Ice Heat (Taehyung FanFic)

Chapter 2: Breaking Point

I ran straight to my locker, pushing a couple of people along the way and throwing back half-hearted apologies until I reached my destination. What the heck just happened in there? Either I was overreacting – which was probably the case – or PMSing new guy had some serious issues with my existence. All within the 4 sentences we had uttered to each other.

"Oh, my gawwwdd!" a squeak pierced my ear from behind. "Lorita, I didn't know you had it in you girl?" I sighed, punching in the numbers to open the lock. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about, Sarah." I felt her hand on my shoulder, turning me around to face her lit-up face. Too lit-up in any case. "I felt the tension between you two from all the way where I was sitting."

I wasn't overreacting, then.

"You mean him acting like the king of wrath upon every word I say?" She let out a long breath, leaning her head against the locker next to mine. "Yeah, sure. Wrath, serious tension, bedroom eyes, whatever you want to call it. Whatever it was though, I can assure you it didn't look g-rated." I yanked my locker open dumping my math book viciously. "Sarah, he is a complete jerk. You should have seen the way he looked at me – as if I were a long lived enemy he wanted to get rid of. Fast." A giggle escaped from her lips. "You know what they say, hon. Love comes out of –" I gave her one of my child-you-better-change-the-subject-now looks, which she replied to by linking her arms to mine and leading us to our next class, English Lit.

"Relax, girl," she drawled, easing up the gnawing feeling of dread building up in my stomach, "I'm just messing with you. Forget about it, okay?" I nodded briskly before we got in and took our seats.

It was too loud in here, I thought, as I looked around the class. Our school didn't really have any defined cliques, but they were represented here. Lena and her four friends – Anna, Rita, Storm and Mimi – were the low key populars along with the rest of the track boys – Jate, Kaleb, Will and Alex. The drama kids were at the back, the computer people were at the front, two desks next to us. Sarah and I didn't really fit in anywhere. We were just there.

"Sorry I'm late, class," Ms Waifer's breezy, flustered voice floated in, queuing everyone to go back to their seats. She dropped her large stack of books on the table, quickly pushing up her glasses to fish handouts for us. "I hope you have all had a chance to read through Act 3 of The Crucible. Am I correct?" We all nodded in response. "Great. So let us start with what you guys thought about the reading. Thoughts, comments, questions?"

Rita raised her hand. "I didn't really get why they were so against witches. It wasn't as if the people who were accused of being witches were going off on some saga of mass killing, were they? If they didn't propose direct threats, why were they being killed off?" Ms Waifer was nodding the entire time, her eyes lighting up at every word. "Good. What does the class think about this?"

Silence.

"Anyone?" I looked around, waiting for someone to answer before I raised my hand.

"Witchcraft was an excuse to the people of Salem. It was what they latched their guilt on to – the guilt of committing sins, giving in to temptation, basically surrendering to everything they believed was wrong to affiliate with as Christians. So if they believed that witchcraft and, therefore, the ultimate source of evil, was causing them to do what they shouldn't, they wouldn't consider themselves faulty of their actions. It is what The Crucible explains – the fact that it is within human nature to dissociate one's self from responsibility and the consequent guilt that comes from the subconscious."

The class was absolutely quiet, quite to the point that we could all hear what the class next to us was doing.

"That was an excellent analysis, Mr –" Ms Waifer trailed in awe, her eyes glazed over with pride and happiness.

"Taehyung. Kim Taehyung."

Oh, hell to the bloody no.

Sarah sighed longingly next to me. Hell, every girl in the classroom was turning around to give him looks of longing and lust. I scowled inwardly.

"Yes, yes! I completely forgot that we had a new student. Could you please come up and introduce yourself, darling?" The number of dears and darlings was seriously ticking me off at this point. But the guy walked slowly yet confidently towards the front of the class, his hands stuck into his jean pockets. My heart skipped a tiny beat. Stupid, betraying heart.

"I'm Kim Taehyung," he said, rising up to his full 6-foot height, his lean body looking gorgeous in black. "Came from South Korea. My parents work in the UN so we moved here a couple of days ago." Ms Waifer's eyes were gleaming in wonder – just as everyone else's in the room. "Is this your first time in the US?" she prompted, leaning her chin on her hands, "No, I've lived here for a year and a half when I was little." "Wow. You must have traveled the world, then?" He pushed his silky hair back, giving everyone full view of his piercing chocolate brown eyes, but he didn't answer. Ms Waifer studied him for a moment, her face lit up in a peculiarly sad smile. "That was a wonderful answer you gave there about The Crucible, have you studied it before?"

"No," he said, crossing his arms, "Have you read it before then?" she pushed, earning a scowl from his sculpted face. I could only stare in awe as he treated our teacher as his equal, maybe even less. Maybe even as something along the lines of dirt. He paused for a tiny moment before he answered, looking uncomfortable and staring right through the windows. "Something like that." She smiled, sensing his discomfort and prompting him to go to his seat.

I let out a breathe I didn't know I was holding as he passed, the smell of his cologne wafting through my senses and marking my existence close to drool-territory. A note from Sarah hit my arm right then, making me flinch.

Who in the world is this guy??????

I quickly scribbled down an answer.

I'm as confused as you.

Mysterious bloke, isn't he?. Yummm...

A small giggle escaped my lips.

Girl, it's only been 2 hours since you saw him. Contain it.

I don't think I'm the one you should be worried about....

I looked up at her; a small mischievous smile was playing on her lips.

What are you trying to say, child?

Ahaha, Lorita. You're already in.

I rolled my eyes and crumpled up the pieces of paper, hiding them under my desk. Already in? In a matter of hours? To Taehyung? He was obviously attractive – extremely and utterly attractive for that matter, I can't deny that. But he seemed cold, distant, indifferent and unreachable. And he also had this bad-boy ambiance about him too. And that in itself should be able to keep me away from any complications involving him whatsoever.

"What do you think, Loren?" I blinked. Holy lord, I haven't heard a single word of what Ms Waifer had said over the past 10 minutes.

"Um," I stalled, trying to think of something to say. "I think – " "It was his breaking point. That was why Proctor lost control and claimed that God didn't exist." I exhaled in relief as the deep, lulling voice came from the back again – saving me yet another time through this day. I tried not to make a big deal out of it. But that didn't really work. I slowly turned around, using my hair as a curtain as I peered up at him.

Damn.

His eyes can bare souls. He was staring very intently at me, his fingers tapping his desk rapidly. I quickly turned around, trying hard to mask the deep blush creeping up my neck.

Someone cleared their throat. Oh, crap.

"Thank you, Taehyung." Ms Waifer said, a hint of smile noticeable in her voice. "Now, let's proceed with our lesson."

Damn, that was too close.

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