Who you used to be - [p.jm]

19. Stigma

"Yes", Taehyung bluntly replied.
You almost couldn't hold it in anymore, knowing he wasn't telling the truth.

"I'll talk to the headmaster about this young man. You wait", your teacher hissed and took his bag.

You hid yourself behind the next set of lockers as he rushed out of the room and strolled around the corner, leaving Taehyung standing alone.

Before you could take your leave, he had already appeared behind the lockers you were hiding at.
You jumped back a little in reflex, but calmed down seeing it was only him.

"Sorry, it wasn't nice of me to listen in", you apologized.

He just laughed a little.
"I don't mind. I'll probably be expelled by tomorrow."

Your eyes widened.
"But why didn't you tell him the truth?"

He stared at you blankly for a few seconds, gathering words.
Before speaking, he licked his lower lip.
"I did tell the truth", he lied again.

"I can tell you're lying Taehyung."

His shoulders stiffened and his gaze had something menacing to it. It was as if his eyes were made of ice.

You coughed, wanting to avoid the feeling of insecurity.
"Sorry! It's not really any of my business, you don't have to tell me."

His scary eyes disappeared and seemed rather thankful.

"So... you want to eat with me and some friends?", you offered.
It was the least you could do to get things off his mind. You weren't a fan of leaving people with problems standing.

"If it's fine with you..."

---

Taehyung awed as he was placed between Namjoon and Yoongi, sitting across the table from you.
He hadn't known you were friends with a bunch of senior students and seemed impressed.

Jungkook was sitting a table away from you, eying all of you curiously. You felt a little sorry for him, as he was all alone.

"Who's that?", Jimin asked as soon as you sat down.
He couldn't hide the jealousy in his voice, which you found very cute.

"Kim Taehyung, I'm in Y/N's class", he introduced himself with a slight bow.
Everyone else did the same and started eating.

The others didn't seem very happy about you bringing Taehyung with you.

"You can't just bring someone over Y/N... The risk is too great", Jimin whispered in your ear.

Taehyung kept glancing over to you and Jimin uncertainly. He was looking for your help to not feel as awkward between all those guys.
You gave him a smile to calm him down.

"So... Taehyung-ssi", Namjoon started. He acted as if he knew him for a long time just to intimidate him.
"I haven't seen you around."

Namjoon had an IQ over 148 and knew everyone from school just by seeing them once. He had some serious skills which also came in handy for missions, like keeping up with how many enemies had already been shot and how many were left.

He seemed to have noticed that Taehyung had been absent for a while.

"Uh... I dropped out of school for a bit", Taehyung lied again.
He gave you a meaningful look to not give him away.

"Why is that?", Namjoon asked further. He was a master at interrogation and immediately sensed the false tone Taehyung was using.

"I don't like school that much."
Taehyung was avoiding eye contact and he was playing with his hands in his lap, obviously nervous.