It was almost a month before Jimin was un-grounded. Lifted? Whatever the term, he was free, and I was too happy to see him again to be surprised.

An eventful day was that Monday, the first day of April, when Jimin told me his umma persuaded his appa to let him out of the house. It was a text I received that told me the news, though the presence of the message alone was information enough to show his liberty.

"Yoongi," I said to my friend as he drove me to school that morning, brandishing my phone in front of his face unwisely and making no effort to keep my grin from splitting my cheeks. "Jimin's un-grounded."

"Yah, get that out of my face," Yoongi whined, smacking my hand away. "How did he persuade them?"

"I'll ask." I started to carefully type the message in the language that was still so new to me, when suddenly I felt a throbbing headache throb to life behind my eyes. "Holy cow..."

"What?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing my forehead into the glove compartment and stretching my neckforward so that my bangs rubbed against the hard plastic. "Headache."

"Want some drugs?" Yoongi offered. "We're here, kiddo."

I wordlessly climbed out of the car and followed Yoongi into building one, long beyond gazing nostalgically at the entrance to building two, and tried to focus on the thud of my feet on the concrete instead of the throbbing pain in my head.

"How's Hoseok?" I asked as we stood around Yoongi's locker. I'd been leaning my head sleepily against the wall and gazing around the halls, hoping to catch a glimpse of my boyfriend before first hour, and I felt a bit compelled to ask him about his equally-active love life.

"Good." Yoongi gave me a half smile, shaking his head like I was being a trouble maker, and closed the locker with a careless flick of his wrist. "He's the same idiot he's always been."

"Right." I returned the grin and bounced a little for momentum before following him towards his first hour class. "So how far have you two gone?"

"Yah!" Yoongi froze and spun to face me, clogging a bit of hallway traffic in the process but clearly not giving a . "Why?"

"I'm curious," I replied honestly, a bit taken aback by his sudden change in tone. "Because you know I Jimin's --"

"Oh well okay then Jeon Jungkook," Yoongi chuckled throatily, giving my hair a cheeky ruffle. "Just know Hoseok and I are paralleled with you and Jimin."

"Paralleled like on a completely different scale or parallel like the same?"

"Go to class, Jungkook."

"Bye, hyung." I cheerfully turned and started towards my own locker, hoping that a certain adorable brunette was waiting for me.

Instead, a stairwell and two hallways later, I found myself face to face with a strikingly handsome stranger, loitering with his long back pressed to my locker. He wore a freshly ironed dress shirt, but it suited him in a manner that hinted he dressed like this on a daily basis. Dark hair was gelled up and back sleekly, revealing a sharp, defined, and mature face that almost looked familiar. Maybe he was an older sibling of someone I knew.

"Excuse me," I said, offering him a hesitant smile and gesturing my hand towards the locker.

"Jungkook," he said, straightening and pushing off the lockers. "Hey...yeah, you probably don't recognize me..."

I furrowed my brow at him, observing the face more carefully, but it was only the voice that gave me the clue.

The voice...the face...

Holy .

"Hwang Jooyoung," I said slowly, gulping at the realization. Possible greetings swarmed through my mind...Good to see you again? How are you? You look better? Glad to see you out of the hospital? Can I help you? All would have been lies, so I stayed silent.

"Yeah..." he grinned with embarrassment, and I almost gagged. This was not the same human being who had tried to ually assault me in an alleyway a few weeks back. This was a clean, classy, handsome, and impossibly charming third year who seemed perfectly pleasant. It was almost terrifying how easily my opinion of him changed. "Look, Jungkook, I'm really sorry. I know it isn't the kind of thing you can just apologize for and expect to be forgiven, but regardless I am truly sorry for how I treated you. It won't happen again; I've cleaned up my act."

"Did you apologize to Hyomin noona?" I asked crisply, avoiding his eyes as I spun the lock on my locker.

"Hyomin and I are back together." He chuckled nervously, a sound that was terrifyingly musical for a . He's just that, Jungkook. A , I reminded myself.

"Really?" I asked despite myself, turning to raise my eyebrows at him. Hyomin had seemed pretty content with shunning his for the rest of her life.

"Really," he confirmed, nodding and smiling behind his metaphorical mask. I just stared at him for a moment, weighing my options for a heartbeat or two.

"Just...stay away from me, please," I said with an exhausted sigh, pulling out a stack of books for my first four classes and shutting the lockers.

"Hey, wait," he said as I turned away, taking my shoulder gently and turning me back towards him.

He was so handsome, he really was. Only superstars had faces like that.

"You know the trial is this week," he said, a tentative smile playing at his lips. "You're going?"

"I was the one who got , of course I'm going," I said flatly, careful to keep my voice low and monotonous. 

He winced at my phrasing. "I need to ask a favor, Jungkook."

"Why the hell would I do you a favor?" I asked maliciously, smiling at him cruelly, sure to keep my eyes dark and my expression guarded.

He took a deep breath like I was the last person he wanted to divulge his next words to, and then a lot of things happened. "Hyomin is pregnant, Jungkook. I want to be there for the baby when it comes. Please...please consider keeping the truth light. For Hyomin."

I swallowed hard at his words, my mind spinning