29.

Jungkook P.O.V

I was jerked awake by the shrill sound of my alarm, which happened to be the sound of a baby crying, in autotune.

Before anyone comments on my choice of alarm, I would like to say that I would rather have something unpleasant to hear as my alarm, than something I like which is soothing, because I don't really give a damn about 'pleasantly starting my day'.

After all, you'd wake up faster to turn off the horrendous alarm.

The pleasant alarm would do nothing but make me sleepier, and end up making me wake up much later than I was supposed to.

Simple logic.

This time, however, I got to my feet to turn off the alarm faster than I had ever done, for two similar reasons, the similarity being the overly-handsome man sleeping soundly in the bed opposite to mine, Kim Taehyung.

One, I didn't want to wake Taehyung up so early, because he looked so beautiful while peacefully sleeping.

Two, I didn't want him to hear my ghastly horrifying alarm ringtone, because he might jump awake, thinking he was kidnapped by some child-harasser, forcing a child to sing, while being tortured.

After silencing the ear-piercing tortured screaming alarm, I turned back cautiously, and found him sleeping, undisturbed, as he was before.

Huh. He was a heavy sleeper.

I looked around the room. The sun's waking rays were peeking through the bedroom window. I bent down to pick up a fallen pillow, no doubt, kicked by my feet when I was asleep.

I lifted myself up, my curly hair falling over my eyes.

I turned my head to face my temporary roommate once again. The sun's vibrant rays sent a glossy, gold sheen all around the room, blending with the falling leaves of autumn, lighting his silvery-grey hair like a fiery halo.

I was awestruck yet again by his beauty. Taehyung was hugging a pillow to death. If the pillow was alive, I'm fairly certain it would've passed out for multiple reasons; the amount of force he was putting on squeezing the pillow, as well as his beauty, not necessarily in that order.

I closed my eyes, turning away, trying to think of anything else. Just as I was thinking, 'Why am I not feeling hungover from last night?', I felt last night's food quickly make its way up my throat.

I widened my eyes, and rushed to the bathroom, forgetting to stay silent this time.

I had read and heard many people describing hangovers as painful and annoying and just shitty in general. But no one had warned me just how painful and annoying and shitty it was gonna be.

Quickly opening the toilet's lid, I dispelled my stomach's half-digested contents, which thankfully wasn't a lot. A wave of dizziness hit me, causing me to grip the toilet for support.

No doubt, it was a very disgusting sight.

So, naturally, Kim Taehyung had to witness it.

"First hangover, huh?"

I weakly turned my head back, and found him leaning against the bathroom door's frame, arms folded over his chest, staring at me with an amused grin.

I squinted my eyes. "What makes you think so?" I asked, with slight indignation, because, for all he knew, it could've been my third or fourth time (even though it wasn't).

"Well, the way you're holding the toilet, as if it's something really disgusting, just screams amateur to me." Taehyung shrugged, trying to stifle his laughter.

I looked at my hands, that were indeed holding the toilet with only three fingers, trying to reduce the contact surface area as much as possible.

"I mean, toilets are disgusting, so I don't see the problem in that," I said.

Taehyung scoffed amusedly. "That's exactly what I mean by amateur. Most of us just don't care about how dirty it is, and even sit on the ground, puking our guts out."

The three fingers, that were delicately placed on the toilet, detached themselves from it. "Oh."

Taehyung shook his head, smiling, and came forward to help me to my feet. "How are you feeling?"

I took a moment to regain myself. "Extremely lightheaded."

"Understandable."

I washed my mouth and face, and came out of the bathroom, to find Taehyung casually scrolling through his phone. I frowned. "Hey, how come you aren't feeling hungover and puking?"

Taehyung laughed shortly. "Oh, I'm hungover; it's just that I'm super good at hiding it. As for puking, well, it's a secret, but I'll show you."

He held out a strip of tablets.

"Are those some sort of anti-hangover tablets?"

Taehyung nodded proudly. "They help reduce most of the side-effects, including nausea."

"Did you have that with you, the entire time?"

"Sure did."

"And you never thought of offering me one?"

Taehyung laughed again, which was annoyingly attractive. "Well, I did think of it, at first, but then I decided to let you have the complete hangover experience."

I rolled my eyes, scoffing. "Well, it's done now, so could I have one pill?"

"Say 'please'."

"Wha— do you want me to beg for it, or something?!"

I thought I heard him say, "Precisely," but that would've been too weird, so I shook my head.

"Didn't quite get that," I said, instead.

"Saying please isn't that difficult, is it? Plus, it's polite manners, when sweetly requesting for something," Taehyung said, solemnly.

"Dude," I said, "today is my first day of uni, and I don't want to make a total fool out of myself, and be labelled as something like 'drunk-ass', so please have some mercy on me, and just give me a damn pill!"

"Crankiness is also a part of hangovers, you know?"

I closed my eyes, trying to stable my breathing and increasing heart rate. After a good ten seconds, I opened my eyes, to see him standing right where he was, a smirk on his face.

I was reminded of last night's events due to that smirk. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of getting a reaction out of me, like yesterday.

So, I walked towards my bed, and began folding the blanket. I brought some nice clothes from my closet, and made my way towards the bathroom, intent on getting through the day with a smile on my face, even if it was a forced one.

Before I could get inside, however, I felt a hand tightly wrap around my wrist, pulling me back with immense force.

I lost my balance, and stumbled right into Taehyung's arms, my eyes widened. He opened my hand, and placed a small, circular pill on my palm, before pushing me back into the bathroom.

I looked at my wrist, and saw a red mark where he had gripped my hand. It stung and hurt, but I liked the pain. Taehyung didn't look like it, but he sure had a lot of strength.

I swallowed the pill, and switched on the shower, trying not to think too much about the man outside.

-

I walked out of the bathroom, wearing only my towel around my waist, trying not to seem too eager to show-off my body to Taehyung once again.

I was left disappointed, because I was met not with Taehyung, but Hyunjin, my actual roommate.

He looked like he had walked through a thunderstorm, and came into the dorm room. His clothes were dishevelled, and inside-out, as if he had worn them in a hurry.

His blonde hair was tied back, into a ponytail, except his hair was a little short to put into a ponytail, and it was so messy, that it ended up looking like a blonde stump at the back of his head. The hair in the front were sticking up, as if he had been electrocuted.

Hyunjin looked as if he didn't want to be seen, as if he wanted to be inconspicuous, and here, I found him, dressed in nothing but a towel around my waist.

Ah, it gave me déjà vu, except our roles were reversed this time.

When he finally saw me, his eyes widened dramatically, and he began fanning himself, one hand on his heart. "Oh my God!" Hyunjin said, his voice becoming high-pitched. "Holy shit, bro, you're so sexy. That body, with that face, with those tattoos, absolute killer."

I choked on my spit, becoming very self-conscious all of a sudden.

Hyunjin came closer to examine my body. "Dude, you're so ducking hot. What a pity, if I wasn't already behind another cute guy, I would've definitely dated you, because goddamn—" his eyes followed the tattoo sleeve on my arm, down to my abs, "—your body puts my awesome body to shame. You know, you should try roaming around campus half-naked. By the end of the day, everyone will be simping on you, and you'll be super popular. Isn't today your first day? Even better, start off with a bang, and you'll never be forgotten."

My eyebrows were continuously raising, and my jaw dropping lower with every sentence that left Hyunjin's mouth.

"Hyunjin!" I cried.

"What?!" He cried back.

"You're making me self-conscious, stop!"

"Oh, you should be very conscious and aware of your body, because it is a damn five-course meal."

"You're so gay," I complained.

"Only for hot guys. And, you are hawt with a W."

I felt my cheeks and ears heat up. Not knowing how to react, I quickly wore the white tee-shirt that was on my bed, successfully covering my body from my roommate's overly-appreciative eyes.

"Dude!" Hyunjin groaned, staring at my tattoos. "You're so cool, I'm super glad that you're my new roomie."

"Um— thank you? I— wait, what is that?!"

I stopped talking suddenly when I saw an angry-red mark on his neck. It looked like a hickey. "Where did you get those marks from?"

Hyunjin looked in the mirror, pointing at the mark, as if confirming if I was talking about that. "Oh," he said casually, "Jeongin bit my neck."

For the second time in the span of six minutes, I choked on my saliva.

"Are you high, by any chance?"

Hyunjin just giggled, winking at me, before taking off his shirt, and walking into the bathroom. I shook my head in disbelief, and continued wearing my clothes.

If this was how my roommate was on a daily basis, no doubt, this year would end up being a very long, eventful one.

-

Taehyung P.O.V

I looked at my hand, which was, moments ago, gripping Jungkook's wrist, with a small smile.

I couldn't believe I actually did that; I guess I was still a tiny bit hungover, because I sure as hell wouldn't have had the boldness to pull him into my arms otherwise.

Though it was momentary, I enjoyed the feeling of his body against mine a little more than I should have.

I shook my head, lightly. After making sure to straighten the bed I had slept on, I grabbed my clothes from last night, tiptoed out of the room, carefully closing the door behind me.

I didn't want to intrude on his space more than necessary.

We weren't friends yet. Not exactly. I don't even know what to call our relationship. Based on our previous interactions, we'd be considered as something shallow, and not necessarily something nice.

We'd have to get to know each other more, before deciding what we are. There's time for that, but that time isn't now. Right now, he needed his space, and I needed mine.

I climbed down the stairs till I reached my floor, and walked to my door, whistling softly.

I tried pushing the door open, but it didn't budge. Frowning, I remembered that Jimin and Jennie were in the room together, last night, doing something nasty I didn't want to think about.

I was then glad that my roommate had enough sense to make sure that the door wouldn't open, unless opened from the other side, because no one would want to accidentally walk into that.

I silently laughed, remembering how Jungkook had walked in to find them making out. His embarrassed expression, which became even more flustered after seeing me, will always be printed in my mind.

Shaking my head, I knocked on the door, loudly.

It took me ten seconds to realise that they would be sleeping soundly, and knocks wouldn't be suffice to wake them up. I brought out my phone from my pocket, and called Jimin.

Not even three rings later, the call was declined. I frowned, but waited nevertheless.

Just as I was about to knock once again, I heard something heavy being pushed from the other side. Moments later, the door opened, to reveal Jimin, hair dishevelled, puffy eyes sleepy.

Instead of moving to let me inside, he pushed me, and followed me outside, closing the door very softly behind him. I gave him a questioning look.

"Jennie's sleeping," he said, stifling a yawn.

"Clearly, and so were you," I said, scoffing, "anyways, you guys need to wake up, unless you're planning to bunk today's classes?"

"Well—" he scratched his head, "—we are."

I tried not to look too disappointed, but obviously failed, because he added, "I may come by lunch-break."

My spirits were lifted by his answer, because the class we had together, maths, was after lunchtime. "So," I wiggled my eyebrows at him, "how was it?"

"How was what?" Jimin looked lost, which confused me.

"Losing your virginity, of course!"

"Oh."

I was perplexed because this wasn't the sort of reaction I was expecting. Excited chatter, knowing smirks, or even embarrassed shoves would've been apt.

"That bad, huh. . ."

Jimin instantly shook his head. "It's not like that. We just. . . didn't do it last night."

"What? You both didn't have sex?" He shook his head again. I scrunched my eyebrows. "But. . . why?"

"Ah, well, we just didn't feel like doing it last night."

"You both were literally on top of each other in the party," I deadpanned.

"We were both very tired last night, after the party, so we decided to just sleep," Jimin said, but I had a feeling that he was hiding something. "Jen's still sleeping inside, so please be quiet, okay? I don't wanna wake her up just yet."

He opened the door to let me in.

"Did you both fight, or something?" I whispered, walking inside.

Their clothes from last night were neatly folded and kept in one corner, as were their shoes, which confused me. If they were so tired last night, how did they have the time to tidy up their things?

My bed was untouched, and I was glad for that. On Jimin's bed, I discerned Jennie's curled figure under the blanket. Her face was peaceful, and I saw her wearing a black tee-shirt, that was too many sizes big for her. Obviously Jimin's.

The bed sheet on his bed was definitely different from before.

Everything in the room pointed to them having sex last night, so why was Jimin denying it?

I was about to turn around to ask him about it, when I heard a loud noise behind me, prompting me to turn around even faster. Instead of finding Jimin, I was met the sight of the closed door.

Confused, I looked down, and. . . ah, of course, Jimin had fallen on his ass.

I actually facepalmed, and turned around when I heard noise behind me, again. Jennie's figure on the bed wasn't peaceful anymore, and was shifting on the bed.

Jimin hissed and got on his feet again, but I didn't know if he was wincing because he got hurt, or because he had woken Jennie up.

Probably the latter, since he was so used to the former.

"Jiminie?" Jennie's soft, muffled voice sounded from the bed. Immediately, Jimin rushed towards her.

"Baby? You're awake? How are you feeling now?" He bombarded her with questions, which made no sense to me.

I just stood there awkwardly, while Jimin helped Jennie sit up straight. "I'm feeling okay, right now, just a little hungry. Oh, hi," she said, when she saw me standing.

"Hi," I replied back.

We stared at each other for a good ten seconds, before Jimin, thankfully, broke the awkwardness by walking towards his dresser, and pulling out his strip of tablets.

He gave one to Jennie, before gulping one himself.

"So, you guys need to shower, or something? Or did you guys already shower last night?" I asked, trying to hide my laugh.

"Oh, no, we didn't shower yet, you can go ahead," Jennie said, sweetly, which was slightly weird.

We still weren't fully friends again, just not as brusque and discourteous to each other. It would still take some more time before we continued to be friendly as we were before they had started dating. So, her sweetness, despite my slight teasing, puzzled me.

"Okay, but do you not wanna use the washroom? I mean, after yeste—"

"Oh, but, we didn't have sex last night," Jennie interrupted me. I frowned.

So Jimin was telling the truth?

"You didn't? Why not?"

Before Jennie could open her mouth, Jimin quickly spoke up, "I told you, Tae, we were tired last night, so we just slept."

"But that doesn't make sense! Your sheets are changed, and you both have very obvious hickeys on your necks," I said, loudly, finally addressing the purple marks decorating their necks that I had tried to ignore.

Jimin looked down at Jennie's neck, cursing under his breath when he found the bruises on her neck, obviously made by him.

Jennie looked at Jimin, before he could say anything in his defence. She touched his hand, causing him to look at her, attentively. They exchanged a few words through their eyes, none of which I could decipher.

"It's okay," she finally said, "I don't mind him knowing—" Jennie turned to look at me; I was expectantly waiting for their excuse for lying to me. "—I got my period before we had the chance to have sex."

The hand sassily placed on my hip fell down. "Oh."

That was definitely not the answer I was expecting.

Jennie burst out laughing at my expression, which was no doubt very confused and embarrassed. "Sorry," I said, sheepishly.

"Why are you sorry?" Jennie asked.

Thankfully, Jimin spared me from thinking of an answer that wouldn't make things even more awkward, by saying, "Tae, you know that I'd never lie to you, right?"

I sighed. "Yes, I know. I'm sorry for behaving that way. I'll take a shower, and be on my way then," I said, walking inside the bathroom. However, before closing the door, I turned back. "Also, take care, Jennie."

Jennie smiled warmly at me, which painfully reminded me of our friendship before she and Jimin had decided to go out.

She wasn't a bad person, and I did not detest her. Well, maybe recently I did, a little. But only because I felt as if she was stealing my best friend from me.

I don't feel like that anymore, and I realised that we all need some fun in our lives. It's only human that we all crave for affection and attention from someone in a different way; ways friends, siblings, or parents could never give.

I couldn't hate Jennie for wanting what everyone wants: love.

And frankly, I missed her, and our friendship, a lot more than I'd like to admit. I decided then and there to try to revive our friendship. It would definitely not be the same as it was, but it would be better than staying on bad terms.

I nodded at her, smiling, before closing the door to take a really quick shower. And it was really quick; exactly seven minutes, which is a record for me, since I'm the type of person to occupy the shower for at least twenty minutes.

I walked out in my bear-pattern towel, to find Jimin and Jennie sitting, facing each other, faces solemn. I figured they were having a really serious conversation, because neither of them batted an eye at my towel.

Not wanting to disturb or intrude on their personal space, I quickly grabbed the first set of clothes my hand touched, and went back to the bathroom to change.

After getting dressed, I came back out to find Jimin waiting for me. Jennie was under the blanket again, sleeping.

Before Jimin could say anything, I told him, "You can stay with her for the whole day. No need to come for classes."

"But, I don't wanna leave you alone," he said, slowly.

I smiled, ruffling his hair. "Thank you, but your girlfriend needs you more. Besides, I have Jungkook to hang out with. It's his first day, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'll keep him company so he won't feel out of place," I said.

"Are you sure?" Jimin asked, looking worried.

"Yes, I'm sure."

Jimin pulled me into a hug. "Thank you so much, Tae. I know how much you dislike being alone, especially during classes."

"Yeah, yeah, now get away from me, before I decide to sleep in with you guys as well," I joked. He smiled, and went into the bathroom.

I grabbed my bag, and my phone, before slowly going out of the room.

Today already feels like it's going to be a very different day. Not only because today would essentially be the first time I attend classes without Jimin, but because someone new has entered my life.

Someone who is interesting, and. . . exciting, in a way.

Jeon Jungkook.

___________________________________

A / N

hellooo
our schools have started, and we've had ut's already + some more tests coming up soon, so we're sorry for the slow updates </3

now about the chapter!
hyunjin is such a mood LMFAO we love him, and the tension between taekook gaddayum 😮‍💨
jenmin are so cyooooo aweeee

everyone reading this is amazing, and we appreciate you so much <3
vote and comment, you'll make our day!

~ VeXo💜
:]
[: