Chapter 8; My Good Samaritans

The angel is unhappy, but the devil is rather unbothered.

───── ❝ do haru ❞ ───── 

Friday, 27th of January, 2021

'I bet I fucked up my math test,' Haru complained.

'No! You are so smart, so I am sure you did more than okay,' Jimin encouraged warmly, giving her his usual toothy beam.

Haru and Jimin were sitting in the library, chatting about various things, subtly getting to know each other better. They always did that in the morning before lectures began, unless they were studying, however, usually, Yoongi was with them. For some reason, that day he was late.

Yet as the two began questioning their friend's absence, a tired Yoongi showed up, walking sluggishly before taking a seat next to Haru, facing Jimin. 'Sorry guys,' he muttered mindlessly.

Haru frowned as she placed her hand gently onto his forearm, 'What happened, Yoongs? You seem tired.' she had almost forgotten that he had spent the night at his girlfriend's. 'Oh wait, is it because of Haneul? Did you two fight?' she asked, Jimin's confused head tilt going unnoticed to the two best friends.

'No, no.' Yoongi shook his head, 'Actually, it was the exact opposite. We discussed something that I'll have to tell you later when I get the energy to do so or something. Plus, classes start in seven minutes.' he looked at his four-year-old watch, one that Haru had gifted him for his birthday. She smiled contently, knowing that Yoongi wore her watch very often.

It was honestly his favourite watch amongst the three different ones he owned. One was gifted to him by his parents, one he had bought for himself and the other one was from Haru. The watch's strap was made out of brown leather, giving it a classic look along with the golden bezel. Ninety percent of the time, Yoongi chose to wear that watch since it suited most outfits.

'Then why are you so tired?' Haru's frown only intensified. Realisation plunged upon her like gelid blocks of ice during a hailstorm as a tiny, amused smirk crept up her lips. 'Did you two sleep together? After how many years? How many years has it been since you two have done it?' she began chortling, once again, Jimin's extreme perplexity still going unnoticed by them.

'Girl!' Yoongi groaned, rubbing his face tiredly. 'Yes, we did it, okay? And yes, it's been about two months since the last time we did. I don't know, I am just not horny I guess?' he replied, his answer sounding more like a question than a statement. 

Haru just nodded and turned to look ahead of her, finally realising that Jimin was still sitting in front of them. She giggled at the sight and explained that Haneul was Yoongi's girlfriend. After that, the trio headed to their respective lectures.

...

After everyone's first two lectures were over, It was lunchtime. Haru was exiting her clothing designing class, happy with the freshly-assigned homework. However, before she could reach her locker, someone grabbed her.

The unknown person dragged her to an empty hallway as she struggled against their harsh grip. Soon, the confused girl was slammed against the wall, finally meeting the person's inimical gaze. Haru's heart dropped, her eyes widening like the ones of a terrified puppy. She pressed herself further into the wall, looking down as her lips began to quiver.

'Well, well, well,' the person, also known as Jeong Hae-im, gave her a smirtle. 'Guys, come over here!' Hae-im turned around, calling the rest of the gang. Three more girls walked out of an empty nearby classroom as if they had staged this.

Haru's jaw clenched as she held a staring contest with all the vexatious people that were ready to pounce on her. It was so annoying, so irritating—the way that they all smugly stared at her as if she was so easy to crash, and she, in fact, was. If they weren't one of her stupid triggers, she wouldn't have been almost shivering in panic. But they fucking were. 

'Motherfucking jackass thugs that have nothing better to do but attack innocent peeps and get their lips stuffed with shit!' Haru yelled, and it had taken a lot of courage for her to do so, breathing heavily after terminating her sentence. She had partly let herself speak those words out of impulse. What was there to repent upon anyway? She was gonna get smashed for sure.

'Little worm has grown some balls, huh? Why? Is it because you get to whore with two pretty boys?' Hae-im tilted her head, slamming her against the wall once again, but way harder. 'Yoongi is one thing, we get it, but Park Jimin too? I don't think so, little minx.'

Haru cringed in disgust, she felt like it would be totally stupid to try and defend herself, bitches would twist her words up anyway. Never in her life had she thought that she would have been called a "minx". She hadn't even had her first time.

Min Mina, one of Hae-im's little bezzies, spoke up, 'What? Can't even defend yourself? So you admit being—'

'Shut the fuck up,' Haru roared, not allowing Mina to even complete her sentence. 'You guys don't know shit about me. And I know right now, you aren't attacking me just for being close to Jimin. You, fucktards, as I said, have nothing to do with your lives, you just look for reasons to bully me. But let me tell you, bullying never had an excuse and never will.'

Mina inhaled shakily, clenching her fists. She was clearly pissed off. In fact, she walked up to Haru, asking Hae-im to make way for her as she grabbed her jaw. 'Dare to repeat yourself?'

'I said that you guys—'

'What right do you have to criticize us when you are a mad worm? A. Useless. Freak. Right, Haru-ya? You really think you stand a chance with those shit-ass designs of yours?' Mina smirked, knowing that she had hit the latter in all the right places. Nonetheless, what she didn't know was how deep those words transcended. 

Haru was unable to reply due to the shock; old memories that she wanted to forget began resubmerging. Her confidence could crumble so easily, she could crumble so easily. Yoongi's and her professor's praises all went to hell as Mina's words overpowered them.

───── ❝ X/05/2015 ❞ ─────

And another shit-ass day was wasted in that goddamned facility. Haru detested each and every second spent in there, meaning these past two months.

After witnessing the murder in the forest, she was taken to a "Psychological Health Facility" or at least something along those lines. She didn't know nor cared. 

For the first month, it wasn't that bad, her grandma visited her constantly and the psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists that worked with her were quite lenient. However, that didn't mean that Haru's mental health was improving. That she was getting any better. She was got angry easily, always blamed and put herself down.

Days went by in horror and nightmares. Nightmares that felt so real and livid. Every night she ran against those bumpy roads, running away from a scary person that she couldn't even recall. Every night she heard the same rustling sound from that night in the forest over and over again. And every night she jolted up from her bed, all sweaty as she beseeched her lungs to let her breathe.

The police had come to question her somewhere in mid-April. But she only wailed and wept, begging forgiveness from no one in particular. The man whom she "recognised" as someone stunning, was nothing but a blur to her. No matter how hard she slammed her head against the wall, how hard she squeezed her temples or how much she wished to remember, it was all blurry.

"Mr Blurry Face" is what she called him, convincing her doctors to call him that way too at some point. It was kind of childish, but Haru had better things to do than give a shit. 

She had told the police that apart from the breathtaking man whose face was nothing but a smudged picture in her head, someone else (who wasn't a victim) was present at the crime scene. Yet, once again, her information was everything but helpful. 

After her session with a psychologist, one day, she stood in the hallway. Rain droplets ran down the window aggressively, and Haru observed them emotionlessly.

All that she oh-so-desperately wanted was to forget that horrifying night but remember it at the same time. It was a dilemma. If she remembered the way the man looked, she was afraid she'd go insane. But if she didn't, she'd go insane from all the guilt anyway. Which one would be worse?

A sudden slap on her shoulder made Haru jump. Her blood boiled at the sight of Choe Minji and her friend Man Soojin. She began trembling, her hands curling into fists as she bit onto her lower lip. 'W-what are you two doing here?' Haru spluttered as she twisted her body towards them.

'Wow, chill your nerves, freak!' Soojin grimaced as she took a step backwards, a pillorying undertone hiding in her voice. 'Just because you are insane it doesn't mean you have to take it out on others,' she lectured, and all Haru could feel was sheer bile. 

'Aren't you insane too? Isn't that why you are here?'

'What?' Minji scoffed, 'You think we are here because we are screwballs like you? No, dear, you've got it all wrong. I am here to kill time since my father is the director of this shitty building, and she is a friend who came along.'

'For what? Are you here to fucking bully patients who have already suffered enough? Does your "daddy" know what you are doing?' Haru took more steps backwards as she spoke.

She was indeed afraid since she had crossed paths with those two before, however, she also didn't want to be a wimp. 'Do you think you are cool? Powerful? Does it make you feel better to make fun of people living with disorders? Does it help your little insecure ass?'

The two bullies seemed to be taken aback by Haru's words, but soon the surprise was washed off their faces and replaced by groundless rage. They had no right to be angry as Haru was only speaking facts.

'Yeah, low-lives like you stand no chance anyway,' Minji blurted out, pootling towards Haru. 'You might even stay here forever, who knows? You are useless, utterly useless.' she stopped, cornering Haru with her arms, just like a cat trapping a mouse. Haru swallowed noisily.

'You are nothing but a useless freak.' Minji's intense and cruel eyes bore right into Haru's trembling ones, 'You. Are. A. Useless. Freak.'

At the acidulous remark, Haru froze, which permitted Minji and Soojin to thump her to the ground. The two ruthless girls proceeded to kick her in the gut, face and chest. Several times Haru had tried kicking back or getting up, but the painful tears were blurring her vision. 

Blurs, blurs and blurs again. She hated them. Because of all these "blurs", her life only became difficult.

The image of their plump and strangely uneven lips was stuck in her mind for some reason. They were fake. Those two girls were fake, and she was mad, weren't they all just losers in the end?

'What the fuck are you doing?!?' a low and raspy voice of a male rang in the corridor, making the two bullies immediately move away from the beaten-down girl.

───── ❝ end of f.b. ❞ ─────

'What the fuck is going on in here?!?' a familiar voice resounded in the hallway.

Mina and Hae-im instantly let go of Haru, letting her slide down the wall as she continued on trembling. Her hands flew to her head, sliding through her hair and clasping the roots as she buried her face into her knees. All this in a dumb attempt to silence her very much audible wauls. 

The male person who had come to interfere in the ruffians' wrongdoings dropped on his knees beside Haru, gently resting his hand onto her shoulder. Yet the girl only kept on crying, so much to the point where her shoulders were shaking. The man pulled her into his chest, caressing her hair as he looked up at the bullies.

'Gross fuckers!' Jimin spat out, his face very much unlike what he was known for. 'Get lost! Perish this instant! Do so before I make sure you really perish. And I suggest you don't try me on that,' he urged, watching as all the girls bowed to him in shame, except a few of them who just rolled their eyes. The group walked away, leaving the victim and the upstander by themselves.

'Haru-ya?' Jimin uttered softly, cupping her red face and making sure she was looking at him. 'They won't bother you anymore, okay? I promise. If this ever happens again, they are dead meat, okay? I promise that you have nothing to fear!' he consoled her before pulling her face back into his chest, rocking as if she was a baby.

'J-Jimin... thank you so much! If y-you h-hadn't come, I-I—'

'Shh...' Jimin hushed her, still patting her messy hair. 'It's okay. When you feel better, we can go back to the cafeteria. Yoongi's waiting there, he might get worried.' he smiled affectionately after receiving a nod from Haru.

...

It was finally the end of another exhausting day at university. During lunch, Haru refrained from telling Yoongi what had happened in the hallway; she wanted to tell him some other time. 

The trio met up at Jimin's locker and made their way out of the university together, prattling and ranting about classes as usual. When they had made it to the exit, Haru hurriedly spoke up before Jimin could bid them goodbye and asked if they all could briefly head to a nearby café because she had a favour to ask her two friends. 

"Unmyeong¹" was the café's name. 

Cliché, huh?

The interior was simple yet homey. Everything was mostly made out of wood and the overall aesthetic was beige and white. There weren't many people, so the place was relatively quiet except for the subtle ballads playing in the background. Haru was more than pleased to listen to "Can Love Be Fair?" by GSoul and Ben.

'So? What is it that you wanted to ask us?' Jimin piped curiously, his eyes ditching the menu briefly to analyse Haru's somewhat uneasy facial expression.

'Well, um...' she tugged her hair behind her ear, pursing her lips. 'Actually, there is this project in my designing class, it's due next Monday, meaning I have two days before the deadline,' Haru explained as she took a binder out of her backpack. 

'We were given time to start on our designs. I just need to finish a few things here and there, but overall the clothes are ready. I'll be finishing everything tonight, would you guys mind being my models? Please, please, please?' she pouted, handing Jimin and Yoongi a punched pocket from her binder.

Both seemed to be surprised at their friend's request. 

'And what would you do with the pictures?' Jimin inquired uncertainly, pulling the papers out of the punched pocket. He looked at the first design, showing it to Yoongi as well, and to say that both males were astounded was an understatement.

The first design was impressive. Not exactly original or colourful, but definitely Haru's style: dark, simple, refined. 'It's so good!' Jimin exclaimed, unable to close his mouth from all the astonishment he was feeling. 

'Thank you, hehe...' the designer giggled shyly, peering down at her lap. 'Well, I just need to present the photos to the class, so if that makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to. But honestly, everyone would just simp over the two of you,' she admitted, beaming cutely at the males in front of her. 

'Okay, I'm in.' Jimin shrugged coolly, his eyes twinkling as they landed once again upon the paper. 'I have two things that I am curious about though,' he said, and Haru nodded, beckoning him to vocalise his wonders. 'Which outfit is mine and which one is Yoongi's? Also, were you asked to draw men's outfits or did you have a choice?'

Yoongi's interest perked up, apparently, he had the same questions despite his quietness.

'Okay, well, um... do I need to explain the whole assignment?' she muttered, trying to mask up the excitement she was feeling. In reality, she adored the assignment, but she didn't want to bother her friends with its "whole story".

'Of course, we want to hear it,' said Yoongi. After all, he could read his friend like an open book, she was very happy about the assignment, and definitely looked like she wanted to tell someone about it. 

'Well, the assignment is a collaboration with my Korean literature class. As you know, I enjoy poetry and deep conversations,' Haru began, 'We needed to make outfits that contrast each other but give them meaning too. Now, to answer Jimin, the clothes' "gender" was unspecified, but for me, clothes don't have a gender anyway, so yeah,' she explained proudly, 'basically, I will have to present your photos.'

'So what's the contrast?' Jimin queried, pulling out the other design. 

'Darkness versus light,' Haru stated casually, 'but, it's not your usual life versus death concept. You see, the first outfit is all black, the other one is all white. Both of them are pretty simple, the concept is the main thing here. In my concept, the angel is unhappy, but the devil is rather unbothered. Shouldn't it be the opposite? This represents the pretty lie versus the ugly truth. The ugly truth hurts, but the pretty lie is worse.'

'Wow.' Yoongi breathed out, crossing his arms whilst leaning back in his chair. 'That's deep.' Haru slapped his shoulder since he sounded sarcastic. 'No! Seriously, wow. That's interesting, it's my style, I like it. And of course, count me in as well.'

'Thank you, guys. You are my Good Samaritans!' Haru kidded, snickering at her own words. 'So, see you Sunday?' 

...

All evening, Haru kept on fixing the designs she had prepared, making sure they looked perfect on the mannequins. She wanted them to look exactly like she had drawn them, so she stayed completely focused. Her playlist and cat kept her company as he purred while observing his owner from the chair that he was lying on. 

A sigh of relief left her lips when she was finally finished, leaning back to admire her work, and fortunately, it satisfied her. Haru giggled as she picked up Yeongi and sat down to cuddle him on the couch.

↳ TO BE CONTINUED... ❞

Author-nim's note:

Unmyeong¹= fate/destiny. By the way, when I wrote the date of the flashback there was no specific day so I put an x. I hope the story is going in a good direction so far!

Published date: 4/08/2021.

Word count: 3,105.

—jiminandhisjams