Late Nights - a KTH story

03: Ready, Set, Go

Part Three: Ready, Set, Go

The illumination that seeped through Y/n's beige curtains unkindly woke her up from her deep slumber. Groaning, the young girl sat up, checking the clock that was on her bedside table. 7:50. Shit. Y/n had half an hour to get dressed, and get to school on time.

Rushing around the house, Y/n ran down the stairs, grabbing a slice of toast from her father's breakfast before yelling her goodbyes and slamming the front door.

As she was walking down the street, Y/n spotted a familiar red car parked along the pavement, a tall, slender figure leaning against the right side.

"Good morning, Sweetheart." He greeted, a soft smile adorned his flawless face.

"Morning, Tae. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I thought I'd give my lovely new girlfriend a ride to school." He flashed a grin, opening the passenger door.

"You don't have to, you know. We only need to act when we're in front of people." Y/n hesitated, debating whether to go along with it or not.

"Think of it as practice for when you get into a real relationship, and besides, it would look weird if we didn't arrive together." Taehyung countered, tilting his head to the side.

Y/n nodded slowly, climbing into the car with a small sigh. The male closed the door and walked round to the driver's side, unable to wipe the smile off his face. He didn't know what was wrong with him, Y/n had been his friend since they were four, yet as they grew up, he felt himself wanting to be around her more, and not always with the rest of the group.

He wouldn't say that he has feelings for her because, well, romance was never a concept that was on his mind. He wanted to enjoy his youth, and not get tied down to anyone. Maybe he feared that if he invested too much into one person and it didn't work out later on, then he'd have wasted some of the best years of his life. But he definitely liked having Y/n around. That was something he could never deny, but would never admit.

They shortly arrived in the school's car park, the red sports car gaining the usual amount of attention as they pulled into a space. Taehyung got out first, grabbing his bag, before running round to let Y/n out. She took in a deep breath, holding on to Taehyung's arm for support. She was used to the attention, but now everyone was looking at her for a different reason. One that she wasn't sure she was comfortable with.

"Hey, it's okay," The boy stood in front of her, momentarily hiding her from the wandering eyes. "Look at me." He commanded softly, bending down to look into her soft brown eyes.

"They're just staring. Like always. It's nothing new to us, we're just walking together this time. Okay?" He cooed, stroking Y/n's hair to help calm her nerves. She nodded, not trusting her voice.

"You ready?"

"Let's go." The female replied, planting a smile on her face as he took her small hand in his.

"Yoongi said they're already in class so we'll head straight there?" Taehyung offered.

"Sure."

Walking through the hallways hand in hand, Y/n found it almost impossible to ignore the numerous whispers and blatant staring from their classmates, but she held her head high, just like she would any other day she walked down these corridors. They finally reached their classroom, allowing Y/n to feel as though she could breathe again.

"See? That wasn't so bad." Taehyung whispered with an encouraging tone, softly squeezing Y/n's hand. She offered a small smile as they headed to their desks.

"Oh look, everyone! It's the happy couple!" Jungkook exclaimed before getting hit in the stomach by Ryujin. He pouted at her, rubbing his belly.

Y/n sat in her seat, not bothering to reply to the boy's remark, as Taehyung went over to where the boys were all huddled together. The girls said their hellos before walking over to Y/n's desk.

"So..." Seulgi started, her eyebrows raised. Y/n took a swig from her water bottle, raising her own eyebrows as she screwed the lid back on.

"So?"

"You and Tae? Come on, spill, I thought the bet would only be for school hours." The tall girl frowned as Lia perched herself on the edge of the surface.

"He picked me up this morning, saying how it would look weird if we didn't turn up to school together." Y/n shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest, causing Seulgi to narrow her eyes. It was no secret that out of the four girls, Seulgi and Y/n were the closest. Anytime Seulgi had a problem, Y/n made sure to help her sort it out and vice versa. Lia and Ryujin were also very close, so when the four came together it was like a supergroup.

"That's actually quite... sweet?" Lia pondered, her brows dipping.

"I don't think I've ever seen him do that for any of his other girlfriends." Ryujin jumped in, tilting her head to the side before looking down at Y/n.

"I'm not his girlfriend, this is just a game, remember?"

"You're not his girlfriend yet." The brunette winked before the bell rang and the girls all sat in their respective seats.

Looking across the desks, Y/n caught Seulgi's eye which had softened since her confrontation earlier. She nodded in reassurance before she put her phone down and faced the front of the room.

As Miss Kang was talking, Taehyung leant back in his chair, that was connected to the desk in front of Y/n, dropping a crumpled piece of paper before returning to his former position.

Y/n frowned as she slowly undid the note, her frown deepening as she read what he had written.

Wanna go get dinner later? I found a cool spot you might like, thought it might be a nice idea to try and get you used to dates x

Y/n looked up to where Miss Kang stood, her eyes on the board as she continued teaching, before scribbling down a reply.

Sounds good, I guess. What time?

The young girl casually stretched her arms over her desk, bumping into Taehyung's back, causing him to lurch forward. He quickly composed himself as he brought his right arm behind his back to take the note.

"Wow, you really are the master of subtlety." Jimin teased from his desk, suppressing a chuckle, earning a blush from Y/n.

A few minutes passed and Taehyung still hadn't replied to her note, causing her to start doubting whether or not he actually wanted to spend time with her. Why are you suddenly caring, Y/n? He doesn't actually like you, and you don't actually like him. Get a grip.

The bell soon rang, and the class erupted into noise as everyone headed to the lunch hall. The eleven students all filed out into the corridor. Y/n and Lia were joking around in the middle of the group when Taehyung ran up beside them.

"7pm?" He blurted out, throwing an arm through one of the sleeves of his jacket. Y/n and Lia both turned to look at him in confusion.

"The time of our date. 7pm. Be ready." He continued before smiling at the two girls, and running off to catch up with Jin and Hoseok.

"Date?" Lia questioned as she turned to face Y/n. The black-haired girl sighed.

"He wants to take me out for dinner."

"Why?" Ryujin asked as she and Seulgi caught up with the two girls.

"To build their 'connection', probably." Seulgi suggested as she looked ahead at the tall, dark haired boy who was laughing at something one of his friends has said. "Ready to win this game?" She whispered to Y/n who was walking beside her.

"How would I do that?"

"You show him what an amazing person you are, and whilst he's teaching you how to not freak out in a relationship, he'll subconsciously fall in love with you." The tall girl explained, revealing how she had already been thinking about the game.

"That's stupid."

"That's the only plan you have."