"Ssaem! Ssaem!" An exuberant voice called out in the hallway.

Other students looked at him wide-eyed, surprised the boy had dropped the formality reserved for their teachers. But he ignored them.

"Ssaem!" he shouted again as he neared until the man, hard of hearing, turned and spotted the lad.

"Ah, Taemin. Did you finish your last class?"

The teen nodded and Jung-kook glanced at the youngster who, at seventeen, towered over him by at least half a foot.

"How about you, Ssaem? Are you done for the day?"

"No, I still have a lot of work to do," Jung-kook gestured to the stack of papers in his arm.

"I can help you. You know I can."

"Don't you have homework to do?"

"I already finished them."

"How about your parents? Aren't you going home to eat dinner?"

"They're too busy working that they won't even notice if I'm home or not."

Jung-kook frowned. "How about your grandparents? Shouldn't you go back and take care of them?"

"Nah. They just watch TV all day, and make old people's jokes that aren't funny, so I'd rather not be there when they bicker at each other over something trivial."

"Don't be like that, Taemin," Jung-kook admonished. "You're lucky to have a family surrounding you so don't take them for granted. Someday, you'll regret not spending time with them. And it will be too late before you realize it when they're gone. So go home and enjoy their company."

"Ssaem! Are you kicking me out? Don't you like me?"

"No, it's not that. I like you. You're one of my favorite students, always studying hard and growing up to be a nice young man, so be a good boy and be with your family."

Taemin peered down at his feet, with a look of dejection on his face. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something, but I guess that can wait another day."

"Maybe next time, Taemin. I promise, I'll listen to you."