Mono | ᴋ.ᴛʜ & ᴊ.ᴊᴋ ✓

章18

【 Jungkook 】

Somewhat unexpectedly and much to your surprise, the study hangouts that started between you and Taehyung actually ended up becoming a natural habit fairly quickly. And when putting all the competitive bickering along with the occasional side-tracking of learning about colors rather than studying, or the overall random coffee/game breaks aside, somehow the two of you studying together ended up being far more beneficial than neither of you might've first imagined it to be.

Even though both of your grades had been good from the get-go, a visible improvement was still evident in your assignments, grades, and exams— which naturally only seemed to fuel the competitive nature between you both.

- Though of course, that was nothing out of the ordinary, now was it?

The two of you had planned yet another study hangout together today as well, and so after your last class was dismissed you slowly began making your way over to the E-section of the university's building to wait for his last class to finish.

Though the sound of a notification coming from your phone briefly caught your attention, and upon seeing it was the exam results that got posted you swiftly stopped in your tracks and scanned through the list to see your ranking— instantly biting back a bright smile as you noticed you managed to beat Taehyung by 1 point which allowed you to score first place this time.

You let a light giggle escape your lips as you mumbled out a soft ''Hah suck it Kim, told you I'd beat you this time...'' before putting your phone back into your pocket as you kept on walking, finding yourself a good spot to wait at near the classroom Taehyung was in.

The light excitement currently bubbling up in your chest made you constantly have to bite back a soft smile, as you knew it was finally going to be your turn to tease him about the exam scores this time. Maybe it wasn't a big deal and even a tad bit unnecessary, but if he got to tease you about it all the other times then there sure is nothing stopping you from doing the same thing to him!

Soon your attention was drawn towards the sound of heels approaching you slowly, so you slowly raised your head to look over in the direction they were coming from, only to be met by Haewon now stood right in front of you with her arms crossed and a smile so insincere it almost made you shiver— and to no ones surprise, her tone came off just as insincere as her smile when she spoke to you

Haewon: Oh you're here... again.

A bitter emphasis on the last part of her sentence made you clench your jaw and force an uncomfortable light smile towards her as you nodded slowly, keeping your calm

Jungkook: Yes in fact I am, as Taehyung might have mentioned we made plans to study today.

She visibly rolled her eyes before eyeing you up and down, giving you a displeased look as she huffed

Haewon: I'm just gonna be honest with you, I really don't like you hanging around my Taehyungie, and he thinks it's uncomfortable hanging around you too even though he might not say it.

It's not like her clear disliking towards you came as a surprise, considering how she had made it clear from the very beginning you and Taehyung began interacting with each other that she was anything but fond of your presence near him, and so the subtly bitchy remarks accompanied by annoyed glares she'd throw towards you were nothing new.

Yet you still felt a surge of frustration bottle up, as her baseless grudge against you only existed from the mere fact that she felt the need to control who Taehyung befriends and hangs around.

Jungkook: Haewon-sshi I think he's old enough to communicate his opinion to me directly, and not through you. Shouldn't you as his girlfriend at least be supportive of him taking his studies seriously?

A scoff left her lips as she tilted her head while looking up at you

Haewon: Hah... Two people that are known in their major for constantly being at each other's throats... studying together?

Just as you were about to open your mouth to reply to her, she swiftly cut you off by laughing in a taunting manner before once again speaking up

Haewon: Look, you don't like him either right? Why not just do us a favor and back off.  Or... do you?

Your breath hitched as a wave of anxiety slowly crept up on you, in a way she was right. It didn't really make sense...

The undeniable fear of being misunderstood and accidentally fueling the false stories and myths already haunting your kind just felt too overwhelming, and the chance of her finding out about your Mono identity was more likely than ever. Come on, she's Taehyungs girlfriend for crying out loud, it's merely a matter of time before he tells her.

Haewon: Hello I'm talking to you! Do you have something to say to that huh?

Maybe... just maybe, if this had been any other person then making a good comeback and moving on about your day would've been easy. But the discouragement and fear you still hadn't been able to overcome was just overpowering this time...

The sound of the nearby lecture hall door opening shortly followed by a crowd of students filling up the previously empty hallway now broke the previous tense silence, and it wasn't long before an all too familiar male hurried over to the both of you as he instinctively wrapped his arm around Haewons waist before turning to look down at you

Taehyung: Something tells me you only waited for me here in order to boast about the exam placement Jeon

You stifled out an awkward laugh as you scratched the back of your neck lightly while nodding

Jungkook: Hah yeah... I told you I'd beat you this time Kim

Taehyung then looked at the time on his phone before flashing you a light smile as he spoke calmly

Taehyung: Yo can we grab coffee before we head over to yours, Mrs.Kang's lessons are draining and I really need some caffeine if we're gonna get any studying done today

Upon hearing him mention studying together, your breath almost hitched as you could feel the daggers Haewon's eyes were throwing at you

Jungkook: Oh uhm about that... I can't today

He raised an eyebrow at you from confusion, and rightfully so as you had literally confirmed to him earlier today that you weren't busy when he asked, however, you just couldn't stand the anxiety and fear you felt right now— and of course, Haewon was quick to chime in as she wrapped her arms around Taehyung happily while speaking in a cute and cheerful tone

Haewon: Great! Taehyungie let's go on a date then, I wanted to go shopping but it's no fun going alone, so yay this worked out perfectly!

He flashed her a soft smile before glancing back over at you as he spoke

Taehyung: You sure?

You swiftly nodded and forced a hopefully reassuring smile before automatically lowering your gaze

Jungkook: Yeah something just came up, but I'm glad it worked out. You two enjoy your date!

And so you watched as the couple began walking away together whilst letting out a heavy sigh as you tried to pull yourself together and head back home.

Oh how you wished the stereotypes and the past wouldn't bother you, but at the end of the day you were merely a human being after all.

- And sometimes in order to protect ourselves, we let the fear just take control.