——————
You sat in class as usual however it didn't feel right. You noticed that Taehyungs seat was empty.
Why didn't he return after changing his clothes. Not only that, but Hyunjin was also absent which was really unusual.
Slight panic started to build up in your body as you wondered why you were being like this. It's not like you still owe Kim Taehyung anything after you decided to make his homework in return. However, after that time in the boy's dressing room your prejudice about Taehyung changed. You'd be lying if you said he didn't make you feel safe at that moment.
"I need to make sure that he's safe too." You thought as you had a bad feeling about this. You knew Hyunjins temper and you knew that he wouldn't let Taehyung alone.
"Sir, can I go to the restroom?" You made up to leave the classroom and went looking for the boys.
"Where could they possibly be?" You groaned as you were searching everywhere around the school. You heard someone groaning in pain as it seemed to come from outside. Looking through the closest window you could see Hyunjin approaching Taehyung.
You ran outside as quickly as you could and immediately stood in front of Taehyung with your arms spread to protect him. Taehyung smiled at your behavior.
"I can handle this Haeun, don't get in trouble because of me." Taehyung said with a wince.
"H-Haeun." Hyunjin stuttered. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in class?"
"I could ask all of you the same thing!" You replied angrily. "Skipping class to beat up a fellow student. Very low of you."
The two boys that were with Hyunjin immediately apologized and quickly went back to class.
You glared at Hyunjin waiting for his explanation and apology.
"Beat someone up? Don't worry Haeun I won't do that to him." Hyunjin said before coming closer to Taehyung. He then puts a hand on his shoulder, giving him a firm squeeze.
"..at least not for today." He whispered in his ear before continuing his way.
You grabbed Hyunjin before he could leave. "Don't get rough-handed with me now." He said and smirked as he turned to you.
"Don't let me see you doing this again." You warned as he lets out a scoff to hide his anger.
"Look, he hit me too okay?" He said as he pointed at his lower lip.
"I don't care about who hits who harder, it's about who threw the first punch and the intention behind it." You said disappointed by his behavior.
"Are you seriously taking his side instead of mine?" Hyunjin scoffed as you didn't reply.
He bit his lip and sighed in annoyance before yanking his arm free.
When he left you checked if Taehyung was hurt anywhere. He had a nose bleed as you clenched your fists.
"I'm fine." He laughed as he tried wiping his nose. "You're being silly."
"I am being silly?" You exclaimed in disbelief. "I saved you!"
He scoffed at your words as you frowned. "I could've easily handled all of them."
"They were in a group of three." You state as a matter of fact as you handed him a tissue.
"So?" He asked. "You were worried about me?"
"Well.." You muttered. "You saved me last time so I'm just returning a favor, that's all."
"Is that really all?" He asked looking you in the eye.
He noticed that you were trying your hardest to avoid eye contact and let out a soft chuckle. "Thank you, I guess you aren't that cold of a person after all." He smiled but winced as he realized that he also has a cut on his lower lip.
"Are you okay?" Those three words seemed to leave your lips automatically.
"Don't worry! I've experienced worse." He said shrugging it off as your concern only grew bigger.
"Don't feel bad." He laughed. You gave him a weak smile back, knowing that his laugh was hiding a lot of pain and sadness. No one deserved to feel that way.
"We're even now, right?" You asked as he looked at you in surprise.
"What do you mean?" He asked back.
"Well, You kept your mouth shut and I made your homework. You saved me last time in the dressing room and today I returned the favor."
He laughed at your words. "I could handle them really! So technically you didn't return me a favor."
"It does count!" You defended.
"You want to return a favor that bad?" He asked.
"Well, yeah." You replied almost immediately, with that Taehyung smiled to himself.
"You can do me a favor."
"What is it?" You asked curiously.
"Just stay still, like you are right now." He said softly while leaning closer to you, making you flinch. "Don't move." He whispered before caressing your cheek.
His face kept inching closer as you then closed your eyes, preparing yourself for what's coming.
"Is he actually going to kiss me?" You thought in slight panic.
You could almost feel his lips against yours as you then heard him chuckle.
You quickly opened your eyes only to see that he had pulled away from you. He was holding a leaf in his hand.
"This was in your hair." He said acting innocently as you looked at him dumbfounded.
"I-I have to go, Mr Lee will notice if I stay away for so long." You said wanting to leave.
"You owe me another favor now Haeun." He said waving with the leaf in his hand as you left.
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"Here you are!" Nara said out of breath as she was approaching you in the hallways. "What took you so long? Mr Lee seriously thought you fell through the toilet pot."
You tried your best to put up a smile for her, acting as if nothing happened. "Sorry, something came up."
"Come on, let's go back." She said, you followed along after taking a peek outside the window to see if Taehyung was still there.
————
Class finally ended and you sighed deeply before opening your locker. "How could I think that he was going to kiss me? Why did I even decide to kiss him back?" You thought.
"Why the heavy sigh?" You heard a voice ask you.
You could immediately recognize that voice and decided not to reply. You pretended not to hear him and continued searching for your book since you were still angry at him for hitting Taehyung.
"Are you serious?" Hyunjin bit the inside of his cheek as he felt ignored by you. He slammed your locker door shut out of anger, grabbing your attention. You jumped in surprise as he grabbed you by your arms.
"What are you doing? Let go!" You exclaimed as he scoffed.
"Really Haeun? Then look me in the eyes for once and say it again." He said since you haven't made any eye contact with him since that event.
"Let go of me." You said looking him directly in the eye.
Hyunjin slowly loosened the grip on your arms and looked away in distress.
"Since when are you the type to beat someone up? What kind of people are you hanging around with nowadays?" You asked genuinely concerned about him.
"I just.." He trailed off softly. "Why him?"
"What are you talking about?" You looked at him with confused eyes.
"You're ignoring me just because I hit Kim Taehyung?" He brought it up again.
"Actually yes. Was that what you wanted to hear? You literally hit a fellow student in front of the school building. That is not like you at all, and that's not you who I'm friends with. We literally grew up together, Hyunjin."
"Look- I'm sorry okay.." he sighed in frustration.
"Excuse me, I have to go to my next class." You said taking that as a chance to leave the situation.
"I just want you to look at me." He thought to himself. "Is that so wrong?"