The Red of the Rose | Taeyong

04 | The Bet

The university student forum was essentially nothing but a gossip site. And though its morally questionable purpose, students were very active on it given that it was anonymous.

The rest of the room watched as Serin was staring at her phone with an indiscernible expression on her face. After finishing the last line of the new post on the forum, she gave a slight scoff. She was calmer than the boys had expected her to be. Perhaps she wasn't angry at all. But they were wrong. Serin's mind was working. She was calculating and arriving at a conclusion. She finally whispered under breath, 'She has done it again.'

There was a bewildered look on their faces. They had no idea what she was talking about.

'Her first day back and she has caused trouble again.' Serin was talking to nobody in particular. She slammed her palm on the counter. 'When will she learn?'

'Who–what are you talking about?' Johnny asked, confused.

'Jang Miah.' This time Serin looked straight at all of them.

The guys wondered where they had heard the name.

'Mark's sister?' Yuta whispered.

'The new girl,' Jaehyun quickly added when he saw Serin's confused face.

Serin nodded.

'Wait, you think she wrote the post?' Taeyong sat himself down on the high stool next to the counter.

'I know she did,' Serin scowled.

'How can you–'

'So sure?' Serin cut Jaehyun. 'Because she has done the exact same thing before.'

Serin recalled the story for the guys about what had happened between her and Miah when they were in high school. The rumours, the lies, the confrontation, everything that she had to go through.

'This is the exact same thing she said about me back then. Exact words.' Serin was pointing at her phone. 'This morning when I saw her, I thought we had an understanding to put everything behind us, but I was wrong.'

~*~

The next day, Serin walked into college with her head still high. She had decided to not give anyone the satisfaction of knowing that she was affected by a silly post.

It only took her ten steps inside the campus to realize how difficult this is going to be. She felt the heads turn, and eyes watching her as she made her way through the crowd, hearing snatches of their conversations.

'No wonder she only has guy friends.'

'Have you seen how she dresses.'

'I heard she was sleeping with all of her friends in school too.'

'She really has no character.'

She was not going to acknowledge them with a response and walked through it all to reach her first class. An uncomfortable silence fell over the lecture hall as she stepped in. And even though she knew why they had stopped talking, she walked as if nothing was out of the ordinary. It was only when Yuta and Jaehyun joined her, she heard the whispers again.

'C'mon, let's leave,' Yuta got up from his seat not long after he had settled down.

Jaehyun picked up her bag for her and got up. 'Let's go back to the house. We don't have much classes today anyway.'

The boys were obviously unaffected by this. The post was only meant to slander Serin's character. It didn't cause much harm to the boys' reputation even though the post claimed that she was sleeping with them all.

And it made Serin ever angrier when she saw Taeyong casually lounging back at the apartment when the three of them entered.

Taeyong raised his head when he heard the front door. He wasn't expecting anyone to come home this early. When he saw Serin enter, he smoothed his hair and sat up her straighter.

'Bunking classes?' he remarked.

'All of them,' Yuta responded.

Serin sat near the window, looking out at the city below. She didn't speak a word to them and they let her be, keeping her company.

The lights in the buildings nearby started flickering on. The sky was the shade of blue just before it turns into the black of the night.

Johnny and Doyoung arrived at the apartment after it was completely dark outside. Seeing Serin sitting by the window and the rest of them on their phones, they could easily read the room. Doyoung switched on the light jerking Serin out of her thoughts.

'I got beer.' Johnny raised the small sized crate he was holding to show Serin.

The air around Serin had changed. She no longer seemed angry. There was an unsettling calm about the manner in which she carried herself now. She was thinking, calculating.

'No committee meeting today?' Jaehyun asked.

Serin casually shrugged a no.

'So, the annual dance then?' Taeyong shifted next to Serin, who had settled herself on the high stool at the counter.

Serin had a tight smile on her lips when she turned to him. 'What about it?'

'I mean, I was just wondering you know...' Taeyong lowered his voice. 'That the dance should be fun this time.'

'Oh, it will be fun.' Serin had the look on her face as though she was peering into the future.

Taeyong smirked. 'It's such a shame though.'

Serin raised an eyebrow.

'The post.' Taeyong paused at this, waiting for Serin's reaction.

'What about it?' Serin maintained her expression giving Taeyong the confidence to continue.

'It's such a shame that it's a lie.' Taeyong leaned in. 'I can make it true. At least a part of it.' Taeyong glided his finger up till her bare shoulder.

'Want to spend a night with me?' Serin spoke up, catching the attention of everyone in the room now.

The momentary shock faded from Taeyong's face when he saw that Serin was serious.

'In for it?' Taeyong raised the question.

'Sure,' Serin returned. 'But.' Serin pushed his hand back to its place. 'I want you to do something for me first.'

'What is it?' Taeyong was genuinely curious, almost enjoying this.

'Jang Miah.'

Taeyong had not expected the name to pop up in this conversation. 'What?'

'Seduce her, and break up with her in front of everybody at the annual dance and you can spend a night with me.' Serin proposed the bet. 'In for it?' She folded her arms and leaned back.

Taeyong considered. The image of the girl flashed before his eyes. Her standing at the entrance of the store. Her blue cardigan and transparent umbrella tilting back as she walked around the rain-soaked campus. Her awkward smile when Professor introduced her.

It's going to be so easy he thought.

'I am in.' Taeyong extended his hand.

Serin smiled deviously and shook his hand.