Q/A: What is your biggest fear?
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Curious, the girls all came over to take a look. The wooden tile was only around the size of half a finger, its shape somewhat uneven, and had rough edges.
They were all speechless. "You paid ₩20 for this kind of thing?"
Taehyung didn't elaborate, and when they were finally on their way back, Jimin asked, "I didn't see anything custom-made in that shop earlier."
Taehyung smiled: "Do you still remember how under his work table, there were a lot of leftover scraps of wood?"
Jimin: "You picked it up from there?"
Taehyung: "Yep. I asked him if he still needed those wood scraps, and after he said he didn't, I picked one hoping he could do some touch-ups and make it a small tile. At first, he wasn't planning to charge me, but after handing over the finished product, he told me that my eye's pretty good, picking out red sandalwood just like that. He also said that this was leftover from a statue that got sold the very day he finished carving it."
Jimin: "......"
Taehyung: "Originally, I was only going to give ₩10, but hearing that this fell off from the body of Maitreya, I suddenly remembered what a monk told me at a temple before. He said, 'Rain won't fall upon rootless trees, and treasures will only reach those connected by fate.' I thought, since we were brought together by fate, then I should be more sincere, and thus, gave him all ₩20."
Saying up to here, it seemed that Taehyung felt he acted a bit foolishly.
His current circumstances were different than normal. Normally, even giving ₩200 wasn't an issue, but now, he only had ₩20, and spending it all just like that did seem quite foolish in hindsight.
Jimin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. However, this kind of sincerity was truly a rare treasure. Since Taehyung didn't give away his travel expenses, it meant that this "impulse" of his was still within rational bounds.
Jimin looked at the small piece of wood in his hand: "A pity that it's only carved with my gaming username. Maybe when playing DotA, I might receive some blessings."
Taehyung laughed: "At the time, I didn't realize this piece of wood had so much meaning. I just thought that English letters would be easier to carve. If I had known earlier, I would have asked him to carve your real name."
"Forget it, a name is only a symbol. This gift...I really like it." Jimin carefully placed the wooden tile into his pocket and said with a smile, "Thank you."
Taehyung rubbed his nose as his lips automatically curved.
But after this romantic gesture, both of them were at a loss when it came time for lunch.
The girls didn't know that Taehyung had spent all his money, so they picked a fast food restaurant, each buying a ₩20 set meal, and even went ahead and saved them seats.
It wasn't until they all got their food that they realized Taehyung and Jimin only ordered one set meal b/t the 2 of them, and it was the cheapest one to boot.
"What's wrong?" asked, puzzled. "You're sharing a meal?"
Jimin handed a pair of chopsticks to Taehyung and immediately sold the other out: "He doesn't have food money."
Everyone else: "......"
Seo Miri: "Why didn't you guys say earlier?"
Taehyung smiled: "No big deal. You guys eat your food and don't worry about us."
And then, he and Jimin started to take turns eating from the same bowl......
The girls stared at their own lunch and felt that this wasn't human food, but dog food... (being fed dog food is slang for being forced to witness PDA)
If it wasn't b/c they were also out of money, they really wanted to throw 10 bucks over and beg those 2 to buy another set!
After lunch, they headed back to campus and that night, Taehyung dragged Jimin out to eat, ordering 7-8 dishes, as if to make up for everything he missed out in the past 2 days.
Since everyone followed the rules, this budget travelling experience left them all with a "deep impression", in various ways......
After they got back, some other girls went to ask the members of room 207 what it was like travelling under the "intimate care" of the Campus and Department Idol, and if they had a thrilling experience.
Having been force-fed all the dog food they never wanted, everyone from 207 put on an indifferent expression and declared that they would never go travelling with those two again!
In the following week, they all worked hard together to finish writing the interview manuscript, finally completing this assignment.
The weather was getting cold, so Taehyung and Jimin both went back home one weekend to retrieve their winter clothes.
KiBum was endlessly jealous of them for being able to go home whenever they wanted, and when he called his mom that night, complained to her about all his hardships.
Thus, a few days later, Mama Lee sent him 5 pairs of warm long johns and a huge pile of food.
KiBum enthusiastically shared the food with his roommates, and the 4 of them chatted leisurely about their Christmas plans while eating.
It was almost the end of December, so F University's clubs all started to organize Christmas/New Years activities such as musical performances, comic expos, campus cosplay sessions, etc.
The Pianist Society that Jimin was a part of also decided to host a concert in the small auditorium the night before Christmas. At that time, Jimin will also be performing a Christmas carol.
The small auditorium couldn't even hold 200 people, so this wasn't a big event. Normally, these concerts would have a small entrance fee to fund the club, thus when they advertised this, they used Jimin's name. Many people who heard him play at the Freshman Welcoming Ceremony decided to attend to cheer him on.
As a performer, Jimin received 2 free tickets, which he gave to KiBum and Sung Hoon.
"Eh, is Tae Bro not coming to listen?" KiBum asked, confused.
"The Pop Music Society also has an event that night......" Taehyung regretfully replied.
KiBum: "Pop Music Society? What kind of place is that?"
Taehyung: "It's the club I joined. It's official name is 'Pop Music Research Society', so I originally thought they did research. But after joining, I found out that everyone just sings songs together and make recordings. There are also some who write their own songs, thus the 'research' part... But from what I've heard, it's all very amateur."
Sung Hoon laughed: "What kind of research can a normal college club do? You should have asked me about it before you joined. And here I thought you went there b/c you liked to sing."
KiBum: "Then, what's your club's Christmas event?"
Sung Hoon answered instead: "F University's Top 10 Most Beautiful Singers Competition is organized by his club. You didn't know?"
KiBum, excited: "Fuck fuck fuck! Top 10 most beautiful singers!"
Sung Hoon: "I remember that the year before last when my brother was still here, SeokJin also competed and got 3rd."
Taehyung nodded; he already knew this. After the Freshman Welcoming Ceremony, he had added SeokJin's WhatsApp and they've been in contact.
"The one on Christmas is usually the finals, right?" Sung Hoon glanced at Taehyung. "Did you make it?"
"Yes," Taehyung nodded. "But I haven't decided on what to sing yet......"
KiBum: "I really want to go listen!" But he was still holding the ticket that Jimin gave him, so...
Jimin smiled: "If you want to go listen to Taehyung sing, then don't worry about me and go. Other than you and Sung Hoon, it's not like I have anyone else to give the tickets to."
Relieve, KiBum replied, "Ok. If I can't attend, then I'll give it to someone else so it won't be a waste."
Jimin: "Up to you."
However, KiBum secretly wondered: Would Taehyung and Jimin regret not being able to see the other's performance? It was Christmas, and they were both so close...
Actually, they didn't feel regretful at all.
Jimin had known long ago what kind of club Taehyung joined, and had even gone there with him a few times, so he's already heard Taehyung sing a lot.
For the Christmas event, the Pop Music Society spent a lot of time deciding and competing over who the top 10 finalists should be.
Also, when the 2 of them were alone together, Taehyung would often hum, and when he felt like singing, would force Jimin to listen to him.
Another time, when they were taking a walk on the sports field, Taehyung had climbed on the bleachers before passionately serenading Jimin.
Jimin at that time: ???
And it's not like Taehyung sung songs like or , but instead, he chose all kinds of love songs.
Like, "", "", and ""......
The 1st time he heard, Jimin's entire heart almost jumped out of his throat; the 2nd time, his skull went numb and goose bumps covered his entire body; the 3rd time..., then the 4th time...... By now, he's heard so much that his ears had blisters, completely immune.
Although Taehyung sung every song with a fervent passion that really made Jimin question the other's sexuality, he never took anything of it seriously. After all, Taehyung didn't sing those love songs for him, but in preparation for the competition.
Taehyung definitely had no idea how his actions already tormented Jimin to within an inch of his life......
Luckily, Jimin had an excuse not to attend the other's Christmas event. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to survive hearing Taehyung sing those love songs, and not to him, but to the entire audience.
—
[A small interlude]
Taehyung: "I love you more and more, your every glance stirs up my heart......"
Taehyung: "I really really really want, really want to be with you......"
Taehyung: "I'm going to marry you tomorrow, I'm going to marry you tomorrow......"
(Minnie! Look at me! Do you hear the voice of my heart??)
Jimin: "......" See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.