PERFECT EQUATION | 𝙠.𝙩𝙝

10 [ sweat ]

Ryleigh smiled weakly. "I get that." The three words undid Areum and tears started stinging her eyes.

"I'm so sorry," she whimpered, suddenly hugging the other girl. Rye froze, unsure of what to do, but then hugged her back.

"Taehyung," Areum whispered. Tae looked up, slowly standing up. His eyes were cold as he reluctantly listened to her apology.

"I'm really sorry. I don't know what was wrong with me. I-" Suddenly realization dawned upon Areum.

"Oh my holy-" She glanced at the high schoolers surrounding them and stopped when her eyes caught another's.

"Kai. It was you!"

"Hey Rye!" Ryleigh turned her head to face a boy slightly taller than her.

"Oh, hey," she said, turning away from her locker. The boy was light-skinned with freckles muttered across his nose and cheekbones. His sky-blue hair framed his face nicely with bangs onto the sides.

"If Taehyung ever dumps you, let me know if you wanna hang out." His voice was pleasantly deep. Ryleigh felt heat rise to her cheeks.

"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess," Rye replied quickly. The boy smiled.

"Lee Felix, by the way," the boy, Felix, said. He ran a hand through his hair, flashing her another smile. "You're cool. See you."

"You too." Ryleigh watched as he left, a confused look crossing her face as she slowly turned to her locker. She held the door, staring into her locker absent-mindedly.

Processing... Processing...

"Boo." Ryleigh spun around, her hands clenched. She immediately relaxed when she saw who it was.

"You should've seen your face!" Tae flashed her his boxy smile. Ryleigh mock-scowled.

"I knew it was you," she said, nodding. "Definitely."

Taehyung rolled his eyes. "So, I got something to show you." His eyes sparkled and Ryleigh could tell he was excited through his mask.

"Okay?"

"Can you come sit with me and the guys at break?" Tae asked, looking down.

Ryleigh's face fell. "I have to let Jun know then," she said apologetically. She didn't notice Tae stiffen at the mention of her boy best friend.

"Do you have to?" he whined, holding your hand.

"Is someone jealous?" Rye teased him, a smile on her face. Taehyung pouted as she unhooked one side of his mask to peck him on the cheek.

"Alright, I have to go," Ryleigh told Tae. She squeezed his hand before letting go and walking off.

"Hey, nice boyfriend you got," Isora whispered into Ryleigh's ear. Rye stifled a laugh as Isora continued. "He's literally the definition of boyfriend material," the senior emphasized.

"I know. He's fine," Rye remarked, a blush creeping up her neck. She looked at her paper shyly.

"Excuse me?" The girl next to Ryleigh jumped in. "He's way more than fine. He's so effortlessly hot."

Ryleigh closed her eyes. Oh my god, she mouthed to no one in particular.

The girl, Kath, sighed in satisfaction. "You're so lucky Rye," Kath gushed.

Ryleigh rubbed the bridge of her nose, embarrassed. "Thanks," she replied.

More girls continued to gossip and whisper about her boyfriend, blissfully unaware of Kai fuming on the other side of the classroom.

Ryleigh was pleasantly surprised by her boost in popularity today. Other high schoolers kept on approaching her and complimenting her on her comebacks and how she handled arguments so easily.

The school day slowly inched forward and finally it was break. Rye looked for Jun immediately after she exited her class.

"Hi!" she called out. Jun looked up from his phone.

"Ryleigh."

"Um, I can't hang out today, right now," Ryleigh began. She swallowed, suddenly nervous. "Tae asked me to hang out with him today because he had something to show me."

Hurt crashed upon Jun's face but he wiped it away almost immediately. "Oh" was all he said. After a momentary silence, however, he added, "Can I come?"

Rye shrugged. "Sure," she responded, and they both walked over to the courtyard.

"Ryleigh, hey!" cried out a familiar voice.

"Isora?" Ryleigh frowned, recognizing the senior. She was smiling while her arm was hooked with Hoseok's.

"We're dating," Isora exclaimed, batting her eyelashes. Ryleigh smiled for her friend.

"Good for you!"

"Uh, sorry, but who is that, Rye?" Jungkook asked, tapping Ryleigh's shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, that's Jun, he's my friend." Jun gave a small wave before ducking his head down again.

"Jungkook! That wasn't polite, be polite!" Seokjin scolded Jungkook, who rolled his eyes.

"Jun, meet Seokjin-" Rye pointed to Seokjin, "Jungkook, Namjoon, Jimin, Yoongi, Hoseok, and you know Taehyung." She gestured towards the boy with the bunny smile, the one who was playing with a snapped-in-half pencil, the one with the eye smile, the one that seemed half asleep against a tree, and the one that looked like he radiated sunshine.

"Nice to meet you," Jun said awkwardly. "I'm Jun." He dipped his head slightly.

Suddenly Taehyung was by Ryleigh's side. "Sit down everyone," he said, "There's plenty of space."

Everyone sat down, and Jun felt a twinge of jealousy as he saw how close Ryleigh got to Taehyung. Her head was basically laying on his shoulder. Jun glanced away for a second, clearing his mind.

"Someone wake Yoongi up?" Jin said suddenly. Jungkook nodded and grabbed a twig lying on the ground. He poked Yoongi's neck with the pointy end of the stick and everyone held their breath, waiting for Yoongi's reaction.

He snored.

Jungkook groaned and leaned in close to Yoongi's ear. "WAKE UP!" he yelled, making everyone flinch and Yoongi bolt upright, his eyes still half closed.

"WHO DIED?" he yelped as Jungkook sat back down, satisfied.

"No one," Taehyung said, amused, while Jungkook said "Kai."

Yoongi shot them a look. "No one," Namjoon clarified. "We wish it was Kai, though."

Taehyung cleared his throat. "Anyways," he said. "We're here to see how our popularity has boosted since yesterday."

A/N - if u haven't already, go click that star button on every single chapter :D  i also just noticed how frickin' immature i sound in my a/ns lmfao *cough cough* anyways-