in which taehyung decides to play pretend and jungkook has no choice but to say yes.
“tae, let’s go!”
leaning my back against the wall, i crane my neck to see him coming out of the toilet. “sure, let’s go,” i reply with a small smile on my lips, slinging my backpack that i dumped on the floor on my shoulder before we dawdle through the corridor.
minjae lifts a question brow. “tae, do you have plans later after the club meeting?”
i mull over the query before shaking my head lightly in response “well, not really. why?”
“i was wondering if we could grab coffees afterwards,” he answers, a tinge of nervousness is evident in his voice. “there’s this girl i’ve been crushing on. she works there. and… i can’t go there on my own. i mean, it’s awkward and embarrassing and i’m so shy.”
an amused chuckle exits from the back of my throat as his cute response hits my eardrums. “sure, jae. i wouldn’t mind. it was weird, though. i knew you didn’t like coffees that much and to think that you’re going to have them with me, it took me by surprise. heh.”
the same-aged friend covers his mouth with a palm to stifle a coy laugh, his cheeks reddening. “hold on. will he be okay? jungkook, i mean. like, don’t you have plans with him later on?”
“he told me he and his clique were going out after school. to the movie theatre or something.”
“ah, i see—” the latter’s eyes dilate slightly at the sight in front of us—and so mine are, to be honest. jungkook and his circle of friends are in front of us, walking and chatting to one another very heartily—full of delight and stories—until he notices two of us and our longing gazes meet.
“hyu—” he manages a small squeak before biting down on his lower lip upon a pang of realization and attempting to act nonchalant, the younger steers his utmost attention back to his friends and they merely walk pass by us as if a gust of wind, to which i emit a sigh of relief.
“what the—” minjae looks over his shoulder with a surprised look painted across his features. “did you see that? why is he ignoring you?!’
tugging his arm as if to motion him forward, i offer the dark-haired guy an airy shrug. “oh, really? i didn’t notice that and uhm, i guess he may have not noticed me.”
he scoots closer to me as he wraps an arm round my neck. “don’t bluff me, pal. i saw his eyes on you, but then he just ing slept on you! why, though? did something happen between you two?”
i groan, inwardly wondering whether i should just tell him the truth. “well..” i press my lips together into a thin line, swallowing the lump that suddenly forms in my throat. “as you can you see, we decided to be strangers at school.”
“b-but why?” his dazed expression never fails to amuse me. “you two are so cute together. does he not want to be called gay or something?”
“no, no. do you think he’d care that? if he could, he would have clung to me the moment we bumped into each other. but he didn’t,” i trail off with a low sigh. “because of his older brother. you know he’s our senior, don’t you? what do you think will happen if he found out that his son swings that way? won’t he be mad and tell their parents?”
i watch him frowning as he tries to digest words i just muttered. it would be a lie if i don’t want to hug him or even greet him. i ing want to grab him in my arms. however, we couldn’t—never. i have to pretend as if i never met him and i have to act like i don’t care, but deep inside, it hurts so, so much.
“i see…” he says languidly, nodding. “but uh, are you okay, tae? i mean, this whole play pretend of you both being complete strangers?”
“i am.”
“sure?
“yeah.”
“then… should, uhm, we go now?”
“we should,” i reply, squeezing his arm briefly. “come on. i bet everyone’s waiting for us.”
///
we reach the clubroom less than ten minutes when everyone’s basically there along the teachers in front. we would’ve arrived a bit earlier if we hadn’t stopped to buy drinks.
“let’s go sit at the back, tae,” minjae says with a small nudge.
“sure.”
as we plop down on the seats, hardly listening to the teacher’s briefing as the club members are too noisy i feel like punching them to shut them up.
the sudden kakaotalk notification tone beeps through the speaker of my phone renders a frown on my face, like who would text me at this hour.
oh, it’s from him. i can see bits of the text from the pop-up box and a bitter smile instinctively curls at the corners of my lips.
hYUNGIE. 13:37
i’m sorry. 13:37
i love you. 13:37
a lot. 13.37
: < 13:38
845 words, april 24th, 2016
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