Snow and Ice || 태국

Top Ten singer

The Student Union could not be blamed for being nervous. The voting weightage of the "Campus Idol" finals was evenly split between the judge's and students' votes. This was to gain better engagement from the audience. With this system, past years' events were always a success.

Rigging the students' votes would be difficult. This was because every RCU student had to use their student ID to vote. Each student only had one vote and it was impossible to suddenly skewer the votes in a particular direction.

The Student Union had never encountered something like this before. Logically, after numerous rounds of selection, shouldn't the resulting contestants be sufficiently passable even if they weren't the best? Who knew that this sort of freak situation could happen...

After numerous discussions by the committee, they decided not to take the risk and shamelessly increased the weightage of the judges' vote from 50 to 80 percent.

After stirring a storm for so long, Taehyung was finally put in place by the rules.

Jungkook examined the list of judges. Two were music teachers while two were school vice-principals. The remaining two were guests judges invited from outside.

He was acquainted with both vice-principals. He contacted the one he was more familiar with.

"Hello, Jungkook." The vice-principal's smile was like a wily old fox. "I know why you're calling. Don't worry, I'll be generous with the marks."

"That's not what I meant," Jungkook said.

"Oh?"

"After each performance, there is some time given for the judges to comment and quiz contestants on their performance. I know Taehyung isn't too good at singing. But after all, he's still a boy and a little more sensitive. I'm hoping that perhaps it might be possible for you and the other judges to be a bit gentler when giving your criticisms."

Hearing his words, Principal Jang smiled. His voice warmed several notches as well. "Alright, don't you worry."

......

In the end, Taehyung only obtained the title of "Top Ten singer". However, he received a lot of flowers on stage and also the judges' encouragement. Therefore, this outcome was still not too bad.

After the event, the three of them headed out for supper.

As their dormitory buildings were too far away, they did not go back to change. The three of them looked slightly mismatched as they walked along the streets. What's more, Yukhei was carrying a large, coarse canvas bag similar to what aunties would carry while grocery shopping. His sword was slotted into it at a slant, and the sword tassel dangled out and swayed with every step he took.

The night breeze was quite chilly. Taehyung couldn't help rubbing his hands. Jungkook saw this out of the corner of his eyes. He wanted to take off his jacket for him but felt that it was a little weird to do so.

While he hesitated, Yukhei had already pulled out a sports jacket from his bag. He passed it to Taehyung. "Wear this, it's cold."

Taehyung brightened as he took the jacket. "Why did you bring extra clothes? Smart."

Yukhei pursed his lips. "I was afraid you'll get cold."

Taehyung looked down as he fiddled with the zip. Jungkook lowered his head to look at him. From his angle, he could only see part of Taehyung's peach-like face and the slightly quirked corners of his lips.

Taehyung did not manage to pull up the zip even after struggling with it for some time. He remarked, "Is the zip spoilt?" He proceeded to wrap himself in the jacket by tightly hugging one end over another.

"Let me see."

He released the two sides of the jacket when Yukhei walked in front of him. Yukhei bent over and pinched the zip. He carefully matched up the two sides and ziiiiippppp——

The zip smoothly slid up.

As it passed by Taehyung's chest, Yukhei's face somewhat reddened.

Jungkook watched them with crossed arms. When he saw Yukhei's face reddened, he gave a cold "humph". Heh, just what was his motive in picking out and passing this faulty jacket to Taehyung?

Taehyung burrowed his hands into the jacket pockets. He said with a giggling smile, "Your jacket indeed. It only obeys you."

Yukhei smiled with pursed lips and seemed a little embarrassed.

With his (high) shoes, Taehyung was roughly the same height as Yukhei. After he zipped the jacket, the two of them could stare directly into each other's eyes.

Yukhei's fingers were still on the zip, seeming unwilling to let go.

Jungkook could not bear this sight anymore. He abruptly shrugged off his jacket and draped it over Taehyung's head.

Taehyung's vision was cut off by darkness. His nose filled with an unfamiliar male scent that lingered on the jacket along with residual warmth. He tugged the jacket off his head and glared at Jungkook. "Jeon, you lunatic."

"Can't I also be afraid that you're cold?" Jungkook gave an innocent look.

"Well, then, I'm still wearing this high shoes. Aren't you afraid that I'm tired?"

Jungkook raised a brow and looked at him. "I'll carry you. If you want."

Taehyung felt that Jungkook was getting more and more shameless. He was about to teach Jungkook a lesson when he suddenly saw a person walking towards them. Taehyung instantly hooked his hand onto Jungkook's arm and assumed a sweet smile on his face.

Both Jungkook and Yukhei were momentarily stunned by his actions.

Jungkook followed Taehyung's line of sight to see Roseanne approaching.

"Hey." Taehyung waved to Roseanne and even gave her a coquettish look.

Looking at how close Taehyung and Jungkook were, it was impossible for Roseanne to not be envious. Nevertheless, she did not let the envy show. She smiled softly and looked at Taehyung. "Taehyung, I saw your performance in 'Campus Idol'. Our whole dorm laughed till our tummies hurt."

"Well, that's still better than getting eliminated in the semi-finals."

Roseanne's expression shifted. However, she regained her composure at lightning speed and said abruptly, "Oh right, Jaehyun is coming to RCU."

Jungkook took in how Taehyung's eyes glazed over for a moment at hearing the name "Jaehyun". Then, he let out a faint "oh".

Roseanne asked again, "Didn't he tell you?"

Taehyung did not speak.

Jungkook grabbed Taehyung's hand. He told Roseanne, "I forbade him from contacting that person."