the rebound

one

Taehyung forced out a smile as he sat next to his long-time girlfriend for his last class of the day.

Bae Joohyun, known by the whole campus as Irene, had been the top girl of the school for as long as anyone there could remember. Taehyung still remembered the day she arrived, looking pristine in her crisp white blouse and skirt with a shy smile on her pretty face. They were only kids, but at that moment he had truly believed in love at first sight.

Flawlessly beautiful, incredibly smart, limitlessly kind...the list went on forever. She was the most popular girl there, but she never gossiped or spread rumors about anyone, and she was always the first to greet newcomers and help them around the school. She'd help anyone who asked on their homework and she was often seen buying snacks for younger children. She even captured the strict teachers' attention with her unique charms. The first word that came to everyone's mind when they heard her name was perfect.

And lately, she was having to put in a lot of work to live up to that label. So much that she began to unwillingly push Taehyung away since she was so busy trying to study for the final test of the final year- the one which would determine not only her future, but the vision her family had of her. Because they expected her to be perfect too. 

Obviously, the girl was stressed.

"Hey babe," Irene glanced at Taehyung quickly when he sat next to her, before promptly returning her gaze to her book. 

"Hey." Even though Taehyung knew it was hopeless, a part of him still waited for her to smile at him brightly, to ask him how his day had been, to talk with him about her silly ideas so they could joke around and make plans together.

But that was the old Irene. These days, he usually started the conversation.

"How's your day been?"

"Good."

There was an awkward pause.

"Joohyun, baby. Remember what we had said about yesterday?"

Irene finally looked up from her book, bewildered.

"Yesterday...?"

Taehyung sighed heavily.

"You agreed to come to my place so we could take care of Jugyeong, Hyunwoo and Sooyoung together," he reminded her. Her eyes widened.

"Tae, I completely forgot. I'm so sorry," she bit her lip, looking guilty. He sighed once more and she nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Were you alone?"

"I called Chaeng."

"I've just been so busy..."

"Studying, I know."

Irene sighed and looked at him sadly.

"If I don't do this...my parents will freak. You know this, Taehyung."

"I miss you, Joohyun. Why should I miss you? You're my girlfriend. But lately...you've been different. Distant."

"Distant?" Irene scoffed. "I'm just trying not to get disowned here. Or are you asking me to choose time with you over the acceptance of my family?"

"Of course not. But can't you just make a few minutes for me each day? For us?"

Irene looked at him and didn't respond.

"I can't remember the last time we had a conversation longer than five minu-"

"I don't have five minutes, Taehyung," Irene snapped. "Don't you understand? This is..." 

Her bottom lip trembled and Taehyung immediately felt guilty. He knew how much her parents' opinion mattered to her. She looked away so he wouldn't see her crying. He sighed and made her look at him again, brushing a tear from her cheek. 

"I'm sorry. Let's figure it out later."

She nodded and muttered some thanks to him. The class was still buzzing around her. Students gossiping, yelling across the room, bickering...the usual. The bell rang and the exhausted teacher tried to calm them down.

"Silence!" she yelled over the shouting of the class. Nobody listened.

"SILEN-"

At that moment, the door opened and everyone immediately went silent. A few jaws dropped, and Taehyung didn't blame them.

Entering the room was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen, so much that her beauty could rival Irene's.

Clad in Chanel accessories from head to toe, her posture and figure screamed a sort of superiority, a kind of ethereal elegance.  She made the plain school uniform look like a runway outfit. Taehyung was sure that if she ordered for all of them to bow down to her, nobody would dare disobey. She had pitch-black hair that fell gracefully down her slim back, deep black eyes accentuated with light eyeliner, and slightly dusted cheeks. Her plump lips were tinted a soft pink, and she sported shiny pearl nails.

The teacher cleared her throat.

"Are you the new transfer student?"

The girl nodded firmly.

"Yes, teacher."

"Please introduce yourself to the class."

"Hello, I'm Jennie Ruby Jane Kim, Jennie for short. I'm 17 years old and I used to go to Korea Foreign School in Seoul, where I learned good English, Japanese, and Mandarin. My hobbies are dancing, singing, and rapping, in short, performing.  I can play the guitar and the piano as well, and I enjoy cooking and Pilates. I hope I'll have a nice year here. Please take good care of me," she recited, bowing before heading to a seat right at the front.

A few people were looking between her and Irene, trying to compare, and both Taehyung and Irene knew the reason why.

Jennie meant competition. And just by looking at her, they knew she wasn't the type to back down easily. So unless she wanted to lose her position, Irene was going to have to put up a tough fight.

The games had begun.

...

lol i'm cringing. it gets better from here though (hopefully)?

it probably wasn't the best decision to publish this given that i never update my other books, so just letting you know...expect slow updates for this one. i'll write when i get ideas.

have a nice day! <3