Pulling open the large doors to the school, and stepping inside, Jihoon felt more intimidated than he originally had thought he would. He ran a hand through his hair and proceeded to walk further inside, avoiding as many people as he could. He clutched the laminated page in his hand and looked between that and whatever was in front of him, making sure not to run into anyone or fall flat on his face to give himself a bad reputation on his first day. He found his locker, number 327. Were there really that many people in this school? And even more lockers stretched down each and every hallway. There was even a second floor to the school, and from the way the school was designed, he saw more lockers up there without even having gone up there yet. He turned his combination on the lock on his locker, opening it.

He had gotten one of those full sized lockers that were about as tall as him, making it slightly unsettling he could probably fit in his own locker. However much that scared him, he wasn't going to think about it, letting it dwell in his mind could increase the chances of him getting shoved into a locker. He didn't want to risk it. He analyzed where his locker was located in reference to all his classes on the map, figuring out how often he could stop there between classes. He figured out he could only stop there before school, before lunch, and after school.

He put all the things he didn't need into his locker and began walking to the library to get his books. He needed three textbooks; history, math, and science. He only needed two for the beginning of the day, glad that one wasn't his history book because that was the heaviest.

He walked back to his locker to put the history book away, then began walking around, searching for his first period class, which he found a little after the bell rang. He stumbled into the room, almost dropping his textbooks as he desperately tried not to fall. There were a couple chuckles from the class, which caused his cheeks to darken and his gaze to drop to the floor.

The teacher approached him and patted his head. He looked up and pouted slightly at the fact she was taller than him. She gently grabbed his arm and turned him to face the class. "Class," she spoke. Her voice was different than Jihoon had expected. He expected a cheery voice, but hers was very soft, almost soothing. He had met her once before with his father, but he didn't remember her voice. He was taken from his thoughts by hearing her speak again. "This is our new student, Lee Jihoon!" She had a hint of excitement in her voice as her face lifted up to a cheerful expression.

There were a couple waves and soft greetings from the class, along with a couple smiles, all of which Jihoon ignored. "You may take that empty desk right there." The teacher pointed to an empty desk and patted Jihoon's backpack as he began walking towards the desk in the back of the classroom. He placed his things on the side of the desk and sat down. He looked around the class while the teacher wrote some things on the board and prepared her things. It was a decent sized class, with about 25 students, all appearing to be in the same grade as him. The classroom was arranged so that there were two desks next to each other facing two more desks, so they made a pod. He continued looking around, ignoring the stares people sent to him. He looked at the person sitting across from him, it was a girl, she was looking at him. She smiled and waved, and was about to say something when Jihoon looked away. He looked back to the front as he heard the teacher begin speaking.

"So, class. Since we have a new student, and I haven't quite gotten around to it, I think we'll spend today rearranging seating!" She smiled. A combination of cheers and groans came from the class. "Okay, everyone, please come with me Into the hallway." She walked into the hallway and the class followed, Jihoon being the last out. "Please line up into two lines. There are 26 of you today, so everybody will have a partner." Everyone lined up and waited for the next instruction. "Everybody face whoever is across from you, reach out, shake hands, and introduce yourself. This will be one of your partners."

Jihoon looked up at whoever was in front of him, who was already holding out a hand, smiling at him. He timidly reached out his hand and shook the hand held out to him, which practically engulfed his own.

The taller spoke, a little too joyfully for Jihoon. "Hi! I'm Taehyung!" He smiled again, this time bigger.

"J-Jihoon." Jihoon spoke softly, stuttering at his own name.

"Okay, now each group is to pair up with another group and introduce yourselves, so that we have six groups of 4." The teacher instructed.

Jihoon just let his partner lead him around until they found a group, Taehyung led him to another pair of people, one of them being a very tall kid.

The tallest looked down at him and smiled. "I'm Junhong, nice to meet you!" He said happily, but quietly, much different than how Jihoon had expected.

"I'm Jihoon.." he said quietly."

The last person in the group looked at Jihoon. "You're really cute." He smiled. "I'm Jungkook"

"I'm not cute.." Jihoon mumbled and pouted up at him with a glare.

"But you are! You're so cute and little!" He ruffled his hair. "And pink!"

Jihoon swatted his hands away and glared again. "Stoooooop.." he whined, his cheeks matching his hair.

Taehyung chuckled, making Jihoon pout more.

"Come on, people with pink hair are so cute! Junhong has pink hair right now, but he changes it a lot." Jungkook looked at the tallest in the group, who was chuckling slightly.

"Okay, everyone back in the classroom. Sit with your groups." The teacher ordered and everyone filed into the classroom, claiming desks.

"So, where did you move here from?" Taehyung looked at Jihoon once they all sat down.

"Busan.. but I've been here for about a year.." he replied softly, looking down at the desk he was sitting at.

"Well how come you haven't been to school?" Jungkook tilted his head.

Jihoon just shook his head.

"Don't wanna talk about it?" Junhong asked.

Jihoon replied with a quiet "no.." and looked back up at the teacher as she started speaking.

"Okay, so, remember these desks, because these are your new seats and groups for the class!" The teacher happily said as she gently applauded her hands. "Okay, next order of business is to get back on track with our assignments. If you could take out your books and open to page 85, we can get started with notes."

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Class went by pretty normally, with Jihoon ignoring most of the questions asked by his group to focus on the classwork. The bell rang and he packed up his things, grabbed his books and backpack, and walked out, avoiding any conversation or interaction. He looked at his schedule and map to go to his next class, making sure not to run into anyone. He found his class, and walked in, surprisingly before a lot of people. He walked to the teacher who was at his desk.

The teacher looked up from his papers and smiled at Jihoon, reaching out a hand to him. "Ah, you must be Jihoon."

Jihoon nodded.

"Alright, well," he paused for a second to look around the class then at his seating chart. "We're going to have you sit next to Taeyeon. She will be your lab partner." He looked towards the class. "Taeyeon, raise your hand please." Jihoon also looked out at the class and saw a girl with short hair put her hand up. "Right next to her." The teacher gestured to her.

Jihoon walked over to the table, jumping up onto the stool and setting his things on the floor under the table.

"Hi, I'm Taeyeon." The girl next to Jihoon said and smiled at him.

"Hi.." Jihoon said, his voice in almost a whisper. "I-i'm Jihoon."

"Oh, you don't have to be shy, I won't bite." She chuckled. "And we are going to be lab partners, so we'll need to talk quite a bit."

Jihoon offered a small smile and turned to the front of the class as the bell rang for class to begin.

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Jihoon was the first out the door once the bell rang. He stumbled into the hallway and down the stairs. He made his way to the gym for his 4th class. He looked inside the gym, and saw his coach, as he had already met all his teachers previously. He walked up to her.

"Jihoon! Nice to see you again." She smiled. "Okay, so you have your gym uniform, right?' Jihoon nodded as the coach grabbed a slip of paper. She handed it to him with a lock. She pointed to the locker room. "The boys locker room is right over there, choose any locker that's available, dress out, and go ahead and come back out when you're ready."

Jihoon nodded again and walked to the locker room. He picked out a random locker away from most people. He undid the lock for his locker and opened the locker he chose. He put his things inside and took out his dress out clothes. He locked the locker and went to one of the stalls in the back of the locker room to change. Once he finished, he came out, put his clothes back in his locker, and sat on one of the benches to tie his shoes. He saw everyone leave, and that's when he decided to look around. He saw blue and black tile floors, white and blue walls, and black benches. All the lockers were white and black, and there were many cabinets and shelves around.

He also saw someone reaching up for a crate up on top of a shelf. He realized that the height and the pink hair looked familiar. It was Junhong. He watched as the taller pulled the crate down and saw one of the foam dodgeballs fall on his face. Jihoon couldn't help but giggle as he walked to the dropped ball to pick it up. Junhong set the crate down and looked to see where the laugh came from. He saw Jihoon standing there with a little smile on his face, holding out the dodgeball to him.

"Thanks." Junhong chuckled and took the ball from him, putting it in the crate, taking out a basketball and setting it on the floor. He put the crate back up and turned back to Jihoon who was waiting for him. He picked up the basketball and walked out, Jihoon following.

They joined the rest of the class in the center of the gym and Junhong spoke for the both of them. "Sorry, Jihoon was helping me." Jihoon nodded.

A kid then blurted out from the middle of the class. "Helping? How? He's barely tall enough to reach his locker in the locker room. Did you use him as a step stool?"

Jihoon looked at the floor.

"Chanhee!" The coach scolded the kid who spoke up.

Chanhee chuckled. "What? It's true. Are we gonna use him as the ball?" A slightly malicious grin spread across his face.

Jihoon shut his eyes to try to block tears forming in them but only managed to help them fall out of his eyes and down his face. He ran towards the side of the gym and hid in the area behind the bleachers. Jihoon just sat down on the floor and tried to make himself disappear from there. His first day, and he’s already getting picked on. Of course.

He heard footsteps coming towards him, then a voice.

"Jihoon?" Junhong looked into the gap of the bleachers, spotting Jihoon. "Jihoon.. the teacher wants to talk to you.. could you please come here?

Jihoon let out a shaky sigh and nodded his head. "J-just... just give me a second." Jihoon wiped his eyes on the backs of his hands, sniffling slightly. He came out from behind the bleachers, walking over to Junhong who had stepped back to give him space.

Junhong motioned with his hand for him to follow.

They walked to the teacher who was sitting on the bottom bleachers as the other kids played basketball and Chanhee sat by the wall of the gym.

"Junhong, go join the blue team, please." She tossed him a blue jersey and he put it on and ran to the rest of the class. "Jihoon, you don't have to participate today if you don't want to." She smiled.

Jihoon nodded and sat down beside her. He watched the class play the game until the teacher blew her whistle at the end of class.

"Okay everyone, jerseys away and you can go dress out."

Jihoon got up and walked to the locker room as everyone else put their jerseys back and split to the locker rooms as well. He got his clothes from his locker and began walking to a stall to change. Once he finished, he came out and put away his gym clothes. He got his backpack and books out and sat on one of the benches so he could wait for everyone else to leave.

The bell rang and everyone walked out. He looked up and stood, picking up his things.

"Waiting for someone?" Junhong asked him.

Jihoon looked up at him and shook his head. "Just waiting for the crowd to pass."

Junhong nodded. "Do you need help getting to the cafeteria?" He asked as he shut his locker.

Jihoon pondered his thoughts for a second then nodded. "That would be nice. I just need to stop at my locker." He said softly.

"Lead the way!" Junhong stepped out of the way and let Jihoon walked in front of him, as he followed the smaller through the halls to his locker.

Jihoon switched out his books then shut the locker, looking up (literally) at Junhong. "Do you need to go to your locker?" Jihoon tilted his head.

"I already did. Before gym class." He smiled. "Come on! Let's go." Junhong smiled.

Jihoon nodded and followed him through the halls. He thought it was nice how Junhong was being so kind and helpful to him his first day of school.

They got to the cafeteria and Jihoon's eyes widened slightly at the atmosphere change. Well, yeah, sure, probably more than half the school was in the cafeteria, but still, it was overwhelming. It was loud, there was a lot going on at once in what seemed like such a small place.

Junhong had begun to explain the different cliques of the school to Jihoon. “This school doesn’t have that stereotypical mean girl group, but the main popular girls are often misinterpreted as such by newer students. They're actually really nice.” he pointed at a table with probably six or seven girls sitting around it talking and laughing.

Jihoon recognised a few of them as regulars from his job, and another who was sitting there was Taeyeon, the girl who was to be his lab partner. She looked up at him, flashing her pretty smile at him and waving.

Jihoon waved back and looked up at Junhong. He spoke softly, his voice nearly getting drowned out in the noise of the room. “Yeah, i've met a few of them..” he nodded as Junhong moved to the next major table.

This table was obviously different. First off, they were guys, second, there were probably closer to about twelve or thirteen of them. They were standing and sitting around two tables that were pushed together and practically screaming at each other. Jihoon could have sworn a couple of them were communicating with crummy dance moves such as dabbing or doing the whip. There were two people at that table who were familiar; Taehyung, who was laughing at something with his big box smile, and Jungkook, who was standing behind someone in a chair with his chin in the other’s hair, and his arms draped loosely over his shoulders, as the one in the chair he was cuddling(?) with looked immensely unamused at whatever was happening, looking much more like he wanted to just leave.

Junhong spoke after a few seconds. “They're pretty self explanatory. Anyways, that's Chanhee’s table. It's where he and his friends sit.” he pointed at a table with five people, one of them being Chanhee. A couple seconds later, Jihoon was shoved to the side by someone with dark hair. Jihoon stumbled to the side and Junhong went to help him balance so he didn't fall over. Jihoon felt his cheeks pinkening as he looked up and regained his posture.

He saw the one who just shoved him away glaring at him, then up at Junhong. “Hey, Junhong, get your boyfriend out of everyone’s way, won't you?” the others at the table snickered.

“Oh, quit it, Changjo. He’s new, i'm just showing him around.” Junhong chuckled as he saw Changjo roll his eyes. “I'm just being nice, why don’t you try it sometime?”

Jihoon couldn't help himself but giggle slightly, but quickly stopped as he saw both Changjo AND Chanhee glaring at him. “I think i've got the point…” he muttered softly to Junhong who nodded and continued on.

Jihoon was informally introduced to other groups. There was another large group of about fifteen who were sort of like the tables Jungkook and Taehyung were at, but just a little more collected. There were some other groups, but Junhong didn't really want to introduce him to everyone. “You’ll get to know others in time.” he said with a smile as they got to a slightly quieter part of the lunchroom. “I usually stay over here with my friends. It's a lot quieter and less bustling, probably because it's far from the lunch lines. He led him to a table with five others sitting down.

“There you are, Junhong. What took you so long? Oh, who’s that?” One of them spoke up. He had short black hair and eyes that sort of reminded Jihoon of a rabbit. He looked older than most of the others at the table, except for one.

“Sorry, Himchan hyung. This is Jihoon, he’s new here, and I was just showing him around and everything. Would it be okay if he sat with us?” Junhong approached the table where all the others happily nodded their heads, welcoming Jihoon with friendly smiles and waves as the two sat in empty chairs. Junhong took the time to introduce Jihoon to everyone,  pointing at each person as he said their respective names. “Jihoon, this is Jongup, Himchan, Yongguk, Daehyun, and Youngjae.”

The one named Youngjae smiled and bounced like a child. “He’s cute!” he chuckled as he heard a huff from Jihoon.

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5th hour is done and Jihoon is honestly relieved of it. That class was filled with people who made fun of him, including about half of Chanhee’s group, whose names he later learned were Changhyun, or Ricky, and Niel, along with both Changjo and Chanhee. That was gonna be fun… he was glad to be out of there. He took a peek at the map as he hurried down the nearest staircase and to the auditorium, where his last class was held.

He walked in, instantly being greeted by his teacher. She smiled at him. “Hello, Jihoon!” she spoke happily. “So, as you’re already aware, this class is more freeform rather than strictly lesson based. I give weekly lessons and monthly quizzes, but the class is mostly what you like to do otherwise. I'm sure you'll find somewhere to fit in. and if you want privacy, just let me know, there are a couple of spare rooms in the back.”

Jihoon waited a couple seconds to make sure she was finished talking before nodding. He went to one of the empty seats and sat down, putting his backpack on the floor and digging out a notebook. He opened to a page and started scribbling jumbled words and sentences in it. He barely even noticed it when someone walked over to him until he saw the feet on the ground past his notebook. He looked up to see Junhong smiling at him.

“You got here early. Weren’t you upstairs?” he asked, an eyebrow raised and a general look of concern on his face. Did you like, run out of your class?” he chuckled a bit.

“Yeah, kinda..” Jihoon muttered softly as he looked back down to continue writing. “I-I share a class with Chanhee, Changjo, and two more of them.. Not very fun so far..” he stammered.

“I’m Sorry.. That must be pretty bad..” Junhong said, a lacing of empathy in his voice. “So, uhm, what are you writing?” Junhong suggested a subject change to reduce the awkwardness in the room as others started filing into the auditorium.

“Oh, it’s nothing too important. Just jumbled things now.” Jihoon answered, semi truthfully. “I don't let people read my stuff very often unless it's like, my dad or something..”

Junhong nodded. “I'm not one to invade other people’s privacy. I won't pester you about it.”

“Thanks.” a little smile crossed Jihoon’s face.

“Why’d you enroll in this class? What kind of music are you interested in?” Junhong took a seat next to him. He couldn't stop the smile on his face when he saw how Jihoon’s eyes lit up at the question

“Um, anything really, but if i had to choose.. Vocals, maybe? I write songs..” he said softly.

“I've never been too into singing, though my friends tell me i'm good at it. I'm more of a rapper and a dancer, myself.” Junhong said, trying to hold a conversation, since this is the most Jihoon had spoken to him today, and he seemed pretty glad to talk about it.

Jihoon felt a little strange talking so much too, as the only people he spoke to regularly were his father and coworkers on occasion. “I've tried dancing before. Its pretty fun, but I like to sing. Oh, i can play the guitar too. I just don’t have mine with me.” he replied.

Junhong was about to say something when someone walked over. It was Jungkook. He stood in front of the two and smiled and waved. “Do you two share like all your classes or something?” he joked.

Junhong chuckled and shook his head.

“Hi again!” Jungkook said to Jihoon, getting a wave from him. It seemed as though he became more happy and bubbly as time went on.

Junhong looked at Jihoon. “Jungkook sings too.”

"Really?” Jihoon lit up again. He looked up at Jungkook, who nodded.

“He's really good at it. Singing seems to be the preferred reason to join this class. There's a lot of variety, i'm sure you'll find somewhere you fit in.” Junhong smiled.

The bell to begin class rang and everyone got into groups, some going backstage, some staying in the seats, and a few, Junhong’s group, went on to the stage. Jihoon was sitting in the same seat, continuing to scribble seemingly meaningless words into the notebook, flipping pages at times. He’d occasionally look up to the stage to see someone doing a flip or body rolls, occasionally clapping when he saw something he specifically liked.

Before he knew it, the class was over, the final bell marking the time to go home. Jihoon was upset to say the least, but packed up his things and stood up, making his way out of the auditorium. He almost didn't notice Junhong walking up behind him until he heard a soft “watch out” before looking up right before he ran into a pole.

“Thanks..” Jihoon practically whispered, his cheeks turning pink as he kept walking to his locker.

“No problem.” Junhong was obviously trying to hold in a chuckle. “So, do you ride a bus?” Junhong asked the smaller as he walked beside him.

“No, I’ll be walking. I don’t live too far away.” Jihoon answered with a shrug as he got to his locker. He opened it and put his textbook away and shut it again. “Well, i have to get going, bye.”  Jihoon waved as he walked towards the front doors.

“See you tomorrow.” Junhong waved back and went to find his friends.

Jihoon stepped inside his apartment after just about 3 or 4 minutes of walking and set his things down. He went to his room to get changed before heading back out the door to go to work. Jihoon’s Father had to work overtime to pay for the two of them since they were struggling financially, so Jihoon decided to get a job to at least pay for some of his own things. There weren't too many jobs that had accepted people his age, but he found one part time at a local cafe near the school. He doesn’t work every day, but he does work about 16 hours per week, earning about ₩10000 per hour ($8.95), equalling to ₩320000 each paycheck (about $286.40). That’s not including his tips. Since about three-fourths of that goes to helping his father, he gets to keep about ₩80000 ($71.60) for himself bimonthly, which he keeps stored away, or spends on clothing or other things.

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Jihoon sat at the dining room table filling out some papers that he got for school when he heard the door open and someone step in. “You're home late.” Jihoon said softly as his father walked over to him, peeking over his shoulder and ruffling his hair.

“I know, i'm sorry. You have fun at school? Meet any friends? His father asked him, sitting across from him.

Jihoon handed him papers he had to fill out. “I met a few people. They were pretty helpful and nice.”

“That's good.” His father smiled at him before returning to filling out the papers. He handed them back to Jihoon once he finished and Jihoon put them away. “You’d better get to bed. Like you said, it's late and you look a little tired.”

Jihoon stood up and nodded, going over to hug his Father goodnight before going and getting ready for bed.

A/N

For any time money is mentioned, I will be relating everything back to USD, the currency of the United States, since that is what I am most familiar with and I assume many of you can relate. (Yes, I live in canada, but I prefer USD.)

I told you guys it'd be up soon!! Leave any feedback in the comments <33

Love you <33
~ZumiKitty