(Bella)
Monday came and went with nothing to report. Jin didn't call or text, and I was too self-conscious to contact him. On Tuesday, I got to campus a little earlier. It was a nice day, and I sat outside under the shade of a tree to finish reading a chapter for my class. After a few minutes, Jimin came hobbling along on crutches with Tae walking slowly beside him.
"Hi," they both said at the same time.
"Why are you walking around?" I asked. "Shouldn't you be resting?"
Jimin motioned to a nearby bench, and Tae helped him. I got up from the ground and sat next to him. "I know, but the class is learning a new part of the modern choreography today. Don't worry. I won't actually try to join in. Hoseok is in the same class. He can help me catch up later."
Tae stood up. "Bella, can you help him? I really need to get to my class early. My professor is handing back our compositions today before the lecture."
"Sure," I said. He waved and rushed away. "I hear that he and Cindy have been hanging out quite a bit."
Jimin smiled. "Yeah. She's been over a few times. Tae's a little shy, so I guess it's good that she's been a little, oh, aggressive. He likes it."
"As long as he's nice to her," I said. "I feel bad that we showed up on Saturday when he was there."
"I'm sure they felt bad, too." Jimin looked at me. "Gosh, Bella, I am so sorry I missed dinner. I wish I could've called you, but I told you I was stuck at the hospital without my phone."
"I know. Don't worry. How could I possibly be upset about it? You were hurt. I could hardly expect you to be worried about dinner."
"Were your parents upset that I didn't show up?" he asked, scratching at his ankle over the thick bandages.
I held my breath, wondering how I should tell him what happened. "Well, you see, it's kind of a funny story. You're going to laugh." I gave a nervous giggle.
He looked up at me, his eyes crinkling with his smile. "Yeah? What happened?"
There was nothing else to do but to just say it. I told him about Jin showing up, and my parents thinking he was the one we were waiting on. I forced myself to laugh throughout the telling of the story, but I saw that halfway through my account, Jimin had stopped smiling and was now frowning.
"Jin?" He gave me an angry look. "And you never thought to explain it to them? Cindy went along with it, too? And him?"
"It's not a big deal. I tried to explain, but my parents didn't understand. It was easier to just get it over with."
"So your parents think you're dating Seokjin?" he said, sounding outraged. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's Jin to you. They think you're dating Jin."
"No! I mean, not really. I never said I was dating anybody. I told them that a friend would be joining us. I said nothing about a boyfriend. I swear," I said rapidly. "But my mom might have misunderstood."
"Of course," Jimin said through clenched teeth. "Oh, I'm sure your mother was very happy to think that you're with someone like Seokjin. He's handsome and rich and-and... tall! It's all so K-drama." I remembered that he was very sensitive about his height. "Is she already planning your wedding?"
"Stop it!" I cried. "I told you that it wasn't a big deal. We had dinner. That's all. Actually, my father almost didn't like him because he was late for dinner."
Jimin cursed under his breath. "Almost. Except he wasn't late for dinner. It was me! When he finds out what Jin really did, how he saved the day, he's going to give him a cigar and hand you over to him on a platter. Here, take my daughter! She's all yours!"
Just then Yoongi walked by. He came over to the bench to say hello. He was on his way to the Fine Arts building for his music composition class. Jimin hopped up on his one good foot and asked Yoongi to help him get to class because I was too busy for him.
"Jimin," I said, but he ignored me. I glanced at Yoongi, and he shrugged. Without a word, he began to help Jimin along.
Jimin looked over his shoulder. "Oh, say hi to your new boyfriend for me. Tell Jin he's a damned good friend." He turned back and urged Yoongi to walk faster.
That evening I received a text from Jimin.
You should know that Jin uses and discards girls like old newspapers. Remember that I warned you.