ᴄʜᴀsɪɴɢ ʀᴀɪɴʙᴏᴡ

8. Inviting Embarrassment Lingers

I wanted to chuckle at his name, but I stifled my lips. "He is a junior. He is interested in Sports." Taehyung Hyung spoke for my cause. 

"Oh really?" His eyes twinkled genuinely as they scanned me from top to bottom. I wish I had worn a more muscular fit. But then again, I wanted to look pretty for the pink-haired man tonight, hence the satin. 

"Yeah, I have played basketball back at home and I am good with anything I guess."

He guffawed. "We do have a need for three fellows in our sports club. Where do you stand on soccer?"

"Any damn place." I giggled. 

"Baseball?"

I gestured by throwing a make-believe ball in the air. 

He chuckled again, softly. His voice and his attitude weren't hiding that he was an alpha male, probably the head of the sports club. "Why don't you swing by and I'll introduce you to the team at school? It will be hard to make them listen to me now." He said, looking around at the obviously drunk bunch. 

"Thank you, I will." I nodded happily, feeling a burst of joy in my heart. Staying alone in the dorm, daydreaming about Jimin, and asking questions about him with my roommate was charming, but the idea of getting out there to actually win the man pumped me with heaps of adrenaline.

Now that my baby step towards my popularity was afoot, I needed to find Jimin.

Hyung lurked towards the bar, making us drag along. Ulrich spotted someone he knew, so he turned and started conversing with him in German. I, on the other hand, leaned at the counter. 

Taehyung Hyung chuckled at me. I was probably behaving like a child. It was the same kind of laugh that my Grandma had for me. "What do you want?" He asked, pouring himself from a bottle that looked like it must weigh at least five kilos. 

"Do they have a beer?" I asked. 

"Sorry, bud. No beer here," he slid the glass he had poured for himself toward me. My hands which were propped on the bar were now pulled away. I held the glass, looking at the amber liquid. "It's premium scotch. Try and tell me if you like it."

"Is this your poison?" I asked, staring at the glass, pulling it closer to see it refract the lights. 

"It is actually Jimin's favorite-"

And I gulped a significantly large sip, barely controlling the bile that rose through my stomach.

"Woah, Woah!" Hyung's hands were in the air. "Easy there, champion."

I nodded, hissing and sucking my teeth, but on the bright side, I knew what I needed to do. "Get me drunk," I asked Hyung.

"Get as much drunk as you want. I am here."

Taehyung Hyung's smile was assuring, something warm about it, and his eyes were dazed. I felt safe around him.

We started drinking together. I had my two, Ulrich had half, and Hyung was on his third when I began to feel light-headed. It was my first strong drink. "Tell me, Hyung. What do you guys play?" I knew I was trying my best to not sound like a drunk, but hearing Ulrich giggle and Taehyung Hyung's funny expressions directed at me, I knew I wasn't fooling anyone. 

"Let's see," he pulled out his phone and did something on it before locking it again. "I play Tennis. Jimin is into a dancing club. Actually, he founded it. Hoseok is also with Jimin and he sometimes plays Tennis. Anja is in the swimming club and Rose is a walking event manager. You'll see when we have yearly events. She takes care of arranging them all."

Surprisingly, I heard everyone's hobby with interest. I was enjoying Taehyung Hyung's company too, but not after I spotted a mop of pink sliding through the crowd. "Excuse me," I swayed and stopped, shaking my head to see straight. 

Taehyung Hyung's hand held me, but I shrugged him with ease. "I'll just come back from the loo."

"Need help?" Ulrich grabbed my hand and I glared at him.

"What am I? 13?" 

He pushed me after like a rag doll.

My heartbeat was unwary as I walked to the hall and then grabbed the balustrade to climb up, where I had seen Jimin going. My feet were air as I practically flew up, my heart banging in my ears. He had slid behind one of the doors and I bolted right after him. 

He turned to me the moment he sensed my presence. "Anja-"

I gulped, hearing another woman's name on his lips, but the liquid courage was real as it took me straight to him. He cowered a little and I grabbed his shoulders. His hand dropped what looked like a pack of condoms before he gripped my waist. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked, now using all his might to hold my imbalanced body. 

"Jimin, I-" 

"Where is Taehyung?" That was what he asked after cutting me off. 

"I wanted to speak to you for a moment." I urged. He had put me on the bed and I looked up at him carding his hands through those silk tresses. His face was flushed and I smiled. "Do you think you can tutor me too?" 

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I don't have enough time."

"But you tutor Ulrich on a weekly basis."

"I help him with his doubts. I don't tutor him anymore," he hissed. "Why don't you ask Tae to tutor you? He'll be happy to help."

I ignored how desperately and dedicatedly he was bringing Taehyung into the conversation. "Do you play anything outdoor?" I asked him, ignoring how edgy he was. He looked annoyed and this was all backfiring. I wanted him to like me and he looked revolted. "Would you mind grabbing a few drinks with me and my friends...show me around?" My tongue didn't stop moving.

He had that spiked look, clearly communicating to me that he knew what was going on here. His mouth would open and he would breathe, repeating it multiple times. "Listen to me, Jungkook," he finally chose to handle the situation calmly as he sat beside me. "You are a teenager. You can find many others to go to parties with and make friends with. Taehyung told me to be nice to you, so I am going to act like this never happened in this room-"

"What happened in this room?"

We whipped our heads when we turned to see Anja. The beautiful bitch I came to hate so much that I wanted her to evaporate. Perfect little thing she was. Intelligent, pretty, good hair, great body, very feminine and elegant. I could be all those things for Jimin. 

I smirked at Jimin when he looked taken aback and immediately stood up. Instead of doing a sane thing, I tucked my hands under my head and fell back on the bed, closing my lids. 

"Nothing happened between us." Jimin's voice was squeaky and high-pitched. 

I chuckled in a rasp, staying there.

"Is he fine?" I heard her voice. 

"I don't think so. I'll go find Taehyung." Jimin spoke next.

"No!" She intoned, "I- I will go look for him. You stay with him."

Yeah, you slut. Get the fuck off. I thought. 

I had completely and utterly embarrassed myself, but it wasn't fitting in my head until then. When my lust-filled eyes were drunk in Jimin's frame, he had anger and pity toward me, the two things I never wanted to see in him for me. The cornerstone of my sentiments was shaking and I found my eyes bowing down in shame.

What have I done?

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8 Nov, 2022