Chapter 2 (1/1)

Now, if you think I suddenly don’t have eyes or a sex drive and that Jimin being my teacher lowered my attraction towards him, you’re so far off from the truth you could be on another planet. In fact, seeing him in his professional attire and speaking about god-knows-what on the daily just makes me want him even more. I’m casual about it because I don’t want him to think I’m desperate or obsessed with him or something, though sometimes I can’t help but sneak in a few suggestive looks or comments.“Jeongguk, would you please stay back?” he asks as students start leaving the classroom, getting ready to head back to their dorms. I stop and fiddle with the strap of my backpack and when everyone is mostly gone, Jimin turns to me with a sigh. “What’s this?”I examine the piece of paper. It’s the test that I did horribly on, and on the blank line where it asks for today’s “Date” I wittily wrote “me please”.I shrug in a nonchalant manner. “It’s my test.” I look away for a moment, gazing out the window.“It’s a shitty test, that’s what it is.” He looks up at me with an expression I can’t decipher. “I don’t want you failing my class.”“I’m sorry,” I say honestly. “I’ve been practicing a lot with the dance team. Regionals are only a month away, I need to get in as much practice as I can.”He furrows his eyebrows. “That doesn’t mean you have to fail a class. And it’s just Biology, too; you know what I hear in the teacher’s room all day?” He flails his hands around while he’s talking. Adorable. “Jeon Jeongguk this, Jeon Jeongguk that, what a talented boy and how smart to be getting almost straight A’s. Except for Biology.”I bite my lip and nod, not knowing what to say. What if he thinks I’m doing it for attention? Worse, what if he thinks I’m messing with him, slacking off in class just because I feel like it? I don’t want that image for myself.“I’ll try harder, okay? But you need to know I’ve always been shit at Biology. I don’t know why, but it was my worst grade every year.”“I know,” he sighs, exasperated. “I looked at your records.”We stand there in silence for a moment. I watch how the sunlight hits his profile; he’s gorgeous. Puffy cheeks, plush, full lips, beautiful caramel skin tone. What’s not to like?“I don’t want to come off as a shitty teacher that can’t get his students to study. This is a very prestigious boarding school. I’m surprised they even hired me.” He rakes his hand through his hair, a habit I’ve noticed in the couple of weeks he’s been teaching here. “I just don’t want to fuck this up.”I swallow. “I-I’m sorry. I’ll try to do better on the next one, okay?”“Thank you.” He does look thankful, his face softening when he turns to look me in the eyes. “Do you, um… Would you like someone to tutor you?”I murmur, “Not unless it’s you.”He does his best to look annoyed, but there’s always that little amused quirk of his lips that tells me he’s fighting a smile. “Unbelievable. But only in the library, okay? You’re not trying anything funny?”I snort. “Of course not. If I would be, I’d be doing it right now while I have you alone.”“Oh, would you now?” He smiles and arches an eyebrow.I smirk. “Well, can you blame me?” He holds my gaze and I can’t help but admire how handsome he is. We’re flat-out flirting now. Dangerous.Then he breaks the moment by turning his body away from me, seemingly unaffected.“What about Wednesdays? How many classes do you have?”I purse my lips. “Seven.”“Then I’ll meet you at the library right after, okay?” he says, one hundred percent the stoic teacher he’s supposed to be.“Okay. Thanks,” I nod and leave.The five minute walk back to the dorms has me feeling giddy. For the first time in some weeks I wonder if I could ever have a chance with Jimin. Is he also attracted to me? I mean, that doesn’t just go away like that, does it? Though if my age puts him off… There isn’t anything I can do about that, is there? “Jeonggukkie, what’s got you so jittery today?” Hoseok’s loud voice booms through the practice room. I blow my sweaty bangs out of my face and look at him through the mirror covering up an entire wall. “You’ve been rushing your steps.”“Nothing, Hoseokie hyung. Just tired.” I answer. It’s only a half lie.He saunters over to me and throws an arm over my shoulder. “Man, when did you get so tall? Aw, our Jeonggukkie grew up well, didn’t he?”“Aw, Jeonggukkie—” comes another voice from behind me and the next thing I know, Taehyung has latched onto my back like a persistent leech.“Please stop calling me that.” An offended scoff against my neck.“Why does Hobi get to call you that and I don’t?”“Hoseokie treats me well. You’re just a pain in the ass.”I almost go deaf from the pained cry he lets out next to my ear, and then Taehyung falls to the ground melodramatically.“What have I done to deserve this disrespect…”I look at Hoseok with an amused expression. “Shh. Don’t look. Maybe if we don’t acknowledge it, it will go away by itself,” he stage-whispers. Taehyung continues wailing and slowly rolls away.“Babe, come back,” Hoseok pulls at his arm, but Tae remains on the ground, now lying on his back.“Boy you don’t deserve me no more,” he sings, brutally off-key. Hoseok drops down next to him and digs his face into the curve of Taehyung’s neck. “No, you dick! That tickles! Someone HELP ME!”Such an idiot of a pair. No wonder they work so well, I think to myself.“Get a room!” Yugyeom shouts from where he’s crouched down next to the speakers, grinning.“Yeah,” I butt in. “No one wants to see your gross PDA.”“Okay, Okay,” Hoseok grins, and gets off of Taehyung without a trace of shame. “Break’s over, everyone! Let’s go over the ending again!”I stand beside Hoseok and wait while everyone assumes their places. The heavy hip hop beat fills my ears and on the count of eight, I lose myself and let muscle memory take over my movements. It’s a powerful routine with some spectacular group formations and a lot of popping that challenges all of us – but then again, that’s what Hoseok is known for, really. I let my body snap and roll and twist with the beat and feel something instinctual take over. When I start dancing, I get into a completely different state of mind; nothing exists outside of the choreography, my body that aligns perfectly with the music, and the group of bodies coming together as one to express something we could never put into words. For me, there’s no feeling quite as rewarding as nailing a dance routine perfectly. Maybe that’s why I’m so good at it. Wednesday comes faster than I would have imagined. I sit through a hellish Math class, double Literature, a Biology class with Jimin not even looking at me once, and Arts. After that I head to the gym for a double PE class, and we finish up just in time so I can take a quick shower before rushing to the library to meet Jimin. He’s already there when I arrive, sitting at a desk in the back, looking small and soft. He’s wearing street clothes instead of his usual sharp attire and the sight of him makes something warm stir inside of me. The feeling should be alarming, but I welcome it with a sigh while I walk up to him.“Hey,” he greets me as I plop down into the seat opposite from him. His eyes are wide as he observes me. “Your hair is all wet.”I pause with my arm disappearing into my backpack, fishing for my pencil case. “Yeah, I came from PE.”“Oh. Okay, well,” He fishes out a couple of papers from his briefcase and slides them over to me. “So let’s get started right away, um. Should we go over today’s lesson, just so we can be sure you got it?”I nod yes and he mimics me. “Okay, so the topic of movement. First of all, movement can be active or passive, right? So let’s go over—actually, can I see your notes?”I hand over my notes and he looks through it quickly. He then fishes out a highlighter and flips the paper sideways so both of us can see it with our heads bent to the side, closer together than before.“So active,” he highlights the word with a swift stroke, “and passive. Now, we can speak of a lot of forms of movement; on a cellular level, for example the movement of the cell plasma. We speak of the movement of organs, which we are mostly unaware of; as in, you cannot control it with your brain.” He keeps highlighting the key words and I get lost in his explanation. He enjoys talking about this stuff so much, his eyes get all twinkly and his cheeks puff up with a smile.“Can you tell me an example?” He asks and I suddenly become aware that I was about to zone out completely.“Um—”“Just an example for passive movement.”I dig deep into my memory – don’t have to go far, since I was just listening to this same topic today. However, this one teacher in particular also happened to have grey slacks on today, which showed the curve of his ass beautifully; an ass I’ve just had the luck to have my face in months ago. I’ve been thinking about it ever since; can you honestly blame me for getting distracted?“Uhh, a… sitting in a moving car?” Honestly, I have no clue if it’s correct or not, but the smile that sits onto Jimin’s face – the one that could light up the entire library – tells me I must be right.“Exactly! If the car is going 70km/h and you’re just sitting there, not moving a muscle, you’re still traveling 70 km/h. That’s why it’s passive.”Well, you learn something every day. “He’s so perfect, Tae,” I grumble into my best friend’s back that evening. He looks away from the closet door he broke and is currently trying to fix, and turns around to face me. “I walked him to his car and he pulled on a sweater with thumb holes. I can’t do this.”His smile is one of sympathy. “Guk, you have to get through it though. It might suck, but it’s gonna be fine next year.” He picks imaginary fuzzes off my shirt gently. “Plus, he’s not hard to look at.”“Not hard to look at? Tae, I get hard just looking at him.”He snorts, shaking my shoulders. “Jeon Jeongguk, that’s crass. Can’t blame you though.”I sigh heavily. “Do you think I should tell him?”“What, that you pop a boner every time he shows up at work?”“…Don’t put it that way. That just sounds sad. And desperate.”Taehyung snorts. “That you want to sing him sonnets and buy him overpriced chocolate?”“I hate you. Go away,” I moan. I don’t mean it though and he knows it too, because the next second he starts stroking my hair and sighs.“It doesn’t have to be this complicated, Guk,” he tells me, his voice soft.I let my shoulders sag. “I know, I’m just freaking out. It’s okay though, I’ll get over it.”A pat on the shoulder and a box smile. “Good.”“Wanna watch a movie?”“Yeah, just let me fix this thing. Look for one in the meantime, will you? Just log into my Netflix.”I take a moment to examine the door for the first time since I came home. “What did you even do with this?” I ask, nudging him out of the way to take a better look.“Hmm,” he hums thoughtfully. “I wish I knew.”“This thing’s missing its hinges. Where are they?” I ask.“No clue man, I crashed into it and I think I heard something fall off but I didn’t think it was that important.”“Oh god. Tae, please look for a thing like this,” I point at the hinges still present on the door post. “Do you know where they fell?” He shakes his head but goes to look anyways.“Found them!” comes his shout of glory moments later. I look at my dumb best friend, so honest and grinning proudly over finding the missing pieces, and I wonder how he’s so wise and also so stupid at the same time.I laugh at him in earnest, falling to the ground. “What an idiot, ahh, seriously.”“Hey!” he kicks me playfully, also laughing. “I’m a genius. It’s hard to tell apart.” October rolls around seamlessly without a drastic change in the weather. It’s a bit cooler outside than it was in September, but you can still be out and about in just a sweater comfortably. One of the guys who lives on our floor, Yoongi, tells us there’s going to be a party in the city on Saturday he’s going to. We decide to go with him since we haven’t been out that much, and we haven’t really hung out with anyone besides Hoseok – who is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but also my best friend’s boyfriend. No one likes to be the third wheel for too long.So we sleep in late and pass the day dicking around, and then take showers and get dressed to head out. The rules in our dorms are pretty tame – there’s a curfew on weekdays, but if you ask to stay out, they let you. On the weekends, you’re free to go wherever you please.Taehyung gets dolled up as per usual – as for me, I prefer casual elegance. I let him do my hair and give in on some subtle, brown eyeliner and lip tint; I’m okay as long as it’s natural. Full-face makeup and idol-esque outfits are Tae’s thing (much to Hoseok’s delight and dismay: Taehyung is beautiful all dressed up like this, and other guys notice it too. Sometimes Hoseok is like a guard dog all night, sending off guys left and right that try to get into his boyfriend’s pants. I also look out for any creepy guys because Taehyung is all hugs and giggles when he gets drunk and we just want him to have fun, really).We take the subway to a party area in the city center and walk the short way to the club, big neon lights displaying the name “BigHit”. It’s a good club, a bit on the pricey side but it looks exclusive, has good music and it’s more cultured than other clubs we’ve been to. That’s enough to have us frequenting it often, and thanks to Yoongi’s connections we just fist bump with the bouncers and go in beside the line. It’s stupid, petty even, but being VIP still feels pretty good every time we come here.The music is already booming, bouncing off the walls and making our heartbeats jump up, fueling the mass of people in the club. The dance floor looks maxed out already with how many people are packed onto it, so we gravitate towards the bar. Yoongi greets the bartender like an old friend and orders us a round of drinks, something with vodka that’s not too sweet but not ass bitter either. I start sipping on it while Taehyung downs the whole thing in one go.“Hyung, come dance with me,” he pleads with Hoseok, who gazes at him with love-filled eyes and follows him onto the dance floor. One song in, Taehyung steals his boyfriend’s drink and starts grinding onto him, already tipsy and obviously having a lot of fun.Yoongi wolf whistles next to me. “Hoseok is getting some tonight,” he laughs. “It’s okay kid, you can sleep in my room.”If it wasn’t Yoongi, I would think this was an invitation to have sex, but I just nod in acknowledgement and mutter a thanks. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been sexiled from our room, but Tae has had his fair share of sleeping somewhere else just so I could get some, so I guess it’s only fair. I make conversation with Yoongi and some other guys for half an hour, and I somehow manage to get two more drinks in in that time. When I’m feeling pumped enough and a song that I like comes on I leave them at the bar in favor of the dance floor. I slither past writhing bodies and start dancing, not the tight, hip hop moves I do in dance with Hoseok, but the kind of dance that you just do freely, following the beat with your hips and your arms and your feet. Some blond-haired guy with his friends is watching me from a few meters away and I send him a flirty smirk to let him know I’m free. He eyes me up and down and takes a swig from his bottle, never tearing his gaze away from me. Just from the look in his eyes, I know I could take him home, and he’s hot too – but before he can come over a voice startles me on my left, making me look away.“Having fun?” It’s Jimin. His hair is styled and he has makeup on, kohl-rimmed eyes staring up at me curiously. He’s in tight-fitting clothes that show off his body and I’m having a hard time looking him in the eyes. He looks amazing, fierce and small and so fuckable; he is obviously here to pick someone up tonight. Jealousy flares up in me at the thought of some guy going home with Jimin, getting to have him when I can’t.“I am now,” I smirk at him.“My eyes are up here,” he fires back with a challenging tone. I drag my gaze back up his body, deliberately slow.“And what pretty eyes they are.” I cock my head to the side. “Can I buy you a drink?”Dangerous.Jimin looks like he’s having an internal battle with himself, but he also looks tipsy. In the end, the tipsy side with the twinkling eyes and the coy smile wins over.“Lead the way.”