Bolting upright in my bed, I look around around the dark room, still disoriented from being woken up. Waiting a moment for my senses to return to me, I was once again assaulted by the pounding noise that had roused me in the first place. Growling to myself, I swing my legs over the side of the bed, my feet unable to reach the floor from my position. Sliding down off the bed, I flinch as my bare feet make contact with the cold, tiled floor of my studio apartment.
My feet shuffle across the floor, my body moving on auto-pilot towards the source of the noise.
"Fuck!" I bite out as sudden pain flares from my foot, the sensation pushing all remnants of grogginess from my mind. I glare down at my couch, blaming it as if it had purposely moved into my path.
Moving around it, I make my way to the source of the annoying pounding: my front door. Looking through the peephole, I'm met with the sight of a too-close brown eye as the visitor tries to peek through from the other side. Having heard my footsteps approach, he spoke, his voice muffled through the door.
"Jimin, open the door! I know you're there!"
Sighing, I pulled back the dead-bolt. I opened the door and side-stepped quickly to avoid being trampled as my best friend rushes past me.
"Tae," I sigh, rubbing my eyes. "What are you doing here? What time even is it right now?"
"It's 7:30, Jimin. What are you even doing sleeping?" Taehyung turns to face me, annoyance causing his features to scrunch up. "I've pounding at your door forever!"
"My days and nights are all switched up. I had to work the night shift, Tae. You know I work all night on Tuesdays," I brushed past him, making my way to the kitchen to get some coffee in me.
"Yeah, well you won't have to for much longer." Taehyung's words froze me in my steps.
Whipping around to face him, I felt my eyes grow wide.
"What do you mean by that, Tae?" A smile spread across his face. I took large steps towards him, reaching up to place my hands on his shoulders as I stared into his face.
"Haven't you checked your phone at all today?"
I flew towards my bed to pick up the small glass rectangle sitting on the stand beside it, all thoughts of coffee being pushed from my mind as hope engulfed me. I unsteadily unlocked my screen, my shaking fingers almost causing me to drop my phone. I checked my emails, a cry of excitement flying from my lips.
"Yes!"
I ran to Tae, wrapping my arms around his waist, squeezing him to me.
"They chose us, Tae! Us!"
I looked up at him, meeting his sparkling eyes.
"I know! I told you they'd choose us!" Tae exclaimed, his deep voice ringing throughout the room. "I ran over here as soon as I saw the message."
"Does Jungkook know yet?" I asked, curious about the third member of our little group.
Taehyung shrugged, "I'm not sure yet. I was gonna go over there after I came here."
"Let me get dressed and I'll come with you," I said, making my way to my dresser and throwing the top drawer open.
"Suit yourself," Taehyung said lazily, sitting himself down on my couch as he waited for me to finish getting dressed. Not even caring that Taehyung was right there, I hastily threw on a pair of black pants and turned back to my dresser. Grabbing the first shirt I saw, I slid the white material over my head. I rushed to the bathroom and ran a brush through my pink hair, not really worried about how it looked.
Taehyung looked up as I exited the bathroom, sending me a quick thumbs up before rising. He followed me to the entryway, opening the door and waiting as I slid on my shoes and coat. I followed him out, locking the door behind me before walking down the hallway with Taehyung. Passing through the lobby, I pushed the door open and walked out, the cold night air enveloping me.
I walked along the sidewalk, Taehyung falling into step beside me.
"We're gonna be trainees…" I sighed, the reality starting to settle in.
"No more free time." Taehyung whined, a pout forming on his lips.
"Oh but now you get to spend all day with Jungkook," I teased, raising my eyebrows at him.
His cheeks flushed as he reached up to scratch the back of his head.
"What does that have to do with anything," he mumbled, shifting his gaze away from me.
"Oh nothing, nothing at all," I said, my sing-songy tone only making him blush harder. I chuckled at his reaction.
"Should we even be walking? Shouldn't we have taken a bus or something? I mean it is pretty cold out here." Tae whined, pulling his coat collar up as if to prove his point.
"If you're going to blame your read cheeks on the cold, there's no point. We both know that's not true." He pulled his collar up even further, trying in vain to hide his flaming cheeks from me. "But if you're that worried about the cold," a sly smile spread across my lips, "We could always race there."
I saw him perk up at my challenge. Being the same age, we were quick to jump at any chance to prove who was the better one. Too bad for him, he didn't perk up fast enough as I took off without any warning.
"That's not fair, Jimin!" I heard him call out behind me, his voice fading as I put more distance between us. Laughing, I closed my eyes, letting the world fade away from me as I ran. I opened my eyes just in time to see someone step out in front of me. Not having enough time to stop, I felt the air leave my lungs as I crashed into the person, both of us falling to the ground in a heap. I landed on top of the person, my head resting on their chest, their heart pounding under my ear.
I shifted my weight, until he spoke, the deep voice causing me to freeze in place.
"Wow."
I prepared to lift myself from the man under me, the movements causing me to groan. The man under me stiffened at the sound as if it had caught him off guard, his heart pounding even faster under my ear, the sound causing me to lose my focus for a second. Until he cleared his throat, the sound breaking me from my trance.
I lifted my head from his chest, raising my eyes to his face. I was lost in a sea of brown as our eyes met.
"I am sooooo sorry," I exclaimed, a blush rising in my cheeks. His eyes strayed to my burning cheeks, emotions that I couldn't read flittering across his face. His gaze made me even more embarrassed, so I rushed to defend myself. "I wasn't watching where I was going. I... I was in a hurry and I just crashed into you! I'm so sorry!" The words rushed out my mouth, the sentences all running together thanks to my flustered state.
He sighed, the sound leaving him in a huff of air as his head dropped back to the sidewalk beneath us. The velvety sound of his voice mesmerized me for a moment as he spoke to me again.
"I get it, it's fine. So can you just get off me please? You're quite heavy."
I had been so focused on him that I had completely forgotten that I was on top of him. I jumped off of him, my sore body groaning in protest. My eyes landed on his face, getting the first clear picture of it since we crashed together. His hair fanned out around his head forming into a mint colored halo. His mouth had set into a pout that caused his chubby cheeks to push out. Fighting the urge to pinch them, I reached my hand out to help him up. His eyes, now covered by sunglasses, glanced to my outstretched hand. Ignoring it, he pushed himself up from the ground, standing not much taller than me. Hurt flashed through me as I let my hand fall back to my side.
As if sensing my unease, he lifted his hands. "Nothing personal. I just wouldn't wanna spread any blood on you." His palms, raw and bloody, were held out to me. I felt my eyes widen, my own palms burning from just the sight of them.
"You're bleeding!" I cried, guilt settling in my chest.
This is all my fault.
He had such beautiful hands, and now they were injured because I was immature and wasn't watching where I was going.
The stranger shrugged his shoulders at my words.
"It would seem that way," he said casually as he slipped his injured hands into his pockets.
I moved to take a step towards him. "Oh my gosh. We should get this-"
My breath was knocked out of me as someone ran into me, the jolt causing pain to blossom throughout my side. Hands grabbed my shoulders and I was turned to face my best friend.
"Jimin! I saw you fall! Are you okay?" Tae's eyes searched my face for any trace of injuries, his chest heaving from running. I nodded to my friend.
"Take some breaths, Tae. You sound like you're dying. I didn't get hurt, someone else cushioned my fall." Though my tone was pleasant enough, I felt a pang of annoyance at him for interrupting my conversation with the attractive stranger.
I turned to look at my victim, my eyebrows furrowing.
"I just realized I don't know your name. I'm sorry that was rude of me."
He opened his mouth and I found myself anticipating his answer. Excitement at knowing more about him coursed through my veins. Before he could answer me though, a frantic voice called out to us.
"Yoongi!"
He sighed, turning to look at the source of the voice before turning back to me.
"My name is Yoongi, as he just clearly called out to the whole street," he answered, his voice taking on an edge.
I giggled at his response, smiling at how cute he was. His voice sounded like he was bored and tired but it was pleasant. The kind of voice you would want to read you bedtime stories.
Or whisper sweet nothings to you.
I smiled, trying to push away the images that thought had elicited.
"It's nice to meet you, Yoon-"
"Yoongi!"
I was once again interrupted as the same man ran up to him and screamed Yoongi's name directly into his ear, causing the small man to jump. Yoongi glared at the taller male, but his look softened as he gazed at the man.
"Seok-jin," he said quietly, the name barely carrying over to Tae and I, "You are directly beside me. There is no need to scream." Yoongi scolded him softly, his quiet tone surprising me.
The newcomers and Yoongi started talking, but I was too preoccupied with watching Yoongi to listen to their conversation. I was surprised by the softer side he had shown the taller man. From the way he looked, the ripped black jeans and dark leather jacket, I assumed he was a bit rougher around the edges. I guess you really can't judge a book by it's cover.
Yoongi's friend, Seok-jin he said his name was, settled his gaze on me, the disappointment in his gaze making me shrink back.
"And you, young man! You should watch where you are going next time," he scolded. The tone of his voice reminded me of my mother, only furthering my unease.
"It's okay, Jin. He already apologized. It's fine," Yoongi jumped to my defense.
Jin huffed and turned to the purple haired beside him, mumbling something about ungrateful kids. Yoongi rolled his eyes at them before turning back to me, my heart skipping a beat when our eyes meet through his dark lenses.
"I'm sorry for that," he apologizes.
I shake my head, a sad laugh leaving me. "It's okay, I get it. I should have watched where I was going-" Tae pulled on my sleeve, interrupting the rest of my sentence. I lean back into him as he bends down to whisper into my ear.
"We have to go, Jimin. Kookie's waiting for us."
I felt my heart drop at the thought of leaving, but we still had to.
"Oh crap! You're right, Tae." Tae starts to tug on my sleeve, pulling me away from Yoongi and his group. I turned, seeking out his eyes once again, trying to engrain the features of his face in my mind. "I'm sorry but we have to go. Make sure to clean out those cuts on your palms!" I yell as Tae pulls me along behind him, forcing me to turn away from Yoongi so I don't trip and fall.
I felt the strong urge to turn around, to watch him as I leave. My heart fighting every step my body was taking away from him. Every part of me screamed to turn around, to just look at him one more time, but I resisted.
I don't even know him. He's just some stranger. Why am I like this?
I shook my head, trying to dislodge the pesky thoughts from my head.
"Tomorrow, we'll officially be trainees," Tae said, wonder filling his voice, "I feel like we're finally going to be where we're meant to be, you know?"
"Yeah.." I mumbled. Not sharing his sentiments as much anymore.
With every step we took, foot by foot, inch by inch, I felt like I was leaving where I was meant to be behind me, my brain overcome with thoughts of a mint-haired beauty.
