Jeongguk isn't sure how Jimin feels about it, but he knows for himself that he thoroughly enjoyed their little gaming session. Such a simple thing, but it means something to him that he managed to get Jimin to agree in the first place. Furthermore, he also succeeds in convincing the boy to bring his 3DS to school the next day. Honestly he didn't expect Jimin would be okay with it when he first asked. But now he suspects it may be because the boy had more fun playing than he let on.

Regardless of the circumstances, Jeongguk finds himself in a particularly good mood the next morning arriving to school. It's then, as he steps into the building, that he spots Jimin and Hoseok passing through the halls, probably on their way to their first class. He hurries to catch up with them.

"Oh, Jeongguk, good morning." Hoseok greets him right away, then nudges Jimin to get the boy's attention. In response, Jimin lifts his eyes shyly towards Jeongguk, hesitates for a moment, then breathes a soft good morning, as well.

He doesn't run away. That alone fills Jeongguk with delight.

"D'you bring your DS with you?" He asks, just as the three of them arrive to their classroom. Jimin gives a small nod at which Hoseok gasps simply for the sake of being dramatic, but it draws the faintest blush from his friend's cheeks.

"Jiminie, you rebel! Are you guys going to play during class or something?? Unbelievable!"

"N-no, Hobi-" The smaller boy lifts his hand to tug at his friend's arm in protest. "I'm not, it's not that-"

Jokingly, Hoseok begins to click his tongue against his teeth, releasing a deep sigh as he collapses at his desk. "To think you're getting into things like this..." He shakes his head as Jimin watches in dismay. "I think I may have to revoke your good noodle award, Jiminie. Playing video games in class is too far."

His teasing comment earns a giggle from Jimin, who gently pushes Hoseok's shoulder in an attempt to be pretend-mad at him. He takes his own seat not a moment later, then turns around to laugh some more at something the other whispers.

Jeongguk can't help but be a little jealous - more than that, though, he finds their friendship something sweet. How effortlessly Hoseok makes him smile... At the same time, it brings to Jeongguk's remembrance his text conversation with the boy just yesterday. It's not that he forgot the things Hoseok mentioned - there were just put away for a short time.

He's still very much concerned about Jimin. The topic of therapy Hoseok brought up, Jimin's need for "positive distractions", along with Jeongguk's suspicion that Jimin was traumatized at some point in his life, hence Hoseok's wanting for him to go to therapy.

But as of now Jeongguk knows next to nothing. All except for 1) Jimin likes to wear oversized clothes, 2) he can't sleep without a plush or stuffed animal of some kind, but neither of those seem to Jeongguk like they would be related to any serious issues of Jimin's. Lots of people wear oversized clothes. Lots of people like to sleep with stuffed animals - maybe not many people Jeongguk knows personally, but he's aware it's still common.

In the midst of his painstaking thought process, Jeongguk suddenly becomes aware he never stopped by his locker for his history textbook. He glances at the clock above the doorway. At this point, it's impossible he would be able to successfully retrieve the book and make it back before the bell rings.

How fortunate that the lovely Kim Taehyung happens to stroll in at the last minute, a proud look upon his face as he slams Jeongguk's history textbook on the boy's desk.

"You may bow before me."

"...how 'bout I say 'thanks' instead?"

"Bow."

Jeongguk dips his head for a second. "Wait, how did you know my locker combination?"

"A magician never reveals their tricks."

"...never mind, you probably just watched me put in the combination before. You're not clever."

"I am, but deny all you want, plebeian."

He takes his seat as the bell sounds. Mrs. Choi enters the classroom.

As it just so happens, today is the day she decides to let the students work on their project in class. And Jeongguk's group, due to having worked diligently on it that past Saturday, hardly ever any work left to do.

So with their group positioned in one corner of the room and their five desks pushed together, the boys briefly go over everything they already finished and come to the conclusion that the only thing there is left to do is make sure what they have done is acceptable.

And they all quickly agree, yes, it's acceptable, because no one wants to redo or fix anything.

That being said, Jeongguk sees an opportunity.

"Hey, Jimin, I brought Mario Kart."

He whispers to get the boy's attention, feeling his heart skip a beat as Jimin's wide, curious eyes meet his own. Their desks are facing each other now, with Taehyung sitting next to Jeongguk and across from Hoseok, who's next to Jimin, and finally Yoongi, with his desk facing everyone's.

"Uh..." Jimin looks down at the school bag leaning against his leg. "I...I don't know..."

"Look, Mrs. Choi is sleeping."

"Hey, she actually is," Taehyung comments, peering across the room at their teacher. He stifles a laugh.

"So do you want to?"

Jimin hesitates at the suggestion before nodding slowly, then reaching for the game system he has in the smallest pocket of his school bag. Jeongguk eagerly takes out his own.

"You guys are playing in class, I knew it."

"Hobi, ssh..."

"Jiminie, what happened to you?? Good noodle award, now. Hand it over."

He giggles again, cheeks rising as his eyes become squinted. Jeongguk's heart acts up again.

For a moment he's distracted and has to regather himself to load the game and sync his device with Jimin's so they can play together. Once they have it sorted out, though, the two end up playing for the rest of the class.

Jeongguk loses most of the races on the account of Jimin being the biggest distraction. Yesterday was one thing - when the two played, they were at their own houses, so Jeongguk obviously couldn't see Jimin, but rather imagined the boy with a somewhat disinterested expression on his face. But now that he's here, less than a meter away, he can see Jimin's lips parted in the softest, cutest smile as he holds his 3DS too close to his eyes.

And Jeongguk just...can't get over it. How everything about Jimin screams hug me. At least to him, anyway. But then again he's also rapidly starting to believe he may have a small crush on the boy, so it makes sense.

"Hobi, Hobi, look, Mario got last place and he's crying. That's such a sad thing to program into the game..."

Well, maybe more than a small crush.

"You good, Guk?"

"I'm great, Tae, thanks for asking."

"You lost, like, every race, dude..."

"Why are you watching me? Shouldn't you be flirting with a certain someone?"

"Shouldn't you? Staring is not the equivalent to flirting, buddy ol' pal. It's a start, though."

"Quit it, you—"

"Jeongguk? Were we gonna do a balloon battle now?"

"Huh?" He faces forward abruptly at the soft sound of Jimin's voice. "Uh, yeah, of course. Balloon battle."

"Oh...there's the end of class bell..."

The genuine disappointment in Jimin's tone almost shatters Jeongguk's heart."We can still play at lunch," he says quickly. Much to his relief the other boy's eyes light up a bit.

"Okay."

As everyone begins to move their desks back to their original positions, Hoseok takes a moment to give Jeongguk's arm a nudge. The latter looks up from the floor just to see the boy smiling at him.

"See?" He whispers. "It's just like I said. Making an effort."

"So I did well?"

"What am I, your boss?" Hoseok chuckles at the question as he slings his bag over his shoulder. "If you want, you can have a good noodle award for letting Jimin win."

"I...didn't let him win."

"Oh, so you just suck at Mario Kart, then?"

No, Jimin's just heart-fluttering material and I couldn't focus. It's not my fault. "Yup, thanks for noticing, Hoseok."

—

this was lowkey a filler chapter lol, i have things planned but i just gotta lead up to the more important parts more gradually ya know 🤭