rivals | taejin

XI

Jimin knocked on the door and was surprised when it opened on its own. "Taehyung never leaves his door unlocked..." he thought to himself. He stepped in, furrowing his eyebrows when he was met with a dark and cold space. He closed the door and flicked the light switch on.

The dorm was quiet and empty. He walked around until he was in front of Taehyung's room door. He pressed his ear against it, but there were no sounds coming from the other side. He knocked on it, getting no reply.

He cleared his throat and spoke, "Taehyung? Hey, it's me, Jimin." he said.

He heard some shuffling, "It's open..." he heard.

He opened the door and walked in, the room also dark and cold. He turned the switch on too, seeing the outline of a body under the bed covers.

"Why'd you turn all the lights on?" Taehyung asked, his voice hoarse.

Jimin scoffed, "You disappear for a whole day and that's the first thing you say? Seriously?!"

Taehyung peeked from under the covers, glaring at him. "If you're going to be angry, then leave."

Jimin sighed, "I would, but I actually care about you." he said, sitting in the chair next to Taehyung. "What happened yesterday?"

"What do you mean? I can't just take a day off?" he asked, sitting up.

"Well yeah, but even then you reply to my messages. You aren't so unsocialized. Unless something bad happened." Jimin said.

"Not necessarily bad, I just learn some new things." Taehyung said, looking out his window. "My eyes have been uncovered. I was wearing a blindfold I put on myself."

"What're you saying exactly? What happened?"

"I said nothing happened." he said.

His eyes caught movement of something outside, widening slightly before returning back to normal. "You talked to them didn't you?"

"Who?"

"Jungkook and...the other one."

"The other one? You mean Seok—"

"Don't say his name." Taehyung stopped him. "Anyways, I guess you did since they're coming here." he said.

"Of course they would be. Aren't they your new friends? They have the right to be worried." Jimin said.

Taehyung watched as Jungkook put his arm around Seokjin, stopping him from accidentally bumping into another girl. Seokjin smiled and thanked him.

"They're not my friends." Taehyung replied coldly. "We're just working on a project for class, because we have to. Or else I would've never talked to them."

Jimin smirks, watching Taehyung's clenched jaw. "Something tells me even if you hadn't, you'd definitely still talk to them one way or another."

Taehyung looked at him with a frown. "Don't say nonsense."

Jimin leaned back in the chair. "I'm not. I know what i'm talking about. And I know i'm right. You know i'm right, too."

***

"Taehyung is sick and can't meet you two." Jimin said, standing in front of the door.

"Ah really? Well we still want to—" Seokjin tried to say.

"He doesn't want to talk to you. Especially you, Seokjin." Jimin interrupted. "I think it'd be best to give him some space until he reaches out to you himself."

Jungkook scoffed, "Who're you to say that to him? Taehyung should stop being such a coward and come and tell this to Seokjin himself. That is if that's what he wants, actually."

Seokjin put his hand on his shoulder, "Stop, Jungkook." he looked at Jimin. "Fine, then if he doesn't want to talk to us, we'll give him some space. But, I also would appreciate if he could tell me if he doesn't want to speak to me himself. This will end up damaging our grade, most of all. That's what we're meeting up with him for at the end of the day. We can get another parter or tell the teacher to let us finish it in a pair."

Jimin smirked, "Is that all you care about? Your grade?"

Seokjin's face turned serious. "Of course not, but what can I do when he doesn't want to come out? And give him this message from me. If he doesn't want to keep talking to me, he can tell me straight up."

"There'll be no need for you to message me this."

Taehyung stepped out from behind Jimin, his eyes cold and face expressionless. "If you want that, i'll tell you right now."

He pulled Jimin back and stood in front of him, face to face to Seokjin and Jungkook, his eyes looking into the former's. "I do not want to talk to you. I don't want to see you, nor do I even want to hear of you. You'd be doing me a favor by completely disappearing from my sight. And, since it's so important for you, tell the teacher to take me out the group. I'll be speaking to him privately and let him know that I can't be in the group. I'm sure he'll understand and will let you continue as a duo." he stopped, looking at Jungkook before looking back at Seokjin.

"And please, don't look for me again."

Seokjin sucked in a breath of air, all of the sudden feeling breathless and dizzy. He nodded, biting his lip harshly. "Let us do that then. It was...nice to work with you when we did."

He bowed slightly before turning to the side. "Let's go Jungkook."

Jungkook gave them an angry look before going along with Seokjin. The other two watched as Jungkook brought Seokjin closer, his hand going up to ruffle his hair comfortingly before disappearing in between the halls of the dorm rooms.

Jimin scoffed at Taehyung's face. "Well, this is what you wanted, right?"

Taehyung looked at him with serious eyes. "Of course." he replied, turning around and walking back inside.