"What do you mean, 'you went on a date?!'" Jimin screeched. A group of students clustered in the desks near us turned around and glared at him. Immediately, he leaned in and lowered his tone. "Are you crazy? After I warned you?"

"He wasn't bad at all!" I protested. "Some athletes locked me in the janitor's closet, and he saved me, so I agreed to go on a date with him."

"Athletes?" Jimin groaned and buried his face in his hands. He let out a high-pitched squeal of annoyance. "This just keeps getting better and better. Why didn't you call me? I could've helped you!"

"You'd already gone home!" I exclaimed in protest. "It would've taken you ten minutes to get to school, and honestly, do you think that you can take on the varsity team?"

Jimin scoffed. "Maybe I do," he shot back, before realization hit him. "Wait--how did Taehyung save you?"

I shrugged. "He just convinced them to," I replied nonchalantly. "It was weird, but I guess they respect the class president."

Jimin studied me for a few seconds before looking away.

"Alright, alright," he said. "At least you're safe. But please, in the future, stay away from Taehyung. I'm begging you."

"Why?" I implored. "What's so wrong with him?"

Jimin remained quiet for a second, sucking his bottom lip as he thought. His eyes seemed troubled, though I just couldn't understand why. Was it so bad that he couldn't tell me a single reason?

"What happened on the date?" he asked finally. "Anything weird?"

"Nothing happened, so don't worry," I answer. "It was fun, honestly."

"But did he ask you anything about yourself?"

I furrowed my brow. "Yeah, I think so," I ventured. "He asked me about my childhood with the ocean or something, and then he asked me what I was, which was a weird question. He never clarified what that meant."

Jimin's eyes widened. "No, no, no, Sori," he worried. "Could you please avoid him? You really have to this time, I mean it. Honestly, why are you like this? Why do you have to make me repeat myself over and over? Can't you just listen to me?"

"What do you have against him?" I demanded. "Are you jealous or something? I don't listen because I genuinely just can't see what you see, so I might as well find out myself!"

"No!" he retorted indignantly. "I just... don't trust him at all. Neither should you."

I crossed my arms and huffed. We stared each other down for a few seconds, both trying to be the more persuasive one, but Jimin wasn't going to get to me. I didn't see what was so bad about Taehyung, and if there really was something wrong, I'd have to learn that lesson for myself. But in the meantime, I'd plow on through to try to prove him wrong. I exhaled through my nose and blew a strand of hair from my face before breaking our standoff.

"And what if I like him?"

All the color drained from Jimin's already-pale face. His eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open, so far that I thought his jaw would unhinge. Immediately, he lunged forward and clasped my hands in his, which were surprisingly warm.

"Please tell me you're kidding," he gasped. "God, help us."

"What?" I tore my hands from his. "Jimin, can you please explain why you hate Taehyung so much?"

"I don't," he said. "I just hate him around you. Believe me when I say that he'll put you in danger."

"I don't understand...?" I did my best to read Jimin's expression, but I couldn't decipher anything. He was my best friend, and only friend at this school, yet he was hiding something from me. What could it be?

The bell rang, and the teacher clapped to get our attention before turning to write on the board to begin the lesson.

-

"Okay, class, don't forget that there's a test over this unit next week!" The last bell of the day rang, and the sound of all the students packing up sounded the classroom.

I shoved my binder into my backpack. "Hey Jimin," I said, turning to the desk next to me, "are you-?"

His desk was empty. I looked up to see him already halfway out the door, his pace faster than normal. With a exasperated sigh, I zipped up and shouldered on my bag before rushing after him.

"Hey, Jimin, wait up!" I shouted, weaving through streams of other students. I bumped into a few people while chasing after him, but no one said anything, since they were either too busy or too unwilling to say something to an upperclassman.

"Jimin-ah!" I pushed past a group of third-years to see him disappear into the boys' bathroom. Slowing down to halt, I huffed in irritation. Just my luck. I crossed my arms and stood outside the door, ready to interrogate the boy as soon as he walked out.

As I leaned my head against the wall tiredly, I heard voices from within the bathroom. I looked up in confusion. The bathroom didn't seem to have good insulation. That would suck for someone with explosive diarrhea. Curious, I pressed my ear against the wall to hear better.

"I'm warning you," said a voice that sounded like Jimin's, "stay away from Sori."

A deep chuckle echoed off the bathroom tile. "Or what?" prodded the person that it belonged to. I realized that it was Taehyung with a jolt. "I have the same intentions as you, Jimin."

"I won't have you hurting her," Jimin growled. "She's my responsibility."

"Oh, please," Taehyung scoffed. "She likes me, and I've decided that I want to protect her. Is that so wrong?"

"It is because I don't trust you to," spat Jimin.

Taehyung laughed. "I don't care what you think, Jiminnie," he said. "If you don't want to work together, she'll have to choose, won't she?"

I backed away from the bathroom slowly, my mind stunned from the unexpected exchange. What on Earth were they talking about? Were they fighting over me? I didn't think it was an good time to talk to Jimin anymore, so I turned on my heel and walked away quickly before one of them could leave the bathroom and see me. As curious as I was, it didn't seem like an appropriate topic I could just ask about, because honestly, I was afraid of what the answer might be.

-

"So, where do you want to sit?" Jimin asked. It was the next day, and the bell had just rung for lunch. The two of us wandered the lunchroom to find an empty table.

"There?" I pointed to a half-empty table. The occupants were four girls that didn't look too intimidating. Jimin nodded, and we sat on the two seats on the edge, farthest away from them.

"Hi, Sori!" As I was getting out my lunch, I turned to see Taehyung approach me. "Do you want to eat with me?"

"Um..." I was unsure of what to say. Immediately, I remembered the other day in the bathrooms. Jimin was already glowering at the intruder, and I didn't know how to exactly handle the situation without hurting someone's feelings.

"She's already eating with me," Jimin snapped.

Taehyung's expression turned stony. "She went on a date with me," he answered pointedly. His gaze softened when he looked at me. When he spoke again, his voice was velvety and crystal-clear, and I felt my eyes glaze over just listening to it. This feeling again? "Sori, don't you want-"

"Stop." Jimin stood up from the table and faced Taehyung with a furious expression. I blinked away the haze that had begun to settle over my mind with Taehyung's words. Even though Jimin was shorter, his rage made him seem more intimidating. The atmosphere immediately tensed up, and the other students had noticed as well. I felt all eyes in the cafeteria turn to us three, and my cheeks flamed in embarrassment.

"Taehyung," I began nervously, desperate to diffuse the tension between the two, "you could sit with us? There're empty seats right here."

I held my breath. Jimin smirked. Taehyung scowled for a moment, before turning to me with a forced smile.

"Oh, alright," he said, cheerfully sitting down next to me. "Thanks, Sori."

"No problem..." I stole glances at the two boys sitting next to and across from me. They refused to look at each other, and silence settled over our table.

What was up with those two?