A combination of heavy and light footsteps could be heard in the hallway. It wasn't new seeing the two of them walking together but it never failed to catch everyone's attention. They all knew that the Student Council treasurer wasn't in any particular club and that he preferred "volunteer" work such as giving Wendy piano lessons and playing for the Light Music club during festivals.
Scratch that− Min Yoongi never does anything for free. Well, except for Wendy's piano lesson with him because if he made her pay, Irene will definitely be on his tails. Besides, Wendy was a good student and just listening to her performances was worth all the trouble. But on normal circumstances, Min Yoongi is all about business. Any club can call for his expertise as long as they can offer him a good amount.
"So? How much did they bribe you with?" The younger girl asked, her arms crossed in annoyance. Yoongi peered over the girl and couldn't help but smirk.
"They offered me two hundred thousand won." Hearing the amount, Wendy whipped her head to Yoongi's direction and gave him a sour look, as if very disappointed. He tried not to laugh and maintained his stoic face.
"And you accepted?! How could you give their numbers to crazy fan girls?!" Apparently, Yoongi was bribed a good amount for Jimin and Taehyung's numbers. It was a fan club actually; no wonder they had that big amount for college students. When Wendy heard this bit of information, she was fuming all the way to the Light Music club room. The onlookers thought they were having a little love quarrel.
"I told them unless they give me five million won as a down payment and one hundred million won for full, they'll only know what phone models those two have." Despite the seriousness laced in his voice, Wendy couldn't help but laugh. Of course he wouldn't easily give it to them. Yoongi might show nonchalance to his younger brothers at school but in reality, he cares for them as a father and a real brother would.
"How was the first day?" Yoongi suddenly asked.
"Hm?" As if picking up the question, Wendy beamed. "Oh! It was great! The costumers loved the place and they also loved the menu− it didn't matter that the costumers were limited since they're guests because all of them kept ordering for more."
Just thinking about the first day of her part time job made her happy. She was so nervous that she thought she'd mess up everything but with Taehyung's easy going personality, her mood lightened. Seokjin was a great boss as well, always asking her if she's okay and if she's having any problems. Sandeul would always tell her to ask him if she had any questions. The costumers were distinct to each other but when they ordered, they always smiled at her. Plus, her best friend was cheering for her and waited until she finished.
Also, what made her calm down the most during her work shift was watching Seulgi's interaction with Jimin the whole time. Krystal was right; they make everyone go all soft.
"That's good to know." Yoongi's voice broke her out of her reverie. "Taehyungie didn't cause any trouble, did he?" They turned to the left and avoided a group carrying a huge sign board then walked smoothly once again.
"He didn't. He did great actually. Taehyung was unexpectedly good at being a barista." She smiled, remembering how she watched Taehyung made coffees expertly as if he had always worked as a barista his whole life. "He made the coffees according to everyone's tastes and he did well. Not only the ambiance of the coffeehouse was great but Taehyung's service really did give the costumers good mood."
"You've got a lot of praises for him, huh." Yoongi mumbled, unconsciously crossing his arms.
"Well, yeah. He's that great, I'm just giving him the credit." Wendy chuckled, remembering how Taehyung made all the female costumers swoon. Well, except for his female friends. "Plus, he's famous with girls. That'll boost the business too."
"Speaking of fame, I heard you were famous with guys too." Yoongi said, not putting any emotion in his voice but it didn't matter because no matter how Yoongi always sounded nonchalant, Wendy could always note the difference. "Eight contact numbers, huh."
Wendy looked up at him, no matter how short he was compared to Jungkook and Taehyung, Yoongi was still taller than her. She blinked before scrunching her nose, remembering all the bothersome tissues Taehyung kept on showing her. "Meh. Taehyung knew what to do with those."
"Yeah. I'll have to treat him to lunch later." Yoongi muttered to himself.
"Did you say something?"
"Nope."
•••
Jimin nervously stood there in front of the Arts Club room, his hand still on the doorknob. Seulgi watched him intently, not really understanding what he was waiting for. Her eyes would switch to him then to the door. This went on for literally one full minute until Seulgi had had enough movement of her eyeballs.
Reaching out to his hand on the doorknob, Jimin's heart picked up its pace, his eyes widening at her. But impatient Seulgi couldn't guess that the reason for his nervousness earlier was now changed. He felt her soft hands on top of his as she twisted the doorknob. The door clicked open but she didn't let go of his hand.
"I can hold your hand if you're that nervous." Seulgi didn't really understand the full situation she was in. Straightforward as always. Jimin thought. What she didn't understand the most was why he was nervous for the club. With those thoughts pushed aside, Seulgi pulled him inside.
Unconsciously, he had intertwined their fingers together; the warmth radiating from her hand eased the stiffness of his shoulder. With his nervousness pushed aside, he was now able to take a good look of the room. Large sculptures were carefully placed on top of the cabinets with glass door. Inside the cabinets were small wooden sculptures, some were in the figure of a sparrow, there was a hare and even a nine tailed fox.
There were paintings and sketches hanged on the walls expertly, in a way the paintings wouldn't crowd each other. The artworks were signed, making it clear that they were made by the members. Jimin could even spot the huge framed sketch of a butterfly with Jungkook's signature. But what amazed Jimin the most were the painted walls. It was by far the biggest artwork in the club room. A mural painting of the night sky filled with trickle of stars on each wall; the colors of the clouds on the bottom blended like how it would during sunset. It was a marvelous art. The room itself screamed art.
"Wow." Jimin breathed out. "You were allowed to paint the walls like this?"
"Perks of having Seulgi in the club." A girl who almost looked like a doll walked up to the two of them with a welcoming smile. She was cute but there was a small hint of maturity behind the front. Jimin and Seulgi bowed, it was obvious that she was a senior because of the color of her ribbon. "Hello to you two." The girl's eyes wandered to their interlaced fingers before smiling fondly back at the two of them.
"Seulgi-ah." She turned to face Seulgi. "Yura wanted you to evaluate the entries that the applicants had sent for this month. She already finished the first batch." Without any more question, Seulgi looked up at Jimin and gave his hand a small gentle squeeze, reassuring him that she'll just be there. He smiled at her, letting her know he'll be alright before she went to sit in front of the pile of artworks.
"Entries from applicants? I don't remember submitting an entry myself." Jimin wondered out loud.
"You don't have to. Seulgi recruiting you is enough assurance of your skills. Plus, Jungkook has been praising you a lot ever since he joined the club. We just didn't know that the hyung he was speaking so fondly of was actually THE Park Jimin." She chuckled. Jimin only stood there silently, not really sure how to address her. When she noticed his uncertainty, she gasped in realization.
"Oh my, how rude of me!" Offering her hand for a handshake, she smiled. "The name's Lee Jieun; president of the Arts Club. Welcome to our humble abode." They shook hands and bowed at each other.
"Park Jimin." Jieun smiled.
"Yes, yes. Seulgi has talked a lot about you. It seems to me that our sweet innocent Seulgi likes you very much." Jimin's eyes widened. He wanted to ask why she thought that way but before he could, she was already walking towards her table where the application form was situated. "Here you go, you can sit anywhere you are comfortable with and take your time. I'll get back to you when you finish." Jieun handed him the paper which he took with a small thank you. She watched the boy head towards Seulgi who was expertly judging the entries. She couldn't help but break out into a smile.
"The room became more colorful than before." Jieun muttered to herself before returning to the work she had left a while ago.
The moment he sat beside her, Seulgi showed him a painting entry and as soon as he laid eyes on the artwork, his face crumpled. Seulgi eyed his reaction intently and he couldn't help but feel shy. "It's− uhmm..." He wasn't entirely sure how he should comment about the work because it didn't really make sense to him. It's just... yellow. He thought and he was right. It was basically just a plain single color smeared on paper.
"I guess it's art in its own way?" Jimin said uncertainly. They both turned to Jieun when they heard a soft chuckle coming from her direction.
"You see," she begun. "Before Jungkookie joined the club, we never had to evaluate entries because there weren't really much who wanted to join our 'boring' club as what they have said. But news spread fast like fire and when the news that Jungkookie joined the club went out, hundreds of students suddenly wanted to join." Jieun smiled sadly.
The information shocked Jimin. "You mean a lot of students wanted to join because Jungkook joined?" Jieun nodded. He didn't know their maknae was that famous but it wasn't hard even for someone slow to know that those students who suddenly applied were all girls.
"More entries came lately." Seulgi said, flipping slowly through the papers. "They heard about you joining. This is from Eunha-ssi." Seulgi pointed at the yellow 'art'. Jimin couldn't help but roll his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. He felt bad that he and Jungkook had given them trouble just by simply joining them and because of that, he hesitated writing his name on the application form for a moment.
"Don't worry." Seulgi smiled at him in an attempt to erase his worry. "We also get decent entries anyway. Among thirty entries, we get to actually accept at least five and that's okay." He smiled back, finished filling up the form and helped Seulgi choose the few deserving artworks much to Jieun's entertainment. Oh how she loved adorable couples.
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"So you're finally an official member of the Arts Club, hyung." Jungkook sipped on his boxed milk as he and Jimin went to search for the missing Taehyung to eat lunch together with Namjoon and Hoseok who were waiting for them in the cafeteria.
"It's about time you did. I don't really like how my friends look at the Arts Club as my harem. Those idiots, really." Jimin couldn't help but laugh at that. Indeed, it did seem like a harem with only Jungkook as the guy but now that Jimin had joined, at least he could strike that off their list of 'Things to shit Jungkook with'.
"Don't worry; it won't be like that anymore." Jimin grinned at the boy. "But I'm glad they're treating you well without really hounding you." Jimin ruffled Jungkook's hair and remembered how the club president, Jieun, sisterly talking fondly about the younger boy whenever they're in the club room.
Jungkook nodded and looked upwards thoughtfully. "Yeah, the noonas in the club are very decent. And there's no hounding that's happening because I think it's one of the Arts Club's perks, everyone needs concentration when we're working. Jieun noona's really kind, too." Then he smirked. "You'd be surprised at what they do during leisure time, hyung."
There was no chance to ask about it anymore when Taehyung came rushing towards them, hair disheveled from the rush. When he stopped in front of the two, he raised a hand showing his palm, telling them to give him a moment. So they waited and let him breathe until he finally stood straight. Jimin reached out to fix his hair for him and Taehyung gladly let him while the maknae checked behind his back to see if he was being chased.
"I'd say 'it's about time' but you look like a mess. What happened?" Jimin asked, finally dropping his hand. Taehyung only chuckled, still breathing a bit heavily but grinning widely nonetheless.
"You look like you were attacked by crows." Jungkook commented which only made Taehyung laugh and reply with, "Close enough."
"A freshman asked for a photo and before I knew it, it felt like I was in between a gang war." He clutched his heart and looked at them in horror as if reminiscing a nightmare. Jimin shook his head and gave him a look.
"It's your fault for entertaining anyway. You face the consequence." Jimin smirked at his best friend.
"I WAS ONLY THANKFUL FOR THE LOLLIPOP!"
The last time Taehyung was in this kind of trouble was when he accepted homemade cookies for valentines day from a sunbae, and the next thing he knew, he was in between a debate about whose homemade cookies tasted the best. Kim Taehyung never learns.
•••
Irene, Wendy, Yeri and Joy always made sure Seulgi was never left alone; anywhere at any time, at all. When Joy and Yeri had finally joined the house with the three older girls, and before they had started the new school year, they made sure to discuss who goes with whom in different situations. The person they always made sure to keep an eye on was Seulgi.
The five of them had visuals that could charm anyone but there was no denying that Seulgi emitted the charisma that she alone uniquely possessed. Seulgi would always be welcomed with the most love letters inside her locker, and in one school year, she gets called out the most among them for a confession. And she was no doubt the eye candy of the majority of the male population.
But there was no envy at all, instead, there was over protectiveness.
Wendy and Seulgi should never get separated unless necessary, and if they do, Seulgi has to seek Irene, but if Irene isn't available either, she should call for the maknaes. If coincidentally, with no luck, the maknaes are busy as well, the club room is the last resort. The club room being locked was never part of the plan. With the president and vice president of the Arts Club gone for a conference at a neighboring school, Seulgi was lost.
She was about to type a message to Wendy but decided not to. She could be busy; I don't want to bother her. So she headed straight for the cafeteria with hesitant steps. Seulgi brought with her the lunch box Irene prepared for her but she hates eating alone so she decided to not go for a whole meal for today's lunch. It was already expected for their eyes to fix unto her, bore holes at the back of her head. Some eyed her with jealousy, some in admiration and some in a not so decent way.
Seulgi had the knack of blocking out her surroundings. It enables her to feel at ease, so paying no heed to everyone, she passed by the students falling in line for their food and headed straight to the vending machine where she got herself some Pringles. She looked around only to find that there were no seats available. Not even their usual table for it was occupied by the University's Cheer Squad who for some reason knew that the five 'Campus Goddesses' as what they have named them wouldn't be having lunch together.
Despite that, Seulgi tried to check if she at least knew someone from class who she could join with but if there was none, she could always head for the garden. There was no need for that when she spotted a familiar face.
"Krystal." She muttered happily to herself but before she could even step towards her friend, she was loomed by a tall figure.
Seulgi looked up and was met by a complacent smirk. "Seulgi, baby." The way her name slipped through his lips flipped a switch in her.
She only stared up at him stoically. "Wonwoo." Her voice was void with emotion, suddenly; the ability to feel was lost. She stood in front of him, surprisingly audacious. Wonwoo noted no fear, not even anger, just nothing and it irked him but he made sure not to show it.
"I see you're alone today. Why not join us?" Seulgi's eyes slightly shifted to their table where she saw familiar faces. Mingyu looked upset, the others; resigned. Then she looked back at him like he was just black and white, and stared again in silence.
"We'd love to have your company. It's been so long; don't you think we have a lot of catching up to do?" He was smiling. He was smiling down at her, his eyes shaped crescent as he looked at her in the eyes. He was smiling and it made girls swoon. He was smiling and it brightened their day. He was smiling and it made them fall. He was smiling and they loved it. They loved his smile and they loved him.
But Seulgi hated it.
She hated his smile with every fiber of her being.
She hated his smile; the smile of a deceiver.
"Seulgi." It wasn't him who called out her name this time. This time, the way the person said her name felt ethereal. As if her name itself was delicate that it had to be said with so much gentleness just like the way he says it. And suddenly, she could finally sense, she could finally feel, and she could finally see colors.
"Jimin." She called back his name with so much relief as if she was just hanging on a cliff moments ago and finally got pulled back up. And she was able to smile; smile at him as if he was the very source of happiness in this world. When he saw her finally smile, his glowering gaze at the guy disappeared and was immediately replaced by a smile of his own.
He smiled and it made her inside twist and turn. He smiled and it gave her stomach a tickling feeling. He smiled and it made her warm and fuzzy. He smiled and it made her face flush. He smiled and it made her heart skip its unexplainable beat.
And Seulgi loved it.
She loved his smile with so much passion.
She loved his smile; the smile of an angel.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
The Taehyungie 🐞
Something's weird about Wonwoo. 🤔
Just Joohyun 🐞
Did something happen?
Oh and... have you seen Seulgi?
Can you stay with her if you see her. Or Jiminie. Where's Jiminie?
The Taehyungie 🐞
Calm down.
She's with Jimin.
Just Joohyun 🐞
Oh. Good. Okay.
The Taehyungie 🐞
So you do know something, huh. 😏
Just Joohyun 🐞
I'm in a meeting Tae ~
Talk to you later 😊
The Taehyungie 🐞
YAH! Joohyun! 😫
Just Joohyun 🐞
That's noona for you, young man. 😉
The Taehyungie 🐞
Nope. It's just Joohyun.
"Is that Taehyung? Tell him he should be helping Wendy with their activity instead of loitering."
"He's not loitering, silly Yoongi."
"Stop smiling in my direction, I don't wanna be rumored with you."
"Pfft. You won't. Everybody knows you like-"
"Bae Joohyun, shut it."
"Alrighty, grumpy."
"I said stop smiling."
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Hello! I present to you chapter x. with "Colorful than before.".
Surprised to see Wonwoo? Yeah, me too. I'm not a Carat but Seventeen's kaepjjang- Mingyu caught my eyes. Huehue. Anyway, yes Mingyu here is friends with Jungkook. Just who is Wonwoo tho? :3 meheh-
The first part of this chapter; lemme just call out ALL YOU WENGA SHIPPERS OUT THERE MAKE SOME NOISE! I can't really say I ship WenGa as much as I ship SeulMin but I still ship them. What- did that even make any sense? As for the last part, WHERE ARE ALL THE VRENE SHIPPERS OUT THERE?! I'm also not really immersed with VRene but they're cool HHA. I just wanted to drop other ships here and there for everyone ~ I hope you liked the subtlety of it.
I felt like there wasn't so much SeulMin at the club room so I left you with the cliffhanger tbh- it's a short SeulMin at the end but omayghad Seulgi- are you almost piecing the puzzle together? LE SQUEALS IN KOREAN.
OMAYGHAD 3.3K READS, 309 VOTES AND #641 IN SHORT STORY I'M SOBBING! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! To all my new readers, active commenters and voters, YOU GUYS ARE KAEPJJANG! Let's all have fun in Seulgi and Jimin's journey together. : ))
I'm dedicating this chapter to marriedtojimin-. I hope you'll like this!
♔ Alice