"Soo Mi? Coach is asking you something."
The voice of Yoongi ripped me out of my daydream. I didn't close my eyes at all yesterday, laying wide awake all night, asking myself whether my deal with Jimin and the fact that I even agreed to it was a wise decision.
Oh, and not to forget, the dream for couple days ago occurred once more. Shortly after midnight, I managed to fall asleep lightly, but the nightmare that played in my sleep exactly like it did last time withdrew me from sinking into a deeper sleeping phase and after I woke up, the heartbeat that had quickened its pace resonated in my ear for the rest of the night.
All in all, I had gone through an episode of anxiety and panic attacks.
Of course, I didn't tell Yoongi. Instead, I apologized to my coach and asked what he wanted from me. He answered with a mellow "I just want you to pay attention" and continued class.
But his warning failed to keep me on task.
"Hey." A waving hand inches before my face caught my attention. The hand was connected to Yoongi's arm, whose facial expression studied me for a good while.
"What do you want?" Maybe my question sounded a bit too infuriated; Yoongi took a step back and raised an eyebrow while bringing his hands up to his chest and making a defensive gesture.
"Woah there. Pardon me for caring."
The boy's headshake made his soft, silky blonde hair move from side to side. He brought up his fingers and brushed away the bangs that fell on top of his eyes.
And that was how to class went on. Occasionally, Yoongi brought up the question about my well-being again and again, until I gave him the final rest by hissing an uptight "Shut up". He pressed his deep, pink lips, a feature on his face that stood out the most, together and remained silent for the rest of the period.
The daydream took me back, once again, to the second night of me living through the experience in an alternate world of being beat-up without any mercy granted to me. For a split second, I adapted the belief of that reoccurring nightmare to reflect the subconscious anxiety residing somewhere in me.
Whatever. Despite the harrowing dream, I couldn't afford to keep that thought in my primary field of my memories. All I had to focus on was the first evaluation and the best rank.
Imagining how I was going to stand in front of the list attached to the walls in the main hall, searching frantically for my name and the outstanding rank on the same line next to it, filled my stomach with a serene warmth that spread out and filled my veins. This warmth should dwell in my system until the evaluation is over, I thought while smirking at myself.
Weighing up the probability of me being placed into an A-rank plagued my prioritized self whenever I zoned out during class.
If agreeing to Jimin's deal was a smart idea, I seriously don't know anymore. Sure, he is indeed a hard-working and prideful student, yet, what trustful traits does he own? All I see is a talented, attractive boy with some defects regarding social values. Perhaps his talent in talents was set by default. Who knows?
It was lunch that brought me into thinking deeper about Jimin. Hobi had brought up Ryon's temper and how she had worsened. He already had become familiar with the deal between Jimin and me; blaming Jimin's impertinent mouth who couldn't keep quiet about the business between him and other people.
"Every single person that lives in the same story as Jimin found out", Hobi broke it to me, "Although I don't live next to Jimin, all his friends told me about it at the end of Defense class. I was taken aback because I had classified you as a somewhat more rational, but what is a friend that prohibits you from experimenting, right?"
The groan that escaped my mouth triggered another wave of frustration in me. "Hoseok! I would've gladly appreciated if you'd told me it was the worst deal I could've agreed to."
Hobi swung his legs over the bench and loaded the empty aluminum bag and the remaining crust of his peanut-butter sandwich onto the tray. "I'm just here to tell you, Soo Mi, maybe it wasn't the best idea because Jimin, as far as I know him, has some tendencies to mess around with people. He and I are in good terms, though. It's girls he likes to mess with."
Following Hobi, I grabbed my training bag by the handles and stacked my empty tray on top of his' as we exited the lunch area.
"Mess around with girls? What do you mean?"
"Oh, I though Ryon had already told you that." Hobi's voice softened. "Hasn't she opened up to it?"
"Wait." Closing my eyes, I freed myself from the gridlock of streaming thoughts in my brain to speak out my ideas clearly. "Why are you putting such a big emphasis on "it"?"
"Nevermind, forget about it, Soo Mi. Fact is, me as a good friend, is just advising you to be careful around him. He had done things to girls but it doesn't mean he would do the exact same thing as you because you're smart. Not as rational as I thought, but fairly smart. Just... don't get too involved with him. Treat him as a teacher. I mean, you necessarily don't want to know about your teacher's private life, right? As long as you don't settle down on a personal level with him, you should be good to go."
I broke the eye contact with him and shrugged my shoulders, clueless of what to do next. Now that Hobi is bringing up all these unexpected aspects revolving Jimin, I was starting to think whether there was another solution to prepare for the evaluation.
After all, the reason I brought Jimin up is because of his magnificent knowledge and the fact that he was willing to help me out.
At the end of the day, I listened to Hobi's advice and decided to take things slow with him and his... teaching. Besides, what will he teach, and how?
The thoughts circling in my head were unbearable, so I decided to liberate my stress by taking a shower.
Nine o'clock in the night, the optimal time for rest, according to Mrs. Rhee. Nevertheless, I stepped into my bright green crocs once more and waddled my way to the nearest shower rooms, the croaking sound under my feet causing rising anxiety the closer I approached the showers that were, conveniently, next to Mrs. Rhee's room.
No one was there, to my luck. I entered one of the stalls and stepped out of my crocs. Due to the cold, late-winter temperatures, the tiles of the floor beneath the soles of my feet caused goosebumps to form on my skin.
I set my sleepwear on the white stool between the door of the stall and the shower curtain, and made a small jump on the wet floor of the shower, luckily not as icy as the tiles of the shower rooms.
Now that the hot stem of the water hitting my body spread out, the shivers ceased. It was so unusually quiet, different than the hectic evenings of girls fighting who's going to take a shower first. The first time I can exhale and inhale at my own pace, and enjoy the tranquility residing between the walls of the shower room.
Minutes passed, maybe an hour. My skin started to grow sensitive due to the hotness of the water and the pressure created rashes along my arms and legs.
I allowed myself to turn down the temperature. This tranquil feeling wouldn't last for long, because a sudden bang from the outsides startled me. I held myself onto the shower curtain to prevent a fall.
For a while, nothing happened, the only sound present was the lukewarm water hitting my back.
Allowing myself to peak my head out of the curtain, I squinted my eyes at the gap beneath the door of the stall, and captured the image of a pair of feet strolling around the shower room.
A cough, and then the sound of the running shower again.
I let go of the curtain and exhaled deeply, wrapping my arms around my chest.
A creaking door close to me caused my eyes to widen in unease. Whoever was outside lurking around, made my heart beat so fast, I was afraid to say it almost jumped out of my chest.
Another pause.
And out of nowhere, a hand grasped onto the shower curtain and pulled it aside.
The piercing scream I involuntarily let out made the person stumble backwards. My hand found the shower knob and I cut off the stream of water, grabbed onto the towel draped over the pole that held the shower curtain and messily wrapped the cloth around my exposed, vulnerable body.
"For God's sake." The dripping wet strands of hair stuck on my face prevented me from recognizing the pervert that had pushed the curtain aside, but as I cleared my vision, I took notice of Ryon laying on the floor, out of breath, rubbing her ankle.
"Ugh... I think I twisted my ankle when I tripped because of your pathetic scream."
The fact that the tone in her voice appeared like I carried the blame on her damn ankle made me erupt in a laughing fit that contradicted my dismay.
"Funny to know that I'm the guilty one." Helping her up, I tightened the towel around me tighter and shoot her a mystified glance. "Why don't you stand to your actions, you pervert?"
Ryon crossed her arms in front of her chest and threw her head to the side, her facial expression remaining indecipherable. She completely ignored my derogatory remark.
"Are you nuts, Soo Mi? Making plans with Jimin? With this disgraceful son of a b-"
Her bringing up Jimin sparked another wave of bewilderment and the tension between both of us aggravated at an instant. I interrupted her mid-word: "You're sounding ridiculous, Ryon. Whatever is bugging you about him, get the fuck over it. Learn to handle the past to move on and become a positive person."
The harshness in my voice became more apparent the more I spoke. The girl in front of me scoffed and took a step closer, her arms still in front of her chest.
"Soo Mi, I'm doing you a very big favor. You will thank me later when you find out his true colors."
Wouldn't she comprehend that I wasn't becoming his girlfriend or something along these lines? What crossed her mind and motivated her to approach me while showering to keep me away from her biggest enemy?
"No idea who told you, but I figured it might have been Hobi. Firstly, all Jimin is doing is helping me to prepare for my evaluation, that's it. Second..." I turned around to get ahold of my clothes on the stool and slip in to my green crocs, "... don't ever scare the living shit out of me like that again, unless you want a juicy punch in the face."
The sudden threat made Ryon grimace, but at this point, I couldn't care less. "Third, let me do whatever I want with my life. Hobi himself said, Jimin is not a bad person; as long as you don't get involved with him on a personal or spiritual level."
"Hobi says a lot, Soo. He hates gossiping about people, so he constantly sugar-coats everything. Don't lower yourself on his standards if you want to keep up at this school."
The negative outlook she had on her own friend made me stop mid-action. "What are you implying to say, Ryon? What is so bad about Jimin that you repeatedly scold me when I bring him up?"
At this point, Ryon remained quiet, and her gaze flickered down to her feet where it stayed there for a while. The minute she established new eye contact with me, I would lie if I'd say I didn't see a shimmer of tears brimming upon her waterline.
"Listen, Soo Mi." The lump in her throat caused her voice to sound eerily repressed. "All this shit I went through was because of him... and I'm trying to protect my dearest friends, including you, from being mistreated by him."
"Ryon." I picked up the courage to step beside her and lay my palm on top of her shoulder. "Would you tell me what happened?"
Her breathing pace slowed down. In a shaky voice, she responded monotonously:
"He was the reason I got expelled last semester."
***
Over 2000 words, whaaat? Sorry for not updating for an entire WEEK, but I was super stressed with AP exams but hey... at least I managed to fling out a dope chapter, right?
No worries though. Soon, everything will built up and create even more shit, so hang on if you find this book boring so far. But in real life, the climax happens at the end, right?
Thank you for reading and I will update more soon. Stay tuned! - Ally
P.S.: Anyone willing to see a future Kim Taehyung fanfic? I'm planning/outlining one right now!