ISTTIMI

CHAPTER 36: BEAUTIFUL

"Soo, what's with the long face?" Jennie asked. She was leaning on the locker beside mine, her arms crossed. "You've been strangely quiet since that day at the amusement park. What happened in that gondola?"

"Nothing." I said as I was placing my books inside my locker.

"Come on, Soo. Spill." Jennie practically begged. "This doesn't seem like a deep problem like before so I'm going to keep pestering you until you tell me what's going on between you and my cousin."

I groaned. "There's nothing going on between us."

"Do you like him?" Jennie asked out of the blue.

"No."

"Really? Cause I heard he's planning on courting someone." she said, "You okay with that?"

"Yes." I lied.

"Really? You won't feel jealous or anything? College relationships are a big deal, you know? Plus, it's his first time courting someone."

Annoyed, I closed my locker with a loud thud, making Jennie flinch. "Alright, I like Taehyung. I'll obviously get jealous when he's with another girl."

I looked at Jennie, expecting that she'll look shocked or sad for me, but the girl was smiling. Excitedly smiling, even. She then looked at her wristwatch and said, "Oh, look at the time! I'm going to be late for class. Bye!"

"Oh, thank God, she's gone already." So Hyun appeared beside me. Unfortunately, she's my lockermate; locker 613: mine was the top part, hers was the bottom one. "I was too shy to ask her to move away." she explained to me when she saw me staring at her.

"Right." I said, "Did you just arrive here?"

So Hyun shook her head. "I was just a few steps away. Want to go to our room together?" I nodded.

I really don't feel comfortable standing beside So Hyun. I feel like we're rivals, and that I'm in the losing end.

I've seen her hanging around Taehyung during class breaks, asking him to teach her a lesson that she didn't understand from the professor. Of course, the good ol' Taehyung wouldn't refuse. Some of our blockmates have already shared their speculations about the two; that So Hyun likes Taehyung, and that Taehyung might like her back with the way he's treating her. Others considered me to be Taehyung's crush too, but the best friend label always gets in the way of their speculations.

I wonder.. Should I just tell him the truth?

If I do that and it's not me that he was planning to court, that would be embarrassing, and worse, it could end our friendship. If I don't, then I'm going to regret my whole life that I didn't confess when I had plenty of chances. But now.. I think I'll just wait for the right timing.

"Hey, Tae." I said when we were eating lunch in the cafeteria. "What do you plan on giving Jimin for his birthday?"

"I do'nt know." He shrugged. After a few seconds, his eyes widened. "A blessing?"

"Huh? What blessing? Are you a god?" I chuckled.

"You'll see next month." He said meaningfully.

The playful smirk on his face made me more curious about what he was saying so I nudged him. "Tell. Me."

"They like each other." Taehyung was munching his sandwich when he replied, so I thought I heard wrong. I gave him a weirded out look. He gulped. "Jennie and Jimin... they like each other."

"What?!" I exclaimed. "I knew it!"

He looked at me, unconvinced. "You knew it? You didn't even know what I meant with the blessing," he replied.