Jimin jumped when he heard a sudden screech that sounded to be from Hoseok during one of the chemistry labs. He looked up from the flask that he and Yoongi were observing on to find a spark flaring in Hoseok and Ina’s. There was a temporary wave of panic as the students, himself and Yoongi included, scurried away from the two’s location. Ina, his unfortunate lab partner, hurriedly poured a dark liquid in, which Mr. Mun had directed would be used for those rare cases when their flasks did happen to catch on fire. Hoseok quickly apologized when Mr. Mun scolded him to be more careful as they were handling flammable substances.

There were a few snickers, but the students continued their experiments soon after anyway. Jimin didn’t notice his hand was pulling on Yoongi’s sleeve until his roommate brushed his fingers off and stepped away from him, something that caused Jimin to raise his brow for just a millisecond. He decided to brush it off because Yoongi was probably just being Yoongi, someone who didn’t seem too fond of intimacy.

Jimin and Yoongi were in the middle of figuring out how to convert the substance they had in their flask when Taehyung stepped toward them.

“Two thousand won that Namjoon ed her,” the sophomore muttered softly between them.

Jimin looked up from their flask to the direction that Taehyung was pointing to: Namjoon and his lab partner, Byeolgi.

“For Christ’s sake, Taehyung,” his roommate hissed lowly and looked up to check if Mr. Mun was in earshot. “Do you even have money?”

“Not right now, but I’ll pay up if I lose the bet.”

Taehyung quickly returned to Jin’s side when Mr. Mun faced their direction. Fortunately, the chemistry teacher seemed oblivious that the three were getting distracted. It wasn’t until Seulgi and Yerim called for help when Taehyung stealthily moved to Jimin’s side again.

“How about two thousand won if Namjoon is even interested in her?” Yoongi hissed again.

Jimin noticed the way how Namjoon would casually glance at the female beside him every once in a while, but what caught his attention was when the junior flashed his dimples and took the flask from Byeolgi’s hand, allowing his fingers to softly brush against hers.

“In that case, Taehyung might actually win the two thousand won,” Jimin mumbled, half to himself but just loud enough for the other two to hear.

Out of nowhere, Jin popped behind Taehyung and spoke, “Make it ten thousand won because Namjoon cuddles with me and has complimented on my looks more times than my fingers can count. Some extra cash would help pay the university tuitions.”

Jimin didn’t know which was more of a shock: the new information that Namjoon cuddled with Jin, or the fact that Mr. Mun had yet to catch them not working on their experiments.

~

“Guess what,” Jin sighed as he stared down at his syllabi.

“No, I don’t want to hear it.” Hoseok rubbed his face with a groan.

“It’s exam week next week,” Jungkook finished Jin’s statement as he picked on his food.

“In the mood to get murdered now?” Namjoon nodded behind him at the table where Joohyun was sitting.

Jin clapped his roommate’s shoulder and looked him straight in the eye, and all Jimin could think about was the image of Namjoon snuggling against Jin on the elder’s bed. “I might actually consider it.”

“And Ms. Gong will give us the project guidelines tomorrow, as if we don’t already have enough on our plate.” Hoseok released an exasperated sigh.

Right, the science project that got Jimin panicking because he thought he wouldn’t have a partner. He almost forgot about it as Ms. Gong hadn’t been telling them anything about the project, not to mention the number of assignments that Jimin had to worry about from other classes as well. He glanced at his partner sitting beside him only to find him also groaning with the other five boys.

However, exam week marked the halfway point of the summer program, and Jimin realized that after next week, they would have one more month left at Gangwon Academy. Then, all seven of them would return to their hometowns, and there was a growing thought that they might never meet again after.

When Namjoon pointed out that they wouldn’t be able to play Taehyung’s Truth or Dare games anymore, Yoongi nudged Jimin’s arm just after Taehyung called them boring.

“Is there something you’re dying to research on for the project?”

“If there is, I probably wouldn’t be here,” Jimin sighed and turned to his partner. “I’m assuming you don’t either.”

“Does sleep count?”