beneath the surface | bts

chapter 7.

           "I apologize for not making that much food but-- well, no one warned me you were having dinner with us, Yoon-ah."

           Seokjin looked truly regretful, despite that sweet smile on his lips. He had decided to place the food on my plate himself, a little kind gesture just to make up for the fact he hadn't made enough food for me. Thankfully, the boys were ready to give up a little bit of their portions of food in order for me to get a decent meal. I had told them I could just go get something from a convenience store or order something for myself, but they were extremely against the idea of me leaving the dorm and their sight or spending my money when they already had food prepared.

           We had arrived not long before, a cheerful 'hello' from Hoseok's lips that made Jimin, Yoongi and Seokjin look towards the entrance, probably due to the following warning that I was with them. Questions were about to fly through the room but Seokjin was more worried about the fact the food was done and yet there wasn't enough for me. Thankfully we had reached an agreement.

           "It was a last-minute thing--" Namjoon explained, his eyes not lifting from the bowl of rice, too engrossed in his own food to explain further. But he didn't have to-- Taehyung did it for him.

           "Yeah. Yoon-ah here decided to get in trouble so we, as the heroes we are, just had to help." The grin on Taehyung's face, expression filled with pride, probably wouldn't last for long for I knew sooner or later his protective side would kick in again and he'd be asking the real questions that I was dreading to answer.

           And yet, part of me thought they had no reason to behave in such a concerned way. I found myself reminiscing those last few days and how I had never heard a single word from then and I somehow found myself a little angry at the broken promises they had made. I didn't let it show but I knew it would bother me for a long time until I'd let it out.

          "You haven't told us what happened yet." Jimin reminded, eyes expectant between the other guys, yet they settled on me quickly, concern beginning to take a big portion of his hues.

           "Please tell me you didn't do anything reckless again." Yoongi almost sighed, seeming as if he was exhausted with the way he rubbed his eyes every so often or how he'd space out sometimes. It was probably because of their debut, and the guilt for feeling angry at them quickly settled in the pit of my stomach.

           "I didn't get in trouble." I finally spoke up, voice a little more determined than I had thought it would come out as. It was probably due to the simple fact I was tired of them thinking it had been my fault. Sure, it hadn't been a smart move to go out at that time of the night, but I had my own reasons. They hadn't been around-- they didn't know.

           "Yes, because walking around at night in that part of the city, all alone, was definitely smart of you."

           Jeonggukk's words came out so quickly that I didn't even realize the coldness in them until everyone was moving their gaze to him and his stare was set on his food, unaffected, unfazed, even when I was looking his way, lips parted slightly in surprise, shock.

           Jeongguk had never spoken that way towards me. In fact, he had always been so sweet and caring that even imagining a cold or angry him was unthinkable to me. I found out in that moment that there was yet a lot I had to find out about him, or any of the boys.

           Silence seemed to settle, the boys returning to their food, some of them looking up to shoot me a sympathetic smile as if there was a hidden message in it that explained Jeongguk's sudden behavior towards me. Maybe they knew something I didn't.