"I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick," Minji took up her handbag as she stood up. "Be right back."
"Mm, take your time," Jimin waved Minji off and she walked off to the girl's bathroom. 'Today's a good day,' he thought with an everlasting smile on his face. Absolutely nothing could mess up this day.
As she got into the stall, Minji pulled down her pants and panties to check if it was time to change that pad of hers. But when she looked down, nothing. Not a single drop of blood had transferred onto that thing. With this alone, confusion and panic started to set back in.
"Ha," she let out a nervous chuckle. "I knew all that shit couldn't have been my period." That shaky smile then turned into a fearful frown. "If it's not my period, then why the fuck did I throw up yesterday?" Minji felt her very heart rattling against her rib cage. 'It can't be that.' She cupped her mouth and clutched her frightened heart once more. 'I took that stupid pill!' It felt as if she was about to throw up once again. Anxiety was a real bitch.
Once she finished up, Minji returned to her seat with all kinds of positivity drained from her, just like the color of her skin.
"Minji?" Jimin's eyes rolled over her with concern. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Oh, how she wished that were the case. "It's nothing."
It was from then on, that Jimin felt things were going wrong, again. "It can't be nothing. You look pale. Did something happen?" No response. Not even a bit of eye contact, but there's no way he could stop there. "I could be wrong, but nowadays I feel like you've been under a bit of stress--"
Minji finally made eye contact him again. 'There's no way it's that noticeable.'
"If there's anything on your mind that you want to talk about, you can tell me. I'm a great listener. And even if it seems difficult, I can give you advice if that's what you need."
She thought about everything. Her one-sided feelings for Jungkook, sleeping with him during her best friends birthday, and then getting blackmailed by her stupid cousin. In the end, there was nothing that she wanted to talk about. There was nothing she could talk about. "No," she shook her head, "I'm fine."
"I don't think you're fine like you say you are--"
"I said I'm fine!" she raised her tone, attracting few eyes their way. Seeing the taken aback look on Jimin's face, made her feel a bit bad. "Sorry, I just--There's nothing that you can do about it. I have to deal with this on my own."
"But we're friends. All of us are. If you need help, then don't hesitate to ask. With Jiyeong, we were able to do something about it, but what if your problem is something that won't wait too long?" Minji only kept silent, as she ignored him and looked off towards the window again. This only frustrated Jimin even further. "Minji-ah, just talk to me--"
"Why do you have to be so damn annoying and nosy? Just mind your own damn business, got it?" she barked with an edge cutting glare in her eyes. After spitting out those words, Minji picked back up her ice coffee and started sipping it.
Not only was were Jimin's nerves were fully irked, but his feelings were hurt all the same. "You want me to mind my own damn business? Fine," he pushed his seat back and stood on his feet. "One day, you'll end up regretting your stubbornness. You'll wish you would've talked to me about whatever it is that you've got bottled up inside, and I hope that by then, it won't be too late for you." Jimin took out his wallet from his back pocket, took out some money and flung it on the table in front of her. "I'll see you on Monday," was all he said before storming out that cafe.
Minji was left in complete awe after him. Watching his back as he left the cafe and turned the corner, was all the guilt fuel she needed. All she could do now was stare at his left behind, half drunken coffee and marinate within her own guilt.
"I really don't want to end this day, but I don't think I can walk around like this," you said with obvious disappointment.
"I understand," Taehyung pulled a weak smile. "Let's get you home and cleaned up, okay?"
"I'm sorry."
"There's nothing for you to be sorry about." Taehyung put a hand to your head and began stroking it. "We can do this another time, right? We'll just have to do it as soon as we can. Promise me," he held out his pinky.
"I promise," you locked your pinky with his own before he pressed your head right up against him. You and Taehyung turned right back around and started back from where you came from. But just then, you remembered something. "Sunbae!"
"What?" he looked down in surprise.
"My whale! I forgot my whale in the ice cream shop!" Without waiting for his response, you took him by the wrist and ran with him all the way back to the parlor. Screw the nice walk, your poor whale was in dire need of you.
You busted through the shop's doors, shocking a few people. You jogged up to the table that you sat at while Taehyung was ordering, but nothing. The tables' seats were empty. When you turned to talk to the cashier, you found Taehyung doing just that. You were trying not to be totally hopeful, but even so, you still hoped that they had seen it. However, you found your answer when he turned and came back to your with a frown on his face.
"Is it gone?"
"Sorry," he said.
"No way," you whined. "I can't believe I left it around so carelessly." A present bought for from Taehyung and it was gone with 2 hours.
"We can go back and get you another one if you want."
"No, it's okay. You don't need to waste your money on a forgetful person like me."
Taehyung frowned. "It wouldn't be a waste."
"Says you," you looked away from him as you muttered under your breathe. "Let's just go."
Taehyung just sighed as he was left to look at your back and drooped shoulders. All the way to the curb, there was nothing but silence between you two. Even as you waited for a cab, not one word was said.
"That was the 3rd damn one already," he was getting super annoyed. "The heck is wrong with these people?"
"It's not their fault. It is getting pretty late and everyone just wants to get home," you said.
"Whatever, we'll just have to wait for another one."
As you peeked up at him, you could see Taehyung in all his sulky glory. If you were to guess, it would probably be because you've been passed by 3 cabs straight. Looking up towards the sky, you could see the sun starting to set. Two hours had already gone by since those 3 cabs passed by. Not only did your feet hurt, but you were feeling a bit self-conscious of the people that stared as they walked by. All you wanted to do at this point was get home, take a shower and go to sleep.
"Hey, did you feel that?" Taehyung asked, with his palm held out.
"Feel wh--" Just then, you felt something wet drop onto your nose. "What the..." When you looked up, you saw the night sky accompanied by a huge rain cloud, ready to pour on everything within its range. "Rain? I didn't hear anything about rain today!" All you could do was stare up at the clouds in disbelief. Was this seriously happening? Less than 5 seconds later, you had your answer: a complete downpour started to fall.
"Come on, let's go!" Without wasting any time, you followed behind Taehyung when he dashed to get to get some shelter. The bus stop across the street was the closest thing with a roof, so that's where you stood for protection.
"Completely soaked," you said, as you looked down onto yourself. "And it's getting super cold." You rubbed your hands together in hopes that it would warm them up, even if only a little. When you looked over to him, you could see Taehyung doing the same, as well as huffing on them a little. "Are you okay?"
"Hm?" he glanced down at you. "Oh, yeah..." he looked off again. But that face, nor that voice, was nowhere near the word 'okay'. Something was bothering him, yet you couldn't figure out what it was. "I just wish I would've known it was going to rain."
Of course, it had to be the rain that was bringing this down your mood. "It's this situation, right? I guess neither of us was paying attention to the news this morning," you cracked a little smile, but nothing was returned from his end. Unable to see his boxy smile, you quit while you were ahead and just kept silent. 'I guess he's not in the mood to talk then.' All you could do now was try to heat up your nearly numb hands as best you could to keep them from turning into icicles.
"Here," he held out an open palm in front of you.
"What is it?" You looked up to him, then down at his stretched arm.
"You're cold aren't you? Take my hand."
You were a bit confused, since you thought he didn't want to interact with you, but obliged nonetheless. When you felt his hands slowly close around yours, you felt the sides of your lips tugging upward. "Your hands are usually warm, but right now it feels like an icebox."
"Are you kidding me? Your hand is even colder than mine. It feels like I'm holding hands with Frosty the Snowman."
You scoffed, before playfully nudging at him. "No way, your hand is way colder." Taehyung then took control and slipped his fingers through yours, Cueing a series of irregular thumps in your chest. It had been a while since they were like that.
"Better? I don't wanna hear any more complaints from you." A couple of minutes passed by and not a word was said, until he finally asked, "you getting warm?"
"Mhm." You nodded, but then turned away because you had the feeling that the red on your cheeks was too noticeable.
"What's wrong with you?"
You shook your head, "nothing."
"Are you sure you're not trying to major in lying?"
"I'm not lying."
Taehyung tried to peer down into your face, but failed after you pulled in farther away from his eyes. At this point, you were just looking at everything that was towards your left. "Lee Jiyeong, look at me."
"No thanks."
"Yah," he reached over with his free hand and took hold of your chin, "look here." When he finally got a good look at your face, his lips eased up into a smile. "How cute. Were trying to hide these red things from me?" Taehyung pinched a side of your cheek. "You like holding my hand like this that much?"
"N-no," you protested. "It's just--Just..." Who were you kidding? You really liked holding his hands like this. It made you feel so special.
"Jiyeong..." Taehyung squeezed your hand a bit tighter. His eyes locked onto yours as he started to lean in.
Being that your body went totally stiff you just stood there, mesmerized by the dark eyes before you. Before you knew it, Taehyung's forehead lightly knocked against yours. When he closed his eyes, all his handsome features were seen even closer than usual.
"What's going on with you?" The tips of your ears reddned. "First you're sad and now you're doing this? I don't get you."
Taehyung's eyes fluttered open. "It's because of how the day turned out," he pulled away from you. "At first we were having such a great time, but then things started heading down south. All I wanted to do was give you a perfect date like I promised I would, but I couldn't. I'm sorry."
'That's what all this moping as been about?' "There's nothing for you to be sorry about, y'know. Today might not have been perfect in your eyes, but it was for me."
Taehyung cocked a brow, "what do you mean?"
"I know it seems like I was excited to have a 'perfect date' but, I was more excited that I was getting to spend some time with you. You probably haven't noticed it by now, but whenever we spend time together, I have lots of fun. And despite getting mud all over my clothes, losing my whale, and getting drenched on," you smiled, We're still together and holding hands. The fact that we were able to spend all this time together was a perfect date all on its own, so you don't need to worry about trying to show me a good time, because you already do that."
"Is that so?" Taehyung looked up towards the dark and clouded sky. A smile overtook his frown and the annoying feeling he had a few seconds ago finally disappeared. "It looks like the rain isn't going to be stopping anytime soon."
"Yeah, guess not."
"I guess that means we should make a run for it, then."
"Say wha--" Before the rest of the words could leave your mouth, you were being pulled along by Taehyung and forced to run at a speed you could barely keep up with. "Where are we going?!" you shouted over the pouring rain.
"To my house!"
"Your house?!"