LIMIT ° you . kth . jjk [18+]

thirteen

How long had it been since you last saw Taehyung? Five days? No, seven? Regardless, it surprised you how simply everything just went back to normal. Your friends, pleased that you finally gave up your futile quest of pursuing the school's beautiful rebel, welcomed you back to reality with cheers and jokes about joining shady dating apps.

Well. Not all your friends. Despite your close friendship with Jungkook, you could barely bring yourself to see him. You wanted to say that it was the cliche that his relationship with Taehyung only served to remind you of your pitiful days with the older boy, but you knew your heart was more fickle than that. It had nothing to do with Taehyung. If you had allowed yourself to seek comfort in Jungkook's arms, you knew you would only delude yourself into making him your rebound. He didn't deserve that.

And he didn't even see you that way in the first place. Most likely. Honestly, you couldn't discern your fantasies from reality anymore. After that fiasco with Taehyung, your instincts were now locked in an eternal time out.

So you chose to keep your distance. Not overtly of course, but you still avoided him whenever you could. Jungkook's knitted brows and the expression of frustration that burdened his features ripped your heart in two and drove your conscience against a wall but you had no choice. It was for the sake of your friendship. For him -- that damn boy that didn't even realize how the tiniest of gestures could send your heart racing.

Jesus christ. What was the matter with you? Just a week away from Taehyung and you had already hopped onto a new target? Would you start confessing to Jungkook every other day? You buried your face in your arms, in disbelief at the mercurial ups and downs of your emotions. This was exactly why you had to stay away.

However, fate was a cruel woman. If you hadn't known better, you would've believed she had snuck magnets into your bodies, placing all of you under an unbreakable curse that consistently forced you to cross paths.

In the hallways, Taehyung eternally caught your attention. Maybe it was his height or perhaps your eyes, still lost in the past, that unconsciously searched for him despite your newfound conviction. Then there was the woman you hadn't seen before that awful day, Yeonah. For whatever reason, no matter where you went, the attractive brunette crawled into your periphery like a cockroach and refused to stay in the shadows and underneath deteriorated cracks.

The school days passed slowly and you drifted from class to class like a zombie, barely absorbing any of the material and only living for the final bell. Today was like any other, you had slipped past the watchful radar of your friends determined to set you up with a random person, and you spent the rest of your lunch outside. Hidden by the shade from the extended roof of the school, you leaned against the bleached walls of the building and closed your eyes listening to the distant chatter drifting out of the open doors leading to the school's gymnasium.

Until you realized that those voices sounded too familiar for your liking. So it seemed like Lady Fate had worked her cruel magic once more.

You fumbled away from the walls as you prepared to take your leave. Your school life might as well have been an excerpt from 1984 - no matter how empty an area seemed, nothing could truly stay hidden from the watchful eye of nosy onlookers. If you had stuck around any longer, you were sure a student would've accused you of shadowing Taehyung. But not anymore, you were done with that.

However, before you had the chance to slip away, it was the voice of an energetic boy that caught your attention, luring you back towards the doors of the gym despite your better judgment. With great effort, you craned your neck to take a peek at the group of boys seated in a circle inside.

"I haven't seen your stalker lately." One of them chuckled, fiddling with the white laces of his shoes.

"Yeah." Taehyung murmured indifferently, his tone frigid, making it clear that he wasn't about to elaborate on the reason why. The other five boys merely groaned at his ambiguous comment and heckled him in hopes of provoking the male to spill the truth. Unfortunately, their irrepressible greed to discover the story behind your falling out was met with one of Taehyung's many eye-rolls. For once, you actually felt thankful for his silence. The last thing you wanted to have was lewd rumours sprouting like weeds about the explicit affairs between you and Taehyung.