[august]

Namjoon pulled out his phone to check the campus map, locker information, and schedule.

Kim Namjoon: locker 107

He smiled shyly, passing two students conversing next to his locker.

Shifting his backpack higher on his shoulder, he reached out to try the combination.

4-26-2

He pulled down on the lock, smiling as it clicked open on the first try. He then pushed the tab on the door up and-

Nothing.

He frowned and tried pulling with a little more force.

Still nothing.

He was about to bang on it, thinking it was stuck when a tap on his shoulder made him turn.

It was the two students from earlier, and they were standing next to him, staring.

Namjoon could feel his face turning red at the sudden attention.

"Hi! I'm Hoseok and this is Jimin. Need help with your locker?"

Namjoon smiled politely, shaking his head. "Uh, hello. It's okay, I think it's jus-"

Without waiting for a response, Hoseok jumped in. "No worries! Our friend had this locker last year, so I know what's wrong with it."

Namjoon nodded and stepped away, letting the boy do his thing.

He pulled out a post-it note and his student ID, asking Jimin to get some tape from a nearby classroom.

"So I didn't catch your name..." Hoseok asked as Namjoon watched the teen slide his ID between the door and the locker, yanking and effectively opening it.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Namjoon."

The red haired boy nodded, sliding the now folded-up post-it note between some of the mechanisms.

Jimin handed him some tape while smiling at Namjoon.

"I'm guessing you're a new student this year?"

Namjoon nodded, warily, yet responsive to their friendliness.

"Well, seeing as you're starting your senior year in a new school, you either did something really bad and got expelled, or you moved here...or both. So, Kim Namjoon, what did you do?" Hoseok smiled, narrowing his eyes deviously.

Namjoon's eyes widened, and it felt like his stomach dropped. His palms started to sweat, his calm demeanor suddenly turned into panic.

He didn't remember telling the boy his last name.

"H-how did you know my last name?" he asked, thinking that Hoseok had known who he was all along, and was just faking his friendliness.

The redhead's smile widened... if that was even possible.

"I know who you are, Kim Namjoon."

Namjoon's heart felt like it was leaping out of his chest.

Shit.

Shitshitshitshitshit.

First day of school and I've already fucked up. Now everyone will know. Is it still too late to transfer? Maybe I-

Suddenly, Hoseok burst into laughter, snapping Namjoon from his thoughts.

"Your face! I'm sorry if I scared you, I was just joking! The lockers go by last name and class, and our friend had that one last year, so I assumed your last name was Kim."

Namjoon let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

"O-oh. Haha. I um, yeah. I just moved here... With my family...For my dad's job."

"Nice," Hoseok, responded.

"Do you have your schedule, Namjoon? Maybe Hoseok and I have some classes with you. We can help show you around," Jimin asked, kindly.

"Sure, yeah. That would be great, actually," he replied, handing his phone to Jimin, sheepishly.

Hoseok quickly squashed next to the blonde, hoping to get a peak at the schedule.

It was silent as the two scanned it over, Namjoon jumping, as Hoseok suddenly shouted in excitement.

"We have first period together! Ooh! And English and music! But awww. Everything else is different. Why are you in all the smart people classes? You're taking all the advanced maths and sciences..." Hoseok pouted, making Jimin giggle.

"I have the same classes as Hobi, except I'm doing dance club, so I skip music some days. But our other friend is in the advanced math and science! He's in first period too, so we'll introduce you. That way you guys will know each other," Jimin grinned, eyes becoming crescent-shaped.

Even though Namjoon's brain was screaming at him for breaking rule number three: keep the friendships to a minimum, Jimin's smile was warm and welcoming.

He couldn't help but want to be friends with the overly excited redhead named Hoseok, and the shy but nice blonde named Jimin, so he nodded his head, smiling gratefully at the two.

"That'd be great."

-

"This is where we sometimes hang out before school, this is the cafeteria, and ooh! That's the music suite. It's really close to the dance rooms, so maybe you and I can go see Jimin sometimes. Oh and-"

Namjoon walked stiffly, both hands clenching his backpack straps, as Hoseok (Hobi as Jimin seemed to call him) had an arm around each of the boys' shoulders.

"-this is where our first period begins!" Hoseok pointed at the door leading into the history classroom.

The two followed Hoseok, as he made his way past a few rows of desks, finally situating himself somewhat in the middle.

They began unpacking, pulling out notebooks and pens, as they made small talk.

"So, where did you move from, Namjoon?" Jimin questioned.

"I grew up in a small town on the outskirts of Busan. We moved a couple of weeks ago."

"Wow, Busan! That's like five hours away! Me and Chimmy have lived our whole lives here. What does your father do?" Hoseok asked excitedly, as he sat down.

"Um, corporate. He's working for a software company."

"Like phones and stuff? Do you get discounts?" Namjoon let out a small laugh at Hoseok's excited, childlike attitude.

He reminded him of Young-Jae.

"Uh, well he works more with computers, but yeah. He sometimes comes home with new models to test."

"That's so cool! I think that's cool! Isn't that cool Ji-"

Namjoon jumped a little as his phone vibrated in his hand.

Looking down, he glanced at the screen, a slight worry over taking his features.

Mumbling and bowing a brief apology, he quickly scrambled out of the room before his two new friends could even utter a word, leaving them confused at his sudden departure.

"-min?"

Namjoon stepped out walking down the hall, trying to find a quiet place to answer the phone away from prying ears.

Seeing a relatively deserted hallway, he picked up the call.

"Mom? What's wrong?" the teenager answered quietly, his tone rushed.

"Hi sweetheart! What do you mean? I was just calling you to see how you were!" Namjoon let out a sigh of relief, after realizing it wasn't some pressing emergency.

Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose, before responding.

"I thought something happened to Young-Jae! Phone calls are for emergencies only, text messages are for questions, remember?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear! I forgot! Well, since you're on the phone, do you want to say hello to Young-Jae? He just woke up."

At the mention of his son, Namjoon momentarily forgot about his almost mini heart attack.

He heard some rustling on the other end, and his mother- now in the background- telling the toddler his father was on the other side.

"Dadda~?" the younger questioned.

A sense of calm washed over Namjoon, hearing his son's voice, still a little sleepy from just waking up.

"Good morning Jae-Jae. Did you just wake up?" the father cooed, pacing down the hallway before turning to go in the opposite direction when he reached the end.

"Dadda!" Young-Jae exclaimed, clearly amused at hearing his father speak.

The sleepiness was no longer evident in his voice.

"Hi, baby. Be good for halmeoni today, alright? I'll be back in a few hours, and then we can go to the park. How does that sound?"

"Yeah! Mimi!"

Namjoon chuckled at his son's limited vocabulary and the cute nickname he'd given his grandmother, due to his inability to say halmeoni.

"Alright, I'm going to hang up now. I love you, baby. Be goo-"

CRASH.

"Oof!"

"Ow!"

Namjoon was so immersed in his conversation, he hadn't realized he'd turned around and literally ran straight into someone.

Quickly grabbing his dropped phone, he ended the call, hoping his son wouldn't notice his father's sudden departure, and whoever he ran into wouldn't have seen the caller ID or heard his conversation.

He looked at the person sprawled on the floor next to him as dozens of papers fluttered to the ground.

The breath was nearly knocked out of his lungs.

And it wasn't just from the collision.

In front of him, wincing and rubbing the side of his head, was probably the most stunning boy Namjoon had ever laid his eyes on.

Long legs, slender arms, and broad shoulders. His skin was unbelievably smooth, and his nose, now scrunched in pain, was perched perfectly in the center of his face.

His jet-black hair looked slightly tousled- probably from the fall and excessive rubbing- and the pout he was now sporting on his lips made them look so damn kissable.

Another groan escaped his lips, snapping Namjoon from his gaydream.

"Ow..." the boy mumbled, as he tried to get to his feet.

"Oh s-shit," was all Namjoon could muster. He scrambled to help the boy, "I-i...I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

He quickly crouched down to help scoop up the fallen papers. The other boy looked him in the eyes, and damn.

Namjoon thought he would melt in his spot.

Heat rose to his cheeks, and he quickly looked down, hoping the other hadn't seen him blush.

"I'm fine, thanks for the help! Are you okay?" The boy's smooth, cheery voice questioned Namjoon.

"W-wha-?"

For a moment, Namjoon forgot what was going on. It went silent, as he still tried to regain his composure.

"I, uh..."

He really needed to learn how to speak.

The other boy seemed to notice his awkwardness and laughed lightly.

It was contagious and cheerful. It made Namjoon want to laugh along with him.

"Must've been some conversation you were having with your girlfriend to get you all flustered like that," the angelic boy teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

Namjoon was thankful his conversation wasn't heard, but his eyes widened upon realizing what the boy was insinuating.

Quickly shaking his head, he brought his hands up, almost as if surrendering.

"Oh, I-i don't- That wasn't-"

"Oh? Boyfriend then? We don't discriminate..." The teen shrugged, continuing to smile, playfully at the other.

Namjoon was at an honest loss for words.

He couldn't believe that such a beautiful human being was standing in front of him.

Smiling at him.

Making conversation with him.

Namjoon tried to get the courage to say something smart and witty, but he was a bumbling mess.

"I'm not- I don't- It wasn't- oh shit, you're bleeding." Namjoon pointed to the boy's elbow, where a long scratch had found its way along the perfectly smooth skin.

A small line of blood pooled from the opening, as the boy looked down, shifted the papers to his other arm, and raised his injured elbow to get a better look.

"Oh..you're right. I wonder how that happened..." he said, wincing a little as he finally registered the pain.

"Gah, I'm so sorry. It's my fault, I'm really clumsy...do you need the nurse?" Namjoon immediately went into 'concerned parent mode', stepping closer to the boy, and grabbing his arm gently so he could get a closer look at the scratch.

He felt awful.

This definitely wasn't the first impression he was hoping to have.

The teen smiled back at him, his perfect teeth practically blinding Namjoon.

His breath hitched, and he tried to cover it up by clearing his throat.

"I'll be fine. Hey, you're new here, right?" the boy seemingly ignored the question, turning the attention on him.

Namjoon frowned, concerned.

"Um, yeah I am...but are you sure-"

"I thought you were! You see, I'm the president of the student body government, so it's basically my job to know everyones' faces, and I've never seen you before. I'm Kim Seokjin by the way, but everyone calls me Jin. You are?" Seokjin held out his hand for Namjoon to shake.

The teen shook it, not at all admiring how soft and warm his hand was.

Not at all.

"I-i'm Namjoon. Kim Namjoon. But are you su-"

"It's really nice to meet you, Namjoon! On behalf of the student body here at Seoul Academy High School, I welcome you!"

Jin's happy demeanor really threw Namjoon off.

"Um, thank-"

RIIIIIIIIIING.

"Oop! That's the bell! Well, I better head to the main office, gotta drop these papers off!" Jin turned to leave, but Namjoon was still concerned and feeling guilty.

"Wait, Jin! What about your arm? Are you sure you don't need me to walk you to the nurse?"

Namjoon practically combusted as Jin turned around to shoot him a wink and a blinding smile.

"I'll be just fine. You have to get to class, and I have special permission for being late! The nurse's office is close, so I'll stop by and grab a band-aid on my way to class. See you around, Namjoon!"

And just like that, the beautiful boy with jet-black hair vanished into the now growing sea of students who were making their way to class.

Namjoon's eyebrows furrowed in thought as he too made his way to the classroom. He replayed the last few moments, still marveling at the beauty that was Seokjin.

Kim Seokjin, who are you?

He thought to himself, as he walked into first period.

-

"Hey, where'd ya go?" Hoseok asked, as Namjoon quickly slid into the seat beside the two friends.

"Oh. Um, sorry. I had to take a phone call."

"Must've been some emergency...you bolted!" Hoseok smiled widely.

Namjoon could only laugh awkwardly, finding it hard to come up with a response.

There was a moment of silence between the three as Namjoon surveyed the classroom and the flood of people coming in.

Most didn't even turn to look in his direction as they were too caught up with greeting old friends or getting situated in their desks.

One kid caught Namjoon's eye as he entered.

Pale, lean, bleach blonde hair, black, ripped skinny jeans, and a basketball jersey under a large zip-up hoodie.

The kid had an earbud dangling from one ear and a moody aura that screamed, 'Leave me alone, it's too early for this shit'.

What interested Namjoon was the contrast of people surrounding him, obvious athletes, joking and smiling as if he was their friend.

"Ooh! Jimin! Jimine! Jiminie! Look who it is! Look who's in our class this year!"

"Stooop!"

Namjoon turned to see Jimin slouching in his desk, trying to hide his head behind his notebook in embarrassment, while Hoseok excitedly slapped his arm.

He whispered and pointed towards the front, where Namjoon assumed he was directing the blushing blonde's attention to the jocks and the mysterious boy.

"Namjoon, you see that scary looking teenager hanging out with the basketball boys?" Namjoon nodded, eyeing the teen again, as one of the 'basketball boys' nudged him with an elbow, laughing.

"That's Min Yoongi and Jiminie here has the biiiiigest crush on him!" Jimin's eyes went wide, as he tried to quiet Hoseok down.

"No, I don't! Shut up!" he whined, pouting and whacking his friend in the arm.

"Oh yes, you do! Ever since that day in fourth grade when he scared that meanie seventh grader away! Don't deny it!"

Hoseok giggled as Jimin tried to pinch him.

"You should've seen it, Namjoon. A tiny fourth grader scaring a middle schooler! And from that day on, Jimin hasn't shut up about his knight in shining armor!"

Now it was Namjoon's turn to laugh, thinking about the scene and watching Jimin get all pouty from embarrassment.

"And there was this one time, he mhffph-"

"Shut up he's walking over here!" the blonde hissed, clamping a hand over Hoseok's mouth as Yoongi and the two 'basketball boys' made their way to the back.

Namjoon watched in amusement at the interactions.

Jimin's eyes followed the blonde, hand clasped tightly over his friend's mouth.

The two made eye contact for a full five seconds, before the moody teen nodded curtly, making his way towards the back with the others.

Namjoon turned to see Jimin's eyes blown wide, face completely flushed, gaping at the spot where the brooding teenager once stood.

"Oh my g- I-i...H-he-wha-He acknowledged my existe- Ew! Hoseok! Don't lick me!" Jimin shrieked, turning to face his red haired friend, who only smirked, crossing his arms as Jimin wiped his hand on his pants.

"Who told you to put your hand on my mouth."

Jimin was about to retaliate, but the second bell went off, signaling the start of class. He glared at Hoseok, who childishly stuck out his tongue.

Namjoon turned to the front as the teacher got up from his desk to close the door, but remembered something Jimin had said earlier.

Tapping the blonde on the shoulder, he leaned in to whisper, "Hey Jimin, didn't you say your friend was in this class too?"

"Welcome everyone! I'm Mr. Lee, and I'll be your history teacher for the year. Now-" Jimin's eyebrows furrowed a little as he whispered back a reply.

"You're right...Maybe he had presidential obligations this morning..." Namjoon's eyes widened at his words.

It couldn't be. Could it?

"Your friend wouldn't happen to be the president of the student body government, would he?" Jimin's face showed one of surprise and was about to answer when all of a sudden, a loud knock at the classroom door stopped him and the teacher from talking.

The teacher turned, walking over to the door.

Opening and staring out for a moment, he sighed, signaling for whoever was there to come in.

"You're late, Mr. Kim," the teacher mumbled, making his way back to his original spot in the middle of the floor.

"Sorry, Mr. Lee. Duty calls."

Namjoon watched in shock as Kim Seokjin walked in, a smile still plastered on his perfect face.

"Just because you're President, doesn't excuse you from being late for the first day of school. In fact, you should've been the first one here."

The students watched the interaction between the two, obviously familiar with their friendly banter.

"Oh no Mr. Lee, you've got it all wrong! I wasn't late because of presidential duties. No no no. Someone stopped me in the hallways on my way here for a picture. Can you believe it, Mr. Lee? I was stopped before the first day of school even started! I beat last year's record of the first day, in first period!"

"Well, Mr. Kim. I don't think that helps-"

"And I mean, who am I to deny such adoring fans? I really can't blame them, I mean, these broad shoulders, amazing hair, and perfect face..." Jin posed, staring intensely at Mr. Lee, before pointing, "I'm worldwide handsome, you know?" he said, blowing a kiss towards the teacher.

The class burst into giggles as Mr. Lee rolled his eyes and cracked a smile.

"Well okay then, if that's your excuse. I guess I have no choice but to let you off this time, Mr. Worldwiide Handsome... But only because it's the first day."

Jin smiled and bowed.

"Thank you, sir. Here's the actual permission slip from the office for my late absence. Your wife says have a great day, by the way." Jin held out a small yellow slip, and the teacher took it, giving a quick 'thank you', before resuming his introduction.

"Now-"

Namjoon