JUNGKOOK

My glasses slip low on my nose for the three hundredth time.

I've been trying to focus on the book spread out wide in front of me for the last hour, but with no luck. And these glasses— I'd really have to get new ones.

Finally sighing, I close the book softly and walk out of the library. Maybe getting some fresh air would help me concentrate better. Because at this rate, I was going to fail the test tomorrow.

And father wouldn't be happy at all.

Wincing, I turn my attention to the weather outside. It's such nice weather, all blue skies and sunny clouds.

And then a wisp of smoke crosses my vision.

Then I smell the acrid scent of it, and immediately turn my head to the source. There's a man with brightly dyed green hair, leaning against the wall of the library.

He's smoking.

And I can't help myself.

"You can't smoke here." The words are out of my lips in a second, and the man's piercing eyes turn to me. "It's a library. And smoking's bad for you."

He laughs dryly.

"Smoking's bad for me, huh?"

"It's really bad for your lungs." I start, narrowing my eyes at the cigarette he's holding. "You're going to die early if you keep doing that."

"Hmm." He says, taking another puff. Then to my surprise, he actually crumples it in his hand and tosses it to the ground.

"There. Satisfied?"

"No." I say firmly, my lips pursing. "You're littering now."

He laughs again, his gaze amused. I'm actually stunned now when he picks it up and tosses it into the trash can next to him.

"Thank... you." I murmur, still not being able to get over the fact he'd listened to me. Almost no one ever did.

"You're a funny one." He just says, and then turns around to walk away. His mint hair disappears behind the corner of the library walls, and I blink.

"Jungkook!"

"Jimin." I say, turning to see my best friend. He shakes away his hair from his sparkling eyes, dyed a light brown. He'd probably come out after me when he'd seen me leaving.

"Can't focus? Wanna go get ice cream?"

"Jimin, I can't." I laugh, walking back to the library doors with a smile on my face. He's pouting, lips pushed together in disappointment.

"I have to do well on this test."

"What do you mean?" Jimin looks at me with wide eyes, tugging on his sleeve. "You always do so well! Like damn— you're second in the entire school!"

"Don't curse." I say, and he rolls his eyes.

"That's not the point, Kook."

I knew I was smart. I just wasn't smart enough for my father. Being ranked second in the school wasn't enough to make him happy, and I had to make him happy.

Because he was my father.

"Sorry, Jimin." I say, messing up his hair. He yelps in protest, and I smile widely. That just never failed to annoy him.

"I promise I'll buy you all the ice cream you want later."

__________________________

L

"Yoongi." I call with a small smile flickering on my lips as I lean against the side of my car. "Where's my five dollars?"

"See? This is why I bet so little." He grumbles, pushing bills into my open palm. "I knew I was smart for keeping it safe."

"That guy was good, though." I muse, shaking out my long hair as I tug off my helmet. "Might've beat me if he hadn't underestimated me for being a girl."

As I take out a cigarette, Yoongi suddenly laughs.

My eyes flash over to him, and he waves his hands. "You don't have to look so scary on me. I just remembered something funny that happened today."

"What."

"I was behind the library smoking," He says, crossing his arms. "And this boy told me off not to. Went off about how it was bad for my lungs."

My brows raise. "What did he look like?"

"Why would you care about that?" He says, but taps on his cheek thoughtfully. "Pale skin, glasses, big eyes. Brownish hair— it was a dark brown, I think."

That quiet boy in class comes to my mind, the description reminding me of him. But there were just so many boys with that description, so I brush it off.

But Yoongi notices the slight look of hesitation on my face almost immediately. He was good at that.

"Why? You know him?"

"I'm not sure." I finally say, shrugging my shoulders as I shake my head slightly. "Forget about it."

"I think someone else wants to drive against you." Yoongi suddenly says, and my eyes sweep up to see the typical challenger.

Tall and cocky. His eyes rake over me as if I can't see him, and Yoongi's jaw tightens.

"How much do you want to bet?" I mutter under my breath, a devilish smile on my lips as he comes closer.

"None at all." Yoongi laughs, but his laugh is dark.

"Crush him, L."

__________________________

JUNGKOOK

I'm panicking.

Two questions on the test wasn't something that I knew at all, so I'd guessed on it. The others were okay, but it wasn't perfect.

What if I got second again?

What if my father knew?

My head's so busy worrying that I almost don't hear the teacher. I look up too fast, and rush to push my glasses back up my nose.

"Jungkook, I asked if you can go find Lee Min. She's missing again, that little troublemaker."

"Y-Yeah." I say, a bit too softly. Pushing up on my chair, I leave the classroom reluctantly to go find her.

Lee Min.

I'd never talked to her. But I'd seen her do it before, to boys who'd gotten enough courage to try to go up and start a conversation with her.

Her voice was like ice, and that was the end of the conversation after that.

After looking around for a bit, I find her slumped against a wall behind the school. She's smoking, her eyes closed and head tilted upwards.

"Hey."

At my voice, her eyes snap open. Without turning her head, her gaze slashes towards my direction.

"You can't smoke on school grounds." I say, licking my lips and motioning at the cigarette she's holding in her slender fingers. "It's not allowed."

"Were you at the library yesterday?"

I'm stunned, not just because of the question but also because of her voice. Cold but a husky feminine.

"W-What? How did you know?"

A half-smile twists her red lips. And then I can't help but notice how beautiful she is— and I really didn't pay attention to these kinds of things.

It was distracting, and I had things to focus on.

"So this is kind of your thing, huh?" She says, and I can't help but tilt my head sideways in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"Never mind." She laughs dryly, and it reminds me of the man from yesterday that I'd seen in the library. But how had she known I was there?

Then the scent of smoke gets stronger, and I instinctively flinch.

"Can you stop that?"

"Stop smoking?" She looks up, and I nod with my features scrunched together. "Why?"

"Because it's unhealthy." I say back, pushing up my glasses. "It's just not good for you and your body. So you should stop."

"I see."

There's a faint smile flickering on her lips, and I squeeze my lips together in frustration. Did she think I was joking? Why was she looking at me like I was?

But then she stands up, walking like a shadow. Her movements are so graceful— it's like her feet is barely touching the ground.

She tosses the cigarette into the trash can propped up against the school wall.

"Let's go."

"What? Where?"

She turns around to gives me a look. Her dark eyes look like storms in the sunlight, brows raised with that amusement she's been showing me all this time.

"Class, Jungkook."