Tainted || liskook

Tainted [06]: burn-baby-burn

Kim Taehyung was lying on his bed with his earphones plugged into each side as he listened to one of his favourite songs; drumming his fingers on top of the mattress—one, two, three, one, two, three, following the rhythm of the beat. He stared at the ceiling, studying the small cracks at one of the corners of the connecting walls, watching a small trail of ants scramble around the surrounded area, trickling across the wall like a thin stream of water.

A waving hand blocked his vision just then, completely pulling him out from his daydream. He tilted his head to the left, to find an irritated Yoongi with his arms folded, slouching by his door. Taehyung raised an eyebrow and took one of his earphones off.

"You have a visitor."

Taehyung frowned.

"Now? It's almost midnight." He said, glancing at his watch. "Who?"

"See for yourself." The minty-haired man grumbled.

As soon as he left, a girl strutted into his room, shutting the door behind her. Taehyung's brows shot up in surprise at his new visitor. He could recognise that black, long flowy hair anywhere—framing perfectly to her small face. Her brown eyes that were usually filled with mischief are unsure and anxious, a contrast to the friendly smile on her lips. She was dressed in a navy-blue jumper and black jeans, a messenger bag hanging lazily on her shoulder. Taehyung sat up.

"Hello."

"Hi?" Taehyung said, though it sounded more like a question.

"Kim Jisoo, right?"

The girl in front of him nodded shyly.

"Yeah, we have the same surname." She said with a forced chuckle.

"...Right." He replied after an awkward silence, sliding a hand along his neck. "Uh, how can I help you?"

Jisoo cleared her throat in embarrassment. She opened her bag and took out a textbook, it was labelled 'World History'—it looked worn-out and chunky, and he could tell she used it well judging by the number of post-it notes sticking out of the book.

"You were absent for a few days before the school was shut down. I have your homework with me, and um, Ms Lee told me you were severely behind in history so I thought I could you know, help you with your assignments."

"I see," Taehyung squinted his eyes, his tone was thick and condescending. "At this hour?"

The brown-haired man was confused when she sent him an unreadable smile. "I heard you're a night owl," Was her quick reply, "Better now than eight in the morning, yeah?"

"So you mean to say that you came all the way here at eleven-fifteen pm, just to tutor me?" He asked with a contemptuous sneer.

"It's eleven-eighteen pm now if you want to be precise," Jisoo quipped, clearly not affected by his behaviour, "But yes."

"And what if I refuse?"

"I'll leave then..." She trailed off, quirking the corner of her lips into a coy smile. "I'll come back tomorrow though. At the same time."

Taehyung stared. He was not well acquainted with Kim Jisoo but he has heard about her of course—the student council president, the teacher's pet, the sheriff deputy's daughter... What does she want with him? He immediately discounted her 'yes' even though her reasoning sounds logical enough to a normal person. Kim Jisoo wasn't someone who would do something out of the kindness of her heart; he has dealt with people of her kind—the ones who had it all; brains, beauty, wealth, connections, and power.

He watched her once; she was confident and devious, always ready to fight for anything she wanted, unlike the giggly, nervous, goody-two-shoes shit-show she's putting on now. Normally she wouldn't bat an eyelash at him at school; she would walk down the hallway with her head up high, sneering down at anyone who she deemed a waste of effort or time. To have someone of a high social status to voluntarily agree with something trivial as this doesn't sit well with him, but he was curious to find out.