The truth untold

-four-

JYPE (Seoul) - January 2016

Kim Taehyung will be the death of me, Jimin thought to himself as he hurriedly searched through the practice rooms of the JYPE building. His best friend would frequently come up with the excuse of wanting to meet the GOT7 boys, though Jimin could see behind his lie. This was the third time in the first two weeks of January that Taehyung visited JYPE. He worried for Taehyung; he could clearly see his friend developing something for the maknae of Twice, and it was wrong from many angles; her age, her dating ban, ARMY, a scandal if anyone found out, people thinking wrongly of Taehyung.

He rummaged through hallway after hallway, already imagining how badly Namjoon and Bang PD would let him hear it if something happened, when he bumped into someone as he made a turn to another corridor. The impact made him pause, and he winced as a sharp but temporary pain shot through his head. He looked up, wondering if the other person was hurt. The 'other person' was no other than Twice's Jeongyeon. She was rubbing her head with her eyes closed, muttering something angrily under her breath.

Jimim watched her for a while. Fiesty, he thought to himself, but cute. He couldn't help but think that this girl was very attractive; she wasn't your typical Korean beauty or like the girls Jimin usually dated, but she was charming in her own way, and that was why she was his favourite since 'Sixteen'.

She finally looked up at him, her mouth already open to fire up some curse words, when her dark eyes widened in realization. Her posture was immediately fixed and she bowed hastily, as if every second that would pass after that realization would cost her. "Jimin-Sunbaenim! I'm extremely sorry for bumping into you! Please forgive me!"

"Jeongyeon-sshi, please, calm down," he reassured her with a smile. "I am completely okay, but are you okay?"

She nodded. "Just a bump, no harm." She stepped a bit closer. "You seem to be in a hurry. Is there anything I can help with?"

He smirked. "I'm actually looking for my friend. Seems like your Maknae has him in a trance, and now I've lost him."

Jimim could visibly see her friendly demeanour die down and a more serious expression appeared on her beautiful face. Talking that way about Tzuyu clearly upset her. Oh, boy.

"That's a rude way of saying that your member won't stop stalking her," she retorted, forgetting all formalities.

He laughed lightly. "Alright, alright. I'm looking for Taehyung-"

"The stalker," she added, with a smirk that rivalled his own.

He rolled his eyes, now a bit annoyed. "We've got practice in an hour and I cant seem to find him."

She studied him with scrutinising eyes for a few moments. "I'm looking for Tzuyu as well."

"Alright, I've got an idea,"Jimin proposed. "Let's go our own ways, and if either of us spot them, since they are anyway going to be together, let's inform each other with the location." He handed her his phone. "Here, type in your number."

"Why?"

He raised an eyebrow at her question. "So I can inform you?"

With a skeptical glance between him and the device in his hand, she finally took a decision as she typed her number in. He dialled it, so she would have his contact as well in case she spotted them before him. They parted ways, and Jimin silently prayed he found them first, judging by how furious Jeongyeon was at Taehyung.

.....

Kim Taehyung was loving life at this very moment; the peace and quiet, the beautiful rooftop garden around him, the soft breeze, music in his ears and the girl whose company he very much enjoyed beside him. They sat together by a set of wooden stairs on the JYPE rooftop, sharing a pair of headphones while listening to tunes from his phone. Luckily for him, Tzuyu's taste in music was quite similar to his. Because of the limited length of the chords, the pair were sitting within a very close proximity, his left shoulder lightly grazing with her right. The contact sent chills down his spine, but he would pretend like it didn't bother him. Occasionally he would steal glances of her; her hair was back in its natural colour, and her cheeks were slightly pink from being sun-kissed.

The last song of his play list, 'See you again' by Wiz Khalifa, ended, and Tzuyu handed her part of the headphone back to him with the smile. "My mum told me she cried when she heard that song, even though she didn't understand it."

"That song had the same effect on me too," he pointed out, stuffing the headphones into his pocket. "What else does she listen to?"

"She's more into Taiwanese songs, and she listens to English songs that I recommend," Tzuyu mentioned, and a soft giggle left her lips. "I can tell she's not a huge fan of K-pop, but she listens to support me and to be up to date." She looked directly into his eyes, that it caught him off-guard for a second. "Tell me about your family."

So Taehyung began. He spoke of his family in length; his parents who were hard-working and supportive, his grandparents who raised him and his siblings he was always protecting. She intently listened, and would ask a few questions here and there, like his sister's age or what kind of food did his grandma make for him. Her genuine interest warmed his heart; her connecting with him over his family meant so much to him.

Chou Tzuyu, what are you doing to me?

.....

Park Jimin had no luck, even after searching up and down for thirty minutes. He stopped at the last floor, and leaned against a door, trying to catch his breath, when he noticed a stairwell. Didn't still check that out, he thought to himself as he gathered up his strength and climbed the last set of stairs. And there, at the corner of a beautiful rooftop garden, sat his friend and the girl he was interested in. It took everything in his power to keep himself from screaming at Taehyung for running off without informing him, but his anger died when he heard Taehyung's laugh. The two spoke animatedly, genuinely peaked with interest about what each other was saying. His best friend's face was glowing with happiness and Jimin suddenly lost the heart to bring him back with him. Breaking this conversation seemed wrong. He let out a heavy sigh, and walked back downstairs, deciding to wait for his friend at the lobby.

.....

Kim Taehyung was deep in his conversation with Tzuyu, that he wasn't realising how quickly time was flying by. A quick glance at his watch reminded him and he internally groaned, not wanting to leave Tzuyu, but today was his and Hobi's appearance on SBS Star King, and he had to be at BigHit to get ready. "Tzuyu-sshi," he said hesitantly. "I have to actually leave now. There's that TV thing that I told you about that I have to get ready for."

"Oh, yes," she exclaimed, standing up with him. "I'm sorry for taking your time."

"You don't ever have to apologise for spending time with me," he said, kindly. "This is always a huge pleasure for me."

As he predicted, her cheeks reddened as she smiled. "For me, as well."

He ran his hand through his hair. "I guess I'll be going then."

She nodded, and she opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it.