THE TRANSFER STUDENT

Loss and Lost, Pt. 2

There was no way Jieun would allow herself to hurt Jungkook, and she knew what she had to do.

~

Ring~ Ring~

Jisoo looked down from the TV in her living room, at her phone that was resting right next to her on the sofa.

Kim Taehyung

Jisoo's eyes widened, as she hurriedly turned off the TV, clearing her voice before she picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Jisoo?"

Jisoo smiled at the sound of Taehyung's familiar deep voice on the opposite end of the line. "H-Hey, what's up?"

"Hey, I called just to check in on you," Taehyung's laugh resonated through the phone. "You know, with everything."

"Oh," Jisoo herself didn't know why she was smiling so much. Perhaps the fact that she had made such a good friend in the process of meeting Seokjin was the only good outcome of this whole saga, and that made her happy. "I'm good."

"You sure you good?" Taehyung asked again. "You know, I'm not familiar with breakups but I definitely am familiar with similar feelings of being turned down and let me tell you, it's pretty similar. More than you imagine."

"How would you know if you've never broken up with someone?" Jisoo laughed.

"Um..." Taehyung paused. "Well, just a guess. But well, I'm just out... with some friends, I mean, I was out with the F4, a while ago, and now I'm kinda free so if you need someone to keep you company, I'm-"

"I do," Jisoo interrupted before Taehyung could even complete his sentence. She then realised she may have sounded absolutely desperate, and continued. "Well... I wouldn't mind, I mean, though I'm completely fine being at home, alone, I- um-"

Taehyung let out a loud chuckle. "It's fine, you don't need to explain. Like I said, I completely get it. I'll be there in 15 minutes."

~

"Who was that?" Jimin peeked over Taehyung's shoulder, seconds after Taehyung put down the phone.

"Oh, nah, it's nothing," Taehyung brushed Jimin off. "Just a friend."

"A friend?" Jimin narrowed her eyes, unwilling to back off. "Name me a friend you have and I don't."

"Well..."

"Is it Jieun?" Jimin raised his eyebrows, scrutinising Taehyung carefully. "You..."

"No, it's not," Taehyung laughed nervously. Come to think of it, he was just brooding over her last night... but he was so caught up with worrying about Jungkook today he didn't even have the time to think of her. It was rare. "Okay, fine. It's Jisoo."

"Jisoo?!" Jimin's eyes widened. "Jisoo, as in... Seokjin's Jisoo?"

"Yeah," Taehyung bit his lip anxiously. "They broke up last night, it was pretty bad. I thought of going to visit her now that I don't exactly have anything to do..."

"Tae," Jimin threw an arm around his best friend's shoulder. "I've known you for 10 years and it still amazes me what a kind heart you have, bro. The girl who gets you in the future... she's lucky, man."

Taehyung smiled, throwing his arm around Jimin as well. "You too, Jimin. Yoojung's really lucky to have you. Now, don't make her wait, you guys go ahead and enjoy your date."

Both of them turned around, only to see Yoojung talking to Jungkook. They joined them and Jimin put an arm around Yoojung, just as she was wrapping up their conversation.

"...so don't think too much about it, alright? And call us if you need someone to talk to, we're all here. If you feel uncomfortable talking to Taehyung or Jimin because they're too noisy and insensitive-"

"-excuse me, we're literally here-"

"-feel free to call me instead, okay? Anyway, have a good rest, you deserve it," Yoojung ended, ignoring Jimin and Taehyung's protests at the corner of her eye.

"Thanks guys," Jungkook smiled, waving to his three friends as he walked into his apartment building, leaving the three of them.

~

"So... what was that earlier?" Yoojung frowned, looking up from his bowl of noodles at Jimin who was sitting opposite her. They had just parted with Taehyung and come to a noodle place nearby Jungkook's house for lunch.

"What was what?" Jimin looked up temporarily, before shoving his mouth with another mouthful of noodles.

"You... Somi..."

"Ah... I guess I never told you," Jimin laughed. "Yeah, I told Somi about my crush on you. I think, she was the only one who knew."

Yoojung was speechless. "But... since when? If you said she helped you with the chocolates... that was literally 8 years ago... you've had a crush on me since..."

"Mmhmm," Jimin bit hit lip. "I've had a crush on you for the past 10 years, Yoojung. Way before anything that happened this year, way before the chocolates I made for you, it was right from the very beginning."

"You..." Yoojung's mouth fell open. "You've had a crush on me for 10 whole years... and yet you said nothing at all?"

"I..." Jimin sighed. "I guess I was too much of a coward. I tried showing my feelings to you in different ways. But every single time, like the box of chocolates, I would back out last minute. Or I'd divert from my plan. It was only recently that... my feelings grew even more and I found more courage, I guess."

"I don't know what to say," Yoojung pouted. "You kept all this to yourself for 10 years and when you finally gained the courage, I turned you down immediately. I kinda get why you got so upset then, I must have been too harsh on you..." Yoojung frowned, picking at her food. "I'm sorry, Jimin."

"Don't say that," Jimin reached over the table, holding one of Yoojung's hands with his. "I chose to like you for 10 years and I regretted none of that. You never know, things may not have worked out the same way if I had confessed earlier. For all we know, we'd have fallen out somewhere earlier in our lives and would never've gotten to where we are now." Jimin smiled. "I'm thankful for what we have now, Yoojung."

Yoojung smiled gratefully, squeezing Jimin's hand lightly. "Me too, Jimin."