The Hidden Treasure

~20~

Jungkook and Namjoon watched Yoongi walk away and they looked at each other.  Jungkook looked a little concerned but Namjoon just shrugged as if to say, "It's Yoongi.  Don't ask."

"Hyung, are you two okay now?"  Jungkook sat down on the couch while Namjoon sat in the chair across from it. 

"I guess.  He's concerned with the success of the group.  He just needs to understand I won't do anything to jeopardize what we have."  Namjoon sighed and crossed his legs, scrolling around on his phone. 

"I know you wouldn't.  I trust you, hyung."  Jungkook looked down at his hands that were folded in his lap.  "So, is what Tae Tae-hyung told us true?  You're seeing a girl?"  Jungkook felt better just coming out and asking instead of beating around the bush.  He had played this scenario out in his head many times before ever making an effort to ask Namjoon if what Taehyung had said was true.

Namjoon sighed softly and raised his eyes to look at the maknae.  "I'm not 'seeing' a girl.  I happened into a book shop that is owned by an old highschool friend who HAPPENS to be a girl.  She was actually my rival in our classes.  She was always second to me," he said, laughing softly as he remembered every time she would check the grades list and find herself one step below him. 

Hyejin stood in front of the bulletin board, hands clenched at her sides. Namjoon walked up behind her with his hands casually in his jacket pockets.

"Hm," was all he said, nodding his head affirmatively.

Hyejin's eyes darted to the boy standing beside her and he could have sworn he heard a low growl coming from her. "Hm? All you have to say is hm?" Her voice was tight.

"Clearly you're agitated," he said trying not to smirk and make it worse. "How about I say this. Congratulations for not slipping to third place!" He smiled broadly as he imagined smoke billowing out of her ears.

Hyejin just stared at him and stomped off, her sneakers squeaking on the tiled floor as she walked.

He watched her little tantrum from a distance, grinning to himself. Her marks were half a point below his. She had brought them up this time, and she was getting better and better. Apparently, hating him was the motivation she needed and he was okay with that. She couldn't ignore him if she hated him.

With a shrug of his shoulders he walked off down the hall to the next class, a slight spring in every step he took.

Jungkook watched the leader's expressions change.  "You have a high respect for her then," he asked cautiously.

"Yeah, you could say that.  I always wondered what happened to her."  Namjoon's leg began to swing back and forth as his mind wandered further down memory lane.

"Can you tell me about her?"  Jungkook pulled his legs up and crossed them in front of him.   He felt the best time to strike was when Namjoon was distracted and might be more open to revealing some details he would otherwise be quite guarded about.

"My friend?  Well, her name is Hyejin." He smiled as the fond memory of her face flittered across his mind.

This expression was not lost on the maknae who studied his leader with every subsequent question. He listened closely as Namjoon rambled a bit about his highschool days and finally about the day Hyejin disappeared. 

"I should have been brave and gotten her number long before that day came, but I was a coward.  That's how I lost her till just recently.  I had no idea her parents had died due to an accident or that she had actually learned to love reading and books.  I would never have guessed she would have become a book shop owner."