Dancing On Thin Ice // KTH

Chapter 28

"Want this one? I think it suits you." 

Carmela held out a dark green velvet hoodie to Jimin but he shook his head.

"Nahh, velvet stuff isn't my style." He smiled at Carmela and picked up a light pink hoodie off the rack and examined it.

"I like this one. Its kind of pricey though." Jimin mumbled. Carmela could see in his light brown eyes how much he wanted it, and she felt the sudden urge to just give Jimin her entire fortune. 

"Don't worry. I'll help you pay." She hadn't gotten her full monthly salary yet, but she did get a small advance for her extra work.

"Thanks, Carmela. You're actually really nice. It doesn't matter what Tae says--" His eyes went wide when he realized he had exposed his friend. Carmela huffed and forced out an angry laugh.

"Ha. What did that crazy freak say about me now, HUH?!" 

She tried to control her voice, as Jimin joined his hands in front of him and lowered his head. He was just slightly taller than her, but he was shorter than the rest of the boys. Especially Tae. Oh, that little asshole. How dare he talk about Carmela behind her back? I mean, she had ONLY told Jules the PLAIN TRUTH about him... so that didn't count as talking behind his-- whatever. HOW DARE HE.

"Uhm, he just said that... that--"

"Speak, Jimin, speak!" 

"Okay, okay! All he said was... no! Carmela, I can't! It's part of our bro-code! I would kicked out of TSB if I--" 

"He said you blabber a lot. You speak nonsense and don't know what you're saying half the time you talk." Yoon tiredly said behind her. He was literally always tired.

Carmela slowly turned around, her mood kinda saddened. He said that? I mean, its not like he wasn't full of shit himself. Hmph. But why did she care what he thought of her? Whatever... 

"It doesn't matter. I don't care what he says. Here Yoon, buy this." She grumbled and shoved a black hoodie into Yoon's arms. He wore nothing but black. Sometimes he wore different dark coloured jeans but he almost always wore black. Carmela wondered why.

"Um... yeah, let's go get something to eat..." The brown haired boy said, scratching his head. Jimin elbowed him in the ribs, as Carmela walked towards the check-out counter. The two boys whispered behind her.

"Why the hell did you do that Yoongi? What's Tae gonna say?"

"She needed to know the truth, man! And she looked like she was gonna burn the place down anyways..."

"Yeah, but that was a long time ago..."

The woman beeped all their things and Carmela payed her share, trying not to direct her cold glare on the poor woman.

"She's super sensitive too, when it comes to Tae."

"Yeah, hopefully she doesn't do something  to him because of--" 

Carmela shot out her hand behind her, almost whacking the boys in the face. They quickly placed their money in her palm.

When they finished paying and grabbing all their bagged stuff, the woman at the counter smiled nervously at Carmela.

"H-have a nice day, yeah?" 

"I'll have any type of day I want, thank you." Carmela snapped.

She spun around on her heel and exited the store, trying to contain herself. 

Why did she feel so sad all of a sudden? She felt her face pout into a frown and she huffed, frustrated. Her friends walked on either side of her, giving each other 'what do we do?'  looks across from her. 

Then Carmela remembered when Tae said he didn't find her attractive, and that he found other girls better than her... and she felt even sadder. What was this feeling? Why was she feeling so depressed after such a little thing? Her heart ached in disappointment and her stomach felt nauseous. Her legs stopped walking as she stared at the floor.

She felt Jimin's hand wrap around hers and looked up at his smiling face. He brushed his blonde permed hair out from his twinkling eyes, and Carmela couldn't help but give a small smile back. She felt Yoon's hand creep slowly into her other one and she quickly turned to him, but he stared straight ahead, clearing his throat nervously. Carmela felt her mood lighten, and raised her chin as they began walking towards the food court together. 

It was things like this that she loved. Yoon and Jimin didn't even need to say words to comfort her. They simply held her hand, and that was enough of a reassurance for Carmela. Her whole life, the people she loved had just taken control of how she should feel, because of her parents' death. They hadn't truly comforted her. Aunt Kass, Heather, Jules, they had all treated her as though she wasn't a 19 year old recovering from childhood trauma and suicide attempt, but still a rebellious struggling teenager. Forcing her to go to therapy shit and giving long speeches on how she SHOULD and WILL feel, when really all she needed was a little silence and comfort. 

"Let's get some Booster Juice!" Jimin said and they all stepped over to the counter. There was a tall handsome guy with red hair behind the counter, wearing a purple apron and purple cap. Somehow, the ugly restaurant clothes seemed to fit him. Freckles were sprinkled across his nose and his green eyes shone as he handed them their drinks. As she sipped her drink, Carmela couldn't help but compare Tae's looks to this random guy. Yep. Tae beat him, one hundred percent.

They shuffled around the trillions of filled tables, trying to find a spot, when Yoon suddenly shouted. Except his voice was too tired to yell, so it just sounded lazy and sarcastic.

"Hey. There's Roxana and Tae." He pointed in front of them to a table in the middle of the food court.

Carmela narrowed her eyes and scowled. What was he doing here? And didn't he have work? And why was he with Roxana? And why was Carmela wondering all of this again?

"Let's go! Let's go!" Jimin pulled her by their still-joined hands, and Yoon followed beside them. They approached the table, and Carmela gulped awkwardly. 

"Hey guys! Mind if we sit down?" Jimin said, sitting down anyways.

Tae and Roxana looked at the three of them and then glanced at each other, with weird faces. What was going on? Why were they so quiet all of a sudden? 

The curly haired boy looked up at Carmela and gave a small smile. She ignored him and smiled at Roxana, as Yoon sat down.

"Roxana! I haven't seen you in a while. How's life?" Carmela said, focusing all of her attention on the white-blond haired young woman. Her steely blue eyes looked annoyed and she glanced at Tae again.

"Fine. Me and Tae were actually talking about something--"

"We can talk about it later. Let's just relax, babe."

Carmela's lungs stopped as a shock pounded through her body. 

B-babe?