My Little Dancer

thirteen // doubt

"Doubt kills more dreams
than failure ever will."
Karim Seddiki

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"The heck was that, Jungkook?"

The boy didn't respond. He was currently trying to clear out the alcohol from his system. He had drunk more than a litre of water yet he still hadn't cleared it fully. The king's cup was seriously nasty, being a mixture of various hard liquor.

"Don't mind him," Taehyung patted Jimin's shoulder as he walked into the room they were in (which was also his bedroom). "It's just something he had been worrying about the whole time since the two of them arrived here."

"Two of them?"

"Yein."

Jimin raised his eyebrows, not getting his friend's roundabout explanation.

"I'll let him explain," said Taehyung as he plopped down on his bed and leaned against the pillows. Jimin was seated on a mattress on the floor while leaning against the foot of the bed.

"Doesn't look like he's gonna explain though."

The two older boys watched as Jungkook came out of the bathroom. His hair was still damp from having taken a shower in an attempt to make himself feel better though it was a challenge because the alcohol was so strong.

Feeling a lot better, but not enough to engage in needless chitchat, he crumbled onto the bed beside Taehyung.

"So what's up, Jungkook?" Jimin tried again.

Receiving a kick from Taehyung, Jungkook answered with a grumble. "Nothing."

This time, Jimin whacked him with a pillow and crawled up to join them on the king-sized bed, not buying his halfhearted answer. Despite the younger one not showing any interest to entertain them, the other two were not ones who gave up easily.

"So why did you drink the king's cup?" asked Jimin.

"Because it was Yein who had to drink it," replied Taehyung.

"And why did you drink it for her?"

"Because he didn't want her to suffer."

"And why not?" Jimin was beginning to smile, finally understanding what Taehyung was rambling about.

"Because..."

"He likes her," both of them said unanimously.

There was no response from Jungkook as he continued to curl up, body faced away from them. He was still awake but while everyone else understood what was going on, he was confused at his own actions and feelings. He was feeling frustrated for acting out of his usual self and also there was an unusual churning in his stomach that he had never felt before. (That churning was not due to the alcohol, thankfully.)

Taehyung and Jimin continued bugging Jungkook, teasing and chanting the fact that he was interested in Yein. They piled on top of him, poked him, pulled him till he finally shrugged them off and said, "I don't know."

"You don't know what?"

"If I... her" Jungkook couldn't even bring himself to say the word 'like', feeling that it was too much of a foreign concept.

Jimin looked at Taehyung and both of them subsequently shook their heads. Their treasured younger brother was finally growing up and yet they knew they needed to help him or else he'll never progress. Despite him being all confident in what he was good at like studies and dance, having zero experience in relationships made him shrink in skepticism.

And that was exactly what they were going to do now. Even if it were to take the whole night, they'd make him realise and understand the joy of falling for someone.

//

"So Yein. What are you gonna do?" Jisoo asked as she snuggled comfortably under the covers.

"What am I gonna do?"

"About Jungkook, duh," Mijoo answered, pausing her skin care routine to roll her eyes at their maknae's inability to catch the conversation. The girls were presently in Taehyung's guest room preparing for bed.

"You two have been a lot closer these days," noted Jiyeon.

"Uhh... I guess we have gotten closer," Yein agreed while sliding under the covers beside Jisoo.

Although she had been enjoying herself just now, the situation with the king's cup brought her mood down. Unsurprisingly, just as how confused Jungkook was feeling, she too, was feeling the same.

"You do know that talking about it will help right?" Jisoo interrupted her train of thoughts.

Heaving a long sigh, Yein sat up and began sharing.

She started off with what she knew; the facts. They had gotten closer since that night ride on his bike. ("You rode on his bike? When was this?!" Mijoo was shocked at the new information; Jiyeon suspected as much; Jisoo was cool, as always.)

Since then, they've conversed through text pretty often. When asked how often, she answered in a soft voice, "almost... every... day? But! Not daily."

The texts were mostly short exchanges, sometimes about school work, group projects or dance practices. Other times he'd ask if she had eaten or if she had enough sleep the night before. Occasionally they talked more, about almost anything – a recent movie they had watched, a funny incident that happened in class, or how the food in the cafeteria tasted awful that day.

Jisoo chuckled, "totally doesn't sound like Jungkook at all." The other girls nodded in agreement.

"But that's not all right?" Sujeong piped in. She hadn't said a word since the beginning when Jisoo brought the topic up for she already knew most of it. "Hmm Yein?"

"That's not all?" Yein repeated Sujeong's question puzzledly.

"Didn't the two of you go to Yeol's Chicken together the other day?" Sujeong instigated in a teasing tone.

"What? No! You know that was just for our assignment!"

Sujeong shook her head, "Mingyu said that you guys went ahead without informing the group."

"But..."

"Woah," interrupted Mijoo. "This has progressed further than I thought it had."

The girls understood that as much as all the signs pointed to the fact that Jungkook was clearly interested in Yein, she wasn't confident for she wasn't sure if he did all those things out of interest or out of a kind heart.

They have known Jungkook longer than her and knew what he was like typically towards girls. Hearing how he had been more proactive towards caring for her, they knew he was genuinely interested. He was never like that to anyone. But it wouldn't work to just tell her since she would be doubtful.

The only way, they silently agreed, was for Jungkook to be clear with her.