Jimin stands in front of his mirror, attempting to fix his tie. “Dude,” Taehyung says from where he’s leaning against the doorframe. “This physically pains me.”

“I’m sorry that I never learned how to properly tie a tie!” Jimin exclaims in frustration as Taehyung moves to stand in front of him, making a proper knot.

“I still don’t get why you insist on dressing up so much.” Taehyung says as Jimin turns back to the mirror to make sure his hair is still perfect. “I get that it’s the opening ceremony today, but still…”

Jimin sighs at his best friend. “This isn’t normal college, Tae, this is law school. I have to look the part in order to be the part.”

Taehyung looks at his friend in slight disgust. “Have fun with that, Imma go pick Jungkook up from his History of World Cinema class and try to get some before he has to go to his workshop.” Jimin just scoffs out a laugh at his best friend’s shamelessness before bidding him goodbye, reminding him to be safe and use protection.

Jimin mentally high fives himself when he arrives at the ceremony and is dressed just like everyone else there. However, while he may blend in when it comes to appearances, his mood and personality makes him stick out, the bright smile constantly plastered to his face and his overexcitement with introducing himself to his fellow classmates making him the center of the many whispers floating around the auditorium.

Jimin is in the middle of looking around the sea of 150 people, hoping to at least catch a glimpse of Sangmin, when the dean of the school calls attention to everyone, causing him to sit down in the nearest seat as the ceremony begins. As expected, the first part is just the dean and various faculty members talking about the history of the school and what is to be expected of the students during their journey over the next three years. Then, when the dean returns to the microphone, he says, “Now, I know very well that it is sometimes easier to retain information from a fellow peer or someone who has been in your exact position much more recently than a bunch of old men like us,” a few chuckles ring out across the entering class, “so our next few speakers are fellow students who were sitting in your exact seats merely a year or two ago. It is my pleasure to introduce the top student of last year’s entering class, Kim Namjoon.”

Jimin claps like everyone else but freezes in shock as he sees a head of hair so blond it’s nearly white. The surprise of seeing a law student, much less a top law student, with a non-natural hair color is so much that Jimin barely registers Namjoon talking about studying hard while also making time to have fun with family and friends as he tries to process it.

After Namjoon finishes speaking and steps away to the applause of the audience, the dean steps forward again. “Our next speaker is a third year, and has also been the top student of his class for the past two years-“

“Excuse me, sir,” Namjoon politely interrupts the dean, whispering something in his ear.

The dean nods, a serious expression taking the place of the small smile he had been sporting up until now. “It seems something has come up and our next speaker is unable to be here today. So now we will go to the valedictorian of our most recent graduate class…”

After the speeches are over, Jimin is once again looking around for the love of his life when that same white-blond hair appears in his vision. “Hi~” Namjoon greets him with a bow, Jimin quickly returning the action. “I just wanted to meet everyone and answer any questions you newbies might have.”

“Oh, that’s really kind of you.” Jimin says, being sincere but also wanting to just get away from the conversation so he can go find his ex. “I don’t really have any questions right now.”

Namjoon shrugs slightly. “Alright, but if you do find yourself lost or if you just wanna talk or hang out, I am very easy to find. Just ask around and someone will be able to point you in the right direction.”

Jimin giggles at that. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Namjoon turns to walk away, but Jimin stops him. “Actually, I was wondering how you manage to get away with…” Jimin trails off, gesturing at his hair.

“Oh, this?” Namjoon points at his head. “At first, I was like all of you, obsessed with making the best first impression, especially when it came to the way I look. Then I met someone who taught me that the way you look has no actual influence on your skills or performance, and that other people’s perspectives of you are just bull at the end of the day.”

Jimin smiles, not even fully sure what response he gives to the man as he can’t bring himself to believe Namjoon’s words.

~

Once again, Jimin stands in front of his mirror, checking over his appearance to make sure there are no imperfections, when Yeontan, Taehyung’s dog, runs into the room and barks at him. “Are you here to wish me good luck on my first day of class?” Jimin coos as he crouches down, petting the Pomeranian.

“No, he’s here to tell you you’re an idiot.” Taehyung says, walking into the room. “However, I am here to wish you good luck.” Taehyung smiles as Jimin stands back up and goes over to get a hug. “I am rooting for you.”

“Thank you~” Jimin breathes in his best friend’s comforting scent before pulling away. “I gotta get going or I’ll be late to Civil Law.”

Taehyung gives him another smile and a pat on the shoulder. “You’ll do great.”

~

Jimin is walking down the hall towards his class, almost bumping into someone on his way. “Oh, I’m so-“

“Jimin?” Jimin looks up to see the reason he applied to law school in the first place.

“Oh, hi, Sangmin! What a surprise to see you here!” Jimin greets cheerily.

Sangmin’s eyebrows furrow even more in confusion. “At the school you knew I was going to? Why are you here? Are you here to-“

Jimin giggles a bit, cutting Sangmin off. “Isn’t it obvious?” He gestures to his backpack. “I go to school here now!”

“I didn’t realize SNU had a master’s program for dance.”

“They don’t!” Sangmin’s confusion deepens until Jimin continues. “I’m a law student, just like you!”

Sangmin’s eyes widened. “You got into SNU School of Law? You?”

Jimin shrugs. “What, like it’s hard?” Sangmin opens his mouth to speak again, but Jimin talks first. “I would love to stay and talk more, but I don’t want to be late to class. I have a three-hour break after this, though. We should totally get coffee or lunch and catch up!” Jimin wiggles his fingers at Sangmin in a wave before continuing his journey to his class.

Once Jimin finds his classroom, he takes a seat right in the center of the front row, not even bothering to hide his eagerness over his first official day as a law student. He smiles brightly at everyone who passes by or sits near him, being met with tired stares from fellow students who already can’t wait for the weekend.

Not even a second after the clock strikes 10:00, the professor enters the classroom, handing a sheet of paper to the first person she passes by. “Sign your name on this paper unless you wish to be considered absent.” She moves to the board, where a quote is already displayed, and writes her name in big characters. “I am Professor Kang and welcome to Civil Law I.” She then points to the quote. “Never mistake law for justice. Justice is an ideal, and law is a tool. Who would like to tell me what this means?”

A girl sitting next to Jimin raises her hand just after handing Jimin the sign in paper. Professor Kang nods to her as Jimin passes the paper to the next person, signifying that she should answer. “The law is just guidelines and rules, not a guarantee that everything will turn out the way it should. A good lawyer is capable of using the law to ensure that justice is brought to everyone who deserves it.”

Professor Kang gives her a small smile. “That is a very nice interpretation.” The girl, Nayeon, Jimin learned when he saw it on the sign in sheet. “But are you sure it is correct?” Nayeon’s smile drops.

“Um, I-I’d like to think it is.”

Professor Kang hums as she nods again. “You’d like to think so. Well that won’t get you very far in the world of law, now will it? Law has no room for ‘thinking’, only for ‘knowing’.” Nayeon nods as Professor Kang moves to walk away, the disappointment in herself showing on her face. “But yes, your interpretation of this quote was nearly spot on.” A slight smile reappears at that last comment from Professor Kang.

“Good job~” Jimin whispers to her, earning a small smile from her.

“I’m assuming you’ve all already read at least the first chapter of your textbook.” Jimin’s eyes widen slightly, not realizing that it was expected of him to have already read his textbook before the first day of class. He immediately scrambles to pull it out of his backpack, all of his classmates already opening them up as they already had their books out and ready, as she continues. “To start off, I want to know who can tell me what civil law actually is.” Jimin rests his textbook on his table and flips through it, hoping to read as class goes on so he won’t fall behind on his first day as everyone around them raises their hand to answer. “Why don’t I just call on someone randomly?”

, Jimin thinks to himself, skimming through the first few pages to try to find the definition.

He freezes when his worst fear comes to life. “Park Jimin?” Jimin slowly looks up to see Professor Kang already staring right at him, probably having notice the way he tensed as soon as his name was called. “What is civil law?”

“Uh…” Jimin tries to subtly glance down at his textbook.

“Not from your book!” Jimin jumps slightly at his professor’s command. “From your head.”

Jimin chuckles nervously. “You see, the thing is…” Jimin dares to look directly at Professor Kang, hoping that showing at least some form of confidence would benefit him in some way. “I wasn’t aware we already had a reading assignment.”

“You weren’t aware?” Professor Kang asks slowly, Jimin nodding in response, trying not to flinch at the few laughs he heard from his classmates. “I see…” Professor Kang looks back down at the sign in sheet. “Yoo Jeongyeon, please tell me what is civil law?”

Jimin turns around as a female voice responds, looking at the girl a few rows behind him. “Civil law is law without precedence. If you’re giving two cases that are virtually the exact same, rather than the outcome of each trial being the same purely because of the situation, the outcomes could differ greatly depending on the various factors at play.”

Professor Kang smiles in approval. “Now tell me, Miss Yoo, do you think it’s acceptable that Mr. Park came to class unprepared?”

Jimin’s jaw drops slightly as Jeongyeon looks directly at him while responding. “Not at all. I think it shows that he lacks the integrity and initiative that a future lawyer should possess.”

“And what would you say would be a fair consequence for his decision?”

Jeongyeon smirks slightly while looking at their professor, causing Jimin to furrow his eyebrows slightly. “If I were you, I would tell him that if he’s going to come to class unprepared, he might as well not come at all.” Jeongyeon looks back at him, making direct eye contact. “But that’s just my opinion.”

Professor Kang nods her head slightly. “Very well,” Professor Kang turns back to Jimin. “Mr. Park, please leave my classroom, and should you choose to return on Thursday, make sure you are prepared to take this course, as well as the rest of this program, seriously.”

Jimin scoffs quietly in disbelief, glancing over at Nayeon for help, but it seems their small interaction just a few minutes earlier is already forgotten as the girl is completely avoiding looking anywhere near Jimin. Jimin shoves his textbook back into his backpack, zipping it up as he stands, and leaves the classroom without another word.