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I ran around my apartment like a lunatic as I continuously glanced at the clock on the wall. I was running out of time very quickly, and I was nowhere near done with everything on my checklist. I had to start choosing between tasks to get done; did I want to polish the kitchen table and the coffee table, or should I focus more on organizing the pantry? Or, I could double check the bathroom to make sure I cleaned every surface at least twice.
My brother Taehyung was due to arrive sooner than I had planned when I made my list. Him and his college roommate were less than thirty minutes away, and I briefly worried the apartment wasn't presentable enough. Taehyung omitted any and all details about his roommate, and for all I know, he could be a neat freak far crazier than me. I wanted everything to be perfect by the time they arrived to set the precedent of a good summer, but this was already off to a bad start. At least I managed to put all of their furniture together in the two spare rooms all by myself yesterday.
I wasn't super thrilled about his friend coming to stay with us, but they were a package deal. If I wanted Tae to stay with me, I need to take them both in. If I wasn't slightly worried about my rent payments due for the next couple months, I might have said no. It wasn't like I didn't have room for them both to say, anyway.
"Oh shoot," I mumbled. Food. I forgot to buy food. I spent more time worrying about how neat the pantry looked than actually stocking it for their arrival. Maybe I could order some takeout before they get here.
Taehyung was finishing up his third year of college while I was finishing up my first. I had stayed home to go to a local college since tuition is so much more affordable here... That and my grades weren't good enough to get me into Taehyung's college.
I didn't have the worst grades, per se, but I was nowhere near as smart as Taehyung. He was able to get a scholarship to his dream college, and then there's me who barely got into a smaller and far less picky college.
The minutes I had left were quickly used up as I felt myself pass out on the couch. I briefly checked my appearance in the reflection of my phone, and I looked presentable enough. After three days full days of preparation for their stay, I couldn't be bothered to put any more effort than a loose ponytail and baggy loungewear. Besides, I was still waiting for Taehyung to pay me back for all of the furniture I bought for them. It wasn't exactly a planned expense for my tight wallet.
I jumped up off the couch at the sound of the doorbell as my stomach twisted in nervous excitement. It was finally time. I'd been looking forward to this for the past five months when we first started talking about doing this. I missed being around Taehyung far more than I thought I would, and I was excited to spend time with him over the summer like when we were kids.
I swung the door open with a smile on my face as I saw Taehyung smiling back at me. I hadn't seen him since Christmas break when our parents begged us both to stay at home for a few days, and it was nice to see him again.
"Tae!" I threw my hands around his torso as I pulled him in for a hug. He smiled and laughed before wrapping one of his arms around me.
"Hey Ari," he spoke into my hair that was in his face before I pulled away and made room for him to walk past me. Once he was fully inside, bags dragging the floor behind him, I remembered that he didn't come alone. A familiar face, yet not a welcome one, stood in the hallway several paces from my front door. I stared at him, stunned and speechless, and forced my attention back to Tae. My eyes narrowed his way—displeasure anything but subtle.
He failed to mention that this "college friend" was his best friend from high school, Jeon Jungkook. Jeon Jungkook. Of all the things Taehyung was oblivious to in high school, my distaste for Jungkook was not one of them. Any time he came over for the night, he was either rude or completely avoidant of me. At school, he always gave off the air of arrogance, and girls would obsess over who he last slept with. I knew far more about his sex life than any sophomore in high school should even know about themselves.
Above all else, the jerk standing outside, who was about to move into my apartment for three months, was the catalyst for all the suffering my best friend went through the last two years of high school. Not long after midterms, when my friend Soomin started going to house parties with one of her senior friends, she grew an obsession with this guy. He was her first serious crush, and any chance she got, she would flirt with him. Meanwhile, he never showed her interest at school, and any time she stayed at my house the same weekend as Jungkook, he and Tae would go off to another friend's house to keep away from us.
I always thought he was cold and uninterested, nothing wrong with that because Soomin was... obsessive, but he quickly crossed a line one day. In the middle of the lunch room, while Soomin was trying to talk to him, he practically announced that he and Soomin had sex a couple days prior. He tore into her very very publicly, and those moments followed her for the rest of her high school career. I don't know what his problem was or why he felt the need to shout their business to the heavens, and I never got the impression he was interested in her in the first place. A plethora of nasty nicknames plagued her until we graduated, and she never entertained any relationships. Even after Jungkook left for college, people insisted that he would drive down just to screw her since he "knew she was easy". In a way, Soomin was caught up on this guy, despite it all.
When he had the chance, he never did a thing to stop the rumors. He acted as if he never said all those horrible and public things about her in the first place. I never understood what truly happened between the two of them as Soomin never wanted to address it, but I never forgave him for the issue.
"Sorry for not telling you, Ari," Taehyung scratched the back of his head as he shifted nervously, "I was worried you wouldn't agree if I told you the friend was Jungkook."
I put a hand to my forehead as I felt the beginnings of a headache. I never hid my distaste for Jungkook, but it felt awkward to have this conversation in front of the man himself. "You should have just been honest with me, Tae."
"I can hear you guys," Jungkook spoke up for the first time, tone indicating that he wasn't nearly as bothered as I was. He walked inside, stepping a little too close to me for comfort, and I took a few steps back. "Please, refresh my memory. I don't remember doing or saying really... anything to you in high school. At least, not anything worth keeping a grudge over."
I looked over at the boy and raised my eyebrows. My headache slowly increased in pain as I looked at him. He was genuinely curious. He really didn't know. "Does the name Cho Soomin mean anything to you?"
"Oh!" Taehyung's eyes widened as Jungkook also came to a realization, "I forgot that the two of you were friends. How is she?"
I glared at Taehyung and turned around to gather my thoughts. This was supposed to be a good day, a nice and civil day, after all the work I put into their arrival. For my mood to sour this fast was both disappointing and draining. I didn't want to deal with complex emotions today, and I certainly don't want to live with Jungkook for three whole months.
"I haven't talked to her in a little while," I started before I spun around again and tried my best to not glare daggers into Jungkook, "But really. The balls on you to say something like that about a girl two years younger than you, in the middle of the lunch room, for the whole school to hear. And just because you left for college a couple months later doesn't mean that the brutal rumors left, too."
Jungkook looked down and scratched the back of his head in discomfort. The sense of satisfaction I felt telling him off all these years later began to pick my mood up again. I glanced at Taehyung, and he simply stood with his mouth ajar.
"Did anything even happen between you? She would never confirm or deny it when I'd ask." I turned back to Jungkook as he leaned and arm on top of the luggage by his side.
"Well yeah, it happened." He stopped. I felt a new annoyance flair in my chest. So casual. As if I hadn't told him that his actions have consequences for other people besides himself.
"And?" I leaned toward him as his brown eyes refused to meet mine. A slight irritated expression played on his face as I continued. "Why'd you do it? You could have had that conversation literally anywhere else."
Taehyung cleared his throat and moved forward, placing a hand on my shoulder for reassurance, "It's been a while. I'm sure he doesn't remember. Why don't we go settle in before dinner rolls around?"
I glared at Taehyung as he dashed off into the room on the right side of the hallway with his luggage. I looked at Jungkook as he tried to make a great escape as well, but I wasn't gonna let him off that easily. I stepped in his way, right at the entrance to the hallway, and stared at him expectantly. He sighed and looked me in the eyes for once.
"Ari, look," he repositioned the bag hanging off his shoulder, "I'm sorry I did that to your friend back then. I wish I could remember why I did it, but I've forgotten a lot about high school. I couldn't tell you most of my actual relationships, much less one girl I slept with."
His words just made my blood boil as I tried my hardest to not shove him right back out the door, "You're kidding, right? Do you even hear yourself?" I let out a small laugh as my disbelief grew. This guy was the worst. "She had to spend her last years of high school being bullied by anyone and everyone just because she slept with you once! She wasn't the only girl you slept with, but she's the only one you yelled at over it. Surely that's worth remembering."
"I don't know what you want me to do about it now," he snapped, eyes narrowing with growing annoyance. I took a step closer to him, anger intensifying as I clenched my fist at my side.
"I want you to apologize to her."
Jungkook's eyebrows raised in surprise, but I wasn't kidding. I was being completely serious.
"You want me to apologize to her?" he repeated as I nodded, "Hell no. I'm not apologizing for something that happened over three years ago. She was a crazy bitch."
"So you do remember!" I pointed an accusing finger at him as he held up his hands in surrender. "Why are you blatantly lying to me if you're going to immediately contradict yourself?"
"No, I just remember that she was annoying and wouldn't leave me alone," he lied again. "She was a borderline stalker sometimes."
My jaw dropped at his words as he shoved past me with an annoyed expression. I couldn't believe this guy! "Do you or do you not remember sleeping with her?"
He ignored me as he continued down the hall.
"Asshole!" I yelled after him. He grabbed the handle to the other spare bedroom on the left of the hall as I charged forward to finish. "Give me one reason on why I shouldn't kick you out of my place right this second."
I was infuriated. I may not really talk to Soomin anymore, but I remember what she went through like it was yesterday. Why did she have to get herself involved with him? I would never in a million years allow myself to get in bed with this guy.
She used to tell me that she thought it would be fun to be with him. She used to gush about him all the time and about how she wished she could go up and talk to him. She really liked him, and I hated him for it. He stole her heart and her dignity in one fell swoop.
Jungkook turned around with his hand still on the doorknob. "You kick me out and Taehyung goes with me." He tilted his head toward the door across the hall as he pushed his way into the room I had so graciously set up for him. If I could go back and tell the me from yesterday who would be using it, I would have taken every bit of furniture back to the store.
"Why does he have to be friends with such an insufferable jerk?" I snapped as I followed him into the room. He shamelessly lifted his bag on top of the bed I paid for, putting his clothes into the dresser I'd also paid for, and more rage bubbled in my chest. All my hard earned money was going to benefit this guy. "And I better be getting a nice $500 from you for the furniture. I can only afford so much at a time."
"Yeah yeah, I'll get it to you eventually," he mumbled as he continued unpacking.
"I want it next week, no later," I glared. He froze for a moment and spun around. His head tilted to the side, eyes matching the fury in mine.
"Listen here, little miss holier than thou," he took a few steps closer to me, shoulders tense and jaw tightening between his statements. "I want to be nice to you since we're going to live under the same roof, but let me tell you something."
I felt myself back away slightly as he stepped into my personal space. I hated to look weak in the wake of his rage, but he was much taller and stronger than me. My only sense of comfort came from my cowardice brother being right across the hall. He closed the distance again, breath almost fanning over my skin from how close he stood. I caught a hint of cologne, far too nice smelling to be appropriate for him to use, and I tore my eyes away.
"I go to a better school than you, and my living costs exceed yours. You got to keep your job over the summer. So walk your dumbass on into your room and leave me the hell alone. I'll get you the money when I get a summer job, got it?"
I took a deep breath as my blood simmered. I felt myself cave into old habits, turning around to scream towards my brother's room. "Taehyung, you're just gonna let him talk to me like this?!"
He looked up from the edge of his bed, earbuds resting in his ears and blasting so loud I could almost hear it. I stormed into his room and ripped the ear buds out of his ears by the cord as he looked up at me in surprise.
"Your "best friend" just called your sister a dumbass and you're just gonna sit there and ignore it?" I snapped in his face as he just looked at me completely dumbfounded.
"Ari, calm down," he spoke softly as I tried to listen to him, shoulders rising and falling at a slower pace as each second ticked by. "Don't let him rile you up. He says a lot of things he doesn't mean when he's angry."
"So you're excusing it?" My eyebrows creased as he sighed and looked out his doorway into Jungkook's room. He had disappeared to continue with his clothes as Taehyung just shook his head and rubbed his forehead.
"Kook, could you please not provoke my little sister like this? We'll all drive each other mad." he spoke as I smiled and crossed my arms across my chest. I felt very accomplished until Jungkook appeared in the doorway again.
"For the record, she provoked me. I wouldn't have gotten mad if she wasn't all up in my face," I rolled my eyes. As if he didn't also invade my personal space... "Also, are you 9 or 19? Because you're like a pathetic kid crying to their parents."
Taehyung snickered at Jungkook's words as I whipped around to glare at him. "That wasn't funny."
"It's pretty accurate," he laughed as he stood up to give me a side hug, "I love you, Ari, but you're being a whiny teenager right now."
I shoved him off of me and ran toward my room at the end of the hall. I slammed my door closed, face heating as I dropped to my bed. I knew deep down that I was throwing a tantrum like a grade-schooler, but I couldn't really care less. I needed to get out of the company of this insufferable guy. I can't believe he's living with me for the coming months...
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5/8/2024: I'm in the process of rewriting/editing this book! If you have read this book before, I promise it is completely different and much better than it was before!
Thank you for reading! <3