012720

"Stay away from the clingy girls, they're cute, but not when you really get to know them," Jungkook told me with a sigh. He leaned back in his car seat, opposite of mine in the second row.

"Uhm," I scowled, "The 'hot' girls are what I, as a fellow girl, call the 'popular' girls. And I already know to stay away from them."

He huffed, "Well, then, stay away from Mr. Bang. If you get him for social studies, you're gonna have the longest year of your life. And if you're lucky enough to steer clear of his classes, then avoid him when he's on hall duty. He has never gone a day without spilling his coffee on his shirt during a lecture, and I doubt the rest of his sanitary needs are met."

"Great to know!" I said with a hint of sarcasm. "I'm totally going to get through High School with these awesome tips, Jungkook." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest.

"I'm just trying to help," he shrugged, but his eyes were in an arrogant slant.

"Can't you two take a notch down on the arguing? My headache isn't getting any better," Yoongi moaned from the back seat.

"Or Jin could just hurry up and get us to the school faster," I said.

"Kid, what's with the attitude?" Namjoon snapped from the front.

"Aren't we all doing likewise?" I replied, folding my arms.

"Princess," Taehyung said softly from behind me. "Let's just focus on what your orientation, we're almost there anyways."

I let out a breath. "I'm sorry, Namjoon..." I hesitated for a moment. "And Jungkook."

After my apology, I thought we'd all be able to sit quietly, but of course Jungkook had to break that by mumbling, "I did save your life, did I not?"

"Jungkook!" I whined, getting aggravated again. "We don't speak of that!"

"Okay, okay," he put his arms up in surrender.

"Hallelujah, we're here," said Yoongi. I looked outside my window as excitement built up inside of me. I recognized the building, my new High School.

Last year, I had gone to the Middle School while Jungkook was somewhat finishing his last year in High School. Since he didn't do all too well, with being gone so much, especially near the end of the year, he was taking a few classes this year. He didn't have to go to school every day, so he was only going to the building when he had a certain class that couldn't be taught at home or from a tutor. This year, I'd be joining Jungkook in the High School building that was a few blocks away from the Middle School. The coolest part was that in starting High School with Jungkook, I'd be going into SOPA, the School of Performing Arts Seoul. It specialized in music, dance, and the arts that the boys worked with. I never fully considered the idol life, but I was intrigued by it, and after spending so much time with the boys, as they were a popular boy band, it made me want to follow closely in their footsteps and go to SOPA so I could try for at least some life in the music industry. The boys supported it fully, which wasn't surprising since most of them would have gone if they had the chance, so I was signed up and, surprisingly, accepted.

--------

Looking down at my new class schedule, I turned a corner as I was heading to the Freshman hall. Jungkook was leading the way, and the rest of the boys were behind me as I trailed after him. I was distracted by the paper, so when I bumped into a figure that had stopped walking in front of me, I jumped, stepped back, and groaned. "Jungkook, why did you-" When I looked up, my sentence was interrupted. "Suho? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm doing the same as you," he said in a monotone voice. "You go here?" His eyes were a shade of hazel, yet they seemed darkened as if under a shadow. They were almost hidden with a few pieces of dark brown hair that fell over his eyebrows when he tilted his head to the side, letting some of his light highlights shine in the school lights above us.

"I was going to ask you that." I shook my head, "I'm the one whose family is a boy band. You do music too?"

"Actually, I do. Production and theory. I also play the piano." He stuffed his gloved hands inside the pockets of his dark blue jeans, before shifting his weight to his other foot. For a second I thought over why he was wearing the gloves. It was a mystery I hadn't been able to solve since I first met him. I glanced at his form fitting black T-Shirt, which distracted me for a moment. I almost forgot to respond.

"A-and not even that, but of all the Musical Arts schools you moved close to this one?"

"Yeah, I did move to go here. Well, kinda."

I was about to reply when Daehyun came around the corner. He walked over, hitting Suho on the shoulder with a small pout. "Suho, that's the fourth time I've lost you in ten minutes. I swear, I need to put a bell on you or something-" he yelled, before pausing and doing a double take, eyeing me. "Oh. My. Gosh. Sujin!" His face lit up when he saw me, opposite from the scowl he wore just seconds ago. "I didn't know you signed up to go here!"

"I didn't know you moved into the area! Suho explained it to me."

"I guess it's a pleasant surprise for all of us! What have you been up to? It's been a while since I saw you!" His face was so bright and cheerful, and his smile was so wide, I thought his cheeks would be hurting by now. A row of pearly teeth complimented his bright, blonde hair that was nearly cut and loomed over his bright, blue eyes.

"Not much has happened, and I guess after getting my life more straight after the, uh, incident, things have been going pretty smooth. Break seemed to go really fast."

Daehyun nodded. "Yeah, you're right about that. I've already found my classes, I was just gonna go look with Suho for his. Care to join?"

He looked over to where Suho was standing seconds ago to find the area void of life. "How!" he groaned looking back at me, "Oh well, I'll just walk with you guys, I guess. He'll come back eventually... Probably."

"Uh, I knew he was quiet, but that's a new level. How'd he get away without anyone noticing?" I asked, looking around the hallway for the disappearing boy. "Hey guys," I said catching the attention of the boys behind me who had been watching the scene thoughtfully. "Did you see where Suho went?"

Taehyung ignored my question and eyed me with a smirk, "Who are these boys again?"

"Ah," I sighed. "Long story, but I think I've told you before. This one here, Daehyun, helped me out earlier, when you know, I was gone for a while." I tried to explain, keeping away from the actual facts that neither of us really wanted to relive.

"Ahh, right. I never got to meet you," Tae said, offering a hand which Daehyun took. "I'm Taehyung, one of Sujin's brothers."

"Ah, I've heard about you," Daehyun said. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

I took the opportunity to introduce the rest of the boys that were here. They all seemed very happy to meet him, as they all knew his 'heroic' story of how he got me out of my predicament.

"So, who was the other one?" Taehyung asked.

"Ah, that was Suho, he's my... uh, brother," Daehyun said with slight hesitation. "But anyways, were you going to go find your classes, Sujin?"

"Yeah, yeah, why don't you take a look at my schedule and see if maybe Suho and I have any classes together?"

"Of course," Daehyun agreed, grabbing my paper.

"What grade are you in?" I asked as he scanned the paper.

"This is my Sophomore year, one grade above you and Suho."

"Ah, alright," I nodded.

"So it looks like you might have English with him, as well as Music Production and Theory."

"Oh, great!"

Jungkook huffed, checking his watch impatiently. "Are you ready to go, Sujin?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," I rolled my eyes before giving him a small smile to show him I was somewhat kidding.

Jungkook and I still bickered a bit, yes, but we were on good enough ends at this point that all wasn't taken too seriously. Jungkook, being one of the main reasons I made it out of my father's hold alive, had talked with me pretty seriously about how we were getting along better. That night, he had expressed all his feelings and explained why he had treated me the way he did. He made sure I knew how much he regretted everything before I was taken away and how much he really loved and cared for me. He didn't want to make that mistake again, after seeing how easily I could escape from their lives in a snap. Even though, one night, early on in my time with the boys so far, I had heard him talking to Jin and Namjoon about his reasons for how he reacted towards me, it felt much better hearing it for myself. Ever since, we had gotten along pretty well, except our few quarrels which were never really intentional of hurting one another's feelings. It was only natural to have two siblings of the eight of us cat-fighting every once in a while, and there was no one better for the job than the two maknaes.

It gave some interest to the household.

I followed Jungkook as he led us to my first class, and Daehyun followed beside me. We were almost to the classroom when Daehyung yelled, "Suho! Get over here!"

I looked behind me to see Suho running to catch up to the group. "Sorry, hyung, I was getting just- uhm."

"Go on. Tell me what you were doing," Daehyun ordered, sounding like a mother.

"I just- ugh. Don't get mad at me okay?" he paused, putting a glove back onto his hand. "So.... I may or may not have gotten into a fight, but in my defense! He totally deserved it." He gave an almost evil-looking smile. I had to keep myself from shivering. I was supposed to trust him.

"Who? And what did he do?"

"Insulted the both of us, and made fun of me for wearing gloves. So you see, I just kinda shut him up? And I don't know who he was, if you somehow didn't know, I'm not a people person," Suho told us, making me laugh.

"Geez, you're making it sound like you killed him Suho," I said, starting to walk away again with the two boys following.

"I didn't kill him, I just gave him a black eye, and maybe a few other bruises."

The members looked back and forth between Suho, Daehyun, and I as if they were examining him yet at the same time questioning why I associated with him at all. Their faces showed their concern about Suho.

"I'm sure he had his reasons," I mumbled, hoping only the boys would hear me as I inched towards Jungkook to continue on our way.

"I do," Suho said loudly, showing he'd heard me despite my wishes. "He threw the first punch, dummy. I'm not going to let him get away with that."

"Okay," I said with a sigh and continued walking. "So, Suho, are you ready for music production?" I asked, poking the boy's shoulder. His gloved hand swatted mine away before answering.

"Of course, I studied over break for this. Daehyun was adamant on going here since our last school had similar classes, so I got dragged along. There was no way I'm coming into class without fully understanding the material. It just makes everything easier for me knowing I can ace a class in advance." His eyes glazed over as if even talking about the subject was boring.

"But how will you learn if you already know everything? I don't get why you would study everything in advance."

"It's just what I was taught to do, I guess. And just because I learn everything I can, doesn't mean I don't have more to learn. Some things can only be learned through trial and error, which is why I started putting what I learnt to use when I finished reading and watching a concept used."

I punched his arm lightly, a small laugh escaping my throat. "Of course you did, I can already tell you're such a nerd, Suho. When do you have the time for this all even?" He just shrugged and walked into one of the classrooms, and I hoped he knew where he was going. I wasn't sure if it was my class or not, but once Jungkook nodded towards the doorway, I decided it probably was.

"Welcome!" a voice said as I joined Suho in the class. Inside, a tall woman greeted us. Her body was extended a few extra inches with her bright red high heels and her thin, straight, brown hair had highlights. Her glasses were cat-eye shaped and her lips were tinted bright pink. Her cheetah-print dress added to her stylish appearance. I could tell she was going to be a fun teacher. "It's nice to meet you, I'm your teacher for your English course. You can choose a desk to use on the first day. On it is a list of materials you can take home so you know what you'll need for class when school actually starts." I nodded to the teacher with a smile, while Suho waved a dismissive hand at her before heading to the back of the class. I smiled and joined him as Yoongi and Jin introduced themselves to the teacher.

"You gonna sit back here on the first day?" I asked Suho.

"Of course, I don't need to be in the front of the class. Too much attention," he said from the desk in the corner of the room.

I laughed, "I mean, that's true. But it's lonely back here."

"You can sit by me if you want. It might be better for you towards the front though." He picked up the paper from the desk and started reading over it.

"I'm not going to know anyone else at this school on the first day, so I might as well sit by a familiar face," I said before grabbing a green name tag from the front of the room and placing it on my desk. I scribbled my name on with a strongly scented Sharpie, and then put it on the center to mark my spot.

Suho did the same, grabbing a black piece of paper and scribbling with a white marker.

"Wow," I joked, "how colorful."

"Aesthetics are important, you should learn what colors go good together."

I looked at my black print on green paper. "Then I think I somewhat failed, black goes with most colors but... Well, do you approve?" I motioned to my name tag.

"No, that's an ugly color of green. You couldn't have picked a better shade at least?" He picked the name tag up and inspected it before placing it back down on the desk.

I had the urge to laugh at myself, yet all that really came out was a peep of chuckle. "Great, then, we've established that I don't know my colors. That's nice."

Jungkook joined us back at my desk and eyed it. "You're gonna be that kind of kid?"

"You mean the kid who sits in the back and says nothing while twirling their fingers in gum and doesn't pay attention to the lesson? No, I just thought I'd sit by Suho since I know him," I shrugged. "I mean, I have a lot of friends I could sit by, so you know, it's a shocker I'm sitting by him," I said with thick sarcasm.

Jungkook laughed, giving me a sincere smile. "I don't doubt you'll make more. Anyways, I don't know your teacher well, but she seems nice, I guess."

"Yeah, she does, but honestly I hope she doesn't treat us like kids. I think she won't be strict enough."

"Wow, I thought you were always scared of the strict teachers."

"It's not like I've had a lot of teachers in my life, Aecha taught me a lot. But, I do know that if she had been scarier, I would have learned more."

"I see. I guess you'll have to tell me how this class goes."

"Yeah," I nodded. "Well, Suho, should we get to the next class?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

I laughed slightly at his lack of enthusiasm. "Alright, Jungkook, lead the way."

It's been a few months, I hope you all enjoyed it! A lot has happened in my life the last while, with some major ups and downs, but I decided I needed to be on top of actually publishing what I was writing again and not let everything else bring me down . It's been amazing to see the support that's continued on the last book of the series! I really think, and hope you like this book just as much! Tell me what you think! 😁 I'm so happy to be back. I'll be updating every MONDAY for now on. See you in a week!
Also, not to be that kind of person, but I've been reading a lot of blogs about Wattpad and many have assured me that asking for votes is not something to be ashamed of. If you don't mind, hit that little star at the end of each chapter, it really helps me know who's actually reading each chapter to the end and motivates me a lot. You don't have to, but it's appreciated a TON! If you're an author too, don't be shy to ask for it. It's not wrong 😁
Take care, love yourself!
-Rose