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"Don't look at me."
Taehyung shows up to class the next day with a black mask on, hiding himself into the folds of his hoodie. His hair is a tousled mess, and judging from the redness of his eyes, it is safe to conclude that he is, in fact, sick.
"I'm not here to judge your appearance," I speak the same words he said to me when he came into my room with a bowl of hot chicken soup, straight from the packet. Five days later, and he is finally showing symptoms. "So now you're sick too?"
He nods as he pulls out his laptop, coughing in the process. "I - probably - shouldn't -"
"Have kissed me? Yeah, I agree, I told you it was stupid," I murmur as the tutor begins the lesson.
He shakes his head, coughing a little more. "No, I don't regret anything," his eyes crinkle up in what I assume is a smile, but it's hard to tell with the mask obscuring his mouth. "If I could go back in time, I wouldn't change anything that day. But I do regret coming tod -" his sentence is swallowed by another round of coughs, so I slap his back. Hard.
"Ah, Aria!" he exclaims, and the whole class turns to stare at the boy in the face mask and the girl who made him cry out in pain. Awkward.
"Sorry," Taehyung's voice is slightly muffled, but by then everyone has lost interest, or at least, the majority have, with a few lingering stares watching us. Judging us.
"Why's he wearing that thing on his face?" a girl near me inquires in a loud whisper, so I lean toward her and say, "It's to hide his ugly face from the world."
For a second it seems as if the girl believes me, but then she tilts her head to the side with a quirky smile. "Oh, but isn't it, like, to prevent contamination or something?"
"Yeah, exactly! Don't want his ugliness to spread - hey!"
I whip my head back to Taehyung, who has just pinched my arm, subtly, but hard enough for me to feel it. Once again, the class's attention is diverted, and I chuckle sheepishly before sending death glares at Taehyung. He leans forward, lowering his mask just slightly to whisper, "Hey, Aria, don't go spreading lies, okay? Everyone here knows I'm anything but ugly, got it?"
I snort. "Do you really -"
I am interrupted by a finger on my lips, shushing me. "Sshh, Aria, the teacher's talking. Be respectful."
"Yah, when we get out of here I'm going to -"
"You two are awfully chatty today, care to share some thoughts?" our tutor addresses us, and I want to disappear into thin air.
"Nope, we're good," I squeak, sinking in my seat.
"Just couple stuff, don't worry," Taehyung adds, waving a hand. Now it's my turn to pinch him.
