"Do you really want to go? That 's way expensive and the music will probably -"

    “You’re literally talking to the president of the senior class, Yoongi, are you saying I won't do well planning this event?" He rolled his eyes.

    "Yeah, yeah, whatever. But prom is so overrated."

    "Is it though? It's every girl's dream night."

    "I thought every girl's dream is their wedding night." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and you smacked his arm.

    “Anyway, I need to go, regardless of whether or not I really want to. I have to make sure it turns out well.”

    Yoongi sighed. “You still could’ve made it cheaper,” he complained. This time, you rolled your eyes.

    “The only way I could’ve made it cheaper was if I supported Joonmyun’s idea to have prom in the school gym and I know everyone would hate that. It’s tacky and lame.”

    “Well that makes sense since he’s tacky and lame.” You frowned.

    “Stop that, he’s not that bad.”

    “He’s the only person at this school who knows how to make a school uniform even more nerdy,” Yoongi says. Unable to deny him, you sighed.

    “Alright, whatever- you don’t have to go to prom if you don’t want to, just stop bashing Joonmyun. He’s doing us a favor by not outing our relationship, the least you can do is not trash talk him.”

    “You know I’m not good at being nice.”

    “I didn’t say you have to be nice, I just said don’t be mean. I have to go check on the art committee to see how they’re doing with posters so I’ll see you later. And don’t skip any more of your classes- you know I’ll find out.”

    He wrapped his arms around you and sighed dramatically. “Fine, I’ll go to class. I’ll wait for you after school and give you a ride home, alright?” You nodded as he pressed a kiss to your head and stepped out the door.

    Just as you were about to head for the art room, he poked his head back in. “Can you write me a late pass?”

    Yoongi’s presence was strangely scarce for the next two weeks- he showed up to all of his  classes and didn’t cut fifth period like he usually would to visit you in the Student Council room. He would leave campus as soon as school ended, save for the days that you asked him to take you home. His behavior didn’t change at all, however, and you probably wouldn’t even have noticed if your schedule weren’t so empty. The end of senior year was approaching fast and your teachers were allowing you more slack than usual, which made you wonder why Yoongi was seeing you less rather than more.

    You asked him this one day and he just shrugged. “I’m just trying to finish senior year with the highest grades possible.” But you knew that wasn’t like him at all.

    It wasn’t until you ran into Namjoon on the Monday of Prom Kickoff that that you got any insight to what Yoongi was doing. “He got another part-time job. I’m not sure what for exactly, he never said why.”

    That was weird. Yoongi was a smart guy and he could work hard when he wanted to, but the chances of him getting a part-time job without a reason behind it were slim to none. He always seemed to avoid the subject during the few times you saw him that week and as the weekend neared, you thought less and less of it, especially because of your duties as senior class president. 

    Somehow, one problem after another began to rise and, while you managed to handle them well, it was taking a toll on your mental capacity like no other. On Friday, you could hardly stay awake, even with all the buzz in the hallways about prom the next day. You were at your desk nearly falling asleep over your papers when Yoongi came in and picked you up. Literally.

    “Yoongi!” you yelped, jolting awake as he lifted you into his arms.

    “If you’re gonna fall asleep during school hours, you have to do it where nobody will catch you, babe. It’s the number one rule of delinquency.”

    “Put me down, I have work to do-”

    “Actually, you don’t,” he says, setting you on your desk. As if on cue, a slightly annoyed-looking Joonmyun appeared in the doorway. “Genius over here is gonna divide up the rest of the work you have with the other council members. You’re coming with me.” And before you could protest, he picked you up again, throwing you over his shoulder and walking out to the parking lot. You would’ve protested if you weren’t so damn tired, only sighing as you got into the car. 

    “Where are we going?”

    “I’m gonna be the one asking the questions today. When was the last time you ate and slept? Why do you look like a panda? Are you hungry?”

    “I can’t remember, my dark circles are getting worse from lack of sleep, and I’m starving.” He nodded as he pulled out of the school parking lot and onto the main road.

    “We’re gonna get you food and a nap,” he said, shaking his head disapprovingly.

    You were silent for a moment. “You know, usually I’m the one who does all this for you.”

    “Yeah, I know. How does it feel?” he asked with a grin. You roll your eyes and smile.

    “I’ll tell you when I see how good the food and the nap are.”

    A few minutes later, you and Yoongi were making your way through the park, only to find a blanket laid out in the warm sunshine with a beautiful picnic of food and drinks. You turned to him, eyebrows raised.

    “I’m gonna assume Jimin and Jungkook are hiding around here somewhere because this did not just set itself up,” you told him, but you were smiling all throughout.

    “They’re too easy to boss around, they need to grow some backbone,” Yoongi laughed. “Here, go change into this.” He handed you one of your sun dresses- “Min Yoongi, how the hell did you get this?” “I know you always keep it in your locker for emergencies so I went and got it.”- and gestured to the car. You were thankful for the tinted windows as you quickly changed in the back seat before stepping out once again. 

    Something happened in that moment, when you looked into his smiling eyes and saw what felt undeniably like love, though there wasn’t any way to describe it. And maybe it was the way he sat you down and fed you and laid your head on his lap afterwards to take a nap that you knew that he felt it too. You drifted off to sleep in the warm sunlight with Yoongi playing with your hair- and you loved every moment.

    You woke up to a brilliant sunset and Yoongi, spread out on the blanket next to you as you curled into his side. Stretching his arms, he yawned and turned to face you. “Good nap?” You nodded, pleased. He sat up abruptly and reached into the picnic basket by his side. From it, he produced a single pink rose wrapped in cellophane and tied with a ribbon. Slowly, you sat up, wondering what on earth was going on. You hadn’t gotten a chance earlier to ask what the whole picnic was about and you’d forgotten because of the nap and-

    “You know I don’t do stuff like this, but Namjoon said I had to be proper and I know you said that every girl’s dream is to go to prom and slow dance and all that crap…” He looked at you hesitantly, holding out the rose almost shyly. “Will you go to prom with me?”

    Oh. You were shocked into silence, staring at him wide-eyed. “You’re going to prom?”

    “Yeah, with you hopefully.” Oh my god.

    “But I thought you didn’t want to go.”

    “Is this your way of rejecting me?”

    “Wha- No, I’m just confused-”

    “Don’t be. Just answer the question.”

    You blinked. “Of course I’ll go with you. You didn’t think I’d reject my own boyfriend, did you?” Yoongi was quiet for a moment, hesitant to answer.

    “I just thought you wouldn’t want to because people don’t know about us.” Your eyes widened and you couldn’t bring yourself to speak. You had honestly forgotten all about that for a while. “If you’re having second thoughts, it’s okay. I know you’re uncomfortable with people knowing and-”

    “No.” You shook your head. “I don’t mind at all. I mean, we’re almost at the end of senior year and I don’t think it really matters anymore whether people know or not. And… I really want to go with you.” There was a sparkle in your eyes that made him feel a warmth in him, reassuring that he had made the right decision.

    You took the rose from his hand and leaned in to kiss his cheek. “What made you change your mind?”

    “I didn’t want other dudes to be asking my girlfriend to dance with them. I know you’re too nice to say no.” You laughed at the serious expression on his face.

    “I would’ve held out just for you, you know.” He smiled.

    “I know.”

    You spent the next day getting prim and trim, going to get your hair and nails done with your best friend before going home to do your makeup. You pulled on your floor-length silver dress, the lace complimenting the string of pearls around your neck.

    “You look hot! Yoongi’s gonna flip when he sees you,” your friend said as she adjusted your necklace.

    “Please, he barely shows any emotion as it is, unless he’s having fun teasing me,” you smiled.

    “Sure, whatever you say. But seriously you look great and-” She was cut off by the ring of her phone. “Hello? Oh cool, we’re coming down right now.” She hung up and smiled. “They’re here. You ready?”

    “Hell yeah.” You grinned and grabbed your heels and clutch in one hand, lifting up your dress with the other. The two of you hurried downstairs and pulled on your shoes, stepping outside to find Yoongi and Namjoon dressed to the nines, hair perfectly styled.

    “Oh my god,” you breathed simultaneously.

    “What do you think?” Namjoon asked, doing a spin and striking a pose. Yoongi just raised an eyebrow at you and winked, making your face flush red.

    You looked to your best friend just in time to see her launch herself at Namjoon and kiss him full on the lips, transferring some of her dark red lipstick in the process. Laughing, you turned away to let them have their moment. Yoongi stepped forward and slid an arm around your waist, pulling you to him.

    “We should have an emotional kiss scene too,” he whispered jokingly before leaning in to steal a quick kiss on your lips. From behind his back, he produced a box with a corsage in it that matched your dress perfectly. He slipped it on your wrist as you smiled.

    “You said you didn’t want to do all this,” you reminded him.

    “Yeah, but you still got me that flower thingy,” he said raising his eyebrows.

    “How did you know that?” you asked, confused. He tilted his head to your best friend and  you rolled your eyes. “She always tells you things that I deliberately don’t want you to know.”

    “It’s ok. It’s all formalities, right?” He smiled as you pulled the boutonniere from your purse and began to pin it on his jacket.

    “I like this on you,” you murmured, smoothing your hands over his suit. The silvery tie matched perfectly with your dress and you smiled with approval. He tucked a stray hair behind your ear and pinched your cheek lightly.

    “I’ll dress up for you more often.”

    “Alright you two, your moment’s up. We gotta take pictures and go,” Namjoon said. You rolled your eyes but went and picked up your camera, first taking pictures of Namjoon and Yoongi, then of Namjoon and your best friend before handing the camera over. You posed for the pictures with Yoongi as Namjoon took the shots, smiling as he did.

    “Okay, I think we’re good to go,” he said, gesturing to his car.

    All eyes were on you. You should’ve been used to it since you were student body president, but this was a different kind of attention. These weren’t the stares of bored students half-listening to your speech about standardized testing or riled up seniors cheering for their final year of high school at the pep rally. This was a mix of surprise, disgust, anger, pure shock. The air was tense for a moment. And then the silence broke into whispers and you felt even more nervous until Yoongi squeezed your hand and Namjoon nudged your shoulder reassuringly.

    “They’re just surprised,” Namjoon said, “I’m sure half of these people don’t even care.” Yoongi nodded in agreement, wrapping a protective arm around your shoulders. The night proceeded without any issues, only several questions about you and Yoongi, which was not unexpected. You answered honestly and Namjoon was right- nobody seemed to care all that much. It wasn’t until after prom queen and king were announced that trouble started- and it wasn’t even about who you were dating… at least, it didn’t start out that way.

    “It was rigged, wasn’t it? I want a recount!” snapped one of the runner ups. You didn’t know her personally, but you had heard lots about her.

    “I’m sorry, but nobody on the committee would dare to rig the votes. Everyone voted and I supervised as they counted,” you told her.

    “So then you did it,” she accused. Your eyes widened.

    “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t even vote.”

    “Bull! If you didn’t rig the votes, why didn’t I win? What, just because you’re dating Yoongi, you think you can do whatever you want? I want a recount! I-”

    “That’s enough,” said a voice behind you. The girl looked up, shocked, and you turned as well. Yoongi, Namjoon, and Jungkook were standing behind you. “You didn’t win because you’ve been a to everyone in the school for the entire year. Lay off,” said Namjoon. Your mouth dropped open. You had never seen him lose his cool before.

    “Look at this whining about not winning prom queen when she’s the one who tripped me in the hallway last year and bragged about it to all her friends,” said your best friend, coming seemingly out of nowhere and stepping in front of you. “Maybe you would’ve won if people actually liked you.”

    The girl glared but backed away. “Whatever. At least I don’t date delinquents,” she hissed, turning on her heel and walking away. A sharp anger flooded through you at her words and you clenched your fists, taking a deep breath. As soon as she was gone, you turned to your friends with an apologetic smile.

    “Sorry about that guys, she was just-” You were cut off when Yoongi stepped forwards and pulled you into his arms.

    “Are you ok?” he murmured. Tears welled up in your eyes and you wanted so badly to hide, but you pushed down your emotions, blinking them away.

    “Yeah, I’m fine.” You smiled brightly, but Yoongi wasn’t convinced. 

    “Let’s get some air,” he said, escorting you out of the building. Once outside, he turned to face you. Without a word, he wrapped his arms around your waist, holding you close. You didn’t have to vocalize how upset you were- he had already seen right through you. He reached one hand up, your hair softly.

    You lost it. The tears began to flow as you buried your face into his chest. “I can’t believe she said that,” you murmured angrily, “she doesn’t even know you, that was-”

    “Shh, it’s okay,” Yoongi said. He kissed the top of your head and pulled away. “You’re right, she doesn’t even know me. I’m used to people making snap judgments like that anyway. I’m okay.”

    Tears ran down your face as you looked up at him. “But you’re not like that and she-”

    “I know,” he said. “She doesn’t know me. But you know me.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a handkerchief and gently wiped your tears. “And that’s all that matters.” You would’ve started crying all over again had Namjoon not stepped out of the building with your friend on his trail.

    “Hey, is everything- Oh , you were having a moment,” he said, stopping short.

    “Actually, you came right after we had a moment. We were about to go back in,” said Yoongi, glancing at you. You took a deep breath and nodded before following them back into the building.

    For a while, you didn’t dance or get refreshments or even talk to anyone and things were relatively better. Nobody came up to you or gave you any trouble, though it seemed people couldn’t help but stare. You could feel eyes on you at all times by one person or another and it made you uncomfortable, but it wasn’t unbearable. Finally, Yoongi decided that enough was enough.

    He stood to his feet and held his hand out to you. “Come on.” You glanced up confusedly.

    “Where are we going?” you asked, sipping your water. Rolling his eyes, he gestured to the dance floor.

    “We’re at prom and I want to dance with my girlfriend.” You laughed so hard you choked.

    “You want to dance?” you giggled.

    “It’s better than sitting here doing nothing. And anyway, don’t you want to watch Namjoon embarrass himself?” That was too tempting to pass up. You nodded and stood, taking his hand and heading to the dance floor. Some Top 40 song with a heavily thumping bass was playing and in the middle of the circle was Namjoon himself, busting bad dance moves, but having too much fun nonetheless. Yoongi immediately took out his phone, For Snapchat, he’d said, laughing too hard. 

    You were nearly doubled over laughing when Namjoon reached out and pulled you into the circle too. Soon, everyone was joining in and you were having the time of your life, too far gone to care until the night began to wind down.

    The deejay began to spin slow tracks and most people shuffled off the dance floor, leaving only couples for the most part. You began to follow them- you knew Yoongi didn’t like slow dances- when he stopped you.

    “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

    You looked at him confusedly. “I thought you didn’t like to slow dance.”

    “I don’t,” he said, “but I know you do.” Before you could respond, he held out his hand, very formally and very not Yoongi-like, and smiled at you. “May I have this dance?”

    Floored speechless, you nodded slowly and placed your hand in his. You knew Yoongi didn’t like dancing, so how he was leading you so well was a question that stuck in the back of your head until you noticed that once again, all eyes were on the two of you. But this time, it was different. People were watching as though they were mesmerized by what they saw and when your eyes locked back on Yoongi’s, you knew why. He looked like a totally different person, clean cut with his crisp suit and hair swept up, standing with an air of authority as he led you step by step.

    More and more people began to slow dance as well, but you hardly noticed. The moment seemed too ethereal, extremely sweet and unfamiliar but not unpleasant. You only felt this way when you and Yoongi were alone and he showed his rare vulnerable side, but now in a crowded room, you felt it too.

    Yoongi subtly pulled you closer to his body so that your face was inches from his. “You look beautiful,” he said and you felt your cheeks go pink. Before you could say anything, his hand came up to the nape of your neck, guiding your head down to rest on his shoulder. Both arms moved around your waist so he could hold you flush against him and for the first time all night, you didn’t care if people stared. All that mattered was that you had Yoongi and he had you.

“You are an illuminating anchor

Of leagues to infinite number

Of crashing waves and breaking thunder

Tiding the ebb and flows of hunger”