Stigma [Book 1]

Chapter 32 : Where?

DING

Mina got a text on her phone while she was walking with her members. She smiled upon seeing the contact name. It read:

Chimmy

She couldn't help but giggle internally. She suddenly heard a loud cough emanate from behind their members. All 9 of them turned, surprised to see BTS right behind them. Jimin flashed Mina a quick smile as Jin winked at Jeongyeon. The two respective leaders from each group approached each other, slightly bowing to the other.

"No cameras in here. I'd say it isn't too much of a bad idea to walk together, wouldn't you say?" Namjoon asked.

Jihyo laugued a bit.

"You're so awkward. You know that right?" she said as she continued walking.

The group of now 15 made their way through the corridor of their old school. Tzuyu glanced at the boys and noticed Taehyung wasn't there. Weird. She knew he said he went to this school too. However, she thought it better not to ask them of it.

The silence besides the steps of their feet was unbearable. The tension was slightly awkward. Jin decided to break it in the worst possible way.

"Wahhhh. I remember the last time we saw each other in uniform, you girls weren't exactly the nicest to us," he said while laughing.

Evident on their faces, the girls of TWICE looked down with guilt.

"Great going hyung. Real mood maker." Hoseok said while slapping his back.

"Yahhhh! At least I tried to say something! You don't know how awkward this situation is right now?" he yelled, with probably everyone in the school able to hear him.

"Here he goes again," Yoongi sighed while rolling his eyes.

The girls were now giggled as Bangtan's eldest and J-Hope began to bicker at each other. They wondered if this was a regular occurrence at their dorm.

The 15 slowly made their way into the auditorium. Students were already sitting on the bleachers. Immediately, they recognized them to be idols as they began to stand up and clap.

The members of BTS and TWICE had no idea they would be greeted like this by their former schoolmates. It only made sense considering they were idols. However, it didn't occur to them that they'd receive such a reception.

"Please give a warm welcome to some former graduates turned idols, the members of both BTS and TWICE!" yelled the principal.

The principal along with some staff members looked on while clapping from the podium placed in the middle of the auditorium. The members bowed awkwardly while making their way to the section of seats that had been reserved from them in front of the bleachers. As the members of both groups took their seats, the principal began to make short announcements. Shortly after, the principal began to call out the names of the students in order to stand as the crowd cheered each individual on.

Tzuyu waited in anticipation as the names went on. It had been about 20 minutes of sitting before the principal had finally began announcing for the names in the "Kim" section.

"Kim Dahyun!"

The crowd went wild as Dahyun stood in the reserved section. She waved and bowed as her members teased her. Tzuyu sat. She dreaded for when the principal would call his name.

"Everyone give it up, for Kin Jae Won!" the principal yelled.

Tzuyu got up and frantically looked around. Hardly any students had clapped for his name. She looked around trying to see if anyone in the large sea of students had stood up. She desperately hoped she would be able to spot him in the crowd. The other members looked at her, knowing that she would never be able to find him.