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Thirty-two

23 October 2009

Victoria spent a lot of her free time in the library when she wasn't with the three musketeers. She used that time to read, sleep away from her annoying roommate, draw, and write. Studying was a completely foreign concept and she wasn't about to start it then. Since she knew the nerds hung around there, she tried to stay out of their way by sitting on the floor between two bookshelves, her back against the wall. She had a pretty clear view of the bunch of tables they sat at, but she didn't want to beat up a nerd who couldn't defend themselves.

It was relatively quiet with only the faint sound of the kids whispering. They were all huddled around a table in their bright green sweaters, speaking quickly about something. Victoria averted her gaze back to the book she was reading. It wasn't very interesting and she found her thoughts wandering to how psychotic Jin was becoming, Jimin's plummeting self-confidence, and Hoseok's indifference that she found attractive for reasons she couldn't understand.

"I'm a wizard, guys!"

The shout made her jump as it was such a drastic contrast to the silence only moments before. She looked up to see another nerd walking toward the table with his hands raised in the air. He was a bit chubby and wore glasses. The others shushed him and he pouted as he approached them.

Victoria only shook her head and went back to reading. She wasn't sure how much time had passed before she heard apprehensive footsteps near her that made her look up. One of the girls in a bright green sweater was approaching her sheepishly. She pushed up her glasses and bowed.

"You're friends with Jung Hoseok, right?"

Victoria closed the book, not caring what page she left on. "I guess," she responded coolly, crossing her arms over her chest and scanning the girl in front of her. She also had glasses as well as pretty severe acne and braces. "Why?"

"Well, I, um..." The girl trailed off, looking at her feet before holding out an envelope with urgency. "Will you give this to him for me? Please?"

Victoria took it skeptically and turned it over in her hands. The front only read Jung Hoseok with a heart next to it. A confession letter. She scoffed and looked back up at her. "Sure, Hanyeol."

Hanyeol sputtered, eyes widening in pleasant surprise. "You know my name!"

"Kim Seokjin's not the only one who can gather information around here," she muttered while standing. She nodded to the girl before walking past her to deliver the letter.

Hanyeol bowed as she passed her. "Thank you, unnie!"

Victoria didn't have to think twice to know that Hoseok was either in the boy's dorm or getting into trouble with Jin. She wanted to be included in the shenanigans, but being tied to Jimin with DNA did not give her a particularly good standing with the psychopath or his sidekick. Hoseok seemed to actually want to be around her more than Jin, though.

She no longer had to deal with comments from the boys who hung outside the dorm. They would only glare at her as she passed, but no words were said. When she asked Hoseok about it, he only said, "Don't worry about it."

She pushed into the main room of the dorm and walked straight ahead to the game room, passing a few jocks on the way.

"Forgive me," Jin was saying as she entered.

Hoseok only stared at him levelly, his eyes saying something else. "Forget it—it's cool."

Jin's eyes focused past Hoseok to Victoria and he grinned. "Oh, great! Victoria. Now we're all here." He beckoned her over with quick hands and she had almost completely forgotten about the envelope in her hand. "Anyway, I've got a good idea for some fun. Let's go out and torture someone really helpless and unfortunate. That homeless guy who lives behind the old bus in the parking lot." The tall boy snickered and began walking toward the entrance. "Come on."

Hoseok and Victoria exchanged a look before following him, but upon looking around the room, she realized that Jimin was sulking by the end of the couch. Before she could say anything, Jin turned around. "You coming, little Minnie? Come on, I'm sorry! I'll give you a kiss if that's what you want."

"Shut up," Jimin muttered, cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"Then come on." Once they got outside, Jin clapped his hands together. "This is gonna be fun!" He began a light jog that the others followed.

Jimin sighed. "Harassing some old homeless guy is fun?".

"It is!" Jin insisted. "And you should be grateful you're not the victim for once."

Victoria huffed. "Shut the fuck up before I make you, asshole."

"Gosh, Vic, if you want to sleep with me so bad why don't you just ask?"

She used all of her strength to push his forward, but he only stumbled a little bit before laughing hysterically. The boys led her into an abandoned school bus that gave way to a small clearing and a gate. Jin used his height to unlock the gate and push it open. They entered gingerly, finding only a patch of grass with trash littered around.

Jin sighed exasperatedly. "Where is this dirty old perv?"

"You know, you're not very nice, hyung!" Jimin said with a short-lived ferocity as he stood in front of him.

The oldest only smirked. "And you're a loser, Minnie. One of life's unfortunates."

"GAAHHHHAHAAAA!! GET OUTTA HERE YOU LITTLE SH—" An old, scruffy man came stumbling out of the bushes, growling at them. His hair was gray as was the long beard he had. The way he held himself gave away that he was drunk, as did the strong scent of alcohol that came off of him.

At first, they all stumbled back, startled by him. But then Jin laughed. "So I guess the rumors are true, Hobi. Your dad does live on campus."

"You bastard!" Hoseok charged Jin, but the man threw a brick at them, barely missing the oldest's ear.

Jin stared at the man wide-eyed. "Come on, let's get out of here!" He grabbed Victoria by the wrist and tugged her away. Jimin followed, but she wriggled out of Jin's grip as they exited the school bus.

"What about Hobi?"

Jimin looked at him expectantly, but Jin scoffed as he looked at the two. "If you want to get ahead, you have to stop worrying about others." Nothing but venom dripped from his words and Victoria felt like she needed to take a shower after just having him look at her.

He said no more as he pushed past them and stalked off. Victoria took Jimin's hand and squeezed reassuringly. "I promise I won't let him do anything to you, okay?"

"I don't need your help." Jimin tore his hand away and walked off, shame tugging at him.

Victoria sighed as she was left alone, only then remembering that she was still holding the envelope. She waited for Hoseok to come out, which seemed like a lifetime and she wondered if he needed help. But then he emerged unscathed.

Hoseok stepped out of the abandoned bus with ease and furrowed his eyebrows when he saw she was still there. "You waited for me?" he asked quietly, genuine surprise in his voice.

"Oh—um, I was asked to deliver this to you." She held out the envelope and waited for him to take it before turning to walk away.

Hoseok only watched her go, mystified, before opening the letter to read it.