Author

"Hey look!" said a few girls, pointing to a boy and a girl who were holding hands in the school corridor.

Kim Taehyung and Choi Hyemin. The king and the queen of Mansae High School. Both of them were really rich and popular, just like what you typically find in TV dramas. Taehyung's dad was a successful businessman and Hyemin's dad owned the school. Because of their "fame" and wealth, sometimes they could be arrogant and looked down on other people who they didn't consider being in the same level as them. Others would find them mean and annoying, but these other students could be seen worshiping them, perhaps because they needed some asses to kiss in order to be successful in the future.

"Oppa, Hyemin wants to go first, okay? Hyemin has a morning class."

"Sure, good luck on your class. I'll see you later," Taehyung said before giving his girlfriend a kiss on the forehead.

"Yah, Kim Taehyung!" A guy yelled out Taehyung's name as he was entering his class.

"Yes, Jimin?"

Park Jimin was Taehyung's best friend ever since they were little. Jimin wasn't as rich as Taehyung, but his mother was really close to Taehyung's mother. Jimin, or he sometimes called himself Chim chim, was 2 months older than Taehyung, but Taehyung was definitely taller than him.

"Nothing. Oh, by the way," Jimin said with a bit of a smirk, "I heard that there will be a new student in this school, and it's a girl."

"Oh, really? Is she pretty?"

"Yah, Taehyung!" Jimin said, smacking his arm. "You already have a girlfriend."

Taehyung rolled his eyes playfully while chuckling. "I know, duh. I was just asking."

Suddenly everyone shushed each other as they heard footsteps on the corridor that was leading to their class. Not long after that, the door revealed a woman that all the students knew well. "Everyone, please take a seat!"

"Good morning, Mrs. Jung," everyone greeted while bowing.

All of them were ready to study when something caught their eyes immediately. An unfamiliar girl who was standing next to Mrs. Jung.

"Students, this is our new friend, Lee Jihae," Mrs. Jung said, patting the girl's back to give some sort of relaxation. "Jihae, please introduce yourself."

The long, straight-haired girl nodded, then bowed. "Hi, everyone! My name is Lee Jihae. Nice to meet you."

Without her knowing, there was a guy in the back of the class scanning her from head to toe. He thought, So, is that the new student that Jimin mentioned before? Hmm.. interesting.

---

"Hi, you're the new student, correct? Lee Jihae?"

"Yes, I am," Jihae said to the girl who suddenly approached her. "May I help you?"

The girl smiled and reached out her hand. "My name is Go Mina. I'm the president of the student body council, so basically I'm in charge of taking care of transfer students."

"Well, then. Nice to meet you, Mina," Jihae replied, accepting Mina's hand. "By the way, could you accompany me to walk around the school? I'm not really familiar with all the things in here."

"Sure, let's go."

Things were getting along with Jihae unlike what she previously expected. A few feet away from her was Taehyung who was hanging out with his good ol' girlfriend. It was a usual view for Mansae students to see the both of them spending recess together. Well, it was actually a blessing for some of them because if Taehyung and Hyemin hung out at the canteen, they would most likely to give them a living hell.

"Oppa, Jimin said that there was a new girl in your class. Is that right?"

"Yes, her name is Lee Jihae. That's her," Taehyung said while pointing to a girl who was walking beside Mina. "Isn't she pretty?"

Hyemin frowned when she heard that. "Wait, what?!"

"She's pretty, right?" Taehyung asked with a smirk on his face.

Hyemin clenched her jaws and smacked her boyfriend. "Yah, oppa!!"

Seeing her looking so angry, he chuckled. "I was just joking. Don't get it too serious," he said as he pinched Hyemin's cheeks.

"Ugh, whatever," she muttered she rolled her eyes and pouted. She actually became mad and was about to leave Taehyung alone on the bench.

"Yah, Choi Hyemin! Are you really mad? I'm sorry~"

Hyemin was still pouting, but she eventually gave in seeing him keep making cheesy aegyos. While they were playing and goofing around with each other, someone was standing a few meters behind them, feeling sad and hurt.

Author

While they were playing and goofing around with each other, it turned out Jimin was standing behind them. Seeing Hyemin was so happy and always laughed with his own best friend made him hurt. He had been in love with Hyemin since the first time he met her. Unfortunately, it was his best friend who stole her heart.

"Yah, hyung! What are you doing?" a guy from behind asked as he patted Jimin's shoulder, causing the shorter guy to snap back into reality.

"Don't you see it?"

The younger guy shrugged, so Jimin pointed at two people who weren't that far from them. "Ah, Taehyung and Hyemin sunbae? Aren't you used to it?"

"Yah, Jeon Jungkook! You're making me mad!"

Jeon Jungkook was Jimin's and Taehyung's very talented junior. He was 2 years younger than them. He was kind of close, or maybe he was indeed close, with Jimin because his girlfriend was Jimin's cousin. The three of them joined the same club, which was a vocal club. They sometimes used that time of the day to hang out together.

"Just forget her, hyung. Come on, let's go the vocal room so we won't be late, like you were late getting Hyemin sunbae's heart," he said as he laughed out loud. 

Jimin headlocked the younger one when he heard him making fun of him. "Jeon Jungkook, you rascal."

---

"Jihae, you're also joining the vocal club?"

She turned around as she heard her name being mentioned, only to find a cute guy standing behind her. "Ah, hi there, Jimin," she said while putting on a smile. "I love singing, so Mina suggested me to join this club."

"Oh, so my girlfriend suggested you."

Jihae was a bit surprised when a younger guy suddenly came in. "Go Mina is your girlfriend?"

"Yes. Oh, and," he said while reaching out his hand, "my name is Jeon Jungkook. I'm your junior."

"I'm Lee Jihae. Nice to meet you," Jihae said as she accepted Jungkook's hand and shook it."Do you know why Mina didn't join the vocal club? I heard her sing a bit and I thought it was really beautiful."

"Yeah, she had also never told me the reason," Jimin as he glanced to Jungkook.

"She's joining the dance club. She likes singing indeed, but dancing is her life. When she feels something, either it's sad or happy, she dances to express her feelings," Jungkook explained.

"Why don't you join it too? You're quite good at dancing."

"I almost joined the dance club, but I'm too tired if I have to dance thrice a week, so I prefer the vocal club. I wonder how does Mina not get tired the fact that she's Mansae's main dancer while also having a tight schedule as the president of the student council."

While they were busy having a conversation to get know more about each other, especially about Jihae as someone new to the community, someone opened the door quite harshly, causing them to startle. "Yah, Park Jimin!"

"What's wrong, Tae?" Jimin answered Taehyung's call.

"How dare you leave me alone? I also join this vocal club, don't you remember?"

Jimin clicked his tongue. "Weren't you with Hyemin? Also, it's not like you're keeping a perfect attendance record."

"Well, yes, but I would have come with you if you asked me to," he said.

Jihae who was feeling a bit awkward finally spoke up. "Uhm, Taehyung, are you also joining this vocal club?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not 'joining', I already joined this club for almost 2 years now. You're just a new student, what do you know about me, poor girl?"

Jimin clenched his jaws as he got mad because of Taehyung's behavior. "Yah, Kim Taehyung! Stop that, you're being rude!"

Even though Taehyung was being rude to Jihae, she only laughed at it. She was actually used to such a rude comment like Taehyung's. "It's okay, Jimin."

Not long after that, their vocal coach came to the vocal room. He's Kim Seokjin, an alumni of their high school. Everyone was preparing their song lyrics, but Jihae couldn't really concentrate to the lesson, she kept looking at Taehyung.

Taehyung

"Tae, what do you think about Jihae?"

I raised an eyebrow at Jimin's sudden question, not to mention it was a weird one. Jimin was spending his night at my house for a few months. His parents were in states with my parents for their business trip. And of course, we were extremely excited because we could spend time together without them worrying about our whereabouts.

"What is there to think about? She's not the same level as us."

Jimin frowned. "Geez, when are you going to stop?! You always look down on everyone else, Tae," he said, which caused me to roll my eyes. He should be the one who should stop telling me what to do. Why was he angry anyway? Did he like her or what?

"Look, you're my brother, Taehyung," he said, in the softest way possible. "I don't like you behaving like this. You're rich, yes, everyone knows that. But that doesn't mean you can always treat people like that."

"Yah, Park Jimin, Hyemin said-"

Before I could finish my sentences, Jimin suddenly cut me off. "Haish, Hyemin again! It's always been Hyemin and Hyemin. Hyemin this, Hyemin that. Ugh!"

I once again raised an eyebrow, this time at his sudden outrage. "What the hell? Why are you suddenly being offended like that? Are you jealous or something?"

Jimin's face turned red, I could see it. I could clearly see it. I think he was trying to keep a secret from me, a secret that could ruin our friendship. But it's Jimin, he wouldn't hide something from me, right?

"W-what? Of course... not!" he stuttered. "Look, it doesn't matter. The point is that since you date Choi Hyemin, you've changed."

What he said made me frown. "What do you mean that I've changed? I'm still the same Kim Taehyung, stupid."

"Don't you realize it?"

"No, not at all."

He sighed. "Before you dated Hyemin, you were such a nice boy! Kim V, do you remember that?"

I literally had no idea what he was talking about at the time. It sounded so stupid for me.

"No. What the hell is Kim V?"

"Kim V was a super kind boy who always ranked first for every subject in school. He was incredibly smart and really diligent. He worked so hard when he was chasing a perfect score. He didn't even think about popularity and girls. He only cared about his friends and grades," he said, causing me to think hard to remember whether or not I was really given the nickname Kim V, "and last but not least, he was a kind and generous guy."

After that, he stood up and picked up something from my locker. "Do you remember this moment?" he asked while showing me a picture, but honestly I didn't remember anything. It was a photo of me and Jimin with some poor kids in a poor village. How the hell did he know where to find that photo anyway? "This picture was taken 3 years ago. Kim V and I used to visit villages and donate our stuffs. Kim V really loved the kids and he would play along with them and have a conversation with their parents. He really did enjoy the moment."

I went quiet as I stared at the picture. "Is this.. me?"

"That V nickname was given by our elementary school friends and teachers. It stood for Victory and do you know? That Kim V guy is in front of me now," he said. I was still looking at the picture as I tried to remember that moment, but I couldn't remember anything. I was pretty sure I was not having amnesia. I mean, was this really me? Well, my face did kind of change, but did I really enjoy this day? "And then, Hyemin came to your life."

"What do you mean?"

"She chased the hell out of you, Tae. At first, you didn't really care and you kind of ignored her, but suddenly you gave in," he said. "To be honest, I was really shocked when I knew you were dating with Hyemin."

His words made me think that he liked Hyemin. I wasn't sure enough, but how he told me a story of Hyemin and me was quite obvious. He was definitely jealous, I was sure. "Did you like Hyemin?" I asked, which made Jimin tensed as I noticed.

"N-no, I didn't say that I like Hyemin. I was just shocked," he said, not looking at me. "Because of her, now you only care about popularity and reputation. You're now so lazy and you don't even care about your school. And your Kim V personality has definitely gone."

Hearing him say that somehow made me offended. "No, it wasn't me! I wasn't that Kim.. ugh, whatever it is. I was lazy then and now! I was like this before and I never cared about my grades. It's not Hyemin's fault!"

Jimin held both of my shoulder and stared at me for a while. "Taehyung, I am your brother for a long time. I know you way better than anyone, even Hyemin. See? You care about Hyemin more than me."

I let go of Jimin's hand from my shoulder. "Whatever. I know you're my brother, Jimin, but Hyemin-"

Once again, he cut me off. "Fine, do whatever you want. I'm tired, I'm going to sleep now. Good night," he said as he walked into the guest room and technically almost slammed the door.

I looked back at the picture and stared at it. Was what Jimin said true though?