Forever And Ever (BTS)

Chapter 20

Jimin was thrust into darkness abruptly as he packed up his bag. A few seconds later, his vision returned, but everything was hazy. It was happening again, like it did everyday. As usual, Jimin tried to talk, to move, but to no avail. It was like he was trapped in a glass cage, able to look out yet unable to do anything else. He now faced his classmates. His physical body must have started moving. He heard his voice speak, "So, what kind of toys did you bring today?" "H-here, J. I b-brought UNO cards," a boy pulled his deck out out of his bag, hands trembling slightly. Jimin watched his own hands knock the cards out of the boy's hands and felt his mouth twist into a sneer. "Your cards are lame, who's going to have fun playing with those?" Jimin felt chills go down his spine as he heard the malice in his voice. No, he wanted to scream, that's not me! He didn't want to hurt his classmates' feelings, he didn't want to scare them. But all he could do was watch helplessly as his classmate's hope got shattered by his cruel counterpart.

Namjoon waited with bated breath for his paper to be put on his desk. He smiled with pride when he got it and saw the big red 10 out of 10 and the A on his paper. Then, his bubble was burst like it had been in class many times as his teacher frowned at him and spoke sternly, "Do not be smug, Namjoon. You got full marks this time, but you should be doing so every time. Don't be complacent." Namjoon gripped his paper tightly, his smile completely vanished. He wished he could stand up to the teacher. I think it's up to me whether I want to be proud of my marks, he would say. If only he could say it out loud. He was getting more and more fed up with people telling him he had to be perfect and get perfect grades and get the highest-paying job possible just because he had a high IQ. With a sigh, he took his pencil and released his frustration by writing on his paper. "Why try so hard to drive a fancy car, when we all just look like beetles to the stars?"

Meanwhile, a few doors away, Yoongi was once again being stubborn as his teacher tried to persuade him to put some effort into his work for once. All he had written on his worksheet was" I'm not interested in this. I'm not doing it." The teacher knew Yoongi had potential. There had been rare instances when Yoongi had had interest in the work, mainly in English and Literature, and he had written the best piece of work in the class each of those times. He was certainly linguistically talented. The teacher wanted to help Yoongi, but he could not do so like he would the other students when Yoongi just hated the system in general. Perhaps, he mused, Yoongi was just already thinking beyond his age, already questioning the world like a teenager would. Maybe he would have to teach Yoongi in a different way. He had to brainstorm.

Tae walked through the crowded halls, being careful not to bump into anyone, though it was a difficult task. All of a sudden, he heard a voice, "Hey Tae!" He turned around to see his classmate raising his hand to wave at him. He froze. Run away, his brain hissed, he's going to try and hit you, run away right now! And so he did, pushing through the crowd until he reached the bathroom. He splashed some water on his face and noticed his hands shaking as he did so. He took deep breaths, as deep as possible, trying to calm himself down. "Why are you like this," he whispered as he stared at his pale reflection, "why do flinch every time someone taps your shoulder or waves at you? Why do you keep running away? Why, why, why?" He was confused, scared and all alone.

Hobi's forehead glistened with sweat at the end of class. He had been in dance for a long while now, working hard and standing at the front each lesson. While he loved the things he was learning and the pride he could feel when the instructor praised him, everyone else still hated him. This whole time, he'd been trying to get into their good books by offering to help them with the dance moves or give them sweets, but all he'd gotten each time were glares and scoffs. Hobi felt like there was a stone weighing his heart down, and each time he was rejected, it got heavier. He was starting to think that maybe he was tragically fated to be alone for life and that he should stop trying. But, he so badly wanted to have friends. Just one friend to talk to and have fun with, that's all he needed to be happy. And so, he willed himself to try again.

Jungkook slowly chewed his food, trying to be as slow as possible so that he wouldn't have enough time to finish the meal. When the bell rang, his teacher sighed when she saw the amount of food left on his plate. She wondered what had happened to cause such a drastic change in the boy who used to shovel down his food and eat as much as he pleased. Jungkook sat down at his desk after returning to the classroom, but just as he did so, he felt the churning in his stomach that he was now used to. He raised his hand to get permission to go the toilet, and once he did, dashed into a cubicle to empty the contents of his stomach. He took a shuddering breath, ignoring the lingering taste of bile. A tear trickled down his cheek as he wiped his mouth. You can do this, he told himself, soon you'll be skinny again. You have to keep going, hold yourself back. It's difficult, but it'll all be worth it, you'll see. Besides, it's not good to eat as much as you want even if you're still hungry. It's not healthy, it's gross, and you'll just get fatter. So keep going. And yet his little pep talk did not help as the tears continued.