Passion Meets Fear | JiMina

N I N E T E E N

Jimin couldn't comprehend if they were amazed or making fun of him.

Each and every step he took felt painful, like stepping on a pile of thumbtacks. All of whom whose backs were on him had turned around to inspect him from afar. Every eye in the room were following his figure intently, and Jimin acknowledged that. Flashes of memories of his fateful accident came flooding down like a reel film, and beyond that he could just imagine the absolute contempt his fellow clubmates had for him, how he lost their respect and showed them his inner weakness instead.

But he was glad they didn't say anything. But what would it mean, he wondered. Would it mean they still had this perception of him as this honorable senior? Or would it mean he was simply not worth their time anymore?

Initially, he was intending to find a spot where he wouldn't have to sit next to someone familiar, but the whole studio was preoccupied and he figured it'd be more embarrassing if he wasn't being too natural about the whole situation. So finally, he found himself a vacant spot on the floor where he was in between two juniors whom he remembered were ranked in the top twenty last year. Hesitantly, he settled himself on that vacancy. At this point, no one cared about his presence anymore and everyone kind of just went back to minding their own business.

However, he was still so uncomfortable that he didn't really know what else to do but sit there stiffly. But after what seemed like an insufferable eternity, he managed to turn his head around and fortunately landed his eyes on Taehyung, who happened to be already looking back at him. He saw Taehyung discreetly showing him a thumbs up, to which he nodded in response. A vaguely memorable voice pulled his attention.

"Senior." It was the guy left to him.

Jimin, apparently surprised, greeted him, "Oh. . . hello there, uhm. . . Kim Byeong. . . sun?"

"Kim Byeongkwan, senior," the guy corrected, then bowed his head in a—much to Jimin's astonishment—polite manner.

"Oh, my mistake."

"It's okay," he said in defense. "I'm just wondering if you happen to be informed of what's been happening in this club since you. . . you left, temporarily."

"Oh, not at all," Jimin replied casually. But then it hit him. He did not leave the club, although right after his first therapy he cut all ties and connections with it. He did quit the school's dance group though, in which he was the assigned leader (obviously). Realization flushed down his head and immediately left him with questions whose answers he could've known earlier. "I've been out of its news, I guess."

Byeongkwan looked a little sad. "Well, I'm here to inform you then," he whispered carefully almost as if the words he was about to say were confidential and it'd be highly regarded as a crime to share something about someone. "You see that guy over there? The one talking to Mr. Jeong." he asked him, his eyes pointing charily towards someone.

Jimin reluctantly followed his eyes. Upon seeing who Byeongkwan was talking about, his breath hitched and all of a sudden his innermost worries evaporated, replaced with a heavy suspicion of where this newly found information would lead to. "That's Chanhoon." Coincidentally, Chanhoon was the first clubmate and former groupmate outside of his friend group he'd seen in this school year. Now, as someone who was a silent enthusiast of reasons and any sort of purpose, he began wondering what it tried to tell him.

"And he is the current top one." It was what Jimin expected, so all he could do is nod in agreement. But all in all, he was confused because Byeongkwan sounded like he didn't even want to mention the name. "And the dance group's leader. Completely replacing you."

With knitted brows and a generally confused look, Jimin questioned, "Why, Why are you acting like he's an evil dictator or something?"

Byeongkwan cautiously leaned close to his ear with wary eyes. "Because he is one!" He whisper-yelled.