ISTTIMI

CHAPTER 4: FAVORITE GIRL

"Seolhyun, I'm sorry." I told the girl who's crying in front of me, "But Taehyung's just not the right guy for you. He's got too much on his shoulders and being in a relationship kind of keeps him off track, and he doesn't want that."

Seolhyun, Taehyung's now-ex girlfriend, sniffed in front of me. "But he's not the class president now! Nayeon even said that Jimin's not even asking him to do much, what responsibilities is he talking about?"

"Our club has to prepare for December's event. Have you forgotten about that?" I forced a smile, "Sorry, Seolhyun, but your relationship with Taehyung is over now. See you around!"

I turned around to run back to our room, where Jimin and Jennie were waiting for me.

Taehyung and Seolhyun have been together for almost a month. Yesterday, Taehyung finally confessed to me (and not even the confession I hoped it would be haha kidding.. unless) that he's only Seolhyun's boyfriend because the girl asked him to. Basically, Seolhyun was the one who made the first move, and Taehyung just couldn't say no to girls. It took him 3 weeks before asking me to break up with Seolhyun for him; that I make up excuses so she wouldn't bother him again. And so I did.

That's the second time Taehyung asked me a huge favor. The first one was with Sowon, a girl from another section. Like what Seolhyun did, she cornered Taehyung in a room and asked him to be her boyfriend.

With Taehyung being Taehyung, he really couldn't hurt a girl - verbally or physically. He couldn't stand someone crying because of him, so that would just end up with him staying with them. That's when his best friend, me, comes to his rescue.

"How did it go?" Jennie asked me, a mischievous grin on her face. "Did she bawl her eyes out?"

I told her and Jimin about Taehyung's sudden yet not so surprising decision last night. They knew about the first time too. Now, they didn't miss the chance to make a bet as to how Seolhyun will handle the situation.

"Or did she lash out on you and curse Taehyung?" Jimin asked

"She cried." I frowned. "She wouldn't curse on Taehyung, she likes him too much."

"Alright, pay up, small boy." Jennie raised her hand, palms up, for Jimin to place his money.

Jimin gave his money to Jennie with a scowl. "Where's Taehyung, anyway?"

"He was called to the faculty." I told him.

"It was supposed to be the Class President but you had to flirt with girls in the library so you weren't able to read the chat until now."

"Oh, really?" Jimin quickly fished his phone from his pocket and checked our class group chat with our adviser. I was expecting him to at least be worried or guilty but the boy only shrugged. "Taehyung's a lifesaver."

"I know!" Taehyung came walking towards us, smiling. "Don't worry. You're not in trouble."

"He's not even worried at all." Jennie said, strutting her way towards our room, with Jimin following her.

"Hey," Taehyung held my hand, making me face him. "Did you do it already?"

I nodded. "She cried. Now try not to get cornered by girls for a while. Don't get me tired of those favors of yours." I told him in all seriousness.

"I won't. I promise." He raised his pinky. "From now on, I won't leave your side so girls won't pull me anywhere." He pinched my cheeks. "You're my favorite girl, after all."

His sudden actions - the hand holding and the cheek pinching - took me aback so I swatted his hand away. I tried hard to cover my probably red face by getting my handkerchief from my pocket and pretending to wipe my face. "You don't have to do that. Just.. learn how to reject girls."

He tilted his head. "Jin hyung told me not to reject girls though."

"Oh my god! You listen to that guy?" I asked in disbelief. "Jin doesn't even have a girlfriend!"

"He doesn't?" He asked, looking a little confused.

"Have you seen a girl in our house other than me and mom?" He shook his head. "If Jin has a girlfriend, he'd let us meet her first."

Taehyung groaned, probably regretting his decision for believing my oldest brother. "I knew I should have just asked Namjoon hyung about girls."

"Joon's the last person you'd want to ask information about girls."

"What? Why?"

"He's committed already - in his studies and music, that is." I took his hand and pulled him, "Now, come on. Our next teacher is coming."

---

"We have something to announce!"

Jimin and Taehyung were now standing in front of our room. We were just dismissed by our last teacher for the day so they took the opportunity to tell us what our adviser told Taehyung a while ago.

"What is it now, Taehyung?" Mark, who's still our classmate, much to Taehyung's dismay, asked him.

"We're celebrating United Nations month this October and you know what that means.." Taehyung trailed, smiling like he's excited with his news.

"Just tell us, Tae!" Jennie yelled beside me

Taehyung rolled his eyes but then smiled again, "We'll have a pageant once again!"

Groans were heard around the room, while I just stared at Jennie, who looked like she's the only one excited about the said pageant.

Every year during October, our high school celebrates the United Nations month, holding a pageant that two candidates of each section from every year should participate. Usually, the muse and escorts have to do it, but it still depends if they wanted to.

Jimin whispered something to Taehyung, the latter made a face in response.

"What do you think that Busan boy is whispering?" Jennie whispered to me yet her eyes still were on Jimin

Before I could answer her, Jimin cleared his throat and placed his hands on both sides of the teacher's table. "We've decided to just stick to our original muse and escort to be our candidates. What do you think?"

The boys from our class looked at Jennie while the girls looked at none other than Jinyoung, JB's half-brother that only sticks to him cause well, they're brothers.

Nayeon, our class treasurer, raised a hand, earning the class' attention, and said, "I think Jennie wants to participate."

"What?" Jennie scoffed dramatically, eyebrows raised. I looked at her with a frown, which she returned with a smile before telling the class, "I don't want to but I'd love to participate in the pageant."

Some boys and girls cheered for Jennie but the others still were looking at Jinyoung, waiting for his response.

From our left, Mark Tuan, the only boy left with Jinyoung as our classmate, nudged his friend beside him. "Nyoung, we need your answer."

Jinyoung looked nervous with all the people staring at him so I finally stepped in, "Why don't you try participating, Jimin?" Everyone looked at me; some wide-eyed, some agreeing, while Jinyoung looked at me with a soft gaze. I smiled at Jinyoung, as his gaze looked thankful enough for what I did for him.

In front, Taehyung cleared his throat, getting my attention. Once I was now looking at their direction, Taehyung spoke, "I guess Jimin will be Jennie's escort since this dude's not even complaining."

"Hey! I just-" Jimin started saying but it seemed like he can't even continue his sentence, so instead, he just sighed in defeat, "Sure. I'll join the stupid pageant." 

song: Favorite Girl by RM

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A/N: I can't think of any other school event so I chose the UN month. I'm a Filipino and my high school and elementary school always celebrate that every October. I don't know if Korea does too but let's just pretend they do haha