THE TRANSFER STUDENT

The Party, Pt. 17

Taehyung sat on the front porch of Hoseok's house, gazing into the night sky.

"You wanna go somewhere?"

Taehyung shook Jungkook's voice from his head, as he recalled the glimpse he caught of Jungkook following after Jieun into the kitchen when he had opened his eyes earlier.

He sighed.

Damn, life sure was hard.

What exactly were the chances of finding love in this world? In each person's life, what were the chances that the person you had feelings for would have the same feelings for you? Logically speaking, it's pretty small. Let's say the person you liked does like you back, the feelings are probably not be equal either. One person is bound to like the other more.

Taehyung took a deep breath, closing his eyes and enjoying the cool night breeze.

For Taehyung, falling in love with someone was easy, but falling out of love was difficult. And from experience, that made things really tough for Taehyung. Sure, heartbreaks are bound to happen in growing up, but Taehyung had experienced two in a row... and he was really starting to feel pessimistic. What if he never found someone whom he loved and who loved him?

He felt someone brush past him and footsteps walking out of the house all of a sudden. Not just regular footsteps - really quick footsteps. The person was in a hurry.

Taehyung opened his eyes, as a shadow rushed towards the front gates of Hoseok's house. Under the dim moonlight, all he had managed to make out was a girl with long hair, a fitting blouse and a skirt...

"Jisoo?"

Taehyung got to his feet, taking a few steps towards Jisoo, who had now unlocked the gate and was about to leave.

Jisoo stopped short, turning around at the sound of her name. She looked up at Taehyung. "T-Taehyung?"

Her voice was shaky, to say the very least. She sounded emotional... and Taehyung totally knew why.

"You alright?"

Taehyung took a step forward, reaching out his arm to place his hand on her shoulder, but Jisoo took one back.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

How could she be fine? The way she had left in such a hurry... Taehyung glanced back at the house. Seokjin was nowhere in sight. And the slight crack in her voice... Taehyung knew it all at once. How could she be, in the very slightest bit, fine?

"Well..." Taehyung hesitated, trying to choose his words carefully. "You going home alone?"

"Yeah," Jisoo's voice broke. "I mean, yeah. My parents are out of town."

"Can I take you home?"

Taehyung watched as Jisoo look up slowly. "No, it's fi-"

"Come, let me take you home." Taehyung said, now with a more assertive tone, as he grabbed her by the arm, leading her in the direction of the bus stop.

"Hey, it's really-"

"Do as I say," Taehyung said firmly. "It's getting late, you shouldn't be going home yourself."

"But-"

"Lalalalala-" Taehyung said, covering his ears. "I can't hear you."

Jisoo let out a small chuckle. "Fine."

"Finally, you're laughing," Taehyung grinned and even in the dark, he could tell that Jisoo was smiling along. "Let's go."

The two walked in silence as they made their way to the bus stop and as they took their seat on the bench of the bus stop, the lights illuminated Jisoo's face and Taehyung caught a glimpse. She didn't look like she had been crying, but her eyes... they were red. And from experience, Taehyung knew the only way she could get those eyes. From trying not to cry, from holding tears back, from pretending to be strong.

"You..." Taehyung hesitated. Asking "you okay?" didn't sound right. Because obviously she wasn't. He looked at her, with a worried expression on his face. "You did well."

Jisoo looked up at Taehyung, with a puzzled expression. She locked eyes with Taehyung and at once she knew what he meant. She swallowed hard, then focused her attention back onto the ground.

"You know," Taehyung continued. "What you did definitely wasn't an easy decision... but I'm so proud of you for doing what was for the best."

Jisoo looked up once more, and nodded silently. Taehyung observed her lips trembling, in further attempts to hold it in.

Taehyung looked around. There was no one at the bus stop, other than the two of them. "No one's around now. If you wanna cry..." Taehyung patted his own shoulder. "And if you don't mind... I can lend you a shoulder."

Jisoo swallowed hard, gazing up at Taehyung. The expression in his eyes was nothing but kind and sincere. Jisoo recalled the time they had that heart-to-heart talk with him at the hotel lobby after prom... He knew her secrets, and she knew his.

They were friends.

Taehyung watched Jisoo's face change, and looked away quickly. "I mean... if you mind then it's alright-"

Taehyung paused mid-sentence because at that very moment, Jisoo let out a small cry. It was a sound Taehyung was well-familiar with, when he was sad, but had tried to only show others his strong side.

Tears began pouring down Jisoo's cheeks, like a waterfall.

"It's alright now," Taehyung rested Jisoo's head on his shoulder, before handing her the handkerchief he pulled out from his pocket. "Everything will only get better from now."

And that night, Jisoo sobbed her eyes out. She sobbed before the bus arrived, she sobbed throughout the entire bus journey and continued sobbing even after she had reached home. But the entire time, Taehyung was there for her, muttering words of comfort and encouragement he himself needed to hear.

But for some reason, after seeing Jisoo in the state she was and seeing her small smile of gratitude and hearing her soft "thank you" before she closed the door on him, Taehyung felt a lot better. He felt like, for him, too, that everything would only get better from then.

As for Jisoo, who had cried herself to sleep that night, that was the very first night, in a long while, that she could say that she had a good night's rest.