Walking into first period the next morning feels extremely awkward, He’d been in the classroom before, obviously, and he had Mrs. Lee, the English teacher, last year, but that was when Jimin was here. He heads straight across the room to the back left hand corner and watch as the other seniors arrive for class. He places his bag on the chair next to him. Hopefully there won’t be enough people to fill up the room. He’d rather sit by himself.

Whenever Jimin and he had a class together, they’d sit together. Other than that, seating plans had always been his enemy. He feels like there’s a social contract where if you sit beside someone, you should talk to them. He hates that. It makes him feel uncomfortable especially since he doesn’t know half the senior class. It has always been just him and Jimin.

He turns his head just as Momo, number one prep of Bangtan High sashays her way into the class.

That’s great. Really great.

A sick feeling grows suddenly in his stomach, and he has to fight not to make a face. Momo is joined by Tzuyu, JB, and Baekhyun, who make up the school’s hierarchy.

“Hey Taehyung.”

He freezes, wishing he was a turtle, so he could hide in his shell. He recognizes whose voice called his name, but he wish it wasn’t her.

“Hey Momo.”

“Nice glasses,” she says, taking a seat in the row next to him. Their desks are arranged in pairs, so she has to lean over Baekhyun to talk to him. Cleavage alert. Baekhyun doesn’t seem to mind though, he rolls his eyes without thinking.

Bad idea. Momo’s eyes flash dangerously.

Not that it really makes a difference, he tells himself, She’d say something horrible sooner or later.. like that stupid nickname..

Luckily though, Mrs. Lee glides in the classroom. When he say glide, he means it literally. It’s one of the reasons why she’s his favorite teacher. Mrs. Lee is a short woman in her early forties, with long brown hair, and a very young looking face. She always wears a smile, and she has an intense love for books – the main reason she’s his favorite. A lot of people at school seem to think she’s weird. While she’s a bit eccentric, he doesn’t think weird is the right word to describe her. More like quirky.

“How is everyone?” she chirps.

“Good.” Taehyung mutters the words with everyone else as Mrs. Lee starts to go around the room, asking what people did on summer. When she comes to him, and he tells her about the library, she positively beams.

“Pet.”

Taehyung doesn’t turn, but his stomach feels like it’s been frozen in ice. I hoped maybe she’d just stop this year, he thinks, But of course that wouldn’t happen.

The familiar jeer came from Momo, and he chose to ignore it. He knew it would come sooner or later, but normally Momo waits at least until the second day of school. It was always easier with Jimin around too.

“Pet.” The whisper is louder this time.

Again, he doesn’t turn, and it’s lucky he didn’t. Mrs. Lee doesn’t like to be interrupted, and she has an acute sense of hearing. “Momo,” she says. There’s a sly smile curling on her thin lips. “Do you have something to share with us? Or with Taehyung?”

He can feel Momo’s stare burning a hole in his shoulder. “Momo was actually just telling me what she did over the summer,” he blurts.

Mrs. Lee raises her eyebrows. It’s not really like him to talk in class. “On really? And what would that be?”

“Well,” Momo starts, but Mrs. Lee interrupts with a thoughtful smile.

“You were telling Taehyung.” She says. “I want Taehyung to tell me.”

His mind goes positively blank. He hates being put on the spot, but he says the first, and very stereotypical thing that pops into his head. “Momo went to the mall.”

“Really? How…interesting. I expect she can tell us all about shoe sales then.” Snickers erupt around the room, and he feels his face flush. Mrs. Lee gives him a small smile before sweeping back to the front of the class, her long wool skirt lightly dusting the floor.

If looks could kill, he’d be burnt to a crisp.

The class continues as normal as any other class he’d ever had, with the exception of Momo glaring at his back the entire class. Ten minutes before the bell, there’s a knock at the door. Taehyung keeps his eyes on Mrs. Lee as the door, which is to his right, is open and closed. A tall guy with dark hair stalks to the front of the class.

He and Mrs. Lee exchange quiet remarks, and it’s then that Taehyung realize he must be a new student. And the classroom is full. Mrs. Lee is pointing at him. He raises his eyebrows before he sees that the only empty desk in the room is being used by his bag, which really has no claim to the seat.

People are looking from the new kid to him and back again. Blood surges to his face.

How did the room get 1000 degrees hotter?

Taehyung looks up at the guy who’s coming towards him down the aisle. The guy is not really looking at him, more trying to avoid the bags and binders that are sitting in the aisle. However, Taehyung’s looking at him. And, of course, to make matters much, much worse, he’s gorgeous.

He immediately notices his eyes. He’d read enough descriptions in books to make him want to study every color known to man. His are a fantastic shade of brown. Their eyes lock, and he holds back a shiver, dropping his gaze immediately.

The new kid stoops down to put his backpack on the floor, and Taehyung sneaks another glance at him. His hair is brown, sort of medium length, and looks incredibly soft. It looks like he’s going for hair that says, I woke up looking like this, but not in a super obvious way. As for body type, he’s fairly tall, and very slim, but yet he looks muscular.

Taehyung moves his bag without a word, and he takes its place. As he sits Taehyung notice the smile on his face (he has lovely teeth) that makes his heart go thump, thump, thump.

In the next row, Momo is leaning over Baekhyun again, trying to get a better look at the new kid. Or, more accurately, trying to give the new kid a better look at her. He doesn’t look at her, which surprises Taehyung. Normally, all guys look at Momo. All guys.

Instead, he turns to him. “Hi.”

Taehyung pushes his bangs out of his eyes subconsciously. “Hey.”

“Taehyung?” He looks up so suddenly he hears his neck crack. A hot pain spreads across the back of his neck, but he focuses on Mrs. Lee, who’s standing at the front of the class, looking at him.

“Yes?” He asks, biting his lip, trying to shake away the pain in his neck.

“Could you catch him up on today’s lesson?”

He nods, and she smiles at him, turning back to the board to write their homework. Most people would groan at that, but he doesn’t really care. He turns to the amazingly beautiful boy on his right, and find that he’s staring at him already.

His face heats up. Again.

He smiles a crooked smile and Taehyung’s heart beats faster. “I’m Jungkook.”

“Uh….” He stutters for a second. His eyes are just so brown. He shakes his head ever so slightly. “I’m Taehyung.”

He nods, and his smile becomes wider. “So what were you talking about today?”

Taehyung explains their review from last year as best as he can, using his own note as a reference. He’d never been the best at explaining things, so there’s a lot of mumbling and stuttering, but they get through it okay. The only weird thing is that Jungkook keeps his eyes on him. It’s a little unsettling to have so much attention placed on him.

Boys never look at him. They look at girls like Momo.

“You do that a lot,” he says suddenly.

“Huh?”

Oh yeah, he’s a charmer.

“That.” Jungkook points at Taehyung’s hand, which is halfway to his face, so he can push his glasses further up his nose.

“Sub-conscience, I guess.” Taehyung smiles at him, dropping his hand. His insides knot with embarrassment. He never noticed how much he did it until he mentioned it.

“Can I borrow this?” he asks, pointing to his papers.

“Sure, just…” Taehyung stops himself, trying to seem like less of a control freak.

Jungkook raises an eyebrow at him. “What?”

“Make sure you give it back,” he shrugs.

He nods, just as the bell rings. “No problem. See you later, Taehyung.”

As soon as Jungkook stands, Momo ambushes him. She pushes her bust out under his nose and starts gabbing.

Taehyung feels another eye-roll coming on.