~A/N:  For Bounce_Bounce1 (www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view/222599)

“This is the third time you’ve been late for class Kim Taehyung. And school only started this week!” The teacher said to the dark orange haired teen who’d just walked through the door.

“Oh am I late? What a surprise.” Taehyung said sarcastically while rolling his eyes, which only served to further infuriate the already irritated teacher.

“For that persistent bad attitude and your tardiness, you can stay after school next week for detention!” The teacher screeched at Taehyung who just scoffed and walked to his seat. Taehyung honestly didn’t care if he got detentions, as long as his mom didn’t find out, it would be fine. And she probably wouldn’t find out since none of the teachers at their school would bother to inform her unless he was failing, and he currently wasn’t failing. He took a seat and leaned back in his chair without taking out his textbook or utensils for class.

“Taehyung take out your textbook before I decide to send you the principal’s office.” The teacher stated glaring at the teen.

“I don’t have it with me.” Taehyung simply answered shrugging his shoulder as if to say he didn’t care if he was sent to the principal’s office. But honestly he did, that was the last place he’d like to go. After all, it meant he might get a suspension, which he’d rather avoid. For someone who was supposed to be one of the ‘bad boys’ of the school, Taehyung was much too soft to actually be one. He may act tough, bully some students occasionally (but only if they were disrespectful towards him), and ignore his classmates, but in all honesty, he wasn’t bad at all.

“Then share with your seatmate.” The teacher responded turning back to the board and resuming her lecture. Taehyung glanced over to the black haired boy sitting next to him with a raised eyebrow. The boy didn’t look at him as he placed his textbook between them without a single word. Taehyung was used to people avoiding his gaze but usually, they would try to sneak in glances. But this boy was doing no such thing as he diligently took notes and remained silent, and for some reason that was irritating Taehyung. He wanted to see the boy’s face at least once. He didn’t recall ever seeing this boy before so he figured this kid was new and probably had transferred into their school this year.

“Hey.” He said trying to gain the boy’s attention, but the boy continued to ignore his presence.

“Hey kid, I’m talking to you.” Taehyung tried again but the boy still didn’t turn towards him. Grinding his teeth together, Taehyung reached out and pinched the boy's cheek harshly, forcing the black haired boy to look at him. But once his eyes landed on the others face all the words he was about to spew left him. He had not expected the other to have two different colored eyes. The boy’s left eye was a glistening silver while his right was a startling blue. The boy looked at him for a second before turning away and looking back down.

“What do you want?” The boy asked, his voice sounding distant. Taehyung was silent for a moment before he cleared his throat.

“I was just going to ask what’s your name?” Taehyung decided to say.

“You didn’t have to pull my cheek to do that.” The boy responded sounding somewhat angry.

“You weren’t listening.”

“I was, you should have just asked.”

“Well you didn’t respond, so how the hell was I supposed to know you were listening?”

“Why do you want to know my name? We were all introduced to each other on the first day of class. So it’s not my problem if you forgot.”

“...do you know who I am?” Taehyung asked.

“You’re Kim Taehyung.” The boy responded glancing up at him really quickly as if to say ‘of course idiot’.

“Yes that’s my name, but do you know my reputation?” Taehyung pressed on. “Because if you did, I’m pretty sure you’d know better then to sass me like that.”

“I don’t really care about your reputation. Besides what could you possibly do to me?” The boy replied continuing to sass Taehyung much to his annoyance.

“I don’t think you want to find out what I could do to you,” Taehyung warned.

“That's probably because you can’t do anything,” JImin responded.

“Why you little…” Taehyung lunged forward to pinch the other's cheeks again but before he could the teacher slammed her book on their desk starling the two boys.

“Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung please leave my class and stand in the hallway until I call you back in.” The teacher said glaring at them. The two boys picked up their things and headed towards the door.

“And before I forget I’m adding another week's worth of detention for you Taehyung. As for you Jimin, this will be your only warning since you’re new. I don’t tolerate troublemakers in this class.” The teacher said just as the two were exiting the classroom. Neither of the boys made any sort of reaction to her statement until they were in the hallway with the door closed behind them.

“Thanks a lot for getting me into more trouble!” Taehyung said glaring at Jimin who just shrugged while not looking at him.

“You got yourself into trouble. And I thought you didn’t even care seeing how you’re always in trouble.” Jimin replied as he squatted down and wrapped his arms around his legs. He also put his head into his arms hiding his face. The action made him look quite small and...well cute.

“I don’t care…” Taehyung denied.

“Right,” Jimin said, his voice muffled and sounding very unconvinced.

“I don’t! I just don’t want to get in trouble because of someone like you.” Taehyung insisted.

“I didn’t get you in trouble! You’re the one who started it!” Jimin said venomously as he finally looked up and glared at Taehyung. Again, Taehyung found himself staring at the other’s eyes and when Jimin noticed he quickly looked away again, covering his eyes with his bangs.

“Why do you wear two different colored contacts? That’s just stupid.” Taehyung commented.

“I’m not wearing contacts,” Jimin responded glaring at him again while sounding angry.

“Seriously?” Taehyung asked incredulously and Jimin just nodded looking down again.

“Do you always try to hide your eyes?” Taehyung asked taking a seat beside Jimin who didn’t grace him with a reply this time. Taehyung decided to take his silence as a yes.

“Well it’s good that you do, your eyes are creepy and weird. I’d hate to have your eyes.” Taehyung said but it wasn’t the truth. He was actually enthralled by Jimin’s eyes and thought they were quite pretty and unique, but Taehyung was the bad boy of this school and had a reputation for being mean and somewhat of a bully. Besides, it was Jimin’s fault for being cheeky earlier.

“If they bother you so much, just don’t look at me, idiot,” Jimin responded with a scoff.

“Who are you to call me an idiot?”

“Well if you act like one, why shouldn't I call you one?”

“Didn’t I tell you not to sass me?” Taehyung warned again.

“What are you going to do about it?” Jimin challenged. It was then the teacher came out to call them back into the classroom effectively cutting off Taehyung’s response.

“Get back inside and begin on the project I’ve assigned the class. It’s a semester-long project but the first part will be due in a month. The instructions are on the board and here is a paper with further details. You two will be partners.” The teacher said giving them a harsh stare as she shoved a sheet of paper into their hands and made them go back inside. The two teens shuffled back into the classroom and went to their desk begrudgingly taking their seats. Taehyung looked up at the board and then at the paper.

“Well good luck finishing this on your own. I ain’t helping just so you know.” Taehyung said before smiling wickedly and continuing, “Maybe I would have if you hadn’t been so cheeky with me earlier.”

Jimin just shrugged, “Fine by me. I’m glad I won’t have you dragging me down then.”

Hearing his reply irked Taehyung and suddenly he felt like he was losing to the other and he hated to lose. “I wouldn’t drag you down, in fact, if I helped you, you’d be dragging me down. Just cause I don’t do doesn’t mean I’m dumb.” Taehyung said.

“Right, like I believe that. Just shut up and let me work. I already said I’d do it on my own and don’t need or want your help.” Jimin replied as he began writing down ideas on a sheet of paper. Taehyung pressed his lips together as he tried to calm himself down. Jimin kept getting under his skin and it was irritating him to no end. He waited a minute and then snatched the paper away from Jimin once the other paused in his writing. He read over what Jimin had written and scoffed.

“This is your idea? Not only do you have stupid eyes but you’ve also got stupid ideas. And seeing as I don’t actually wanna fail and be held back, I’ve got no choice but to help you.” Taehyung said crumpling the paper up and aimed it towards the trashcan. He missed by a few centimeters but he wasn’t about to get up and throw it away properly, so instead, he turned back to Jimin. Jimin was staring at the crumpled paper by the trash can, his face hard and angry by the looks of it.

“Ok class, I hope you’ve got your ideas at least figured out. If you don’t, I suggest you meet up over the weekend and work on it.” The teacher suggested and then dismissed the class just as the bell rung signaling first period was over. All the students got up and left scrambling off to their second-period class. Taehyung, unlike the others, took his time.

Taehyung arrived a few minutes late to his next class as well and got another scolding but he didn’t care. He spotted Jimin sitting near the back and so he purposely sat next to him. He bugged Jimin and make fun of his eyes the entire time they were in class. For his part, Jimin ignored Taehyung as best he could only asking him to stop once in awhile. When that didn’t work Jimin asked to move seats in the middle of the lecture. The teacher had refused Jimin’s request and so Jimin had just sat quietly in his seat with his eyes closed while Taehyung continued to try and fail to get a reaction out of him.

When class ended Jimin was the first to grab his things and leave. Taehyung relished in the fact the other had been in such a hurry to leave, it meant he’d actually gotten under Jimin’s skin just as Jimin had gotten under his skin in their first-period class. Taehyung got to his third-period class in time but was a little disappointed to find Jimin wasn’t in that class. The rest of the day went by slowly for him until it was finally time for the last class of the day. He entered the room barely in time and looked for an empty seat, only to find that once again Jimin was in his class and the only empty seat was beside him. Taehyung vaguely wondered if maybe the other kids purposely avoided sitting next to Jimin.

Taehyung sat down next to Jimin only to see the other hunched forward in his seat with his eyes closed, looking as if he was asleep. Taehyung was tempted to wake the black haired boy up but he noticed how tired the other looked and decided against it. He turned his attention to the board and semi-paid attention to what the teacher said but found himself glancing more often than not at Jimin who continued to sleep throughout the class. Taehyung could admit that Jimin was handsome. The shorter male had plump lips, cute chubby cheeks, a nice jawline and long, pretty eyelashes. His hair was a little long but that was probably because Jimin wanted to make sure it would cover his eyes, but besides being long it was soft looking, and Taehyung kind of wanted to reach out and touch it...he also kind of wanted to Jimin’s cheeks as he recalled how soft the skin had been when he’d pinched it that morning.

When the bell finally rang to signal the end of the school day was when Jimin opened his eyes and looked around him seemingly a little confused. Taehyung pretended not to notice the other as he packed up his things. Jimin sighed before he too began to pack up his stuff but before Jimin could leave, Taehyung grabbed his arm and held him in place. Jimin looked at him surprised but then glared.

“What do you want now? If you’re going to make another stupid comment about my eyes just stop ok? It’s annoying!” Jimin said harshly and then shook Taehyung’s arm off before rushing out of the classroom. Taehyung blinked trying to process what happened before he too was running out of the class to catch up to Jimin. He caught the other just as he was about to walk out of the school building.

“Don’t order me around. I’ll do what I want weird eyes. You have no right to tell me what to do, got that? Besides, that’s not what I was gonna say. I was going to say we should work on that project today so we don’t need to meet up on the weekend and because I’ve got detention next week so we can’t work on it then.” Taehyung said rolling his eyes and trying to make it seem like he didn’t actually care about the project.

“I thought I told you in class I don’t need your help,” Jimin replied after a moment of silence causing Taehyung to roll his eyes again and glare.

“I’m helping and there’s nothing you can do about it. Now let’s go to your house to work on it.” Taehyung said.

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“No. If you want to work on it, let’s go to your house. Not mine.” Jimin said firmly.

“Why not?” Taehyung asked suspiciously.

“Because I said so,” Jimin responded glaring at Taehyung. Taehyung found himself staring into Jimin’s eyes somewhat getting lost in them and how serious Jimin looked right now. The shorter male really did not want to go to his house.

“Fine. Whatever. Let’s go.” Taehyung said and began walking. Jimin followed behind him silently.

They reached Taehyung’s house within five minutes as it was close to the school. They went to his room to work on the project. At first, they argued quite a bit but eventually started giving in and accepting the others ideas and taking each other seriously. Once they did, they actually managed to get along and get much of it done. Taehyung was surprised by how far they’d gotten in only a couple of hours. They took a break and had some snacks before working on the project some more. It was already getting late by the time they decided to stop.

“Where are your parents?” Jimin asked as he was packing up his portion of the project to work on it at home.

“My dad is away on business and my mom always comes home late on weekdays. I usually only see her in the morning and on weekends. Though a good question would be, where is my little brother.” Taehyung answered beginning to wonder where Jungkook, his little brother, was.

“Oh ok...Well, I’ll be leaving now.” Jimin said slinging his backpack onto his back.

“Yea...do you need me to walk you home?” Taehyung asked before he could think of what he was saying. Jimin looked at him in surprise before laughing, and Taehyung thought about how he had never heard something so beautiful.

“What the hell? Why would I need anyone to walk me home? And why would you even offer? Don’t you hate me?” Jimin asked with narrowed eyes.

“I was just kidding. Of course, I hate you. I wouldn’t have walked you home even if you’d said yes.” Taehyung quickly said trying to salvage his reputation.

“Ah thought so,” Jimin responded and then walked towards the door, leaving without another word. Taehyung watched him leave with a sour feeling sitting in his stomach but ignored it.

The weekend ended and the second week of school started again. Taehyung decided to attend classes on time only to avoid getting more detentions and a possible suspension. As the weeks passed he continued to bother Jimin in the classes they had together. Jimin ignored him and they’d only get along whenever they were working on their project during class time.

Despite the fact Jimin would be absent practically once or twice every week, over the course of the month, the two continued to work on the project in class and managed to finish it by Tuesday, three days before it was actually due. They turned it in and the teacher gave them a surprised expression before glancing over all of it. When she realized they hadn’t just half-assed it and had genuinely worked hard on it she smiled at them.

“This is a nice surprise. Looks like you can be productive. I’ll grade this by tomorrow and get back to you so you two can start the second portion. For now, just do whatever you’d like until class ends. You’re free to even leave class early” She said as she took the project to her desk and set it down to grade later and then continued to supervise the other groups.

“She must be in a good mood to do that,” Jimin commented offhandedly and Taehyung agreed. The two of them decided to stay in class since there was nowhere else to go anyway.

“Yea, guess so,” Taehyung replied as he glanced over at Jimin as they took their seats. Jimin pulled out a book and began reading. Taehyung simply watched for a bit.

“Is that book any good?” Taehyung asked.

“It’s alright.”

“Are you actually reading it?”

“Of course.”

“Then why are you still on the same page? You’ve been on that page for the past five minutes.”

“...I’m a slow reader,” Jimin answered, still not lifting his head up or looking at Taehyung at all. Taehyung frowned, Jimin would always avoid looking at people but with Taehyung he wasn’t that reserved and would look at him whenever they talked. However, Jimin had avoided looking at everyone today. Taehyung had been trying to get Jimin to look at him all morning but Jimin kept his gaze towards the ground and his eyes covered with his bangs, and Taehyung was beginning to get suspicious that something was seriously wrong.

“Hey Jimin?” Taehyung called out and Jimin hummed in response to show he was listening.

“Why won’t you look at me?”

“I’m listening.”

“But you usually look at me when we’re talking.”

“I’m reading right now.”

“But you’ve been avoiding any eye contact all day. And more than that you keep fixing your bangs to be over your eyes.”

“So?”

“Is something wrong with them?” Taehyung finally asked the question he’d most wanted to ask since class started.

“Are you going to joke again about how my eyes are wrong because they’re two different colors?” Jimin asked with a sigh but still didn’t look up. Taehyung pursed his lips together and furrowed his eyebrows.

“No. I’m genuinely wondering if something is wrong,” Taehyung answered and Jimin took a few seconds before he answered.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were concerned for me.” Jimin stated but when Taehyung said nothing he continued with “Nothing's wrong.”

“Then look at me.” Taehyung requested.

“No”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to hear about how creepy my eyes are again.”

“I won’t say it this time.”

“Still no. I’m tired, leave me alone.” Jimin said closing his book and laying his arms atop the desk before burying his head in his arms. Taehyung frowned, something must be wrong, he was sure of it now. Without a second of hesitation, he pinched Jimin’s arm eliciting a quiet yelp from Jimin whose head immediately shot up as he glared at Taehyung.

“What was that for?!” He asked loudly, but Taehyung wasn’t paying attention. His eyes were focused on Jimin’s eyes which were red and looked quite irritated, it looked as if Jimin had either rubbed at them too hard or someone threw something at him that got into his eyes.

“Did something get in your eye recently?” Taehyung asked instead of answering Jimin’s question. Jimin looked down and shook his head.

“I told you it’s nothing, my eyes are just a little dry and irritated. They’ll be better by lunchtime.” Jimin answered putting his head back on his desk. Taehyung was pretty sure Jimin was lying. No way would his eyes be that red just from being dry, no..someone must have thrown something at him that got into his eyes. But the question was who?

Taehyung knew that the other students didn’t really talk much with Jimin, probably because they were weirded out by the male’s eyes, but Taehyung hadn't noticed anyone openly bullying him over it. Sure he’d hear some people whisper about it once in awhile calling Jimin creepy but other than that he hadn’t seen anyone openly call him names or make fun of him. So who would throw something at his eyes?

Those types of questions plagued Taehyung’s mind the whole day but he didn’t bother asking Jimin since he knew the other wouldn’t tell him the truth anyway. So instead, Taehyung paid extra attention to those around Jimin when he could. What he noticed from doing this was 1. Jimin didn’t have any friends and 2. Jimin didn’t like his own eyes. Taehyung only noticed the second thing because he’d happen to enter the bathroom to wash some paint off his hands when he’d noticed Jimin staring at his own reflection with a look of hatred. Jimin had looked down when he noticed Taehyung and promptly left without a single word but Taehyung stood there thinking. He could understand why Jimin would hate his own eyes...everyone had made fun of them, so of course, Jimin would start to hate them. They made him different and no one wanted to be different.

Taehyung began thinking about why these observations had bothered him so much and began to realize that maybe...he didn’t hate Jimin. If anything Jimin reminded him of himself. Taehyung used to be very different. In middle school, he’d been known as the weird kid. People thought his behavior and actions were weird and he’d been termed ‘alien’ by his peers. No one really bullied him but they avoided him and he’d hear their whispers. He hated it. He hated it so much he decided to change and this change resulted in his current reputation and friends. He fit in with the ‘bad crowd’ of the school, though he didn’t see them as the bad crowd. In fact, he thought they were very nice and soft people, and believed if others got to know them, they’d agree with him. WIth a sigh, Taehyung decided to be nicer to Jimin. He’d introduce the other to his friends as well, maybe then Jimin could be more outgoing and rely on someone. Maybe he’d even tell them who was bullying him.

After school, Taehyung stopped Jimin from going home right after class and instead dragged the smaller male with him to the school’s old drama classroom. That was where he’d meet his friends every Tuesday unless he had detention.

“Why did you drag me here?” Jimin asked looking around the room.

“To meet my friends,” Taehyung answered.

“And why should I meet them?”

“Why shouldn’t you?”

“...They’re your friends and we’re not friends...so it doesn’t make sense.”

“It’s already the third week of school and you still don’t have friends. So even if we’re not friends you could still become friends with my friends.”

“...That’s...weird…I’m going home. I don’t need friends.” Jimin said with a sigh as he slung his backpack onto his back and headed for the door. Taehyung was about to stop him but the door opened and in walked Yoongi and Namjoon, two of his four friends.

“Hey Taehyung, who’s this?” Namjoon asked eyeing Jimin who immediately looked down to avoid their gaze.

“I’m no one, don’t mind me. I was just about to leave anyway.” Jimin said as he began to walk past them but Taehyung grabbed Jimin by his backpack and pulled him back to stand beside him.

“This is Park Jimin. He’s my seatmate.” Taehyung announced introducing the shorter male to the others just as Jin and Hoseok walked in.

“Park Jimin? The one everyone says has two different colored eyes?” Jin asked as he came to stand beside Namjoon. Taehyung nodded and Jimin finally looked up so they could see. But Jimin was frowning and he looked upset.

“Yes. I have two different colored eyes ok? Got a problem with it? It’s not like it concerns any of you troublemakers anyway.” Jimin said in a h