Paper Cranes | Park Jimin

15: Boundaries

MIN HANEUL

It felt like someone had tossed me inside a cement mixer and threw me out to dry under the bright, blinding sun the moment my eyes fluttered open.

Simply moving my hand under the duvet took me a lot of effort as my body was rendered stiff, as if something invisible was pushing my weight down.

Nevertheless, I forced myself up, nausea flooding my insides. I squeezed my eyes shut, inhaling deeply. Warily, I pushed the duvet off my body, and realizing that I was still in my jeans explained why my legs felt twice stiff.

Wait, why am I still in my jeans?

My eyes landed on my hoodie that looked like it had been chucked away carelessly, and I instinctively checked on my body.

On cue, the memory of Yoongi tying my hair flashed before me and I ran a hand to my hair. I continued to exam it with my fingers, verifying its authenticity, just to confirm that my thoughts weren't playing with me.

Though, for someone who knew how to tie a hair properly, it was weird that some strands weren't inside the second loop.

I slid my leg off the bed and stood up, regretting in an instant when the room spun around me. I toppled sideways, hitting my pinky toe on the edge of the side table and I gasped.

"Shit," I hissed, hopping on one foot and waited until the pain subsided so I could walk again. But that was also exactly when my head thought it was a great timing to throb.

As I headed for the bathroom, massaging my temples, something caught my eye and my instincts told me this morning hadn't completely gone wrong after all.

To my luck, there was a plastic bag of painkillers on my coffee table, and attached to it was a sticky note.

I should remember to message Yoongi later. Even though he'd be the death of me most times, thank the heavens for my brother being a life saver.

An hour and a half later, I faced the reality that I still had classes to attend to. Had I been in high school, I wouldn't have any problem getting off for the day. But missing a class in college was dreadful.

When I arrived at the front gates, I was already twenty minutes late to my second class, hence I preferred to believe that I was one hour and ten minutes early for third period.

Autumn leaves continued to fall as trees swayed in a graceful choreographed-like dance, covering the smokey gray pavement in different shades of red, brown, yellow and orange.

Coincidentally, I spotted two cognizable people walking side by side, and I couldn't help but wonder how I never come across with Hira nor Jungkook randomly. Whereas with them, it appeared like intentional encounters.

"Hey!" I waved my hand just as when we almost met halfway, and I wasn't sure if the enthusiasm came from me or from the alcohol still coursing through my system. I internally shook myself as a restart.

"Yo!" Taehyung cocked his head up, whereas Jimin only eyed me as if he was studying my features. I frowned and he caught it by the way his expression changed.

"Are you... okay?" asked Jimin.

"Hmm?" I tilted my head sideways. "I am."

Did I still look like a mess? Ah, this is why I never dealt with alcohol. My tolerance was as small as Jimin's eyes when he did an eye smile.

Before an awkward silence shrouded us, the sound of footsteps came towards our way.