FAMILY | on hold

twelve✔

"I appreciate you discussing this with me, though, Miss De Silva. I'll contact Eunho's father to discuss this further and ask for his opinion. Do you mind if I hold on to this paper as a reference?" Taehyung asks, and holds up the plastic sleeve.

"Not at all, Mr Kim. It's yours to keep," Miss De Silva says. "Thank you so much for your time."

They soon exchange a brief handshake before Mrs De Silva leaves. Taehyung then decides to patrol the school grounds since it's lunch break. He walks wherever his feet take him but he ends up in the cafeteria. His gaze naturally shifts to a particular table where Taeyoung and Jayden are having lunch. He then sees Eunho and a hijabi, who he recognises as Mahnoor Ali, walking to that same table. Eunho smacks the back of Taeyoung's head and Taeyoung curses at him in Korean before smacking him back twice as hard. Taehyung's lips curve into a smile and he watches as Eunho and Mahnoor sit with Taeyoung and Jayden. They're having lunch together.

"Oi, Tae, your man crush is looking this way," Jayden whispers to Taeyoung.

Taeyoung's gaze shifts to Taehyung and they make brief eye contact but Taehyung quickly looks away and walks towards the exit.

Taeyoung huffs. "He's ignoring me. I just know it."

"Because you're weird and annoying," Eunho says.

"And you're a dιck!" Taeyoung yells. He suddenly gets up and runs after his man crush. "Mr Kim!"

Taehyung's eyes widen and he walks faster to get away from Taeyoung. He makes sharp turns and tries to disappear amongst big groups of students but he still stands out because of his attire. He glances over his shoulder to see how much more distance he needs to create and he sighs in relief when there's no sign of Taeyoung.

"Hi, Mr Kim!"

Taehyung shrieks by the sound of Taeyoung's voice coming from right in front of him. His body jerks a little because he's taken by surprise and he holds his hand to his chest. Taeyoung laughs loudly because of Taehyung's priceless reaction.

Taehyung lets out a deep breath and straightens his posture as he looks down at the boy. "Please stop following me," he says, expression blank.

"Then stop ignoring me," Taeyoung retorts.

"I'm sorry?"

"You always run away whenever I look at you," Taeyoung says.

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"I do not."

"You do so!"

"I seriously—" Taehyung suddenly stops mid-sentence when he realises he's arguing with a kid, and he awkwardly clears his throat. "Go play with your friends. I have work to do."

"I don't play. I only eat, and I eat a lot."

Taehyung sighs heavily and gives a dismissive wave of his hand before he turns around. He can barely take two steps because Taeyoung stands right in front of him. His lips twitch to the side and he turns around to walk the other way but Taeyoung blocks his path again.

"What do you want, kid?"

"I just want to know why you're ignoring me," Taeyoung simply says.

Taehyung won't get anywhere by denying it so he changes the topic instead. "How about I call your dad and tell him that you're disturbing the principal?" he asks, a brow raised.