GOLDEN TALENT | VKOOK ✓

16 | NETFLIX & RAMEN

Jeongguk was leaning back to his seat, doing casual pen tricks while he was in his lection. whereas he was listening to the professor discuss their new topic in music theory, he was man spreading, but not too widely. He raised an eyebrow at the professor's final statement, took a brief note, and then carried on performing pentagrams.

He then brought the pen to his chin and turned to face the students in the hallway. He was not seated next to Jimin because the class was mixed; however, this did not make him feel overly lonely. He assumed Taehyung was learning by writing while Jeongguk was learning by listening because of the way he was taking notes. 

As the teacher's voice grew fainter, he cocked his head, keeping his attention on the boy. Around him, he perceived some level of calmness. Taehyung's aura seemed to calm him and was in contrast to his own, which he seemed to constantly emit around other people. While he was writing, the boy was unbothered and didn't even try to look that way; to be so innately attractive.

Jeongguk made a thin line with his lips and then briefly turned his head away before turning to face him again. He questioned Taehyung's ability to handle everything. He came from nothing, from nowhere, and yet he has achieved this success on his own. For that, Jeongguk envied him.  He was aware that the road to success was not even slightly simple, but Taehyung had only been on it for a short while. Who knows, Taehyung might have also trained before entering the academy. Both he and the brunette were unaware of the each other's past.

He observed his cousin Soyeon, who was seated next to him, casting a somewhat concerned glance in the direction of her phone. When Taehyung noticed her with peripheral vision, he  turned towards her direction, but all she did was to send a nod in assurance everything was alright before walking away while holding the phone to her ear. Before returning his focus to the lecture, Taehyung turned away once more.

''Don't be late for practice today, Jeon, yeah?'' He was playfully hit on the shoulder by Dokyeom. He attended basketball classes with his extroverted group of friends, who were also in his circle. "Last time you got the better of us," Myungho's praise caused Jeongguk to smirk.

He didn't reply but instead leaned back in his seat, and before he knew it, the lecture was over. He noticed Taehyung jogged ahead of the others to leave the room first as he put his jacket on and left the room. Jeongguk scowled at that and put his hands in his pockets.

"No, yes, I get that," With her hand on her waist, Soyeon answered the other line. ''I'll try to arrive on time, sir. Thanks for the opportunity.'' She cast a quick glance at Taehyung, who was waving at her, looking perplexed. By the time he arrived, she gave the phone a nod and cut the call. As he adjusted his bag to rest on his shoulder, he asked, "You sure everything's good?"

''Hm? Oh, no worries, everything is fine.'' She deliberately struck his arm to cause him to hiss a little because she exercised more frequently than he did. ''You know I said we would hang out today, right?''

''Ah, yeah, the Netflix and ramen thingy.'' Taehyung nodded in her direction, but she actually said, "I can't," with a regretful expression.

''Oh?'' He arched an eyebrow and asked, "You said everything was good? Has anything happened to Minnie?'' She simply zipped her sweather when he gestured but didn't seem interested. ''Taehyung, Minnie and I have nothing. I'm serious, and I'd really appreciate it if you stopped adding her.'' She spoke with a somewhat icy tone, but Taehyung knew that was just her face and that she had no ill will for him. ''Please.''

''Yeah, right, sorry.'' He pressed his lips together and rubbed his wrist, ''See you later on?''

She nodded and putter her hood on, hands in pockets and watched her put on her earphones as she left the building. Taehyung sat down on one of the black metal arm futons in the hallway after standing there bewildered. He set his bag aside, opened their chat, and pondered whether he ought to text her back. He was aware that it wouldn't be required, so he threw his phone above the bag.