Oh, he was so late. He ran and ran, feeling the drops of sweat raining down on his forehead. He didn't want to be caught by the inspectors on his way in, having to spend half the morning getting punished for being late, instead of spending it next to Jungkook. He had actually woken up early, but somehow he couldn't make his school uniform fit right, trying on many different identical shirts, getting disappointed in every single one of them for not being better than the former one. Then his hair decided to take a fit of stubbornness, refusing to listen to reason. And then he was late. So late. The running undoing all the work he had put in getting ready. 'Alright hair, you won this round. But just you wait, next time I will prevail!' he thought as he huffed and puffed, working hard to reach his destination.

No! He was too late! The inspectors were already there, catching students with their invisible nets, smirking in anticipation of all the torturing they were going to get to perform. Ah, he couldn't let this happen. As sneaky as a cat, he melded with the school grounds wall, soundlessly tracing it until he was on the inside. Then, when the inspectors had their hands full with their newest catch, he ran. He ran like he had never run before.

Clinging to the vending machine in the hall, he tried to catch his breath, still on the lookout just in case they had seen him and chased him inside. The hall was empty, everyone was either already in their classrooms or had had the misfortune of becoming the inspectors' prey. He couldn't believe he had made it. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, his hair a wet mess. As he thanked the vending machine for its support, his eyes met with a bottle of ice cold tea. He had to have it. He ransacked his pockets for change, realizing he had enough for two. Should he buy one for Jungkook too? The weather was unusually warm for the season, maybe he had had to hurry to school too, with no time to buy refreshments. Jimin wasn't sure why, but he felt he just had to buy it for him. Without really deciding to, his hand put the coins in the slot, buying two, not one.

He quietly opened the door to the classroom, hoping for the unlikely miracle that the teacher hadn't arrived yet or was at least so distracted that she wouldn't notice him sneaking in. He had no such luck.

"Jimin! You're late! Why are you not outside receiving your punishment?" she said sternly.

"Ahm, no, it was just... you see... heh... I got held up at the toilet he he..." he grinned sheepishly. When half the class snickered audibly, he realized what he was saying. In front of Jungkook no less, who was chuckling like the rest of them. He could feel his cheeks catch on fire. His tail between his legs, he scurried off to his seat, hoping that once there, the Earth would be so kind as to swallow him whole.

He didn't dare take out the drinks he had bought until the break, his throat feeling like he had ingested half the Sahara desert. His heart did a jazz number in his chest as he tried to find a casual way of giving Jungkook his drink, but he didn't dare. Jungkook was enthusiastically answering questions from curious classmates, not paying any attention to him. When the break was almost over and he couldn't think straight because of the intensity of his thirst, he aborted the plan and drank half the bottle in one go, letting out a loud sigh of satisfaction.

"Oh man, d'you mind? Can I have a sip? You made it look sooo refreshing." Jungkook turned to him and grinned, pointing at the bottle.

"Ah uh, hah, yeah, sure." he handed him the bottle, so surprised and rattled that he forgot all about the extra bottle he had bought especially for him.

"Hey, wait, I have another one, you can have that one." he rummaged through his bag in a panic, somehow not finding what was right in front of his nose.

"It's fine, we can just share." Jungkook winked at him as he lifted the bottle up to his lips. Jimin's heart did a flick flack as his lips touched the very spot Jimin had drunk from only moments earlier. 'Indirect kiss' he thought to himself, suppressing a strong urge to have a giggle fit. What was he, five? What had gotten into him? His eyes found Jungkook's Adam's apple, following it as it moved up and down each time he swallowed. He could have watched it for hours, mesmerized, but after nearly finishing the bottle, Jungkook slammed it on the desk, grinning as he put the cap back on.

"Sorry, I almost finished it." his grin turned sheepish. "I'll go buy you another one." he started getting up when the teacher returned, causing him to abruptly abort his plan. He looked back at him with big, apologetic eyes. Jimin's insides squirmed uncomfortably, not handling all that puppy cuteness at once. He finally found where the second bottle had been hiding, fishing it out to show him it was okay. Jungkook smiled and nodded, as if to say message received.

All through lunch Jimin's eyes were restless, continuously scanning the food hall, not finding what they were looking for.

"What are you searching for?" a voice whispered into his ear. Jimin jumped up in his seat, startled. The source of the voice was sitting right beside him. Jungkook. He stopped breathing, just blatantly staring at him. Jungkook snickered, clearly pleased with the effect his prank was having.

"Why are you sitting alone? Where are your friends?" Jungkook dug into the less than appetizing school lunch special in front of him. There was nothing special about that special, except for the fact that it was lucky enough to get eaten by Jungkook. Jimin simply shrugged his shoulders, careful to stare intently at his lunch so as to avoid Jungkook's inquisitive eyes, scared they would make him spill the beans. He had this weird urge whenever he was around him to just tell him everything, and he didn't want to tell him that he didn't really have any friends anymore. That for some unknown reason he had started to drift away from them and there was nothing he could have done do to stop it. At first it had only been a tiny slit, hardly noticeable, but it gradually grew into a gaping chasm and now there was no common ground left between them.

"You don't talk much, huh?" Jungkook noted, without judgment, as if it was as simple an observation as noting that he had single eyelids. He liked that about him. He felt like he could be himself around him. Of course he didn't dare, but it was nice to feel like he could. Other people always made him feel like he had to fit into their pre-made boxes.

"No, I.. I talk." he objected in a low, timid voice. It was weird, Jungkook made him nervous but at the same time he felt oddly at home. Maybe it was the Moomin-connection.

"Hahh, okay, so what would you like to talk about?" he smiled kindly, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Oh.. eh... uhm.. have you ever heard about the Moomins?" he blurted out. It was the only thing he could think of saying, the brightness in Jungkook's eyes blocking all thoughts from entering his brain.

"Moomins?" Jungkook's face turned into a big question mark.

"Yeah, they're children's books. My mom used to read them to me a lot." he blushed, wishing he hadn't brought it up. "You kind of look like one of the characters." he heard himself adding. Why brain, why would you tell him that?

"Ha ha! Really? You've got to show me the book then sometime." he snickered.

"Oh, hey, I've got to do something before class, see ya in a bit." he added excitedly before flying off to wherever handsome little Jungkook-birds went.

At the end of the day, Jimin realized he had not taken down a single line of notes, the page was just full of random doodles. Or not quite as random as he would have liked. There were ones of Jungkook's delicate, thin lips, cute but deadly, and of his Snufkin nose, and of course his Adam's apple. Jungkook had even commented on them, luckily not seeing the resemblance. He had asked if he was an aspiring artist. He was probably joking, for the level of the drawings was abysmal at the very least, still he blushed as the compliment made its way through the thin paper wall he had built around his heart for protection.

The bell gave them the gift of freedom, the classroom quickly turning into an abandoned battle ground.

"Oh, hey.. here " Jungkook dramatically slammed a tiny beige bottle on his desk. Jimin just raised his eyebrows, not getting why he was giving him this.

"It's for digestion. You know, so you don't have to be late for class again tomorrow." Jungkook could barely make it to the end of the sentence before bursting into a fit of laughter. He waved bye and ran snickering out the door. Jimin was torn between wanting to disappear from the face of the planet or swooning over the fact that Jungkook not only noticed him, he actually cared enough to go buy him the medicine, even if it was just a joke.