𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟕.

III

a/n:
this ones a short chapter but im glad i finally updated this after many months.
i feel like readers stopped following this fanfic bc of how slow i am at updating
im really sorry everyone!!!

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Episode 3
ACCEPTANCE

AN HOUR AND A HALF passed until the two on two basketball match between the university students finally came to an end. Yoon Solbitna sat cross legged against the fence on the side of the court, watching Jimin, Yoongi, Taehyung and Pureom quickly rush to her location to recover themselves from the spring heat and exhaustion. The four of them grabbed the water bottles  from the sling bag and chugged the fluid down their throats immediately. Solbitna could tell how exhausted Jimin was by the sound of his panting and his hands-on-the-knees stance. Kang Pureom bent over to take another water bottle and doused her hair with it. Meanwhile, Min Yoongi threw himself beside Taehyung, who leant against the fence with a cold drenched towel resting on his face.

    "Y'all good?" Solbitna asked with a chuckle.

     Jimin glared at her. "Do we look good to you, Sol? Of course not! Who in the hell decided to do this today?"

     "Um, you," Taehyung returned bluntly. "You wanted to do this today, dumbass."

Jimin said nothing; it was obvious that he was dumbfounded by his own idiocy. Kang Pureom let a chortle escape her as she crouched down to her knees across Solbitna.

     "Whatever, we had a good time anyway," She expressed. "Right?"

The boys obviously didn't have a good time, guessing the look on their faces. Solbitna thought that they all sort of looked angry, and in pain—like they were disappointed in themselves and humiliated.

     Pureom chuckled mockingly. "Come on, don't give me that look. It doesn't hurt to lose to a girl once in a while."

     "You said you only knew how to play a little," Jimin said with a frown. "Yet you and Yoongi ended up taking the most points. You totally fooled us, Pureom."

     Solbitna scoffed. "I think that was her intention, Jimin."

     "Shut up, minor. High schoolers shouldn't be hanging around us adults. Go home and do your homework or something."

     "I'll shut up when you stop underestimating women," countered the seventeen year old with an eye roll.

Silence flooded the circle for a good five minutes. In the silence, the buzzing noises produced by the cicadas were more evident now than  it was earlier, as well as the voices of children playing cheerfully in the distance. All five figures were completely drained—even Solbitna, who sat out the whole time, looked exhausted as everyone else. Now, Yoongi rested his head on Taehyung's lap, Jimin was bouncing the ball with his palm and Pureom lay flat on the ground with her eyes closed. Despite how quiet it was—rather than feeling awkwardness—every one felt comfort in each other's company.

     "So, are we gonna sit like this the whole time?" Taehyung spoke up a little later, stealing every single person's attention.

     "What do we do then?" Yoongi replied. "Someone talk about something."

     Solbitna raised her hand, "Okay, I'll start. So, yester—"

     "We're not interested," Taehyung cut her off. The female sent him a cold glare to which he laughed.

     While the seventeen year old said nothing else, Pureom sat up and spoke up: "I'm surprised at how casual y'all are with each other. When I used to live in the school dormitory, not me and any of my roommates got along well."

     "Really? Why's that?" Park Jimin questioned.

     "I guess it was because there was a lot of miscommunication between us."

     "Mhm, no wonder you left."

     Pureom nodded. "Yeah, the girls I lived with were a bunch of demons. I hope I don't ever see them again."

     "What exactly did they do to you, Pureom?" Yoongi asked the question everyone was anticipating to hear.

     "Oh, well, they were a bit violent, I guess: they called me derogatory names, hid my stuff and basically humiliated me in front of everyone. That's all."

     Taehyung's jaw dropped. "That's all? Pureom, that's straight up bullying. Did you report it to the administration?"

     "I didn't have to. I beat the shit out of them and ripped their hairs out before I left. I have a black belt in judo, you know. It felt really nice to see all o' them cry for me but in the end, the people in charge kicked me out."

     "Wow," Solbitna said in amazement. "But what exactly was their reason for bullying you, though?"

     "I came out to them."

     "What does that mean?"

     "It means that I told them I'm not a heterosexual person."

     The boys listened in silence as Solbitna processed her thoughts. "So, what are you then?"

     "A lesbian," Pureom confessed.

     "A lesbian?"

     "Yeah, a lesbian."

     "Ah. A lesbian."

There was a moment of pause between the five students before Pureom broke the awkward silence. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Just forget everything, haha. You guys want snacks? I'll go buy them. Y'all wait here." The twenty year old stood up on her feet but Jimin tugged on her sweatpants to stop her from leaving.

     "We...can go and buy them together later." He said without looking at her in the eyes. "And don't be like that, Pureom. It's okay. We understand."

     "You understand?"

     "Yeah."

     She sent everyone a look. "So, y'all are not mad?"

     "No, why would we be?" Taehyung replied.

     "Well...cause...usually—I mean, the others..." Tears began to swell up in Pureom's eyes before she could finish her sentence. Her voice was breaking. "So, like, you're not gonna call me mean names and harass me around?"

     Solbitna stood up to hold her. "We're not those kind of people, Pureom."

     "Really?"

     "Mhm-hmm."

     "Are you sure?"

     "Of course."

     "Then I'm safe here, right?"

     "Always."

The sound of Pureom's wailing filled the entire basketball court for the next few minutes or so. Yoon Solbitna always felt a strange attraction to Kang Pureom because unlike her, she was honest and outspoken, let alone athletic and easygoing. But it was till that moment when Solbitna realized  how much of an emotional and a sensitive person Kang Pureom actually was. She realized that behind that mask of hers stood a girl lonely and devoid of acceptance. Solbitna let her sob on her shoulders the whole time while gently rubbing her back. Taehyung, Jimin, and Yoongi, on the other hand, were unsure of what to do. It was obvious that they were trying to to establish something and anything to comfort the sobbing female but came to no avail. In the end, the three boys came closer and pulled both Solbitna and Pureom into a group hug. This lead Pureom to shed even more tears for the next twenty minutes or so.

see u in the next chapter!!