June 2018

Jungkook stirred from the bed and looked at the clock. It was five minutes before his alarm would ring. He got up and looked at the window. The sky was painted orange, signaling the close moment of sunrise. But then he closed the curtains, even before the sun could rise fully.

He took his phone and sent a message to his boss, telling the latter that he would be late. Jungkook then went to the place where he knew he could breathe more freely. He laid down some flowers on the ground before muttering a short prayer.

“I saw you in my dream today,” he whispered, “I was so happy until I woke up.”

He looked up at the moving clouds, “Maybe we can meet soon.”

Jungkook closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun shine on him and letting the wind pass by as he indulged in memories – in the moments he knew of happiness.

When he arrived in his workplace, he was already two hours late and the place was already buzzing with customers. He proceeded on his lockers to get ready, but he bumped into one of his seniors on his way. He bowed his head, getting ready to receive a scolding, and possibly a hit on his head.

“Where were you?”

“I’m sorry,” Jungkook immediately replied, “I’d proceed to the kitchen immediately.”

“Nevermind that,” his senior answered, “Someone was here as soon as the store opened.”

His senior pointed to a table and added, “There. She has been waiting for you all this time.”

Jungkook turned, and easily spotted a familiar figure.

It’s her.

March 2008

It’s her again.

Jungkook tore his gaze away from the book he was reading and glanced at the girl.

Raven black hair but milky white skin. It was not that difficult to differentiate her from the rest of the crowd. Her complexion was just outstanding for her own sake.

The girl’s gaze met Jungkook’s, and he immediately averted his eyes, focusing it once more on the words of the book. He could feel that sweat would soon trickle down his forehead. It was too hot and packed inside the bus due to the number of students riding the same.

He found himself glancing at her direction again, and saw the grimace in her face. She was fanning herself with her one hand while the other was grasping tightly at the handle. Then, her expression changed to one of shock until it got mixed with disgust and somehow, fear. He observed her surroundings and noticed that one guy was standing too close to her liking.

“Excuse me, but can you make some space,” she spoke.

“It’s not like I have some space to move to, miss,” the guy replied.

With a frown, she returned to her original position, defeated in the argument.

But Jungkook noticed how the male purposely rubbed his body against hers, startling her. She threw him a glare but the male feigned ignorance.

“Hey White Girl,” Jungkook called, and she turned to him, surprised by the nickname he gave her, “Come here and take my seat.”

Hugging her bag tightly, she struggled to squish herself among the crowd in order to move to Jungkook’s direction. As soon as she was near, Jungkook stood up and pulled her down to the seat to change their positions.

He tried to return to reading his book, but it was more difficult to do so when standing.

“If you don’t stop staring, I swear, I’d reclaim my seat,” Jungkook whispered while not tearing his gaze away from the pages of the book.

“I just find it odd that you don’t know my name,” she replied.

“Am I under an obligation to do so?” he retorted.

“We were classmates last year,” she answered, “But never mind. You were barely there during the school year.”

Jungkook kept quiet.

“I’m Dahyun. Kim Dahyun,” she introduced.

“What am I supposed to do with that unnecessary information?” he quirked.

She snickered then replied, “Well, you’d never know. My name may come in handy someday in the future.”

His eyes met her gaze as he said, “You’ve spoken more than twenty words, yet you never said at least a word of gratefulness.”

“Thank you then,” she answered without missing a beat, “Thank you, Jeon Jungkook.”

Jungkook glanced at her, and she had a proud smile on, as if there was a competition on knowing names.

He sighed, “I’d appreciate it more if you could keep quiet while I read his book. You’ve taken my seat so let me have my silence.”

She acted a zipping motion of her lips before moving her gaze towards the window.

Jungkook went inside the classroom, and it was too noisy in the morning. It was full of friends who haven’t seen each other in the vacation, excited to share each other’s stories. It was as if yesterday’s first day of school was not enough to catch up.

He sat on the farthest seat at the back, in a corner beside the window. However, as he took his seat, he realized that the girl from the bus was sitting in the same row with him.

Jungkook squinted at her.

“What?” she blurted, “Don’t tell me that you don’t know we were classmates this year as well.”

“I know that you’re from the same class,” he answered, “Why else do you think would I spot you in the bus?”

She did a ‘v’ shape beneath her face, “Because I’m pretty?”

“Ha,” he mocked, “You’re too pale, you could pass as a ghost.”

She frowned, “If I was a ghost, I would make sure to scare you every time.”

“Why are you even sitting here?” he frowned.

I don’t remember sharing this row with anyone last year.

“Well,” she looked at the rest of the class before us, “The seating arrangement is somehow decided by the circle of friends you have, and I happen to belong to none of the circles in this class.”

“You have no circle,” Jungkook concluded.

“I have one,” she immediately intercepted, “My circle is called Park Jimin, but he happened to be in the other class this year.”

Dahyun had a smirk on her lips as she said, “You are the one who has no circle.”

“I don’t care,” he shrugged, “High school will be gone in a blink of an eye, and none of this would ever matter.”

She stared hard at him and replied, “You really are smart. You sound so intelligent just now.”

He shook his head and turned away from her.

I don’t even know why I’m keeping this conversation going.

He looked at the window instead, and watched the clouds pass by. In a few moments after, the teacher came in and the class periods went by as usual. However, from time to time, he found himself glancing at Dahyun’s direction, and often, he would catch her trying to read the magazine she kept beneath her textbooks.

Lunchtime came, and as Jungkook looked at the cafeteria packed with people he did not know, he decided to spend it somewhere peaceful. He found himself at the rooftop and he thought it was the perfect place to be. Somewhere near the clouds.

Jungkook opened the lunchbox that his mom has prepared for him and ate in silence.

But then the door opened, followed by a voice, “It’s you again.”

“Stop following me.”

Dahyun sat near him, maintaining a good distance between the two of them. She opened the pack of her bread as she answered, “I’m not following you.”

“Shouldn’t you be with your circle?” Jungkook asked, “It’s lunchtime. It doesn’t matter now if you are in the same class or not.”

She sighed, and her emotions were written all over her face. It was a mixture of frustration, sadness and disappointment.

“I guess my circle found another circle,” she answered, “It’s not really cool when your best friend finds a girlfriend.”

“Why not try to join his new circle then?” Jungkook asked.

She widened her eyes on him, “Jimin’s girlfriend is Kang Seulgi. Seulgi, you know? With Irene and Jennie, those three are untouchable. They would make you feel inconsequential with just their stares.”

“Why would anyone want to date someone untouchable?” he asked.

“Ask yourself. Boys always go for the pretty ones,” she scowled.

“Am I supposed to know why?” Jungkook creased his forehead again and she rolled her eyes in reply, frustrated of the direction their conversation was going.

There was a moment of silence as she sipped through her drink, before she spoke again, “You don’t really have friends, do you?”

“Technically, at this moment, you don’t too,” he retorted and somehow regretted it, because from the mixture of emotions in her eyes, sadness became more apparent.

As soon as the sound of the door opening resonated inside their house, Jungkook was welcomed by a soothing voice.

“You’re home, Jungkook-a.”

“Hmmm,” he answered with a hum.

A smile was plastered on his face as he went to hug his mother tight. She gasped before bursting into a chuckle.

“Dinner’s ready. Let’s start eating,” she told me, and he nodded.

He sat beside her in the small table as they shared the food that she had prepared.

“How was school?” she asked after a few minutes that they started eating.

“It was okay,” he answered, almost too automatically, like a script he had memorized.

“Nothing special?” she questioned.

Jungkook shook his head but reassured her, “Everything is fine, mom.”

She squinted at me and said, “Sometimes, I wish you would get into a danger.”

He gaped at her, “Mom.”

“No. Not really something bad,” she chuckled, “I guess, I just want you to go into some adventure of some sort.”

“I’m fine with just the two of us, mom,” Jungkook retorted, “Just being with you every day is enough.”

She smiled, “Thank you, son. But you’re only young once, Jungkook. You might as well enjoy your youth.”

His mother tilted her head in a questioning manner, before asking, “Don’t tell me that you do not get along with kids in school?”

Jungkook paused.

I haven’t gotten into any fight, but I am not certain if that enough fulfills the criteria of ‘getting along.’

The more he hesitated to answer, the more worry became painted his mother’s face.

“It’s my fault,” she looked down as she began to feel guilty.

“No. I’m doing fine,” Jungkook immediately tried to assure her, “I have a friend in school, mom.”

‘My name may come in handy someday in the future.’

“Dahyun. Her name’s Kim Dahyun.”

Hi. So this is his first fic that is not of Bae Suzy. I guess this is one of his 2019 resolutions, to not be afraid to try something new in writing and to know that I am the one under the control. I know that this is risky since I switched from having Suzy as the main character to one where Twice members would be the protagonists, and besides that, it involves ships which do not have a large fanbase, unlike Hisungzy and Exozy. However, I had promised hisself that I will write this story mainly as an outlet for all his third generation feels, and will continue writing regardless of the reception of this story. But if you do like it, please do subscribe and comment your thoughts down below.