Why? || Kim Taehyung

01

"Class we have a new student joining us today,"

I walked in quietly and stood in front of the class, thinking of how I should say my introduction. The teacher beckoned me to go on and introduce myself. I took a deep breath and cleared my throat, gaining everyone's attention in the classroom.

I smiled timidly and waved, which came out more awkward than I thought it would have. "Annyeong*, the name is Jeon Jiwoo..." I stopped myself when I saw a figure walk into the back door of the room. It was the same boy from the rooftop. He had a scowl on his face as he took his seat.

Then I peeled my eyes off him and focused on the rest of the class. "I hope we get along," I finished my sentence before things went awkward.

"You can go sit next to..." Mrs. Lee, our teacher roamed her eyes around the class, looking for a vacant seat. I was pretty sure she had a bad eye sight or something because it was clearly obvious there was only one vacant seat next to the rooftop boy. "Y-you can sit next to Taehyung," she finally said after a minute of hesitation.

So his name is Taehyung?

I nodded at her and took a step forward when a hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me back again. "Please notify me if you don't want to sit next to him, I can always get another desk for you," Mrs. Lee whispered in my ear.

"It's fine Ssaem*, I'm sure I'll be fine," I gave her a reassuring smile and made my way to my desk.

I plopped myself down on the chair and took a glance at the boy named Taehyung. Although I had a strong urge to greet him, I was never the type to initiate a conversation or greet someone first. So I kept my mouth shut and focused on the class.

The thing was that I couldn't concentrate the whole time.

I couldn't help myself but ask questions to my inner mind about this morning's event. Why in the first place was he trying to suicide? I was pretty sure he wasn't doing that accidentally.

The first and second periods went like that and it was lunch time. I stopped twirling my pencil around and stood up like the rest of the kids and headed out to the door. I walked around the school hallways, looking for the cafeteria.

"Do you need any help?"

I flipped my head around and saw a girl from my class smiling at me. In fact, she sat directly in front of me so there wasn't any doubt that it wasn't her.

"Uh, yeah actually, I'm looking for the cafeteria," I mumbled a response.

"Follow me, I'll take you there," she grabbed my wrist and dragged me off to who knows where. "Oh and the name is Choi YooJung by the way,"

YooJung was a girl with long wavy jet black hair who had dimples when she smiled. She seemed like a kind girl that was trustworthy.

The two of us got our food and sat on one of the tables. While I munched on my food, I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at YooJung's uneasy stare towards me. I took my eyes off the food and decided to look at her. YooJung flinched in surprise but regained herself calmly.

"So... You're sitting with Kim Taehyung," she started.

I swallowed my rice and replied, "Yeah..."

"Aren't you worried?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh yeah... You don't know do you," she nodded knowingly and leant in, cupping one of her hands to her mouth. "He is known to have a very bad family background and parents. Some people say that he steals things, harasses girls and all that," she whispered.

My eyes widened at her statement and I shook my head. "I'm pretty sure he's not the type to do that," I leaned back, crossing my arms. "From what I saw this morning... I don't think a boy who tried to-" I stopped myself when I caught Taehyung looking at me from far distance.

"Tried to what? You saw him this morning?" She asked, gaining my attention. "You probably saw someone else. He's never early for school you know,"

"Uh..." I half consciously replied as I looked back to where Taehyung was at just to catch a glimpse of his silhouette outside the cafeteria. "I gotta go..." I said as I stood up from my seat.

"What? Where?" She asked.

"I'm just gonna look around the school. I'll see you in class!" I waved her goodbye and ran off to where Taehyung went.

It was a good thing he was walking or else I probably wouldn't have caught up with him. I trailed behind him quietly at a ten meter distance between us. And just like this morning, he was heading to the rooftop. When he went up the staircase, I waited down below until I heard the door of the rooftop creaking open and close. I made sure that no one was in sight in the hallways and followed him up.

I tried to open the door quietly but I guess I failed that terribly. It made such a big sound probably people downstairs could hear it. Nevertheless, I stepped outside and looked around for the boy I had followed.

What if he... No no no...

I bit my lower lip, worrying if he actually just committed suicide. The moment I was about to go down and report the teacher, I saw a figure hunched down in the corner. It was pretty hard to spot him since the weather today was really dark as if a storm was going to come.

I silently made my way towards him from the side and sniffles could be heard quietly. I froze in my tracks when a similar memory flashed through my eyes. I took a deep breath and shook my head, telling myself everything was fine. I looked back at Taehyung, who still didn't notice my presence. He had his back to the wall, knees folded up with his right forearm in front of his eyes, possibly trying to wipe his tears away.

"Why..." He muttered under his breath, sniffling afterwards. I couldn't help but be fascinated by his deep chill voice. "Why.." He muttered again.

I stood there quietly as he sobbed silently for a few minutes, not wanting to disturb him.

But fate just had to destroy my will.

I suddenly let out a loud hiccup, making Taehyung flinch in surprise. I clamped my hand over my mouth as I continued hiccuping. Taehyung bolted up as he wiped the rest of his tears with the sleeves of his blazer.

"Did you hear everything?" He suddenly asked, turning to me with a sour expression.

I released my hand from my mouth and gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean by hear everything?"

His expression softened up a little and shook his head. "Nothing," he curtly replied before turning to walk away.

"Y-yah,"

I went up to him and pulled the hem of his blazer, making him stop in his tracks. I fumbled through my pockets and pulled out a pack of tissues I always carried with me. I gently grabbed hold of his hand and placed the tissue pack into his grasp.

"Wipe your tears with them next time, not with your sleeves," I said. It was meant to come out in a worried tone but it ended up sounding really weirdly since I said it through my hiccups.

I looked up to see him staring down at me. He opened his mouth as if to say something but closed them again after a second of hesitation. Taehyung looked away and shoved the tissue pack in his pocket.

"Lunch is going to end soon, you better go down," he emotionlessly said and made his way to the staircase.

Something about him made me eager to get to know him. The rumours about him, I didn't want to listen. I was stubborn in that way. I was 100% sure that this boy wouldn't do such a thing. It was just a feeling in my gut that I had to trust.

I let out an exasperated sigh, which came out more like a hiccup. Scrunching my face up in annoyance, I went back down the school for the next period.

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posted: 22nd December, 2015