Chapter Text
CHAPTER 1
I hate him. I’ve never hated someone more in my entire life. My entire body shrivels when we make eye contact. He’s too tall, his shoulders are too broad, and his entire being is too intimidating. Every afternoon, we stumble upon each other in the hall as I’m heading back to my dorm. I glare at him and he glares at me in the nastiest way possible, and I thought the way I looked at him was bad. He purposely bumps into my shoulder, pretending he didn’t notice me, when he clearly shifts over in the hall to hit me. I’ve thought about doing the same, but being the victim feels much better than being the abuser. As much as I would like to slap him in the face, pin him to the ground and ruin his pretty little face, I can’t. I can't risk getting any kind of suspension.
You’re probably wondering who he is and why I highly and genuinely despise him with my whole heart. His name is Kim Taehyung and he’s better than me at everything. When I say everything, I mean everything. He’s better at tests, he’s better at homework, he has better grades, he’s better at participation, he’s better at sports, he’s better at flirting, he’s better at art, he’s better at poetry, and he’s better at being popular. Popularity isn’t something I should worry about, but I do. I’m not pretty enough for anyone to notice me. Not just the guys, but the popular girls, too. It’s not that I’m “not like other girls” but I’ve been bullied a lot. Mostly for my appearance and my attempts to fit in. I’m always pushed away and given weird looks because I’m nothing like them. All the girls look at Taehyung like he’s some kind of god or a king. I look at him like he’s nothing. He’s just a big, tall, broad shouldered, squishy piece of skin walking around to bother me. He’s never commented on my appearance or personality, though. I can just see it in his eyes. The longest and only conversation we had was, “I hate you,” “I hate you more.” Other than that, we haven’t really spoken to each other.
Until today.
Today has to be one of the worst days of my life. This morning in Astronomy class, our professor, Professor Kim Namjoon, assigned a project. The project was telling us (or forcing us, for that matter) to work with an assigned partner to create a model and a detailed piece of writing about the solar system. Of course, he and I were put together. When it happened, I couldn’t believe it. We shot each other nasty stares from across the room, which only a few people seemed to notice. His eyes were darker than I’ve ever seen them before. If you didn’t already know that they were dark brown, you’d think they were black.
His beige university uniform isn’t much different than mine. It’s a light brown woolen vest with a white undershirt, along with darker brown pants and black dress shoes with a slight heel. The only difference being that my uniform had a skirt that went down an inch below my knees with bicycle-length shorts underneath.
This afternoon, we unfortunately decided to meet each other at the library to discuss the project. When I walk in, I was still mesmerized by the size of the library. Every time I enter, it feels like a castle. Since this is a university that specializes in literature and the arts, (the study of space and galaxies is also becoming a popular subject), the library is an essential place for all students. In the distance, I see him flipping through the pages of a book that he had put down on the table. I sigh and make my way over to him. I pull out a chair and sat down. He slightly glances up from his readings, giving me a stare that had me shift uncomfortably in my seat. I carefully clear my throat and open my bag.
“Out of all people, why’d it have to be you?” He mutters under his breath. My eyes crane up to look at him.
“I should be asking you the same question,” I say. He makes some noise that sounds like a growl. He continues flipping through the book. There are a few pictures of Jupiter and Saturn and the Asteroid Belt rushing by. At least he’s doing minimal research into the project.
“Are you going to do anything, or are you just going to sit there and make me do all the work?” I roll my eyes and take my notebook and pen out.
“Do you have any ideas yet?” I ask. It came out with more enthusiasm than I both wanted and expected.
“No. Do you?” Taehyung replies.
“Yeah. I was thinking we could build the model out of styrofoam and then paint it. Then, for the writing, we can make a brochure and a display on the board we put the planets on. Maybe we can have that be made out of cardboard, or maybe even a wood panel—”
“You’re going to make me do woodwork?”
“No,” I answer, “I was thinking that we could have a woodworking student help us.”
“There’s woodworking here?” he says.
“Yeah. I’ve seen a few classes in session on the floor above the basement and leading down to it.”
“Okay… continue your idea, I guess,” he sarcastically says.
“I was thinking we could have it be like a museum where people could get a brochure where they can see everything in the museum,” I explained, “Then, it could give all the information about the planets and moons and asteroids and stuff on a page or two of the brochure. It sounds original and it doesn’t seem too hard.”
“Mhm,” he mumbles.
“Mhm? That’s all you have to say?”
“What do you want me to say? I’m trying to do the research for it and you’re practically bombarding me with this huge idea.”
“You’re the one who asked,” I say.
“You asked if I had any ideas first. I only asked you because I had a feeling you had stuff you had to get out of your system.”
We sit in silence for the next few minutes as he continues to read and I begin to jot down my ideas.
As the sun begins to set, I gather up my things and Taehyung sighs with relief.
“If you wanted me to go so bad, you could’ve just said so and I would’ve offered to switch partners,” I explain, swinging my bag and letting it carefully rest up on my shoulder. I slide my notebook in between my arm and torso, with the pen being held inside the spiral.
“Even if you did suggest changing partners, why would anyone want to work with you?” He snaps. I’m taken aback.
“Maybe to your surprise, I have a few friends with partners they don’t want to be with, so I could switch with them,” I lie.
“That’s good for you.”
We stare at each other for almost a full minute. He barely blinks. I slowly back up as we keep looking at each other, as I make my way out of the library. When the door closes, I let out a sigh of relief and head down the hallway.
I shake my head as I think about him. He’s such an annoying little brat. Did he even care about my idea? Does he even care about the project? He always has to turn every conversation into a full-blown argument over nothing. Again, as much as I would like to start an argument, just to make his blood boil in rage, I don’t feel like it’s necessary. I aim to not start unnecessary violence, so I don’t become some kind of barbarian. I can’t get over and will never get over the way he treats me. It’s not like I treat him kindly, but I don’t purposely bump into him in the halls or push his stuff onto the floor. I go for the nonviolent approach.
The staircase to the girls' dorms is painfully steep. It feels like walking up the Eiffel Tower. Thousands of steps up for what felt like hours. It is inside a castle turret in the back of the university. The steps and the railing that are in the sunlight are covered in moss and vines. It’s still being carefully kept in good shape, so I am guessing the vines and such were there for aesthetic reasons.
When I reach the top and I get into my dorm, I fall back onto my bed and let out a great sigh of relief. Finally, I can spend the rest of the night working on my project in peace. Or, I could just relax and take the rest of the night off.
I thought that I could until my roommate, Yuqi, comes in. I almost forgot about her…
“Y/N!” She opens her arms and greets me with a tight hug, “how was your day?”
I fall back onto the comfortable mattress below me again, “horrible.”
“Horrible? Why?” she asked, sitting on the other end of the bed. I sigh again.
“I have a huge project to do that is due the last week of school, and guess who I have to do it with?”
“Oh no…” her sentence trails off, making me let out a soft chuckle.
“Oh, yes. It’s him. So, I’m stuck with him everyday for the rest of the year. When we met up in the library earlier today, he was really snarky with me. I told him my entire idea for the project and he was barely listening. He was just flipping through his book, reading the source material or whatever. But, having to work with someone who won’t even pay attention to you is really annoying. It’s disrespectful, honestly. He’s this top-tier student who has way better grades than I do, but he won’t even listen to me to hear my pretty great idea. I don’t think that it’s a bad idea, but he thinks it is because it’s coming from me.”
“What’s your idea?” she asks.
I tell her my idea with every little detail in between.
“That’s a great idea for it! You come up with such great ones, especially for that class,” she compliments.
“Thank you,” I push her shoulder and blush while looking at my dangling feet. I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear and look at her as she starts talking again.
“He’s such a brat to you. I’m really sorry that you have to do that huge project with him. Is there any way that you can switch partners?”
“I don’t think so. I lied and told him that I had friends in class that would gladly switch their partner to be with me, but of course, that’s not true,” my voice softens as I finish the sentence.
“Aww, don’t say that! You just don’t know everyone in the class yet,” Yuqi says, trying to ease our way through the conversation.
“Yeah, I guess. It’s just going to be a really frustrating rest of the year, you know?” I say.
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry about it,” she says.
Suddenly, there’s a noise—a cry—from down below in the courtyard. Yuqi and I look out the window and down to find a boy running around in circles. Yuqi and I look at each other in confusion.
“Is he… being chased by something?”
“Wait, look!” Yuqi spots something by the edge of the building. A group of four boys are watching the younger boy running around. They seem to be laughing at something.
“We should go down and help him,” I suggest, and we run down the girls’ dorm stairs and out the nearest exit. We find ourselves right behind the group of them. Yuqi brings a finger up to her lips, recommending that I be quiet. I glance over one of the boys shoulders to get a closer look at the boy running around. Were those… butterflies? This boy was being chased by a flock of butterflies and these boys were enjoying the sight.
“Hey!” Yuqi pushes the back of the boy in the middle. They all turn around and I can only hear the squeals of the innocent boy. “What do you think you’re doing? Those butterflies are scaring him!”
The boy in the middle laughed. He had dark hair with blonde streaks and his uniform tie was loose. So were the other boys’ ties. “That’s the point, isn’t it?” he snarkily say.
“There is no point behind this,” I start, “you’re clearly horrible people who have nothing else to do. Get those butterflies away from him and let him go.”
They roll their eyes and scoff, “fine. Go get those butterflies away from him,” says the boy in the middle, who seems to be their leader.
“But, how? The one on the left asks.
“I don’t know! Use your hands or something.”
His buddies run towards the butterflies and the scared boy stops, confused about what was going on. They start jumping up, trying to catch the butterflies, but at least they are away from him.
“I’ll come back for him,” the leader runs away, leaving his buddies behind, struggling to catch the butterflies. Yuqi and I run over to the boy, who still has terror smeared across his face. His hair is blonde, probably bleached because it seems impossible for someone to have hair that bright. His uniform is a little smudged with dirt and grime, same with his face.
“Hey, you okay?” I ask. He hesitates and then carefully nods, keeping his eyes wide.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I just hate butterflies. They scare the crap out of me,” he replies.
“I’m sorry that they did that to you,” Yuqi says.
“It’s alright. I appreciate you helping me.” He waved and jogged away, leaving Yuqi and I alone.
“Those mushroom heads—” she mutters under her breath.
“That’s the weirdest insult I’ve heard,” I laugh.
“I’m not wrong,” she says, quite seriously, “they look like poisonous mushrooms.”
“Excuse me?” A tall figure is coming closer and closer to us. Yuqi steps in front of me.