Chapter 4 :
[ Upgrade Your Standards ]

• • •

TO SAY THAT I WAS BEWILDERED WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT. I was going through the four phases of grief, back and forth. Shock and numbness, yearning and searching, disorganization and despair, then back to shock and numbness. A loop repeating itself again, and again, and again, without leading to reorganization and recovery.

"What?" I let out, dumbstruck.

"Min Yoongi? You never heard of him? He's popular though," Jimin looked at me, his arms wrapped tightly against his chest, his cheeks a pale pink and his eyes puffy. "He's the football team goalkeeper."

"I know him," I murmured. "But let me get this straight. You like Min Yoongi?"

Jimin nodded, chewing on his bottom lip.

"Alright... But what do you like about him? His looks?" I asked, twirling my hair around my finger.

Yoongi is the type of person that even if you want to describe him nothing comes to mind. No matter how accurate it might be, he never appealed to my senses. If I had to associate Yoongi with one of the big five core personality dimensions, It would probably be either introversion or neuroticism.

Nothing would justify the reason why Jimin is attracted to him. Yoongi wasn't a bad person. Yet he wasn't a good person either.

I had been putting a lot of thought into it and I just don't think dating Yoongi was going to work for Jimin. Yoongi was probably a player, a jerk.

"His lips. His smile. His pale skin. His eyes. His hair. His style. His personality. His songs. His talent," Jimin smiled sweetly, blushing a little. "Him." He confessed. "I love everything he does, everything he says, everything he is. In a sea of people, my eyes will always search for him and him only."

I let out a low whistle with an eyebrow raised. "Damn, man, you're too deep into this."

"He's always on my mind; Early in the morning, late at night and every second in between. I'm losing myself," Jimin ruffled his hair, frustrated. "I'm sure he's straight though."

I wheezed.

"Yoongi? Straight?" I burst out laughing, despite the efforts to hold it in, hitting the table multiple times. "Don't fucking joke like this, man," I chased an imaginary tear from eyes.

"What?"

"What?" I repeated after him. "Yoongi is the gayest person I know."

"I am the gayest person you know."

"No, you're my gay hoe," I pinched his rosy cheeks.

Jimin slapped my hands away. "You wish."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, pretty boy," I said while sipping the last drop of coffee in my cup. "Oh, also," I leaned closer to his ear, making sure no one is eavesdropping. "I hacked our University's database."

Jimin stared at me as if I was mental. To be honest, I might be.

I watched as his mouth formed an uncharacteristic 'O' shape and his eyes grew wider. "I can't believe it," He mouthed. "Do I know you? Who are you?"

"You're exaggerating."

"You would look good in prison stripes."

I rolled my eyes, the cup of coffee still cradled in my hand. "Each student has an account with their personal information. Wanna check yours?"

"Of course, duh," He replied, moving around the table to settle next to me.

We were side by side when I grabbed my laptop from my backpack, putting it next to the two empty cups of coffee. "Don't expect too much."

"Yes, ma'am."

I opened the laptop and ventured the list of names, searching for 'Park Jimin'. When I finally found it, I clicked on the link.

NAME: Park Jimin
MAJOR: Fine Arts
AGE: 20 years old
DATE OF BIRTH: 13/10/1995
HIGHT: 1,74 m
EMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]
PHONE NUMBER: 82************
STATUS: Single
FAMILY: A brother
SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT: 5000 $
HOBBIES: Dancing, singing, ...
SEXUALITY: Gay

"They know you well," I teased him— almost instinctively at the seeming reminder that I should be doing so.

"Fuck. How come they figured out my sexuality? Are they stalking me or something?" He looked at me then turned away, frowning at the screen. "It's creepy."

"Your sexuality ain't a secret to anyone, Jimin."

"True." He said. "But let's pretend they never knew."

I dragged my fingers over the black keyboard, revealing his University results.

YEAR 2020;

DANCE: 97/100
SINGING: 98/100
SONGWRITING: 86/100
SPORT: 99/100
THEATER: 52/100
DRAWING: 100/100
SCULPTURE: 89/100
LITTERATURE: 76/100
PHYSICS: 99/100
MATH: 32/100
HISTORY: 43/100
KOREAN: 82/100

That's Jimin's thing— He's a thinker, an observer, a smart person. Nonetheless, his intelligence was not a gift from the skies but a marathon, an effort he had to go through. As an honor student, Jimin had worked tirelessly for years to achieve perfection.

Step by step. Day by day.

"Not bad."

"As if you could do better," Jimin challenged me.

I raised my eyebrows. "Watch and learn, Kid." Without much thought, I skipped to my profile account.

NAME: Hwang Hiba
MAJOR: Health and Medicine
AGE: 19 years old
DATE OF BIRTH: 06/05/1997
HIGHT: 1,55 m
EMAIL ADDRESS: [not determined]
PHONE NUMBER: 82************
STATUS: Single
FAMILY: Parents and A younger sister
SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT: 5200 $
HOBBIES: Reading, listening to music, ...
SEXUALITY: [not determined]

Jimin scoffed, pushing himself back in his chair and folding his arms over his flat stomach. "Sexuality not determined? Aren't you straight?"

"I never dated someone before, so how could they guess, idiot?" I said, examining the page in front of me.

YEAR 2020;

MATH: 99/100
CHEMISTRY: 100/100
ANIMAL BIOLOGIE: 100/100
PLANT BIOLOGY: 92/100
PRACTICAL WORK: 98/100
CREATIVE WRITING: 82/100
LITTERATURE: 93/100
FRENCH: 97/100
ARABIC: 99/100
KOREAN: 79/100
SPORTS: 12/100

I smiled and leaned back to look at Jimin — that's how it's done, bitches.

"Still, you literally suck at sports." Jimin pointed out. In a matter of fact, I can't jog half a mile without sweating like a cow.

Suddenly, a notification popped on my phone screen. 'Noor_1997 posted a message' It said.

I naively pressed my thumb on it.

'Noor_1997:
My best friend, Hiba, can't walk properly, her backaches increased, any remedy for that?'

What the fucking fuckery is this?

• • •

Author note: Why is everybody getting a lover? Did I miss the lover bus or something?

🚌                🚶🏻   wait...
🚌             🏃🏻  HOLD UP!
🚌💨          🏃🏻 ARE YOU SERIOUS?!
🚌💨              🏃🏻 FUCK MY LIFE!!

(P.S: Sorry, I always wanted to do this...)