It was an unusual as well as pretty quiet day.

It should have been a special day for her but it was just like any other school days when you try so hard to concentrate on what the teacher says but you are so extremely exhausted from all those after school activities that you wish you had some free time to reorganise your thoughts and finally have a peace of mind. It was a typical day of Park Miyeon’s junior year.

Small wonder why she was craving for the lunchtime to come, so that she could have a nice little meal in the cafeteria. Food always cheered her up but the fact that she was sitting all alone, eating the same old tteokbokki that they served every single Friday didn’t seem to have the same effect on her. She tried to eat any of the rice but gave it up after a while. Instead, she absent-mindedly held her chopsticks in her hand and was spaced out. An extremely painful feeling of being alone rushed through her body. She missed her best friend – Taeyeon – so much that she just wanted to get on a plane and fly to her as soon as possible. On the contrary, Taeyeon was more than happy to be in China for her student exchange program and she always posted grinning pictures on her SNS and had a lot to say when they were talking at night.

Yet, Miyeon didn’t feel like smiling. She felt like an outcast in her school because now, she only had his little brother – Chanyeol − who she could talk to. The tall, black-haired guy who had that smile from ear to ear was the only one who she became closer after Taeyeon’s departure in August.

But August had passed as quickly as a shooting star crossing the pitch-black sky. 13 school days without her best friend seemed okay but a whole year seemed like an eternity. She didn’t want to think about it.

They had already started September, even though it was just the first day of September. As far as Miyeon was concerned, it was her birthday. Her 18th birthday. By pure coincidence, there was another person in the school who had his birthday on the same day. That was Jeon Jungkook.

The guy who everybody just called the golden maknae because he was good at everything. Literally, everything. Well, except for English but nobody cared about it because he could sing, he could rap, he could dance, he could draw, he could write songs and he could also wind the girls round his finger. The weird thing was that he still remained single and Miyeon thought that it was because he was too cool for having a girlfriend. What else should have been his reason then? He could get every girl he wanted but as far as she knew, he didn’t even ask more than two out of them.

„Here is my favourite birthday girl,” exclaimed Chanyeol as he sat down next to her with a bright smile on his face.

He seemed radiant. Again. Was there even a time when he wasn’t like that? She couldn’t recall one single moment when he seemed depressed or even mad. He was always joyful and optimistic. Well, good for him – she thought.

„Don’t try to cheer me up because it won’t work,” Miyeon edgily warned him as she looked down on her food but still didn’t feel like eating. She put down her chopsticks and averted her eyes to his little brother.

„Oh, come on! Don’t do this, Noona!” complained the boy in a childish way. „I’ve already told you that you look even more beautiful when you smile. Maybe, you could make someone to fall in love with you if you smiled like that.”

„Yeah, whatever,” Miyeon murmured and let out a heavy sigh. She loved Chanyeol because he was quite a good brother but right now, she wasn’t in the mood for talking with him about her non-existent beauty.

 Unfortunately, Jeon Jungkook and his squad chose this as the perfect time to appear in the cafeteria. Although, the seven boys – just like any other student in the school – looked quite the same because they had to wear their dark blue and white uniform, they were all so different.

For starters, there was the slender Kim Taehyung. The boy who couldn’t even see properly because of his messy hair. He was always a little odd but Miyeon couldn’t exactly say why. He merely had weird ideas and laughed louder than others but from time to time, he was really quiet and had a blank expression. If one of the seven guys was biting his nails, opening his mouth and touching anything that was cute, that boy was surely Taehyung.

Then, there was Kim Namjoon. The tough-looking guy who everybody was afraid of. There was just one problem with him - even though he tried to act nice and do some aegyo, he was still the cool guy of the school. He was kind of rebellious with his coloured hair and shabby clothes and that was why the teachers didn’t really like him. Plus, he didn’t care about his grades at all, he rather wrote raps about the injustice of the whole education system than study for even a minute in the afternoon.

Park Jimin was the athletic and good-looking redhead. He had everything that somebody needs for to be a popular boy in school: a happy family background, nice personality, good body, quite good grades, reliable friends and his beloved Converse shoes. Beside his appearance, he was actually a pretty genuine and gentle guy but he had his reputation for his looks.

Jung Hoseok was the typical hyperactive member of the squad. He was always full of energy, he randomly danced in the hallways and was so genial that he approached anyone without hesitation and could talk with anyone about anything. He was quite muscular and well-built, thanks to the hours which he had spent in the practice room. But what made him special was his big smile which from you now that he was always perfectly satisfied with his life.

If you ask people about what they think when they hear the word Min Yoongi, at least 95% of them would say ’swag’. He wasn’t compared to the ‘swag standard’ because people compared swag to Min Yoongi and small wonder because he was too cool to even care about anything. He didn’t even give a about school and said it so. Not like Jungkook, he enjoyed the English classes because he was quite good at it, especially if he had to use cursing. As for his appearance, he was really thin and pale, and he looked like Jack Frost with his new, blonde hair.

Kim Seokjin was the eldest of the squad but still he sometimes didn’t act like that. He was obsessed with toys, Disney movies and food, not to mention his beloved pink flip phone. He always smiled cutely and acted like a real gentleman, and he was undeniably the most responsible and caring person of the group. Girls just loved his coal-black hair, big, chestnut brown eyes with long lashes, pale skin and broad shoulders. Everything he was wearing looked good on him – even their school uniform or a pink coat. He was the girls’ dream but for Miyeon, he was just too good.

And lastly, there was Jeon Jungkook. That damn guy with those damn boots. Miyeon couldn’t deny that she found him good-looking. Yes, he was good-looking. Not handsome like Jin and not y like Jimin but he looked good. He was pretty quiet sometimes but when he started talking and get in the mood for a good chat, he couldn’t stop. He was energetic and joyful, and when he was in the same room with Taehyung, nothing good could come of it. However, beside the fact that most of the time he was quite weird and a real youthful fool, he was extremely hard-working. He often went to the library to study, not caring about his friends’ nagging. He cared about his grades because he wanted to find a good profession for himself. Miyeon knew this because they had been working on some projects for school and they sometimes talked after that. But she couldn’t let her guard down: she was afraid that she would immediately fall for him if they got to know each other more.

„Don’t care about him,” said Chanyeol as he shook his head looking at the squad. The seven boys were sitting down at a table – not far from theirs − and they started to talk really loud and joyfully. Miyeon turned a blinked eye; she didn’t want to see them. However, it was impossible not to see them.

„Even though he has 6 really good friends, I’m not one of them. So, do I even need to ask who the lucky one is?”

„Then, I guess… me?” she shrugged her shoulder but didn’t really care about the answer. She wanted to get up and leave the cafeteria because she didn’t want to see the boys. Not to mention that what would happen if they encountered! Oh God, she was hoping that it won’t happen. Not on her birthday. Not on Jungkook’s birthday.

„That’s my girl!” Chanyeol smiled brightly and started to eat his tteokbokki.

Miyeon was sitting there thinking about her 18th birthday. It should have been a special day for her but it was just like any other day at school. In the morning when she got up, she wished for only one birthday present: she wanted something unexpected to happen. Obviously, she meant unexpected in a good way. However, she couldn’t possibly be ready for what was following after lunchtime. Clearly, that was unexpected.

▌▌

She was sitting on the bus, listening to music through her earphones and trying to relax for a bit. She had quite a tiring day and of course, nobody had wished her ‘Happy birthday!’, except for Chanyeol and his buddies. But Jungkook was literally the highlight of the day. She tried to avoid him during classes and in the breaks and luckily, she didn’t have to see his face more than twice. But his presence was still annoying. Why? Because he was like an angel which has fallen from the sky. He was a good student, a good son and a good friend. He didn’t like to make trouble and had good grades. Yet, he was still popular. He had cheesy pick-up lines, he didn’t even have to try to flash a seductive smile and he could look at you like you are the most beautiful creature on Earth. He was good at flirting, really good.

Miyeon felt kind of sorry for the girls who had fallen for Jungkook. They could have struggled a lot because he was the biggest player she has ever met. Unfortunately, she was once one of those girls. But that time had already passed, so she didn’t want to think about that anymore.

 She was getting lost in her thoughts when suddenly someone put off her earphones and whispered in her ears:

“Is this seat taken?” Jungkook asked waggling his eyebrows. Miyeon froze for a moment and stared at him with wide eyes. Then, she cleared and tried to sound extremely confident.

“No. You can take it.”

“Good,” he smirked at her and plunked himself down, right next to Miyeon − who until Jungkook appeared – was alone on the love-seat.

She searched for other seats which weren’t taken and there were a lot, so she thought that the golden maknae wanted something from her. But what was it this time? One of her friend’s phone numbers? Or some information about one of Chanyeol’s buddies’ party? Or help in a homework? Or what? What on Earth Jeon Jungkook wanted from her on his birthday?

“What do you want?”

“Ouch… you are a little bit harsh, don’t you think?” he gasped, almost like he was hurt and tried to make eye-contact with her. He looked less confident than a minute ago but his sudden change couldn’t intimidate her.

“No, I don’t think so. I’m not in the mood for talking with guys like you” she stressed on the word ‘you’ and that was what made Jungkook speechless for a moment. Then, he seemed angry and a bit offended. The words seemed to bite into him.

“Guys like me? Why? What am I like?”

“Someone who wouldn’t talk with a girl like me without purpose on his birthday.”

“It’s your birthday, too!”

Now, it was her turn to be speechless. Even though last year he still remembered that they were born on the same day, she wasn’t sure that he would still know that.

“Happy birthday, by the way!” he ran his hands through his hair while he still maintained the eye-contact. Gosh, he had such beautiful eyes! They looked like tiny, black holes which were usually filled with confidence and satisfaction. Now, they were filled with confusion and frustration.

“The same to you.”

They both sat in silence for a moment. Neither of them wanted to break this silence, however, Miyeon felt kind of embarrassed gazing at him, so she immediately looked away.

“So, what’s wrong with me? You can tell me, really, I won’t get mad. I’m pretty sure that a lot of people used enough cursing on me, so I’ll bear your words, too,” his voice was almost pleading, and with that kind of expression displaying on his face, he reminded her of a little puppy who tries to get his dinner. Surprisingly, she hasn’t ever seen this serious side of Jungkook, and that scared her a little. She wanted to tell him to get lost but bit her tongue.

“Guys like you get everything that they want: money, friends, girls, reputation. You are one of the typical drama-like popular guys, so I don’t really understand why you are talking with me right now, instead of celebrating your birthday with your squad or going on a date,” the words rolled off her tongue incautiously but that was the truth. Or at least, what she had known as the truth.

Jungkook immediately shook his head.

“That’s not true.”

“Aigoo, Jungkook!” said Miyeon rolling her eyes because she had lost her countenance. “Just tell me why you are here! I don’t need to need that you are what you show in school or you put on a mask every single day. But I want to know why you are here,” she let out a sigh and raised one of her eyebrows. She was impatient and extremely curious at the same time because she didn’t know the boy’s intentions.

“Well, I was searching for a seat when I saw a familiar face, so I thought that I would try to have a little conversation with you. I’m actually on my way to the Crown Bakery. I’m going to celebrate my birthday there with a cake or some ppang[1]. I don’t know,” he shrugged his shoulder and looked like he didn’t care what she was thinking about him. But he was pretty nervous after Miyeon’s question and she didn’t exactly know why.

“Are you going with your squad?”

“No.”

“Your girlfriend?”

“No,” he cracked a little smile after this question. His smile was beautiful, yet, dangerous. There was a time when she could fall for that smile of his but she didn’t want the history to repeat itself.

“Your family?”

“No. I’m going alone,” Jungkook look amused seeing the girl’s startled face but she was really, really stunned. How on Earth is that possible? Jungkook goes somewhere to celebrate his birthday but he’s not surrounded by his mates or attractive girls or his perfect family? That’s just not possible.

“Are you sure that you’re Jeon Jungkook?”

“Haha, looks like now, someone’s in the mood for talking with guys like me,” the guy joked around with a fake smile and that was why she knew something was bothering him. Or he just simply didn’t want to tell the truth. Anyway, he was acting weird.

Miyeon was at a loss for words. She realised that she had lost the game which they were playing. The golden maknae could always bring something up which covered the truth about his mysterious character, and she wasn’t smart enough to figure out why he was still talking with her like they were besties.

“Well, I’ve got an idea!” he announced excitedly. “Let’s say that I treat you for something in the Crown Bakery and make your birthday a little more special. I’ve got some really good idea what we should do this afternoon­­−“

“Let’s say that,” she interrupted him but couldn’t stop thinking about Jungkook’s really good ideas. Oh boy, what he was up to? “But what should I do? It is a deal, so I should do my part of it.”

“And you say yes. This is that simple,” he nodded like a little boy in class with a mischievous smile on his face. He enjoyed that conversation, apparently.

“And if I don’t say yes?”

“Then, you’ll never one who’s the real Jeon Jungkook,” he smirked at her challengingly. Miyeon felt that her heart was beating faster and faster. Was she ready to know who the real Jeon Jungkook is? And did she want to know that? Of course, she wanted to but she felt that it was just a trap. Or that she will fall for him again, and she never ever wanted to do that.

“Okay…”

“Really?” asked the boy with a truly surprised expression on his face.

“But I’ve got one thing to ask. If I tell you to get lost, you’ll do that without even asking me why, without hesitation. That’s my deal.”

“Okay, I’m in,” Jungkook’s smile was getting wider and wider. He looke