castaway | kim taehyung

23. location

[ unknown ]

So don't take advantage,
Don't leave my heart damaged.

"You're nothing but ruthless, selfish," I smirk before exchanging it with an automatic frown. "I really wonder why everyone ends up falling in love with you."

My eyes stare straight at the man who's pouring himself a cup of orange juice that has been left untouched since the party had started. I laugh to myself, "what a softie, he can't even fucking take one shot without bending over a toilet."

My laughter dies down when a familiar woman bumps into him. Soojung has always been beautiful, it's a shame that she thinks otherwise. It's also a shame that she's so dense, she's so fucking dense that she can't realize what's standing right in front of her.

"And you're completely naive," I mumble to myself, bringing the cup to my lips and taking a swig. "I can't believe this. You're so fucking stupid. And I'm so fucking in love with you, why didn't you notice me?"

As the two of them share a few laughs together, her eyes start to wander throughout the room as if she was looking for someone. I gulp nervously, quickly looking away and turning my body towards the opposite direction. After a couple of minutes, I slowly look over my shoulder to look at her one last time, feeling myself get weak.

  ➵ ➵➵ 

[ PARK SOOJUNG ]

Send me your location,
Let's focus on communicating.

"Soojung-unnie!"

I snap out of my trance to see Yeri running over towards me with her set of notebooks and textbooks. She takes a seat right in front of me and I look at her weirdly. "Is there anything you need help with?"

"I need help with Calculus. My prof is a fucking douchebag." She cusses. "I wish you were my prof instead."

"Jungkook's the ace at Calculus, why don't you ask him since he's your boyfriend?" I question her and I see her smile slightly falter, but I brush off the thought. She clears her throat.

"He's busy." She smiles, avoiding my gaze and looking down at a blank page of her notebook.

"Busy with what? Overwatch?" I snort and Yeri laughs along, nodding her head.

"Yeah, I guess." She shrugs her shoulders. "But it doesn't matter. What matters is that my midterm is coming up and I don't want to fail Calculus this semester, I need it for my program."

"Alright, I guess I'll teach you." I chuckle, pulling out my pencil case from my backpack and preparing to tutor her.

That is until a tray of food is placed down right next to me, and I jump at the sudden movement. I look up to see Hoseok, who's smiling brightly at me. He plops down onto his seat and nods his head at Yeri.

"Yah, Yeri-ah, you need help with Calculus again?" Hoseok says informally and Yeri's cheeks heat up until they turn into a dark shade of red.

"You guys know each other?"

"He's the RA of my floor," Yeri says sheepishly as she sends a glare at Hoseok. "But that doesn't mean you get to bully me about my weaknesses, especially for Calculus!"

"I'm just teasing our little freshman," he teases while poking at her cheek. "Did you make it home safe last night?"

I nod my head softly. "I called an Uber, so, I made it home safe and sound."

"There was a party last night? Why wasn't I invited?" Yeri frowns.

"I thought your little Jungkookie called you and invited you over," Hoseok says and the lines on Yeri's forehead seem to settle even more.

"He's such a jerk," she mutters.

"Are you guys doing okay?" Suddenly, she perks up and nods her head almost instantly.

"Yeah, we're doing okay. Things are just a bit rough and patchy because of—you know what? It doesn't matter. I got it all handled." She says with a doubtful, reassuring smile.

"I think he's just sick, he called me this morning saying that he had a huge hangover." Hoseok explains. "Whatever. The kid's a nerdy freak."

"Aren't you glad that you've seen me again? You were so hopeless after I left you last night."

"Indeed. I'm clearly interrupting Yeri's tutoring session because I'm happy to see you." Hoseok beams.

"This is disgusting," Yeri mutters underneath her breath. "If you're going to flirt with Soojung-unnie, you should warn me first so I could get a paper bag to vomit in."

"Yah, are you seriously approaching Soojung-noona just to get her to help you? What are you going to do when she's done helping you? Are you just going to leave her?"

The three of us look towards Jungkook who places his backpack on the floor. He takes a seat next to Yeri who seems to feel a bit uncomfortable by his presence. He places his lunch tray onto the table and nods his head at Hoseok.

"Hyung, where'd you get the radish kimchi? I was looking for it but they weren't serving it." He frowns.

"Maybe they ran out, use your head, would you?" Yeri cusses underneath her breath.

"Yah, what is up with you two?" I question them but they avoid my gaze. "There's clearly something going on here, did you guys fight?"

"Well if he wasn't a fucking hopeless romantic over some noon—"

"I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, that's all." Jungkook cuts her off. "And she clearly has been falling behind in all of her classes so the stress seems to be taking an emotional toll on her."

"Ah, I remember when I was a freshman," Hoseok says to himself. "It was really horrible experience. I wish I could never experience it again. But this is university, we have no choice but to repeat the same mistakes, the same horrible experiences, the same—"

"Okay!" I interrupt. "Let's get on with the tutoring session, alright, Yeri-ah?"

Yeri smiles sadly as she shuts her textbooks. "I think we should do this sometime later today, unnie, I can't seem to focus."

"Of course," I hear Jungkook mutter.

I muster up an apologetic smile and Yeri bows her head. "Just text me when you want me to come over, alright?"

"Yah, Jungkookie, why are you such a jerk?"

Jungkook raises an eyebrow, "I'm not being a jerk. I'm just being real here."

"Are you guys in a huge fight or like—"

"It doesn't matter."

"It matters." I say sternly. "You guys are soulmates, right? You guys shouldn't fight like this. Talk it out with her, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever." He rolls his eyes. "Shouldn't you talk to Taehyung too?"

"Taehyung as in the Kim Taehyung?" Hoseok asks and I sigh.

"Can we just drop the subject, please?"

"You started it." Jungkook shrugs his shoulders.

"You actually started it, Jungkook. Please settle things with your girlfriend, okay?"

"Whatever floats your boat." He sighs before placing his chopsticks down.

We watch him as he gathers his things even though his food hasn't been finished yet. He gets up and takes his food before throwing it into the trash.

"I'll see you guys around, I guess. I have a class to catch." He says softly before walking away.

Hoseok and I exchange confused looks, but Hoseok shrugs his shoulders anyways and continues eating his food. I frown, turning around to see Jungkook scratching the back of his head before exiting the cafeteria.