~The Twelfth Heartbeat~
Oh Romeo, Wherefore Art Thou?

“Lee In Guk."

It was around half past 9 in the morning. I was stuck in acting and we were now being paired into partners, as a part of a big project we had to do. Apparently just being talented in acting alone didn’t cut it for our teacher. According to her, we needed to be able to read a script and understand the emotions behind the text so that we would know how to properly convey them and make the story come to life. I originally viewed it as a brilliant idea, until I realized a good percent of the final mark was based on teamwork. That was the one thing I hated about this whole thing. Whenever it came to group projects, I never really did get along with my team members. Even though I tried my best to put in the effort to finish the project, nobody really cared about it so I would end up being the one who did all the work. I could only pray to God that I would be getting a decent partner this time around. At least, I hope so.

“Im Woo Hyun."

I reminisced about my first impression of the class. When I first walked into the classroom, I was taken aback by the alarming amount of empty space there was. The class consisted of only a handful of students, maybe around 30 or so, which generated a sparse crowd around the room. The average class size was typically around 50 to 60 students, or at least that’s how it was in the science department anyways

With a smaller class size, I guess it would typically be assumed that we’d all be more closely knit than other classes. However, that couldn’t have been any further from the truth. The thing about acting was that there was a constant need to be the best student in the class, maybe call it a free-for-all even. Everybody was so competitive to the point of nearly being hostile towards each other; I wouldn’t even be surprised if they’d be willing to backstab their own friends in an attempt to come out on top. I guess the tension was there for a decent reason though. Supposedly at the end of each school year, big companies like JYP or SM Entertainment visited the school to recruit promising students as trainees. Whoever was able to stand out from the crowd and catch their attention was almost guaranteed a debut within a year. But because of that competitiveness, it made being in the same room as everyone feel suffocating in a way. Something that I noticed from elementary school all the way to the present was that everyone hung out in cliques that never really interacted with one another. You didn’t know anything about anybody (unless they talked to you obviously). It wasn’t as if they were straight up rude or something, but someone from one clique willingly approaching someone from another was a rare sight to see. Albeit there was the exception of being forced to work together whenever the teacher demanded us to do so; those were the only times we ever interacted with each other as a class.

“Seo Hye-Jin.”

First off was a clique of girls who appeared to be pretty close with each other. Among them was a friendly, innocent girl who I assumed was their head honcho. With her hair dyed in a romantic raspberry brown colour and her face covered in light makeup that complimented her features, I guess she was a bit more attractive looking than the average student, but she didn’t really have anything else going for her. She fit into the crowd almost too easily, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. There were the anti-social kids as well, who always mysteriously disappeared the instant class was over. In class, they never interacted with anybody and rarely responded when approached. Outside of class, nobody ever saw them on school grounds; it was kind of as if they disappeared off the face of the Earth and magically transported back into class when it was time for another lecture.

“Nam Hyung-Joo."

Then came the popular group of students whom everybody fawned over. It was comprised of primarily 5 students, or rather ones who I like to refer to as the school’s celebrities. The eldest and visual of the group was Nam Hyung-Joo. Being the son of two well-known celebrities, he inherited their talent as a natural pro in acting. His face was a common sight in several blockbusters. I recently heard that he’d be starring in an upcoming drama along with Lee Min Ho and Kim Soo Hyun.

“Kim Seo-Eun.”

But what was a king without his queen? While Nam Hyung-Joo basked in the spotlight of people’s screens, the one standing by his side and dominating the music industry would be Kim Seo-Eun, his childhood friend since birth. Although she had been born with a silver spoon in , that didn’t take away from the impressive producing skills she carried with her intellect. No producer entered the industry without knowing who she was and her songs were incredibly loved by the public. Following the king and queen would be the jack and the joker, a pair of twins who went by the names Aidou and Wataru. Hashimoto Aidou was the older one of the two and was aspiring to become a neurosurgeon, perhaps influenced by his position as the next in line to take over their family hospital back in Japan. Much like a doctor, he was gentle and caring towards everyone around him but still carried with him the prestigious aura that surrounded their entire clique. Wataru, on the other hand, was more introverted and secretive. He had zero interest in the medical industry.  He was instead a child prodigy who delved into the realm of coding and hacking. I didn’t know too much about him given his personality, but I figure that he had the ability to hack into the government’s national database if he really wanted to. I wasn’t too fond of the group in general, given their overrated popularity around the school. I couldn’t understand why people seemed to claim that they were their loyal fans when they liked them for superficial reasons like their looks. Some of their fangirls were pretty scary and toxic too; it was a bad idea to go around bad mouthing any one of them unless you wanted to end your life the next day.

With each of the 4 being accomplished in their own special ways, there remained a single noble who hid in their shadows. He went by the name Kim Taehyung. He was always seen around the popular clique and people seemed to like him for his “out of this world” looks. He was a relatively new member to the clique, as I only began seeing him this year, but the busy sight of love letters and gifts from secret admirers never left his desk or locker. Not much was known about Taehyung though, probably because girls preferred to glorify the other 4 instead of paying attention to him. He seemed different than the others; he didn’t really seem to flaunt the prestigious reputation of the clique and liked to remain lowkey. Although he hung out around the group all the time, he was more like an outsider. He was a smiley person, but over time I've noticed that his smiles were often very tense and almost robot-like in a way. He was probably using it to masquerade whatever it was he hid underneath. The stiffness in his smile was quite obvious though, and I wasn’t sure how nobody had pointed it out yet.

“Liu Maxwell.”

I let out a sigh in an attempt to ease my nervous anticipation, my heart racing at whatever miles per hour. My body muscles were insanely tense and it was hard to walk around without stumbling or walking into anybody. My body and mind weren’t showing any signs of relaxing anytime soon.

Just say my name already please. I’m begging you.

Acting was nerve-wracking. I could deal with stage fright alright, so it wasn’t as if it was hard to actually perform in front of people or something, but the atmosphere in the class kept me on edge pretty much all the time. I didn’t belong to any clique really, and the fact that I transferred into the class later than others might’ve divided me even more from them. I usually fended for myself by minding my own business though. At least it reduced the chances of me getting involved with bullying and all that fancy drama. The bright side about this class was that even though nobody really spoke to each other, they were at least human enough to help you out if you asked for their opinion or so. There had been no straight up bullying or anything from what I had seen thus far, but honestly, who knows? Surely there had to be something happening behind the shadows at some point.

It’s been several classes into the course, meaning it had already been a bit over two months since school started but I still had yet to let myself go and relax. Walking into acting class was like heading into a den full of bloodthirsty lions, and it was hard to get comfortable. My only saving grace was the teacher, Ms. Nam. Supposedly she used to be a child actor with a very promising future, yet she decided to go into teaching instead of continuing down the glorified path of a popular celebrity. I’ll admit she definitely didn’t look a day over 20, with her petite frame and porcelain skin and was an angel in terms of personality. However, her teaching style told you otherwise. As an acting instructor, she was blunt and austere and watched every student with the eyes of a damned hawk. You could never get away with anything, and she’d always point out tiny flaws that some of the other students hadn’t even realized themselves. I guess if one wanted to improve themselves then she was definitely one of the better teachers in that sense, but that was only if they could withstand her remarks without running off to the washroom in frustrated tears. I’ve gotten my share of lectures from her as well, as she continually reminded me of how stiff my actions were every time we did a skit or improv drill of some sort. It was redundant, not to mention mundane. I didn’t feel the need to be told whether I wasn’t cut out for acting or not.

“Kim Taehyung.”

I suppose it wasn’t that important though, I wasn’t really looking to become a trainee. Acting was just a nonchalant hobby of mine, not a possible career choice. Plus, I only chose this elective by process of elimination; I might’ve embarrassed myself in dancing and I already knew how to cook my own meals thus leaving singing and acting as the only two electives left. That was the entire reason why I chose it in the first place. However, that didn’t mean I was interested in dropping out anytime soon though. Worst case scenario, I would only consider it if I was actually screwing up that badly. I guess it was going to mainly depend on who I was going to be paired up with for this project. If it didn’t go well, I think I’m gonna actually lose my sanity.

It was taking an agonizingly long time for my name to be called, and my heartbeat sped up tenfold with each name that Ms. Nam read off the attendance list. In an attempt to distract myself from my weak nerves, I scoured the room, looking at the potential partners I could’ve possibly ended up with. There were only a handful of students left, as the majority of the class had already been paired off. One guy was standing in the corner with his arms folded across his chest. I remembered him quite easily as the Canadian guy who transferred over here to Korea quite recently; his facial features and foreigner-like vibe made it quite obvious that it wasn’t pure Korean blood flowing through his veins. I figured he was mixed. Despite his harsh gaze, he was generally a pretty gentle guy that seemed to have a soft spot for nature; I often saw him watering the flowers inside one of the history classes before school started. He didn’t seem like he would do much in a group project, but his grades said otherwise as his name made regular appearances near the top of the student rankings that were released after each round of arduous exams.

“Kim Seokjin.”

Another option sat on the floor, nearby where I stood. Her back was turned towards me and she was immersed in cheerful conversation with the person next to her, who I assumed was her best friend. That was Su Hana, the school council president. She was a very prim and proper girl and was one of the few other honours students at the school besides myself. We shared AP Calculus and English together, so she would’ve been a more comfortable choice to have as my partner.

“Kim Seokjin.”

As an ordinary wallflower, she was just your typical girl next door; considerate, generous and kind to a fault, neither mute nor boisterous and at least smart enough to retain some common sense in that head of hers. Her charm was the type that made it hard for her to grab the attention of others but turned out to be a real beauty once you observed her in detail. I wouldn’t have minded having her as my partner. To be honest, I wasn't too sure about how she was with group projects like this but I'm sure we'd be able to work things out together...

“Kim Seokjin.”

“Y-YES?! I’m here!” I snapped, my voice cracking into an awkward mewl that did not go unheard by the entire class. The dramatic roll of Ms. Nam’s eyes told me this wasn’t the first time she had called my name. I mentally facepalmed, wanting to slap myself for being distracted. I must’ve been too absorbed into my own thoughts again.

With a slight huff, Ms. Nam placed a hand on her hip and stared at me with exhaustion. “Please listen more carefully next time Seokjin-ssi. Remember that I do not like repeating myself. Your partner is Kim Taehyung over there, and you guys will be performing skit no. 5. Here’s the script, now go and place your beside him please.”

I gulped.

After accepting the surprisingly thick roll of paper that Ms. Nam handed me, I glanced over in the direction that she pointed in, my eyes landing on the tall figure sitting near the entrance. He had slightly messy dark hair and had large glassy eyes that reflected a light blue glow from his phone screen, which he was tapping furiously away on. I hadn’t a clue who or what he was texting, but whatever it was got him deeply immersed into it. He hadn’t even bothered to look up upon the mention of his name by Ms. Nam just now. I could barely even see half his face, as it was hidden under a thick face mask. Usually, face masks weren’t allowed by the school considering its many safety policies, but for some reason, he wasn’t getting into any trouble with it. I had a feeling it might’ve been partly due to his clique’s influence.

With a gruff grunt, I moved from where I had just been standing and headed over to where this Kim Taehyung sat. I plopped myself at his left side with a solid thud, which might’ve earned a few glances in our direction but I diverted most of my attention on Taehyung. He didn’t move a single inch when I sat down next to him, which made me question whether he was intentionally ignoring me or just that distracted by his phone.

Can’t believe I have to get involved with one of the members of the popular clique… but at least it’s only Kim Taehyung, right? Might as well make friends wherever I can… wouldn’t wanna go around making any enemies at school. Always start with a good first impression Seokjin, that’s how you avoid getting into drama. A kind introduction never hurts anybody… I think.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself of the small bit of anxiety bubbling in my chest at the moment. If I wasn’t already nervous from being Kim Taehyung’s partner out of anybody else, then it would’ve been from all the looks I’ve been getting from all the girls in the room. I could feel their eyes burning into my back with murderous intent. If looks could kill, I think I would’ve been slaughtered several times over by now.

Well… I have to work together with this guy for the next little while anyway so it’d be awkward if I wasn’t friendly in the first place. Let’s get this over with.

“Hey uh, what’s up? I’m Kim Seokjin. Your name was Kim Taehyung right? I’m looking forward to working together from now on.” I weakly smiled, while hastily extending my hand out towards him.

He looked up from his phone screen, fingers coming to an abrupt stop. His half-lidded almond shaped eyes directed themselves up towards me, making solid eye contact with mine. I noted that his eyes would have been mesmerizing in a way if I wasn’t so intimidated by his gaze. But then he took a hand off the handheld device and slid his mask down to unveil his face. His facial features were subtly pronounced, forming an emotionless expression that didn’t reveal any reaction upon eye contact. And my mouth dropped to the floor in utter shock.

Holy , this guy’s a pretty boy. A hella handsome sonofa at that too.

I was taken aback. I never really had a good look at him before but I couldn’t help but notice a prominently large nose together and a sharp Cupid’s bow that helped to shape a simple pair of crimson lips. His skin wasn’t whitewashed to the point of being deathly white, unlike the majority of people I often encountered in my daily life. Instead, it was a mild honey tan that had minor flaws here and there, but that meant he was still within the realms of being human. On top of it all, his facial symmetry was so evenly proportional it literally screamed perfection. It was then that I understood why so many girls fawned over him. His face was literally no joke. I wasn’t sure if it was just his poker face or what, but I suddenly found it a lot harder to talk to him. He didn’t look very friendly, and if it wasn’t for this whole partner thing then I highly doubt I would’ve ever said a single word to him. Long story short, I was intimidated as hell. If not because of his face, then it was definitely from the frosty aura coming off of him. Or maybe it could be that I’m just having a little inferiority complex right now.

Without a word escaping his lips, Taehyung just stared at both me and my empty hand that was left hanging in midair. I was guessing that he might’ve been perplexed, coming from the blank frown on his face. Or perhaps he just didn’t like touching people? Either way, that didn’t change the fact that my hand was left awkwardly hanging there for what seemed like a strenuously long eternity, replicating human statues without a single hair of movement. Then as if the gears in his head were starting to finally grind together, he began to lift his arm to meet my hand. Unfortunately, my stupid didn’t see that in time. I couldn’t stand the awkward tension that formed between us, so I snapped my hand back onto my lap with a crazy muscle spasm. I hadn’t seen his arm come up before I made the move, and now he was the one with his hand in midair. He kept his calm composure, as if he wasn’t fazed by the little muscle spasm my arm just experienced. After a few blinks to register what just happened, his arm returned to its former position by his side and he dug his hand back into a pocket.

“Nice to meet you too.” He muttered with a baritone voice, the words coming out as one quiet incomprehensible jumble that I nearly failed to understand. He slid his mask back up over his face, once again hiding it under the thick black fabric. Then, he returned to texting whoever he had been messaging before, as if the little “conversation” we had never happened at all.

…..Okay there buddy. Have it your way I guess.

“Ahem...” I coughed slightly, clearing my throat of any awkwardness left behind. “Nice to meet you too I guess.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t move a muscle.

Oh God, this is scary. What the hell do I say now, the conversation died already. Maybe I’ll just go straight into talking about our assignment….

“S-so uh, I got the script from Ms. Nam already. You wanna give it a quick skim over or…?”

Silence.

“Okay, I guess that’s a no then...” I stole a few glances around the room. Everyone was already bickering about their skits, while we just sat a couple inches apart from each other without uttering a word. It seemed like we were the only ones left who didn’t even move at all, while other pairs were already conversing with each other about things that didn’t even have to do with acting. I’m assuming they already decided on what to do.

Jesus, how the hell are these bastards so fast at reading? This script is like 10 pages long...

I tried reasoning with the vast amount of insecurities swimming around my head. It had only been what, approximately 10 minutes since all of the pairs were decided so it’s not like we were completely behind. Then again, the class was going to end in around 5 minutes which was nowhere close to a sufficient amount of time to read 10 pages of size 12 New Times Roman font. I could just blink my eyes and class would be finished by then.

I turned towards Taehyung, who seemed to be deep in thought about something. He seemed to have noticed me looking at him, as his ears perked up in my direction. At least I had his attention now. “...How about I read the script out to you and we could discuss opinions over certain parts? I mean, you do seem to be busy with texting and all.”

He glowered in response, his face scrunching up into a tight frown while his eyebrows furrowed, creating several wrinkles that ran across his forehead.

“Okay no nevermind, sorry that was a bad idea,” I admitted. “Uh, I’ll send pictures of the script to you? Then you could read it in your own time.”

He shook his head, signaling a definite rejection of the suggestion. Clearly, he wasn’t interested in reading the script anytime soon.

At my wit’s end, I rested my head in my hands. I could feel the awkward tension between us rising exponentially, but I could only think of so many things on the spot while being pressured by time restraints. Feeling anxious to get at least something done before the end of class, I forced myself through the awkwardness and boldly told Taehyung whatever else came to mind. I was hoping that out of all the random nonsense I spewed, he’d at least be able to pick out something we could work with and develop later on but the more suggestions I made, the more times I got rejected by him. After feeling frustration build up inside me, I decided to just settle on something random rather than negotiate with Taehyung. It’s not like he was making things any easier anyway.

“There’s no time left in class to do anything anyway, so let’s just decide on a time when we’ll meet up to actually read over the script. Maybe we’ll even get a little practice in. What do you think?” He murmured, his deep voice suddenly cutting through the silence.

I snapped my head towards Taehyung with widened eyes, seeing him looking right at me instead of his phone for once. I obviously knew he could speak, but hearing him actually suggest something was a little unexpected. At the very least, he seemed a bit more enthusiastic with his response this time. It seems that he was on the same page as me in terms of getting this assignment done, though it bothered me that he couldn’t have said something earlier instead of just rejecting the suggestions I made. I was slightly ticked off, but I held my temper and continued to push through it. Sometimes starting something was harder than finishing it.

I nodded. “Y-yeah sure that sounds good.”

To my surprise, he responded back with a small smirk and signaled an “ok” sign with his fingers. “Alright, let’s meet at the courtyard just outside the building tomorrow at lunch then.” He said as he slung his backpack over his shoulder in one smooth move. It was then that I became aware of the fact that everybody had already stood up to leave the class. Feeling a bit flustered about being the only one left sitting, I quickly gathered my stuff and stood alongside Taehyung, who was once again typing something into his phone again.

“Okay class, just a reminder that next class is cancelled and that we’ll be meeting up on Thursday after lunch instead alright? That day will be a study block, so I’ll give you the class to finalize any last details for your skit, meaning you guys get 4 days including today to work with your partner. That’s a very forgiving amount of time to read over the script and perfect your acting so I expect you guys to have them prepared in time. There will be no exceptions. If you aren’t ready by then, I won’t hesitate to fail you. Got it?”  Within a few sentences and a change in tone, Ms. Nam went from an angelic innocent female to ascetic and diplomatic. I could never get used to that instant change of hers; it was probably one of the main reasons why I was so tense in this class in the first place. With a monotonous “yes” from the whole class, everybody dispersed and disappeared out the door like schools of anchovies.

“Have a good day everyone!” Ms. Nam waved at us, a bright smile on her face. The pure naive angel was back, as if she hadn’t been all scary literally seconds ago. I courteously waved back with a smile in return and turned around to face the exit, heading out the door after the rest of the students. Walking down the hallway that would eventually lead me back to the Charice Square, I felt my earlier uneasiness slowly melt away into my usual nonchalant stride. I had just managed to survive another class and was still alive from talking to one of the popular kids. I just prayed I wouldn’t get hunted down by fangirls from now on for being his partner.

Hm, seems like our class was released a bit early. Maybe I’ll head over to the music composition classes and see what’s up with Namjoon and Yoongi.

I stood in front of the exit for a bit as I dug into my bag for my phone. After a little bit of searching around, I slipped my phone out and unlocked it with a swift slide of my thumb. Continuing on in the direction of the music composition classes, I sent a text to the group chat that included me, Namjoon and Yoongi. I couldn’t help but smirk at the nicknames I had listed them under in my contacts list. Namjoon was known as the “God of Destruction” since he was an extremely clumsy guy who destroyed whatever got into his hands. He claims it’s unintentional, but sometimes we just wonder how he manages to break the simplest things from time to time without even trying. On the other hand, Yoongi was known as, “Gummy Bear”. If there was one thing that Yoongi absolutely hated, that was being called a gummy bear. He never really liked to show off his soft side that much, so I gave him the nickname just to spite him.

Worldwide Handsome: Hey im out early so im heading over to u guys

Gummy Bear: K.

God of Destruction: Yo get me some pop on the way here im dying here

Worldwide Handsome: Ur gonna pay me back right

God of Destruction: Hyung its literally just a few dollars why do u have to be like this

Worldwide Handsome: Guess none for u then. Cya guys later

I chuckled, feeling slightly evil about denying Namjoon his pop. I was gonna go get it anyways, but it’s always fun to be a little bit evil from time to time. Right when I shut off my phone and slid it into my back pocket, I felt a couple of vibrations which signaled that a few notifications popped up on my phone screen.  Call me OCD, but leaving notifications unchecked always triggered me to no end. It was hella inconvenient, but I couldn’t help it. With a groan, I dug my phone back out to see whatever the hell Namjoon was spouting off about me not getting his pop. However, the notification turned out to not be from Namjoon. In fact, it wasn’t from the group chat at all.

Kim Taehyung has requested to be your friend.

A/N: Hello, happy new year's everyone! What better to start of 2019 than an extra long chapter that's long overdue? :D So I was originally going to post two chapters but I thought they were better combined into one long chapter, so here it is haha

Anyways, I'm sorry I'm not able to update as frequently as we all would like but school's kinda taking a huge chunk of my time (especially since I'm trying to apply to universities for engineering heh) but I do write chapters whenever I can and try to be ahead of the ones that are already posted so don't think this story has been discontinued until I actually say so!

In the meantime, stay happy and enjoy these chapters <3 hang tight for the next update whenever it comes ;')