Chapter 8 - Close Quarters

Close Quarters

The universe, Y/n decided, had a cruel sense of humor.

"Congratulations," said the teacher, clapping his hands together. "You two have been selected as the lead pair for the school's Business Innovation Project."

Y/n's smile twitched. "Us?"

"Indeed. You and Mr. Kim were the highest scorers in the class, and the board thinks pairing the top students together will set a strong example."

Beside her, Taehyung raised his hand lazily. "Can we not be the example for once?"

"No," the teacher replied cheerfully, already walking away.

Y/n turned slowly to Taehyung. "I'm going to scream."

"Can you wait until after lunch?" he said. "I'd like to eat in peace."

The Business Innovation Project was the school's biggest event of the year. Students were grouped and tasked to pitch real-world business proposals to a panel of CEOs and entrepreneurs. The winning pair would get internship offers and a national feature.

In short it was important.

Unfortunately, that meant constant collaboration.

"Why are we meeting at your place?" Taehyung asked, looking around the pristine guest study room in the Park mansion.

"Because I don't trust your place not to be full of loud music and dumb friends."

"I feel insulted," he said, flopping onto the sofa anyway. "Jungkook is only sometimes dumb."

Y/n opened her laptop. "Let's get to work. We need a business concept, an operations plan, marketing, financials—"

He groaned. "I thought I was already Top 1. Why does this feel like punishment?"

"Because it is."

Two hours later, the room was scattered with papers, a cold pizza box, and two very tired students.

Taehyung leaned back. "Okay, I'll admit it. You're kind of impressive when you're not plotting my death."

Y/n rolled her eyes. "You're barely tolerable when you're actually trying."

He glanced at her, watching the way her brow furrowed while she typed. "Have you always been this competitive?"

She paused. "No. I just had to be."

Taehyung didn't ask more. He didn't need to. He understood.

In a way, it was the same for him.

The next day, their progress stunned the class. Their mock pitch was clean, creative, and confident.

Even their teacher clapped. "You two work surprisingly well together."

Jennie smirked from the back of the room.

Y/n tried to ignore the flutter in her stomach as she glanced at Taehyung, who only offered her a half-smile.

"We're not terrible," he said under his breath.

"We're tolerable," she corrected.

"Progress."

Later, Jennie caught up with her outside the building.

"You two were actually good," she said. "Didn't even insult each other once."

"We're working toward a goal," Y/n replied, voice clipped.

Jennie gave her a side-eye. "And what about the other thing?"

"What other thing?"

"You know. The way you looked at him during the presentation like he wasn't the literal bane of your existence."

Y/n scoffed. "I looked at him like a classmate. A rival. A temporary partner."

Jennie smirked. "You keep telling yourself that, cousin."