Insomniac//KNJ

Chapter Nineteen//Twisted

Sophie tightened her hold on her bag as she walked to the campus library where she had planned to meet Taehyung for his first tutoring session. It was surprising that she was feeling so nervous. After all, she'd felt completely at ease with the young man during the dinner with Yoongi. Usually, she was a person with some measure of confidence, at least in some ways.

She wasn't always confident with her own decisions, and she wasn't always confident that she would succeed. That was normal though, everyone had confidence in themselves that ebbed and flowed. 

However, she'd always had great confidence in other people and her relationships with them. It had been an enigma to her family when after losing her mother, she'd continued to be an open person and had sought out friendly relationships often. This confidence to approach people and put herself out there had been what had made her such an effective reporter. Despite whatever fears and reservations, she held towards a person or situation, she was able to put them on the back burner and go for it. 

She wondered why this aspect of herself was failing as she lingered on the steps of the library. It was hard for Sophie to admit that she had a feeling of nervous anticipation, and almost foreboding about this meeting. She knew logically, there was no reason for this. However, she couldn't reason away the feeling that something was going to happen in her life, something she couldn't quite be ready for. 

A small part of her, the part that she didn't let anyone see, the part that wasn't fearless, almost made her turn around and take the bus to her apartment. 

Taehyung spotted her before she could turn tail and run away, and in a moment the boxy smiled young man was in front of her, sheepishly fiddling with his backpack straps. 

With him in front of her, Sophie felt herself grow more at ease. The ominous feeling was gone and observing Taehyung, she wasn't surprised. She wondered if it was even possible to feel ill at ease with such an innocent and carefree person. 

"Hello, Sophie, well," Taehyung stumbled over his words and looked unsure of himself. "Is it okay to call you Sophie, or do you want me to call you Miss Hinton?" Sophie smiled and shook her head. 

"Please call me Sophie, it makes me uneasy when people call me by my last name," she replied and ended with a little laugh. Taehyung smiled and nodded his head. 

"Well, would you like to go inside then?" Sophie nodded in response and followed the young student into the library's massive doors. They chose a table set against a wall towards the back of the book stacks. It was quiet and would allow them to focus, but it wasn't too secluded. 

As soon as they were settled, with Taehyung's books, papers, and notebook scattered across the table, both became extremely focused. 

Sophie was impressed with how hard Taehyung had been working on his own, and while his English skills were rough, she could tell he would learn quickly and improve rapidly. 

Taehyung was surprised that he could feel so relaxed while studying. He was so used to feeling stressed and frustrated while studying, especially when he was working on English. Sophie was making the process a pleasant one though. She didn't move to quickly or make him feel inferior. She'd also come extremely prepared, and Taehyung appreciated this. He knew she was a hard worker from Yoongi, and he also knew their job was very demanding, so it meant a lot that she was so invested in this. 

By the end of the session, Taehyung was feeling extremely confident that Sophie would be a great tutor and his English skills would improve. Sophie too was feeling better. Taehyung was a sweet guy and he was very respectful. 

She hoped they'd become friends. 

******

Three sessions later, Taehyung asked if Sophie would like to start having sessions at his apartment for convenience.