⋆ ☄︎. · ̊ * 🔭
chapter twenty-four

"You guys did great on the stage!" Our manager suddenly strides into the room we're in.

"Thank you," all of us tiredly mumble to him.

He smiles at us. "I'm so proud of you," Si-Hyuk nods his head several times, "hopefully you'll succeed when your album will be sold tomorrow."

We simply nod our heads since we're way too exhausted to say anything.

Seriously, I can't properly move my body.  Everything hurts like a little bitch.

"You can go home now," he declares, "rest well. Ahri and Jeongguk will attend school for a few hours tomorrow. Jimin and Taehyung can't go, though."

The two 95' liners smile widely while giving each other a high-five.

I glance at my fellow maknae and he sighs loudly when our manager mentions school.

"Jeongguk, you'll show her around," he demands, "you only go to school from 8 am until 11 am, though. After that, you'll come to the entertainment and practice as always."

"Understood, sir," the youngest boy in the group groggily nods his head.

"Good," our manager smiles and walks out.

"Let's go home now," Namjoon stands up, the others following him.

Tiredly standing up as well, we head to the black van and I sit in the corner beside Jin.

The sky is in a dark shade of blue as I gaze at it with heavy eyes. I close my eyes and my head suddenly falls forward.

Dazing out of it, I rub my eyes and try to stay awake until we arrive at our dorm.

Seokjin puts his hand on my head and places it on his shoulder. "Rest a little, Yonnie," he whispers to me while looking straight ahead.

Not needing to tell me twice, I close my eyes once again and drift away to take a nice nap.

"Wake up."

Fluttering my eyes open, I see the car door on my side open while Taehyung tries to wake me up.

"I'm awake," I mumble groggily while rubbing my heavy eyes.

Trying to stand up properly, I fail and vainly fall back on the chair because of my pained body and aching limbs.

He sighs softly and comes near, only a few inches away now. "What are you doing?" I panic because of the proximity between us.

"What does it look like?" He whispers to me while laying one arm under my knees and the other behind my waist, "I'm bringing you to your bed."

"Taehyung, no. I can do it myself—" I disagree and try to free myself from his hold, but he won't budge.

Fortunately, the sky is dark or else he would've seen my reddened cheeks.

"Just let me," he whispers as he locks his eyes with mine.

Staring at him with wide eyes, I slowly nod my head.

This is so awkward. Why is my life like this?

He carefully picks me up and pushes the door closed with his body weight against it.

"Where are the others?" I ask him as I look at the ground in embarrassment.

"They went home earlier," he tells me while opening the door of the building we live in.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I question him once again while I try to keep my eyes open.

"I tried," he chuckles, "but you didn't want to."

Throwing him a deadpanned face, I shake my head slowly. "Stop lying. The smallest noise can wake me up," I mumble while gazing at him.

"Yeah," he chuckles sheepishly as he goes the stairs up, "I didn't want to wake you up since you didn't get much sleep the past few days."

Staring at him, I bob my head to the side. "Why are you always so nice to me?" I ask him quietly.

He locks his almond eyes with mine, perplexity evident in them. "What do you mean?" Taehyung asks me back in confusion.

"I was always so mean and rude to you," I shake my head lightly, "but you always kept on being friendly to me. Why?"

"I could sense that you didn't feel good," he nods his head while sighing softly, "your facial expressions say a lot about you. Your lips can lie, but your eyes can't hide, Yona."

Nodding my head, I motion for him to continue while I patiently listen to him.

"In order to fill your day with a little positivity, I kept on being nice to you because I somehow wanted to make you feel better," he tilts his head to the side while smiling faintly, his eyes crinkling at the ends.

My eyes sadden as I stare at him, my lips in a thin line. "I don't deserve you," I whisper to him.

"Don't say that," he chuckles in embarrassment as he swiftly opens the door to our dorm.

We stay silent while he brings me inside our shared bedroom, all the boys already deep in slumber.

"You'll share a bed with me, I guess," he whispers as he carefully places me on his bed.

Gulping harshly, I shake my head in refusal. "No, I'll sleep on the couch—"

He throws me a firm look. "Don't argue with me," he insists, silencing me right away.

Taehyung lays himself beside me and pulls the sheet on top of our bodies. "Good Night," he whispers.

Eyes widening, I remember that I still need to brush my teeth. "No, wait!" I raise my voice, but immediately put a hand above my mouth to shut my noisy self up.

Hastily standing back up, I make my way to the bathroom.

Unfortunately, my toe makes contact with one of the bunk-beds, making me cringe.

"Fuck—" I clutch my foot while jumping.

I have the worst luck in the world and my clumsiness isn't helping.

Taehyung starts to giggle, making me face him. "Shut up!" I whisper-yell as my cheeks turn a dark shade of red.

"Hurry the fuck up, Ahri," Yoongi mutters.

I stare at Yoongi with enlarged pupils, hoping that I won't wake him up. "Sorry, hyung," I whisper before quietly entering the bathroom.

"Ahri," someone calls out while my shoulders are being shaken, "wake up."

Opening my eyes, I lock them with Jeongguk's doe-like ones.

"We need to get ready for school," he informs me, a small smile playing on his lips.

I nod my head and stand up from the bed. "Where are the others?" I ask him while my confused eyes roam over the almost-empty room.

"They went to practice," Jeongguk tells me while he fixes his suit in front of the mirror.

"You already got ready?" My eyes widen as I stare at him.

"Yeah," he shrugs his shoulders as he smiles at me, "I'll make us some breakfast."

"Okay," I nod my head, still half-asleep.

"Wait," I spin him around as realization hits me, "I have no uniform."

He rolls his eyes in annoyance, "Ahri-ah, it's on your bed," he motions behind me with his hand.

"Oh," I blurt out, my cheeks flushing slightly.

"Thanks," I mumble before rushing into the bathroom to get ready.

Changing my comfortable clothes into the school uniform, I stare at myself in the mirror.

"I've never really worn skirts this short," I critically mumble to myself as I turn around and gaze at my reflection.

Sighing loudly, I comb my hair and brush my teeth. After some time, I enter the kitchen to see some bread and jam on top of the table.

"Master chef Jeon Jeongguk," I sarcastically exclaim while sitting down opposite of him.

"Well, I'm good at everything," he winks at me, but starts laughing as soon as I throw him a disgusted look.

"Thanks, though," I tell him while stuffing my mouth with food.

"How do you manage school and training at once?" I ask him as I drink some apple juice.

He thinks for some time as he gulps his bread down. "It's quite hard, to be honest," he admits, "I only attend school when we have exams."

My eyes widen in shock. "Wait, really?" I question and he nods his head, "do you even get good grades? How do you study?"

Jeongguk shrugs his shoulders. "I do get good grades, but not in all subjects. My English is kind of bad if I'm being honest," he scratches the back of his head in embarrassment.

"I can help you!" I immediately suggest, making him smile widely.

"Really?" His eyes turn bigger as he gets excited.

"Yes, of course," I nod my head while shrugging my shoulders, "what could go wrong? You're probably not even that miserable."

"I'm not sure about that," he mumbles to himself.

"Did you say something?" I ask him since I didn't quite get his sentence.

"Nope, nothing," he smiles at me in a mischievous but somehow innocent way.

"Okay?" I reply more like a question, tilting my head to the side lightly.

"Let's get to school now," he stands up and takes my wrist in his hand, dragging me out.

"No!" I yell in agony as I look back, "my food!"

"You can eat later," he tells me and we soon head to the school with a bus.

After stepping out of the bus, we stand in front of the big school. "We firstly need to bring you to the secretary since it's your first time here," he explains to me while we head inside.

"Woah, she's so beautiful!" I exclaim while gazing at a girl who looks around our age.

"Stop staring!" Jeongguk scolds me while flicking my forehead, "you should act normal. Or in your case, less weird."

That shit hurt. The more I get to know him, the more he teases me. It's kind of good though, he finally comes out of his shell and is not that shy against me anymore.

I lay an offended hand on my chest. "I'm not weird," I roll my eyes while crossing my arms over my chest.

"Says the one who talks to herself," he mumbles, a big smirk painting his lips.

My mouth's agape while I stare at him.
The bad thing is, I can't roast him back because it's true. Damn it.

"Here!" He points towards the room where the secretary is in most probably.

"I'll leave now. Don't do anything stupid," he gives me a firm gaze, talking to me like I'm his child.

"I ain't your first-born," I roll my eyes as he leaves.

Knocking on the door of the office, I hear a fainted 'come in'. I open the wooden door and bow towards the old woman.

"Hello, I'm Kim Ahri Yona and I'll study here from now on," I nod my head along while telling her my personal information.

"Hello," she slightly smiles and passes me some papers over the table she's behind of.

"You only have one year left to finish middle school, so you have normal subjects like mathematics or English," she explains while clasping her hands together, "you can read it all on your schedule and see how they work out."

Taking the papers in my hands, I process the news and nod my head slowly. "Thank you," I bow my head again and leave the room right after.

Looking down at the papers to see which class I have now, I glance back up and try to find the room in this big building.

That bitch ass Jeongguk just had to leave, right?

My eyes widen when I notice a familiar figure. Striding towards him, I spin him around, startling the person.

"What—" he squeals in shock, but puts on a straight face after seeing me.

"Jaehyun? Since when do you attend this school?" I ask him, a big smile grazing my lips.

"I could ask you the same question, Kim Ahri Yona," he replies in a cold tone, crossing his arms over his chest as he stares at me with an expression I've never seen from him before.

"Or is that even your real name? I don't know, to be honest, since you lied to me so many times."

My mouth opens in shock as I simply stare at him, my lips too dry to say something.

"Don't you want to explain yourself?" He throws daggers with his narrowed eyes as he stares at me intensely.

My mind stops thinking suddenly and I simply stare at him like an idiot.

He scoffs while shaking his head, a little spark of sadness evident in his eyes. "Why did you lie to me, Ahri?" He asks me in a quiet, devastated tone.

I can feel it again, it's coming back. My breathing shallows as I stay glued on the floor, my heart beating way too fast for my own liking.

"I tried to be so understanding and helpful to you," he whispers while shaking his head in sorrow, "you grew onto my heart, I saw you as a friend. But friends don't lie to each other like that."

Gulping harshly, I look down on the floor in embarrassment, not even daring to gaze into his brown eyes.

"You could just tell me that you'd become an idol. Did you think I wasn't going to find out?" He keeps his tone quiet as he stares at me intensely, "tell me any lie, but don't say to me that your parents are fighting."

My mouth stays shut as I simply listen to him. I can't defend or say something anyway. He's completely right.

"Say something," he tells me, somehow in a desperate voice.

"I-I," I take many breaths in and out while trying to control my breathing to properly speak.

"A-And, um," I try to think of the rational explanation why I do these things. Why I lie to people all the time. But there is none.

Shaking my head slowly, he sighs out loudly. "Forget about it," he murmurs and storms off right after.

Great way to start school.

My life is just a whole fucking mess and it's all my fault.

It's your fault, Ahri.

"Let's get home real quick before practice," Jeongguk exclaims while laying his arm around my shoulder, "I'm so hungry."

My head's hanging low as I think of today's events and how Jaehyun is deeply angry and disappointed in me.

"Are you okay?" He asks worriedly while gazing down at me, trying to find any signs of negative feelings in my eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I throw him an insincere smile, "could you maybe go home without me, though? I'll head to the entertainment since I'm not hungry."

He stares at me for a while, but nods nevertheless. "Okay, look after yourself, Yona," he smiles at me one last time before entering a bus.

After my member disappeared in the traffic, I walk around without any orientation.

Slowly, many soft and steady raindrops fall from above. Looking up, I gaze at the sky of white velvet.

The rain calms my entire body, cell for cell, muscle for muscle. Trekking down a street, I sit down on a pavement and wait for the rain to drip me and my clothes.

Just as a drop of crystal-clear water appears on my fragile skin, I sadly smile to myself.

The rain is something that stops my thoughts from buzzing and somehow calms me and my nerves.

The waves of the salty liquid wash the pavement, creating a melancholic song.

Waiting for the rain to wash all of the misery away, I sit there, my gaze burning into the horizon, staring at the beauty of the upcoming storm and the crying clouds.

The icy grey sky restlessly grumbles. The thick blackened clouds are dragged down by the heavy rain which it holds in its delicate frame.

The rain pours down over the city with a roar. The sound of emptiness is disrupted by the loud gregarious boom of thunder.

The quality of darkness shifts in the sky but the rain keeps pouring. The harsh rain obliterated the crystal reflection of the sky and turned it into a disorientated chaos.

Pulling my legs up to my upper body, I bury my head on top of my knees.

You did it again, Ahri.
Lying is really your strength and specialty.

When everything seems to go right, the world, and more likely me, shows otherwise.

It's like I can't feel proper happiness. It's blocked by darkness and shade, that won't disappear.

The rain suddenly stops and I furrow my brows in confusion, but let my face rest on my legs nevertheless since I have no energy to move myself.

"You'll get sick if you keep sitting in the rain, mi amor."

Looking up with wide eyes, I stare at him as my mouth is agape in shock.

He smiles down at me while he holds an umbrella over my head, protecting me from the pouring rain.