#Tae's POV…
After the dinner, Jungkookie was nice to me at school. Which I hated. Mad was better than nice. Gaga was better than … nice. It was like I was a stranger to him, and man, it bugged me. Bugged me big time.
Then the auction happened, and I found myself with even bigger problems.
The auction is this bogus way the Booster Club raises money for the school. They insist it's an honour to be chosen, but bull-stinkin'-loney to that!
The bottom line is, twenty guys get shanghaied. They have to come up with fancy picnic lunches and then be humiliated in front of the whole school while girls bid to have lunch with them.
Guess who made this year's top twenty.
You'd think mothers would say, Hey, there's no way you're going to auction my son off to the highest bidder, but no. Instead, they're all flattered that their son's been elected a basket boy.
⏞
{𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐓 𝐁𝐎𝐘 𝐀𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 » 𝑹𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 20 𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒉-𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇𝒇. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆 & 𝒏𝒐 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌. 𝑰𝒕❜𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚❟ 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 ❝𝑾𝑶𝑵❞ 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔.}
⏟
Yes, my friend, that's what they call you. Over the P.A. you hear stuff like, ❝There will be an organizational meeting of the newly elected basket boys in the MPR at lunch today. All basket boys must attend.❞
Pretty soon you've completely lost your name. You and nineteen other saps are known simply as Basket Boy.
My Papa, of course, was into it, coming up with all sorts of stuff to put in my basket so I'd get the highest bid. I tried to explain that I didn't want to be in Seoul Junior High's Basket Boy Hall of Fame, and that really, what was in the basket didn't matter. It wasn't like girls + some boys who look pretty like Jungkook were bidding on the basket. When you got right down to it, this was a meat market.
❝You eat lunch on campus and that's the end of it. It is hardly a meat market, Taehyung. It's an honour! Besides, maybe someone really nice will bid on you and you'll make a new friend!❞
Mothers & Papa's can be in such denial.
And then Wooshik bends my ear with the news that Olivia Rodrigo is breaking up with Jackson Wang and that she, Jang Wonyoung, and Billie Eilish are starting some bidding war over me.
❝Dude!❞ he tells me. ❝The two hottest chicks on campus. And I swear to god, man, Olivia's dumped Jacky because of you. I heard it directly from Ni-ki, and dude, Ni-Ki the Ear knows all.❞ He throws me this nasty grin and says, ❝Me, I'm rooting for Jumbo Billie. It would serve you right for being such a basket boy.❞
I told him to shut up, but he was right. With the way my luck was running, I'd probably get stuck with Jumbo Billie. I could just see it — six feet of beefy babe downing both halves of my lunch and then coming after me. Billie's the only girl or guy on campus who can dunk a basketball. The whole gym shakes when she lands. And since she's got no, you know… female parabolas, the girl could shave her head and make it in the NBA. Seriously. No one would ever suspect.
Her parents give her anything she wants, too. Rumour has it they converted their garage into a full-on basketball court just for her.
Which meant that in the game of the basket boys, I was as good as slam-dunked.
Unless, unless… Olivia or Wonyoung was the high bidder. But how could I make sure that happened? My brain went into overdrive, constructing a plan, and in the end, I decided that there was only one sensible course of action.
Kiss up to both of them.
Halfway through my first day of doing this, I felt like a skunk. Not that I was being gross about it or anything. I was just, you know, friendly. And even though Olivia and Wonyoung didn't seem to smell a thing, Wooshik did.
❝Dude!❞ he said to me on Thursday. ❝I can see your game, man.❞
❝What are you talking about?❞
❝Don't deny it, dude. You're working them both.❞ He comes up and whispers in my ear, ❝Basket boy or not, I'm in awe.❞
❝Shut up, man.❞
❝Seriously! The Ear says they were, like, clawing each other in P.E. today.❞
I had to know. ❝What about … Jumbo Billie?❞
He shrugs. ❝Haven't heard. But we'll find out tomorrow, won't we, dude?❞
My Papa dropped me off at school on Friday with my stupid oversized picnic basket, and since all basket boys have to dress up, I was choking in a tie and feeling completely dweeblike in slacks and dress shoes.
Kids whistled and shouted, ❝Oooh, baby!❞ as I headed up the walkway, and then Jumbo Billie passed me, taking the front steps three at a time. ❝Wow, Taehyung,❞ she said over her shoulder. ❝You look… delicious.❞
Oh, man! I practically ran to the classroom where all the basketball boys were supposed to meet, and the minute I walked in, I felt better. I was surrounded by other dweebs, who seemed genuinely happy to see me.
❝Hey, Kim❞; ❝Yo, dude❞; ❝Doesn't this suck eggs?❞; ❝Why didn't you take the bus, man?❞
Misery loves company.
Then Mrs. Tzuyu, the president of the Boosters, the lady who lassoed us all, hoofs it through the door. ❝Oh, my!❞ she says. ❝You all look so handsome!❞
Not one word about our baskets. Not one little sneak peek inside. No, for all she cared, those puppies were empty.
Meat market?
You better believe it!
❝Don't be so nervous, boys,❞ Mrs. Tzuyu was saying. ❝You're going to have a wonderful day!❞ She pulls out a list of names and starts ordering us into line.
We get numbers; our baskets get numbers; we fill out three-by-five cards to her insane specifications; and by the time she's got us all organized and is sure we know what to do and what not to do, we've missed all of first and most of the second period. ❝Okay, gentlemen,❞ she says. ❝Leave your baskets where they are and go to… where are we now? Still in second?❞ She looks at the clock. ❝Right. Second.❞
❝What about passes?❞ some sensible basket boy asked.
❝Your teachers have a list. But if they say anything, tell them I say your neckties are your passes. I'll meet you back here when everyone's dismissed for the auction. Got it? Don't dawdle!❞
We grumbled, Yeah, yeah, and headed to class. And I can tell you this, not one of the twenty of us listened to a word any of our teachers said that morning. How can you listen with a noose around your neck, pinched toes, and a room full of idiots thinking it's open season on basket boys? Whoever started this stupid tradition ought to be crammed into a basket and tossed downstream without a serving spoon.
•
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•
I was basket boy number nine. Which meant I had to stand there on the stage in the gym while nearly half the guys got auctioned off. The minimum bid is ten bucks. And if nobody bid, the secret was a teacher was assigned to bid on you.
Yes, my friend, the possibilities for mortification were infinite.
Some of the moms showed up and stood off to the side with their camcorders and zoom lenses, fidgeting and waving and basically acting as dweeby as their sons looked. I should know. My Papa took an hour off work to be one of them.
Park Ji hoon was basket boy number five, and his mom actually bid on him. No kidding. She jumped up and down, yelling, ❝Twenty! I'll give you twenty!❞
Man, that'll brand you for life. Lucky for Ji hoon, Huening Kai came up with twenty-two fifty and saved his sorry self from everlasting torture as a mama's boy — one of the few fates worse than basket boy.
Kang Taehyun was up next, and he fetched the Boosters all of eleven fifty.
Then came Choi Soobin, who I swear was ready to pee his pants when Mrs Tzuyu made him step forward. She read his card, pinched his cheeks, and raked in fifteen even.
At this point what stood between me and the auction block was Kim Yugyeom. And I wasn't exactly interested in what he had in his basket or what his hobbies and favourite sports were. I was too busy scanning the crowd for Jumbo Billie, sweating my pits off.
Mrs. Tzuyu calls into the microphone, ❝Do I hear ten?❞ and it took me a minute to tune in to the fact that no one said ❝Ten!❞ No one said anything.
❝Come on, out there! The lunch was delicious. Strawberry tarts, um …❞ And Mrs Tzuyu goes back to reading off the three-by-five about Kim Yugyeom's lunch.
Talk about embarrassing! This was worse than being a mama's boy. Worse than lunch with Jumbo Billie! How'd he get voted basket boy if nobody wanted to have lunch with him?
Then off to the right of the crowd, I hear, ❝Ten!❞
❝Ten? Did I hear ten?❞ Mrs. Tzuyu says with a fluttery smile.
❝Twelve!❞ came a different voice from the same area.
The first voice came back with ❝Fifteen!❞ and all of a sudden I recognized whose voice it was.
Jeon Jungkook's.
I searched through the crowd and found him, hand waving in the air, that looked all over his face.
❝Sixteen!❞ came the other voice.
There was a pause, but then Jungkook shouted back with ❝Eighteen!❞
❝Eighteen!❞ cries Mrs. Tzuyu, who looks like she's about to collapse from relief. She pauses, then says, ❝Eighteen going once … Eighteen going twice … Sold! for eighteen dollars.❞
To Jungkook? He was the last person I expected to bid on lunch. Anybody's lunch.
Yugyeom staggered back into line. And I knew I was supposed to step forward, but I couldn't budge. I felt like I'd been slugged in the stomach. Did Jungkook like Yugyeom? Is that why he'd been so…so… nice lately? Because he didn't care about me anymore? All my life he'd been there, waiting to be avoided, and now it was like I didn't even exist.
❝Step up, Taehyung. Come on, don't be shy!❞
Ni-Ki shoved me a little and said, ❝Your turn for torture. Get up there!❞
It felt like walking the plank. I just stood up front sweating bullets while the Booster Queen dissected my lunch and started running through my list of favourites. Before she's even finished, though, Olivia Rodrigo calls out, ❝Ten!❞
❝What's that?❞ says Mrs. Tzuyu.
❝I'll give you ten!❞
❝Oh,❞ she laughs as she puts down her notes. ❝Well, I guess I hear ten!❞
❝Twenty!❞ calls Jang Wonyoung from the dead center.
❝Twenty-five!❞ It's Olivia again.
I'm looking around for Jumbo Billie, praying she's gone home sick or something, while Olivia and Wonyoung go up by five. ❝Thirty!❞
❝Thirty-five!❞
❝Forty!❞
Then I spotted her. She's about twenty feet behind Wonyoung, cleaning her fingernails with her teeth.
❝Forty-five!❞
❝Fifty!❞
❝Fifty-two.❞
❝Fifty-two?❞ interrupts the Booster queen. ❝Well, this has been lively! And from the looks of this basket, well worth the —❞
❝Sixty!❞
❝Sixty-two!❞ calls Olivia.
Wonyoung scrambles around trying to beg money from her friends as Mrs. Tzuyu calls, ❝Going once!❞ But then Billie stands up and bellows, ❝A hundred!❞
A hundred. There's a collective gasp, and then the entire student body turns and stares at Billie.
❝Well!❞ laughs Mrs. Tzuyu. ❝We have a hundred! That is certainly an all-time record. And such a generous donation to the Boosters!❞
I wanted to boost her, right off the stage. I was doomed. This was something I would never live down.
Then there's this big commotion, and all of a sudden Olivia and Wonyoung are standing right next to each other calling, ❝One-twenty-two… fifty! We'll give you one-twenty-two fifty!❞
❝One hundred twenty-two dollars and fifty cents?❞ I thought the Booster Queen was gonna polka. ❝You're pooling your resources to have lunch with this fine young man?❞
❝Yeah!❞ they call, then look over Billie's way. Everybody looks over Billie's way.
Billie just shrugs and goes back to cleaning a nail.
❝Well, then! One hundred twenty-two dollars and fifty cents going once… One hundred twenty-two dollars and fifty cents going twice … Sold to those two beautiful young ladies for an all-time record of one hundred twenty-two dollars and fifty cents!❞
❝Dude!❞ Mike whispered when I got back in line. ❝Olivia and Wonyoung? How am I supposed to follow that?❞
He didn't even come close. He got Terry Norris for sixteen bucks, and the most anyone else got was forty. And when it was over, all the guys told me, ❝Dude! You are, like, the man…. Score!❞ but I didn't feel like the man. I felt wiped out.
My Papa came up and gave me a hug and a kiss like I'd won a gold medal or something, then whispered, ❝My little baby,❞ and clunkily clicked off in his high heels like shoes, back to work.
So I was wiped out, embarrassed, and then practically dragged to the multi-purpose room by Olivia and Wonyoung.
The Boosters had outfitted the MPR with little tables for two, all decorated in shades of pink and blue and yellow, with balloons and streamers everywhere. I felt like the Easter bunny with my stupid basket boy lunch clutched in both hands while Wonyoung held on to one arm and Olivia latched on to the other.
They gave us the biggest table and whisked in an extra chair, and when everyone was seated, Mrs. Tzuyu said, ❝Boys and girls? I don't think I need to remind you that you are excused from class for the rest of the day. Enjoy your lunches, enjoy your friendships…. Take your time, relax, and thanks again for supporting your Boosters. We wouldn't be us without you!❞
So there I was, with the two hottest girls on campus, having lunch. I was ❛the man,❜ the envy of every other guy in school.
Buddy, I was miserable.
I mean, these two girls may be gorgeous, but what was coming out of their mouths about Jumbo Billie was embarrassingly ugly. Wonyoung works herself up to, ❝What was she thinking? Like you would ever want to go out with her, right, Taehyung?❞
Well, yeah. That was right. But it seemed really wrong to say so. ❝Look, can we talk about something else?❞
❝Sure. Like what?❞
❝I don't care. Anything else. Are you guys going anywhere this summer?❞
Wonyoung shoots off first. ❝We're taking a cruise to the Mexican Riviera. We're supposed to stop in all these cool ports and shops and stuff.❞ She flutters her eyelids at me and says, ❝I could bring you something back….❞
Olivia scoots her chair a little and says, ❝We're going up to the lake. My dad has a cabin there, and you can get the most outrageous tan. Do you remember what I looked like at the beginning of this year? I was, like, black. I'm going to do that again, only this time I've got a schedule all worked out so that it's even everywhere.❞ She giggles and says, ❝Don't tell my mom, okay? She would have a ka-nip!❞
And this, my friend, is how the Tan Wars began. Wonyoung told Olivia that she didn't even notice her tan at the beginning of the year and that the place to really roast is on a cruise ship.
Olivia told Wonyoung that anyone with freckles can't really get tan and since Wonyoung had freckles everywhere, the cruise was a guaranteed waste of money. I choked down my third of the lunch and looked around the room, trying to let it all flow past me.
Then I saw Jungkook. He was two tables away from me, facing my direction. Only he wasn't looking at me. He was looking at Yugyeom, his eyes all sparkly and laughing.
𝑴𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕? 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕? 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒔𝒐…𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍¡?
I felt myself spinning out of control. It was weird. Like I couldn't even steer my own body. I'd always thought Jon was pretty cool, but right then I wanted to go over and throw him across the room.
Olivia grabbed my arm and said, ❝Taehyung, are you alright? You look…I don't know… possessed or something.❞
❝What? Oh.❞ I tried taking a deep breath. ❝What are you staring at?❞ Wonyoung asked. They both looked over their shoulders, then shrugged and went back to picking at their food.
But I couldn't stop myself from looking again. And in the back of my mind, I could hear my Abeoji's voice saying, ❝The choices you make now will affect you for the rest of your life. Do the right thing….❞
⁍Do the right thing….⁌
⁍Do the right thing….⁌
Wonyoung shook me out of it, asking, ❝Taehyung? Are you in there? I asked, What are you going to do this summer?❞
❝I don't know,❞ I snapped.
❝Hey, maybe you can spend some time up at the lake with us!❞ Wonyoung said.
It was torture. I wanted to scream, Shut up! Leave me alone! I wanted to run out of the building and keep on running until I didn't feel like this anymore.
❝Lunch is really delicious, Taehyung.❞ Wonyoung's voice was floating around ❝Taehyung? Did you hear me? This is really a spectacular lunch.❞
A simple little thank you would have sufficed. But could I come up with a simple little thank you? No. I turned to her and said, ❝Can we not talk about food or tans or hair?❞
She gave me an uppity little smile. ❝Well, what do you want to talk about, then?❞
I blinked at her, then at Olivia. ❝How about perpetual motion? Know anything about that?❞
❝Perpetual what?❞
Wonyoung starts laughing.
❝What?❞ I ask her. ❝What's so funny?❞
She looks at me for a minute, then snickers. ❝I didn't realize I'd bid on an intellectual.❞
❝Hey… I'm plenty smart!❞
❝Yeah?❞ Wonyoung giggles. ❝Can you spell intellectual?❞
❝He is too smart, Wonyoung.❞
❝Oh, stop kissing up, Olivia. You're trying to tell me you're after his brain? God, it's making me sick to watch you grovel.❞
❝Grovel? Excuse me?❞
❝You heard me. He's not going to take you to the grand dance anyway, so just give it up, why don't you?❞
And with that, it was all over. One of my Papa's flaky apple tarts got ground into Wonyoung's hair; the extra ranch dressing got smeared into Olivia's. And before Mrs. Tzuyu could say, In the name of Boosters! What are you doing? They were rolling on the floor, scratching each other's makeup off.
I took this opportunity to leave my table and head for Jungkook's. I grabbed him by the hand and said, ❝I've got to talk to you.❞
He sort of half-stands and says, ❝What? What's going on, Taehyung? Why are they fighting?❞
❝Excuse us a minute, would you, Yugyeom?❞ I pull him away from the table, but there's no place to go. And I've got his hand in mine, and I just can't think. So I stop right there in the middle of the room and look at him. At that face. I want to touch his cheek and see what it feels like. I want to touch his hair, it looks so incredibly soft.
❝Taehyung,❞ he whispers. ❝What's wrong?❞
I can barely breathe as I ask him, ❝Do you like him?❞
❝Do I… you mean Yugy?❞
❝Yes!❞
❝Well, sure. He's nice and —❞
❝No, do you like him?❞ My heart was pounding through my chest as I took his other hand and waited.
❝Well, no. I mean, not like that….❞
No! he said no! I didn't care where I was, I didn't care who saw. I just had to kiss him. I leaned in, closed my eyes, and then …
He broke away from me.
Suddenly, the room was dead quiet.
Wonyoung and Olivia stared at me through their slimy hair, everyone was looking at me like I'd blown my entire circuit board, and I just stood there, trying to reel in my lips and pull myself back together.
Mrs. Tzuyu took me by the shoulders, guided me to my chair, and told me, ❝You sit here, and you stay here!❞ Then she hauled Wonyoung and Olivia outside, scolding them and telling them to find separate bathrooms and clean up while she ran down the janitor to mop up their mess.
I sat there by myself and didn't even care about covering up. I just wanted to be with him. To talk to him. To hold his hand again.
To kiss him.
Before school was out, I tried to talk to him again, but every time I got close, he'd dodge me. And then when the final bell rang, he disappeared. I looked everywhere for him, but he was just gone.
Wooshik, however, wasn't. He tracked me down and said, ❝Dude! Tell me it isn't true!❞
I didn't say a word. I just headed for the bike racks, still hoping to find Jungkook.
❝Oh, man …it is true!❞
❝Leave me alone, Wooshik.❞
❝You get hooked up with the two finest chicks on campus, then bail on them for Jungkook?❞
❝You don't understand.❞
❝You're right, dude. I completely don't understand. Did you seriously try to kiss him? I couldn't believe that part. Are we talking about Jeon Jungkoooook? Your nightmare neighbour? The know-it-all nuisance? The coop poop babe?❞
I stopped cold and shoved him. Just laid into him with both hands and shoved.
❝That was a long time ago, man. Knock it off!❞
Wooshik put both hands up but moved in on me. ❝𝑫𝒖𝒅𝒆❟ 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑭𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅❟ 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕?❞
❝Just back off, would you?❞
He blocked my path. ❝I can't believe this! Two hours ago you were the man. The man! The whole school was on their knees before you! Now look at you. You're, like, a social hazard.❞ He snorted and said, ❝And, dude, the truth is, if you're gonna be like this, I don't need the association.❞
I got right in his face and said, ❝Good! 'Cause you know what? Neither do I!❞
I shoved him aside and ran.
•
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•
I wound up walking home. In my pinchy shoes, with dirty dishes clanking inside my sticky picnic hamper, this basket boy hiked all the way home. And there was a battle raging inside me. The old Taehyung wanted to go back in time, wanted to hang with Wooshik and shoot the breeze, and wanted to hate Jeon Jungkook again.
Wanted to be the man.
But in my heart, I knew the old Taehyung was toast. There was no going back. Not to Wooshik or Olivia or Wonyoung or any of the other people who wouldn't understand. Jungkook was different, but after all these years that didn't bother me anymore.
I liked it.
I liked him.
And every time I saw him, he seemed more beautiful. He just seemed to glow. I'm not talking like a hundred-watt bulb; he just had this warmth to him. Maybe it came from climbing that tree. Maybe it came from singing to chickens. Maybe it came from whacking at two-by-fours and dreaming about perpetual motion. I don't know. All I know is that compared to him, Olivia and Wonyoung seemed so…ordinary.
I'd never felt like this before. Ever. And just admitting it to myself instead of hiding from it made me feel strong. Happy. I took off my shoes and socks and stuffed them in the basket. My tie whipped over my shoulder as I ran home barefoot, and I realized that Wooshik was right about one thing — I had flipped.
Completely.
I tracked down our street and spotted his bike lying on its side in the driveway. He was home!
I rang the bell until I thought it would break.
No answer.
I pounded on his door.
No answer.
I went home and called on the phone, and finally, finally, his Papa answered. ❝Taehyung? No, I'm sorry. He doesn't want to talk.❞ Then he whispers, ❝Give him a little time, won't you?❞
I gave him an hour. Almost. Then I went across the street. ❝Please, Mr Jeon (Jm). I've got to see him!❞
❝He's locked himself in his room, dear. Why don't you try phoning tomorrow.❞
Tomorrow? I couldn't wait until tomorrow! So I went around the side of their house, climbed the fence, and knocked on his window. ❝Jungkook! Jungkook, please. I've got to see you.❞
His curtains didn't open, but the back door did, and out came Jimin Uncle to shoo me away.
When I got home, my Abeoji
was waiting at the front door. ❝Taehyung, what is going on? You've been running back and forth to the Jeons, climbing over their fence…. You're acting like the world's on fire!❞
I blurted, ❝I can't believe this! I just can't believe this! He won't talk to me!❞
He led me into the front room, saying, ❝Who won't talk to you?❞
❝Jungkook!❞
He hesitated. ❝Is he … mad at you?❞
❝I don't know!❞
❝Does he have reason to be mad at you?❞
❝No! Yes! I mean, I don't know!❞
❝Well, what happened?❞
❝I tried to kiss him! In front of this whole room of people, while I was supposed to be having that stupid basket boy lunch with Olivia and Wonyoung, I tried to kiss him!❞
Slowly a smile spread across his face. ❝You did?❞
❝I was, like, possessed. I couldn't stop myself! But he pulled away and…❞ I looked out the window at the Jeon's house. ❝And now he won't talk to me!❞
Very quietly my grandfather said, ❝Maybe he thinks this is all a little sudden?❞
❝But it's not!❞
❝It's not?❞
❝No, I mean …❞ I turned to him. ❝It started with that stupid newspaper article. And I don't know… I've been weirded out ever since. He doesn't look the same, he doesn't sound the same, he doesn't even seem like the same person to me!❞ I stared out the window at the Jeon's. ❝He's…he's just different.❞
My grandfather stood beside me and looked across the street, too. ❝𝑵𝒐, 𝑻𝒂𝒆𝒉𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈,❞ he said softly. ❝𝑯𝒆❜𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆❜𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏; 𝒚𝒐𝒖❜𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐❜𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅.❞ He clapped his hand on my shoulder and whispered, ❝And, son, from here on out, you'll never be the same again.❞
•
🌳🐓🌳
•
Maybe my Abeoji is happy about all this, but I'm miserable. I can't eat; I can't watch TV; I can't seem to do anything.
So I went to bed early, but I can't sleep. I've watched his house from my window for hours now. I've stared at the sky; I've counted sheep. But man, I can't stop kicking myself for what an idiot I've been all these years.
And now how am I going to make him listen to me? I'd scale that monster sycamore if I could. Right to the top. And I'd yell his name across the rooftops for the whole world to hear.
And since you know what a tree-climbing weenie I am, I think it's pretty clear that I'm willing to do anything to get him to talk to me. Man, I'll dive after him into a chicken coop full of poop if that's what it takes. I'll ride my bike all the stinkin' way to school for the rest of eternity if it means being with him.
Something. I've got to come up with something to show him that I've changed. To prove to him that I understand.
But what? How do I show him that I'm not the guy he thinks I am? How do I erase everything I've done and start over?
Maybe I can't. Maybe it just can not be done. But if I've learned one thing from Jeon Jungkook, it's that I've got to put my whole heart and soul into it and try.
Whatever happens, I know that my Abeoji is right about one thing.
I'll never be the same again.