"What the hell's going on?!"
Everyone turned their heads to the left to see who that voice belonged to. Anyone would expect it to be from Jimin, but it wasn't. Although he was there, the boy seemed not to react. He was looking at the couple with lost, hurt and empty eyes, all at the same time. The one who had spoken was another boy next to him, with red hair that matched the furious look he had.
At that moment the couple seemed to take notice of the world around them and turned to see what was causing such a commotion. If it weren't for the context of the situation, Jungkook would have found it very nice that the two were lost in each other.
"Oh Jimin-Hyung, how are you?" The blond was still leaning against the wall. The students were expectant because no one knew what the hell was going on. Beside Jimin, the red-haired boy let out a gasp of surprise, or disbelief, maybe both.
"What're you doing?" If it weren't for everyone being silent, it would have been impossible to hear Jimin. His voice was barely a whisper, probably from surprise. Although it should not be like that, it was assumed that his ex-boyfriend had already told him he wanted to end their relationship to be with his soul mate. So why was Jimin surprised?
"What do you mean? We've already talked about this and you said you understood." The blonde detached himself from the wall and stood in the middle of the hall with a frown.
"Understand what? What are you cheating on me like this? " This time Jimin's voice broke through, his tone laden with pain and misunderstanding. An incomprehension that those present also felt, because they did not understand the situation.
The blonde just ran his hands over his face and let out a tired sigh, as if he had been talking about this for all eternity. Then he dropped his hands and looked at Jimin with a sad look. "Why are you making this more difficult? When I spoke to you a couple of days ago, you said that you understood, that you supported me, that you wanted my happiness and that of my other half" said the boy as he touched the earring he had in his ear, where his gem was, to show that to everyone.
"I never said something like that, because you said nothing to me." Jimin kept clenching his fists, his eyes on the brink of tears.
"I can't believe you're going to play this card, Jimin. It's too much even for you."
"What the hell are you talking about? I should be the one asking that question. We are together and suddenly I see you with another person, and above all, you tell me you told me? When? Because I don't remember any of your bullshit."
"Stop putting on a show, will you? I know you like to be the centre of attention, but this is overdoing it. "
"But why are you doing this?"
"You were so sweet at first. I thought you really loved me, for who I was and not for what you could get out of me. But I see that I was wrong. I should have noticed earlier, the signs were so clear. That being the adorable boy from high school went to your head, and you started using me as a vase boyfriend as if I were a toy that you can put out there for everyone to see how great you are." The blonde gave a humourless laugh. "When you said nothing would separate us, I didn't think you would go this far."
"Stop it, you're overdoing it!" This time it was Jimin's friend, or so Jungkook assumed, who spoke. Jimin had totally lost the ability to speak, and it was no wonder why.
The people around were already beginning to murmur and make assumptions. They were believing that Jimin was a twisted boy who used his beauty to his advantage and took advantage of others, who used his looks to get what he wanted, who thought of no one but himself.
"I'm sorry, honey." The blonde said as he caressed the cheek of his, now, girlfriend, who seemed more in shock than anything else. "I already told you I would try something like this."
If you did not have the information from Jungkook and Yoonseul about what had happened in the park, you probably would have believed that everything the blonde had said was true. But the fact is that they knew the truth, they knew that the blond was manipulating the truth to put Jimin in a bad place. Jungkook did not quite understand the reason for this behaviour, with how easy it was, to tell the truth, even if it hurt, but you did not have to humiliate a person in this way. Jimin's pain was almost palpable. He didn't even bother to hide the tears that were rolling down his cheek, his only support to keep from falling to the floor was his friend's hand that held him.
"You son of a bitch." Yoonseul had released the words in a hiss, like a snake, so that only Jungkook could hear them. The boy could feel the anger emanating from his friend, and also his own.
He couldn't see her, but he knew that his own gem was reacting to this emotion. Normally, you would feel a kind of gentle vibration that would spread through your body as a calming effect. But this time was different. This time her gem burned her skin, not literally, but it was almost suffocating heat as if the gem itself felt that emotion. Which was not unreasonable.
During his training with Hana he had learned that, while the gems themselves were not capable of feeling any emotion, once they connected with your soul, they could replicate those feelings because they had a part of your soul within them. In simple words, it was as if you had another being with you, with part of your personality and part of the essence of the tree from which they came.
Sometimes it was hard to tell if the gem's reaction was in response to the person's feelings or if it was doing it on its own. At that moment, Jungkook was certain that his gem was reacting on its own, asking him to change the situation, although he didn't understand how to do it.
"Now it turns out that the person interested in the relationship is Jimin-Oppa and not him."
If looks could kill, Jimin's ex would have spontaneously burned by now thanks to Yoonseul. If Jungkook could, he would too, why deny it.
"Why should I stop? Am I lying? " The blonde said as he met his gaze with Jimin's friend, challenging him.
"Of course you are lying."
Silence reigned in the corridors again, but this time it was one of astonishment since it had been Jungkook who had spoken. Not even he himself was aware of what he was doing until the words came out of his mouth. Beside him, Yoonseul was squeezing his arm, but he didn't know if it was as a warning or as a support. It didn't matter; he had already spoken and now he had to deal with the ex's angry look. At least his gem had stopped trying to burn him alive.
"What did you just say?" The blonde asked him as he turned fully to Jungkook.
"You're lying. You're the one who's been using him." At this, the boy had the nerve to laugh.
"What the hell do you know, asshole? Were you there when I spoke to Jimin? "
"It wasn't there." Jungkook recognized, to which the boy smiled triumphantly and condescendingly at the same time. Jungkook really wanted to wipe that stupid smile off his face. "But I was present when you discussed it with your girlfriend." Jungkook finished, pointing towards the girl with a shake of his head.
"What are you talking about now? Are you trying to change the subject or what? Because no matter how much you do it, it won't change the fact that what I've said is true. "
When the blonde finished speaking, Jungkook knew it was time to put all the cards on the table. The situation could end entirely in his favour, or end humiliatingly for him. There was no middle ground. It was clear to Jungkook that the blonde's girlfriend did not understand that he had lied to her when he said he was going to talk to Jimin, so he just had to tell what happened in the park. That's when things could go for better or for worse because the girl could categorically deny what had happened that day to prevent her boyfriend from being a liar. And even if he didn't, even if he acknowledged the truth, Jungkook didn't seem able to say that Yoonseul was with him. Jimin could be all the good and understanding you wanted,
"Monday, when you were on the park bench." The boy only raised an eyebrow at the comment.
"Is that supposed to mean anything?"
"Yeah, because you told your girlfriend that you and Jimin-Hyung were only together for sex. That he had proposed it to you until each one found their soul mate. " Jungkook said as he stared into his eyes.
Around him, the tension could be cut a knife, although Jungkook thought that only a pin was necessary to reach the same result. He was not proud that he had to say what he heard and that everyone knew; it was the intimate life of another person he was talking about. But the change in the boy's face was priceless. His eyes had widened, but more out of panic than disbelief. Even his posture had changed, left behind the security with which he held himself, leaving only a guy who did not know what to do with his hands.
"You are a bloody leech." Jimin's friend broke the silence. You could tell he wanted to go up to him and say it with a couple of punches in between, but he refrained from doing it, probably because Jimin had him by the arm. Instead, she just looked at him with utter contempt and revulsion. "I was there. Fuck, all of our friends were there when you declared your 'love' to him. And we were foolish enough to believe you."
"I didn't say any of that! This guy is lying, he... "
"Enough!!"
All heads turned towards the girl who until now had remained silent, being just another onlooker. She too had been cheated on, another collateral damage from her boyfriend's lies. The boy moved toward her to keep her from crying, raising his hands to her cheeks, only for her to slap him away. "Do not touch me!" The girl hissed as she wiped away her tears.
"That boy is telling the truth and you know it." The girl said while pointing a finger in Jungkook's direction and still looking at the boy. "I wanted to do things right, but you had to lie, not only to me but to him. You are despicable."
"Listen, bab—"
"Don't even think about calling me that." The girl snapped, focusing all her fury on him. "You just threw everything away, for what? Are a couple of glory days being the centre of attention? I don't deserve a person like you by my side. You disgust me."
It all ended suddenly, just as it had begun when a student told them that the teachers were about to arrive. As juicy as it had all been for gossip, no one will stay in high school longer than necessary, much less on a Friday. If the teachers found out something like this had happened, they would probably keep them all in class until they understood it.
Everyone started rushing into their classrooms, Jungkook and Yoonseul being one of the last. What had happened seemed like a soap opera and, to some extent, surreal? It had all turned out relatively well, at least if you looked at it from the perspective of cleaning up the mess Jimin's ex had made by trying to humiliate him in front of everyone. Of the rest of the events, Jungkook was not sure, much less when Yoonseul asked him in a whisper, "what the hell happened to you out there?". Well, he had definitely screwed up.
After the teacher called the roll again, to make sure that no one had left early, she said goodbye to them. Jungkook grabbed his backpack and stormed out of the classroom without waiting for Yoonseul. He didn't even care if he was following him. Some students looked at him and immediately turned to their friends to tell them what had happened, filling the hall with murmurs and gestures of surprise, some even disbelief. All Jungkook wanted was to be alone and sink into his own misery.
The only thing that occupied his head at that moment were thoughts of failure. Failure because he hadn't been able to prevent Jimin from suffering such a humiliation. Clearly, he couldn't blame himself for Jimin's ex, preferring to be with his soulmate over Jimin, but a small part of Jungkook's mind insisted that he should have made Jimin realize it sooner and save himself from this whole show.
Also, he felt like he had disappointed Jimin and Yoonseul. Although he did not have a friendly relationship with Jimin, he felt comfortable with his company and wanted to become his friend, but the tears he saw on his face when he turned to enter class made him realize that that would not be possible. He had lost the opportunity the moment he spoke.
This story belongs to @nometoloko on AO3. I'm just her translator.
OMFG!! The drama in here suffocated me, but it had to be done. Hope Y'all liked it. There's a lot of interesting things coming up.