YOONGI😾

Mirae Have you finished your algebra
homework?

Mirae I just have a question about one
problem. And then I'll leave you
alone. Promise.

Mirae Are you ever going to respond
to me?

Mirae You can leave me on read all
you want, but the more you do, the
more I'll bug you until you respond.

Mirae Yoooongiiii 🙃

Mirae So, do you have a crush on
anyone? 😏

Mirae You've been here long enough...
surely by now, some pretty girl has
caught your eye?

Mirae Or guy, I dunno. 🤷‍♀️

Yoongi😾 FUCK OFF

Mirae What'd you get for #7?

Yoongi😾 15

Mirae Thanks! 

~~~~~~~~~~

I didn't need help with Algebra. I just wanted to see if Yoongi would respond. I was delighted when he did, and that fact that it was vulgar made me laugh. Typical Yoongi.

(And obviously not romantic Yoongi. I mean, what person tells the person they like to fuck off? Suck it, Tae.)

I'd asked him if he had a crush on anyone not because I actually cared to know if he did, but because I knew it would get a rise out of him and likely annoy him enough to reply. For someone who tried to be so aloof and impenetrable, he sure was predictable.

I was surprised, though, that he'd given me the answer to the question. I'd expected that he just wouldn't reply any more, especially after he essentially told me to leave him alone. I wondered if it meant that he wasn't quite as annoyed with me texting him as he acted like he was. But who knows? I was going to continue to do it either way.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Thanks for your help last night!" I said cheerfully as I sat down at the desk next to Yoongi the next morning.

He lifted his head from his arms on his desk where he'd been resting it and scowled at me. I smiled brightly at him. He rolled his eyes and laid his head back down.

"I was kinda surprised that you gave me the answer," I continued. "I thought you'd leave me on read again, since you told me to fuck off."

"You told me you'd leave me alone if I helped you with one question." His answer was slightly muffled against one of his arms.

'Oh. That makes a lot more sense.'

"Thank god you kept your promise," he added, having suddenly turned his head to lay facing me.

"Well, I may be a lot of things – "

"Oh, I am very aware," he interrupted.

I giggled. "But I'm not a liar."

He didn't reply, nor did he open his eyes.

"What's with you?" I asked. "Why are you so tired?"

He finally opened one eye and even on its own, I could see annoyance in it. "Don't you ever get tired?" he snapped. My eyebrows shot up at his sudden change in tone.

"Whoa, chill out."

"Fuck off," he muttered, turning his head the other way again.

"I'm glad to know you can still be charming even when you're exhausted," I said with a smirk.

He didn't say anything more or move again at all until halfway through class when Mrs. Lee not only called him out but approached him and lightly flicked the back of his head. I covered my mouth to stifle a laugh. Yoongi sat up with a huff but was so out of it that, after a few minutes, I almost wondered if he'd fallen asleep with his eyes open.

~~~~~~~~~~

I deceptively left Yoongi alone during third period. But as soon as lunch came, I went in, no holds barred.

"Hey Yoongles!" I chirped as I sat down.

Yoongi froze, kimchi dangling from his chopsticks that were halfway to his agape mouth. He snapped his mouth shut and looked up at me. His eyes narrowed. "What the fuck did you just call me?"

"Yoongles," I said with an audacious smile. "I feel like you need a nickname, and friends give each other nicknames."

"We. are. not. friends," He said through gritted teeth.

"What nickname would you give me?" I asked, completely ignoring his previous statement.

He glared at me. "Irritating? Loathsome? Nosy Bitch? Take your pick."

I pretended to be deep in thought. "Loathsome is just mean, Yoongles. I kinda like Nosy Bitch, though!"

He rolled his eyes so hard that I almost expected his irises to completely disappear. "Never call me that again," he seethed.

"Whatever you say!" I said cheerfully.

He heaved a heavy sigh. He knew I was going to anyway. He dropped the bite of kimchi back into his dosirak. "Well, I've lost my appetite." He crossed his arms over his chest and refused to look at me.

"You should eat, Yoongles," I insisted. "Food gives you energy!"

He scowled. "What are you talking about?"

"I've noticed that you seem tired often. Today more than others, but it seems to be a constant thing for you lately. And I don't know if you don't get enough sleep at night, or if you're just naturally lethargic – "

"Or just generally exhausted by the unending invasion of my personal space?"

" – but whatever it is," I continued without missing a beat. "I bet eating will help!"

He didn't say anything further, but I saw him glance at me out of the corner of his eye. I shrugged and pulled out my phone to reply to a text I'd gotten from Hobi. Ever so slowly, I'm sure as an attempt to not draw my attention, I watched through my eyelashes as Yoongi picked his chopsticks back up and quietly finished his kimchi.

~~~~~~~~~~

*Yoongi POV*

I can't begin to describe how incredibly infuriating it is when she's right.

I did feel better after eating. But, I convinced myself that it was some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. Either way, I certainly wasn't going to let her know that I'd tested her theory, let alone that it actually worked.

So, there I sat in fourth period, listening to her go on and on about how I looked "brighter". I think the only reason she made a big deal is because she must have seen me eating after all. I just slumped in my chair and didn't look at her, unwilling to give her the satisfaction of knowing that I did feel better.

"Okay!" I snapped. "I get it! I look better. Thanks." I made sure the last word was heavy on sarcasm.

Mirae closed her mouth, but formed it into a knowing smile, which was almost just as annoying. "Are you still hungry?" she asked. "I have some snack foods if you – "

"I'm good," I interrupted her.

"Okay," she said and I could hear in her voice that she had no intention to stop pestering me.

I sighed deeply as I rested my head on my arms folded on my desk. I suddenly felt very tired again. I heard a quiet, short whine beside me and opened one eye. Mirae was looking at me with a frown. "What?" I asked, with clear exasperation.

"It's just..." She hesitated, as though unsure how to or even if she should continue. She took a deep breath. "I felt like you were doing better. It worries me that you're acting so tired again."

"You worry about people just because they get tired?" I scoffed. "What do you think of yourself when you get tired?"

The expression on her face suddenly became unreadable. "You know damn well that there's something more to your exhaustion, Yoongles."

"Are you expecting me to bare my soul to you or something? Because that's definitely not going to happen. Especially when you call me that," I snapped.

She frowned. "You don't have to bare your soul," she insisted. "But you can talk about anything you may need to talk about."

"I don't need to talk about anything," I said, irritated. I turned my head so I was facing away from her. I heard a quiet crinkle-like noise near my head a moment later. I knew the sound, and without even looking at her, I swept my right arm out from under my left and across my desk, knocking the bag of snacks onto the floor between us.

Mirae huffed in frustration. I was relieved when class started a couple of minutes later. Even though I still wanted to rest my head, I was just glad that she wasn't able to talk to me for the next hour. Nor the next since next class was music.

The thing was that something was wrong. And it was something I had absolutely no intention of talking to anyone about, let alone her. And it wasn't even the concern she was showing me that caused my aversion to talking to her about anything related to my current mood. It was the fact that her noticing anything amiss at all was insanely unnerving.

My own parents, with whom I'm very close, hadn't even noticed. So how was this eternally positive girl I'd known only for a couple of months who I'd never even slightly opened up to suddenly so perceptive? I've never been mistaken for being an open book; most everyone I've ever known has found me hard to read. Why was Mirae somehow seemingly different in that aspect?

It all just really bothered me, and ate at me so much that it was all I could concentrate on at the time.

"Hellllooooo? Yoongles?"

My distracted brain suddenly snapped back to the present. "Hmm?" I hummed dazedly.

"Class is over," Mirae said. "It's time to head to music. Are you...sure you're okay, Yoongles?"

I began shoving my things into my backpack. "I'll be okay when you stop calling me that stupid nickname," I muttered.

She didn't reply, but simply observed me with a face that suggested both curiosity and concern. I began to grow even more anxious and annoyed under her gaze. I stood and harshly pushed past her. Although I fully expected her to, she did not immediately chase after me, and I didn't see her again until she entered music class about five minutes late.

She looked...terrible. She'd obviously been crying, and appeared to be shaken. I noticed a few of her friends staring at her, obviously trying to catch her eye, but she seemed to be looking everywhere but at them. They started looking at each other instead, exchanging worried looks.

As she made her way to her seat, Mr. Kang began asking her why she was late. She didn't respond. She didn't even acknowledge him. I began to wonder if she could even hear him. He began getting frustrated and damn near yelled at her. And that was when I noticed her breathing had quickened, and her body became rigid.

Her friend I sat closest to was the one she'd told me to sit next to on my first day. I'd long since forgotten his name, but I turned toward him to tell him what was going on. But he was already taking action, jumping to his feet and hurrying over to her. It appeared he knew exactly what was happening, too. As the confused teacher looked on, her friend whispered into her ear, then took both of her hands. With some effort, he managed to get her to stand and follow him out of the classroom.

As much as I didn't want to care, I almost felt like following them. I was curious as to what the hell could have happened in the less than 10 minutes it took between classes to cause her to have a panic attack.

Maybe something was as wrong with her lately as something was with me.