Kim Taehyung.
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After seeing him, you braced for the inevitable swarm of fans, expecting them to flock around him. But they didn’t come. It was just him.
You didn't want to risk being caught in the ensuing chaos. Figuring they'd eventually discover his location, you decided to leave, intending to avoid any interaction. Not a word, not a glance.
Just as you were about to pass him, he reached out and grasped your hand.
You looked up, startled, curiosity battling with apprehension. What was he about to do?
Just who did he think he was, anyway?
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.
You were baffled. Why would Mr. Popular apologize to *you*? You didn’t want to waste his precious time.
“For what?” You tapped your foot impatiently.
“For attending this school.” His grip tightened slightly on your hand.
You understood. He was apologizing for the disruption his presence caused.
“Yeah, I bet you are,” you replied, refusing to succumb to his charm.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen. I don’t want people following me around constantly, I don’t want them dropping everything just to see what I’m doing. I’m sorry.”
“You seriously don’t like it?”
“I absolutely hate it. I have no privacy. Everyone’s always on my case. I get terrible headaches from the screaming that surrounds me. I can’t even stretch without accidentally smacking someone in the face. My friends stay loyal, but it's hard for them to be around me with all the girls. I can tell they’re annoyed, and they have every right to be.” Taehyung poured it all out, his voice laced with sincerity.
“What did you do that made you so popular?” You'd always been fascinated by other people’s stories, though asking often drew ire. Remembering this, you braced yourself to retract the question if necessary.
But before you could, Taehyung was already explaining.
“I don’t know, really. From what I overhear, girls think I’m attractive, and guys think I’m cool. I don’t agree with either of them.”
Taehyung let out a restrained chuckle, dropping his gaze to stare at the ground.
You had complained relentlessly about Taehyung and his entourage since the beginning of the school year.
You hadn’t once considered how this affected *him*, the center of it all. It was your turn to apologize now.
“No, I’m sorry. I’ve been bitching about you to myself without knowing the whole story first.” Rethinking all the harsh comments you’d made, your stomach twisted with guilt and regret.
“Well, thank you for hearing me out.”
“But why did you feel the need to apologize to me, though? I’m not the only student annoyed by you.”
“It’s the little things I pay attention to. That glare you shot me earlier… I pay more attention to that than if you slammed your locker shut and cursed my name. I would have ignored you. That's just the way I've always been.”
“Oh.” You replied, slightly dumbfounded.
“If you don’t mind me asking, why are you always by yourself at school?”
It was Taehyung’s turn to question you, and even though it was fair since you'd been interrogating him all this time, you couldn’t help but feel defensive.
Had he been watching you? It was the only way he could have noticed.
But then again, it was glaringly obvious you had no friends. Anyone could notice it at a glance. It didn’t take years of observation and a doctorate degree to figure it out.
You pulled your knees up to your chest and sighed. “I don’t know. That’s just how it’s always been. I actually kinda like it, to be honest. But don’t get me wrong, I did try to make friends at first, but they all turned out to be fake, or Taehyung-obsessed humans who just wanted someone to fangirl with.”
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t be. Like I said, I like it.” You smiled at him.
You stayed on the roof with Taehyung, continuing your conversation. Hours melted away as you discussed everything and anything, agreeing on almost every topic.
You laughed. You really enjoyed it because you didn’t have any friends. And he made you feel like you did. He *was* that friend to you.
Taehyung was so relaxed when he was alone, and you liked that.
You felt like you'd been up there for hours, and it was true. You and Taehyung had missed the entire day of classes.
“Oh snap, the day’s over!”
“Really? It is?”
“Yup,” he said confidently.
You both stared at each other for a moment, then burst into laughter at the absurdity of the situation.
Then the door swung open. You jumped away from Taehyung, fearing it was his fans who had finally found him.
“You two, the giggly bunch. Come with me.”
It was an administrator.
Taehyung stood up and extended his hand to help you up, since you were sitting on the roof floor. You took his hand and unconsciously kept it there as you followed her down the hall, heading toward the principal’s office.
You hadn’t realized you were breaking the unspoken rule: *touching Taehyung was forbidden*.
A crime you had just committed in front of the whole school.
You were absolutely confused as to why people were staring at you. Taehyung was wondering the same thing. He looked at you, his face showing his confusion. You cocked an eyebrow and shrugged your shoulders in response.
The multitude of eyes fixed on you made you so uncomfortable. You wondered how Taehyung managed it. You hadn’t spoken to or even been noticed by anyone at school since you stopped trying to make friends, and you liked being unnoticed.
You hung your head, keeping your eyes down, wondering why it was taking so long to reach the office.
And that’s when you saw it: your small hand enveloped by Taehyung’s beautiful, larger hand. Slightly swinging back and forth between you and him.
You tugged on his hand to get his attention, and when he was looking your way, you whispered, “it’s our hands.”
He smirked. “So? Let them watch.”
You had accomplished, within hours, getting closer to Taehyung and even touching him. Girls who had been chasing him since middle school hadn’t even gotten close to breathing the same air as him.
This enraged them.
You really wanted to tell Taehyung, “No, we should stop,” or “That’s enough,” or maybe, “Stop, they’re going to get mad at me.” But you didn’t. Kim Taehyung had decided he wanted to be your friend. Who were you to stop him? Besides, as your friend, you didn’t mind him holding your hand. So you let him continue. You even tugged on his hand again just to smile at him. And when he returned your smile, he decided to lace his fingers between yours. You were shocked and hung your head once again, blushing profusely. He noticed and chuckled.
Taehyung actually wanted to wrap his arm around you, but he figured that would be too much. He wanted to tease you, not kill you.
////
“Okay, Mr. Kim, Miss Y/L/N. What were you doing, ditching basically all your classes? It’s the end of the day and the school’s about to dismiss its students!”
Taehyung started. “Mr. Bunkle, we’re sor—”
That’s when you intervened.
“Sorry? No, no, no. Our teacher basically abandoned us. Seriously, who takes a piss that long?”
Taehyung tried to suppress his laughter, managing only a smile.
“Miss Y/L/N, you’re testing my patience.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” Your principal was already furious. You should tone it down.
“Now, back to you, Mr. Kim. Did you know the type of chaos that occurred due to your absence? Hm?”
“No, sir.” You could hear the annoyance in his tone.
“There were mobs of girls screaming, searching the whole school for you.”
“So why aren’t *they* in here being scolded instead of us?”
“Good question, Taehyung,” you thought.
“Because you’re the cause of it all!”
This is where you snapped.
“UNMM. With all due respect, sir, Taehyung never asked for this. Those girls chose to make him their obsession. He didn’t come to school with intentions of making what’s happening now happen. So you might actually want to get the group of girls you mentioned, who were parading the school searching for Taehyung. I guess they missed all of their classes too, right?” You were defending the boy you’d despised for years, and just gotten to know today.
“Okay, but I still can’t ignore the fact that he ditched classes with you.”
“But sir, we didn’t ditch.” Taehyung added, and you looked at him in confusion since you both had skipped. But you played along.
“Yeah, we were…” he continued.
“Hiding,” you picked up for him.
“Yes, hiding from those crazy girls.”
The principal bought it and told you and Taehyung that he’d conference with them tomorrow. He let you go with a warning, saying if they bother you guys again, you should come to him.
You and Taehyung walked out of school together. Taehyung walked towards his car, and you walked with him.
“Well, today was… fun?”
“Yeah, it was,” he flashed you a boxy grin. It made you laugh.
“I’ll see you around, I guess.”
“Yeah, see you around.”
He was about to get into his car when he suddenly turned around and said, “wait, your number.” He approached you with his phone at hand. You pulled out your phone as well, and you and Taehyung swapped numbers.
He saved his name in your phone as ‘Boxy Tae????????.’
And you saved your name in his phone as ‘Clever Y/N????????.’
Once you got your phones back from each other, you both started laughing.
“Bye ‘boxy Tae.’”
“See yah, ‘clever Y/N.’”
He drove off, and you walked home. Your house was just a couple of sidewalks down from school, so you didn’t mind walking, and the weather was perfect.
You clutched your phone tightly to your chest and smiled, thinking about your new friend and potential best friend, Kim Taehyung.