Chapter 10

"At the dorm"

"It is really dark, I can't see anything!" whispered Jung Hwa.

"Shh," whispered Taehyung back, "do you want to get caught?"

"But Ha Na can't hear or see right now, is she still here?" continued Jung Hwa in spite of Taehyung's warning.

"Is she not with you?" whispered Jimin in panic and started looking around to find her. He used his hands searching and suddenly felt someone and immediately grabbed their arm.

"I found her!"

"Hyung.…that is me," said Jungkook and Jimin let go by the second.

"Sorry," was all he said before he started looking again. 

"Maybe she is outside, you guys continue to our room, I will be right back." 

"Alright, Hyung," said Taehyung and walked forward.

Jimin found his way outside and just as he had thought, Ha Na was standing outside with her phone in her hand. She looked scared, but the second she saw Jimin, her body relaxed and she felt relieved.

"I am sorry," was the first thing Jimin said, "I should have told you it was dark so you could have held on to Jung Hwa Noona or something. I am glad you found your way out here." Ha Na just shook her head like she was saying "it is alright" and Jimin sent her a smile. 

"Shall we go?" said Jimin, "you can hold my hand, that way you won't get lost." He extended his hand and Ha Na looked at it and felt her heart skip a beat. She took a deep breath and put her hand in his. 

Jimin blessed the darkness as he was sure his face was red as a tomato right now and his heart was beating incredibly fast. While they were walking through the dark hallway, he suddenly felt Ha Na's grip on his hand tighten and he almost had a heart attack. But he quickly pulled himself together and continued walking.

Is she scared of the dark? thought Jimin and kept holding on to Ha Na's trembling hand.

He felt a weird sort of disappointment when they reached the room and had to let go of Ha Na's hand. 

"Took you long enough!" said Taehyung, who had already dug into the pizza.

"Hey save something for us!" said Jimin and went over to sit on the floor with the others. Jung Hwa signed for Ha Na to sit next to her and she walked over with a nervous smile on her face.

"What happened?" signed Jung Hwa in silence.

"Nothing much, Jimin came outside to get me," replied Ha Na.

"How did you follow him through the dark hallway? Did you… maybe… hold his hand?" Ha Na didn't sign anything, but her blushing cheeks spoke for themselves.

"What are you two talking about in secret over there?" asked Taehyung.

"Man, sign language is so cool, it is like a secret code you can use when you want to talk without people hearing," followed Jungkook.

"I doesn't really work that way when you are always around people who know sign language," replied Jung Hwa with a giggle.

"Does all your friends know sign language?" asked Jimin Ha Na. She reached for her phone, but then remembered that Jung Hwa was there. She looked at her and then signed:

"Is it tiring to translate for me all the time?" but Jung Hwa just shook her head.

"Go on, I will translate." Ha Na then nodded and began signing.

"She said everyone she has been friends with until now, has known sign language and you are the first people she has hung out with who doesn't."

"Really? I feel kind of special," said Taehyung and straightened his back.

"Stop it!" said Jimin and hit Taehyung on the shoulder so he winced in pain, "you went to a school for deaf people, didn't you?" asked Jimin Ha Na, remembering their conversation a while back.

"Yes, I spend all my school years in a school for deaf people," said Jung Hwa while Ha Na was signing.

"What about college?" asked Jungkook.

"I didn't go to college."

"Oh…" said Jungkook and didn't really know what to say next.

"Jung Hwa!" said Jimin to change the subject, "you are studying psychology, right?"

"Yes that is right, did Ha Na tell you that?" asked Jung Hwa and looked at Ha Na who nodded along.

"That is so cool, when are you done?" asked Taehyung.

"Next year, so I need to start looking for a job soon."

"Woah," said all three boys in awe.

"But what about you guys? You all study law?"

"Yes, we are all in our 5th semester," replied Jungkook, "I knew Jimin beforehand, since we both grew up in Busan."

"And I met both of them on my first day when I got assigned as their roommate," added Taehyung.

Jung Hwa was about to say something when Ha Na gently poked her on her shoulder.

"Ah, do you want to say something? Go ahead." 

"Jimin is older by one year, isn't he? Did you start late?" translated Jung Hwa while Ha Na signed. The atmosphere suddenly became much heavier when Jimin lowered his head and the others became insanely quiet. Ha Na was about to retract her question when Jimin lifted his head again.

"My mom passed away just after I finished High School and because of that I waited a while before entering college." Taehyung and Jungkook where both looking down at the floor, implying they already knew this. There was utter silence until Ha Na jumped up and sat on her knees and slammed her hands together.

"Ah!" said Jung Hwa quickly, realizing she had to translate, "she is saying sorry, she is sorry for bringing up such a sad memory."

"That is okay," said Jimin and waved his arms in the air, "how could you know, besides, it is not like it is a secret." The room became silent again.

"Well!" said Taehyung and got up, "if you are all done eating, then let us play a game!" Jungkook was easily persuaded and Jung Hwa too. Jimin also seemed intrigued, but Ha Na couldn't help but look at him and feel like she just opened a box of really terrible memories. But this just made her determined to make sure he had fun tonight so he wouldn't think about those sad things.

Jungkook begged to play something on his Play Station, but after several games where Ha Na won almost all of them, Jimin thought it was time they played something all of them could be a part of.

"You are just sad I am spending too much time with Ha Na Noona," said Jungkook with a pout and both Ha Na and Jimin looked flustered all of a sudden.

"What… you little…!" said Jimin and hit him on the head.

"Ouch! Violence is never the answer!" cried Jungkook.

"What should we do then?" asked Jung Hwa, completely ignoring the fight happening right in front of her.

"How about a little game of truth and dare?" suggested Taehyung.

“Tae are you sure that is a good idea?” whispered Jimin, but Taehyung just pushed Jimin away.

“What do you say?” asked Taehyung.

“Sounds fun,” said Jung Hwa, “what do you think Ha Na?” Ha Na nodded along with a smile which made Jimin calm down a bit.

All five sat down in a circle and Tae found a bottle he put in the middle.

“Alright,” said Taehyung, “who will spin the bottle first?”

“I will do it!” said Jung Hwa. She shortly looked at everyone in the circle before she grabbed the bottle and spun it. 

“Oh Jungkook!” said everyone expect Ha Na in union. 

“Truth or dare?” asked Jung Hwa.

“Dare.”

“Dare… hm…” Jung Hwa sat for a while just thinking before she continued, “I dare you to dance EXID’s Up and Down.” Taehyung couldn’t hold back his laughter while Jungkook just lowered his head.

“Seriously?” said Jungkook.

“You don’t know the choreography?” asked Jung Hwa.

“Oh he knows it,” said Taehyung between his giggles.

“Then what is the problem?” asked Jung Hwa with a smirk.

“There is absolutely no problem!” said Jungkook and got up from the floor, “someone put the music on.”

Jimin pulled out his phone and searched up the song on Spotify. Jungkook stood quietly and waited for the music to begin while Jung Hwa and Ha Na looked at him, unknowing of what they would soon be witnessing.

“Woah!” screamed Jung Hwa when Jungkook began dancing and Taehyung sang along to the song while Ha Na and Jimin clapped to the beat. After the chorus was over, Jimin paused the song and everyone clapped and Jungkook bowed.

“I had no idea you would be able to dance it that well!” said Jung Hwa in total shock.

“There is almost nothing this stupid boy can’t do,” said Taehyung and pinched his cheek.

“Ouch, stop it, Hyung,” whined Jungkook, “but this must mean I am the one to spin the bottle. Jungkook didn’t wait a second and spun it, watching it land on Taehyung.

“Well well,” said Jungkook, “truth or dare?”

“Truth!”

“Why?” 

“Because I don’t trust you!”

“I can’t blame you,” said Jungkook and began thinking about what to ask, “is it true… you have a crush on Teacher Kang Mi Rae?”

“WHAT? NO!” yelled Taehyung.

“Then why are you always staring at her?” asked Jungkook.

“I do not!”

“You so do!”

“I am with Jungkook in this one,” said Jimin.

“Hyung!”

“But you do stare at her.”

“Alright maybe I tend to look at her a bit too much… but she is really pretty,” confessed Taehyung finally, “BUT! That doesn’t mean I have a crush on her.”

“Alright, if you say so.”

“I do!”

“Just spin the bottle, Hyung,” said Jungkook. Taehyung rolled his eyes at Jungkook and then spun the bottle which this time, landed on Jimin. 

"Truth or dare?" 

"Dare." Jimin sure wouldn't choose truth because he knew just what Taehyung would ask him and he was not going to let him humiliate him any more tonight.

"I dare you to… kiss Ha Na Noona." 

"What?" asked Jung Hwa.

"What?" asked Taehyung back, "it is a dare?"

"But it doesn't just involve Jimin, it involves Ha Na too," replied Jung Hwa in a hostile voice. She felt Ha Na pull her shirt and Jung Hwa turned around.

"What is going on? I can understand we are talking about me?" signed Ha Na.

"Yes," replied Jung Hwa, "they dared Jimin to kiss you." Ha Na looked at Jimin who was avoiding eye contact. She felt her heart beating fast once again and her face became more and more hot. 

"Tae, can't you give me another dare?" pleaded Jimin, "look, Ha Na is getting uncomfortable." Just as Jimin said that, Ha Na got up from the floor and looked around nervously.

"I will…" signed Ha Na, "I will just use the bathroom real quick." Ha Na almost ran to the bathroom and closed the door and locked it. She leaned against the door and slowly allowed her legs to give in and sink to the floor. 

Stop it… she thought to herself as she pressed her hand to her chest, trying to get her heart to calm down. She had to pull herself together, she wasn't going to ruin the atmosphere one more time. It was no big deal after all. It was just a kiss, yeah, just a kiss.

She was about to get up when she felt a vibration in her back, probably coming from someone knocking on the door. She took another deep breath and put on her brightest smile and opened the door. But her smile faded when she saw Taehyung standing in front of her, looking very much in pain, as Jung Hwa was pulling on his ear so hard it was turning red.

"What are you doing, Unnie!" signed Ha Na and made her let go of Taehyung.

"Taehyung has something he wants to tell you," signed Jung Hwa and Ha Na looked at Taehyung with a confused face.

"I am sorry, I shouldn't have made such a stupid suggestion which made you uncomfortable," he said and looked genuinely sorry, "I hope you can forgive me so we can continue the game?" Ha Na felt a stone fall from her chest and she could suddenly breathe normally again. She started replying to Taehyung and he looked at Jung Hwa for a translation.

"She is not mad, she would very much like to continue the game." 

In the end, Jimin's dare became the same as Jungkook's and he danced the choreography for Up and Down which, in Ha Na's opinion, was way better than Jungkook's, but she didn't say that.

After Jimin had spun the bottle, it landed on Jung Hwa who looked awfully calm.

"Truth or dare?" asked Jimin.

"Truth."

"Alright." Jimin thought about it for a while. He didn't really have anything to ask so he just went with a cliché question.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yes." The answer came so fast that everyone looked at her with eyes widened in shock and especially Ha Na was confused.

"You are so calm about it," said Taehyung.

"Why shouldn't I be? Is there something wrong about dating?"

"No… not at all!"

"Why haven't you told me you have a boyfriend?" signed Ha Na with a disappointed look in her eyes.

"I am sorry," said Jung Hwa while signing, "it as kind of new so I just didn't get a chance to tell you yet."

"Who is the guy?" asked Ha Na.

"He is just someone from school," replied Jung Hwa without much care.

"Do you like him?" continued Ha Na.

"I might end up liking him," said Jung Hwa.

"Wait!" Taehyung cut in, "are you dating someone you don't like?"

"No, it is not like that!" Jung Hwa started defending herself. 

"He is a nice guy, I just never thought about him like that. But since he confessed to me I thought I might as well give him a chance. Haven't you ever done that?"

"I haven't!" said Jungkook.

"You have never dated anyone so that makes sense," said Taehyung. Jung Hwa turned to Ha Na once more and saw her still hurt look.

"I am sorry I didn't tell you beforehand," said Jung Hwa while signing and took Ha Na's hand, "I didn't know I would end up revealing it like this. Can you forgive me?" Ha Na thought about it for a bit but then her lips turned into a smile once again and she nodded and signed:

"Of course, but next time please tell me the second something like that happens."

"Deal!"

The game went on for a while and the five friends laughed while challenging each other and asking the weirdest question, but when the clock turned twelve and Jung Hwa was in the middle of telling the story about her first kiss, they all her a loud noise and saw Ha Na lying on the floor.

"Noona." Jimin rushed to her side, but Jung Hwa made him calm down.

"Easy there tiger," she said with a smile, "look, she is just sleeping." Jimin looked at the tiny girl who looked peaceful and he made a sigh of relief.

"How can she just fall asleep like that?" asked Taehyung.

"She must have been very tired," added Jungkook.

"She won't admit it, but reading lips actually takes a lot of energy from Ha Na," explained Jung Hwa, "especially in a place like this where the conversation flies between four different people.

"I didn't know it was that hard on her," said Jimin.

"When Ha Na says she can read lips it is a little bit of an overstatement," continued Jung Hwa as the three boys all listened carefully, "when you talk, she only recognize a few key words and then have to do the puzzle in her head to figure out exactly what you are saying. Don't misunderstand, she is quite good at this and can follow along in most conversations. But it still takes a bit of time for her to process a sentence, and in a company with this many people, she needs to work faster to keep up. So it makes sense that after a whole day focusing all her energy on this, she will be tired and eventually collapse." An uncomfortable silence filled the room and Jung Hwa looked at the boys who all had a somewhat sad look on their face.

"Yo, what is going on here, I wasn't trying to make you feel bad," said Jung Hwa.

"But because of us, Ha Na Noona is all worn out," said Jungkook.

"Yes but it is not something she will die from, she just needs to sleep and she will be good to go again," said Jung Hwa, "do you guys have any idea how excited she was about today?"

"She was excited?" asked Jimin.

"She was! It has been such a long time since she talked to other people besides her brother and me and Hakyeon Oppa. She really wanted to make a good impression today and become friends with all of you."

"Then you can tell her tomorrow that we had a lot of fun and we want to hang out with her again soon," said Taehyung with a smile.

"I will make sure to tell her that," replied Jung Hwa, "but now I think I will have to take her home." Jung Hwa got up from the floor and went to grab her leather jacket. She went back to Ha Na and gently poked her arm but there was no reaction.

"How will you get her home?" asked Jungkook.

"I probably have to call for a helping hand, since I can't carry her the whole way."

"I can do it!" said Jimin and everyone looked at him.

"No, it is a really long way," stated Jung Hwa, "I will just call Namjoon Oppa."

"No I can do it, really!" said Jimin in a firm voice. Jung Hwa looked a bit at Jimin, then at Ha Na as she kept thinking about what to do.

"Alright, but I will still call Namjoon Oppa," said Jung Hwa, "I will tell him to meet us halfway."

"That is fine," said Jimin. 

Taehyung and Jungkook helped Jung Hwa lift Ha Na up on Jimin’s back as he had squatted down to make it a bit easier. He took a deep breath and then put all his force in his legs and he stood up.

“Don’t drop her! Don’t drop her! DON’T DROP HER!” said Jung Hwa nervously over and over again.

“I am not going to drop her okay?” said Jimin a bit annoyed, “I am not that weak, plus she is very light.”

“Don’t you think she will be cold in that light shirt?” asked Taehyung.

“Didn’t she bring a jacket?” asked Jungkook.

“She did, it is right over there by the bed,” replied Jimin and Jung Hwa hurried over and grabbed it.

“How will we put it on her?” asked Jungkook.

“Let us just put it over her like this,” said Jung Hwa and gently put it over her back and tied the arms around Jimin’s neck so it wouldn’t fall off.

“Alright, shall we get going?” asked Jimin.

“Yes, I will call Namjoon on the way.” 

Jung Hwa said a quick goodbye to Jungkook and Taehyung before she followed Jimin through the dark hallway. Once they were outside, Jimin was happy about the cold night breeze, because even though Ha Na wasn’t heavy, he could feel the sweat slide down his forehead and his back too. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was more out of shape than he thought or because of the same reason that his heart was beating excessively fast right now.

“It is not too much for you?” asked Jung Hwa who also noticed the sweat on Jimin’s forehead and his heavy breathing.

“No, not at all,” replied Jimin.

“Don’t worry, Namjoon Oppa will be here soon.” Jimin nodded and continued walking.

“Do you like her?” The sudden and blunt question from Jung Hwa didn’t help Jimin’s beating heart.

“I… I am not sure,” was all Jimin mustered to say.

“You are not sure? Isn’t it an easy question? You either like her or you don’t.”

“Of course I like her… I just don’t know how much I like her… if I like her as more than a friend.”

“Okay,” said Jung Hwa, “but if you find yourself one day liking her, then remember this. Ha Na has been hurt many times before and she might not show it, but she is a very emotional girl. She is also a very loved girl, so if you end up hurting her too you will have a whole army coming at you.”

“I.. I will make sure to remember that,” stuttered Jimin.

“Good. Oh look that is Namjoon right there.” Jimin looked up front and true enough, Namjoon was approaching them. He had the same glare as last time he met him, but he didn’t ask any uncomfortable questions or anything like that. All he did was make Jimin let go of Ha Na so he could carry her the rest of the way home.

“Thank you for carrying her most of the way,” said Namjoon and Jimin was shocked by the sudden gratitude coming from him. Jung Hwa just winked at Jimin when she saw the surprised look in his eyes. Just as they were about to walk away, Jimin pulled Jung Hwa’s jacket so she stopped.

“Yes?”

“I just want to say… I am really happy Ha Na has friends like you and a family that takes so good care of her.”

“Hopefully, now she has a new friend who will take care of her too.” Jimin took a while to understand Jung Hwa’s answer, but when he did he hurried and said:

“Of course! I will never do anything to hurt her.”

“That is good,” said Jung Hwa, “get home safely and sweet dreams.”

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to stay warm and eat healthy and take care of yourself. Stay safe.

Also, don't forget to leave a comment down below.

Love, Annalise~