1. Of First Meets and Surprises.

"God! I'm running late!” Taehyung cursed as he ran through the crowded city streets. “I have already missed the first two weeks of classes and now I'm late to meet the principal. I need to reach home within ten minutes because otherwise, I'm going to be late to my first class as well. !"

The pavement looked slippery. He was sure he could do without slipping and breaking a limb or two. The pink blossoms of the spring trees adorning the sides of the streets were highly distracting and he had to force himself to move along without stopping to stare at them.

I never knew it was so hard to find the right direction and not get lost!

Taehyung was out there on the streets of Seoul, running across, trying to find the right direction to reach his home. Before this day he never would've thought he was capable of forgetting the way back home from a shopping mart.

"The was I thinking when I went out to shop without my phone. If I had it with me, I would have looked through a goddamned map of this hella new city!”  Mom, I hate you for leaving me behind in an unknown place like this! Argh! He was already late and even as he ran he was not sure if he was in the right direction yet. And he knew, he couldn't be any less stupid.

“Hey! Watch your step, dude!” Someone yelled as he ran past them, barely catching himself from stomping on their leg.

He took a right turn at the junction where three roads met, which he supposed was the right flip from the overcrowded city road. He could feel his hoodie sticking to the skin on his back, completely wet with sweat. It also made him remember that there was no warm water at his place to wash off the sweat. He sighed and braced himself to face the cold water that he hated with so much passion. Thinking about all possible ways to get to the college without being late, he continued to run. A few steps later he glanced ahead and on the far end of the road. Then he noticed a worn out banner hanging loosely from a roadside tree, which made him sigh with relief. This worn out banner was a mark that he had memorized.

Skipping upwards to the top step of the front porch, he unlocked the main door and kicked it open in a haste. It came to him as a surprise as he managed to step into his living room without tripping on his shoes as he took it off and threw it haphazardly by the shoe-rack. Time was ticking by faster and glancing at his latest Rolex in his right wrist he ran up the stairs. Straight to his room. But not before colliding his toe with a writing table that was yet to be moved to its rightful place in the room. Hissing and cursing at the 'damned' table, he hopped on his right leg and neared the cupboard. Taking out a white button and a pair of blue jeans, he hopped his way into the bathroom to wash and to get ready as soon as he physically could.

***

The soft breeze of the spring welcomed him when he stepped down from the cab.

It was not worth calling a cab to reach a place that was walkable from his home, although he had his reasons to waste money on a cab fare. The first and the foremost reason is that he was really really running late. The second reason, and the very obvious one for that matter, was that he did not wish to get lost in the 'damned' city streets again, searching for the right direction to his college.

The breeze felt welcoming on his skin, but a frown adorned his face as his hair ruffled in all direction which he was sure that the principal would mind. But there was no time left for him to fix his silky brown locks, so he breathed in and then breathed out. Trying to ease his nerves whilst he sped through the almost empty entrance.

Taking a deep breath again, he knocked on the door with a name plate of the principal. When he heard an aged voice calling him in he thanked one of the cleaning staffs who had helped him find the principal's office. He opened the door and walked in with a small smile gracing his lips.

"Good morning, sir. I'm Kim Taehyung, the son of-" Before he could complete his introduction, he was cut off.

"Oh. You finally decided to show up? I was about to call your father." The principal's voice was stiff, but he did not sound angry like Taehyung had expected him to do.

"Sorry, sir. I- I got lost on my way... To your office." Taehyung mumbled the half truth and hung his head low in utter embarrassment.

"Oh. I see. Interesting..."

***

Taehyung stood in front of the door of his supposed classroom and took a long breath. When he stepped inside there were only a few students hanging around and chatting, since it was the lunch break and he immediately figured most of the students would not return until it was time for their next class.

The meeting with the principal took longer than he expected and it was already lunch break by the time he was allowed to go out of the office. The principal was a chatty person. This he had noted within the first ten minutes of their meeting. The old man was eager to know about how every single member of Taehyung's family was doing. It was also a bit funny listening to all the old stories involving his father during his college times. By the end of their meeting-turned-chatting, Taehyung was famished. When he came out of the office he was surprised to see hoards of students passing through the corridor that directed to where he suspected that the college canteen was. Without thinking much he walked ahead, blending in with the crowd, and sighed with relief when he saw that it was indeed the way to the canteen. Without wasting any further second he had joined the long queue for ordering and ravished the lunch as if he had not eaten for days.

Right now Taehyung was looking up at the room number again and again to make sure he was facing the right room. Once he was sure of that, he walked to the end of the classroom and took the last seat at the left end of the corner by the window side. He dropped his bag on an empty chair beside his and took out his phone to text his father, letting him know that he had met the principal and accomplished his side of the deal.

But he never got a chance to even unlock his phone since it was knocked out of his hand when someone bumped into his chair from his side.

"Oh ! Sorry! I'm really sorry." In the next second, Taehyung found his phone being reassembled by the stranger, who never stopped apologizing.

"Uh!" Taehyung took a moment to register what had happened and a small scowl took over his facial features.

"I'm really very sorry. I was trying to escape from someone and I didn't see where I was going. I'm-"

"Stop apologizing and fix it up for me, please." The stranger's apologies were cut off in mid-sentence by an irritated Taehyung, who, as an afterthought decided to grunt at the guy kneeling before him, trying to collect the parts of the smartphone.

Unintentionally though, the grunt came out as an angry growl, Taehyung's voice sounding way too deep and rough, making the guy's eyes go round with apprehension. Without a second word, the guy picked up whatever pieces of the phone were still lying around and started fiddling with them to fix it up as soon as possible.

"H-here you g-go. I fix-fixed i-t. I'm s-s-sorry agai-n." Taehyung sent a small scowl in his direction before his expressions turned normal as if nothing had happened.

"It's okay!" Taehyung said, more like chirped and pushed his phone into his jeans' back pocket.

"So..." The guy who was shocked at Taehyung's sudden mood change tried to start a conversation sounding awkward.

"My name is Taehyung. I came from Daegu. What about you?" Taehyung smiled and the guy's eyes looked conflicted. Taehyung's cheerful and friendly introduction was not something he had been expecting after smashing his phone into pieces.

It took him a few seconds and a raised eyebrow from an amused Taehyung to bring him out of his reverie. Slightly embarrassed about his behavior, he cleared his throat and said,

"Um, Hi. I-I'm Jeon Jungkook. I'm from Busan."

"Ah~ I see. I have always wanted to visit Busan. My grandmother used to live there. Now they have buried her there. Now that I have a friend from Busan, I can finally visit her." Taehyung grinned and looked at a flabbergasted guy standing beside his seat, staring at him with mouth agape.

"What's wrong, Jungkook?" Taehyung asked, noticing how Jungkook was still staring at him even after a full minute.

"Uh- um. Nothing. Just... It's just... weird..." Jungkook mumbled the last word, but Taehyung heard it nonetheless.

"So you think I'm weird?" Taehyung said, which sounded like a statement than a question.

"NO! I mean... not you... It's just... you are... um... yo-"

"Stop stammering Jungkookie~ I know what exactly you meant." A happy grin took over Taehyung's lips while Jungkook was rooted to the spot, a light shade of pink adorning his chubby cheeks at the nickname the latter had addressed him with.

"You do?" Jungkook asked a bit later, after calming down. "You really know what I mean?"

"Of course! You're not the first one to call me that. So it's not new to me and please don't beat yourself up for it. Chill Jungkookie~" Taehyung extended his hands and patted him, as if consoling him, making Jungkook's eyes go bigger with every second.

"W-wh-why are-are yo-u calling me th-that..." Jungkook asked Taehyung who was still grinning like he was having a little chat with his childhood best friend.

"What? You don't like it?" Taehyung's eyes dulled a bit, letting the latter know that he felt dejected.

"NO! That's-that's not it. It's just... we just met-"

"So you don't mind it, right? I'll call you Jungkookie from now." Taehyung passed a happy grin and Jungkook found himself smiling as an effect of the infectious smile Taehyung sported.

"Taehyung, why have I not seen you anywhere in the last two weeks? Did you skip classes or something?" Jungkook voiced out a question hesitantly, after thinking about it a lot once Taehyung fell silent.

"I was in the US, visiting my sick grandfather. My father is a good friend of the principal, so he let me skip the first two weeks. Now that I think about it, can you help me catch up with the classes? I hate learning on my own. I like it better when someone reads them for me. So will you?"

Jungkook really wished he could be faster at grasping what the latter was saying in lightening speed. It was really difficult for him to understand what Taehyung said all at once. When the question finally registered in his mind, he responded with a small smile.

The duo continued to talk, Jungkook slowly getting comfortable and Taehyung managing to surprise him every now and then with his antics until it was time for their afternoon classes.

***

"Captain, I heard that the coach is bringing in a new member into our team. Is it true?" Asked a guy who was paler than milk and had his hair sticking out in all directions, a proof that he had been sleeping in the changing room until the rest of the team members arrived.

"I don't know, Yoongi. I have no news about it. We will know once we meet the coach. So, wash your face and make sure that you don't fall asleep in the middle of the court." Jungkook said, mischievously, trying to tease the sleepy head of his team.

"HEY! I don't sleep in the middle of the game!" Yoongi scowled and marched off to wash his face to get rid of sleep.

Jungkook only chuckled at that and walked out of the changing room, joining his fell