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03
Suturing Kit

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TAEHYUNG

January 3rd

Joy looks a little off today.

She's an underclassmen, but we're close since she's dating Sungjae, a good friend of mine. We're eating lunch in the classroom when Joy accidentally knocks someone's lunch over.

It's Jisoo's.

I admit she was friendlier than I thought yesterday, but still not the nicest. I get nervous for Joy when she looks up to Jisoo.

To my surprise, Jisoo doesn't say anything and simply starts picking up her lunch.

"You're not mad?" Joy asks.

"I don't care. I'm not hungry anyways."

"Is this some sort of scheme? Are you planning something?"

Jisoo looks at Joy apologetically, "I'm not. Just go about your day like normal and stop bothering me."

"Me? Bothering you?"

I can sense that a fight is about to break out. I don't know why, but Joy has been really jumpy and cranky. Only Sungjae knows what to do about it.

The two girls bicker some more while I text Sungjae.

"You know what? I wish that disgusting people like you never existed!" Joy yells, almost spitting into Jisoo's face. Jisoo remains silent.

While Jisoo was rude to those who talked to her, she never actively shunned or insulted anyone. It was more of her avoiding people in a bad way that gained a nasty reputation. I don't think Joy is right in what she's saying.

"I met this girl a few days ago, and she's amazing. She's brave, considerate, and kind. Her name is RC. She's the type of person I wish there were more of." If looks could kill, Jisoo would be dead by now with how Joy is glaring at her. "Instead, we have these—these bitches like you!"

With Sungjae nowhere to be found, I step in, lightly tapping Joy's shoulder.

"Joy, calm down, she didn't do anything to you—"

"Who cares? She's so fucking rude!" Joy reverts her attention back to Jisoo, "I hope you learn to have some compassion, or some kindness. Stop avoiding every person that exists as if they're the plague! You crazy psycho!"

Honestly, I think it's Joy who's feeling like a psycho right now.

"Joy, c'mon, let's find Sungjae—"

The chair loudly scratches the floor when Jisoo abruptly stands up. Her head is tilted down, and her face is hidden. I almost forgot that Jisoo is a person who has feelings too. What if Joy really offended her? From what I know, Jisoo didn't do anything to deserve Joy's outburst just now.

Jisoo runs out of the classroom with her head down and shoulders shaking.

Is she crying?

Joy is panting heavily as Sungjae enters the room. Now that he's here, Joy will be fine.

I'm not sure why, but my feet carry me to Jisoo.

I want to know if she's okay.

Joy and Sungjae are probably staring at me weirdly right now, because they don't like Jisoo, but I don't care. I follow her out of the classroom and find her in an empty hallway with her back faced away from me.

Her shoulders are shaking and her hands are covering her face.

Jisoo isn't evil.

I thought she was tainted by the Bangtan leaves, but that clearly wouldn't be true if she's here crying. I wince when I remember my bluntness on Monday. I shouldn't have told her that I thought she was evil.

When I saw her help the little kitten, she seemed like a different person.

It's because her guard was down.

On Monday, her guard was up because she doesn't want to be vulnerable. It makes sense though. That girl is carrying a lot of secrets about her family, feelings, and probably other things too.

I'm just curious about her, is what I tell myself as I carefully walk to her.

"Jisoo?"

Her head shoots up, and to my surprise she's... laughing?

She's laughing.

It's quiet, short and sounds like frantic inhales of breath more than anything, but her exposed teeth and scrunched up eyes indicate laughter.

"Wait, hold on—" She covers her face with her hands again while I stare in shock. "The irony-" She wheezes through chuckles.

Cute.

She finally stops laughing and looks at me, seemingly surprised,  "Uh, anyways, why are you here?"

I snap out of my thoughts, "I thought you were crying."

"Crying?" she scoffs, "Yeah right."

"Weren't you hurt by what Joy said?"

I'm asking questions without thinking now. This girl is way too confusing. Wait, is she evil? Maybe that's why she's laughing now—out of happiness that she made someone upset.

Jisoo's eyes soften. "Usually I'd get mad but she's not herself right now. People tend to say things they don't mean when they're upset."

Okay, not evil. I need to stop thinking that.

"That's... mature of you."

"Yeah." She starts walking away then turns to face me, "Also, if you were trying to check up on me, that's cool and all but I don't need it."

Her guard is up again. It's kind of fun being with her; I never know what to expect next.

"Nah, I came to ask you when we're meeting next. For the project," I clarify, though it's a blatant lie.

Jisoo's eyes widen. "Oh, right. Shouldn't have assumed that," she coughs a few times, "I can do tomorrow, since I don't have work."

"Sounds good."

We look at each other for a moment and her face lights up.

"I totally forgot," she says as she gets something from her pocket, "you forgot your phone at my house." She hands me my phone.

"Oh right, I forgot too." I grab the phone, "Thanks."

"How do you forget? Don't you need it?"

"I have two phones, actually. One phone for school and work, and the other one for games. I left the school phone at your house so... I didn't really look for it." I scratch my head as I explain sheepishly.

Jisoo's expression is unreadable. "Ah right, you're rich too," she mumbles.

An awkward silence washes over us and I break it with a sharp breath, "So! See you tomorrow?"

God I'm cringing.

"Dumbass. We're seeing each other in class too, but whatever."

With a nod, she walks off as I stare at her decreasing figure.

Jisoo is weird.

She's socially inept, but not awkward. She has compassion, but is cold. She's sure of her words, but not confident.

Weird, but not evil.

What's even weirder is how I find myself strangely looking forward to seeing her tomorrow.

___

As soon as I get home I call for Yoongi.

"Yoongi," I whisper into the bracelet as I shake it around.

A bright light blinds me temporarily and the bracelet starts to heat up. The oddness of it all amazes me. I still have to get used to this.

"Stop summoning me so much. What do you want?"

The dark haired man appears right in front of me and I grin. While this whole situation is unfamiliar, I'm still excited.

"Remember that girl I told you about? The one who I thought was uh... tainted?"

"Yes," he sighs, "and I told you that she's not, but you wouldn't believe me. Let me guess, you changed your mind?"

I chuckle sheepishly, "Yeah. I actually think I'm gonna try to be friends with her. She doesn't seem as bad as I thought."

"Great. Well, if that's all you want to tell me, I'm leaving--"

"Wait! I have more to ask!"

"Haven't I told you enough already?" Yoongi makes his way to the couch and lies down. "What."

"Didn't you say someone was tainted in the area? How do I find these people? You told me I'd know what to do when it happens but I don't even know where to get started! This whole thing is hard enough to just wrap my head around."

As I complain, Yoongi sits up straighter, actually thinking about my question.

"Okay, fine. I'll explain some more stuff, since you're so willing to listen. I heard that the other holder was a lot more skeptical."

"Wait what? Other holder?" I sit down on the other side of the couch in confusion.

"Have I not told you?" he looks at my furrowed brows. "I guess I didn't. Anyways, before I ran into you, another guardian was taking care of the rice cake shop, and he found the first holder. Right when I took over the shop, you came."

I think about it for a moment. There's someone else who has the same duty as me?

"So basically, you guys might work together to get all the tainted leaves. You guys have pretty much the same powers." 

"That sounds so cool! We'd be like a crime-fighting duo!" Excitement bubbles up in me when I imagine us working together to fight evil.

"Don't get your hopes up, buddy. For all we know, they might not want to work with you."

I frown, "But why not? We'd be stronger together, right?"

Yoongi sighs and leans back on the couch, "Yeah, but they might want to get that wish."

"Wish?"

"Wow, I forgot to tell you a lot, then," Yoongi says with a chuckle, "Whoever collects the most Bangtan Leaves and cleanses them can get a wish from the Boss."

I gulp, "A wish? Any wish?"

"Yep. It has to be a wish that you want from the bottom of your heart."

"How will they know that?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"The bracelet. If you really want something, it'll glow purple. Try wishing of something right now. Something you really want or need."

I furrow my brows while thinking.

What is something I want?

World peace? To end world hunger?

I shut my eyes for a moment.

"I guess you don't actually want whatever you're wishing for." Yoongi's voice breaks the silence.

The bracelet isn't glowing when I check it. "That's weird. I wished for world peace, so shouldn't it glow? It's something that I want."

"Yeah, but those wishes aren't personal. You're rich, Taehyung." Yoongi gestures to my large house, filled with fancifully patterned marble and stone. "You don't genuinely wish for it as much as you think, because you don't suffer personally from it."

And to think that I actually thought I was a good person.

"Don't feel bad about it. It's hard to actually want something like that," Yoongi says as if reading my thoughts.

"Yeah, I guess it's safe to hope that my partner doesn't want that wish too badly then too."

JISOO

January 4th

Annoyingannoyingannoying.

That's all I can think about while Taehyung and I are working on the essay. We aren't doing much, but I'm so freaking pissed.

Maybe it's because he keeps smiling like he's super happy, or maybe it's because he complimented my outfit today, even though I'm wearing the plainest jeans and shirt in my closet.

He's being friendly and I don't like it. Why would he want to be my friend?

"Jisoo, do you have plans later on today? We should hangout after working on this essay!" He chirps from across the table.

"No thank you. I'm visiting my brother tonight."

"Ooh, can I come along?"

"What? Of course not."

He pouts as if that answer wasn't expected. Seriously, why is he being nice all the sudden?

We continue working in silence when my phone dings.

jungkook

ur gift has shipped
go get it!

I couldn't hold myself back from grinning. I type a quick thank you and turn to Taehyung.

"Hold on, I'll be right back," I tell him, getting out of my seat to head to the mailbox downstairs.

Even though we said we'd work at his house, we ended up at my apartment again because I didn't want to leave Dude alone for so long.

"Where are you going?"

"I said I'll be right back," I scoff, and go to the door, "Don't do any snooping."

I rush downstairs to check my mail, and a small white package greets me. I quickly grab it and head back, not wanting to give Taehyung time to potentially look around further (not that there was much to hide).

"I'm back," I announce, shuffling my shoes off and making it back into the kitchen.

"Welcome back."

To my pleasure, no snooping seems to have been done. Taehyung is sitting in the same seat while scratching  Dude behind the ear—they seem to have gotten close.

I stare at the package for a bit before setting it down on the counter. I should open it later.

We continue working, occasionally asking each other questions like what our favorite food was, what was the first movie we watched, etc...

The meaningless information gets jotted down in my notes, but I can't use them in my essay.

My eyes drift to the package again. I wonder what's inside? I really want to open it.

"You can open it, you know?" Taehyung's voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I jump a bit.

"No, I'll open it later."

"But you look like you really want to open it. Is it something secretive? Oh my gosh, is it something embarrassing?" He looks way too excited to know what's inside.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"No."

"Yes," I say, then my eyes widen, "I mean—ugh, you are so annoying."

Taehyung grins. It's boxy and wide. "C'mon! I won't judge."

I really do want to open it, though. With a sigh, I grab the package from the counter and sit back down at the table to see what's inside.

I beam at the contents.  Jungkook knows me too well. 

It's a beginner's suturing kit.

"What is it?" Taehyung asks, and I feel myself getting self-conscious.

In my mind, I know it's not weird, but my body seems to disagree because I shove the box back into the package and hide it behind my back.

"Nothing."

"It can't be though, you looked so happy just now. I've never seen you smile so wide." He talks tenderly. It makes me feel like he actually likes me.

"Yeah, but it's none of your business."

"You always do that." He sighs, and I furrow my brows, "You always avoid opening up to people."

"I do not!" I counter, getting a bit angry. Who is he to tell me what I always do? He barely knows me— and I'd prefer to keep it that way.

"Then tell me what's in the package."

I want to slap that cheeky grin off his face.

"Fine!" I pull out the suturing kit and place it on the table with a huff, "It's a suturing kit that my brother got me for my birthday, happy?"

"It's your birthday?" He asks in awe while staring at the box.

"No, it was on the 30th of December."

"That's my birthday too!" He's grinning again.

"I know," I say simply, then grab the kit to put back in the package.

"Why suturing? You want to become a doctor?"

I almost tell him that it's none of his business again, but I don't want him to think that I'm... scared of opening up to people or something.

I bite my tongue, "Yeah. I've always wanted to be a heart surgeon."

Taehyung leans closer over the table in interest. "Really? How come?"

Please stop asking questions.

Ugh it's fine. It's not like he's gonna do anything with this information anyway. I take a deep breath.

"Well, I think it's a really fulfilling job—helping people or things. Like at the animal shelter yesterday, one of our dogs got adopted finally." I recall the bittersweet scene, "She came in really bad health, but we treated her to the point where several people wanted her and she ended up with a really nice family."

I smile fondly at the memory of the newly wed couple waving to us while holding her.

"That sounds really nice," Taehyung comments, "so that's why you want to become a surgeon?"

I hum as a response.

"Why a heart surgeon?"

Gosh, I'm really answering all these questions aren't I? I internally calm myself. It's just questions. Nothing scary. I shift my eyes to the table nonetheless, unconsciously playing with my hands.

"Well, my brother has coronary heart disease, and when he was like, five? Or six, I don't know, he had to get a really major surgery."

I frown thinking of it. He looked like he was in a lot of pain.

"Anyways, the surgeon was super nice and did a really good job. I'll never forget the amount of relief I had when he came out after an 11 hour surgery to tell us it went well. So that kind of inspired me." I chuckle a bit, and return my gaze to Taehyung.

Oh my god.

I really just told him all of that?

See? THIS is why I'm annoyed. I don't want to be friends with him. I don't want to get close with him.

His eyes are drilling into mine. I gulp because it seems like he's judging me.

"You're something else, Kim Jisoo," he finally says, sporting an oddly fond smile.

I try to hide my embarrassment with coughing.

He's probably said that line a bunch of times already. He has a lot of friends. I'm not going to let myself get close to someone only to have them leave me heart broken.

Not again.

"Shut up," I reply after a long silence of him staring at me while I try to work on the essay. He laughs in response.

Author's Note:

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME ACTION?!?!!??! (by action i mean both romance and ~magic~)

I don't usually update this much but OMG I just have so many things planned it's insane my head is about to explode from all these ideas.

Please vote and comment if you enjoy!! hehe ;)

<3 lalalalala7fire