Taehyung had just stepped out of the dormitory building when he spotted Yukhei standing outside.
The sky was overcast today. Even though he looked quite good standing there quietly all by his lonesome self, he appeared a little forlorn.
Taehyung called out, "Yukhei, why are you here?" As he said this, he suddenly recalled the scandalous nonsense that he had just seen. He prayed that Yukhei had not seen it.
When Yukhei saw Taehyung, he immediately turned and left.
Taehyung quickly followed him. "What's wrong? What are you keeping silent?"
Yukhei picked up his pace.
Taehyung felt that he must have found out about that incident. In this time and age, gossip spread even faster than viruses could reproduce.
He hurried after him and tried to tease him into speaking. "Hmm, could it be that the pill Nayeon gave me is working? I've become transparent?"
Yukhei kept a stoic expression and refused to look at him.
Taehyung reached out and grabbed Yukhei's wrist. "Hey."
He finally stopped and turned to glance at Taehyung. His gaze traveled down and landed on his hands.
Yukhei's mouth twitched. He stared blankly at the pair of fair and fine-looking hands on his wrist, feeling immensely upset all of a sudden.
"Doing this," he shook his wrist, his soft eyes slightly confrontational as he asked, "Aren't you afraid that Jungkook would see?"
"I knew you misunderstood," Taehyung explained, "Nothing is going on between Jungkook and me."
If he had said this previously, Yukhei would have believed him without hesitation. However, it was different now. Only heaven knew how his heart crumbled when he saw those ambiguous photos.
"Liar," he replied. His voice was a little aggrieved and accusatory.
"It's true, he just wanted to take a look at the scar on my head. If you don't believe me, see for yourself. Here." Taehyung lowered his head and parted his hair for Yukhei to see. Taehyung paused for a while before straightening back up. Yukhei looked at him steadily, his eyes clearly showing his disbelief.
"Wait, I'll call Jungkook and get him to explain personally." Taehyung took out his phone, dialed Jungkook's number, and tapped on the "speaker" icon.
When the call connected, the first thing that Jungkook said was "what do you want to eat tonight?"
Taehyung was annoyed with how carefree he was. He scolded, "Jungkook, you still have the mood to eat? I've been ruined by you!"
"Mm?"
"Someone took photos of us earlier at the sports field. The rumors are really bad now and the whole school is mistaken about us. It's all your fault for wanting to look at the scar on my head." The last sentence was the main point. Right after saying this, he sneaked a look at Yukhei.
Yukhei perked his ears as he waited for Jungkook's reply.
On the other side, Jungkook felt that something was off as he held his phone and processed what Taehyung just said. It felt like his manner of speech was slightly different from how it was usually like when the two of them were alone. His words were also a little measured and long-winded. Was Jungkook mistaken?
Jungkook did not affirm nor deny Taehyung's words. He retorted, "You're the one who pounced on me first."
Yukhei's face fell even further.
Taehyung rushed to explain, "It's because you were being a jerk and provoked me. I was trying to beat you up."
"Heh," Jungkook gave a sudden laugh. Seeing how Taehyung hurriedly explained matters, he was more or less certain that this brat had someone else besides him. Jungkook revealed, "Why not mention that time when you acted like a rogue towards me in the music room?"
Yukhei felt like hitting someone.
The issue was getting more and more complicated. Taehyung had to admit that Jungkook was the bane of his existence. He held his head and said, "Is it even meaningful to mention something that happened so long ago? Let's talk about it now. You're not my boyfriend and I'm also not your boyfriend, isn't it?"
Stated clearly like this, Jungkook had nothing else to say. He kept silent for a while. Then, he asked, "What's your point?"
"Since we don't have that kind of relationship, please clarify it to everyone. Oh, right, let them delete that post as well—it leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
"Why not make things clear yourself?"
"You're more famous than me; your words carry more weight. I'm someone inconsequential and my words don't count, get it? What's more, do you know that the account which started this is called 'Jeon Jungkook's Gossip Information Counter'? I'm embroiled in this because of you!"
Taehyung hung up and purposely shrugged toward Yukhei.
Even though the entire process was a little suspicious, the end of the conversation was still quite convincing.
Yukhei could not figure out why he still felt so conflicted. Taehyung saw that his dismal expression did not lighten. He nudged Yukhei's arm. "Hey, I'll treat you to a movie?"
Yukhei pursed his lips and nodded.
At Jungkook's end, he searched up the account "Jeon Jungkook's Gossip Information Counter" and followed it. There was an odd sense of satisfaction from following his gossip.
The latest post by this account was the one on Taehyung and him. He clicked in and appreciated it for a moment. Tsk tsk, how lewd. He saved the images.
Only then did he message the account.
After exiting the account, he texted Taehyung:
Do you still want to have dinner together tonight?
No.
——
Taehyung was extremely upset after seeing the gossip. Here, he went out with Yukhei intending to lighten up his mood.
They planned to grab a meal before the movie. When choosing a restaurant, Taehyung browsed through the reviews and asked Yukhei what he felt like eating. Yukhei leaned over. Heads next to each other, he pointed at the screen. "This one."
That was a restaurant serving western cuisine. It had good ratings but was a little expensive. Taehyung nodded. "It seems a bit pricey."
Yukhei said, "I'll treat you."
Taehyung had returned him the money from selling his medal quite some time ago. As he did not have much to spend on, he was now a person of minor wealth, and giving a treat was not a big deal.
Hearing this, Taehyung shook his head. "It's alright, I'm treating! I'll provide for you today."
Yukhei was about to reply to him when Taehyung interrupted him with an earnest expression, "I'll steal Jungkook's money to raise you."
Yukhei had frozen at Taehyung's previous sentence. When he heard his next line, his lips quirked. He seemed a little shy and avoided looking at Taehyung. His gaze fell on the distant ground and he said softly, "You do have the courage to say anything."
During the meal, Taehyung checked the gossip account and saw that the post had been deleted. Jungkook was quite fast in taking action. However, when it came to things like this, deletion did not make much of a difference. This was because the images had already circulated and people would have saved copies.
His head hurt.
Forget it. Taehyung rubbed his head and went to the washroom.
While he was away, Yukhei settled the bill secretly.
When Taehyung came back and realized it, he protested, "Didn't I say that it's my treat?"
Yukhei's mood had completely recovered. He raised a smile and appeased him, "You can treat the next time."
......
The movie was quite decent. When they came out after it was over, Taehyung stopped in front of the claw machine at the cinema. He did not speak and gazed silently at the stuffed toys in it.
Yukhei asked, "Do you want to play?"
"I'm terrible at it." Taehyung was a little helpless.
"Give it a try?"
They bought some game tokens. Taehyung failed both attempts he tried. He then scooted to the side for Yukhei. "Do you want to play?"
Yukhei moved in front of the joystick. This was his first time playing a claw machine in his 17 years. He was attracted to its novelty and turned to look at Taehyung. He blinked and asked, "How do I play?"
"Aim carefully and be steady about it..." Taehyung generously shared his years of knowledge.
It did not make a huge difference whether he shared it or not.
Yukhei focused on the claw in the machine. With a concentrated gaze, he caught a Despicable Me minion stuffed toy.
When the minion was slowly raised, Taehyung tensed and held his breath. His eyes were fixated on the stuffed toy and he did not dare to speak for fear of distracting Yukhei.
Yukhei safely delivered it into the chute while carefully controlling the joystick. Throughout the whole process, Taehyung watched the minion unblinkingly.
Even when the minion was in his hands, he still felt that it was a little surreal.
"Are you sure that this is your first time playing?" Taehyung asked.
Yukhei nodded.
"Try again."
He tried and succeeded again. This time, he caught a small panda.
Yukhei's innocent face was bewildered. He queried, "Is it meant to be hard?"
"Oh, shush!" This arrogance was simply too maddening...
Yukhei saw Taehyung seemed to have gotten a huge blow. He scratched his neck and asked, "Are we continuing?"
"Yes!"
......
In the end, with two strings of stuffed toys hanging from his shoulders and a huge Doraemon in his arms, Taehyung jaunted home under the stares of the crowd.
"I finally know why everyone calls you a prodigy," Taehyung exclaimed with undisguised admiration while stroking the numerous stuffed toys.
"That's not why..." Yukhei was a little speechless. Seeing Taehyung like this, he was a little worried that the stuffed toys were heavy. "I'll help you to take some."
"No, it's fine!" Right after saying this, Taehyung felt a little bad. He hurriedly took down one string of stuffed toys and passed it to Yukhei. "Here, it's the fruits of our labor, have half of it."
Yukhei accepted the string of stuffed toys. After sending Taehyung back to his dormitory building, Yukhei returned it to him. Neither he nor his roommates were interested in stuffed toys.
Bringing back so many stuffed toys, Taehyung was met with his roommates' squeals of delight. He secretly reveled in their reactions and crouched on a chair to distribute the toys. "Here, here, here, everyone has a share."
His arms full of stuffed toys, Nayeon asked Taehyung, "My king, where did all these come from? Don't tell me you caught them, I won't believe it."
"Yukhei caught them. He's a prodigy indeed." Taehyung tsked and shook his head as he recalled how Yukhei caught the stuffed toys. "This person can't be trusted to roam about unsupervised, he's capable of bankrupting people."
This was not what Nayeon was concerned about. "You went on a date with Yukhei this evening?"
Taehyung was struck by her question. He swept his eyes across the room and realized that all three roommates were looking at him curiously as they waited for his reply. He shook his head. "Not a date."
Nayeon was confused. "I don't understand. So do you or do you not like Yukhei?"
Taehyung held his chin and thought about it. He gave a long sigh. "Honestly speaking, Yukhei is my cup of tea. But he's too young now and I'm unable to make a move on him... I'll raise him a little more and see how it goes. Mm, see how it goes."
Jihyun's tone was a little weird. "What about Jungkook?"
Taehyung was puzzled. "What about Jungkook?" Then, he recalled the afternoon incident and shook his head. "Oh, what happened earlier was a misunderstanding. Don't mention it anymore."
"But... don't you like Jungkook?"
Taehyung gasped in shock and almost fell from his chair. It seemed that there was a huge misunderstanding about him?
He pointed at his head. "Like him? It'll happen when my head gets cracked by the door!"