Monster High - Kim Taehyung (BTS V)

Chapter 9

"Taehyung!" As I walked into the school, I found him loitering near his locker, and I trotted over to him. He looked my way and offered me a weak smile. I stopped in my tracks and eyeballed him suspiciously. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he answered breathily, pulling me into a half-hearted hug. "Just tired."

I stepped back and scanned over his entire form. Stylish clothes, as usual, but it was evident that today, he didn't put in as much effort as usual. Some clothes were wrinkled, which wasn't a bad thing, though Taehyung always dressed impeccably. His hair looked on the brink of messy, as if he had just combed through it with his fingers. His expression was tired and void of all emotion.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I ventured slowly. "Did you not sleep?"

"No, I did," he replied, shaking his head. I couldn't help but notice that he was speaking in monotone. "I guess it's just one of those days."

"Nothing's wrong?" I pressed. Something was off about him today, and it wasn't just exhaustion. I'd seen him tired before, and he'd only been sleepy and sluggish while trying to smile. Looking into his eyes, I saw that he had purposely closed himself off today. That was strange.

"Nothing's wrong," he echoed. "I'm completely fine."

Was that a slight charm at the end of his voice? I narrowed my eyes, though I couldn't help but feel compelled to drop the subject. Before I could get over the charm, Taehyung pretended to say hi to someone across the hall and proceeded to disappear into a corridor behind me.

What? I thought incredulously. Something's very off today...

The rest of the day dragged along. Jimin was his usual cheery self, which distracted me for the time being, as I had no classes with Taehyung and all with Jimin. However, when lunch rolled around, the time where I was usually uncomfortably sandwiched between the two as they both clearly didn't trust each other with me, Taehyung was nowhere to be found. Jimin didn't even question it, which made me suspicious.

"I wonder where Taehyung is..." I sighed dramatically. I didn't feel Jimin in my head, which I had learned to do after numerous surprise interruptions, so he didn't pick up my intentions.

Jimin looked up. "What?" His eyes were wide in slight disbelief. "You don't know?"

"I don't know what?"

"Oh." He shook his head. "Then it's not my place to tell you. It's too personal."

"He's been ignoring me this whole day!" I complained. "Can I at least know why? Did I do something?"

Jimin chewed his leaf of lettuce thoughtfully.

"Not you," he answered, "though I can see how it's related to you. Don't take it personally if you find out, though. He can't help it."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're defending Taehyung?" I gasped. "Do you have a fever, Jimin-ah?"

He rolled his eyes and sighed loudly, laughing a little. "You know I don't hate him, right?" he whined. "We've been over this before!"

"Well I can hardly tell," I said. "You guys have one hell of a complicated relationship."

"Whatever," he scoffed. "Anyways, if I'm gonna be openly nice about him, today would be the day. After all, it's--oh yeah, I should stop talking about now."

"What is it?" I demanded. "You're my guardian angel! Shouldn't I also be able to read your mind?"

No, said Jimin. I kicked him from under the table. Ow! Sori!