-Chapter 1-

Minna sat at her desk, feeling strangely drained. She blamed her bizarre dream. The guy sat to her left let out a long yawn and put his head down on the desk, looking at Minna. He reached out a finger and poked her cheek.

“Buy me coffee.” He whined, letting his arm fall from Minna’s face to his desk. She pushed the dream from her mind and turned to Jimin.

Jimin had been Minna’s best friend for so long she almost couldn’t remember life without him. It was during kindergarten that they had first met, and had been inseparable since. She was glad she was with him today, her dream had put her into a strange mood and if there was anyone who was going to cheer her up, it was Jimin.

“I am not buying you coffee.”

“Why not?” He pouted. “Don’t you love me?”

Minna pulled a face of disgust and flicked Jimin’s forehead “Nope. Plus, coffee is bad for you. I’m taking care of your health here, you can thank me later.”

Jimin rubbed his forehead and stuck his tongue out at Minna. “You’re no fun.” Minna made a move to flick him again but Jimin, seeing it coming, moved back and pushed her hand away.  Before their bickering could escalate any further their home room teacher Mr Kang walked in and stood in front of the class.

“Okay, okay settle down everybody. I have just a few announcements before we start class today. Firstly, test results will be released next week_” The students groaned in unison and the teacher nod his head in sympathy “I know, I know. But you all studied hard and are good students so there’s no need to worry.” Mr Kang cleared his throat and shifted the papers in his arms. “Secondly, your next group project is in two weeks so no slacking in the meantime. Keep on studying hard and the project will be much easier. Those who don’t study will let down their fellow team mates so don’t be that person and study hard.” He put his papers down on the desk in front of him before continuing. “And last but not least, you have a new student joining your class today, I hope you’ll treat him well and help him to settle in. Class rep, if he needs help I’m counting on you to show him around.”

The students in the class murmured and looked around in confusion, some peered at the classroom door to see if the new student was outside but there was no sign of anyone.  Mr Kang seemed to catch on that something wasn’t quite right, and he too scanned the class for a new face. His eyes settled on the empty seat in front of him and he frowned.

“Has nobody seen the new student?” He asked in confusion. The class all shook their heads. Minna and Jimin caught each other’s eyes and Minna smiled as she shrugged. Deciding to move on Mr Kang took role call before beginning their first class of the day, English.

Minna was quite good at English and it was one of her favourite lesson’s, but she was feeling so tired that she found herself unable to concentrate. She stared out of the window at the sunny blue sky and bright school buildings. Her dream had been unlike anything she had ever experienced. The feeling of fear was so strong that even now she felt fear prickle her spine at the thought of that room. 

Now that she was awake she couldn’t remember how the room had looked, only the penetrating darkness and the icy cold water, which wouldn’t stop resonating through her mind. She shivered at the thought and at that same moment the classroom door swung open. The teacher faltered mid-sentence and turned.

Minna looked up too, and saw a boy her age standing in the doorway. He had a jacket on over his uniform, headphones around his neck, and balanced in his mouth was a lollypop. He took the stick from his mouth and bowed deeply to the teacher.

“Sorry I’m late sir. I had a… situation at home.” Mr Kang took a moment to process the new arrival, but then suddenly he was welcoming the student inside.

“Ah yes. You must be Kim Taehyung.” The student nodded.

“Yes sir.” Taehyung turned to the class “Hello My name is Kim Taehyung, I will be in your class from now on, please look after me.” He bowed his head to the class then stood up straight.

“Taehyung, you can take a seat right there.” Mr Kang gestured to a seat one row in front and to the right of Minna. She watched as he made his way over and sat down. He looked to have a slim build, slanted mono-lid eyes and had dark brown hair. It was styled in a way that Minna was fond of, he had long straight bangs that covered his eyebrows. It was against school policy to eat in class, to listen to music while the teacher is talking, or to wear coats within the school building and yet the teacher did not turn on Taehyung. The new student had even walked in late but Mr Kang hadn’t said a word. Minna frowned in confusion and Jimin sensed it too. He leaned over and whispered in Minna’s ear.

“trouble maker.” Minna nodded her agreement. The distraction of the new student had made Minna forget about her dream, and the rest of the class passed as usual. Finally, it was break time, and Jimin stood from his seat, slowly stretching his arms up into the air as he did so, relaxing his body after sitting down for so long. Minna took the opportunity to get another glance at the new student, Taehyung.

A small group of students were stood around him, asking questions and offering help. Taehyung was polite enough but Minna could see he had no interest in getting to know any of them. He answered their questions with a brief response, and didn’t ask any questions of his own. Before she could look any more Jimin was tugging her arm, urging her to stand up.

“Come on Minna let’s get a drink, I need sugar or I’m never going to make it to the end of the day.” Minna let herself be pulled from her seat and towards the door, she passed Taehyung on the way, but it was only as she got to the door that she glanced at him one last time. She regretted it as soon as she did. Minna had meant to be discrete but instead made direct eye contact with Taehyung and a second shiver rang through her body. The memory of her dream came flooding back and she frowned. She could have sworn Taehyung had a similar reaction.

Jimin led her to the vending machine, putting in ₩1000 to get himself a can of coffee. He noticed Minna zoning out again and frowned. She was normally more bubbly than this, even if it was a Monday. He put in another ₩1000 and selected her favourite drink, a can of grape soda. He pressed the can into her hand, and the moment the cold metal touched her skin she reacted as if she had been shocked by a live wire. The coldness against her skin had reminded her of the cold water that tried to drown her in her dream.

“What is it?” He asked, worried for his friend.

She let out a sigh, taking the drink. “Sorry it’s just, I had a really weird dream last night. It was horrible. All day I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind.”

He put a comforting arm around her. “Don’t worry, it’s just a dream after all. I’ve had nightmares before too. Don’t think about it anymore, I just bought you your favourite drink so think about what a wonderful friend I am instead.”

“You dork.” She smiled, throwing off his arm from around her. She turned to face him and opened the can. “Thank you, I’ll try not to think about it anymore. It just felt so real, I even woke up shaking.”

“What did you dream about that was so scary?” He faked a gasp “Did you dream you looked in a mirror?” She playfully slapped his arm and glared at him, which made him laugh.

They started a slow walk back to their classroom.

“I was in a house that seemed to be falling down. Then it started to flood and I was drowning. It was really cold and dark and I couldn’t escape.” She felt like those words did not convey the terror of her dream, but Jimin wouldn’t understand anyway, he hadn’t experienced it. It wouldn’t evoke the same fear that she had felt. She decided to let him change the topic, hoping to forget the dream if she could.

When she returned to the classroom Taehyung was no longer being bothered by the other students, and he had his headphones over his ears. He didn’t look like a student on his first day at a new school, he was being much too casual for that. His arms were behind his head, and he was leaning back in his chair so that the front two legs were in the air. His eyes were closed and he had yet another lollypop in his mouth. There was no nervousness at all.

Minna and Jimin passed him and sat in their seats, and the rest of the day passed as usual. At lunch Minna and Jimin took their usual place in the student cafeteria, chatting away as like they always did. Minna wasn’t unpopular or disliked by other students, but her and Jimin had such a close friendship they didn’t feel the need to become particularly close to anyone else. They got along well with all their classmates and whenever someone was holding a party, Jimin and Minna would definitely be invited. The two were fairly good looking as well, which sometimes earned them a little more attention than they would like.

Minna was just below average height at 159cm tall, while Jimin was 176cm. He was shorter than many of the other boys, but compared to Minna he towered above her. He had short dark hair, and he always had his bangs styled up. Even when wearing his school uniform, you could see that he had strong muscles. Minna on the other hand, was very slim but still bizarrely strong for someone as small as her. Her hair was a deep chocolatey brown and trickled down her back to almost her waist.  Compared to her dark hair, her eyes were a light honey brown. She was in her last year of high school and preparing to enter college next year, while Jimin was working hard to enter a dance academy. 

A guy approached their table and sad down with them.

“Jungkook-ah, how are you doing?” Jimin grinned, welcoming him to their conversation.”

“I’m good hyung, I was just wondering if you’re up for practise tonight?”

Jungkook is a part of a dance group with Jimin, where they practise together and hold performances now and then. The group had originally been created so that Jimin and other dancers had experience to add to their applications for dance academies, but to Jimin it was more like a hobby than anything else.

Jungkook was a year their junior, but was no less passionate about dance. The two met frequently to dance together, and so naturally Minna had ended up spending a great deal of time with Jungkook too.

Jimin turned to Minna, who nodded encouragingly to Jimin. “Sure thing. Let’s meet at the gate.” Jimin responded.

Often when Jimin had practise, Minna would go along to watch, and sometimes she would join in too if they were doing a simple enough dance. Minna was a good dancer, but even so, she couldn’t dance at the same level as those two.

Classes ended and Minna put her books into her locker, keeping only the books she would need to complete her homework that night. As she closed her locker she was shocked to see Taehyung standing on the other side. She gasped and almost dropped her book, to which Taehyung responded by raising an eyebrow.

“You made me jump.” Minna added hastily, trying not to feel embarrassed. Taehyung said nothing, only nodding his head once in response. Yet he still stood there. Minna put her book into her bag and slowly swung it onto her shoulder.

“Do you need something?” She asked, wondering why he was still stood there looking at her.

He raised the books he held in one hand, and knocked on a locker with the other hand. She looked between him and the locker and then understood. She stepped backwards out of his way and nodded her head to say sorry as he opened the locker beneath hers, haphazardly stuffing his books inside.

She was about to turn to tell him he would need those books for his homework tonight, but after the embarrassing exchange she shook her head and walked off in the other direction.

Minutes later she was standing at the school gate, waiting for the others to arrive. She took out her phone while she waited, trying not to focus on the figure slowly getting closer. Taehyung passed her and left the school gates, turning right. For some reason after he left Minna let out a sigh that she didn’t even know she had been holding. Before she could question it much more Jimin and Jungkook arrived.

Together they walked to the dance studio and as little as ten minutes later they arrived. Minna settled into the corner, taking out her books and homework. The music started, and the familiar sound of their feet thymically hitting the floor seemed to settle Minna’s mind as she began her work.

At some point, Minna must have fallen asleep, for now she was slumped back against the wall, Jimin gently shaking her shoulder to rouse her from her slumber.

“Hey, you okay?” He asked, concern painted onto his face. Minna wasn’t the kind of person who took naps, and it was even stranger that she fell asleep in their dance studio, where the loud music would be enough to keep anyone awake.

“I’m fine” She said, sitting up straighter and stretching “I just didn’t sleep well enough last night.” For some reason after her nap she felt better, lighter somehow. Perhaps reassured that she could sleep peacefully again without that same dream haunting her. She finished her homework and Jimin walked her home. They laughed and played about as usual, and that night Minna slept soundly until morning.

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