Yeah, Hoseok was definitely starting to see Chul differently.
Like..
Way differently.
His behavior, attitude, stance, and everything about him was just so..
Arrogant.
As if he was king of the world and acted better than everyone else, by treating his fellow classmates and peers like utter shit.
Now, if Hoseok was still blinded by that fake ass pearly white smile, then the chances are extremely low that'd he actually notice these small but still crucial actions nearly everyday.
Even during sixth period, where he always saw Chul laughing and smiling with people, his eyes happened to catch some 'behind the scene' footage.
If you catch my drift.
For example, just the other day out of the corner of his eye, Hoseok noticed how Chul just randomly asked for this innocent girl's poor money and promised to pay her back by the next day during that same period.
Well, next day came and of course, there was no sign of money.
And when the girl tried politely asking for it back, he rudely scoffed and her and tried to play the dumb card by not remembering ever borrowing it.
Hoseok was tempted to walk right up to him and slap that devilish smirk off his face.
And in all honesty, he probably would of if the punishment of expulsion wasn't a hanging threat above his head.
But after class, Hoseok did ask the girl for the amount of money Chul took from her and gave it to her, despite the endless thread of 'oh my god no you don't have to do that'
Yet of course, Hoseok didn't care since it was just five bucks, and plus, you never knew what she needed the money for.
So, he just played it safe and kindly slapped those five one dollar bills in the girl's palm before running away as quickly as possible, not giving her a chance for her to protest against it.
And its honestly amusing how much of a total dickhead Chul is, because this was just one of the many occurrences Hoseok had witnessed in just the span of a week. Now that he's finally come clean to his senses, guilt automatically swarmed up inside him since Yoongi probably wanted to slap his face upright when he found out about his lame crush.
Or... past crush?
Well, Hoseok would be lying if he said there weren't any lingering feelings still hanging by loose threads, practically begging to be cut off.
Though, Chul's cold behavior towards others was a massive turn off, so his feelings were definitely fading after practically an eternity of trying to get over him.
Which Hoseok was extremely thankful for, though he did scold himself countless times that if he had just paid attention to him more critically, then those heart flutters in his chest would have dissolved much much faster.
And not to mention how flat out conceited Chul was during basketball games, which now turned to be a regular event that Hoseok and their friends would often attend to.
Although it was more difficult to decipher what Chul would be yelling or shouting at his teammates over the ear-piercing screams that the crowd emitted, and also echoed throughout the gymnasium, it didn't keep Hoseok from noticing the unnecessary aggressive behavior.
He couldn't help but feel bad for Yoongi and Jungkook who had to deal with this almost constantly.
Along with the tormenting, rough teasing, and harsh discouraging words and insults that wouldn't stop pouring out of Chul's cursed mouth.
Like poison.
It must've been torture.
And now that Hoseok has experienced some of these interactions from the sidelines, he only felt more and more guilty about it from seeing it second hand, and for the fact that he was too scared to stand up to Chul at all.
Like a bystander.
He hated himself for it.
But what was he supposed to do?
Yoongi himself had done the same thing by trying to stand up to Chul, and nothing positive has come out of it.
So what could someone as frail and slightly shrimpy as Hoseok, who was also too vulnerable and sweet to beat someone up, do to someone who he barely knew?
Who Chul barely knew.
The man undoubtably wouldn't take Hoseok seriously.
So, as much as Hoseok despised himself for it with every ounce in his 5'10 lanky body, he just sat back and watched it happen.
Watched how the twinkles of fear formed in people's eyes whenever Chul spoke coldly to them, or the pure frustration ringing through their trembling voices that were practically cries for help.
But everyone ignored those cries for help.
Because they were all scared too.
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The dance competition.
Jimin couldn't get it out of his head the whole week, or past few weeks at that. Even though it wasn't until another month and a half, so their dance team had more than plenty amount of time to practice routines for it, the nearing recital still ate Jimin up in and out.
Until there was no life left visible in his eyes.
When it came to dance, Jimin took it very seriously. If he happened to notice one flaw or imperfection in his movements reflected in the mirror that even so caught his eye just by a tiny bit, he'd beat himself up about it.
Dance was his passion.
Especially ballet.
Their dance instructor was even so kind as to assign Jimin his own balletic solo in one of their performances, and though it was not even three minutes long, the thought of it never failed to make Jimin squeal in delight.
But also puke out of pure nervousness at the same time.
Which is the reason he's been practicing a lot more now, maybe even too much at that.
But nothing was too much for Park Jimin, because he taught himself how to handle extreme measures even if meant it being detrimental towards his physical and mental health.
But with that, came the bearing consequences, obviously.
Such as sleep deprivation, not fitting in enough time for studying or school work, extreme energy loss, being sore all the time, or just working up an attitude at anything he found even a little bit annoying.
And it didn't help the matter that he also made himself stay up all night to practice for the presentation scheduled today during first period.
Presentations weren't exactly his strong point, since he often found himself nervous or his voice become shaky when all the students's eyes were focused on him.
Though, one thing he was happy about was that his two partners were Hoseok and Taehyung, his desk buddies.
So, that did take at least some of the weight off his extremely tense shoulders from the anxiety- inducing situation.
But it still wasn't enough to completely calm down his aching nerves that wouldn't stop buzzing inside him with every passing thought that reminded him of the approaching demonstration.
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Entering the classroom that he's been dreading the whole morning, Jimin let out a tired yawn as he rubbed his sleepy eyes that were begging to shut in an everlasting slumber, which had dark under eye bags laying underneath them.
Everything around him was a simple blur, possibly from the fact that his eyes were still a bit watery just from pure sleepiness. But he still managed to find his way towards his seat without bumping into someone or knocking supplies off of a desk.
Which was a bonus.
"Good morning!" Taehyung chirped, maybe a bit too excitedly especially since there was a presentation today.
However, when he didn't get the usual response back from his best friend, Taehyung peered over towards where Jimin was slouching in his seat, obvious exhaustion clear in his big brown eyes.
"Hey," Taehyung started calmly, resting a hand on Jimin's shoulder, "you alright?"
"Huh?" Jimin turned towards his friend, eyes widened since his mind didn't even process that someone had spoken to him, "oh uh yeah I'm fine."
"You don't look fine," Taehyung hesitantly dragged out, eyes blazing with concern, "is everything okay?"
"Yeah, just tired I guess."
Nodding at the blunt response, Taehyung just dropped the subject before turning back around to face the front of the room where the teacher was scribbling some notes on the board.
At that moment, Hoseok came marching in just minutes after Taehyung, and plopped down besides his two best friends.
"Helloooo," he greeted enthusiastically, though there was still a sense of grogginess in his voice as well since it was first period.
"Hey Hobi," Taehyung replied calmly, however still offering his friend a boxy grin that never failed to put a smile on Hoseok's face.
"Are you guys ready for the presentation?" Hoseok asked, eyes drifting between Taehyung and Jimin.
Taehyung sighed, "I hope so."
Nodding, Hoseok turned his attention towards Jimin who seemed to be a little more quiet than normal, which was odd.
Since the younger would always shout something obnoxious first thing in the morning like, "Whats up dumb whores," but this time, there was nothing.
Only a bowed down head that never left his lap, which his jittery fingers were splayed out on.
"Jimin, you?" Hoseok asked gently, noticing that something was wrong though he didn't want to instantly pound on the topic knowing it could make Jimin feel worse.
Jimin cleared his throat, quickly glancing up at his friend before flickering his eyes back down towards his lap, "Oh um yeah I'm ready."
Hoseok quirked an eyebrow at the uncertainty lacing his friend's voice, but didn't want to press on the subject too much, especially since Taehyung sent him a look that said 'don't ask about it'.
Although he was confused as to what was going on, Hoseok just let it go reasoning that he'd ask after class about it.
As the three friends sat in comfortable silence until class began, with the occasional small talk between Taehyung and Hoseok, there was another set of eyes gazing over the small group sitting towards the back corner of the room.
Eyes that belonged to Lee Chul.
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"Alright, and next group is Hoseok, Taehyung, and Jimin. Will you guys please display your slideshow up on the board here?" The teacher called out, catching the three boys' attention as they all shuffled out of their seats quickly and towards the front of the room.
Jimin felt as if was going to puke.
Nervousness clenched at his heart, almost as if two fists were grabbing it and constricting him from being able to breath properly.
For a second, the thought of passing out even entered his mind.
Yet, he quickly brushed it off since he was most likely being over dramatic.
After all, it was just a silly presentation, what could possibly go wrong?
Once their slideshow was brightly displayed on the board, to the courtesy of mostly Hoseok for making it look aesthetically pleasing and colorful, all three of them sent each other final head nods of approval to start.
And slight reassurance.
"So our project is about three historical black women who were essential in the success of John Glenn's orbit around the Earth in the early 1960s," Taehyung began off confidentially , eyes flickering towards Hoseok to carry on the next sentence.
Hoseok cleared his throat, "These three women were Katherine Johnson, a mathematician, Mary Jackson, an aerospace engineer, and Dorothy Vaughan, a computer programmer. All three of these significant roles were vital for the success of the mission, and without them the entire plan would collapse," he finished strongly, now side-eyeing Jimin to explain the next slide in depth.
But for some reason, Jimin couldn't get the words out.
As much as he wanted to, and urged himself to he just couldn't.
They were right at the tip of his tongue, yet refusing to actually make a verbal proclamation towards the class of students all staring at him and waiting for him to start.
Fear and agitation all rose up to his cheeks, casting a light shade of red to spread all the way to the tips of his ears out of sheer embarrassment.
C'mon, just say it, he wanted to scream at himself.
Finally mustering up the courage, Jimin let out a very squeaky, "oh and um-" he stuttered, completely forgetting what he was supposed to even talk about after Hoseok. But thanks to Taehyung, who motioned his head towards the slide projected onto the board, Jimin was reminded of where he was and what was going on.
"Oh sorry, um," he stuttered again, but cleared his throat and continued, "Being women of color at that time period, all three women along with their boards of co-workers, faced harsh and unfair discrimination in the work place," he began shakily, eyes threatening to lull off into a doze as he had to manually force himself to stay awake.
"For example," he continued, "being that Katherine Johnson was the only woman in her division, and uh," his eyes shifted towards the ticking clock on the wall, waiting for the bell to ring in order to save him from humiliation, "surrounded completely by white men, her fellow co-workers hardly ever took her seriously or treated her with equal respect," he concluded frailty, not once making eye contact with the group of peers all staring back at him.
"Jimin, I can barely hear you, please speak up," his teacher urged, eyeing Jimin critically before jotting down some notes on a clipboard.
A smirk formed at the tips of Chul's lips at the remark, his eyes never leaving Jimin's weak and shaky stance.
Jimin pursed his lips at the judgmental comment, feeling his palms suddenly become extremely sweaty as the strain and pressure on him only rushed at him twice more the speed.
Though, he took the opportunity while Hoseok and Taehyung explained the next two slides to recollect himself, and mentally prepared for when it was his turn again.
And when that turn finally came, the tension inside his muscles only tightened more, with the ability to speak completely dispersing into thin air.
He was trapped.
"Jimin, I believe it's your turn?" The teacher poked an eyebrow up at the student, who was shivering under her intimidating stare.
Jimin could've sworn he even heard a few small snickers amongst the crowd of students before him, to whom Taehyung and Hoseok instantly sent threatening glares to to shut the frick up.
And low and behold, it worked, as the students shut their mouths right after receiving those incredibly frightening glares almost as if under a spell of some sort.
"Right, sorry," he quickly apologized, glance immediately averting back to the floor below him out of sheer shyness.
Though, throughout his whole speech which was just a few sentences long, Jimin kept stumbling on words, his voice octives lowering to almost an inaudible volume so his fellow students could barely hear him, even ones in the front row. Which, the teacher scolded him about once again, and every time he ended a sentence in a mere whisper.
And during it all, a devilish smirk never once left Chul's face.
Perhaps it was the sheer satisfaction he received out of it, that the so-called perfect, and high honor roll Park Jimin was barely getting through a simple class presentation slide.
Or perhaps it was that underlying jealousy Chul felt around the star student, who always carried the reputation of being one of the sweetest people alive with a stable with trustworthy group of true friends supporting him no matter what.
Of course, Chul would never in a million years admit that slight ping of envy in his chest whenever he heard someone gushing over his flawless dance moves, or whatever kindhearted act Jimin did for them that day.
Which was nearly everyday.
Because everyone loved and knew Park Jimin.
He was notorious for never lashing out on anyone, and always being good-natured no matter what the circumstance was.
Perfect perfect perfect, was all anyone said about him.
And Chul was tired of it, and with any other compliment directed towards him only drove Chul even more nuts.
So it gave him some satisfaction when the supposed 'perfect' student with perfect grades and the perfect friend group and the perfect personality, was messing up.
Oh how much Chul loved to see it.
"Jimin, please speak up," the teacher huffed impatiently for probably the fifth time that day, eyes rolling towards the back of her head in pure agitation.
"S-sorry," Jimin mumbled out tiredly, eyes staying focused towards his feet below him, not daring to come face to face any of the students mockingly looking at him.
Taehyung and Hoseok, who didn't forget to send the boy reassuring and sympathetic looks of encouragement, finished the project of strongly with an excellent ending conclusion, earning synchronized applauds from the class.
But Jimin only looked down and frowned, knowing his two best friends carried the entire thing and saved their grade. Without them, he surely would've failed.
"Well done," the teacher congratulated, "Jimin I'm not sure what happened, you're usually good with projects. But please speak up next time and practice harder on your lines."
He nodded, soaking up his pride and accepting the honest, yet harsh criticism his teacher gave him in front of the entire class. It nearly took all of it mite not to give in and lock eyes with the teasing glimmers flickering in his classmate's eyes.
Though what did bother him even more, was that he had practiced for the presentation.
In fact, he didn't even get two hours of sleep because he spent all night restlessly rehearsing his lines and propositions in fear that something like this would happen.
Though, even with all of those precautions he took to avoid it, Jimin's nervousness still ruled it all out, and he had no clue as to why.
And it bothered him, knowing this could possibly affect their group's grade that his two friends had worked so hard on and did such an outstanding job on presenting as well.
While he was dragging them down.
Jimin swallowed the lump in his throat, as he walked back to his desk hanging his head low in utter shame and embarrassment for himself.
There was only one more remaining group after them, and while they were up at the front talking about their assignment, Hoseok and Taehyung only sent each other worried glances.
About Jimin.
No words even had to be verbally communicated to know they were both 'talking' about him through simple eye expressions or head nods. While the said boy who the two were concerned about, was entirely oblivious to this as he just laid his head down onto the wooden desk, attempting his best not to burst down into tears.
But when small sniffles sounded from the back of the room, that's when Chul knew the boy was breaking.
And he couldn't help but smile at it.
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[A/N: there's a lot more cursing than usual but you'll see why, just thought I'd point it out]
"Jimin?" Hoseok called gently just as the bell rang, catching the boy's arm to a halt.
Looking up towards his friend, Jimin cluelessly blinked at him, "Yeah?"
"Um," Hoseok gulped, not wanting to hit a sensitive spot, "are you okay? I mean, it's just some stupid presentation so don't beat yourself up over it, okay?"
Jimin let out an exasperating sigh, only cringing at the flashbacks of him stuttering like an idiot in front of everyone, "Thanks, but it's my fault. I should've gotten sleep."
"Yeah," Taehyung responded bluntly, earning a slight nudge in the arm from Hoseok, "ow, you should've. But it's okay, I know how stressed you can get about these things. So don't worry about it, kay? It's over and done with and plus, your information was really good so it doesn't even matter that much."
A small smile managed to make its way up on Jimin's face, replacing the previous frown and droopy expression, "Thank you Hobi and Tae," he said shyly, with his two friends bringing him into a small hug.
"Of course, we're your best friends, plus ignore those stupid bitches who laughed. Me and Tae shut them up quickly," Hoseok said, earning a few chuckles from Taehyung and Jimin.
And while the two were comforting their distressed friend, Chul couldn't help but clench his fists at the interaction.
Friends.
Real friends.
Who comforted and supported you no matter what, even for the smallest of setbacks, they instantly replace it with consoling words or hugs setting this atmosphere of ease.
What Chul yearned for.
Letting the impulsive anger and hidden jealousy get to the best of him, Chul marched up to the three boys still surrounding a desk with a smug expression on his face.
"So, Park," he began, catching the three of guard as they all stiffened under his slithering tone, "not so Mr. Perfect anymore are you? I mean, c'mon it's just a simple slideshow, how can you possibly get past Junior year or go to college or do a job interview if you can't even get through a fucking presentation?" He smirked, only making Taehyung and Hoseok burn with pure anger.
"Pathetic, if you ask me," he chuckled to himself quietly.
Shoving Jimin out of the way protectively, Taehyung stood boldly in front of Chul and pointed an accusing finger at his face, "Oh fuck off, Jimin did fine, and at least he actually gets good grades and studies unlike you who doesn't seem to give a shit about anything except yourself. Plus, it was much better than your crappy presentation. I mean what actual fuck was your slideshow? It looked like utter dog shit."
"Tae-" Jimin began, tugging at the sleeve of his friend's hoodie as a signal to stop.
"No," Taehyung interrupted, not loosing his glare on Chul.
Hoseok had to stifle back a laugh.
Because every word of Taehyung's was true, Chul's group presentation was quite horrendous.
"Just leave him alone," Hoseok retorted harshly, though his voice came out more as a faint whisper since it was his (mostly) past crush that he was now suddenly talking to all confidently.
Chul chuckled, quirking an eyebrow at Hoseok, "Never expected you to say something like that," he retaliated mockingly, making Hoseok feel small under his intimidating stare.
Now it was Taehyung's turn to shove Hoseok behind him as well, so both of his friends were now shielded from any lash out Chul surprised them with, "What's your fucking problem? Jimin was perfectly fine, so what if he stuttered? That's normal and literally everyone gets nervous for presentations. I don't see what the big fucking deal about it is," he aggressively shoved past him, dragging both Hoseok and Jimin behind.
"And also," Taehyung turned around once more, catching the other three of guard, "choke on a dick."
And just like that, the three turned around, leaving Chul to stand there alone in the empty dim classroom. It almost felt as if the books laying on the shelves were mockingly laughing at him, to which Chul furrowed his eyebrows at angrily.
Of course his stupid little friends have to come and save his ass, Chul's hands firmly gripped his textbook in hand, before storming out of the classroom angrily.
As always.
Because Jimin had real friends who cared about him, not just fake ones who used his reputation for clout and popularity.
AKA, the only companions Chul ever got to experience with during his years at that high school.
But it was solely his fault for pushing away any genuine ones who actually wanted to become his friends; like Yoongi. Except he became like one of those people who use him; he took advantage of their kindness and manipulated it for his own good.
But he didn't care, or at least acted like he didn't care.
Because he was Lee Chul, the popular charming star basketball player who always caught people's attention with a simple dashing pearly white smile.
Yet beneath those crippling layers of a strong handsome man that Hoseok easily saw through, was a weak little boy.
But Chul put on that display, because if he couldn't convince himself on who he was, then he could surely convince others.
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🍓thank you for reading! Don't be afraid to comment any questions u have <3
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