Trouble, trouble

Trouble with a capital T

-Horslips, 'Trouble'

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Whispers erupted the moment he stepped inside the classroom.

Some were loud, some muffled but all were clearly focused on the new boy. The class was having a field day considering the fact that a new student had transferred to their school, that too during the senior year, something which usually didn't happen.

The fact that he looked devilishly handsome even though he had a scowl etched on his face and he had violated many of the rules from their school's dress code on the first day itself didn't go unnoticed by Noelle's fellow classmates either. 

 Especially the girls.

He looked like a teen rebel alright with dark bangs falling into those brown eyes. His choice of dressing up in jeans ripped at the knees would surely be frowned upon by many of the Seobeom High teachers if not all even if he did have a reasonable excuse for not wearing the school uniform but some of Noelle's female classmates begged to differ. 

Noelle knew that no other student or teacher had dared to have tattoos, ever since the school was established. She also knew that this was a major dress code violation, so she wondered how they had even accepted him as a transfer student.

She wanted to scrunch up her nose in distaste when she heard not-so-subtle "He's so hot." and "Wow, our class' visuals will go up now." from some of the girls who were already hyperventilating over the latest eye-candy in Seobeom High.

"Do they really have nothing else to do than drool over a guy they barely know?"  she rolled her eyes at how shallow some of her classmates were.

Something about the new boy screamed 'dark and mysterious' to Noelle. Well, she wasn't the only one who noticed it because other young girls in the class had too. The 'don't mess with me' aura around him was one of the reasons that they were swooning over him aside from his looks.

"Now, now class." their homeroom teacher's voice scrambled to be heard over the excited din that had settled in the class.

Noelle's friend Park Jimin took this as his cue and got up to command the class to greet their teacher together as he was the Class President. 

Noelle was thankful that he hadn't snitched about her being late because even though he was a very close friend of hers, the boy was a total backstabber.

They had known each other ever since their childhood days for their families were friends. Even as kids, Jimin would always tell on her. The young boy loved tormenting her and Noelle was pretty sure that him covering up for her being late was done with an ulterior motive because he winked at her when she looked in his direction, an evil smirk plastered all over his smug face.

Noelle had to begrudgingly admit that Park Jimin had the looks of an angel and the smile of one too, but she knew the red horns that were hidden behind his golden halo of his. 

Still, she cared for him a lot and vice-versa. Their bickering and arguments were in good humor and not at all serious. You could say that they were frenemies, but  Noelle knew that even though Jimin loved to rat her out and backbite, he was someone who would be the first one to come rushing to her rescue if she ever found herself in trouble. 

"So as you all can see, we have a new addition to our class today." 

The teacher had a smile on her face but Noelle could see it was an uncomfortable albeit strained one. A few cheers and murmurs were heard after this declaration but they were quickly dismissed by the teacher with a wave of her hand.

Again she wondered how her straight-laced principal had allowed this boy to transfer here- Seobeom High valued discipline above anything else and she could clearly see that the boy standing in front of her was anything but that. 

Their gazes met for a second but his eyes didn't light up in recognition or anything of the likes of that. Those eyes were stormy and cold and shifted their focus from Noelle pretty quickly.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?" the teacher whispered to the new boy and Noelle heard it for she was sitting right at the front. 

Noelle wasn't surprised when he didn't respond and continued to stare off in space. 

"So I didn't imagine his rudeness from before after all." she mumbled under her breath and huffed. The gall of him to smoke right outside his new school astounded her.

 Noelle had never seen anyone like him that's for sure—She had seen defiant troublemakers before, she had dealt with some of Seobeom's rebel teens being a student council member but him? She could see he was going to be a difficult one.

"Okay then..." her teacher too seemed to sense this for she herself introduced the boy, "Class, this is Jeon Jungkook and he has transferred here from Busan. Please welcome him warmly and help him settle in!"  

Applause broke out in the class and Mrs. Jung turned to the boy who now Noelle knew was named Jungkook.

"Jimin can show you around and tell you what all work you missed. He will answer all your questions and tell you all about the student rulebook which all the students at Seobeom have to follow.

If you still have any queries, feel free to ask me anytime. I am Jung Mi-ran, your homeroom and Korean literature teacher. Also, I know that you are new so I will give you a week's time, but you have to buy the school uniform as casual clothes are not allowed. You can go ahead and sit there." 

The teacher pointed out to a seat beside Jimin that was empty and Noelle saw her friend's face light up at the prospect of a new friend from Busan for his family hailed from Busan even though like Noelle, he had lived in Seoul all his life. 

But Jungkook didn't heed his new homeroom teacher's instructions at all. He sauntered to an empty seat at the very end of the classroom and plopped down on it, throwing his bag on the desk to stake his ownership.

This action incited many gasps and a few amused chuckles, some muffled while others were not-so-subtle.

Noelle could see that his rudeness baffled her teacher a little but she knew that Teacher Jung was one of the nicer teachers in the school - a very kind and forgiving lady who she decided to let it go and announce the important announcements for the day before taking the roll call.

Their first period wasn't Korean Literature but History so Mrs. Jung took her leave soon after. The moment that she stepped out of the class with Jungkook as the center of attention. Yet, he ignored anyone who was brave enough to approach him like Noelle knew he would. 

"He's something else isn't he?" Jimin's sweet voice startled Noelle a little when he sneaked up on her while she was taking out her notes for the upcoming History lesson. Their teacher was a punctual one so him being five minutes late surprised her.

"He ignored you didn't he?" she dryly replied without looking at Jimin. 

"You hardly sound surprised Ellie. Do you know him?"

"I don't," Noelle turned her body towards the boy who stood with one elbow playfully resting on her shoulder and shrugged it off.

 "Don't you have to 'show him around' ? I pity you." she clucked her tongue at him, a ghost of a smile spreading on her lips.

"I think you should stop worrying about me and start worrying about what would've happened if I had spilled the beans about you being horribly late to school. Tell me Ellie, how did you manage to evade Mr. Choi?" 

Curiosity and wickedness sparkled from his eyes as he beamed at her, bestowing his 'angelic smile' on her. (according to many of her juniors and senior from school although Lee Noelle begged to differ)

"It's a secret. What do you want?" Noelle grimaced and stopped herself to remind him to not call her 'Ellie' anymore - a pet name from their childhood days. 

She resisted the urge to call him 'Chimney' because she knew she had to be extra cautious around him for the time being, seeing as he was holding the late-comer card against her.

"The brat wouldn't think twice before making sure that I get demerits and face punishment!" Noelle thought with a sigh.

"Well, I was thinking if you could show this Jungkook kid around instead as he seems to have a penchant for ignoring handsome people like me. I rather liked having another Busan boy in class, but I think he's a man of few words." Jimin dramatically heaved a loud sigh.

"Anything but that Jimin!" Noelle protested, way too loudly for other students stopped chattering to stare at her, making her neck and cheeks flush with color.

"Ellie, you do not have a choice in the matter my dear~" Jimin sing-sang, his smirk and the devious crinkle in his eyes goading her to try and curse him out loud. 

He knew the perfect Lee Noelle wouldn't do that, especially in the classroom and when he had a leverage against her.

"Can you not do it? Mrs. Jung asked you after all and last I remember, you are a total stickler for rules aren't you?" 

"Not when I am the one breaking them Ellie." Jimin flashed her one of his angelic smiles which made his eyes disappear and his pearly white teeth flash behind his soft-looking lips. 

Noelle knew it was a smile which made many girls drop their books when he bestowed it upon them in the classroom or school corridor; among well, other things  she'd rather not say.

 Just thinking about it made her revolting horror wash over her entire being. Park Jimin was a charmer alright, and he had the ability to make girls fall in love with him with just one single look.

"But Jim—" she began only to be cut off by the said boy,

"Ellie I think I am a stickler for rules after all. I am itching to confess something to our teacher or better yet, to Mr. Choi! Will you accompany me?" he raised his eyebrows at her innocently.

"Okay," she conceded with raising her palms in the air, "I will try to talk to him but I make no promises. He is the one who has to listen, I'll just do my part and nothing more." 

"Deal! Man, I really wanted to be friends with the new tough kid but what can I do? I'll generously give you the golden opportunity instead. Consider it a favor Ellie." 

Jimin's smug shit-eating grin was way too bright, making her sigh aloud again. Luckily, their History teacher arrived before she had a chance to get up and talk to Jungkook.

Even though she had just met him, Noelle wasn't a fool to not deduce the fact that Jeon Jungkook was trouble with not only a capital 'T' but the whole word underlined in screaming bold italics.

After History got over, Noelle inhaled a long drawn breath to brace herself before approaching Jungkook. She saw him with his head on the desk in front of him, his eyes shut yet the scowl still marred his face, forming a noticeable 'V' in the space between his brows. 

"Ahem." she coughed to get his attention but his eyelids didn't crack open. One of his hands was dangling over the edge of his desk, the inky swirls on the back of his palm bold and stark against his skin.

 Noelle had expected as much from the reticent boy so she went on, "You shouldn't ignore Jimin, he was just doing what our teacher asked him to do."

An irritated grunt was all she got which made a scowl appear on her face which mirrored his yet he still didn't bother to open his eyes or acknowledge her presence.

 Noelle didn't know what else to do or say so she shot Jimin a helpless look but the he simply shrugged at her, his eyes narrowed as if to say, "You are so not getting out of this deal."

She thought to change tactics for she wanted to get this over with so Noelle mustered up all the politeness she could and said, 

"So, we met earlier right?" a nervous chuckle escaped her lips and she wanted to cringe at that but she continued, "If you have any questions regarding—"

"Just piss off." The words were barely a whisper, barked at her with annoyance lacing them. No one else around them seemed to have heard Jungkook reply to her but Noelle had and it re-ignited the spark of aggravation and displeasure she felt at his insolent conduct. 

"Excuse me?" an incredulous gasp spilled from her lips even though she wasn't all shocked from his impudence.

He didn't reply but to her surprise he raised his head, straightening in his seat. A hand dug into his bag and pulled out a phone with a cracked screen, earphones were already plugged into the phone's port.

 He wordlessly proceeded to block his ears with them, leaning back in his seat, his long legs stretching out from under him languidly.

Noelle was starting to realize it was fruitless to argue with him or drill some sense into him. He was hell bent on ignoring her while she stood right in front of him and for a short moment she sympathized with Jimin's apparent frustration at the fact that Jungkook had done the same with him. 

Heck, he had even ignored their teacher.

Noelle knew that Park Jimin was an attention-whore so she also knew that the new boy ignoring him must've bruised his inflated ego. She also knew it was one of the reasons he had told her to deal with Jungkook. 

Noelle didn't want to play these stupid mind games though. She had other things to do, books to read and notes to take. Their CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test) was at the end of the academic year, their last year of high school.

 Even though it was still more or less the start of the term for only a two months had passed since their senior year started, Noelle knew that it was only a moment of time before the months would fly away in the blink of an eye. 

If she wanted to get into Seoul National University, she had to give her one-thousand percent. She didn't have enough time to waste on a boy who was evidently still going through the rebellious phase of puberty.

"Look here," she yanked the earphones out of his ears and ignored his stormy eyes glowering at her and finally acknowledging her presence. Noelle kept her voice just barely above a whisper so she leaned in to be heard by him properly,

"I want to 'piss off' too as you so eloquently said, but I am afraid I have to show you around, courtesy of that guy over there who you just offended." she pointed towards Jimin with her thumb and continued, 

"If you don't like this you can just go apologize to him and make amends, I seriously don't give a flying fu—" 

Noelle bit her lip before the curse could spill out from her mouth. She had an image to uphold in school after all. She was Seobeom High's top student adored and respected by teachers and student body alike.

"...I don't really care about it. I have other important things to do than play the messenger between you two." 

Noelle sucked in a breath at the end, not looking into those fiery chocolate brown eyes but focusing on the art inked on his skin. She could see a cut or two which was on the track of healing on his knuckles along with the tattoos and a scar near his pinkie.

She wasn't a big fan of tattoos and piercings but for some inexplainable strange reason, she found those black symbols and swirls on his skin intriguing.

 Noelle furrowed her brows as she tried to make heads or tails of what the symbols on his knuckles  meant, but for the first time in her life, she couldn't. 

φεγγάρι

Maybe the words were in a foreign language. They sure seemed exotic and piqued Noelle's curiosity. She wanted to know what they meant, the nerd inside her desperately wanting to know.  

"I'll manage." Jungkook spoke up and Noelle finally looked into his eyes. Those brown orbs shone with something so intensely inscrutable that it made her heart start thudding madly inside her chest for one short moment.

"What do you mean?" 

"You showing me around or whatever, I'll manage by myself without that. We aren't in middle school." A grimace followed his words, "Just say whatever you want and scram." 

It took her a few long seconds to register his words.

Noelle had hoped he would've continued to ignore her words like before so she could at least give that excuse to Jimin but his reply had totally befuddled her to say the least.

Less than even a couple of hours of knowing the boy, Noelle knew that he was going to be difficult to predict. And Noelle hated unpredictable things, especially unpredictable people.

"I...I um," Noelle grappled for words to say to him while he stared at her wordlessly, her expression unreadable, 

"Okay then, as you wish. I will still give you my school diary which has all the rules written down and my notes which you can copy for all the work you missed. You can ask me anything you do not understand. You can ask Jimin too, I am sure he can explain things better than I can..." 

She rambled on but trailed off when she saw that their next teacher had entered the classroom. 

Jungkook raised an eyebrow at her as if to say, "Anything more?" 

Shaking her head, she returned back to her seat. A look in Jimin's general direction made her see him looking at her with a confusion yet curiosity brewing behind his dark observant eyes and his easy smile. 

Noelle knew Jimin hadn't expected Jungkook to reply to her and now must've had a thousand questions for her. She also knew that she was going to avoid Park Jimin's intrusive busybody self at all costs during their lunch break.

Just as she knew that a pair of unfathomably deep chocolate brown eyes were staring a hole at her back throughout the rest of the period.

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A/N

So Park Jimin made an appearance already! Honestly, I was going to show a time leap but I thought adding Jimin would be a fun angle :) 

And no, he's not a potential love interest/ love triangle character; he is just Noelle's guy friend. 

Or is he? *wiggles eyebrows* I'm going to let you guys figure that one out... 

By the way, Jungkook's tattoo's meaning and translation would be explained later so bear the suspense until then. *cue evil laughter*

 Also, knuckles isn't the only area of his body inked with tattoos but that will be revealed later in less-than-holy scenes of 18+ chapters  ;)

 (don't worry young readers, I'll warn if and when I write those)

P.S. Who's your bias wrecker? Because mine is Jeon Jungkook and his bunny smile. His smile makes my heart go sha la la la and padam padam padam.

Love,

Milli