Flower Boy [Kim Taehyung]

Part 10

Rin peered at the strip of lockers across her, thinking, thinking, and thinking.

        The Monday morning traffic droned by and the clock overhead read ten minutes shy of eight.  A week had officially passed since her birthday.  A week since the flowers.

        "Hmm," Mina said.  She leaned next to Rin on their lockers, oddly quiet ever since she had divulged the tale of last night.  Her brow furrowed. "Hmm..."

        "What?" Rin finally said with a sigh.

        Mina's mouth went into a thin line. "You know what."

        "No, I don't," Rin said, but the lie pitched her voice.

         "Come on, Rin." Mina flipped to face her, shooting Rin daggers. "What do you expect me to say after all this? You and him and the lack of closure... I know you see it! And if you see it, then I can obviously see it. And it...it's... It's maddening!"

        Rin only tapped her finger against the spine of her Trig book, setting her jaw.

        Mina half-groaned and half-sighed.  "Must I do all the work around here?"

        "Excuse me?" Rin said, spinning to face her. "I'm the one who confronted him last night, I'm the one who talked and apologized and made up with him-!"

        But Mina didn't seem to be listening. Her eyes drifted from Rin then swiped back to her in record time. A hint of a smirk pulled at Mina's lips. "Rin, you will thank me for this."

        Rin had no time to question when Mina's hands lashed forward and collided with her chest.  She stumbled backwards, crashing into someone's shoulder. All her supplies spilled from her arms, but Rin hardly heard them clatter to the floor when she caught a flash of ash-brown hair and startled brown eyes.

        "Mi-" Rin's voice died in her throat.  Even when she glanced back at her locker, Mina was nowhere to be seen.

        She focused back on Taehyung, standing in front of her, still disheveled from their collision.  He'd presumably just arrived to school, given how his still wore his jacket and his backpack was slung over one shoulder. He looked sheepishly to the floor.

        "I--sorry," he said, and bent down to pick up Rin's book and folder.

        Rin stood, unmoving, but her insides flipped and twirled at how he carefully stacked her folder over her book, making sure they were in good condition.

        "I'm sorry," she said. "Stupid Mina, she's-" Rin shook her head, legs growing sweet with adrenaline.  She swallowed down the heat crawling up her neck, trying to breathe even.

        Then her phone vibrated in her pocket.

        Flustered, Rin pulled out her phone.  When the words came into focus, however, Mina's message branded Rin's eyes.

        Confront your flower boy.

        Rin inhaled slowly.  She looked back to Taehyung, who maintained eye contact, patiently holding out her supplies for her to reclaim. 

        "Taehyung." Nina said, surprising herself at the calmness of her voice.

        His eyebrows rose in response. "Yeah?"

        "Why... why did you give me flowers?" Rin asked.

        Taehyung blinked rapidly. "I... uh-"

"I mean... we both know I'm allergic to pollen, but before you knew... Why did you give me flowers?" Rin said, her heart beating faster.

        The tips of his ears went red.  "U-uh... I mean." Taehyung said. "It was your birthday."

        "Yes, but... why flowers?"

         "Well... because... girls like flowers," he said, Adam's apple bobbing. "I mean, not you of course, because obviously you're allergic and all, but I-I'd just thought before I knew-"

            Without thinking, Rin reached forward and touched his shoulder.

            It was a reflexive, reassuring action, but Taehyung's head jerked up. His eyes were wide, and Rin took in the warmth of his shoulder under her palm.

            The bell cried out, making them both jump.  Rin released her hold of Taehyung, but she didn't step back, nor did he. They stood less than an arm's length away from each other.

            A blur of students passed them, and Rin could've sworn one of them was a triumphant-looking Mina.  Her retreating friend brought Nina back to reality.

        She re-initiated eye-contact with Taehyung and grabbed her supplies from his hands, fingers brushing over his in the process.  "Do you...want to walk with me to class?" Rin asked tentatively.

            And she waited patiently, observed Taehyung's thoughts as they surfaced their way to his face.  People in the hall brushed past them.  Understanding clicked in Taehyung's features.  His back straightened, his frown unfurled, and his lips relaxed into a hopeful smile.

            "Yeah," he said.

            Rin returned the smile. "Great."

Fin.

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I know it's not that good but hope you guys like 😊