LETTER

it had been a long day for all those at the seoul institute of arts and athletics.

there was a gaggle of students glaring sullenly at their textbooks, muttering darkly about examinations between themselves, while frantically scribbling notes. behind them was an infestation of freshmen, playing a loud game of uno, their ignorance to the largely unspoken rules of etiquette that dominated the hierarchy of the pavilion indisputably obvious; many of their older counterparts were scowling over the tops of books, exchanging irritated glances with each other in turn that quietly said, freshmen, aren't they the worst?

somewhere inside, up a winding staircase, and two doors to the left, past the crooked noticeboard, were the girls dormitories.

even from outside the door, a shocked cry was audible.

"oh no you won't! lisa, you can't! you really can't!"

inside, a ring of five girls were seated on the floor currently having an emergency meeting.

"lisa, that's the dumbest idea you've ever had! which says a lot since you've had lots of dumb ideas!"

"i think what tzuyu meant to say," the eldest of the five, kim jisoo, spoke up elbowing the aforementioned girl in the side, "is that given who we're talking about, it's a bad idea. i mean you know how he is. . . he's downright cruel."

the strawberry blonde-haired girl sitting squatly in the center of the bedlam twisted her hands together. "thanks guys, your confidence in me is inspiring" she said sarcastically, put out.

tzuyu, who was positioned on her right folded her arms. "it's not that we don't have confidence in you, it's just that jeon jungkook is such a – a – "

"dream?" said lisa lightly, a soft smile playing on her lips. "he really is."

tzuyu didn't seem inclined to agree as she gave her a superbly annoyed look. as the daughter of a highly polished family, the look of disdain suited her aristocratic features. tzuyu wasn't tzuyu without her crisp dresses, offensive tone, unfiltered diction, and love for grandeur.

on her left, the two other girls – park rosé and kim yerim – looked equally stunned.

"of all the thousands of students, why did it have to be him?" asked yeri, raising an eyebrow.

"not you too!" lisa cried out, "i know tzuyu hates him, but that's expected, she hates everything. but now you're telling me you hate him too?"

"i don't hate him liz, but im just sayin' out of everyone you could've had a crush on, you had to choose the one that's least likely to reciprocate it?" her friend looked at her imploringly,

"don't you remember what happened when jung eunha tried asking him out? he didn't even respond, he just emptied his water bottle on her hair, in front of everyone in the class! he just doesn't like these kinds of things."

"jung eunha is a bit dumb," said tzuyu fairly. "do you guys remember when we had a rehearsal for our orchestra last year? she got her hand stuck in taehyung's saxophone! Her whole hand literally inside the end of the thing, like how? it takes a special kind of talent to be that stupid!"

"that's really mean," rosé pointed out, "but also very valid."

"well i could just ask him during lunch when everyone's talking, so nobody overhears," said lisa in her usual quiet way. "I don't want to annoy him by attracting a lot of attention. . .and anyway, attention is the last thing I need, I'm sure he feels the same."

"are you positive you want to go through with this?" this came from jisoo, whose billboard-worthy face held a worried look. jisoo was actually jungkook's cousin as her paternal aunt was jungkook's mother and was consequently the closest to the boy out of the five of them.

"kook – he – well he doesn't take kindly to strangers. . .especially strangers with something as silly as a crush on him, he says it's a waste of time."

tzuyu scowled. "he's a waste of time. as far as i'm concerned, he can only do two things successfully: sulk and unfortunately, breathe. you're too good for that self-centered, egomaniacal – "

"don't say that about him," lisa shook her head. "i think he's nice."

"nice? ha! jeon jungkook wouldn't know what it means to be 'nice' if it smacked him upside the head!"

"you're just mad that he beat you on the finals last year," said yeri, exchanging a knowing glance with jisoo.

"don't even try it yeri, he beat me on two exams, one of which was only by four points may i remind you! four fucking points! and the class was 'a study of pop art culture' like no one gives a flying rat's ass about that!"

"hey, speak for yourself!" rosé, their resident art major, shouted offended. "granted art isn't for everyone, nor is pop art a particularly sophisticated theme or favorite of mine – that's a whole other topic I'll get into someday – but that class was actually really insightful and reflected –"

"oh spare me your artsy mumbo jumbo," tzuyu rolled her eyes.

"mumbo jumbo? yah chou tzuyu you need to start respecting art for what it is, you literally go to an arts school!"

having sufficiently delved into their usual bickering and topics of school work, lisa got the chance to tune them out and think for herself for a moment. she has heard stories of the long list of girls that had been rejected by jungkook, but still. . . a nagging feeling in her gut was telling her she should at least try. it didn't help that jungkook was literally the perfect guy tempting her, if boyfriend material was a person, it would take his form.

jisoo scooted closer to her and patted her comfortingly on the hand. "if it's worth that much to you, lisa, i'll support you. i'll try putting in a good word about you to kook, if he's willing to listen."

"really?" at this, lisa brightened considerably. "unnie, you're the best!"

"i know, babe. no promises that it'll work out though." she warned.

lisa nodded, "i understand."

"good," jisoo playfully bumped her shoulder, "now forget about my crazy cousin for a second and tell me about your plans for the upcoming break."

perking up at the new topic, she spent the rest of the night chatting away. soon enough, there was a rimming chime from the grandfather clock leaning against the wall that the girls had decided to keep, mainly for the aesthetic. it signalled that it was best to retire to their beds and lisa flicked off the lights. as she laid back in her comforter, wrapped under layers of quilts, she watched the reflections of the stars dot the windowpane beside her bedside. in her last few moments of consciousness, she could still hear tzuyu and rosé arguing under their breaths.

★ ☆ ★

a few hours before the morning of, lisa arose and readied herself for the day. the floors all below were bustling with the sparks of an early morning symphony as fellow students everywhere woke up; there was a creak of bedsprings, the scrape of curtains, and the clack of the showers.

jisoo was already up and about, having showered and packed for soccer practice in the afternoon (it seemed pointless to her considering that christmas break was starting tomorrow, but what did she know about sports?); jisoo waved as she ran down, her bag bulging with her strategy books.

so, with that, lisa considered herself with the small mirror by her bedside.

for what it was worth, lalisa manoban was pretty.

her soft features, coupled with clear skin and a heart-shaped face still lingered, even at nineteen, in the awkward bounds of adolescence. sometimes she was mistaken for a fifteen year old, and others as a woman in her mid-twenties. she was irritatingly tall and finding a boy she didn't tower over had become somewhat of a sequel to mission impossible, or atleast it was until she'd laid eyes on jungkook in all his five-foot-ten glory.

then, there were the various tics in her life: a myriad of insecurities regarding everything from her intelligence to the way she always seemed to whisper her words, and the ridiculous way she dressed. and it didn't help that her circle of friends were as they were: tzuyu was foul-tempered and prone to fits, but it was agreed upon by most of the school that she was one of the most brilliant-minded students to grace the halls of their private school, save kim namjoon and ahn hani.

yeri was also blessed with a higher iq than most, but rather than applying it to her education like tzuyu, she spent her time brainstorming pranks with johnny seo and byun baekhyun. as one of the funniest and easy-going girl's in our year, and the growing list of successful pranks under her belt, she's made quite a reputable name for herself.

jisoo had reached a higher level of popularity in the school than most would expect her to given her humble background and odd tendencies by securing the gold cup for their school at the soccer state championships two years ago. not to mention her goddess like visuals, that were somehow simultaneously icy and warm, had everyone enamored.

rosé was regarded as SIAA's very own disney princess. with the artistic ability of rapunzel, innocence of snow white, singing voice of ariel, passion of jasmine, kindness of cinderella, intelligence of belle and beauty of aurora, she drew everyone to her like moths to a flame.

and all she was, was twittering, air-headed lalisa manoban: well-intentioned, but usually wrong, nervous, overly whimsical, and not bright enough to scrape even a C for her physics class, no matter how much she'd tried and wept about it afterwards.

there was a soft clang behind her and lisa jumped. "oh, you scared me," she said, her heart still pounding. "i – i've been thinking."

yeri sat down, her outfit for the day draped over one arm. "oh good. we've all been hoping you have."

there was a muffled voice from a shape hidden in bedcovers. "does this mean you haven't lost your mind?"

lisa ignored this. "i need you to do me a favor."

"what is it?" asked yeri cautiously.

"i want to write a letter to jungkook – and i was wonder – wondering if you could give it to him for me. aren't you kinda acquaintances? you know since you hang out with jaehyun and he's friends with –"

"you want me to give the letter you wrote to jungkook because I'm his kind-of-friend's friend?"

knowing how ridiculous it sounded aloud, she bit her lip but nodded in affirmation.

"um how about no?"

lisa's jaw dropped. "b-but yeri!"

yeri stared at her pleading face skeptically for a few more seconds before sighing deeply. "i won't do it, i can't. i hate to say it, but he kinda scares me."

"not even for me yer-bear?" she pouted.

yeri scowled, "don't call me that!" rather than responding, lisa continued to pout hoping her big eyes will come in handy in persuading her friend.

eventually, yeri succumbed to her charms, "ugh, okay! i'll convince jisoo to give it to him instead."

she beamed up at the girl, clapping her hands in excitement.

"thank you! I was going to just talk to him but i – i don't think i can bear to say it to jungkook in person," she muttered shame-facedly, going red. "i'd rather just watch his reaction...that way, neither of us will have to go through it...in person."

"and in case he says yes, lisa? you can't have a relationship if you're afraid to look at him."

"i'll cross that bridge when i get to it. i'm going to run downstairs and get some breakfast."

and she hurried out, leaving yeri and tzuyu shaking their heads.

"she's so dimwitted sometimes," tzuyu said lamentably.

★ ☆ ★

lisa walked down the long hallway, and down the marble steps that lead to the food court, her hands shaking. as they had agreed, she saw jisoo outside the cafeteria, looking nervous herself. when she spotted lisa, she ran over.

"i still think this is a horrible idea..."

"you already agreed! yeri said you would!"

"fine, jesus! you owe me big time," jisoo muttered, still looking nervous; she seized the letter and stored it in her bag. "not immediately, though. let's wait for a bit until more people come and it's properly loud, then I'll go over. come on, I see rosé, let's go eat first."

lisa too could make out the outline of rosé's signature brunette beach waves at one of the corner tables. as they maneuvered their way towards her, rosé waved them over, before pressing a cold, unopened can of sprite into lisa's hand with a reassuring, "drink something, anything, alright? just relax."

the first half of lunch passed unbearably slowly. rosé was still laughing at something park chanyeol had said, yeri had gone to get second helpings, tzuyu was staring angrily at her lunch as though it had done her a great personal injustice, and jisoo was looking as uncomfortable as lisa felt.

finally, she elbowed jisoo, who gave a stiff nod and reached into her bag. yeri, rosé and tzuyu all stared at her as she arose and made her way over to their target.

at a remote table pushed against the back wall, looking passably annoyed at the noise of the food court, his book covering most of his face, was jeon jungkook. he had the architecture of an old-world gentleman, like a classic hollywood star and perhaps that was why she fancied him so much. he reminded her of the swooping gait of medieval castles; their surety in their existence was mirrored precisely in his mannerisms. or maybe it was the starry eyes and how intelligent everyone said he was. And how quiet...

looking back, lisa realized precisely how many mistakes she'd single handedly managed to commit.

the first of many which was was liking him without ever really knowing him. they'd had a brief history project together a few years back, but neither of them remembered this, as jungkook simply hadn't cared enough to, and lisa had lived in a pre-jungkook world. they'd left with distinctly polar impressions; to her, he was decent, if reserved, and to him, she had been nothing more than an addition to an ever growing list of idiotic classmates he'd encountered. but since then, they'd shared a few classes without ever much coming in contact, and had passed each other through hallways and school sports matches without ever properly meeting.

the second was reading too many romance novels. it had ruined her more than she could've ever imagined. one day, she'd looked up and noticed how very much jeon jungkook resembled tom holland – the broad-shouldered, muscled football captain featured in her all time favorite book, love foolish; it was much, much later, that she would realize how crazy and baseless the observation had been.

but, until then, jisoo was whispering to jungkook, who was surveying her with a lack of interest. she slipped the letter beside his plate and he opened it.

lisa's stomach rotated. his eyes flickered back and forth as he read it. he looked up, saw jisoo hovering anxiously, and asked her something.

to lisa's intense horror, jisoo promptly pointed down the room to their table, towards her. she began choking on her soda, and while as unattractive as that must've looked, it only got worse when rosé repeatedly slammed her palm against lisa's back to help calm her choking fit.

jungkook looked indifferent to her near suffocation though as he weaved his way through the crowd, arriving before her. under his tall stature, she shrank back. yeri, tzuyu and rosé were watching incredulously.

"you sent this?" he held up the letter. he didn't sound angry. . .it was a near miracle. . .maybe he would...

"um...yes..."

at her reply, his eyebrows rose. her friends were not the only ones watching now; a few girls seated at the next table over had caught on to what was happening and had hushed the remainder of their peers into silence, after much oohing, and pointing down the table.

lisa swallowed resolutely, blushing wildly. "um, so...what did – what did you think of it?"

to her amazement, he laughed. out of nervousness, she laughed back.

"spelling. I recommend you work on yours." he tossed the letter at her; she made a grope at the air, but it landed in the gravy of her mashed potatoes, and she pulled it out hastily.

there was a moment of silence, before there was a burst of laughter in the back. lisa stared at her hands. they'd been right – her friends had been right...why hadn't she listened?

jungkook turned and began walking away. "it is bad, isn't it?" lisa agreed, giving a hollow laugh, her gaze still resolutely on her hands. she felt horrible on the inside – like everything was squirming – and her body was strangely heated. "but – um – what – what's your reply?"

there was none. he kept walking.

yes i did make tom holland a fictional character in my fictional portrayal of lisa's favorite book.