♰ chapter two ♰

Yoongi's eyes peel open, probably only a minute or two later. By now, though, Principal Yumi is urging paramedics to hurry while Miss Somi holds an ice pack against the kid's hand. Yoongi frowns, blinking in a daze. It takes him a moment to remember what exactly happened.

Jungkook is still in front of him, staring with wide eyes. "Are you okay? I-I tried to shake you awake, but you weren't moving."

Yoongi waves him away, grabbing his backpack off the floor as he stands. "I'm fine."

"Where are you going? Shouldn't you wait a second?" Jungkook asks worriedly. "What if you have a concussion or something?"

Yoongi rolls his eyes. "I fainted, that's it."

"Well, you should at least go to the hospital to be sure."

"Yeah. I'll do that," Yoongi says in a mocking voice, sighing as he pushes his chair in. "Now, I've gotta slip out without Sergeant Balding over there seeing anything, because I'm sure protocol for this requires police officers."

"T-then doesn't that mean you'll get in more trouble for leaving?"

"Listen, kid. I don't have time for this. He burned his hand, big deal."

Of course, there wasn't exactly anything around to burn his hand, but Yoongi lets that thought slip away. He doesn't need to focus on something that will probably drive him crazy for not having an actual explanation.

"They'll bandage him up and he'll be fine," Yoongi adds.

Jungkook fiddles with his fingers. "I still don't understand how it happened," he voices everyone's thoughts, his brow furrowed. "What could've—?"

But Yoongi is already leaving, sneaking to the door. It's rather easy to slip by unnoticed with the kid still freaking out, sounding on the verge of death. He's being dramatic, but Yoongi supposes he deserves a few minutes to shine after such trauma.

On the walk home, Yoongi puts his earphones in to stop his thoughts before they run wild. He doesn't want to think about it. It's easier to pretend like nothing happened in the first place.

He fell asleep while tutoring Jungkook. Yeah, that's what happened.

A kid beside him tapping his pen annoyingly? What kid? There hadn't been a kid. Just him catching some z's to fight the boredom.

He repeats all of this to himself, albeit, he can't stifle the nausea churning his stomach.

The porch light is on when he gets home, despite the fact that it's still bright outside from barely being four in the afternoon. His mom's car isn't in the driveway either, which means she probably left it on for herself when she gets home late. He digs through his pocket for his house key, only having to use it in the deadbolt since the handle is loose. His mom bought the wrong size knob six months ago and still hasn't taken it back in exchange for the right one.

His dog, Holly, runs to his feet the second he hears the front door open. He bends down to pet him, wondering if his mother forgot to feed him again. She's supposed to feed him in the mornings when she wakes up since Yoongi is already gone for school at that time, but he always ends up feeding the furry animal when he gets home.

He heads to the kitchen, Holly excitedly traipsing after him. He goes to the cabinet where the pet food is kept and—of course, there isn't any left. He sighs heavily, moving to the pantry to find something he's capable of eating. He finds some canned carrots, a bag of plain rice, and some canned shredded chicken. It isn't the most appetizing meal for a person, but Holly is already wagging his tail in anticipation as he watches Yoongi cook the ingredients together.

"Well," Yoongi says, setting the bowl in front of the dog after it's cooled off. "Eat up, pal."

Holly digs right in appreciatively, confirming that he indeed has not been fed today.

Yoongi leaves Holly in the kitchen while he goes to gather his clothes for a shower. He passes his mother's room, the door wide open, revealing the mess similar to one a tornado could make. Clothes are thrown over her vanity, stuffed in the corner, shoes piled at the foot of her bed, dirt very obviously tainting the carpet. He enters his own room, neat and clean, rummaging through his organized drawers for his favorite pajama pants.

After his shower, he curls right into bed, ignoring how early it still is. He feels drained, undoubtedly from fainting, and he simply wants today to be over.

Holly jumps onto the bed, snuggling up against Yoongi's side.

Instead of falling asleep, he lays wide awake all night, his teeth grinding when his mother clambers into the house past three in the morning.

***

There's a tenseness in the air at school the next day, everyone whispering to each other. He gets a few suspicious stares when he walks into the courtyard, people doubting his role in all of it. Word travels fast amongst a group of desperate teenagers, after all.

Yoongi ignores them as he heads to his locker to drop off the textbooks he's declared he doesn't want to bother reading.

Taehyung comes bounding up to him, the only person not afraid to do so. "You were at tutoring yesterday?"

"You too? Really?"

"Sorry! I'm just curious."

"Instead of suspension, Yumi gave me a tutoring job," Yoongi grumbles. "Yes, I was there. No, I didn't set the kid on fire."

"I didn't think you did," Taehyung mumbles.

"Not you, but I know almost everyone else thinks that."

"Well... yeah."

Yoongi scoffs, closing his locker.

Taehyung grabs his shoulder to stop him from walking off. Again, the only person brave enough to do so. "Hyung, I know it wasn't you. Everyone does, but they want someone to blame. You're making it easy for them to pin it on you."

Yoongi shrugs his hand off. "I don't give a shit if they think I did it. All they want is someone to gossip about." He gives a mocking bow. "Happy to oblige."

Taehyung sighs in disappointment. He's always trying to encourage Yoongi rather than set him off like everyone else does. He's known Yoongi since the two were kids, which is why he's the only one Yoongi will let speak so bluntly to him, much less touch him.

"Kim Taehyung," Principal Yumi suddenly calls from down the hall, getting closer. Did Yoongi mention Taehyung is the golden child in school?

All the more reason the two of them together make the rest of the school question everything they've ever learned.

Taehyung bows politely in greeting.

"There's a new student today," Yumi says. "I'd like for you to give him a tour of the school before taking him to class."

"Of course," Taehyung says kindly, making Yoongi vomit a little in his mouth at how fake it sounds.

"Yoongi," Yumi then says, cutting his accusing eyes to the student. "I'd like to speak with you for a moment."

Yoongi clicks his tongue. "No thanks. I didn't do it. I'll just be going to class now."

Yumi catches Yoongi's collar. "You may not have done it, but you still left before you were allowed to be dismissed. The police needed everyone accounted for," Yumi growls in a low voice, trying to keep other students from eavesdropping.

"Forgive me," Yoongi says. "I'll be sure to consider that next time someone's hand nearly melts off."

The bell rings.

"Would you like for me to be late?" Yoongi questions. "It'll be my fifth tardy this year. Might have to give me a detention for it."

Taehyung elbows Yoongi in the side.

Yumi merely rubs his temples, shooing the boy away. "Just go to class."

"Will do, good sir." Yoongi swoops into another taunting bow before leaving the two behind, staring at him.

***

"Yoongi-hyung!"

Bracing himself for whatever is about to come out of Taehyung's mouth, he turns around. "What?"

There's a boy behind Taehyung, black hair atop his head, emphasizing the paleness of his skin and the chocolate of his eyes. Yoongi is a little taken aback by him at first—he's never seen someone so...

He's not even sure of a proper word to describe him.

Taehyung gestures between them. "Yoongi, this is Jimin, the new kid. Jimin, this is Yoongi."

"Nice to meet you," Jimin says, his eyes crinkling with his smile as he holds his hand out.

Yoongi uncertainly shakes it, giving the kid a suspicious look. He's always wary of overly friendly people.

"I want you to have lunch with all of us today," Taehyung tells Yoongi.

Yoongi knows the translation for that: "There's a new kid in school that doesn't know about you so please discredit the rumors before he hears them." Taehyung is the type to care about how people perceive his friends. He hates how negatively Yoongi is thought of.

"Sorry," Yoongi muses. "I'm busy—"

"Great! Let's go." Taehyung links his arm with Yoongi's before he can leave, so he reluctantly allows the younger to pull him along, telling Jimin about the school as they walk.

Yoongi wishes he would've pulled away, because now he's stuck at a table with Taehyung's friend group, and it'd be awkward if he just abruptly stood and left. Maybe not out of character for him, but still odd nonetheless. So he sits with his chin on his hand, trying to find something interesting on the walls.

"So you're not from here?" Namjoon asks, the smartest and dumbest friend at the table. Academically brilliant, and yet his common sense could use some work.

"No," Jimin replies. "I'm from Busan. I just moved to Seoul last week."

"Which place do you like better?" Hobi questions, like he's hoping Jimin will pick Seoul just so he can brag about how much he loves it.

Jimin gives him a bittersweet smile. "Not going to lie, I miss home. But Seoul is nice."

Seokjin comes up to the table, excitement on his face as he displays his bowl of noodles. "Have you guys tried this yet? It's actually incredible." He shoves Namjoon over to sit beside him, both of them squished on the bench.

"Jimin, this is Jin-hyung," Taehyung introduces. "He's the food lover and bearer of horrible jokes."

Jin puts a hand to his chest in hurt. "How dare you."

Taehyung smiles innocently in reply.

Yoongi is dying inside.

He's bored out of his mind when his eyes coincidentally lock with Jimin's. Unlike normal people, Jimin doesn't look away when he gets caught staring. Yoongi quirks a brow at him, challenging him to the stare off. But Jimin looks away then, casually, as if the two hadn't been practically glaring at each other.

Weirdo.

When lunch is over, Yoongi is the first to leave the table. To leave the entire cafeteria, actually. He's never left a place so quickly before in his life. Sitting through that mentally exhausted him, and all he wants is to crawl back into bed the rest of the week. He can't handle social environments well. He isn't exactly a "people's" person.

He convinces himself not to ditch tutoring, albeit, the thought was burning in his mind all throughout his last class. He's actually curious to see if everyone still shows up, or if yesterday's event scarred all the participants. Tutoring hadn't been cancelled, though, which is a typical Yumi move. No one has mentioned the kid all day except this morning.

Like it didn't happen.

Yumi gives Yoongi a surprised yet delighted smile at his punctual arrival, to which Yoongi merely ignores as he takes a seat. There's no reason for the two to be courteous when it's common knowledge to everyone that neither of them like each other.

Jungkook sits in front of Yoongi when he shows up, as if it's the most natural thing in the world to do.

Yoongi gives him an impressed look. "Not scared off?"

Jungkook frowns. "From you or from yesterday?"

"Both, I guess."

"No, and yes." Jungkook licks his lips. "I don't know. It's just weird. But, um, you don't really scare me..."

Interesting.

Yoongi contemplates for a whole thirty seconds if he should change Jungkook's mind right now, but he comes to the conclusion that he might actually grow to like the kid.

Tutoring goes by without incident, and Yoongi isn't sure if he's grateful or not. No incident means he had to stay the full three hours, but he supposes it's a good thing no one magically blistered their hand today. Again, he stops himself from thinking about it for too long.

Another thing he despises is how dark it is on his walk home this time. He has to walk alongside the woods to get to his house. No, of course the woods don't scare him. Not at all. And he's most definitely not afraid of the dark. Nope.

He walks briskly, tugging his jacket around him even though it isn't cold. He veers off the sidewalk onto the pavement of his neighborhood, still cursing about the fact that they haven't added a sidewalk yet. It's terrible when it rains and he has to walk through the mud, so he—

His footsteps falter as he halts.

He swears he heard someone walking behind him.

He's the only kid who lives down here, though, the only person old enough to drive that's too broke to afford a car and doesn't drive their parents. He's never seen anyone walk down here.

It's just his imagination, undoubtedly.

He shoves his hands into his pockets, picking up his pace once more.

There.

There's fucking footsteps following him.

He doesn't stop this time, or turn around. He keeps walking as normal, clenching his fists inside his pockets. His house is in sight, but if someone is out to kill him, he's a goner with their broken front door.

He keeps his breathing steady, his steps soft. He doesn't want to set the person off. It could be someone completely innocent, too. Someone just walking home at the exact same time as him in the exact same shitty neighborhood towards the exact same house...

He can't stand it any longer.

He breaks into a jog, trying to seem nonchalant about it.

Maybe just one glance...

Fuck, fuck, shouldn't have done that.

There's most definitely a figure chasing him.

His heart is beating faster, his blood pumping harder. He sprints when his house is a few feet away, his key already in hand. He fumbles with the lock for the briefest second before he barrels through the door, slamming it shut behind him and locking the deadbolt.

He's panting, anxious.

Does he dare look out the window?

He peeks around the corner, gently parting the curtain—

A girl in workout clothes jogs by, giving his house a bewildered look, now knowing a paranoid psychopath lives there.

He groans loudly, throwing his back against the wall.

You fucking idiot.

Holly is jumping up on his legs, tail wagging rapidly. He takes a minute to catch his breath before reaching down to pet him.

However, before relief can settle in his stomach, a light switches on and—

Why the hell is the new kid sitting at his kitchen table?