rich youth | kim taehyung

chapter 3: benefits

"Cool. I'll come by your classroom first so we can walk there together." He winked before leaving and I couldn't help but feel my heart pound.

Sowon watched Taehyung walk away and turned back to me with a wtf look on her face, "You guys have a 'normal spot' now?"

"Ah, no he means the school office. We volunteer together there. Well, at least, I volunteer. But I think he's there as a punishment."

"Why is he being punished?"

"I think he was caught bribing the teachers to raise his grade."

"You sure you want to associate yourself with someone like him?"

"Let's just go to class." I link arms with Sowon and we both arrived to class together. Jungkook was already there before us and Sowon kissed him on the cheek before sitting in her seat. They are such a cute couple and I just feel like the irrelevant third wheel when I'm with them sometimes.

"Hey Joy, since when were you and Taehyung close?" My classmate, Eun, leaned against my desk and lifted her perfectly arched eyebrows.

"Oh? Um, it hasn't been very long really."

"So are you guys already a couple? Because news travels fast around this school and people are already talking about you spending the night at his house." My other classmate, Yubin, accused.

I gasped and shook my head vigorously, "No no no, I didn't spend the night at his house."

"People saw him give you back your clothes this morning and he said you left them in his room."

"No it was just my cardigan and I left his house at 7:30, so I didn't even stay long I--"

"You girls got to stop believing everything you hear." Jungkook stepped in, saving me from confrontation. "Like I don't believe every rumor that the guys tell about Eun in the locker rooms."

Eun widened her eyes and tried to conceal her shocked face. "What do the guys say about me...?"

"That you're really easy and probably fucked half of the guys in our year. They also talk about Yubin too. They say even though you're not that pretty, they'd still hook up with you because you're the kind of girl who'd do it with anyone. There's like this whole list written in one of the bathroom stalls of which girls are the easiest to get in bed, but c'mon, I'm sure that kind of stuff isn't true."

I bit my lip to keep from smiling, but Sowon was already giggling in the background. Eun and Yubin's faces became red as the room became quiet, all listening in on what Jungkook had to say.

"--I'm sure what people are saying about you isn't true, Joy." Eun finally added.

"Yeah, if you say nothing is going on between you two, then I'm sure you're telling the truth," Yubin chimed in and the two girls both went back to their seats, not making eye contact with our classmates.

"I was about to kick them in the face if they didn't stop, but Jungkook already stepped in." Sowon smiled, hugging her boyfriend's arm.

"Yeah, thank you so much." I bowed to Jungkook, which now that I think about it, it was a little too formal.

"No probs...but is it true that you spent the night with that guy?" Jungkook said in a whisper.

"Aishh what the hell Jungkook!" Sowon scolded.

"You don't actually believe them, do you??" I panicked.

"Well no...but yeah? I mean, I did hear a couple of people talking about it, and Taehyung doesn't seem like your type so I wasn't sure what to believe."