6 | dancing & new friends
6 | DANCING & NEW FRIENDS
Dance class was Jimin's escape from everything. His problems, his stress, and most importantly, his friends. Heaven knows that he sometimes was in desperate need to be apart from them all, especially with the way lunch went. Now he had another reason to escape. That reason being good-for-nothing-but-a-heartbreak Kim Taehyung.
When he left his dorm earlier, Jimin saw Taehyung walking down the long hall, stopping at every door he passed to get a glimpse at the room number and its attendants. Jimin opted to take the stairs in the opposite direction down to the first floor from the fourth. For safety purposes. It didn't hurt that it was a good warmup as he headed to the Physical Science building for his next class. He had already been breaking out into a sweat by the time he slipped unharmed into the dance studio.
After Jimin caught his breath, when he reached the other side of the room, he plopped onto the floor, lolling his head to the side in exhaustion.
All that junk food from the night before wasn't doing him any good, but the important thing was that he evaded Taehyung. All he had to worry about was making sure not to bump into him on the way back, but when he remembered what Taehyung was doing, Jimin wasn't sure that was so ideal.
Who's to say that Taehyung wouldn't be waiting for him to return, ready to ram his face into something he'd never recognize. Maybe he could ask Hoseok if he could spend the night with him on the second floor. It wouldn't be the first time they dormed together or slept in the same bed.
Plus, Hoseok wasn't one to turn him away when he planned to show up to his room uninvited. He would be too taken by surprise to do anything but stutter out a "yes".
Lost in thought of his fool-proof scheme, Jimin didn't hear the door open or the light pitter-patter that gradually got louder. It wasn't until he sat upright that he noticed the worn-out, off-white Converse, the letter 'H' inked at the heel in permanent marker.
His gaze traveled up the high tops, ripped jeans, and black tee, becoming absolutely still when he met the water rippling in Haeri's eyes.
Jimin's breath caught in his throat. It didn't help when she crouched to level with him, the corner of her lips twitching before tugging into the most emotionally filled smile he'd ever seen.
But it was the tears in her eyes, how they threatened to spill, that took Jimin out of his trance long enough for him to hear her say two words.
"Thank you."
•••
Dance class couldn't end fast enough. For someone like Jimin, he never said that often considering it was basically his life, but his excitement for what would happen after had his complete, utter focus.
Haeri wanted to spend time with him.
It wasn't exactly a date, not that Jimin expected it to be as she recently became single, but the girl he couldn't stop thinking about had asked to treat him to dinner. He was pretty sure the reason behind it was that he picked a fight with Tae. She probably had so many questions to ask him, like why he had done it in the first place.
If that came up, Jimin didn't know how he would answer.
For all Haeri knew, him and Taehyung had some bad blood and that was the cause of his knuckles pummeling into the side of her ex's face. Or, maybe, she knew that he had done it for her, and that's why she thanked him.
Either way, Jimin just couldn't wait. He probably would've ditched his class altogether if the professor hadn't walked in a minute after Haeri did.
Though he tried to focus on warming up, Jimin could barely follow along as his mind replayed Haeri's invitation to hang out.
He was having trouble believing that it was real, that she actually said the words, "Hey, are you free after class?"
He sure as hell wasn't going to say no, and he didn't. He nodded perhaps a little too eagerly. She probably thought he was even more of a fool. Jimin couldn't seem to talk straight around her. Actually, he couldn't do a lot things that he'd normally have no problem doing whenever she was close. He was the epitome of a cliché.
Lagging behind the rest of the students as they picked themselves up off the floor and dashed to left side of the room, Jimin tried once more to refrain his excitement. Again, it was in vain.
Unable to concentrate on the high kicks across the room, Jimin started much too early and swung his leg up. His foot plowed into the ass of the person in front of him.
"What the fuck?!" The student turned around, glowering at Jimin while massaging his backside.
"It's not your turn yet, dumbass," he chided, letting out an irritated sigh before facing forward and mirroring the rest of the students as they traveled to the other side of the room.
Jimin mumbled an apology out of earshot and hoped he wouldn't embarrass himself like this with Haeri. Apparently, that was something he did when it came to her. If Jeongguk were here, he'd be teasing Jimin to no end, making his cheeks deepen in color.
He needed to get out of his head, and soon, or else the guy in front him might curse at him some more.
A breath later, Jimin moved forward, propelling his right leg up and then his left, each acting as a step across the floor until he was too short of a distance from the wall to continue. Then he got back in line to perform the next movement.
The rest of class came much easier to Jimin once he calmed his nerves.
He didn't have another incident, but the student from earlier kept glaring at him, daring him to make another mistake. Jimin wondered if the guy would bruise, which would explain the continuous staring. Perhaps, he had kicked with too much force. He should probably apologize again. The guy hadn't heard him the first time anyway.
Swapping his Capezios out for his worn-out sneakers once class ended, Jimin came to stand above the guy, who was lacing up his own shoes.
"What do you want?" The student's voice matched his expression, stoic and cold, not that Jimin could blame him. If he hit the guy as hard as he think he did, then it likely would hurt to sit for the next few days. His poor ass had taken a beating, an undeserving one at that.
Jimin anxiously poked his tongue into one cheek. He was never very good at confrontation.
"I, uh, j-just want to say I'm sorry," he paused shortly, "for earlier."
The guy ceased tying his laces and glanced up at Jimin with fox-like eyes. "Stop being so nervous. People might think you're the victim here."
"S-sorry." Jimin's head hung low, mortified.
Exhaling sharply, the guy stood up, towering over Jimin with his larger frame despite being a bit shorter. It only made him look like he hadn't been wronged and that he was preying on Jimin, which caught the attention of students who hadn't left the classroom yet.
"It's Jimin, right?"
Jimin nodded softly in response. It was always easier to do things rather than talk when he was flustered.
"Wait," the guy trailed off. "Aren't you the one who punched Kim Taehyung?"
Oh, god.
Of course, word traveled quickly, especially when it involved Taehyung. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, but Jimin was so used to staying out of drama that he didn't fully comprehend the consequences that would follow, gossip included.
He spent most of his time out of the limelight, but now, here he was. Front and center.
"Dude," the guy began. Jimin was afraid of what he would say next.
Would he roughen him up more for hitting the golden boy? Had he put himself in a situation that would lead to more cuts and marks on his face? He wasn't sure he could handle anymore wounds to his striking appearance.
Jimin feared the worse. In the span of three hours, he might get wrapped up in another fight. This time, Jeongguk wouldn't be here to save him.
A hand gripped his shoulder, making Jimin wince.
"That was such a stupid thing to do, but after the things I've heard, it was well-deserved."
Jimin snapped his gaze to the guy, bewildered as he continued.
"Can't say for sure there's any truth to them, and you got your ass handed to you. Maybe instead of punching you should kick him next time. It'll hurt like a mother fucker. Trust me, I speak from experience."
A corner of the guy's lips pulled into a lopsided grin as he lightly tapped Jimin on the shoulder.
"Anyway, I'm Chan." He extended his other hand towards Jimin, who, now being somewhat relaxed, accepted Chan's offer and shook it in mid-greeting.
"J-jimin."
"Uh, I know," Chan scrutinized him for the introduction when he clearly already knew his name, but the situation hadn't turned into what Jimin thought it would, and he didn't know what to do.
The only reason Jeongguk and Hoseok were his friends were because they lived in the same neighborhood as kids. They grew up together. The others, Seokjin, Namjoon, and Yoongi, were introduced to him by Jeongguk and Hoseok.
Jimin had never made any friends on his own.
"Well," Chan added, picking up his backpack from off the floor, "apology accepted."
Jimin stood there, unsure of what to do.
"Are you always this awkward?"
Chan smacked his lips when Jimin didn't respond. The silence was more than enough to let the guy know that Jimin wasn't one for casual conversation. It was obvious that he was out of his comfort zone.
Tucking both lips between his teeth, Jimin slowly raised his head, but even then, he couldn't look right at Chan. Instead, Jimin looked past him and at the wall.
"Cute," Chan muttered.
He brought hand to Jimin's hair and tussled it, patting him once. "Anyway, I got another class after this but we should hangout sometime. Any enemy of Taehyung is certainly a friend of mine."
With that, Chan turned to walk out of the classroom.
"I'll see you later, Jimin," he said over his shoulder.
With him gone, Jimin's thoughts were brought back to Haeri, remembering that he too needed to leave if he was going to meet with her. The excitement coursed through him once more.
He was wasting precious time standing here. Not only was this an opportunity to get close with Haeri, he was also very hungry. Salad never did hold him for long. That and he had missed his afternoon snack between lunch and dinner because he had spent it getting patched up.
As if on cue, his stomach rumbled. Jimin didn't stand there for another second as he rushed out of the dance room.
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