Solo - Jisoo x Taehyung

six

jisoo

There he is, I groaned in the comfort of my own thoughts, how dare he look so good?

This is an early lecture, seven in the morning, when the brain was stalling and coffee was calling. No one's supposed to look that good at this time.

I distastefully eyed the impressively dressed boy in his dark denim jeans and gray sweatshirt, the hood slightly covering the back of his head.

"Kim Taehyung?" The youngest and most well known teacher of this institution called out. Because of this, many of the boys in my year had a crush on her.

"Present," He answered in a sleepy tone, lazily raising his hand.

Well this was definitely a first.

I haven't seen him this out if since, well, ever.

"Kim Jisoo?" She continued in a voice one wouldn't believe came from such a tiny figure.

I watched the way he leaned back against his chair, his feet propped up on the foot rest beneath the seat in front of him. He fiddled with his pencil, twirling it in his fingers as he stared at the books on his desk.

"Is Jisoo-ssi absent today?" Miss Hae Min repeated with slight irritation in her tone.

"Oh! No! I'm here! Joesonghamnida." I apologized as I returned my attention to reality.

"Let me remind you, being present in class does not only mean physically, but mentally, as well, Jisoo-ssi," she raised a perfectly arched brow at me.

"Yup, you're right." I apologized quickly, accepting her reprimand. I sank lower in my seat to hide my embarrassment.

I glanced upwards to see if anyone was making fun of me for what just happened, but instead, I made brief eye contact with Taehyung as he turned his body slightly towards me. I froze as my eyes locked before quickly looking away.

I could feel his eyes lingering before he slowly turned back to face the front of the class.

The following day I glanced at the empty seat to my left.

Where was he?

It wasn't like I cared because I was worried...well, maybe I was...but it was also for my own selfish benefit. Miss Hae Min had placed us in groups, again, and this time he had ended up in mine. I even did the outline and everything, I pouted. I hated having members missing from a discussion.

"Alright, class is over. You have until the next class to present on your topics." Miss announced, closing her laptop and began packing up as she heard the rustling of papers and zipping and unzipping of backpacks, a sure sign that time was up.

I slowly packed up my things, shutting my notebook and shoving it into my backpack.

"Hey," a high tone seemed to be directed at me. I looked up slowly to find Jennie leaning over the desk beside me. "Do you know what's going on with Taehyung?"

My eyebrows came together. "How should I know?"

"Don't pretend. We all know that you're stalking him."

My hands clenched in a fist at her condescending words.

"Is that what you call what you're doing? If so, I definitely learned from the best."

"Ya!" She snapped.

I drew back. "Whoa, take a chill pill. He only missed a day it, not a week."

I grabbed my stuff before she lost it and did something her crazy expression promised.

***

I jinxed it.

Taehyung had indeed missed a week of school.

Regarding the presentation, the show must go on of course but the seat beside me seemed to taunt me. The more days passed and he didn't turn up I truly began to worry about his well being. He was always a punctual person whether I liked to admit it or not and seeing him doing this brought my curiosity to its peak.

He lived his life losing out to others.

Now that he was no longer around me I got the necessary space to think and this was really the reason why I disliked him.

Yes, I was poor but I didn't allow anyone to look down on me. I just couldn't understand why someone as financially stable as he was did.

I sighed.

Maybe this was for the best.

***

The weekend went by sluggishly but Monday took it to a whole other level. He showed up today and for some reason I found my heart fluttering.

I was relieved.

"Do you think you can lend me some money, I'm a bit short today."

I checked among the stack of books before that I'd been invested in before Chaeyoung had interrupted me.

Slapping my forehead, I pushed my chair out. "I think I left my purse in my locker. Chhakama." Just a moment.

My steps were hurried as I started exiting the vast library. It didn't help that the exit was all the way on the other side.

I had almost changed my future, if only I had ignored the head of disheveled brunette hair. If only I hadn't paused for the tiniest moment to catch the frustrated words leaving his mouth. If only I didn't pity him when he slid to the ground, a tower of strength breaking down.

If only, only, I hadn't rested my hand gently on his shoulders. His glimmering eyes met mine in shock, embarrassment, misery, relief.

At that moment...if only I hadn't run into him like that.

Author's Note:

Just one more chapter and then the epilogue. Thank you to all who supported this short story of mine and continue to do so :-)