The Foolproof Plan

Chapter 17: A WRENCH IN THE PLAN

The following Monday, as I left the building where my last class was held, I turned my phone back on and noticed that I had five text messages and four missed calls. I scrolled through the messages:

Joon: Bro, what the hell is going on? Call me

Hobi: I can't believe what Allie told me. It's a mess!

Joon: Why the hell are you lying about Minda?

Yoongi: Can't believe you lied to me, bro

Park Jimin: Fuck u Seokjin

I had two missed calls from Taehyung and two from Namjoon. I had no idea what they were talking about. What happened? I found a bench under a tree and sat down to call Namjoon.

"Fuck, Seokjin! I can't believe you lied to us!" he immediately exclaimed without first saying hello.

"Hold up!" I said loudly. "What are you talking about? What's going on?"

"If you're still trying to get Bella back, you're completely off track! Why do you think she'll want to get back with you if you're--I don't know what the hell to call it--sugar daddying with Minda!"

It took me a few seconds to process what he said. "W-Wait just a minute! I'm not hooking up with Minda! I told you guys. She's just helping me--"

"Cut the crap! She was showing off all the stuff you bought her at Allie's get-together on Friday."

I inhaled. "That doesn't mean I'm having sex with her. I bought her a few things for her birthday. I can't believe she said we're sleeping together...because we're not!"

"No. She didn't say it, but it certainly looked that way to everyone there...including Bella. Why else would you be buying her shit?"

I closed my eyes and hung my head back. "Jeez! I don't understand."

"Nobody does."

"I don't understand why nobody believes me," I continued.

"What?"

I felt myself gripping my phone tighter. "If I'm telling you there's nothing going on, and if I said we're not sleeping together, then why doesn't anyone believe me? Or her, for that matter. I can't believe you are all so quick to believe the worst of me even after I've told you that nothing's going on."

"Seokjin, that's not the problem here."

"Oh, no? I certainly think that my friends' obvious lack of trust in me is the problem!" I hissed into the phone.

"No, wait--"

"No! You wait, Joon," I snapped. "I've told you the truth. If you or anybody else chooses not to believe me, well that's your problem, not mine! I can't believe that my so-called friends cannot give me the fucking benefit of the doubt! Not even once! Not only that, but you all insist on painting Minda out to be some type of whore, and that's uncalled for! You have no right to make these assumptions. The fact that all of you are ganging up on a girl who is being a friend to me? A girl who is trying to help me while you all insult her? If that's all that worries you, then I've answered you yet again. I will not call anyone else only to be accused of the same bullshit, so just let them know to leave me the hell alone and to leave Minda alone. Got that?" I angrily ended the call and sat for a few minutes regulating my breathing.

After I had calmed down, I dialed Minda. After several rings, she answered. It sounded like she was crying.

"Minda?" I asked, concerned.

"Seokjin," she croaked. "H-Have you heard wh-what everyone's saying about me? I'm so, so sorry about that. I-I never thought that it would come to this. I didn't say anything that could make anyone think that...that there's something between us. I'm...sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," I replied. "It's them who should be sorry."

"When one of the girls made a rude comment on Friday, I immediately set her straight. I told her that we are friends and that's a-all," she said, her voice breaking on the last word.

"Did...did Bella say anything to you?" I asked slowly.

"No. She didn't. It was Cori who said it must be nice to...to--I'm sorry. She said it must be nice to not only sleep with Kim Seokjin but also have him buy me expensive gifts. Just like a sugar daddy. I told her it wasn't anything like that! I swear I did! But everyone started giving me these looks and ignoring me. It was awful!"

I let out a long exhale. "I'm sorry. I didn't know it would make everyone think something bad."

"I feel so awful," she continued, sobbing. "Everyone hates me. Cori and my other roommate keep asking me about you, and I think Allie is angry with me. Everyone either makes rude comments or just ignores me. It's been going on all weekend! I'm just hiding out in my room like a criminal even though I didn't do anything."

"Hang in there, Min," I said. "I'm sure things will clear up. We haven't done anything wrong."

"O-Okay. But if everyone here's still angry with me tomorrow, do you think I could go stay with you at your place?"

I tried to ignore the warning bells that were going off in my mind. If we were trying to quell rumors, having her at my place would have the opposite effect. Still, it wasn't fair to her that my friends and her friends were falsely accusing her.

"We'll see," I replied. "But I'm pretty sure everything will be okay soon. Everyone will come to their senses. Call me if you need anything."

"I knew I could count on you. Thank you for being a true friend, Jin."

She had ended the call before I realized that she'd called me Jin for the first time.