╔═════ ∘◦ ✾ ◦∘ ══════╗

19
Ten Seconds

╚═════ ∘◦ ❈ ◦∘ ══════╝

TAEHYUNG

Her face pales; it's almost as white as the rising moon behind her.

"Wait, nevermind," I panic, in fear that I offended her somehow, "You don't have to answer tha--"

With an expression of utter mortification on her face, she hurriedly deserts me on this rooftop, running off into the darkening night. I watch as she disappears, too flabbergasted to even consider chasing after her.

Why would she fall in love with me out of all people? I'm clumsy and unattractive as V, always flailing behind her like a lost duck. Hearing that she loves that side of me is confusing.

But at the same time, it's nice?

It's normal for my heart to skip a beat when someone confesses to me, right?

A flashing light takes me out of my daze.

"Oh my god, that was so cool!" The girl from earlier appears from behind a wall, phone in hand. "You're those teen superheroes right? You did something to his chest!"

Fuck.

"Uh, I think you're hallucinating?"

"No, I didn't." She shakes her head, "I got everything on camera!" she marvels, motioning to her phone.

Yoongi is going to kill me. We're not supposed to let anyone know about our superhero lives; us getting on the news that one time was already bad enough.

"So how long have you been doing this? Is my boyfriend going to wake up with amnesia like they say on the news?"

Laughing uncomfortably, I start running away.

"I know you told me to go home, but I'm so glad I caught this on camera! My boyfriend will be fine, right?"

Her excited and slightly concerned chatter is drowned out by my haste to leave. Reaching the edge of the roof, I turn around with an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I gotta go, bye!"

"Wait, what about my boyfrie--"

I don't hear the rest because I jump down, sprinting on top of rooftops.

Dropping the transformation as I reach a dark alley, I heave out a heavy sigh. So many things happened in the past hour; I actually kind of did a mission by myself, that girl got footage of us, and RC confessed that she's in love with me.

Now that I'm thinking about it, she was probably irritated because I mentioned that I was on a date.

Wait... I was on a date!

Fuck, Jisoo's going to think that I stood her up! It's been like, two hours already. The air slices into my skin as I race back to the mall.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

My lungs are contracting so rapidly that it's hard to catch my breath when I finally make it to the mall. The people are looking at me like I'm crazy, and I feel a bit bad about pushing through them all.

By the time I get to the tenth floor where the cinema is, it's practically empty.

The theatre closes at eight tonight, and it's already seven thirty.

I tap a random janitor's shoulder, asking, "Excuse me, did you see a girl wearing a white skirt and pink sweater earlier? Long black hair? Really pretty?"

The janitor stares at me with bored eyes, "No." He continues to push his cleaning supply cart.

I bite my lip, scanning the area one last time.

No Jisoo.

___

"Okay, so I'm kind of obligated to tell you that you fucked up by letting that girl take a video of you, but I'm honestly proud that you saved RC so I'll let you off the hook."

"Good to know, Yoongles," I mumble into my pillow, which is where I've been for the past hour.

"Did you just call me Yoongles? And why do you sound sad? I'm literally praising you."

"Because," I lift my head up, meeting Yoongi's surprisingly concerned stare. "I messed up. With Jisoo and RC."

His expression is unreadable, but I definitely feel judged. "Go on."

"Like, I accidentally stood up Jisoo, and RC confessed that she's in... in love with me." My words soften into a whisper. I still can't believe it. "I don't know what to do. They're both people I care a lot about."

"Just do whatever you want to do," Yoongi says, lying down on the bed next to me in an oddly friendly fashion, "If you feel bad to Jisoo, apologize. If you don't like RC, then reject her."

"You make it sound simple," I grumble, "What if Jisoo doesn't forgive me? What if me rejecting RC affects our dynamic as partners?"

"What happens happens," he offers unhelpfully, "Just do what ya wanna do."

I roll my eyes, trying to make sense of his attempt at giving advice. Somehow, his casual demeanor does actually comfort me a bit, in his own Yoongi way.

"Thanks, I guess."

"No problem," he yawns, stretching his arms up and dragging some of the covers with him.

Maybe I should ask Jimin or Sungjae? They know more about girls than I do. But then again, I don't want them to know how badly I messed up. Aside from Jisoo, I have RC to worry about too.

Superheroing is stressful enough as is; how am I going to balance both lives when RC is in love with me? This is one of the moments where I wish that I didn't have this extra responsibility.

Didn't Yoongi say that he went through something like this too? Maybe he can help.

"Hey, Yoongles?"

I turn over, only to find him peacefully sleeping, curled up into a fetus position and cocooned in the covers.

That little man is such a grandpa. I sigh, already used to it, and get on my phone in an effort to distract myself for a bit.

One notification catches my eyes between the various texts from the taehyung is whipped af group chat.

It's from Jungkook.

kooks

what the fuck happened to jisoo?

she came to me crying like niagara falls
and i stg if you did this to her im never
playing overwatch With you again.

Shit.

I have my read receipts on, so as soon as I open the message, Jungkook knows that I'm online. He calls me.

I'm not ready, but I answer the call anyways, trying to wipe my sweaty hands.

"So what happened? I know you know because there's no other person that she could've been with," he bellows over the phone.

She could've been with the boy that she actually has a crush on, but maybe Jungkook doesn't know him. Or worse, Jungkook trusts him more than me.

"I'm sorry." My voice should not be shaking this much. "I promise that I'll explain everything."

"Okay? So where is the explanation? Because all I know is that Jisoo came into my room crying and told me absolutely nothing about what happened today. I'm counting on you to tell me the truth." His muffled voice over the phone is dripping with fury.

I tell him everything as naturally as I can, from our friends setting us up on a date to her having to leave because of diarrhea. When I get to the part about the tainted person, I say that I had a family emergency.

He seems to accept it, and though a bit wary, he calms down.

"Lemme get this straight," he starts, "As soon as Jisoo left for her diarrhea problems, you got a call from your parents, absolutely had to go home, and your phone got taken away so you couldn't send her a text?"

"Yes." I keep my answer short to avoid him hearing any trickle of nervousness.

A heavy sigh and a few mumbles of 'oh my god' later, Jungkook finally says something.

"Okay. I'm going to trust you." Immediately, a weight is lifted off my shoulders. "Make sure I don't regret it."

"I won't. I promise," I breathe out in relief.

"So... what are you going to do now? Jisoo may be pretty kind under that tough skin, but she doesn't forgive that easily," he says bitterly.

A pang of guilt nags at my chest. "I don't know. But I'm definitely apologizing."

"Duh. You better," he scoffs.

I get the feeling that I'm not completely forgiven yet.

"Would Jisoo like it if I went all macho romance on her? Like, if I showed up with flowers and a teddy bear and then serenaded her with a romantic song?" I ask mindlessly, only considering it a little bit.

For the first time in the conversation, Jungkook genuinely laughs. "I forgot that you're the sappy type," he jokes, "Yeah. She'd love that."

"I can't tell if you're being serious or not."

"Me neither, but I still think that you should do it." Jungkook's covers ruffle a bit, "Be yourself. If she likes it, great. If not, then y'all probably wouldn't work anyways."

"That's encouraging."

"That's the truth." I can almost hear him roll his eyes, if possible, "Don't overcomplicate things."

Yoongi's words from earlier ring in my head.

"What happens happens. Just do what ya wanna do."

Maybe he meant that I should just do things the way I want to, and whatever happens is meant to be. I shouldn't overthink everything, because then I wouldn't truly be myself. I need Jisoo to like me, and if that means showing her my sappy and/or unmanly side, then so be it.

Like at the movies, when I was myself and didn't try and pretend to be not scared, we actually ended up bonding more.

"--but she's always liked milk chocolates too, she just prefers dark chocolate. Anyways, she's the type who can't refuse any gift-- even if she's allergic to it --so don't worry too much."

Jungkook rambles about Jisoo's various likes and dislikes, cutely adoring his older sister over her tiniest quirks and most monumental acts of compassion.

"If you really want to win her heart, you gotta love animals. That girl loves cats and dogs so much it's annoying. You know Dude? She sends me minimum three pictures everyda--"

"Hey Jungkook?" I softly cut him off.

"What."

He's definitely eager to continue ranting about Jisoo. I realize that he doesn't have a lot of people to talk to him about her, for she is basically the only person he talks to everyday.

"Thank you."

My sincerity must catch him off guard, because I hear him go through a startled coughing fit.

"You good?" I laugh.

"For what? What are you even thanking me for? I didn't do anything."

"For being you. You love Jisoo so much and take care of her from behind so she doesn't feel like she's actually getting help -- she would hate that. You're awesome, y'know?"

He's silent for a moment.

"You too," he says quietly, "Not just for being Jisoo's friend, but for being mine. I would've totally cut ties with you if you intentionally hurt my sister, but I can tell that you really do like her. So thank you, for coming into our lives."

A smile finds its way to my face.

"No problem, Gukie."

He groans at the nickname, though there's no doubt in my mind that he's smiling too.

JISOO

Jungkook has stopped spamming me with texts and calls, so he either fell asleep or realized that I wouldn't answer.

God, I feel so dumb. I can't believe I'm crying over a guy.

It's like life is playing with me. It gives me hope and then it snatches it away.

When I was happy with my life as a kid, Jungkook suddenly got rushed to the hospital. When Jungkook was finally getting better, our parents divorced. When I gathered the courage to make friends, I had that whole fiasco with Joy. When I finally admit to my feelings for V, he casually mentions that he was on a date with his crush.

Now, I can't be sure of anything anymore. Nothing ever works for me.

To make things even worse, I completely lashed out at V for no reason, and now he knows that I like him. I keep messing things up and I hate it; it's spiraling me into a loop of self-doubt that I thought I had overcome years ago.

I roll over on the couch, repositioning myself so that my face isn't suffocated by my pillows anymore.

"Oh, you were awake?" Jin's voice appears from behind me, and I find him in the kitchen with some kitchen gadgets in hand. "Man, if I knew, I wouldn't have tried to be so quiet."

"Jin? What are you doing here?"

"I'm your guardian," he explains, not at all bothered by my congested voice and puffy eyes. "I'm supposed to check up on you after every mission.  But first, I'm gonna feed you because it's 2am and you haven't had anything yet."

He continues to prepare stuff in the kitchen, and pulling out chicken breast from the fridge. I stay silent, opting to watch as he starts chopping up onions and carrots.

"You look like a puppy," Jin laughs, "Like a hungry puppy that also sniffles every three minutes because it's allergy season."

"That's an oddly specific description." My eyes are glued to the chicken that's marinating in a sauce of some sort.

Watching him cook is strangely relaxing. I feel like a kid waiting for their mom to finish cooking dinner. After about ten minutes, Jin serves the grilled chicken and veggies, successfully dragging me out of the couch to eat something.

I don't think I've ever eaten with this much urgency before. In a record time of five minutes, the whole dish is gone.

"You really went ten hours without eating." Jin wipes the corner of my mouth with a napkin. "You're such a baby."

"I am not." I slap his hand in embarrassment. "I just forgot."

"Yeah, because you were too busy crying," he says, taking the plates from me and throwing them in the sink. "Now that you're full, let's talk."

"There is nothing to talk about," is my immediate reply.

"Oh honey, there is," he scoffs, "Maybe start with why you didn't eat for ten hours?"

"I said I forgot," I huff, though we both know that's not the answer, "Look, I don't want to talk about it, okay? There's no point. It is what it is and maybe I'm just not meant for having friends, or crushes, or a life outside my brother."

I stand up, hurrying to wash the dishes to avoid this conversation. The dishes clank together as I channel my frustration into them.

"Jisoo," Jin uses his stern voice, the one that I rarely hear, "Look at me." His tone softens a bit, but I'm still nervous.

"What?" I feel like a child who's about to get in trouble.

Jin walks up to me and holds onto my shoulders, eyes boring into mine.

"You're amazing. You're strong, kind, and capable of doing great things," he starts, "But you're also human; you have flaws, and that's okay."

"I don't know where you're going with this." I look away, blushing at the compliment.

"You have a fatal flaw." His hands leave my shoulder, instead going to turn off the tap. "You see your setbacks as a sign to give up. You see them as a sign that the things you want are impossible, but when things start to go well again, you never truly appreciate it."

I scoff, "That's not true!"

"It is. I'm not trying to undermine what happened today with V, but you started befriending Taehyung and even Joy on the same day. So you shouldn't give up on making friends, but it's still okay to be sad."

"How do you know that I was going to give up?"

"Because I know you, Jisoo." His firm words quiet down into an appreciative mumble, "Things didn't work out with V, but that doesn't mean you should give up on him. Just focus on doing missions and staying friends with him."

I blink a few times, not even noticing the tears pooling in my eyes.

"Life isn't out to get you. It's throwing these challenges your way but you can and will handle it. Setbacks aren't a sign for you to give up; it's a sign for you to move forward."

How does Jin always know what to say? My problems aren't erased, but I feel as though they're more bearable. I have people who care about me, but I don't have everything I want. For the first time, I'm feeling okay with that.

"Cry it out, hon," he says, pulling me into a hug.

As soon as my face hits his chest, I feel like a toddler having a tantrum. My cries are so ugly; they're half screaming and half sobbing. The pats on my head are comforting, though I feel embarrassed.

Jin pulls away from the hug, wiping my tears and probably internally laughing at how red and puffy my face is.

"Good job today, Jisoo."

February 3th

After much persuasion, Jin convinced me to take today off of school.

And frankly, I needed it. I hung out with Jungkook, who seemed oddly less curious to what happened, so I didn't tell him anything. He taught me how to play overwatch for the fiftieth time, and I still didn't understand it. It was fun, though. Therapeutic, really.

Overall, it's been a relaxing day. I'm choosing to leave the events of yesterday in the back of my head.

"Are you going home already?" Jungkook whines, putting away the last of his video game controllers. "It's only 7."

I laugh, "I skipped school today and hung out with you all day. I need to get back and feed Dude."

"I can't believe you care more about Dude than me."

"What can I say? She's cuter." I smile as I grab my bag. Truthfully, I could stay longer since Dude is staying at the shelter tonight, but Jungkook needs to rest.

As I grab my phone to put in my bag, it buzzes slightly.

An unknown number has texted me.

Unknown

hey u weren't at school today
what are u doing
this is joy btw

I tilt my head curiously at the message. Why would Joy text me? I only saw her yesterday when she came to help me get ready for the date with Taehyung.

Wait.

I totally stood up Taehyung!

Shit.

Who does that? I literally said I had diarrhea and left him in the dust without even texting him. Fuck.

Unknown

I'm totally okay.
How is Taehyung?

I bite my lip in anticipation for her answer. God, what if he hates me now?

"You look stressed," Jungkook comments, "Who are you texting? A friend?"

"Nah just a classmate," I say, shaking my head. "Nothing's happening."

The typing box goes away and then appears again.

Joy gave me her clothes and I haven't even returned them yet either. How did I let myself forget literally everything from yesterday except for what happened with V?

Unknown

he's fine
LOLOLOL

Oh okay. That's good.
When can I give you your clothes?

you can keep it
i don't like wearing skirts anymore

Are you sure?

mhm

anyways can i leave u
a piece of advice?

I swallow harshly at the inquiry. What if she's going to tell me off for being a horrible friend to Taehyung? I feel horrible. Gosh, I even missed half of the movie.

Unknown

Yeah.
What is it?

if u ever want to say thank you to tae,
call out his name and then
close your eyes for ten seconds

???

I don't get it.

just do it

It's like a secret friend code between us
It shows that you're realllyyyy thankful

It sounds weird.

trust me

I still find it incredibly weird, but Joy seems to be very confident. I guess not having friends for years has left me behind on all the trends. I trust her.

Unknown

Okay then.

YES!
ok now leave the hospital
and look to ur right.

What?
How do you know where I am?

Joy doesn't respond, instead, Jungkook actually gets up and opens the door. He grins cheekily and wiggles his eyebrows. What.

"Madam Jisoo, I suggest you go to the front and turn right. Oh wait--" He rushes over and pats my hair down, "There. Much better."

I stare at his gesture in confusion.

"What is this?"

"Oh my gosh, just go already!" He starts pulling my arm, and pushes me out the door, "Have fun!"

I laugh in confusion, but he's cute so I let it slide.

What is going on? First Joy, now Jungkook. I shake my head, deciding to play along and following the route.

This is where I usually go anyways, but I take extra care in looking around as I walk. When I make it to the first floor, I curiously scan all of my surroundings. The front door gets closer as my palms sweat harder.

I can't help but get a little nervous.

As soon as I open the door and turn at the corner, cold air greets me along with a bunch of flowers. Literally.

I'm pretty sure one of the petals goes up my nose with how it's being shoved into my face.

"Sorry! I didn't think that you'd be this close!" Taehyung panics, immediately yanking the flowers away.

I sniffle, rubbing my nose. "Taehyung? What are you doing here?"

"Hi."

"That doesn't answer my question," I say. He clutches onto the bouquet of flowers like they're his lifeline, awkwardly grinning at me.

"This is to make up for the uh, failed... d-date yesterday."

Oh.

Oh.

Guilt washes over me. I can't believe that after I stood him up, he still wants to redo that. I don't even think it was a date; his friends set him up on it. Honestly, I don't know what this is but the fact that he's here with flowers and stuff --

Oh my gosh.

That's why Joy and Jungkook were asking me those things! Were they all planning this together?

"It's okay if you don't wanna do it anymore... I mean, it makes sense after what happened."

He must mean that I might not want to hang out with him anymore because I left him halfway. Gosh, I feel so bad. I don't know if I want to go on this... date with him romantically, but I do feel bad about standing him up.

Besides, there's no way that he wants to actually date me; he has plenty of female friends and I'm just one of them.

He even brought flowers? Wow, he's such a good friend.

"No, I'll go with you."

"I get it, It's totally fine -- wait what?"

"I said that I'll go with you." I watch as his grin grows tenfold.

"Really?" he asks, though he's already slightly bouncing around.

"Yeah," I chuckle, not finding it in myself to fight the smile that arises at the sight of Taehyung's eyes glowing. "What are we doing?"

"You have no idea!" He shoves the flowers into my arms, "Well, first, we could take some pictures with the flowers, and then we could go get some ice cream? I don't know. Do you like ice cream? I like ice cream."

I marvel at the flowers for a moment, admiring the red and yellow roses. They smell nice.

"Don't feel pressured if you don't like ice cream! There's also churros nearby?"

He's awfully excited to be hanging out with someone who stood up with him. I should apologize for that at least, but I feel like it'll ruin the mood.

Maybe I should thank him? Do what Joy told me earlier?

"Oh, there's also that frozen yogurt place, but it's similar to ice cream, so honestly we should just get ice cream since it's closer and--"

"Hey Taehyung?"

He whips around, eyes round and curious. It's cute. I feel like I don't tell him enough how grateful I am to have him as a friend.

I close my eyes and count down from ten.

Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Author's Note:

so... are you in love with the new gifs/banners? (if you don't notice different banners, it's bc i went in and changed all the previous chaps already lol) well you should because my amazing friend nana aka kookstopia made them for me! she also has a gif shop so y'all MUST go check it out and shower her with love asap!

thank you so so much for reading hehe i love u

<3 lalalalala7fire