OUR LOUD MINDS → bts fanfiction

Chapter Twenty-One

☁︎

Anna

I stared at the drink in my hand, dazed from the noise and sickeningly sweet scents of alcohol and cheap perfume. You'd think by this time I would be used to parties, but I wasn't. But disliking parties wasn't going to stop me from going, not when I had an image to maintain. I shook my head, feeling stupid. Who cares about maintaining an image? Especially a fake one? I asked myself. Kim Namjoon doesn't, I realized with slight annoyance. But then I reminded myself that even though he didn't care about what the people at school thought of him, he did apparently have to uphold a certain reputation at his own home. I wondered which of our situations was worse.

"Anna! You won't believe who I just saw!" Hye exclaimed, stumbling over to me. "Class President!"

My eyes widened, and I quickly turned away so she wouldn't see my surprised expression. After all that talk about studying and being a stick in the mud, Kim Namjoon shows up at a party? And a party of Jin's no less. I narrowed my eyes, turning back to Hye.

"Yeah, right. Not our precious president. He's too smart and studious to come to a party," I said with bitter sarcasm.

Hye seemed a bit taken aback by my tone, even though she was a bit tipsy. She opened her mouth to continue, but another voice cut in.

"Enjoying the party?" Seokjin asked slowly, his easy smile slightly dazed.

It was ridiculously stupid how easily everyone was getting drunk.

"Ah, Jin-ah," Hye gasped with happiness.

"Hm? Not 'oppa'?" He replied.

I let out a small groan and turned to leave, their conversation already taking a disgustingly flirty tone. Oppa? You're in the same grade, you player. Not to mention the fact that Hye was probably slightly older, seeing as how she'd been held back a few months. A hand grabbed my shoulder before I could sneak away. I whipped around, pulling from his grip before I could hear anything in my head.

"Don't touch me," I snapped, a bit louder than I'd intended.

"What the...? Calm down, Anna," Jin said with a smirk.

He suddenly seemed less drunk than before.

"What do you need now?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"You," he replied with a wink.

I wondered how on earth I'd allowed Hye to drag me to this party. Who cared about reputation? By now, I was starting to realize that missing one party wouldn't have done much damage. At this point, staying would do more. I took a step back.

"I have to go. Sorry, Hye." I gave one last glare to Jin. "I'm suddenly feeling really sick."

"Anna! Let's go together!" Hye said, hurrying over to me.

I nodded but kept my distance, making a brisk way to the front door. I'd shown up; that should have been good enough for all those who'd "wanted me to come." But I suddenly found myself hesitating as I got to the front hall. I did it subconsciously, because a thought drifted through my head unexpectedly. Namjoon might still be here. I came to a complete stop, utterly shocked at myself. Why did I care about that? I let out a huffy sigh. If anyone should be apologizing first, it had to be him. With a firm nod, I was about to leave once and for all, but someone grabbed my hand and spun me around.

"Kim Seokjin," I began evenly. "I said I'm leav--"

Before I could finish, Jin's lips crashed into mine. And as my eyes widened, a million voices burst into my head. I couldn't focus on just Jin's thoughts, I couldn't focus on any of them. It was just like it had been when I was a small, helpless child. I could hear everyone's thoughts, along with the already overwhelming sounds of the party. There was so much sound, so many deafening noises, I thought my head would explode. Jin's surprise attack had somehow broken through the walls I'd so meticulously built around my mind. Even as my vision grew blurry, and my eardrums seemed ready to burst, I knew I had to get away from him. I pushed my hands out in front of me, trying to shove him away, trying to escape the loudness. But the roaring in my ears continued. I was trapped; for a split second, I thought maybe it would never end, or maybe worse, that after he finally pulled away, I wouldn't be able to hear anything at all.

But just as another set of new fears washed over me, Jin was ripped away from my lips. I stumbled back, gasping for air, and fell onto my butt in dizziness as relief flooded over me. I was able to look up in time to see Kim Namjoon swinging a fist at Seokjin. As his hand made contact with Jin's jaw, a sickening crack filled the air, and Jin flew to the ground with a cry of pain. I stared at Namjoon in shock, he stared at his fist in shock. Dazed but panicked, I quickly stood, and stumbled over to Namjoon. As Jin started to shout and curse angrily and get back on his feet, I grabbed Namjoon's arm and started for the door. He caught on quickly, and soon we were both bursting out of Jin's house. We raced down the street, through the clear night.

I relished in the smooth, simple sound of wind whistling in my ears, rather than the overpowering voices of immature teenagers and bad music. And maybe a bit in the fact that Namjoon was running beside me. But we were both still panicked, both still unsure about what would happen now.

"Follow me!" Namjoon called from beside me.

"I know where your house is, Namjoon," I replied, exasperated, under my breath as I recognized the way we ran.

Finally, we slowed to a steady jog, darted to Namjoon's backyard through some side gates, then we collapsed onto the grass. I breathed heavily beside him, my lungs screaming. I wasn't really an athletic person. And apparently, neither was Namjoon. He gasped beside me, even louder.

"Are you okay?" He asked after a few more moments had passed and our breathing began to steady.

"Are you?" I retorted.

"Well, honestly, I feel great." Namjoon paused. "I've wanted to do that for a while now."

For a strangely happy moment, I actually thought he meant running through the night with me. But then I realized he was talking about punching Jin.

"You wanted me to do that right? I mean, you didn't want him to kiss you...right?" Namjoon spiked again, sounding unsure suddenly.

"Of course I didn't...so...thanks, I guess," I said begrudgingly.

"Wow, Geum Shin Anna is actually saying 'thank you'? This night has been full of surprises," Namjoon remarked.

"You should be a comedian Namjoon," I replied bitterly. "Forget my gratitude. I take it back."

We fell silent again, continuing our strange moment on the grass. It was really peaceful, and Namjoon's backyard was really nice. Namjoon's words echoed through my head again. Suddenly, an idea popped into my mind. Biting my lip to hold back excitement, because it was almost guaranteed that Namjoon would disappoint me, I sat up. He did the same.

"You said this night has been full of surprises..." I reminded him.

"Yes, it has been. Why?"

"I have an idea, Namjoon. An even bigger surprise."