Confrontations

** Song suggestion for the scene starting at the second asterix (*): Red Lights (강 박) by Bangchan and Hyunjin of Stray Kids.  🎶

After dropping off some dog biscuits for Yeontan, who incredulously no-one's adopted as yet, Sooyeong stopped at her locker to swap out some books, and as usual she found a sticky note which read: I want to make you mine.

She gasped at the intimacy of the message and she quickly looked around to maybe pinpoint anyone suspicious-looking. On her left she saw no-one except for those sending her hard stares as they gossiped about her and Eunwoo but on her right she noticed Taehyung sorting through his locker and to her complete dismay he didn't look suspect at all.

She furrowed her eyebrows as she felt a sudden burst of sadness fill her insides. She really hoped that Taehyung would have been a little nervous but alas, that was not the case. He seemed rather calm but soon enough she noticed Dansae and his clique approach and when he reached Taehyung he stopped, fist bumped him then handed him an orange envelope before taking off again. She became curious and watched him open it up and skim through it before he shoved it into his locker.

She quickly turned back to face the sticky note before he could even shut his locker because she didn't want to be caught staring- if he happened to look her way. Nevertheless, she placed the sticky note into her journal and pulled out her Chemistry textbook, deciding not to cloud her mind with any extra thoughts.

"Yah unnie,"

Sooyeong turned at the sound of a soft voice only to notice a snickering Ahro and Nayeon walk by.

"Is Eunwoo Oppa a sub or a dom?" Nayeon crowed, and Sooyeong clenched her jaw in frustration.

"Maybe he's a switch." Ahro laughed but Sooyeong decided not entertain them rather she shut her locker and caught up to Jimin and Jungkook.

"Look who it is," Jimin swung an arm around her. "You're alright after yesterday's incident?"

"Yeah, I told you guys I'm fine." She smiled and noticed that some people still looked at her weirdly. "It probably was just a weak attempt at a funny prank you know."

"It wasn't funny though," Jungkook admitted. "I'd honestly love to punch that person in the face..."

Sooyeong side glanced him and furrowed her eyebrows because if Nayeon was singled out to take a hit from Jungkook, she'd be missing a whole front row of teeth.

"And I can't believe Eunwoo is gonna let it slide like that." Jungkook continued and Jimin seemed to agree with his friends. "He's crazy and so are you."

"It'll probably blow out of proportion or Dansae will do nothing." She explained as they entered the classroom. "So we agreed to let bygones be bygones."

Truthfully, she knew Taehyung was going to approach Nayeon and not just allow bygones to be bygones. He wanted to make things crystal clear and not be pushed around as everyone's been doing to Sooyeong just because she has a kind heart but she on the other hand felt rather sceptical.

"Speaking of Dansae, isn't it his birthday tomorrow?" Jimin pondered out loud and she looked in Dansae's direction but instead she locked eyes with Eunwoo.

"Yeah, I've seen him handing out white envelopes." Jungkook piped while Sooyeong sent Eunwoo a small smile as a greeting to which he returned. "Yet we got no invite, as usual, but it's not like we'd go or anything. Maybe just for hyungs sake but other than that it's a no-no."

"Yeah bro, we get it." Jimin laughed as all three of them took their seats. "We don't like him either."

*

During the first three periods, Taehyung mostly teased Sooyeong, shared his snacks, took a look at her band aided fingers and even drew little Tata heads over them. But as he did so she admired just how delicate he was with her fingers, not hurting her even once.

She also asked him about Yeontan and if his grandfather agreed to adopt him. Unfortunately enough, he hadn't made a decision as yet which really disheartened her because she always saw the amount of love he carried for the little pup.

She really hoped that Yeontan could be his soon, playing happily in his strong arms everyday. Alas, if that day ever happened and if she was still coughing up cherry blossoms, she would pray hard to the heaven and the stars as well as blow out every dandelion in Seoul just to become Yeontan because she loved him that much. There were no two ways about it.

• • •

Sooyeong had study hall after recess and she decided to use that time to study for her upcoming chemistry practical because it was a team-based assessment and she didn't want to drag down whomever she would be partnered up with.

She did think about going up to the rooftop to study but realised that it might be too difficult for her so instead she decided to sit with Yeontan, where it was still quiet enough. She also thought that it would be a good time to get more comfortable with him, without Taehyung's help. Whereas, both Jimin and Jungkook decided to hit the basketball court and Taehyung- Sooyeong knew all too well - he went to speak to Nayeon.

She wanted to change his mind before he left, still afraid that she would cause him harm but Taehyung was adamant so she let it be and hoped for the best possible outcome.

A heavy sigh left her lips as she went back to reading her notes but inevitably her mind flipped back and fourth and she couldn't help but wonder how things were going between them.

*

Taehyung stood across from Nayeon, yet in another secluded spot and the fire in his eyes burnt more so than any of the other encounters he's had with her.

"If you keep dragging me aside like this Oppa people are going to think we're secretly dating or that you're in love with me." She smiled innocently. "You can stop playing tsundere-"

"I don't care about you Nayeon." He admitted rather brashly. "Maybe I did once when I thought we were friends but not anymore."

"There you go lying to yourself again," she took a step forward and slowly slung her arms around his shoulders. At this he clenched his jaw. "We're actually meant to be, I've told you this before. Sooyeong has no part-"

"You should really get out of that imagination of yours," he removed her arms from him and he stepped back. "Because it's not good in there."

She gasped as his actions but before she could attempt to cling onto him again, he slipped out his smartphone and pushed it towards her.

"You want to explain what the hell is this?" he watched her scan the contents. "If you're gonna fuck with every guy that gets close to Sooyeong then what's the point of all of your so-called hazing because it's not going to get you what you think you want."

The expression on her face confirmed everything. It was really dumb on her part to not alter her hand writing unless she thought it wouldn't make it into his hands but unfortunately for her it did.

"H-how did you get this?" she stuttered and he slipped his phone back into his pocket before she could touch it.

"You don't need to know that," he declared and she looked at him in surprise as if she hadn't expected him to find out that she had in fact wrote that letter just because Taehyung hadn't help her yesterday when she fell down those stairs especially since his attention was directed only at Eunwoo and Sooyeong. "I don't know what you were expecting to happen after that stupid taunt but I do know that I've lost all respect for you."

"No! Oppa," she yelled and gripped onto his left arm. "I love you that's why I'm doing all of this! Can't you see! just listen to me!"

"No," he roughly shook her off him. "No-one is ever going to love you if keep acting the way you do; despicably and disgusting."

She gasped and the tears filled her eyes, "No, I really love you Taehyung Oppa. I can't stand it when you're with other girls please. I'll make you happy, just give me-"

"That's not love Nayeon," he kept a straight face. "That's an obsession, and the only person who can make me happy is the one you keep messing with."

"You're wrong," she latched onto him again, "That's not true, it's just an illusion. The person you're really in love with is me-"

"Just stop," he gripped both her hands, and tried to gently remove her from him, once more, but consequently she fell back onto her butt. "I really can't stand you anymore. It's getting pathetic."

"Taehyung..."

"You need to stop all of this and focus on yourself." With much reluctance he let out a hand for her take despite his burning hate for her because he wasn't the type of person to completely disregard a females fragility. "Try and fix yourself instead of ruining others lives."

She didn't take his hand, instead she smacked it away, "I don't need your pity and you'll see that you and I-" she hiccupped through her cries, interjecting herself.

He pulled his hand away and turned to leave, "If you change for the better, you'll find someone better than me. Who'll love you for what you are despite your imperfections."

"We'll see about that Oppa," she hollered and roughly wiped away her tears as his blurry form distanced itself from her.

*

To drown out her thoughts and focus on studying, Sooyeong plugged in her earphones and blared her music. It did help because she did manage to cover a fair amount of work such that she slowly began to feel more confident in her abilities, because chemistry wasn't her strongest point.

As she bobbed her head slightly to the music and jotted down some important points, the entrance door creaked open and out someone popped unbeknownst to her. The individual placed his feet on the first then second step and Sooyeong took notice of this- they were covered in purple Converses that she could never miss.

She warmly smiled and looked over at him just as he sat down next to her, "So how'd it go, Taehyung?"

"Fine, and what are you listening to?" he smiled and picked up an earplug.

She was caught by surprise by his reply because she expected him to say a little more about his encounter, but since he decided not to share, she decided not to pry.

"Jackson Wang, 100 ways."

He snorted at how ironic her song choice was because of what just happened with Nayeon.

"What? Why are you laughing?" she pouted and brushed his shoulder with hers but he only chuckled a little more. "His surname isn't Wang for nothing you know, even Namjoon-nim adores him."

"I know that," he put down the earphone over her notes. "And is that Chem? The titration experiment? Are you seriously studying for it? It's easy."

"Probably for you," she sent him a glare because he was already the Biology wizard now he wanted to be the Chemistry wiz as well. "Chem isn't my strong point. Maybe I should've changed to Physics like Jungkook and Jimin..."

"Sooyeong, you're a nut." He nonchalantly stated, and tugged on her bangs. "You literally get in the 80's. You've got nothing to worry about, and whoever your partner is, they'll be lucky."

"How can I not worry, what if I let my partner down?" she gripped the ends of the textbook.

"Worrying means you suffer twice,"

She gasped because she recognised that quote, "Newt Scamander, did you watch Fantastic Beasts?"

"Yeah and the other movies too but that's not important, your only worry should be how you're gonna effectively reach the burette." He chuckled.

"I'm not that short," she huffed and stretched her legs forward. "See it goes all the way to the third step."

He laughed and stretched his legs which hung just over the fourth step.

"Ah!" she lightly brushed his leg with hers. "Such a show-off."

"By the way, I think I have an idea of how I could guarantee you an insanely well grade in the practical." He smirked and pulled out his smartphone.

"If you say crib notes, I'll make sure Tannie bites you."

"It's nothing of the sort." His smirk never left his handsome face. "Here. I'll send you this if you do great."

She looked at the picture on his smartphone.

She gasped and looked away, flustered. "Why are you showing me this!? You're literally shirtless and it's blur anyway!"

"Are you disappointed because the clarity isn't good?" He teased, then locked his phone and slipped it into his pocket but Sooyeong only sat there completely red in the face. "I look better when the picture's blur."

She still said nothing.

"Didn't you say that you liked collarbones. That picture is the perfect example but if you're still not sure... you can preview it in real-time." He made to unbutton his shirt.

"No!" she exclaimed and covered her eyes, embarrassed. "Why are you such a creep?"

He cackled and pinched her red cheeks, "You're too easy-"

Their moment of banter was suddenly cut when the door behind them suddenly flew open and from behind it emerged a rather disgruntled Minho.

"I finally found you," he growled then grabbed Taehyung by his blazer, then pulled him down the staircase and landed a hard punch on his cheek.

"Taehyung!" Sooyeong gasped and ran down the staircase towards him but Yeontan had surprisingly beat her to it. He had hopped out of his pen and began to feverishly bark at Minho while Taehyung staggered backwards but painfully Yeontan was kicked aside by an agitated Minho.

"Tannie!" Sooyeong yelled and quickly went to his aid but all of this made Taehyung equally as disgruntled.

"What's your deal Minho?" Taehyung questioned, sternly, as he watched Sooyeong take Yeontan back to his pen.

"I didn't have an issue before but if you're gonna physically hurt Nayeon, I'm gonna hurt you much worse." He bawled his fists and Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows. "She told me how you treated her just now. You dropped her and left her in the hallway. What the fuck's wrong with you!"

"She fell but not by my mistake. I offered her a hand and she didn't take it." Taehyung explained as he watched Minho intently.

"Bullshit!" Minho yelled and launched himself towards Taehyung but he stayed still. He grabbed him by the blazer and struck him in his abdomen, hard.

Taehyung groaned from the impact and Sooyeong looked back in concern whilst trying to calm Yeontan down.

"I let the other times when you had spoken to her slide because I knew it would make her hate you little by little," Minho growled in Taehyung's ear as the latter tried to recover from the blow to his abdomen.

"W-What are you talking about?"

Minho pulled him upright and stared at him dead in the eyes, "I care for Nayeon just like you care for Sooyeong and thought that everytime she encountered you because of some issue with your girlfriend, she'd come to me for comfort after your constant rejections."

Taehyung snorted and roughly pushed away from him, "I guess you did a shit job trying to comfort her because she's still obsessed with me."

Minho clenched his jaw.

"But if you really cared for her, you wouldn't put her through all of this. Instead you'd look out for her in a better way. You could call it chivalry."

"Seems like you know it all Tae," Minho scathed. "Is that what you're trying to do with Sooyeong over there?"

Taehyung briefly glanced over at Sooyeong and he noticed her standing near her study material with a worried look on her delicate features.

"Yah? And how's that working for you?" he continued.

Taehyung only stared at him. He had no idea that Minho had such a dark side to him nor would he have ever guessed that he liked Nayeon. If he had known things could have been much easier for everyone.

"Nayeon throws a spanner in the works all of the time, how do you think it's going?" Taehyung admitted with a click of his tongue. "But if she stops that, and you get to know her better then everyone's gonna be a winner. She needs to know that I'm not the one for her."

"Tch, there you go making it about yourself again." Minho growled and straighten out his blazer. "And if I were you I'd watch my back because you're pissing off a lot people because of her."

Minho glanced in Sooyeong's direction but Taehyung only allowed his words to slowly soak in, "You might want to put an end to things and not just a three fucking day hiatus because things will only get worse."

After that Minho left and Sooyeong immediately ran down to Taehyung. She gently held onto him, "Are you okay?"

"Is Tannie okay?" He looked down at her worried expression.

"He's fine but your cheek... it's bleeding."

"It's a small cut, don't worry."

"Come with me, I have extra band aids." She pulled him along to the staircase and made him sit down.

She quickly pulled out some tissues and strips of band aids then she lightly dabbed at the wound to get rid of the blood- pushing passed her phobia, "What was that about? I thought he was your friend..."

"I thought so too," he stared at her as she peeled open a band aid then she gently pressed it over his cheek. "Turns out he likes Nayeon."

"Oh?" she looked at him surprised. "Really? That's actually kind of cute but why'd he have to hit you? And how's your tummy, he hit you there as well, didn't he?"

"You sound really paranoid Sooyeong, I'm fine." He chuckled softly at her caring nature. "But I guess that's what guys do when they like a girl."

"They beat up other guys?" she sighed as a feeling of déjà vu encompassed her. "I guess we're really not that different from the opposite sex as we think we are."

"Yeah, I guess so and how's my Tannie?" Taehyung got up with a groan then petted Yeontan.

"Do you want me to take you to the nurse?"

"Nah, nah. I'm fine." He smiled in her direction. "I may not be Jungkook but I still have some stamina."

She chuckled and watched him cuddle Yeontan which made her soft.

"If you ever like a girl, please don't hit another guy for her sake." She sat beside him.

He looked up at her, a slight smirk tugged at his lips. "I make no promises."

A U T H O R ' S  N O T E

*(A/N added on 16/02/22).
Felt like giving Minho some screen time 🐒 Also you guys, please don't picture Lee Know from SKZ as this character because I love Lee Know to death 😭 he's literally the coolest. And I became a STAY in 2021, after this book was complete so I had chosen the name Minho by random.

Author, Lu 💜