♣ ♣ ♣

Taehyung was the only thing on my mind the next hours in class. My mind refused to let go of the playback of our short staring contest, while I desperately tried to rationalize with myself over the handful of reasons why I had reacted the way I did.

Was it because of his ethereal being? Was it his arrogance that made me dislike his character? Or was it the small sparks between us I refuse to admit to myself that makes me more confused than I've ever been?

Never has anyone ever made me overanalyze a simple eye-contact like this before.

For some reason, I couldn't seem to let go of the fact that he had his arm around some girl's shoulders. Areum's words of wisdom echoes through my head, reminding me that Taehyung has never accepted a confession and only uses the girls for his own pleasure. The thoughts caused a shiver to run down my spine, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. I didn't want to admit that I was slightly disappointed by the fact that he has hooked up with basically half the school. But that was the thing that frustrated me the most; why did it even bother me?

Mr Vong's words just flew right through one ear and out of the other, resulting in me barely taking any notes at all. My eyes were fixed on the window which revealed quite a nice view over the city, which made it even easier for me to let my own mind engulf me with its daydreaming while staring into infinity.

"Miss Aldini, are you listening?"

The universe suddenly throws me back to reality, causing me to flinch as I regain access of control over my mind. I look at Mr Vong with a slightly panicked expression, noticing that the whole class was currently staring at me. I immediately sit up straight in my chair and gulp in fear of what horrors was coming for me next.

"Yes. I'm sorry," I apologize with regret in my voice. Both my teacher's intense, intimidating stare and the unwanted attention from my classmates, caused embarrassment to rise inside me, making my cheeks uncomfortably hot.

"What was I just talking about, then, if you were now listening?" he asks with a skeptically raised eyebrow. Shoot, it was a trick question.

"Fine, I didn't listen. I'm really sorry," I admit this time, the embarrassment keep on building up inside me. The sound of muffled laughter and people whispering was heard throughout the class due to my own stupidity. My teacher was not amused at all. Neither was I, since I was currently envisioning my own slaughter, with a disturbing amount of detail, and funeral before me -- if I now was even worthy of one.

After ten seconds of torturous silence that followed my pathetic attempt to express my regret, Mr Vong finally releases a heavy sigh as he's watching me with a disappointed expression.

"You came late to my class this morning and now you're daydreaming? Miss Aldini, this kind of behaviour is not tolerated in my class. Perhaps detention for the rest of the week will keep you alerted during my lessons, hm? I am deeply disappointed in your behaviour, especially for your first day."

If there was ever to be a perfect day to bury oneself and not return for a couple of days -- if ever -- this was indeed the one. I don't think I'll ever be able to unhear that stern, intimidating tone of his voice when calling my name again. It was engraved forever to remind me of the day I was mentally tortured and then slaughtered in front of an audience.

I didn't think it was possible to leave an even worse impression than I had this morning. But of course, the universe just had to prove me wrong in the most entertaining way for them they could come up with.

My life just turned into a goddamn "Roast Myself"-challenge.

♣

"I can't believe that just happened," Areum gasps in horror as we make our way up the stairs to the detention room. "Holy shit, that was seriously the most awkward situation I have ever seen. I feel so sorry for you."

"Can we just not talk about it, please?" I beg her with pain in my voice. But she ignored me and continued making me relive the most stressful moment in my entire life.

"I mean the way he was staring at you, Jesus Christ I've never seen him so angry before..."

"Please just stop-"

"It looked like he wanted to flip your desk and throw you out the window..."

"OKAY I GET IT can we please just forget about it now?" I finally exclaim to make her stop talking. She gives me a look of terror before nodding apologetically.

"Right, sorry.."

I sigh deeply. "It was rude to give me detention all week, though.." I complain bitterly.

Areum shrugs before replying, "There's nothing we can do about it now. Just endure it and try to redeem yourself by doing your best to stay focused from now on."

I had accepted my fate long ago and I knew she was right, but that didn't keep me from being pissed. This was certainly the complete opposite of what I had imagined my experience in school would be like. Everything was supposed to be calm and boring, just like school always had been. But all thanks to that damn Playhyung, all my plans went downhill, crashing with full force into a generous pile of dogshit.

Why did I allow him to make me lose focus like that? It annoyed me so goddamn much that my mind was completely immersed by him.

"Why am I not allowed to even bring a pen and paper?" I ask when we finally arrive to the door that's leading into my upcoming hour of plain suffering. Hooray.

"To make you suffer as much as possible. I've done it once, it was the most excruciating hour in my life. I honestly feel sorry for you."

I release a groan of frustration. She isn't much of an encouraging person, I even start wondering if she's a sadist. Then she softly puts a hand on my shoulder with a hopeful smile on her lips, before saying, "But you'll be fine. The boys and I will wait down in the library. Just come by when you're done."

And with that, she leaves me alone to enter the mental-torture chamber together with the one person I cannot stand, due to him being the reason behind all my agony and why I'm here in the first place. I kinda hate my life at this moment.

I finally enter the empty classroom. When noticing there's only one desk blessed by a window next to it in the entire room, I immediately dart towards the far right corner where it was standing. I sit down with a sigh, thankful over the fact that I can at least enjoy a nice view for an hour instead of a mundane, gray wall.

Eventually, I notice in the corner of my eye another person walk it. That person was of course Taehyung. I don't look up. I strictly forbid myself to even throw a glance at the little devil who quietly makes his way to an empty seat a couple of rows in front of me, and sits down with a heavy sigh.

God, that sigh was sexy.

Brain, what the hell?!

I shake my head in attempt to release the inappropriate thought. What the actual fudge?

Shortly afterwards, an unknown teacher walks into the room. He stares at me for a moment, probably wondering what the hell the new student is doing on detention on its first day.

"Would you look at that, seems like you have company this time, Mr Kim. The rule are as always: no electronics, no books, no writing equipment. Nothing. The door will be locked until five, which is the time you are allowed to leave this room. Behave yourselves," the teacher announces before turning around and close the door behind him. Soon, a faint sound of a 'click' is heard, indicating that the door was locked and secure.

The torture hour begins and the room is completely silent. Only the sound of the ventilation providing us with oxygen and the soft tapping of Taehyung's shoe against the floor could be heard.

Well, this isn't awkward at all.

I let out an inaudible sigh as I let my chin rest against the palm of my hand, while staring out of the window. This was indeed going to be the most boring hour in my entire life. Looking at the bright side of things, at least the view was nice since we're located on the highest floor in the building.

Naturally, my mind started wandering off into infinite places, and I found myself again thinking about the ethereal male sitting in the same room as me. As my mind replayed the same cafeteria scene for the hundredth time, I tried denying the fact that he indeed made me feel something peculiar. No matter how much I tried to push these feelings away, they remained carved in stone inside me.

How can one turn off its own brain?

My thoughts were suddenly disrupted by the unbearable screeching caused by a chair being dragged across the floor. Without averting my eyes from the window, I notice in my peripheral vision a sudden appearance of the person that's recently been invading my thoughts way too much.

Taehyung is currently sitting right in front of me, watching me with his head slightly tilted to the side. I, in some miraculous way, manage to ignore his sudden action and act like I didn't notice him at all, while my eyes were glued onto the view over the town.

He wasn't having any of that.

Suddenly, something soft cups my chin before gently turning my head. I now found myself face-to-face with Taehyung, while he kept his hand in the same position under my chin for a few seconds. He then proceeds to reposition it underneath his own chin in order to let his head rest against the palm of his hands. His eyes stare into my own, causing my body temperature to rise slightly.

And we sit like this for quite a while in silence. The way he was staring at me was almost painful, since it felt like he was piercing through my soul -- as if he was searching for something. I was trying to come up with a sarcastic remark, but my mind was clouded by a thick mist of confusion caused by the intimidating person in front of me. To say that my mind was dysfunctioning at the moment was an understatement. It was under complete shutdown. His captivating eyes made me feel uneasy, to say the least.

He blinks once.

Then he suddenly cracks a smile, showing off his perfectly white teeth.

Wow, he's... so beautiful.

"Detention everyday on your first week.. I'm impressed," he says with a smirk.

Damn, I almost forgot how soothing his voice was. It nearly made me forget that I was actually mad at him.

I suck on my upper lip for a second, while trying to figure out a comeback.

"You seem like a regular here, afraid that I'll be disturbing your precious time?" I mutter dryly, leaning back on my chair. He chuckles softly, the beautiful sound causing my heart to flutter.

Why was everything about him beautiful? It was so annoying, especially when I was trying my hardest not to get flustered or affected by him.

"I don't mind some company. Didn't you know that it's not good to not pay attention in class?"

"Who's now the one that talks a lot?" I point out with a raised eyebrow before finally breaking our eye-contact and averting my gaze towards the window.

I was trying so hard to keep a straight face and appear uninterested, while my heart was literally beating out of my chest as my mind kept getting lost in an endless maze of thoughts. I was breaking into a sweat in the process.

Against my will, I found myself wanting his attention. Heck, for some reason I even craved it at this point. But I knew it wasn't worth it. He was someone I should definitely stay away from, for many reasons. Perhaps if I play unaffected and anti-social towards him, just maybe he'll eventually get bored of me and leave me alone in the process.

Sounds like a plan.

He then cups my chin again, but with both hands this time, and force me to look at him. That annoying crooked smile was still apparent on his lips while his eyes were burning holes into mine. He suddenly started drawing his face closer to my own. My heart picked up its pace even more while my cheeks were really getting hot this time.

My plan was definitely easier said than done.

"Feisty, aren't we?" he murmurs with a seductive tone as the gap between us narrows.

At this point, my entire mind and body was on fire. Holy shit, what was he doing to me?

I slowly start shrinking down in my chair, trying to maintain at least some distance between us. However, one part of me desired to close the small gap and feel those soft, full lips against mine. It was dangerous, to say the least, to study his lips the way I did in this fiery moment. But the slightly larger part -- the one with common sense -- dared me to slap that smirk off of his face and escape his toxic spell.

Both options were tempting.

But instead of doing anything at all, I'm just sitting there with my stoned state of mind, not able to process any rational thoughts or even move my limbs. Is this how it feels like to be high? I could understand why it was addicting.

With the little mind power I had left, I manage to put my hand over his mouth and push his face away from me. I mentally praise myself for succeeding in escaping his enticing charms. However, my mind was still partly dazed over his sudden closeness.

"What are you trying to do, Taehyung?"

He leans back on his chair with a smirk, finally giving me space to breathe and recollect myself. While crossing his arms, he says, "Oh, so you know who I am now?" with amusement evident in his voice.

"Yup, appears so."

"Don't you feel honored to be here, then?"

"Didn't realize I was supposed to," I retort nonchalantly.

"You should be glad I even helped you this morning."

"Oh, yeah about that.. I'm truly sorry I bothered you," I apologize sarcastically. "I promise it won't happen again."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"Don't worry, you'd be the last person I'd ask for help."

"We'll see about that."

This bitch. He makes my blood boil. Just the thought of me having to see his annoying face every damn day for the rest of the week makes me want to hurl myself off of a cliff into a sea of sharpened legos.

Suddenly, the door was opened by the teacher, causing us both to snap back to reality.

"You may leave earlier today, since my cat just passed away and there's no other teacher around to unlock it for you," he announces with a stressed tone in his voice. Taehyung and I just quietly look at the now sniffling teacher, wondering if he's being serious or not. He dries his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt and I'm immediately shaken by this unexpected scene before me.

"Are you okay, mister?" I slowly ask when he continues to silently cry awkwardly in front of us. Taehyung shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

"Yeah I'm fine! Just close the door after yourselves," he mumbles before rushing out, leaving me and Taehyung confused and mildly disturbed.

We slowly share a look of what-the-hell-just-happened mixed with well-that-blows. Then the realization dawns on me that we're actually free from detention early. I immediately jolt out of my seat and rush out of the room, keeping a quick pace as I make my way down the stairs into the corridor to my locker.

However, my luck run out as quickly as it came, because just when I close the door to my locker and turn around, Taehyung approach me with a curious smirk.

Oh for fucks sake, when will the universe stop proving to me that it hates me?

"First you run away from me, and then you wait by my locker? You're giving out some pretty mixed signals right now," he questions, acting confused, leaning against his locker with his arms crossed. I roll my eyes.

"Don't flatter yourself. My locker is next to yours," I reply monotonously. I was just about to leave when his arm suddenly stops me as his hand slams against the locker behind me, right next to my head. I currently found myself trapped between his arms. My breath hitches as he starts leaning into me, reawakening the fire that had previously been engulfing me the first time he did it. He trapped my eyes with his, immobilizing my entire body once again. I found myself lost in his eyes for a moment before he disrupted the silence between us.

"Girls don't usually walk away from me," he murmurs softly, his voice sounding somehow deeper than usual. A single shiver run through my whole body in affection.

"Then watch me run," I retort simply. To snake my way out of his trap, I swiftly duck under his arm and then walk away from him.

What the hell was this boy doing to me?

♣

"How was detention then? You look shooked," Areum asks as we're making our way towards an ice-cream parlour close to the school. Is shooked even a word? If so, I'm hella shooked.

"Excruciating, like you said. But we were released earlier because the teacher's cat died," I reply with a frown.

"What?! His cat died? That's awful."

"Yeah, I know. He even started crying in front of us. It was really awkward, though."

"Poor dude... But did Taehyung disturb you, by the way?" she asks, causing Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Kai to avert their attention to us, listening curiously.

My mind shuts down for a second. Should I tell them anything? Or should I just talk to Areum about it later? Maybe I was just overreacting.

"Not really, he was just sitting there minding his own business," I finally reply, deciding that I will tell them everything about it if things escalates.

"That Taehyung guy is really cool sometimes, but I don't like how he acts with the girls," Kai admits. Chanyeol and Baekhyun nods in agreement.

"Same. He's such a dick to girls and everyone around him. Even to his friends sometimes. Like, does he even know what respect is?" Chanyeol complains with distaste.

"The sick thing is that the girls even like it. They fall for his charm head first. I heard that he's hooked up with every girl that's been in detention with him," Baekhyun says with a disgusted tone in his voice. Then he puts his arm around my shoulders and bring me closer to him before exclaiming, "Except our Blue of course! You're a smart girl, that's why you're with us!"

His cute words made me laugh and immediately accept his hug.

"Aww, thanks Baek! You make me feel so special," I chuckle before we let go of each other.

"Naw, cuties!" Areum squeals with a smirk, causing us to both laugh loudly.

"Jealous?" Baekhyun question her playfully with a raised eyebrow. She fake gasps dramatically before hitting his arm.

"In your dreams, Bacon," she replies dryly, making everyone laugh -- except Baekhyun who pouts while acting sad.

We finally enter the parlour and order our cold desserts. Then we sit down by a table large enough for the five of us. But before digging in, we take lots of pictures of the ice-creams and then we snapped some selfies and group pictures as well.