Clean-up on aisle three, Yoongi wonders if it’s an appropriate time to think such things, no matter how apropos it is to the situation.

“Kid, you okay?” He asks in his characteristically slow drawl.

Wide eyes look up at him with a mixture of embarrassment and fear, the man’s hands are covering his mouth, and Yoongi really wants to laugh because one, this is ing hilarious, and two, yes this is my life I am a beacon for crazy people. When the man makes no attempt at an actual answer and only continues to stare in dumbfounded fright, Yoongi sighs and scans the hallway. When his eyes land on the sign for the restroom, he reaches forward and grabs the stranger by the arm.

The man’s eyes grow wider with fear (a feat Yoongi did not think was possible), and Yoongi sighs again, Why me? Why is it always me?

“Look, kid, I am not going to do anything bad, alright?” He points to the bathroom sign, “I’m just taking you there so you can get cleaned up, okay?” Yoongi tries to dial his voice down to soothing and gentle, but he knows he doesn’t really have that setting.

Understanding finally dawns on the man (boy? person?), and he nods his head and succumbs to Yoongi’s lead.

Their time in the bathroom is quiet and awkward as the boy (man? child?) tries to avoid making eye contact, which is a hundred percent fine with Yoongi. He did not sign up to babysit some colicky man-child with a penchant for throwing up, no matter how attractive he finds the man’s fear-laden, cat shaped eyes, and olive colored complexion.

‘No! Min Yoongi, no. This kid just threw-up in a hallway after talking to himself. You will not be finding him attractive. Just think of Park Jimin.’

“Thank you.” The sound is a whisper, barely there, but Yoongi hears it anyway, and he nods. He looks at the man (boy? child? What the is he?) and takes the other’s appearance in entirely.

The man is tall and lanky, although his height is hard to calculate because he stands with his shoulders slumped in front of Yoongi. Either way, Yoongi knows the other is taller than him by a lot. The boy’s hair is brown and soft and bounces to life with the slightest movement, and the action reminds Yoongi of the wind rustling leaves on a tree. The other is beautiful in an ethereal way. His features by themselves are nothing spectacular, but the way they are arranged on this particular boy is nothing short of amazing. Nonetheless, the kid is loony as a lark and Yoongi plans on not getting attached.

“S’okay,” Yoongi says after a while, sensing that the other is waiting on a reply.

The air feels tense as they stand in the bathroom trying to avoid being the first to break the silence.

“I’m sorry for, uhm…just sorry.” The voice is still low but somewhat audible this time.

“Are you not feeling well?” Yoongi asks, hoping to break the tension and maybe find an escape from the bathroom (okay mostly to find an escape).

“No, n-not really,” the man finally looks up and he really is breathtaking. Yoongi wants to facepalm because, Seriously, he was just talking to himself in the hallway, he is NOT attractive. Do you hear me Min Yoongi? NOT attractive.

“I’m just nervous.” The man’s voice is beginning to get stronger. “Anyway, thank you for helping me.” The boy bows, then turns and grabs a handful of paper towels from the canister on the wall. He wets several pieces, bows to Yoongi one more time, then walks out of the restroom.

Moments later, when Yoongi enters the hallway, he sees the man on his knees cleaning up the mess he had caused on the floor. Yoongi’s plan is to step past the man, pretending that none of this had happened. However, the closer he gets to the kid/boy (man?), the more he starts to feel the pull of guilt (why? He owes this boy nothing.) He sighs for the third (no, fourth?) time before kneeling next to the man and silently picking up a stray paper towel to help.

“Hyung, no!” the man says, mortified.

‘How do you know I’m your hyung?” Yoongi asks off-handedly.

“I-I, Y-you,” the man stops talking, a look of confusion on his face, and Yoongi thinks this look suits the other substantially better than fear. “I don’t know. I just assumed, I guess.” He says thoughtfully, and Yoongi thinks the man’s voice is nice.

“You know what happens when you assume don’t you?” Yoongi says jokingly.

“No. What?” The boy asks so frankly that Yoongi can’t help the laugh of surprise that escapes.

“Kid, I think you’re going to make this class fun,” Yoongi says as he drops the soiled paper towel into the trash can. The boy smiles at the statement and a slight flush colors his cheeks and Yoongi thinks, maybe the class wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Taehyung

The walk down the hall is less traumatizing the second time around, and Taehyung suspects that it has something to do with the kind (somewhat grumpy looking, with a hella deep voice) stranger that had taken the time to help him. He sneaks a sideways glance at the small man with the silver-gray-grandpa-colored hair and wonders how the man manages to make the color so y. The man is shorter than Taehyung by several inches, yet his presence seems to take up the space they’re inhabiting, and Taehyung feels small in comparison.

“What’s your name kid?” The man’s drawl is like coffee: warm, dark, and smooth as it tantalizes Taehyung’s ear.

“T-Taehyung, uhm, Kim Taehyung,” Taehyung says as he bows and offers his hand.

“No need for formality kid. My name is Min Yoongi, but you can call me hyung.” Yoongi says with a slight smirk and Taehyung wishes he wasn’t so socially awkward because he can feel the heat as it rises from his neck to his face.

Taehyung nods, at a loss for words as Yoongi opens the door to the classroom. As they cross the threshold he can feel his heart rate rising. The beats start out slow, but by the time they make it all the way inside the big square room his heart sounds like a drum in a marching line. Taehyung looks around, hoping to distract himself and bring his out of control heart rate down. People are scattered around the room, and Taehyung does a mental head count. Six, eight with him and Yoongi? Yes, eight.

The first person he notices (apart from Yoongi) is a girl sitting alone on one of the chairs arranged in a semi-circle in the middle of the room. He notices her because she’s beautiful and flawlessly so, with long silky looking brown hair pulled back in a ponytail that highlights her high cheekbones, and bright brown eyes. She smiles a bit when she catches Taehyung’s eyes, and her smile is angelic and sad and Taehyung wonders at the contrast. To her left is a loveseat, occupied by a man and a woman whom Taehyung assumes are married based solely on their matching rings. Taehyung turns to Yoongi at the thought and makes a mental note to ask the man what happens when you assume.

In the corner by the food tray stand two men. One is tall and lanky with blonde hair and black-rimmed glasses, and Taehyung smiles unconsciously because the man reminds him of a character from the Professor Strange Love manga with his perfectly coiffed hair and thick full lips. The man next to ‘The Professor’ (Taehyung’s official name for the tall blonde), is shorter and wears the brightest smile that Taehyung has ever seen, and he wonders why someone with a smile like that would need to be here. The smile is as bright as sunshine and Taehyung thinks it’s weapon enough to diffuse any argument or disagreement.

“Alright everyone, let’s find a seat.” The voice is melodic yet authoritative and Taehyung turns to focus on the owner. “Hi, my name is Kim Seokjin, but you can call me Jin. I will be navigating you through this process of conflict resolution,” Jin says with a smile that warms Taehyung’s to his core.

The man gives off a nurturing almost motherly aura, and Taehyung sits on the loveseat to the left of the man. He’s not sure why but Jin’s presence make him feel a lot calmer. When Yoongi joins him on the loveseat a small hum (of joy?) escapes his lips, and he prays that Yoongi doesn’t hear.

“Okay everyone, let’s start with introductions.” Jin turns to The Professor. “Namjoon why don’t you start?”

The blonde clears his throat and straightens the glasses on his face before speaking. “Hello, my name is Kim Namjoon, I’m a Junior Professor of Science at KAST. I came here to get a better understanding of conflict. Like what causes it and how we handle it. I have never had a problem with conflict, to be very honest. But the study of it intrigues me.”

“Uhmm, okay,” Jin says hesitantly, then turns and motions to the man next to Namjoon.

“My name is Jung Hoseok, and I work for an accounting firm. My boss says that I’m passive-aggressive, whatever that is. So here I am.” The man smiles his thousand watt smile and again Taehyung thinks it’s blinding.

“Hi, my name is Eric Nam, and this is my wife, Krystal-”

“I can introduce myself,” the woman cuts the man off in a huff, and Taehyung doesn’t need superhuman deductive reasoning to know why they’re here.

“Krysta