore. Taehyung went off to his next class as Jimin and you headed over to the physical education field. Ms. Lee's line was out there waiting for the two of you to arrive. During the whole class, you tried to dance to 'Mr. Mr.' by Girls Generation and managed to get Jimin to follow. As always, he did it a lot better than you. He wouldn't take your compliments, but you saw how happy he was just to move his body this way.
The time for lunch came and you were beyond ready. Dressing in the locker room has become a quick process. You don't take your time like you used to. Now, you hurry out of there to avoid their rude stares and inappropriate questions. You came out of the locker room with three buttons undone. Jimin was waiting for you outside and got embarrassed to see a bit of your cleavage. It wasn't that big of a deal to you since you knew he wasn't a pervert, so you quickly buttoned the rest up. Now it's time to go eat! Jimin and you ran over to the cafeteria at full speed. He went outside where the gang eats while you went into the cafeteria line.
As you waited for the line to move along, someone shouted your name and you could tell who it was. Turning back to face them, Taehyung rushed over to grab a tray. He cut the line to stand next to you. It made you laugh, but you also mouthed an apology to the people who were here first. He was just excited to make it in line with you. Normally, all the members already had lunch, but Taehyung occasionally got something from the cafeteria. It made waiting in this line a lot more enjoyable. When the two of you had gotten your food, you walked outside to see the group already there. Namjoon was sitting against the cement wall with Hoseok and Seokjin. Yoongi was to the side of Hoseok, ignoring you like always. Jimin sat next to Seokjin and besides the talented dancer was Jungkook.
You sat down with Taehyung, joining the group for another day. None of them mentioned you skipping out on lunch with them yesterday and you were grateful. So far you've only confessed to Taehyung and that was enough for today. It'd feel embarrassing if they all knew. Yoongi would most likely laugh at you or might be grossed out that people would imagine you and him like that. Either way, you weren't too interested in finding out their reactions. You weren't going to focus on the rumors any longer. You'll be enjoying your life instead. Everyone ate their food, teasing each other, or complaining about class. Jimin, Taehyung, and you were grinning about what happened with Mr. Pyo. It was still randomly hilarious.
Jungkook didn't laugh or enter any conversations. He stared up into the sky with an empty gaze. It made you glance at him multiple times during your chats with the rest of the guys. He was shaking his leg ridiculously fast and you wondered if he was impatient for something. Jungkook then stood up, grabbing his water bottle tightly. The plastic crunched from his hard grasp. Everyone looked up at him, confused about him suddenly shooting up like that. Where did he have to go? A frown found itself on your face. Taehyung and Jimin said it was nothing to worry about, but you felt like it was. Once you get the chance, you're going to tell Namjoon. He's the leader and you know Jungkook respects him. They all do.
"Everything okay?" Namjoon asked.
"Yeah, I just feel a little nauseous. I'm gonna go to the bathroom." He pointed with his thumb. Namjoon nodded his understandingly. Jungkook opened the door and left with his full water bottle. You couldn't take it anymore. You stood up and walked over to Namjoon, squishing yourself between him and Seokjin.
"Oh hey, (F/n). Did you want to see me?" Seokjin smiled.
"Ah...I came here to talk to Namjoon. Sorry," You said as he pouted in disappointment. Hoseok laughed, clapping his hands while Yoongi looked away to drink his milk.
"What'd you want to talk about?" Namjoon spoke in a low voice.
"I think something's wrong with Jungkook. He's been acting strange and it's been making us worried," You whispered into his ear, referencing you and the other two first years.
"Want me to check it out?" Namjoon placed his soda down.
"Please." You begged. He accepted, saying he'll figure it out when they get to the warehouse. You were beyond happy at this point. "Thank you so much, Namjoon! You're the best!" You hugged him from behind, your arms wrapped around his shoulders. Namjoon chuckled lightly as Seokjin made a tsk.
"Oh, you guys really are cute together," Hoseok commented only to get a second head shake from Namjoon. Something about this time didn't sound like a joke anymore. Seokjin began to whine how the two of you would be cuter together. Taehyung interrupted and jokingly said he was the perfect man. Out of nowhere, Jimin replied with 'we all know it's me' to receive a lot of 'ooh!'s from the guys. Yoongi didn't even bother to partake in this. Sometimes it felt like the boys were purposely trying to make the rumors sort of true.