"This is your fault." Jennie pouted, looking at Taehyung across from her. Her arms started to tremble from being held up for half the class, after disrupting the lesson. Taehyung only shrugged and let his arms down, stretching a little and grinning a rectangle smile. "Put your arms back up!" She hissed through gritted teeth, hitting his head. He let out a short groan and lifted his arms over his head, rolling his eyes.
"Jendeukie, you're so mean for being 16!" Taehyung whined playfully, sticking his tongue out.
"Hey, put your tongue back in your mouth. It's impolite." Jennie retaliated, twisting the ring on her index finger with her thumb. "I just hope the bell rings soon…" Taehyung followed Jennie's movement up to her finger, and tilted his head to the side, looking at the ring.
He looked at Jennie fixated on the wall in front of her, before speaking. "Is that the ring Jae Bum gave you?" Jennie looked over at Taehyung and smiled, nodding at him. Jae Bum is Jennie's boyfriend, and they've been together for a year. Jae Bum was the same age as Taehyung, but acted like he was Jennie's age. Taehyung was silent again, until the bell rang. The two sighed in relief and set their arms down, leaning against the wall. "It's really nice, Jendeukie." He complimented, looking away and scratching the back of his head.
Jennie smiled and looked at her ring them back at Taehyung, smiling wider. He was such a troublemaker. They had been friends since they were in diapers, always inseparable. Sometimes, he'd get into trouble and drag her into his shenanigans, but would do so with a grin on his face. Today, especially, he made her laugh during a lesson. He was cracking lame jokes that made Jennie almost fall to the floor gripping her sides. They got too loud to a point where they had to stand outside.
But that punishment was over, as the teacher, Mrs. Won had walked outside and smiled sweetly at them. "Okay, you too. No more disrupting my class, got it? Or I'm going to have no choice but to give you both detention." She said, kindly but sternly. The two nodded and went inside, grabbing their bags and walking out of the classroom.
"Geez, you're ridiculous, V." Jennie frowned, smoothing her skirt of any wrinkles. "You've been hanging around Jin too much to be making dad jokes."
"Me? You're crazy, Jendeukie."
"As if, V. I was trying to be a good student and you kept distracting me." Jennie laughed and pushed Taehyung away, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Oh, Eomma is making your favourite tonight, bibimbap. Do you wanna-"
Jennie was cut short with the sight of Jae Bum at her locker, leaning against it and waiting for her. "Oh, hey Jendeugi! How was class?" Jennie grinned at her boyfriend and ran up to him, hugging him and pecking him on the lips. "Good, I assume?" He chuckled, rubbing her hair down.
"Yeah, kind of. The part about the punishment wasn't fun, but V making terrible dad jokes made it so much better." Jennie giggled, tucking her hair behind her ear. Jae Bum looked over at Taehyung and smiled bitterly at him, getting him to scowl in return. "Hey, be nice to each other." Jennie scolded, looking at them both. "Also, my eomma is making dinner tonight, I was wondering if you'd like to come over?"
Jae Bum pressed his lips together, as if in a deep thought and let out a sigh. "Sorry, Jendeugi. I have soccer practice today. And by the time that's over, I'm going to be tired. Big game tomorrow, y'know?" Jennie's face fell into a pout before he lifted her face with his chin, giving her a peck. "I'm sorry, darling. Maybe next time?"
"Hey, Jendeukie. I'm going ahead." Taehyung interrupted, walking out the doors to the gates.
"Okay, promise?" Jennie said a little hurriedly, kissing her boyfriend before running to catch up to Taehyung. "V! You're such a bastard!" She yelled after him, hitting his back with her bag. She panted a little and pouted, walking next to him.
"I dunno, but Jae Bum is raising all the red flags for me. Didn't he say no the last time we went to that café last week?" Taehyung put his hands in his pocket and looked down at Jennie, who was twisting her ring around her finger. "Sorry, Jendeukie. I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay, V." Jennie cut off, biting her lip. "He's really busy, so I don't expect him to have time for me." She shyly tucked her hair behind her ear and looked down at the pavement, crossing the street.
"Jennie, watch where you're--!" Taehyung yelled, pulling her by her arm tightly into his chest, panting hard. "Jeez, Jennie! You almost got hit!" He yelled, gripping her tightly against his chest, his heart beating against his chest hard.
Jennie's heart rate matched the other's, her breath quick and heavy. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention." She trembled, her body shaking. "Shit, I'm really sorry V." She exhaled, combing her fingers through her hair. Taehyung let go of her and held her hand, walking across the street with her and pointing to a bench, sitting down on it.
"Hey, Jennie. Be careful, okay?" Taehyung asked, looking over at her. She was still in the same state she was before she was almost hit, looking at her ring almost mesmerised. Taehyung sighed and stood up, walking to the closest vending machine and paying for two drinks. He passed one to Jennie and cracked open the other one, rubbing her shoulder.
"Thanks, V." She mumbled, opening the drink and taking a long sip, holding it in her hands. "I'm sorry, I'm just thinking about Jae Bum. Do you think he doesn't like hanging out with me and my friends?"
Taehyung stood up and grabbed Jennie by the shoulders, looking in her eyes and frowning. "Don't think about him, okay? He's just wasting your time. We have so much fun without him, you know that. Remember when we went to the beach with Jimin and Lisa?"
Jennie laughed at the memory, when her and Lisa buried Taehyung and Jimin in the same right as the tide was coming, watching them freak out and yell. "Yeah, I remember that. You were like, 'Jendeukie! Get us out! The waves are going to kill us!'" Jennie mimicked, laughing at him.
Taehyung laughed with her and brought up another memory. "And remember when the whole gang went out to karaoke and we were on different teams seeing who would win?"
At the karaoke, Taehyung and 6 other of his friends made up Bangtan, while Jennie and other 3 friends made up BLACKPINK, seeing who was better at American karaoke. Naturally, Namjoon was first and Lisa was close second, because they knew English the best.
Jennie laughed with Taehyung and felt her phone buzz, taking it out of her bag and opening the text. "Eomma said to come on home cause dinner's ready." She read aloud, the text from her best friend Rosé. "Well, you heard the text." She smiled, punching Taehyung and running off. "Race you home!"
Taehyung laughed and was about to leave, when he grabbed his bag and saw Jennie's ring on the ground. "She must've dropped it…" He mumbled, biting his lip and sticking his tongue out slightly. He grabbed the ring and put it into his bag, running after Jennie.
"I… Beat… You!" Taehyung panted, his hands on his knees as he hunched over. Jennie mirrored him, hitting him with her bag and rolling her eyes.
"As… If!" She replied, catching her breath.
Jennie's mother stepped outside, followed by Rosé, Jisoo, and Lisa, who all laughed at the two. "What'll I ever do with you two? You're like children!" Her mom laughed, motioning inside. "Come on, I just finished cooking."
"Good evening, Jendeukie. V." Jisoo smiled sweetly, letting the two walk inside and sit at the table. Jisoo sat next to Taehyung and Lisa, Rosé seating beside Lisa and Jennie's mom, and Jennie sitting between her mom and Taehyung. "Oh, Jae Bum wasn't able to make it tonight?" She asked, frowning a little.
"Again," Lisa muttered under her breath, starting to eat already. Jennie kicked her from across the round table and glared at her, grabbing her food and eating. "What? No offense, but V is hanging out with you more than your own boyfriend."
"Because we're childhood friends!" Jennie and Taehyung said at the same time, hitting the table. Everyone looked at the two and they shrunk back a little, looking at each other. "You're so lame," Jennie joked a little, kicking Taehyung in the shin.
"At least I didn't start dying from laughter in class today." Taehyung shot back with a grin, nudging her with his shoulder. "You were like, 'Yah, V! Shut up!' and started cracking up so hard, you started to snort!" He laughed, Jennie's face growing a little pink before laughing with him.
"Honestly, though? You two are adorable together." Rosé smiled, resting her head on her closed fist. "I wish I could find love like this."
"Eonjin has been trying to get Jendeukie and I together since-" Taehyung slowly let his sentence trail off before he stood up all of a sudden. "Oh… Speak of the devil. I gotta go, Eomma. Bye, guys. See you tomorrow." Taehyung rushed his goodbyes and ran out of the house, his footsteps trailing off.
"What was that all about?" Jennie's mom asked, looking at the door and finishing her food.
All the girls looked over at Jennie, who was biting her lip absentmindedly, looking at the door. Slowly, she turned her head back with a troubled look on her face, looking down at her food. "I'm sorry, Eomma. I'm not hungry anymore." She stood up and walked into her room, closing the door and laying on her bed. She reached for her phone on her dresser and unlocked it, looking at the texts she had.
JB: Sorry I wasn't able to go. You know I hate blowing off things with my lovely
V: Good morning!!!
Rosé: Eomma said to come on home cause dinner's ready
Hyeri: this is hyeri just reminding you to work on your part of the project
Jennie let out a soft sigh and opened Jae Bum's message and texted back, biting her lip.
Jennie: No problem, babe! You didn't miss much, just some bibimbap :)
JB: I know but I feel bad :(
Jennie: Silly It's okay
She exited out of her message with Jae Bum and looked at V's messages, frowning.
Jennie: Hey. Why'd you leave so quick?
V: Something came up
Jennie: Will you tell me?
V: No
Jennie: Call me?
Jennie's phone rang and she immediately picked it up, putting her phone to her ear. "V, are you okay?" Taehyung didn't reply, but instead sniffled softly, taking a deep breath. "V~? Are you-"
"Get back here, bitch!" Jennie could hear in the background, glass shattering and yelling. "H-hey, I gotta go." Taehyung's voice was trembling now, as more yelling could be heard.
"Wait , V-" Was all she could get out, before he hung up in a rush. "V?" Her voice started to shake then she sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear. She looked at her messages again and texted Hyeri, her Science partner.
Jennie: I will :) Something came up just now.
Hyeri: really? im sorry
Jennie: It's fine. Just a really close friend of mine is hurting right now.
Hyeri: oh
Hyeri: do you wanna talk about it
Jennie: No, not my problem to tell others. Besides, I don't know the whole thing.
Hyeri: oh
Hyeri: i can ask my friend sojin
Hyeri: she always hangs out with him for music practice
Jennie: Who?
Hyeri: sojin
Hyeri: shes really pretty :)
Jennie: Ah
She frowned deeply and tossed her phone away from her, groaning and running her fingers through her hair. "How come I've never heard of her hanging out with him..?"
Just then, Jennie's mom came in and looked at her sweetly, smiling. "Just a reminder to clean up tonight. The girls already left, Jisoo offered to go to the bakery tonight and get Taehyung a cake. And Lisa invited the boys over tomorrow, you can ask for the details." Jennie nodded and smiled back, getting up and hugging her.
"I love you, Eomma."
