Remember that time when I said things couldn't possibly go more downhill for me? And then I joked about having to do an assignment together with le douchebag?

Yeah. I should've learned by now not to underestimate how far the Universe would go in order to test my sanity.

Because just when everyone silently waited for Mr Vong to commence the lesson, he drops the bombshell that made me choke on my own saliva.

"Today you will receive an assignment which is due on Monday. You will be working in pairs as you are seated."

My whole world collapses for the... third time, I believe it is, in the span of twenty-four hours. An infinite number of mixed emotions welled up inside me all at once, to the point where it almost made me nauseous. Enthusiastic chatter filled the room when Mr Vong's homework was announced, indicating that most people were happy with the teacher's decision. My stomach, on the other hand, twisted nervously as I slowly turned my head to the left where Taehyung was seated.

His head was buried between his arms which were resting on top of the desk, creating some sort of pillow so he could sleep soundly instead of actually paying attention to anything or anyone. Just the sight caused my insides to boil with irritation.

Honestly though, how more cliché can this possibly get?

Dear Universe, don't answer that question.

If I were now to be paired up with someone that I have no tolerance of being near me in a ten inch radius, at least it could've been someone intelligent. But no. I'm stuck with an arrogant arsehole that's deadass asleep in the middle of a lesson. No matter how much I tried to analyze the different outcomes that this assignment could lead to; not a single one ended up well.

This is not acceptable. I demand justice.

Right when I was about to protest against this nonsense, Mr Vong somehow read my mind and completely obliviated the teeny tiny hope I had left in sneaking out of this mess.

"No change of partners will be permitted and absolutely no one shall work alone. If it somehow turns out that only one of you did the all work, both will fail the assignment without objection. Understood?"

All air escaped my lungs as if someone had punctured them with a forklift.

Universe, looks like you won again.

I seriously don't have a choice then, do I?

As the realization sank in, I let out a deep sigh in defeat as my mind started marvelling over the reasons why the Universe hated me so much.

Without thinking, I deliver a solid slap to the back of Taehyung's head. The pleasing sound of skin perfectly colliding with force against the flesh just between skull and neck managed to soothe my senses for a brief moment. A split second after, Taehyung starts moving his head upwards, dangerously slow, before facing me with a burning gaze that shows no other emotion than pure rage.

I suck on my lips holding in my laughter.

Good one there, Blue, well done.

"The hell was that for?!" he grunts angrily. Annoyance was evident in both his expression and his voice.

"We're doing an assignment, unfortunately," I tell him with a cold glare, not even hiding the fact that I was definitely not okay with the situation.

"We?" he says with a questionable tone. "No way. I'll let you do all the work," he mutters monotonously before returning to his sleeping position.

My mouth falls open in disbelief at his sudden provoking statement.

This bitch. He really thinks he can dictate me to do all the work by myself? Who the hell does he think he is?

I was literally about to throw another whack to his head but this time with the intention to knock him out completely, not caring about the possible suspension and detention for the rest of my life that it would probably result in. Then suddenly, like how Moses parted the sea, realization dawned upon me when his words caused the lightbulb inside my head to light up like the fourth of July.

He gave me permission to write it without him.

HA! Take that, Universe! I found a loophole in your little devilish plans to turn my existence into pure torment.

But I can't be too obvious that I'm okay with this, or he might change his mind when he realizes that his plans blackfired. I release an exaggerated breathy sigh, pretending to sound annoyed.

"Wow, really? Letting me do all the work? You really are an ass," I mutter, trying to sound as bitter as I could. But behind my angry facade that I tried to portray in front of him, I was smirking in satisfaction to myself.

Maybe it won't be that hard to make him stay away from me, after all.

♣

The day went by surprisingly quick. I spent lunch together with Areum and the guys again, which was filled with our usual laughter and never-ending conversations. And now my cheerful mood was drained completely, since I was currently seated on the highest floor, on the same bench next to the lonely window in the room radiating nothing but depression and silence. Taehyung's presence made the entire atmosphere even less bearable.

While waiting for the teacher to appear only to lock us in this room that's basically a prison, my eyes inspect a certain flat roof that's connected to this building. My curiosity immediately skyrockets when I notice a mysterious door leading to the inviting rooftop. Naturally, my mind starts producing mental images of freedom and fresh wind blowing through my hair that made me really itchy to get out of these suffocating four walls.

I'm suddenly feeling adventurous.

The teacher whose cat died yesterday wasn't really cheerful today either when he told us the usual rules, but it was understandable. However, when he left the room and closed the door behind him, my ears perk up as the expected sound of a door clicking is not heard. I slowly rise from my seat and suspiciously approach the door. My hand carefully grabs the handle and softly press it down and... it swings open.

He forgot to lock the door.

"What are you doing?"

Taehyung's sudden voice caused me to flinch and jump slightly upwards in fright. I watch him in the eyes for a moment before flashing him a mischievous smile.

"Exploring," I simply reply before completely opening the door and stepping out of the room. I throw a glance to my left, then to the right. The coast is clear. I start walking through the corridor, on my way towards the roof I was longing to explore.

Suddenly I feel someone firmly grab my wrist, keeping me from taking another step, before pulling me backwards. My breath hitches in surprise, but I immediately relax when I notice that it was just Taehyung. With a smirk playing on his lips, he leans closer towards me with curiosity glowing in his eyes.

"Exploring?" he questions with an amusingly raised eyebrow.

"What? You're gonna tell on me?"

He laughs softly, the beautiful sound causing my insides to tingle just a bit, before replying, "Why would I? Who would've thought that you were rebellious."

"Well, there's not much you actually know about me. So, are you coming with me or not?" I challenge him with a playful smirk. One edge of his lip curves upwards as he reveals a heart-fluttering crooked smile, before letting go of my wrist.

Our little adventure begins.

As we're making our way through the abandoned corridor, I started to wonder why I was even doing this. There was certainly a risk of getting caught, which would result in many more excruciating hours spent in detention. But rather than discouraging me, it actually made this whole escape more exciting. And for some weird, unbeknownst reason, I didn't mind that Taehyung tagged along.

We'll both go down together if shit hits the fan.

"Anywhere in particular you wanna go?" he then asks, following my lead. I nod with determination.

"The roof."

Just after I answered, I suddenly notice a door at the end of the corridor which immediately ignites my excitement even more. That must be the door holding the key to our freedom. However, dread instantly replaces my enthusiasm when I push down the handle only for it to reveal that it won't budge.

"Dammit... I really wanted to go out," I whine with despair in my voice.

Taehyung suddenly steps forward while digging for something in his pocket. When he finds the mysterious item, he holds it up for me to see.

A hairpin.

I furrow my eyebrows in bewilderment while watching him picking the lock. Who walks around with a random hairpin just casually lying inside one's pocket?

However, to my astonishment, the door swings open as Taehyung flashes me a satisfied grin.

Holy shit, it actually worked.

I let out a laugh as I step my foot outside onto the rooftop, breathing in the fresh scent of freedom. He follows right behind me, closing the door after us.

"Holy shit, I thought that only worked in movies!" I exclaim with excitement, watching him with an impressed look on my face.

"It's not my first time coming up here," he says casually with a shrug. "There aren't many who knows how to break into the roof."

It was just as amazing as I had envisioned it to be. The soft puffs of wind softly caressed my cheeks and hair, making me inhale and exhale deeply with satisfaction. I immediately rush to the edge, placing my hands onto the thick half-wall to maintain balance while my eyes took in the spectacular view over the city.

We're so high up.

"This place is amazing!" I giggle happily. I don't know what it was with heights, but they excited me for some reason.

Suddenly, Taehyung grabs my arm and tugs me away from the edge and pulls me towards him almost protectively.

"Don't stand too close to the edge," he says, sounding slightly nervous. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

"Why not? I won't fall," I reassure him. He quickly takes a step backwards, turns away from me while scratching the back of his head.

"Pfft, I don't care if you fall," he retort quickly. "People might see you and we'll get caught, that's why."

Oh. Why did I even expect him to care about me? I ignore the tiny feeling of disappointment that crept up from within.

He then makes his way towards the door before sitting down next to it, leaning his back against the wall behind him. I hesitate for a moment, but then decide to join him anyway. The sun had escaped the clouds and shone brightly, casting warm rays towards us. My skin heat up slightly and I close my eyes in satisfaction and delight, enjoying the moment with great pleasure.

"When did you find this place?" I ask after a couple of minutes of comfortable silence.

"About two years ago, when the teacher forgot to lock the door and I snuck out of detention," he replies with a crooked smile. I chuckle at the similarity.

"You're so rebellious. And you weren't caught?"

"Not even once. I've always been careful when coming up here. It's like my little secret getaway, when I don't feel like coming to class or whatever."

"I see. It's very peaceful here, I have to admit. Good choice," I praise him. "Even I'd rather sit here for hours instead of going to class."

"It's nice, isn't it?" he mumbles along with a soft sigh. I open my eyes and notice that he, too, was enjoying the sun with closed eyelids. For some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off of him and decided to use this rare opportunity to study his face up close.

His skin was usually glowing naturally, but in the sun like this, it appeared as if it was made out of gold. The golden tips of his hair moved in sync with the soft gusts of wind. The longer I watched, the faster my heart started beating. This was a truly mesmerizing moment. He looked so incredibly peaceful, and so... beautiful.

It's such a shame that he is the way he is. Otherwise, I'd definitely fall for him.

However, just when the thought left my mind, my subconsciousness asked; what if you fell for him anyway?

The mere thought made a cold shiver run down my spine. Falling for someone like him is the worst thing I could possibly do to myself. Not only would I be humiliated, my heart would shatter into million pieces. I'd forever be dumbfounding myself for even considering it in the first place.

However, I came to realize that my heart was fluttering crazily when seeing this soft side of him. He looked so calm and peaceful. It was honestly tempting to just reach out my hand and start caressing his ever smooth looking cheek, or let my fingers glide through the silky hair of his.

I lightly shake my head to get rid of the inappropriate thoughts and finally break my way too long stare, afraid that if I had stayed like this for another second, I might actually fall for him.

Instead, I avert my gaze towards my watch and a gasp immediately escape my lips, making Taehyung flinch before opening his eyes and looking at me in confusion.

"It's soon five, we have to go back before they notice we're gone!" I shriek as I stumble up to a standing position. Taehyung is also quickly up on his feet and we both rush to the door and dart our way through the corridor, running as fast as our legs could bear. Soon enough we reach the detention room and hurl ourselves inside. Just when we both managed to sit down on a random seat, panting heavily due to the running, the door opens and the teacher pokes his head inside.

"You may leave now," he announces before leaving as quickly as he appeared.

Taehyung turns to look at me. We share a few seconds of eye-contact in silence, before bursting out laughing.

"Holy shit, that was too close," I gasp, still trying to breathe normally, as we exit the classroom and start walking towards our lockers. Taehyung laughs again, showing off his wide, rectangular smile. His unique way of smiling sent loose a herd of butterflies in my stomach, which also caused tingles to jolt through my body. There was something different with his aura, he seemed so happy and relaxed for once. He almost seemed like a different person. It was enchanting.

I didn't even notice I had been staring at him, before he lets his cheerful self die out and be replaced with a frown.

"What are you staring at?" he asks, furrowing his eyebrows at me. And the same old stone-faced Taehyung came back from its too short vacation. How come as soon as I find something attractive about him, he just needs to prove why that's impossible?

The rest of the journey to our lockers was accompanied by a heavy cloud of silence around us. My mind wouldn't let the image of Taehyung's boxy smile go. It was such an unusual sight, like you've just seen a legendary Pokémon. For some reason it felt special, somehow, to see that side of him. But what would I know, I don't actually know anything about him. I'm probably overanalyzing it, as usual.

Throwing my bag over my shoulder and closing the door to my locker, I hesitate slightly before interrupting the silence between us.

"Thank you for taking me to the roof, even if it was your secret getaway."

He snorts before replying, "If you tell anyone, I can't guarantee that you'll be walking around safely."

His empty threat caused me to chuckle in amusement. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

And with that, I turn around and walk away. While exiting the building and making my way through the busy streets towards my house, I reflect over the things that's happened during this unexpectedly eventful detention. I caught myself smiling when I came to the conclusion that Taehyung actually gave me some nice memories today. He seemed different for a moment, indeed. It almost, just almost, made me excited to see him again tomorrow.

Maybe I'll be able to crack his little shell.

♣ ♣ ♣