Past. 

5| "An outsider is an outsider." 

Nina turned the page of her book. 

The enormous library was Nina's great escape from King's High and the vicious students, they just tarnished her lively mood. The library was her private, favourite refuge that was full of solace, full of knowledge and full of dark corners and she loved it. The building was three hundred years old or something, Nina wasn't sure but it was one of the oldest landmarks of the campus. She could spend her time there from the heartbeat with her isolated thoughts, the sound of pages turning, the clicking of the keyboard sent her utter satisfaction.

Right now she was sitting in the corner, a book nestled in her palms as she tried her best to be wholly immersed in it but a specific douchebag with golden eyes wasn't leaving her mind for a single second as if hunting her loner soul in the most brute way. She wanted to scream in pure agitation, Taehyung's parents should have locked him in the room so he would not mess up people's sanity. 

"Don't think about him, don't think about him." Nina exhaled, squinting her eyes at the paragraph of the book that she kept reading for almost five minutes straight. The red-haired girl grimaced by the fact that she let Taehyung's atrocious smirk crawl her skin, his sultry words to touch the sensitive corner of her insides and tease with her persistent heartbeats.

Taehyung couldn't flirt with her, why would he?

Nina frowned at the sudden noises coming behind her, a book self was preventing her from seeing the person. Then she heard a groan, a male, throaty one as every cell of her body charred in immediate anxiety.

Nina knew that familiar voice, I chimed in the pit of her stomach, every alarm of her body flipped on, his presence always affected her deeply.

Taehyung was with Aria behind the book self, as usually fooling around with her, it wasn't surprising for Nina but when they had the whole school to exhibits their screwing affair, why they had to show in Nina's favourite spot?  It unnerved Nina in the best possible way. Oh, she was aware why he was there, simply he wanted to irritate her with his fuckery. Nina's throat worked for a gulp, she was thwarting her anger from bleeding over them.  She heard the girl's sensual giggling, it gored every inch of her ear shell. Nina's glare sharpened at her book, she clutched it tightly.

"Do not let that bastard affect you, don't. Not today." Nina assured herself, flickering her lashes over her cheekbones.

This wasn't the first time Taehyung had done that to her, he just fond the inkling of taunt her. Like a few days ago she was doing her homework in the same corner. Then she witnessed something that left her speechless and her stomach a knotting mess. 

Taehyung's dirty talking and husky laugh, which left many girls powerless on their knees were still resounding in her ears. 

Nina didn't mean to but unfortunately, she listened to Taehyung conversing with some girl the how much he would love to fuck her against the wall and see her cumming around his dick while moaning his name— it was like torture for Nina, she wanted to get deaf at that sheer moment yet something in his words turned her mere being fascinated, her blood hummed and rushed to her veins in hush excitement. 

It was so wrong, the idea of him was so wrong, Taehyung was so freaking wrong for her.

Taehyung knew that the red riding hood was there burying her nose in the book and isolated by the world and he comprehended that she had listened to all his nasty talk, it was so much fun to agitate her. Nina wanted to stomp out of the place but if she left, Taehyung would be satisfied and she didn't want to give him that that so she stayed there— determined and furious. 

"Baby, can I ask you something? It's very important." Aria chirped, fluttering her lashes at him as she put her chin on Taehyung's shoulder to get his attention. Taehyung squinted his eyes at the self, imagining the red-haired girl sitting behind it, holding her book. 

"Mhm?" Taehyung hummed, placing the back of his head against the wall and he closed his eyes. 

"Why did you burn Wang's red hoodie?" Aria asked, a curious whip in her undertone as Nina's jaw hung open. So it was Taehyung who had stolen her hoodie from her locker, that's why she couldn't find it because now it was turned into ashes. 

The sudden fury erupted in her veins but she managed to stay quiet.

"Sweetheart, you don't have to worry about her." Taehyung's voice was so smooth even suave as Nina's heart curled remorsefully. A tiny part of her pathetically wished that Taehyung would talk to her like this someday, he would act with her so cheekily and playfully that he was always being with his friends and other girls.

The red-haired girl hated herself for having a serious type of crush on him. Whatever he had done to torture her was unforgettable but she still liked him since the very day he had encountered. There was something uncanny in Taehyung's eyes, sinister yet broken and it pulled her every time— something was broken inside him and she absurdly craved to see that part, slithered under him to mends it. But it was all just her feeble imagination, Taehyung would never let her do that. If Nina would touch his hair, it would be a miracle for her. 

Since the day he stole her first kiss, Taehyung never touched her again, he never stayed with her in an empty room, even in his own home he changed his direction whenever he noticed her coming toward his direction. Perhaps, her presence was suffocating him, reminding Taehyung of his biggest mistake that he was going to do, reminiscing him that she was his saviour that protected him from his demons.

"It was a cheap hoodie just like her existence." It was one of Nina's favourite clothing and sadly it was one of the expensive ones that she had owned. The girl had bought that hoodie after babysitting 6 kids in two weeks. Nina gulped the sudden pain striking her heart, how could he sound so calm and cruel? Was he that insensitive? And why does she have to yearn for him despite knowing his hatred toward her? 

He was a rich guy, a trust-fund, blue-blooded kid and he didn't have to work hard to earn every single penny to fulfil his needs, it was maddening to think how much heritage The Kim's had under their palm, it was sickening to think that how much power Taehyung holds. Nina had to work hard, money and education were valuable for her and Taehyung were aware of her struggles yet he didn't let any chance go to taunt her and remind her that she was an outsider, a little red riding hood who didn't deserve to roam around his territory so openly, without having the fear that she could get feast by the wolf. 

"I don't care about that pity." Aria hissed, her voice had a disgusting rasp and Nina felt like breaking her nose. She wasn't fond of that snarky girl, not because she always shamelessly threw herself at Taehyung— okay maybe it could be the reason too but more than that she hated Aria's behaviour toward her and other students, especially nerds. The rich-ass girl thought that she was superior, looking everyone down. Now, she started hooking up with Taehyung, Aria was on cloud nine. 

For Nina, she was a clown— a clown who had everything that she didn't have.

"I'm just curious to know why you despise her? Why is she? What's so special about her?" The corner of Aria's pinkish lips curled into a wolfish smirk as she flirtatiously trailed her fingers over Taehyung's biceps. 

"Special, you kidding with me?" Nina winched by the amount of coldness Taehyung held in his voice. "A lower-class girl should stay low, a mockery, an embarrassment, a little discarded thing that all she is." Taehyung growled out his words, a little louder to give Nina a privilege to let his every word sink into her.

"And it's amusing to see her stupid, futile attempts to fit in this place." A crack resounded in her ears, it was her tenacity and the fidgeting organ rooted within her chest. 

"She is stupid and a pity. People like her don't belong to this place, she shouldn't be here with us, she looks better when she sets the dinner table in our house." He chuckled, darkly.

" I outcasted her from the other students to remind her true place among us, a ridiculous mortal. She is just a speck of meaningless dust that we can stomp all over anytime and any second and she should know that." The hateful intensity in his voice was like tiny syringes jabbing through every nerve of her body, it was unbearable. 

Nina's chin trembled as he wiped the sudden tears rolling down to her cheeks by the back of her hand— she had listened enough, she had swallowed his bitter words enough, now all she wanted to disappear. Nina silently sat up from her place and ran out of the library without noticing that those witchery eyes were following her behind. 

Shoving his hands inside his pockets, Taehyung walked to her spot, the book was still placed on the floor where Nina was sitting. She left her body fragrance like fairy dust that tickled his nostril and directly grounded in his lungs. If Taehyung wasn't assuming, the scent was something like chocolates and honey, he unexpectedly liked the smell, it was oddly captivating. 

"It's so easy to hurt this girl." Taehyung scoffed dryly, he picked up the book as something caught his eyes, he grabbed it up and a smile broke into his lips. It was a simple bracelet with red beads, tiny flowers and silver stars hanging in it. 

"Whose bracelet is this? so cute." Aria fluttered her lashes, before she could touch them Taehyung quickly pulled them away from her grasp. Strangely, Taehyung didn't want Aria to touch it, the thought of someone else touching her things writhed his insides. Taehyung coolly shoved the bracelet in his back pocket— keeping it like a sadistic and avoiding Aria's questioning gaze.

"Wanna come over tonight? My parents are not home." Aria seductively purred, her small breasts flushing against his chest as she placed her palm over his shoulder.

Taehyung offered her one of his cocky grins, he tucked a piece of her ear behind her ear then yanked her hand back, oh so softly.

"Not in a mood." He grumbled. "Bye." With that he left, leaving Aria's mouth hung open in shock and affront. 

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