He slips into the cafeteria, warily scanning the room before deciding that it’s completely void of people. Embracing the silence, he strides past the tables and climbs up the stairs leading to the wide open stage. It begs for a performance.

                  He sets his bag down and exhales. He looks out at the view before him, the sight he’s longed to witness for months. There’s nothing more Jimin could want but to perform in front of a captivated audience. He wants to lose himself in movement, to feel the music rattling his bones. And yet, there’s but one thing stopping him.

                  Jimin scrolls through his phone and turns up the volume, a steady beat pouring into his ears. He starts moving. He’s stiff, because god knows how long it’s been since he busted a move. In time, his limbs become fluid and the whirling sensation of matching his steps to the song takes him by storm.

                  He loses breath watching the scene blur in front of him, making room for his body to slide through the air. It’s one minute of pure adrenaline pumping through his veins. It’s one minute of diving into his own world, a place where only he exists. It’s one minute until he catches a shadow in the corner of his eye and stops everything, forever.

                  Jimin leaps for his phone to muffle the music before turning it off. As soon as he does, the cafeteria doors open and a group of students walk in, chattering amongst themselves. He can feel his ears burning; one more second and he would’ve been caught.

                  He’s almost done gathering his things and is about to escape when his name is called out. “Jimin!” It’s Chanmi, waving to him from the group. “What are you doing here?”

                  “M-M-Me?” he asks, as if she wasn’t asking him directly enough. “… Um… I-I’m waiting for the Winter C-Concert to start.”

                  “The Winter Concert?” She climbs onto the stage and sets her bag down beside him. “That doesn’t start for another couple hours, right?”

                  “M-Mm… Tae is in it, and…” Jimin stares at the other students walking onstage as well. “… I’m trying t-to kill time. Is this your b-breakdance team?”

                  The girl smiles and gestures to them. “Yeah! We’re going to start practice in a few minutes. Wanna stay and watch?”

                  He thinks it over, considering how much more he’d like to curl up in a corner and die. Then he nods, hurdles over the stage, and takes a seat.

                  It takes a while until all the breakdance members are on stage. One girl, presumably their leader, announces something about the next show and afterwards, they’re pulling up music.

                  The team branches off into smaller groups, and Jimin sees that Chanmi is in the first one. They start dancing; it’s largely freestyle, but he notices some form of organized routine and nods in acknowledgement. His eyes are trained on his classmate for a bit, observing her slick moves. It must be nice, being able to embrace the stage that easily.

                  He’s envious.

                  After the groups practice their respective dances, they gather to perform one big routine and just like that, they’re dismissed. Chanmi hops off the stage and strides towards him, glistening with sweat. “So how were we?” she asks while they’re headed into the atrium. “Now that you’ve actually seen us dance, I mean.”

                  Jimin laughs softly and stares at the floor. “It was good.”

                  They walk towards a fountain, where Chanmi starts filling up her water bottle. “Just good?”

                  “I-It was really good.”

                  She giggles. “Thanks. To be honest, I was a little upset when you didn’t see us at Extracurricular Week, but it’s all good. You saw us today.” She claps his shoulder. “I hope I’ll get to see you dance, too.”

                  He starts blushing and scratches his cheek. “Y-Yeah.”

                  “You never really told me what happened at the dance auditions.” He stiffens at her words. “I heard your name, but you didn’t show up. What happened?”

                  “… Uh…” Jimin trails off, because he doesn’t want to talk about it. It’s something he’d rather forget, and for her to be expecting a comprehensive answer is making him uncomfortable beyond words. His gaze goes somewhere else, hoping for something, anything, to avoid the subject.

                  He spots his knight in a snazzy snapback.

                  “H-Hyung!” Jimin beckons, and Yoongi freezes from his place across the hall. “Y-You walked past me.”

                  The other boy turns on his heel and coolly strides towards them. “You looked like you were busy and I didn’t want to interrupt, obviously. The one time I try to be polite…”

                  “Wh-What are you still doing here, after school?”

                  “Me? I’m supposed to cover the Winter Concert today.” Yoongi glances at the girl beside him. He stuffs his hands into his pockets. “I’m headed upstairs to get my camera.”

                  Jimin looks at her as well. “O-Oh, um, hyung, this is Chanmi. She’s my classmate.”

                  “Hi sunbae,” she greets, bowing her head. “I’ve seen you around often, but I never really knew your name.”

                  “Oh. I’m Yoongi.” He pauses. “Hi.”

                  Jimin stares at both of them, waiting for the silence to pass. He wonders why they seem so tense, but perhaps it’s just his imagination. “Well, um…”

                  “Okay, I guess I’m headed home now,” Chanmi interrupts, stuffing her bottle into her bag. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow!”

                  “Huh? Oh, okay.” Jimin waves. “Be careful on your way home.” He watches her disappear around the corner before turning back to his senior. “I’m going to the concert too.”

                  “So I see,” Yoongi replies with a soft smile. “Hang out with me until then?”

                  “O-Okay.”

--

                  When they enter the cafeteria a while later, there are already people seated in those cheap school chairs set in long rows. Numerous musicians are scrambling across the stage for last minute prep. Singers are doing warm-up, and drummers are looking for their misplaced drumsticks before running to get a spare set.

                  Jimin cautiously climbs onto the stage and finds his friend in the corner with some other band kids. “Tae!”

                  Taehyung looks up, immediately bursting into a grin. He waves with a small cloth in one hand, probably polishing his saxophone. “Hey!”

                  “Hi,” Jimin greets, handing him a water bottle. “I’m here.”

                  “Huh, I just thought you were a figment of my imagination.” The guy nods at Yoongi, who nods back. “You two on a date?”

                  “What?” Jimin sputters as his ears turn red. “N-No, he’s working.” He can hear the older boy groaning behind him.

                  Taehyung snorts. “Uh-huh…”

                  He smacks his friend just for good measure. “Wh-What are you playing tonight?”

                  “Moonlight Sonata, which is Beethoven,” Taehyung replies, numbering off his fingers. “And Fantastic Baby.”

                  Jimin raises an eyebrow. “You’re going to play Big Bang on a sax?”

                  “You’d be surprised!” he laughs. “We’re starting soon. I’m standing over there, so sit on the right side of the caf. Listen well, okay? Especially me, listen to me.”

                  “Okay.” They give each other a brief bear hug. “Break a leg.”

                  Taehyung waves again as they leave to find seats. On the way down, Yoongi blurts “what are you two, married?”

                  Jimin snorts. They find a pair of chairs and sit down. He flips through the concert flyer, finding Taehyung’s songs scattered throughout the playlist. “To be honest, he’d do the same for me. I mean, if I ever happened t-to get up on stage.”

                  “That’ll be day,” Yoongi sighs, placing his arm over Jimin’s backrest. He tosses one leg over the other. “It’d be cool if you got up there soon.”

                  “Mm.”

                  When the lights dim, the audience settles for muted whispers until the first act starts performing. It’s quite a dramatic piece, though Jimin doesn’t really know how to appreciate classical music. He tries his best to understand the melody and claps when he should. Yoongi can be heard snapping photos.

                  After a couple songs, the singers depart to make room for the band. Taehyung strides across the stage and Jimin swears he can feel the entire audience shifting their gazes to the right side. The spotlights are making the boy’s hair glow beyond its golden hues. He almost says out loud, “that’s right everybody, that’s my best friend.”

                  The piece starts and Taehyung kind of sits there for a while, eyes trained on their conductor. When the music starts building up, he blows a series of resounding notes that rattles some members of the audience, Jimin included. The saxophone is pretty damn loud; he can only smile because Taehyung couldn’t have chosen a more appropriate instrument.

                  After the sax break, he settles down and doesn’t play another sound. Just like that, the song ends and the audience is invited to have break-time snacks before the second half of the concert begins.

                  Yoongi stretches and sighs. “What’d you think?”

                  “I don’t get it,” Jimin replies honestly. “But it was nice.”

                  “Same,” the older boy says. “Is Taehyung planning on being a musician or something?”

                  “Actually, no… He wanted to do something in biology.”

                  Yoongi looks at him, gaping like a fish. “Wait, really?”

                  “Yeah. Tae comes off a little dim, but he studies well.” Jimin frowns. “I mean besides math, anyway. He at math, but he’s pretty bomb in science.”

                  “Damn, I didn’t expect that. He’s really good at it though, the saxophone.” Yoongi flips over the screen of his camera, showing him a picture of Taehyung passionately performing away. “He could probably make a career out of it if he wanted to.”

                  Jimin nods. “What are you planning on doing after you graduate?”

                  “Me? I’m going to burn my ing English notes because I hate that class.”

                  “… I mean, what do you want to be?”

                  The guy lets out a pleasant laugh. “Freelance photographer, I guess. I wouldn’t mind doing something in graphic design, either. I’ll see after I get through university.”

                  “Oh yeah, you applied to a couple schools, right?”

                  “Four uni’s and one college,” he sighs again. “It was pretty damn hard to keep my grades high enough, but whatever.”

                  Jimin stares as Yoongi gazes into the distance, this dreamy look in his eyes. “… Good luck,” he whispers. He looks away when the older boy looks at him.

                  “What are you planning on doing?” Yoongi asks, reaching over to move Jimin’s bangs away from his face.

                  He pauses for a moment and wonders why the hell Yoongi keeps touching his hair; but it’s not like he really minds. “… I don’t know,” he says finally.

                  “Well, don’t worry too much about it. There’s no deadline for your future.” Yoongi haphazardly tousles his hair, making it messier than it originally was. Then he brushes everything up with the palm of his hand, exposing Jimin’s forehead and poor, confused expression. “And you can always change your mind later.”

                  “What are you doing to my head…?”

                  Yoongi lets go, laughing when his bangs fly up with static. He smoothens it down before keeping to himself. “Cute.”

                  When the lights go off once more for the latter half of the concert, Jimin is more aware of the boy sitting next to him, from his subtle gestures to his breathing. He almost turns his head during a song because he actually, really wants to know what Yoongi’s profile looks like when it’s illuminated by distant stage lights. The very thought of it scares him.

                  So he’s a little relieved when a familiar song starts and his attention is yanked back to the performance. Taehyung is center-stage, playing the opening of Fantastic Baby in all its greatness. He soaks up the spotlight and shines brilliantly, without so much as a care in the world. Jimin can feel his heart swelling.

                  The rest of the song consists of a great mix of flutes, trumpets, and drums with Taehyung pitching in every so often that his cheeks grow pink. It’s a captivating performance, right up until the very end when he manages to blow the last note.

                 The crowd explodes in cheers and applause. Taehyung takes a breather and bows, smiling brightly as he skips off the stage. Jimin stares, eyes wide with astonishment. Then he gets a text from the guy saying, ‘how did i do ?????’ He doesn’t really know how to respond beyond a simple ‘100/10!!!’

                 Yoongi taps his arm and points. He notices that even though the show is over and there’s no one performing anymore, the spotlights are still on. He can see the dust settling onto the floor. It becomes quiet as people file out of the cafeteria; it’s too quiet.

                 The older boy smiles. “Your turn.”