Seven am class was a bitch, everyone knew this, and yet all his faculty professors decided that it was fun to make all the students take 7 am classes every weekday and six pm classes to end the day, breaks in between. Everyone was a walking-zombie in the class, Taehyung was, too, without exception. The boy always took a seat on the second row from the front on the right corner because the view of rows of trees, people walking, and the faculty buildings from the window was great.

Sure, being an engineering student, he loved numbers, integrals, derivatives, vectors, and so on, but he loved sleep more and now he could literally trade all his money so he could go home and lay on his hard mattress. the only problem was he got no money.

His department was dominated by male students, so it was fairly easy to remember all the female ones. It was kind of weird when somehow, in this particular day, there was a change in the numbers of females attending the class. If Taehyung weren't craving for sleep that much he almost turned to zombie, he would've noticed how there were quite numbers of new faces that mostly consisted of girls from other faculties, chalked up with thick makeup and beautiful clothes. One thing to respect about them was their tenacities to wake up very early in the morning. The other boys seemed happy with the new addition, though, but they weren't exactly the reason of the sudden interest all the girls were aiming at.

Right at five minutes before seven, a tall figure cladded in black turtleneck and dark green coat entered the class. As soon as the person arrived, chatters were elevated subconsciously. It seemed that the presence of that person had caught everyone's attention, even Taehyung who had been resisting his urge to sleep. The students' breath was caught on their throat when the said person turned towards them, standing tall in front of the blackboard looking so composing and charismatic after putting down a thick book and laptop.

The man's dark black hair, big doe eyes, attractive brows, and big nose were all familiar to the one Taehyung had seen on his tv las night: the very same man who had been reported by the news to be one of the two young, successful professors appointed to be lecturers in his university. The picture on the news didn't do justice, because the man himself was the epitome of ethereal gorgeousness. His tight black turtleneck shirt did a poor job in concealing wide, muscled chest and arms; even his thighs looked like it could crush someone's head easily. It was no wonder that the class was taken into silence just to take a break to appreciate the looks of the man. They hadn't even talked about his lectures but Taehyung would bet it'd be another speechless moment for everyone.

The man smiled boyishly, he certainly looked younger when he smiled. "Good morning, everyone," he clasped his hand once to grab the students' attention, as if he hadn't already. "Welcome to the new semester and my very first lecture. My name is Jeon Jeongguk and I'll be guiding you through a few courses in this semester, including this one. You may look at the university's website for the syllabus of this course, as well as the reference books that I use." Not only his face was high quality, Jeon Jeongguk was also blessed with soft, low timbre voice that was so beautiful on the ear. Taehyung could see from the corner of his eyes how some girls had swooned just by hearing the professor's voice.

Cutting the flowery atmosphere in the room, suddenly professor Jeon's expression turned more serious and professional. "Now, I'm going to call the roll; please say 'present' when your name is called. I can see there are quite a lot of students here, way more than the lists I've got so far. If your name isn't called, please immediately leave the room as this course is only mandatory for aerospace engineering undergraduate students."

Oh, so he was strict, too, Taehyung thought. Those girls who sneaked out from other faculties turned crestfallen by the announcement. It was quite hilarious to see their reluctant faces when Prof Jeon mercilessly reprimanded them for the second time to leave the room and not to bother his lectures. The number of girls significantly decreased, and Taehyung felt more than awakened now.

"In this course, there will be lab activities, homework, mid exam, and final exam. I'll also hold quizzes on the first class after I give you homework which will be given routinely after we finish one subject. There will also be spontaneous quizzes taken in the middle of lectures to check your understanding and focus during class. My assistants will be the ones assisting you through the lab activities, one month from now. The details about this course's scoring system can be accessed in the syllabus.

"Alright, let's begin our first class. You may open your reference book and the slides of my presentation from the g-drive given by this link," the young professor presented the link on the power point slides to the class. "Since it's our first meeting, rest assured we will only cover the introduction subjects today."

Just when Prof Jeon was about to begin his lecture, the class's door was opened quite loudly (not really, but it was sleepy time that it surprised the shit outta everyone) and in came a disheveled blonde boy, clearly just waken up probably half an hour ago.

"Ah Mr. Min Jimin, isn't it? so nice to finally have you in this class," the prof said, his smile didn't reach his eyes.

The aforementioned boy so looked taken aback by the call for a split second, staring widely at the professor, before schooling his expression. "I'm so sorry, sir, I overslept," Jimin bowed. "Not gonna happen again." The said boy whom Taehyung knew so well didn't look the least apologetic.

"Sure, I expect your promise for the future. Now let's continue," Jeongguk then turned to the blackboard to continue his lecture.

Jimin's friends made silent gestures of laughing boisterously to mock him because the only unoccupied seats were the first front ones. After giving a middle finger, the boy chose to sit on the right corner of the first front seat, which unfortunately was in front of Taehyung. Even if he pretended to look at Prof Jeon, Taehyung could still sense the taunting glare the blonde boy sent him, but he chose to ignore him. Jimin smirked at Taehyung's obvious ignorance, but decided to turn his attention to the board, much to Taehyung's relief.

Don't get him wrong, Taehyung didn't dislike the guy; he despised him.

Jimin was everything Taehyung was not. He was quite rich, lady-killer, university jock, and had many friends. He was always put on the limelight. He was like the diva, while Taehyung was the weird guy who was basically a loner, and a no-one in the campus.

But it wasn't the ultimate reason why Taehyung hated Min Jimin. The blue and black bruises covered by his thick hoodies might hold the answer to that.

Thinking about the elder boy would only reduce his energy, Taehyung thought, there was something more important and valuable to put his attention to anyway.

"An aircraft in flight is the centre of a continuous battle of forces," said Prof Jeon, sketching a good drawing of simple aircraft with force vectors in the four directions on the blackboard. "It's the key to all manoeuvres performed in the air. The directions in which they act can be calculated, and the aircraft itself is designed to take advantage of each of them. I'd like someone to tell us all the forces acting in the aircraft."

Someone on the first row, Choi Soobin the resident nerd, raised his hand proudly. "Yes, Mr. Choi? Ah, may as well give explanations to each of the force."

"Alright, sir," said Soobin, already mentally prepared and radiantly confident with his knowledge. "The first force is gravity or weight--the force that pulls the aircraft towards the earth and acts downward through a point called the centre of gravity which all the weight of the aircraft is considered to be concentrated.

"The second force is lift--the force that pushes the aircraft upward and acts vertically. It counterattacks the effects of weight.

"The third force is drag, which is the force that exerts a braking action to hold the aircraft back. It is caused by the disruption of the airflow by the wings, fuselage, and protruding objects. The force of lift always acts perpendicular to the relative wind, and the force of drag always acts parallel to and in the same direction as the relative wind.

"There is also thrust force that moves the aircraft forward. It's produced by the powerplant that overcomes the force of drag. That's all from me, sir."

The students clapped appropriately to appreciate Soobin's answer. Prof Jeon looked pleased with the boy's answer. "Very well, thanks, Soobin. That was correctly well-explained. These four forces are in perfect balance only when the aircraft is in straight-and-level unaccelerated flight. I'd also like to add that when the lift force is in equilibrium with the weight force, the aircraft neither gains nor loses altitude. If lift becomes less than weight, the aircraft loses altitude and vice versa.

"Drag must be overcome for the aircraft to move, and movement is essential to obtain lift. We can do that by obtaining thrust which is derived from jet propulsion or from a propeller and engine combination. The turbine engine causes a mass of air to be moved backward at high velocity causing a reaction that moves the aircraft forward. The motion of the blades through the air produces lift in a horizontal direction, pulling the aircraft forward.

"In order to maintain a steady speed, thrust and drag must remain equal, just as lift and weight must be equal for steady, horizontal flight. If the rpm of the engine is reduced, the thrust is lessened, and the aircraft slows down. As long as the thrust continues to be greater than the drag, the aircraft continues to accelerate.

"The total amount of drag on an aircraft is made up of many drag forces. Now can someone describe me three of the drag forces?" This time, no one was brave enough to hold up their hands. Prof Jeon seemed to be impatient that he added, "Do remember that everyone who answers my question will be given bonus point. Don't be afraid to make mistakes because we can immediately correct it together."

Taehyung honestly knew the answer, but he pledged to himself to stay low and unnoticed through his uni life. He was too unsociable and busy with his works to befriends the other students, also he was very shy in public speaking. Another reason was because there was someone who wouldn't be pleased if Taehyung stole just a tiny bit of the spotlight.

Prof Jeon titled his head. "I'll just randomly call you, then" the man smirked attractively. It was only the first day, who knew what the man had more under his sleeves for the rest of the semester. This was one of many nightmares students were always facing. Same with Taehyung, his heartbeat increased in nervousness when Jeongguk's gaze turned towards his direction. For a while, their eyes met in silence that put Taehyung in a pinch whether to admire the beautifully dark eyes of his professor or hide himself in his hood. Somehow, the eye contact made his heart race faster.

"How about Mr. Min Jimin?" asked Prof Jeon, even though he was still staring at Taehyung. Taehyung himself sighed in relief, turning away from the elder man's stare.

Jimin stuttered in reply, having been caught in surprise for suddenly been asked. "Uh... ummm, err--" he silently looked at his friends who sat around him, pleading for their help. His friends only shrugged helplessly, leaving Jimin to deal with the question himself.

Deciding it'd taken too long, Jeongguk looked disinterestedly at the blonde boy and gestured him to sit back. "Would you rather answer the question instead, Mr. Kim Taehyung?" Taehyung almost chocked on the air at the sudden attention Jeongguk gave him. He looked back at the professor who was already looking at him. Taehyung could feel Jimin's stares throwing daggers at him, he knew what would get him after this when he tried to outsmart the boy. But Prof Jeon's unrelenting gaze as if he was testing him made Taehyung resolve to prove something to the man. A sense of familiarity washed over him for a split seconds, but the strange feeling was gone as fast as it arrives. Whatever, Taehyung said inwardly.

"T-the drag forces consist of parasite drag, profile drag, and induced drag, s-sir," Taehyung slowly answered, he stared back at Jeongguk firmly. "Um, parasite drag is made up of a combination of many different drag forces such as the resistance to the air caused by any exposed object on an aircraft and in the airstream. It can be reduced by reducing the number of exposed parts and streamlining their shape. Ah, a-also, skin friction is the type of parasite drag most difficult to reduce since no surface is perfectly smooth...

"Meanwhile, profile drag may be considered the parasite drag of the airfoil. The action of the airfoil that creates lift also causes induced drag. Since the pressure below the wing is equal to or greater than atmospheric pressure and fluids always move from high pressure toward low pressure, there is a--um--s-some kind of movement air from the bottom of the wing outward from the fuselage and upward around the wing tip--"

"You mean spanwise movement?" Jeongguk offered, eyebrow raised.

"--Ah, y-yes, sir, thank you for the correction," Taehyung nervously nodded as thanks before continuing. "This sets up a whirlpool of air called 'vortex.' These vortices increase drag because of the turbulence produced, and constitute induced drag. T-that's all, sir..." Jeongguk smiled at his answer, the class clapped once again in appreciation. Taehyung could feel his body trembling for talking more than usual so he was grateful when the attention was brought again to the professor.

"That was a very good answer, thank you, Taehyung," said Jeongguk, looking very pleased. "I'm glad that some of you have already read through the next, more advanced subjects. Even though still lacking a bit, Taehyung's answer has breached to our other courses. Very well. Here's some advice to survive in uni: read the materials from the reference books the night before lectures, that way at least you'll understand one or two things."

The class then continued with Prof Jeon teaching them the basics mechanism of aircraft in flight and occasionally asking other students until two hours passed and the class was dismissed. Most of the students excitedly went out the class with energy returned to their bodies, and turning less like zombies, while a minority stayed behind to ask some things about the lectures to Prof Jeon.

Taehyung immediately tidied his things and left the class, ignoring a prickling feeling of someone staring at him. He was too scared to look behind to find who was staring at him. It'd be safer for him to run away with tails between his legs. Since they had an hour break as the next class was at 10 am, he dragged his feet to the library to catch some sleep.

Truth be told, never once in his life Taehyung had felt himself lucky. Call him pessimistic, but a tiny bit of happiness would usually become a sign for bigger disaster coming after him. That little show just now of him answering correctly in class was bound to attract troubles.

Taehyung could see the building of library, much to his relief. He was only five metres away when a familiar figure had blocked his way, giving chills all through Taehyung's lithe form. Of course he was still unlucky today, just like how the evil smirk on Jimin's face wasn't hard to come by. He tried to turn back and run, but Jimin was faster in grasping his arm. Since the elder boy was clearly the stronger one, Taehyung was forcefully dragged with a bruising grip to an old building behind the library where people rarely used.

The blond boy dumped Taehyung unceremoniously to the wall hard, eliciting a painful yelp from the taller boy. He tried to reduce the impact by landing with his elbows and knees, but before he could brace himself from the fall, a fist had already swung towards him which successfully landed itself right through his guts.

The poor boy immediately spitted out a little blood just from the power of the punch. It was fortunate he hadn't eaten anything since yesterday or else he would've puked all of his guts. he wheezed in pain, body hunching down and arms curled in front of his stomach in protection. But before he could the least bit recovering his focus, he was hauled to his feet and held in place. The next blow was across his cheek that made him fall over again. Taehyung could feel something running down his left cheek and his bottom lip was swollen and aching. A flash of white went through his sight before an excruciating pain was felt on the side of his head.

Jimin chuckled, cruelly staring as Taehyung struggled to stay upright while holding his bruised cheek. The younger boy finally registered the presence of Jimin's cronies around him, all laughing and mocking on his state like bunch of coyotes skulking in the busk. He could hear them like a buzzing in the background because his head was pounding from the overwhelming punch. Taehyung dared to look up only to find a glint of murderous intent on Jimin's eyes, he should very well pray he could still go to work after this.

It had been a few times he was cornered like this. Jimin and his friends were a full set of violent, problematic boys. They always found Taehyung as their perfect prey for God knew the reason, somehow never got caught for it.

"Sucking up to Prof Jeon from the first day, huh?" Jimin mocked the crumpled boy in front of him, dauntingly playing with his fluffy dark hair. "Have you forgotten your place already? You fucking dirt." His friends laughed boisterously in response, and Taehyung for the ninth time wondered what he ever did to deserve this kind of treatment.

Taehyung had tried to retaliate back before, but he knew from experience that he was too weak, sloppy, and malnourished. He was also easily outnumbered by people with clearly better skills in fighting. All he got for fighting back was only a worse state that would hinder his works, so he decided to suck up all the humiliation and pain inside until his bullies were satisfied with him. It felt like a stone was placed in his stomach, he felt guilty for being this weak, let alone winning over a psychopath for avenging his brother's death.

"you looked so confident back then," Jimin leered, peering from below to glimpse at Taehyung's hidden eyes behind his bangs. "Cat got your tongue?"

Taehyung was once again rewarded with another smack that made him fall over onto the grass. He wasn't given a moment of relief as Jimin's cronies held his hands in place. The tears that he had tried so much to hold spilled down like the pathetic boy he was. All the boys mocked Taehyung's tears, while Jimin prepared to give more punches to an immobile Taehyung. But before a punch has landed, the blonde boy was snapped off by a man shouting to stop his action.

Noticing the identity of the man who just arrived, Jimin and his friends fled and left Taehyung alone, slumped onto the cold ground. Soon a pair of warm hands held his bruised face tenderly. He was trembling all over from the adrenaline, so the stranger whispered him sweet nothings to calm him down, that everything was fine and he was safe. It eventually worked until Taehyung subconsciously surged into the arms of the man.

For a few minutes that felt like hours, Taehyung finally recovered from his shock. He registered the man who saved him calling someone from his contact using his phone. Who would've come to get him, anyway?

Slowly getting flustered with the close proximity, Taehyung raised himself from his position, surprising the stranger who instinctively helped him sit up. The kind man laughed when he saw the blush coating Taehyung's cheek. He was a very handsome and charming man, Taehyung must admit.

The man could not have been more than thirty years of age, but whose resolute expression but gentle expression marked him look like a leader, or a very wise man. His appearance was such that he might have been the very genius or demon of his expertise. His face was lean, and the beautiful tanned skin was drawn tightly over his prominent muscles; he had dimples on his cheeks when smiled; his brown hair was styled to uncover his forehead very handsomely; his tall figure and the massive framework of muscles suggested a vigorous constitution. First, there was Mr. Jeon and now him--Taehyung had to wonder if all the professors in this university worked out like meeting the dead's ends.

Staring for a few seconds had brought Taehyung to the realisation that this man also was the very same man he saw on the television last night, who came alongside Mr. Jeon to teach in his department--Mr. Kim Namjoon in the flesh.

"Are you okay? He did you pretty bad, but at least it's not as worse as going to the hospital immediately," Namjoon's deep voice cut out Taehyung from his stupor as the man continued inspecting his injuries. "I would've never guessed such a thing like extreme bullying still happens nowadays, even in this sophisticated institution where only the chosen smarts could study at."

"T-thank you s-so much, sir," Taehyung forced himself to bow in gratitude despite all the difficulties caused by the fresh bruises. "I don't know what would have happened were you not here saving me..."

"Oh no, don't sweat it," Namjoon gently turned Taehyung to his previous position. "Only bad people wouldn't try to stop what those kids were doing to you. What's your name, if I may know? I'd like to file a report after this."

"Ah, my name is Kim Taehyung, sir, from Aerospace Engineering," Taehyung shyly said, his heart was moved by the kind deeds the elder had done.

"Oh, coincidentally, we have quite some similarities," the man smiled, offering Taehyung a bottle of water he had brought along. "Beside our surname, I'm also from your department. I would probably be seeing you a lot in the future, since I do teach a number of courses. Oh, by the way, I called someone from your recent history if you don't mind. I would guess you wouldn't be as comfortable to be with a stranger with me than someone you're close with. Ah, my bad, I forgot to introduce myself: my name is Kim Namjoon. Our first meeting wasn't so great, but it's nice to meet you, Taehyung-ssi."

Taehyung was stunned with all the words spilled at once, that his brain short-circuited into an unintelligible mumble of trying answering all the questions at the same time. The comprehensible one to come out was only a small, "yeah, I know..."

Namjoon looked at him in bewilderment," Uh, pardon?"

Realising his stupidity, Taehyung tried to school his reddening face and flapped his hands wildly in front of his face. "I-I m-mean I saw you in the tv last night, sir... That's why I already k-knew your name... I-It's nice to meet you, too..."

Thankfully, someone had saved him from his growing embarrassment. Their sounds of steps had notified both Taehyung and Namjoon of their hurried arrival. Turned out it was Taehyung's only 'friend' in the university, the resident handsome medicine student, Kim Seokjin. The latter stared at the proximity between Taehyung and Namjoon, then assessing Taehyung's bruised face with worried expression, until he finally saw Namjoon's face clearly that his ears and neck turned red for unbeknown reason. The boy immediately ran to Taehyung's side to check his wounds.

"You scared me, Taehyung-ah," Seokjin said, worryingly. "If those punks bother you again, you should call me at the first sight you see them! It's lucky they'd stopped before it got worse than this."

"It's okay, hyung," Taehyung said reassuringly. "Mr. Kim had saved me before they could do anything to me." Shockingly, Jin's ears turned redder but he only bowed in gratitude towards the professor watching them from the sideline silently.

Taehyung and Seokjin both part-timed in the same convenient store. As they found out that they were enrolling in the same university and only a few years apart, they became close to be called friends. Taehyung only met Seokjin on his shifts, they very rarely came across each other in the campus, but he was glad to have a supporting friend like Seokjin who got angry enough for his sake.

Suddenly, Namjoon's phone rang and the man begrudgingly answered it. It seemed to be an important call, as he hurriedly stated that there was some urgent he must attend to. "I'm sorry to leave you in this state," the professor said, writing something on a scrapped paper from his note book before giving it to Taehyung and Seokjin. "This is my phone number, in case you need this. I'll make the reports regarding this problem, don't worry. Please do not hesitate to call me or Seokjin-ssi again when they try to bother you again, alright?"

Taehyung nodded seriously, his gaze determined. "I couldn't thank you enough, please tell me how can I repay you for your kindness, sir?"

Namjoon only smiled warmly, patting Taehyung's fluffy hair. "You're welcome. If you really insist, then I may tell the answer later in the future. For now, take care, Taehyung-ssi and Seokjin-ssi."

After a gracious amount of thanks and bows, Taehyung and Seokjin bade adieu to the professor who then, as fast as he appeared in saving Taehyung, had disappeared from their sight to attend to his caller.

"Then should we go to our shift, as well as to buy some first aid kit?" Seokjin grinned at Taehyung, trying to cheer up the atmosphere. He already knew how hard Taehyung struggled daily, so like the most understanding friend he was, he led his friend away from the abandoned building to a cheap jajangmyeon stand he could afford to pay for them both.

To be continued