Dear Jimin

Chapter 35

Jimin ran to his locker as if he was running a marathon, gripping onto his bag strap so tight, making sure the pen and the piece of paper he was holding were still in his hands. He passed by students crowding the hallways, chatting, laughing, in endless gossip.

"Jimin, where are you going?" one of his classmates called out to him, a smile on his face, but Jimin waved back at him and hollered a loud, "Locker! Kinda busy. Talk to you later, okay?" which earned him a nod and an equally loud, "Bye!"

It made Jimin feel guilty somehow since he barely had any social life aside from hanging out with the usual people, which included Taehyung and their circle of friends, but it was all about the timing, and it just so happened that he wasn't in the proper condition to socialize right now when he had other things to do. For instance, writing a reply to his "secret admirer," as what Jungkook called it, when Jimin asked him for advice one day if the letters weren't just some kind of prank somebody was pulling, but Jungkook insisted that maybe Jimin's secret admirer really was serious about him.

It really was about the timing.

It was all about the timing that when Jimin reached his locker, his hair disheveled and his shirt in sad disarray, with his hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath, Taehyung was there, inserting a blue piece of neatly folded paper into his locker that Jimin couldn't help but gasp, Taehyung stammering as his eyes widened in surprise.

"Haha! J-Jimin, hey! Whatcha doin' here? A-Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Taehyung grinned at him as if Jimin didn't just see him push that letter into his locker and Jimin was going crazy when he stared at Taehyung in shock, but the younger one just stood there, still maintaining his composure with that usual box-like grin of his.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Jimin couldn't help but repeat his question, now putting Taehyung on the spot.

"We're in the same class. We're technically both late," Taehyung laughed, but even his deep laughter couldn't shake Jimin from his thoughts, his mind in a haze, and just so distracted. "Jimin, you okay?"

"Did you just insert a blue letter in my locker?" Jimin questioned him, making sure he didn't sound like he was all up on him and interrogating him, but making sure his voice was gentle and low, not wanting anyone else in the cramped up hallway to hear what they were talking about. Rumors spread quick. It wasn't like people cared about him that much to actually make a rumor about him, Jimin thought, but he, unfortunately, would always be one of the very few who gets picked on and he just wanted everything to be between him and Taehyung before anything gets spread by word of mouth.

"What? Me? What- No, of course not, why would I?" Taehyung stared at him, his face expressionless, but Jimin wouldn't take any of that. As much as Jimin knew how messed up his mind was with all the stress and problems piling up one by one, he, for sure, knew he wasn't imagining things.

He wasn't crazy.

"But I saw you!"

"I was just passing by to...I don't know, chill," Taehyung reasoned out, chuckling and patting Jimin's back, reassuring him everything was okay. "Oh, come on, Jiminnie! You're overthinking! How about we skip class for today and hang out at that karaoke place nearby? Ayyye?" the younger one nudged him playfully, laughing and ruffling Jimin's hair, but Jimin just blinked a couple of times, staring at the locker as if it would rat out on Taehyung and just prove that he wasn't wrong this time.

"But I saw you..." Jimin said, almost sounding like he was whining as he frowned, reaching out to open his locker door, but Taehyung didn't stop him.

"Jimin-" the younger one started before a blue letter fell from Jimin's locker and the older one picked it up in a hurry, staring at it in shock before he smiled smugly, almost shoving it in Taehyung's face.

"You see? You see! Aha! I knew it! I knew you did this! What's this for?" He pretended not to know, but Taehyung sighed and shook his head from left to right. "Is this from you?"

"Huh? What- no, who- I- You know what, just read it. I wanna know what your reaction would be," Taehyung insisted before Jimin bombarded him with another question.

"Wait! Wait- hold up- You did this? You wrote this letter? You've been the one sending it to me this whole time?" Jimin asked, too shocked to process.

"Who said it was me? I don't know," Taehyung shrugged, laughing. "Whatever, Jiminnie. Just open it."

"Come on, Tae! You're being such a tease, just spill it, haha! You like me?" Jimin wiggled his eyebrows before Taehyung almost dared to smash his head against Jimin's locker because Jimin's sudden confidence just came out of nowhere and it was, to say the least, fun to witness. "I didn't know you liked my smile. Wow, Taehyung. I didn't know you liked me that way," Jimin teased him, and now it was his turn to nudge him as he grinned from ear to ear.

"Haha, Jimin, if you don't stop-" Taehyung started, laughing, before they heard a voice pop out of nowhere, the voice all too familiar as it was nearing them.

"Hey, guys, what's all the commotion about?" Jungkook smiled his adorable bunny smile at them, one hand in his pocket and his other hand gripping onto his bag strap so casually. He looked like he just came from class and just so happened to stop by and greet them.

Taehyung's eyes widened.

Jimin's eyes widened, too, as he kept the staring contest he's been having with Taehyung, going, before Taehyung dashed off in a hurry, waving at them before bidding goodbye and yelling in the hallway, his grin even wider than before, "Hey, Kook! Talk to you later! And Jimin- uhm, bye!"

Jimin hissed under his breath as he sighed, grabbing the letter and now it was in Jungkook's line of sight.

"Well, You see, Taehyung's been the one giving me the letters," Jimin sighed once more, his head throbbing, making Jungkook's eyes widen in shock.

"What?!"