𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖: 𝕤𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣, 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝟙𝟠

[lovestrippedbare]

The first day of school brings with it a torrent of sounds and colors, movement that spreads in every direction and leaves no ready path for the taking. Jungkook stands a distance back from the front gates of the school grounds, watching as his schoolmates arrive and filter indoors, most already gathering in groups that will join and break over the course of the next several months. He's always envied the ease with which so many of his peers seem to be able to find their kind — while Jungkook doesn't consider himself shy, the first step is always the hardest.

He grips to the strap of his backpack with one hand, and tightly clutches his sleeve with another, fabric bunched in his hands. The dress code at this school is more relaxed than middle school, but Jungkook clings gratefully to his brother's hand-me-downs, a simple starched white shirt and black jacket that are slightly too long for his frame. Even that is its own blessing, giving ample opportunity to cover a few healing bruises that Jungkook would rather avoid drawing attention to.

School starts in a few minutes. He should head inside. Find his classroom, make sure to pick a desk that isn't uneven, and a chair that doesn't squeak.

Chewing on his lower lip, Jungkook takes a breath and his first step, only to be interrupted by someone slamming into his shoulder. He stumbles, but catches himself quickly, glancing up in time to see a retreating figure and hear an apology fading into the noise.

Comments

[violenceinme]

Taehyung likes school less and less every year. There's the grind of classes he doesn't want to go to, evening after evening in a musty, dark room studying notes he didn't want to take, and then going home to a home that didn't want him. All of it, a slog that made school low on his priority list, but here he was, shuffling onto school grounds with three hours of sleep under his belt, dressed in a wrinkled shirt, an old pair of pants that barely fit the dress code, and a jacket that definitely does not, closer to a hoodie than anything one would wear to school these days. But whatever.

He's been lingering out in front of the school grounds, scanning the crowd for his friends. He and Jimin tend to find each other within minutes on their first day, but he's nowhere to be found, so he wonders if he's gotten there first, and if he should just give up and head inside.

The notion is derailed when he sees a group of the older students shuffle by, laughing about something, giving little care to where they are or who has to listen to them, or get out of their way. Taehyung manages, not bothering to hide his scowl, but a scrawny boy a few feet away isn't so lucky, the force enough to nearly knock him over.

Casting a dark look in the direction of the herd that had passed,he frowns, shouting after them. "Yah! Watch where you're going!" He drops all honorifics.

Walking over to the younger boy, he gives him a sympathetic roll of the eyes, shaking his head. "Youngmin thinks he owns the school. You okay?"

[lovestrippedbare]

Jungkook flinches when he hears someone yelling out. He's so accustomed to having diatribes be thrown in his direction that his first instinct is to apologize, pulling himself straight as quickly as he can, but the kind words that follow are enough to give him pause. It really isn't a big deal, Jungkook thinks, to have been bumped into like that. He can probably find a million ways to twist the blame to his side — he shouldn't have been standing in the way, he should have been paying attention to his surroundings.

There's a lot worse in the world than being nudged to the side.

With wide eyes, Jungkook quickly bends at the hip, bowing multiple times towards the boy who's clearly his senior. "Ah, yes," he replies, keeping his language formal. "Yes, I'm fine. I really shouldn't have been standing here, I was blocking his way. And I'm not hurt or anything."

His hand instinctively reaches for his sleeve, making sure it's pulled down well over his wrists before Jungkook lowers both hands to his knees, bowing even deeper. "Thank you for checking on me, seonbae-nim. I'm sorry for the trouble."

[violenceinme]

"Ah--" Taehyung isn't surprised by the first bow, but the ones following it actually have him a bit mortified, though he tries to hide it. "That's. It's no trouble, really."

He doesn't understand how making sure someone who just got bodychecked alright was trouble, but he gets it. It's polite. He had been ready to make a comment about how seonbae-nim should stop flirting with the girls with the shortest skirts and watch where he's going, but it seems like this kid might take offense. Or startle. He seems jumpy.

When the bows finally stop, Taehyung doesn't exactly smile, but he does raise his eyebrows in genuine curiosity, concern. "What year are you? I'm Kim Taehyung."

[lovestrippedbare]

Inwardly, Jungkook flinches at the response — more subdued, which can only mean that Jungkook's done something wrong, probably made the situation awkward somehow. But it's too late to back out from the interaction, especially once his upperclassman provides a name, so Jungkook straightens up, tells himself not to break gazes. (Often, anyway.)

At first glance, cool is the only word that Jungkook can conjure up. The other boy, Taehyung, doesn't seem to care much about fitting in, with a worn leather jacket and hood that looks like it'd be easy to curl under during lessons. Jungkook checks to make sure he's not gaping, and does his best to offer a smile.

"First year. It's nice to meet you, Taehyung-seonbae," Jungkook says, fighting the impulse to bow his head again. "I'm Jeon Jungkook."

In retrospect, he doesn't know what exact year Taehyung is in, but Jungkook figures it's safest to assume he's an elder. He's taller, if nothing else, and doesn't seem to have any of the telltale first day jitters.

[violenceinme]

"I'm second. Nice to meet you too, Jungkook-ssi."

He would leave it at that, a simple checking in on a hoobae's well being, but the air is different with Jeon Jungkook. The first day jitters are understandable, but there's an undercurrent of nerves that, while Taehyung can't quite put it into words, he understands. Maybe it's the outfit just this side of too big, the way he chews his lips. Taehyung can't relate to the discomfort, but he understands, at least.

He checks the time on his phone, looks over his shoulder to the gates of the school, and then returns his eyes to Jungkook. Jimin hasn't shown up; he'll probably have to head inside without him and save him a seat.

"Do you know where your classes are? The first day is always hard."

[lovestrippedbare]

Second year. It comes as a surprise to Jungkook that there's only a year that separates the both of them — Taehyung seems so much larger in presence, seems to have a confidence with which he carries himself. Jungkook can't help but wonder now if the truth might be the inverse, that he's already standing out as being meek.

With a gentle furrow of his brow, Jungkook stands up taller, grips the strap of his backpack a little tighter.

"Ah, no, I haven't had a chance to find my classroom yet," Jungkook admits. "I was going to come early so that I could find everything, but I got caught up with stuff at home."

He tugs his collar again, trying to hide a still healing bruise by his collarbone. It's probably not wise to talk about his home life too much — if nothing else, it'll probably bore Taehyung.

[violenceinme]

"That happens, sometimes." Taehyung wants to talk about how he skips class any chance he gets, regardless of what's going on at home, but for all his rebellion, he's reluctant to say that to someone as visibly skittish as Jungkook already is. This kid called him seonbaenim, after all, and that's more than some of the younger ones who know is reputation do.

Still no sign of Jimin, and it's probably time to head inside soon, anyway. He has time, he figures, so he gestures toward the building, giving Jungkook a smile. "Let's go find it. Give me your schedule, I can help."

[lovestrippedbare]

Jungkook blinks, wondering for a moment if this is some kind of trick, some game that's played with the first-years. He's typically not the most obvious target at first glance, no more gangling or thin than most of the others in his year, but sometimes Jungkook gets the sense that there are people who sense fear better than most.

But as quickly as it comes, the reservations pass. He can't live his whole life doubting the good in people.

With the decision made, a smile immediately spreads across his face, bright and guileless.

"Ah, yes, Taehyung-seonbae," he says, keeping carefully to polite speech and bowing his head even as he rummages through his backpack, quickly tugging the slightly rumpling schedule sheet from the front of his orientation papers. He holds it out with both hands. "Here."

[violenceinme]

It's strange, being called seonbae and being deferred to so carefully when Taehyung is so used to... well, not speaking to many of his dongsaengs, he supposes. He's hardly well respected at school, anyway; he considers telling Jungkook to lower his speech, but he knows it isn't proper. Wouldn't want to give him a heart attack.

The schedule is offered and he takes it using one hand only, tilting his head absently as he looks it over, face lighting up slightly.

"Ah. That was my old classroom. I can show you." He hands it back, tilting his head in the direction he starts to walk. "But we should probably go. Wouldn't want you to be late on your first day."

These are very strange words, coming from Taehyung, but Jeon Jungkook probably doesn't need to know that.

[lovestrippedbare]

Taehyung's steps are all the encouragement Jungkook needs to finally move from where he's been practically rooted to the ground, stumbling for the first second before he rushes to catch up. Jungkook isn't particularly short, but Taehyung's legs seem long in comparison. Or maybe he just walks with more confidence.

Either way, he's really cool.

"Ah, really? Did seonbae have my same teacher as well?" Jungkook asks, fumbling with his schedule and halfway tempted to simply stuff it in his pocket for expediency, but something tells him that walking into class with a crumpled schedule probably wouldn't do well for first impressions. "Thank you for helping me find my classroom, you really didn't have to, but I appreciate it."

[violenceinme]

"Mm, yes," Taehyung nods, laughing quietly. "Perhaps it's best if I don't go too close when we get there. Teacher may see me; we weren't exactly the best of friends."

He's probably about to frighten the kid off, but he's nothing if not honest. Teacher spent most of his and Jimin's first year writing letters to their parents about their inability to end a conversation. Clearing his throat, he bites back another laugh, shrugging and gesturing to a familiar old room. "It's no trouble. You look like you needed the help. It's that door, there. Don't sit in the first column of desks. The sun will hit your eyes, makes it hard to nap. Or, uh. See."

[lovestrippedbare]

The most reasonable course of action would probably be for Jungkook to put some distance between himself and this seonbae. He can't afford to disappoint his parents or give his new teacher the wrong impression by befriending a troublemaker on the first day. He shouldn't be considering taking up the challenge of finding a desk where he might get away with napping in class.

He shouldn't — and yet, for Jungkook, the fact still remains that this is a person who noticed his discomfort, who reached out when there was no obligation. And maybe that simple act of kindness makes him a lot more valuable than the notion of staying in line.

"I don't care if he sees me with seonbae," Jungkook pipes up, straightening his shoulders as they approach. "And I'll make sure to pick a desk in the back. I've never napping during class before, but it sounds pretty nice."

[violenceinme]

Well, now Taehyung's done it. He's known Jungkook for less than twenty minutes and he's already managed to convince him to prepare to misbehave on his first day of class. He should feel bad about it, he supposes, but Jungkook straightens up, looks so much more confident than he did moments before, and Taehyung wonders if he somehow just did a good and bad thing at once.

"It's not bad. I don't know if you'll be able to today, though. You need to be able to hide your eyes," he smiles wrly, reaching up with a hand to tug at one string of the hood on his jacket to prove his point. "And sometimes you can't sleep all the way. Just close your eyes and listen. Teacher will ask questions sometimes, tries to catch you off guard."

[lovestrippedbare]

"Ah," Jungkook blinks in sudden realization, glancing down at his own jacket and wondering if that's why school uniforms are so uncomfortable in the first place — less easy to hide, less easy to let oneself drift off. It might not sit well with his stepfather if he's seen going out of the house tomorrow morning in a hoodie, but maybe, just maybe he can hide one in his backpack. Pull it out for class.

The thought of it is a little thrilling.

"Probably better not to risk it on my first day, huh?" he muses, pressing his lips to his knuckles briefly. "I'll definitely dress better tomorrow. And see who teacher likes to call on, like sometimes it's the people who look away, right?"

His eyes widen with a sudden thought. "Do you think I could hide ear buds under a hoodie?"

[violenceinme]

It's surprising, how quickly Jungkook catches on, but he doesn't let it show on his face, just nodding with a slight smile. There's a certain satisfaction to it, hearing someone actually taking his advice seriously.

"That sounds like a good plan. But don't get caught, yeah? You can't be learning these things from your seonbae." The word comes out with a breath of a laugh and he reaches into the neck of his hoodie at the question. Pulling his earbuds out from where they're dangling from the neck of the shirt he's wearing underneath the jacket, he wags his eyebrows. "But we seem to think the same."

[lovestrippedbare]

So. Cool.

Jungkook's face lights up at the sight of the ear buds, though a quick glance at the milling groups of students to either side has Jungkook shrinking back, dampening the reaction. It wouldn't be good to call too much attention to his seonbae's mischief, not when Jungkook is all too aware of how quickly rumors can spread, with blackmail material being perhaps the most common currency in these halls.

"I won't get caught, I promise," Jungkook replies with a firm nod, grabbing once more onto the strap of his backpack. Time's running short before class begins, but he feels a reluctance to let the moment slip by. "Um... what classroom is seonbae in?"

Can I stop by and say hi?