Chapter 29
"Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved."
-Mattie Stepanek
Jungkook POV
Rap Monster stares at me with wide eyes. I bite my lip, eager to hear his next comment. I can hear the other BTS members whispering to each other, but I ignore them. All I can focus on in this world right now is Rap Monster.
He finally lets out an exhale to interrupt the silence, slowly shaking his head. "Jungkook..."
"No- you can't. Please, Hyung- I want to stay. I like her. I like everyone here"
Rap Monster bites his lips and closes his eyes for a long time. "If our manager hears about this-"
"And he won't," I interrupt. "He won't hear a thing. I promise that I'll try to keep this a secret. I'll try to not take things too far"
"You better. If things get serious between you two, it'll get even harder to break up. You understand that, right?" Rap Monster asks me. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. He's right- I have to eventually graduate from school and go back to the band. That means I have to separate from her. And the closer I am with her right now, the harder it will be to separate with her in the future.
"I- I know..." I mutter, looking down. "I know" It's just too hard to let go now.
"I'm glad" Rap Monster smiles at me. He puts a hand on my shoulder, nods, and then shuffles back to the van with the other members. I softly smile as I watch the van leave.
But as the van leaves, so does my heart. My chest hurt more than ever.
Rian POV
I stare at the ceiling of the room, grinning stupidly. I hug my pillow tightly and close my eyes, exhaling joyfully. Jungkook... Jungkook... Since when did he become so attractive? His eyes are shiny, especially when he smiles cutely. He's totally my type.
I shift to my right, still hugging my pillow. "Jungkook, Jungkook... Wherefore thou art Jungkook?"
I turn to rest on my back, finding myself staring at the ceiling again. I think about the train ride, our trips in Busan, and the night at the hotel. A smile suddenly creeps upon my face without telling me. I blink and immediately shake my head to wear the smile off, and then turn my body to the left.
"Stop it, Rian- you have no chance. Jungkook would never go out with a girl like you" I whisper to myself. "Don't fool yourself, you'll only regret it later..."
I sigh and slowly close my eyes. I need to go to sleep fast, before I can think about anymore hurtful thoughts. Hurtful but true. I sigh loudly and once again shift to my right.
"Ah, What the heck! Stop making noises, I can't sleep!" Jenny suddenly groans from the other side of the room. I make a face and stick my tongue out at her, though I perfectly know she can't see me in the dark.
"Sorry" I mutter as I quickly adjust my pillow and close my eyes.
"But..."Jenny suddenly whispers, causing me to open my eyes. I can hear her sitting up from her bed, and I frown in confusion. She turns on the lamp next to her, and hugs her knees closer to her stomach. I sit up from my bed.
"Rian... I have a question to ask you" She mutters, looking down at her feet. I frown- why is she suddenly talking to me like this?
"There's a girl I know..." She starts off. "I'm really close to her. She has a father who works in a rich company. But if that company is overpowered by another company, what should the girl do?"
I cross my eyes. "What? I don't know...."
Jenny looks at me. "What would you do?"
I blink a few times, looking down. "What I would do? I... I don't know..."
"Ah, never mind! You're no help!" Jenny suddenly shouts in anger, and dumps her head back on her pillow. She quickly turns off her lamp and hides her face under her bed cover. I sigh and also lay back on the bed, shifting my body to get comfortable.
That was really weird.
.......
I wake up to the sound of an annoying ring. Groaning, I reach my hand out to the desk next to me and frantically search for the phone. I turn off the alarm and hide my head under the bed cover, exhausted from only 4 hours of sleep.
"Five more minutes..." I mutter to myself. After a moment, a pillow suddenly hits me on the head. I shoot my eyes open and sit up, the sunlight shielding my eyes. I squint and after a few seconds, when my vision gets clear, I find Jenny beside my bed, brushing her hair.
"Wake up. Jungkook called and said to meet up in the music room at 7. We have to prepare for the talent show tomorrow"
"Talent show?" I mutter, controlling my anger. She rolls her eyes and sets the brush down on the table, and walks out of the room, like her usual self. I sigh and look at the clock hanging on the wall ahead of me.
I blink.
Squinting my eyes, I study the clock harder- and this time, I gasp.
I immediately jump out of bed, feeling angrier than ever. It's 6:50! I only have 10 minutes!
I run to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Jenny... of course she will do this! I'm not even surprised, she probably did this to either make me look bad in front of Jungkook, or to have some extra personal time with him. I pause from brushing my teeth, and look at myself in the mirror. "No way is she going to spend time with him alone..." I mutter. I quickly start to furiously brush my teeth, and then spit it out. I splash cold water on my face and without drying it, I sprint out of the bathroom. I find a sweatshirt and some jeans, and changed into them. Glancing at the clock, I groan- it's 5 past 7.
I swing my backpack over my shoulder and run out of the room, and though the hallway. I dodge every student and teacher- who were shouting at me to stop running- and finally make it into the music room. I wait a little to catch my breath, quickly straightening my hair before I finally open the door.
When I enter the room, I find Jungkook sitting on the piano chair and Jenny standing over him, talking like the chatterbox that she is, while twirling her hair with a finger. Jungkook looks uncomfortable as Jenny talks. One look at him and I can immediately feel my heat beating.
"Hi... sorry that I'm late..." I mutter awkwardly as I set my backpack down. Jungkook turns his face around and it instantly brightens, causing me to blush a little. I don't blame him though- Jenny was probably giving him a hard time.
"Took you long enough" Jenny sighs as she turns her head around. I ignore her and walk up to them, fidgeting my fingers. Now that I know for sure that I like Jungkook, I feel much more nervous around him than I used to. Why can't I just act normally?
"What happened? Are you okay?" Jungkook asks.
"Yeah- I just had problems with my alarm this morning" I secretly give Jenny a glare. She rolls her eyes and turns her attention to her nails.
"We should probably start our routine now, right?" Jenny mutters. Jungkook nods and stands up from his seat. He walks to the piano nearby and sits on the stool.
"Here's what we'll do- I'll play the piano, and you two will sing" Jungkook smiles. I softly frown and immediately turn my direction to Jenny, who looks surprised as well.
"Wait, Oppa- you're not going to sing?" Jenny asks, standing up from her seat. Jungkook smiles and shakes his head. I widen my eyes and bite my lip- I have to sing a duet with Jenny?
"But- why not? You're the best singer here!" I whine. Jungkook laughs.
"I want you two to sing. And even so, if I sing, people might think that you guys have an advantage over the other contestants. We don't want that, now do we?"
"Yeah, but-"
"You guys will do fine. I believe in you" Jungkook suddenly looks at me with soft, warm eyes. My mind goes blank as I stare at him.
"Ugh, fine..." Jenny suddenly groans, interrupting me from staring at Jungkook. I clear my throat and nod. Jungkook bites his lips and quickly smiles, turning around to face the piano. I sit up from my seat and walk next to Jenny, who has her arms crossed. She looks at the other side of the room, and I do the same. It feels awkward having to do something like this with her.
"Okay, lets start!" Jungkook exclaims cheerfully as he starts playing the piano.
................
~The day of the Talent show~
"Rian!"
I spin around to face the fashion director, Mrs. Won. Her bun is crazy messy, with curly hair popping out at every direction. Her outfit looks strangely odd, with wrinkles everywhere and a few of her buttons undone. There is no doubt that she feels exhausted.
She widens her eyes and gives me a frustrated face. "Why aren't you dressed yet?" She yells at me, causing me to flinch.
"I'm sorry- there were problems with my dress in the dry cleaners, and I just found out that it can't be prepared in time. I don't know what to do!"
Mrs. Won closes her eyes and exhales deeply, making tight fists with her hands. "Ok... just..." She looks around frantically and suddenly grabs a random black dress hanging awkwardly on a table nearby. "Just wear this!"
"Uh- ok!" I nod as I quickly turn around to run into the dressing room.
"Quickly! You are on in ten minutes!" She yells from behind me. I groan as I shut the door and throw off my shirt and jeans, sliding the beautiful dress into me. I put on the heels that I was holding since I came here, and quickly start adjusting my hair. Thank goodness that my makeup was done two hours ago, by some of the makeup artists in the school. Now all I need to do is run my butt off to the stage.
I open the dressing room's door, and throw my old clothes into the table, not caring about the mess I'm making. I quickly glance at the mirror, groan again, and start running to the backstage. I didn't see Jenny or Jungkook the whole day, since I had so many complications with my dress, my ride, and- once again- my alarm. But because the three of us practiced so hard this week, maybe- just maybe- we'll be able to pull the performance off.
I enter backstage, where it's even more chaotic than it is in the dressing rooms. People are running around everywhere- some carrying props while others fixing the performer's clothes. I bite my lip and look around for Jungkook and Jenny.
My eyes finally meet Jungkook, who is already looking at me. He is wearing a suit and tie, which looks absolutely gorgeous on him. His hair is combed back too, which for some reason, makes his shiny eyes sparkle even more. I grin and run towards him, with Jenny next to him.
"You're late!" Jenny yells, obviously angry. She's also wearing a gorgeous outfit, a black dress similar to mine, except a bit tighter and shinier. "I thought we were going to have to ditch the song!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... there were problems..." I bite my lip.
"It doesn't matter- I know we'll do great anyway" Jungkook smiles as he looks at me. I smile back.
"You're on in 30 seconds!" A stage director suddenly appears from behind Jungkook. I widen my eyes- I can't believe this is actually happening.
"Okay guys- before we go, I want to say that I'm proud of the both of you. Even if we don't win, you both are still perfect in my eyes" Jungkook looks at us, smiling. I blush, and grin back. Jenny smiles too. I can hear the loud sound of the audience clapping behind the curtains, marking the end of the current performance on stage.
"We got this- fighting!" Jungkook raises an enthusiastic fist as he yells out the motivational phrase. Jenny and I both also raise out fists and reply back, "Fighting!"
"Alright, time to go!" The manager director motions his hand towards the stage. Jenny starts walking, with Jungkook following behind her. I take a deep breath.
Jungkook is counting on me. I have to do well.
I bite my lip and take a step towards the stage.
........
Hey guys- I know that I didn't update for a VERY long time, and I just want to take the time to say I'm sorry. It's almost midnight right now, and I'm writing my butt off to finish this. I just had a hard time to think about what to write after Jungkook admitted his love for Rian, and I guess I just got lazy after. Anyways, I apologize for both my late update and my most likely horrible chapter ;_;