𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀 「ᴛᴀᴇᴊɪɴᴋᴏᴏᴋ」

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 𝟹 - ɪɴǫᴜɪʀɪᴇs ᴏғ ᴛʀᴜsᴛ

"In this world, there was nothing scarier than trusting someone. But there was also nothing more rewarding." - Brad Meltzer

The next day:

"Come on, Jungkook! Go for it, shoot it!" Taehyung yelled, running right beside the hoop, the basketball in my hand thumping each time I was bouncing it against the hard floor, echoing through the whole hall. "Jung-KOOK! Jungkook! Go go!" A female voice giggled from behind, making me turn my head for a second, noticing Alena rushing over to my side as I prepared myself. Now filled with adrenaline, I started dashing towards Taehyung. With a high jump, I managed to reach the hoop, slamming the ball right through it, letting it roll and bounce on the floor as the others came over in an instance, hugging and cheering up for me.
"God, that was the hottest shot I've ever seen! We should resume this after lunch, you guys in?" Jin said, turning his head towards me and Taehyung, as well as the other boys, who were looking at me with wide eyes, gossiping. Only words of "wow", "new guy", "urghh.." could be heard, somehow filling my heart with pride, a feeling I barely felt in a while.

As we were still hugging, Alena turned her head towards the other head of the hallway, the bell ringing and announcing the end of out fun, as well as the start of class. "Quick quick, come're! Oh God, you were epic, your moves were just straight out of a high school movie!" One of the boys waved, gesturing me to come to him, which I did, soon anxiousness blooming inside my chest, noticing that he wasn't alone. By the time I was standing in front of him, the boy right next to him, assumingly his friend, smiled widely at me before bowing and rushing to hug me tightly. Confused about their appearance, I asked, a slight embarrassment tainting my tone.

"Are you the guys Taehyung and Jin told me about? The ones staying next door? Jimin and... Suga, right?" I tilted my head past Suga's arm who was now loosening his grip on me, looking at my eyes along with the other.

"Yep, that's us. Oh, Taehyung and Jin, you guys must be roommates. I heard about you, new guy... Jungkook, if I'm not mistaken?" I nodded at Jimin's words, exchanging smiles, opening my mouth to ask another question before the others shouted for me, calling me into class.

"Ah... I have to go! Duty calling. Catch you later, guys!" I said, waving at them, getting it back and catching a one last glimpse of them as they were headed their own way to the class, the door closing behind me.

Sometimes hours hug me

like we're good friends; but sometimes

they just disappear

...

"Hey! Wait up! You're Jungkook, right? I was looking for you. My name is Min-Eusoo, probably Alena mentioned my name?" I stopped in my tracks, paying attention to the words of the woman in front of me, nodding and smiling a little.
"Yes, she did mention her mother waiting on meeting me as soon as possible. I have never understood why, ma'am. So, if you would please give me more details?"
"Oh right, what a silly girl. I am the psychologist of the campus, been looking through your files when you joined up and..." She paused and looked at my eyes, tilting her head, smiling back at me before adding. "I would like to have a friendly discussion with you, show you that you have someone you can trust here with whatever is bothering you. How does that sound?"

I thought for a second before nodding. "I would love to, when should I come over?" I said, fixing the backpack on my shoulder holding it tightly hiding the nervousness, avoiding showing it through my body ㅡ which was harder to do than said at that point. The woman gestured me to follow her lead, the walk not taking long since her office was apparently located on the ground floor just a few turns away from the main entrance, into a hallway filled with ornamental vintage statues, something related to the Renaissance ㅡ as much as my history skills could recognize. Not much time to analyze the environment as the clicking of the handle was heard, the smell of fresh fruits creeping through the doorway.