Chapter Text
Dear Universe,
As you know, this all started as a dare. At the time, I didn’t know the dare would flip my life upside down, but that’s the thing about change, right? Like love, it just… flips. It’s just one KYAAAAAA moment after the next, like bouncing down a rocky hillside on a bicycle with no brakes.
Which if I’m being honest, is what being a closeted gay teen at Donghae International High School is like. Bouncing down a rocky hillside. No brakes…
It was a week before school reopened. We were all at Nina Nadia Mateer’s New Year’s Eve party. Nina Nadia Mateer was my AP calculus partner, and for once, I was invited to a social thing by name, not because I was in a group with my best friend Jimin, who got invited to everything…
Nina Nadia Mateer’s house, New Year’s Eve
Taehyung hovers in a corner, near a bookshelf, pleasantly vibing with what he thinks is a mocktail. He scans the spines of books, looking for titles he recognizes while simultaneously listening for his MIA BFF.
Taehyung never knows what to do at parties. If he had his vintage Rangefinder camera, he would have a focus. It would give him reason to interact, because almost everyone wants their picture taken. Except, maybe not here, where all the underage kids seem to be hitting the liquor shelf…
So Taehyung drifts, sans camera, and he wants to talk to people; he thinks he’ll be pretty good at it, but so far, this is his first ever foray into the Donghae social scene since he moved freshman year from Daegu, and he’s presently in the phase of watch-and-learn.
Taehyung doesn’t mean to eavesdrop, except… Kim Seokjin has a voice that carries. It draws you in. The captain of the school’s lacrosse team, Seokjin is the most elusive and handsome and well-dressed and everything-est guy at Donghae Academy, so okay, maybe, actually, Taehyung is eavesdropping because it is Kim Seokjin doing the talking.
“Yah. Be serious,” Seokjin blusters. “High school relationships are nonsense. We’re in our senior year. At an international school. In six months, we’ll be heading for different universities in different countries. Why would we invest in something we’re only destined to leave?”
“Wow how romantic,” Jimin singsongs.
Taehyung perks up, because… Jimin? Is here? Taehyung slides into the kitchen to find his best friend, fellow sophomore Park Jimin, tucked into the uber popular group holding court in Nina’s kitchen. Park Jimin, who arrived from Busan at the same time as Taehyung, an awkward baby bird now finding his wings among rich kids and athletes.
Speaking of athletes, Jeon Jungkook lingers at Jimin’s side, and things start making sense. Because even though Jungkook is a freshman, he is freakishly talented at literally everything. As the newest member of the Donghae lacrosse team, he rates special merit status among the sports elite, giving Jimin popularity by proxy since he knew Jungkook from when they grew up in Busan.
“You know, you could meet The One in high school,” Jimin goes on, waggling his perfectly-fleeked eyebrows at Jungkook.
And there goes the ping of a question in Taehyung’s brain. One that has been pinging louder and louder since Jimin and Jungkook reunited in the lunchroom right before Jimin’s birthday.
Is Jimin into Jungkook? Or is it just lingering skinship from their childhood?
Because if Jimin is into Jungkook, that would mean he's gay.
Or, Taehyung could be doing the thing that fellow gay upperclassman Min Yoongi says baby gays often do, which is viewing a person through the Gay Gaze, projecting your gayness onto someone out of a desire for sameness.
Back in the real world, Kim Seokjin shakes his head. His black hair – sunkissed bronze from outdoor practices – gleams a shade darker under the kitchen light. His skin glows pearlescent, making him seem better suited for the walls of an art gallery than a high school keg party.
“Well, my parents were the IT couple of their high school,” Jang Guenwon bellows from behind Taehyung, startling him to one side as he shoves into the kitchen. Guenwon is one of Seokjin’s closest friends. A fellow lacrosse teammate, Guenwon is not the brightest bulb, but his family is absolutely made of money, so does alright.
Guenwon sidles into the kitchen with two red solo cups of beer in each hand, dealing them around to each of their teammates, Jungkook included. “You know, it’s hilarious that you’re handing out hot takes on relationships when you’ve never even had one.”
“Are your parents strict or something?” Jungkook wonders, trying not to look surprised by the beer considering he's the youngest member of his team.
Across from them, Kim Jongin snorts, “Yeah, right, like his parents would notice.” Jongin — better known by his English name, Kai — is one of the hottest boys Taehyung has ever seen in real life, and even though he’s 1000% sure Kai is straight, Taehyung has carried a super-secret, deeply-damaging crush since freshman year.
“Kai, play nice,” Lee Sandeul chides. “Besides, it’s Seokjin’s choice.”
Seokjin glances down at the red cup in his hand. “What point is there in expending so much energy on something that doesn't have a future?”
“I got it. Maybe our Jin can’t land a date,” Kai teases, raising up his drink.
Taehyung edges further into the kitchen. Seokjin gives a small, indignant huff. “Please. With this face? I could date someone new every week.”
Jimin rolls his eyes. “Hyung, now you're just being cringey—”
“Prove it!” Guenwon bellows, and Taehyung wonders just how much alcohol this guy has had.
“Prove… what?” Seokjin gives a pained smile.
Guenwon begins to pound the kitchen island with his fist. “Prove it, prove it, prove it…”
Jimin’s inner dancer can never resist this kind of rhythm. He immediately caves, joining in with Guenwon’s chant. It promptly snowballs until everyone in the kitchen except for Seokjin and Taehyung are shouting “Prove it, prove it,” at the tops of their lungs.
This conjures Nina Nadia Mateer from someplace in her palatial estate. When she enters the kitchen on a cloud of Chanel and a glitter of ethically-sourced diamonds, their raucous commotion dies off.
“Don’t stop on my account,” she laughs. “But please clue me in to what the fuss is about.”
“Guenwon-hyung just dared Seokjin-hyung to date a new person every week until the end of the school year,” Jimin blurts.
Seokjin shifts uncomfortably, clearly hating this sudden thrust into the spotlight. “He’s not serious, and besides, he’s drunk.”
“Prove to everyone you can date someone new every week?” Nina asks. She steps in to take Guenwon’s beer from him. After a sip, she smiles. “Intriguing.”
Color lights up high in Seokjin’s cheeks. “Are you seriously daring me?”
“Are you seriously scared?” Nina purrs.
“I’m not scared.” Seokjin sips his drink. “Fine. I’ll do it. I’ll date a new person each week.”
And then his eyes met Taehyung’s.
Taehyung freezes. Like a rabbit under the eyes of a hawk, or an owl, or some other dangerously beautiful thing.
“But like with any game, there should be rules,” Seokjin says. “Taehyung, what do you think?”
Heartbeats tick into the void as Taehyung thinks, He knows my name? The Kim Seokjin knows me?
“Um. Maybe… It should only…Last the school week?” Taehyung stammers out. “Monday through Friday.”
Several of Nina’s friends file into the room: Yoon Hayana, Rosé, Lalisa, and Jisoo. They lean in as if eager to witness an important moment in history.
Seokjin swallows. “Agreed. And?”
“Nothing physical,” Jimin offers, clearly trying to make up for his part in drumming up the mob. “It’s a game, and everyone’s boundaries should be respected.”
Seokjin looks even more relieved. “Is that all?”
“You’re not allowed to ask anyone out,” Hayana chimes in. “Otherwise it’s too easy.”
“Wait, what?” So much for being relieved.
“The dare is this, Kim Seokjin,” Nina says with a wicked gleam. “You will date the first person to ask you out each Monday morning, and you will date them until the final bell on Friday evening. You are forbidden from asking anyone out, and if someone fails to ask you out…” She grins. “Game over.”
“Oh. I like that,” Guenwon snorts. “Girls gotta ask you out. Not the other way around.”
“You also lose if you get tired of dating,” Kai says. “We know you, my friend. You will get bored and bail. It’s what you do.”
He pats Seokjin on the shoulder. Seokjin flashes a fake grin.
“And what happens if he loses?” Taehyung asks.
Seokjin shoots Taehyung a wounded look, like he’d hoped no one would mention that part.
But it’s Sandeul who deals the killing blow. “You have to be the Sweetheart for the lacrosse team, and ride in the Prom parade.”
“Jail!” Seokjin wails. “Every last one of you — Immediately go to jail!”
Because everyone present knows that Seokjin has intentionally dodged that parade. It’s a huge tradition at Donghae International School, this massive Western-style parade where the Prom Court Sweethearts ride in convertibles. They wear crowns and garlands while the marching band plays. At the end, there are fireworks, and the Sweethearts have to promenade in front of a stadium full of parents, teachers, and past alumni.
Until now, Seokjin has avoided it. According to him, it’s pointless and it’s loud, and there’s a dance at the end. It’s plain from the look of shock on his face that this might be his greatest fear.
Seokjin exhales. “Fine. But there needs to be a time limit. I’ll do it for three months, from now until Spring Break. If I lose: Parade. But when I win – and Kim Seokjin always wins – you peasants will never doubt me again.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Sandeul says. “You’ll be a legend.”
“Oh no,” Seokjin lifts his hand. “I will be… Le-Jin-Dary.”
And everyone, minus Taehyung, groans. Taehyung laughs. Like a stupid squawky guffaw. Because seriously, how can a guy who is so aloofly good looking also be such a dork?
“Let the games begin,” Kai says before chugging the rest of his beer. The others follow suit, except for Jungkook, who surreptitiously dumps his in the sink, Seokjin, who seems to have lost his taste for it, and Taehyung, who never had any in the first place.
And that’s how it all started.
Dear Universe, it’s been two months and the Kim Seokjin dare is still going strong. And time is running out. A single school week is all anyone gets. There have been no exceptions to this. None.
Until me.
Until today.
So please Dear Universe, give me strength to see this through.