[CONTENTID1] Eight [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

"Here, honey, have another one," Sooyoung fusses, shoving another chicken wing in your mouth.

"Ah! Sooyoungie," you complain, pulling the chicken out of your mouth so you can chew it, "It's too much! I'm gonna get fat." It's the day after the disastrous elemental class when you got sick in front of everyone, and you and Sooyoung lie on your bed to wallow in the embarrassment.

"But you need more energy," she coaxes, trying to tuck another chicken wing in your free hand, "After all, you must have thrown up so much—"

"Ah, stop!" You protest, holding both hands to your ears and slapping yourself in the face with the chicken wings in the process, "I never want to think about that again! Ugh. Jungkook had to carry me back… And everyone was staring at us the whole time."

"Ooh, really? Was Jimin jealous?"

You give her a look, "Why is that the first thing that came out of your mouth?"

"What? No! I'm just curious… So how did Jimin look?"

"I guess he was a bit upset? I don't know. I was too busy trying not to die," you glare at your supposed "best friend."

She laughs and pats your hair, "Sorry, _-ah. I'll go get you a water, ok? Do you have ice in the fridge?"

"Yeah," you sigh, lying back down on the bed, "Top shelf."

"You really need to stay hydrated, _," she scolds you, "I bet you wouldn't have been so affected by Hoseok-sunbae's attack if you ate more and took the time to—oh, oops. What's this?"

"What's what?" You yawn, reluctantly sitting up to look at her. You gasp and the chicken wings fall from your hands in horror when you realize that she's holding Yoongi's ice rose in her hands, a broken petal on the ground next to her feet. "No! Sooyoung!" you shriek, jumping from bed to dart across the room. You slap her hands away and take the rose from her, cradling it in your palm, "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I'm sorry!" She holds up her hands in defense, "Can't you just fix it?"

"No, you know I damn well cannot," you spit back, irrationally angry as you pick up the broken petal.

"I mean, I know you can't conjure right now, but I'm sure that you can mend it once your powers come in," she soothingly says.

"I'll never conjure," you hiss at her before you can help yourself. Your eyes widen at your slip, but it's too late.

Sooyoung frowns, "What do you mean? Sure you'll learn to conjure one day… But why are you being so defensive about this?"

"It's nothing," you snap, gently replacing the rose and the broken petal on the top shelf, "Don't worry about it."

She continues to consider you with a confused expression on her face. Then, it hits her—"Yoongi-sunbae made this for you, didn't he?" She exclaims.

You shoot her a wary glance, "I don't know. Maybe."

"He had to!" She says, wagging a finger in your face, "He's the only other ice mage here and you can't conjure yet! That's why you're so unreasonable angry. It's because I broke a present from Yoongi-sunbae. Oh my god. This changes everything, _-ah. I'm so sorry!" She whines, throwing both arms around your waist, "I didn't know it was from him."

"Stop it Sooyoung," you try to remain stoic, but it's impossible to stay angry at her for long, "Ugh. Get off me. It's not a big deal."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she tearfully repeats in the crook of your neck, "I know how much you like him. I didn't mean to do it."

"What?" You ask in alarm, "Who said anything about liking him?"

"You didn't have to say anything," she says with a little grin, "I can tell… But wait, when did he confess?"

"He didn't confess."

"Then what's the rose for?"

"It was from class," you hesitantly explain, feeling yourself redden, "Just to show me his conjuring skills."

Her eyes widen, "And you brought it all the way back to the dorms? Wow, I didn't know you liked him this much!"

"Shut up," you nudge her, "Do you want me to tell you about how pretty Jimin looked with all that leafy crap around him?"

She falls silent at that, "Yes, please. Sorry, _-ah."

You roll your eyes, "Go feed me more chicken. It's a long story."

Sooyoung happily scrambles to her feet to fetch the bucket, relieved to have been forgiven, "I'm sure you'll learn how to conjure soon, honey."

You stare at the broken rose on the top shelf for a long time, your eyes fixated on the ragged edge of the cracked petal, "No I won't," you whisper under your breath so that Sooyoung can't hear you. Then you slam the refrigerator door shut.

"You can do it, noona!" Jungkook cheers you on, "Fighting!"

"Fighting!" Professor Nam yells after him, fist pumping in the air so hard that her fluffy hair swings around to hit you in the face.

"Thanks, guys, but I don't think it's going to happen," you say with a sigh, lowering your cold hands, "But look—at least I cooled my water?"

Professor Nam frowns into the glass, "I guess that's nice, _-ah," but she sighs heavily, "I thought we were actually going to be able to make snowmen in class today… I'm disappointed that you still can't conjure, my dear. But you still get an A for effort!" She marks down your score and hops off to examine the next student.

"It's ok, noona," Jungkook pats your shoulder, "At least you passed the monthly check up. I feel like your abilities are getting stronger."

"Yeah, if she wants it to snow so badly, can't she just ask Yoongi-sunbae? He's back from the college tours this weekend," You say with a roll of the eyes, sipping your ice-cold water with pride.

"Don't worry. You'll learn how to conjure one day, noona."

"Nah. I don't think I ever will," you good-naturedly say.

Jungkook frowns at that, "Don't be so hard on yourself. I believe in you!"

"Jungkook, I'm serious. I'll never be able to conjure. But it's fine. I've already accepted it."

The maknae looks like he wants to protest more, but at that moment, Professor Nam begins her assessment of the fire mages, "Ooh, Jungkook, why don't you go first?"

"Good luck," you whisper at him as Professor Nam approaches his desk.

He grins at you as he gets up from his desk, "Are you going to cheer for me, noona?"

You laugh and raise both your hands over your head, "Jeon Jungkook! Jeon Jungkook!" You chant his name while doing a little dance. It's childish, but Yoongi isn't in class, so you don't care. "I'll treat you to ice cream tonight if you conjure!"

"Aish, noona. Now I'm going to feel bad when I disappoint you."

You grin up at him, "You could never disappoint me, Jungkook."

His eyes widen and he stares at you fixedly until Professor Nam places a hand on his shoulder with a frown, "Are you ready?"

"Yes," he says, snapping back into it.

"Oh, wait, Jungkook, you forgot your lighter!" You say, picking up his heavy zippo lighter from the desk next to you.

"I don't need it."

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