Thursday the 25th, Oct 2018.

Seokjin felt like he could softly snore the whole morning away. He really wanted to, even. But he had a class by 9am and his model student heart couldn't bring himself to forfeit.

So he got up and left for class. That is, after doing all he needed to do.
His morning routine wasn't any different from usual.

He was the first out of the little group of three to arrive at the hall that morning. Namjoon was second.

'Why don't you and Tae come together anyway? You stay in the same room after all', Seokjin asked, as his friend pulled off his bag and took a seat.

Namjoon shrugged. 'Our schedules don't match'.

Seokjin could not place a finger on what that exactly meant. 'But you both have the same—'

'Ah, I forgot—'

Seokjin grinned. 'You first'.

Joon sat up straight. 'So. You met with your twin yesterday?'

Seokjin pursed his lips and let his eyes shift focus from Namjoon's face. 'He's not my twin'. He mumbled his next sentence. 'I sort of regret what I asked for yesterday'.

Joon felt his ears perk up in interest. 'And that was?'

'A DNA test'.

Namjoon's surprise made him lean back a bit.

'Whoa—'

'We look the same, ok? At that moment I just wanted to be really sure. But now I got confirmation...'

Joon had his elbows propped on the table and his head rested in his palms. 'What? How did you confirm?'

Seokjin was taking his notes out his bag.

'My mom. We spoke last night'.

'Ah...'

'Yeah.'

Joon made his eyes move from his friends face, then to the table, and back to his friend's face.

'So... you're going to cancel the appointment?'

Seokjin put his hands out in front of himself and waved them in a quick motion.

'Ah no... it would be rude to do so'.

'Not really. Just tell him you don't think its necessary anymore.'

'But wouldn't that make me seem wishy-washy?'

Namjoon's eyes danced at "wishy-washy".

'That's a funny adjective choice'.

'Joon...' Seokjin shook his head slightly and smiled.

Namjoon's face turned serious.

'You know what? Just do you. It doesn't matter. If you take the test, you take it. If you decide to cancel it, you decide to cancel it.' He laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. 'There's absolutely zero pressure on you'.

Seokjin let himself rest in Namjoon's bright cocoa eyes for a moment.

'Okay'.

Then he suddenly thought of something.

'Ah shit...' Then he slapped his palms on his mouth for cursing. 'I mean... when Taehyung gets here, I'm going to have to narrate everything all over again, aren't I?'

Namjoon laughed. 'Now you're starting to think like I do'.

Seokjin's lips turned downward in disgust. 'Ew. No. Never'.

'Denial is the first stage of coming to terms with the truth. You're well on your way to becoming a full blown Namjoon'.

Seokjin thought for a second.

'Would I be the first of my species?'

Namjoon thought that was the most ridiculous thing he had heard that day. 'Oh no no no. There are thousands of you. I'm crazy infectious.' Then he leaned in and brought a hand to his mouth, as though he wanted to say something really discreet.

'Taehyung too. He's got symptoms—he just isn't aware yet. Wait till I break it to him'. Then he leaned back into his seat, crossed his arms, and let a satisfied look take over his face.

Seokjin shook his head, amused.
'You belong in the circus'.

Namjoon set his hands down on the table and laughed. Then his face turned serious again. 'I swear you're right. I got lost. I should be on a quest to find my people'.

Seokjin let his friend choose what circus he wanted to return to.

--

Taehyung clapped a little blue box unto the restaurant table and slid it till it reached Namjoon's front.

Namjoon eyed the box.

'What's this?' he asked, pointing his spoon at it.

Taehyung shrugged. 'Tell little Eunho I wished him a happy birthday'.

Namjoon's lips parted from their taut line. He stared at Taehyung as though the latter had suddenly sprouted wings. Seokjin was almost sure Joon could see a halo floating on Tae's head.

'I—', he blinked. 'Well, thank you'. He picked up the box and slipped it into his bag, where it stayed slung on one of the chair's arms. 'He'll appreciate it'.

Seokjin watched his friends; elbows on the table and his head in his palms, like Namjoon had done earlier in class.

'Aww.'

Joon eyed Seokjin. Taehyung eyed Seokjin too. Seokjin raised his head from his palms and took his elbows off the table.

'What?'

Taehyung's eyes narrowed.
'You're not going to give his little brother anything?'

Seokjin felt like a thread had snapped in his brain. He gave a little exclamation.

'Oh shit!' He slapped his palms on his mouth again for cursing, just as he had done earlier. His face showed a look of confusion that was almost funny. 'Why am I suddenly using that word?'

Ice pierced him through his friends' eyes.

'I-I mean...' He took a deep breath. 'Oh no! I completely forgot!' He clasped at his heart through his polo. 'Would Eunho ever find it in his heart to forgive me?'

Namjoon shook his head and laughed. 'Dramatic much?'

Seokjin smiled. 'I promise I'll get him something and have it ready by tomorrow. Send him my kindest wishes'.

Joon nodded. 'Sure'.

Seokjin suddenly had something pop into his mind.

'Oh!' He unzipped his bag as though it were on fire. He slipped a pack of bonbons out and dangled it in Taehyung's face, a sickly sweet smile tugging at his lips.

'Or... I could give him this instead?'

The pack disappeared from Seokjin's fingers and appeared in Taehyung's. Seokjin had never seen anything move that quick.

Taehyung's eyes were shooting beams of hot confrontation. 'Kim Seokjin, I swear. I would have hurt you'.

Seokjin bellowed. 'You couldn't, even if you tried. I got them for you anyway, from a little shop that night after I had gotten my guitar. I just forgot to give them'.

Taehyung's brow cleared. 'Wait, really? For me?' He looked as though he could hug Seokjin. 'You're not splitting it between us or anything?'

Seokjin shook his head. 'All for you'.

Taehyung was all light and stars. He felt like he was a cloud gone past the confines of the exosphere. It was ridiculous.

Joon downed his shake and grinned.

'Taehyung is to bonbons as Hoseok is to Fanta'.

Taehyung felt himself agree.

--

It was the music students' personal learning skill show hour. Well, it should have been named "personal learning skill show hour and a half", because it was a class that went from 1pm to 2;30pm every Thursday. That meant that the two black haired men in the group were going to log their instruments to the music theatre, while the younger brown haired chap was going to have a break by himself somewhere around campus.

By the time the show class ends, there would be thirty minutes left before their next, which was a film one. The friends would gather at the lecture hall for the last class of the day, in which they might have to write a test; they weren't ever really sure.

Taehyung and Seokjin were seated somewhere in the hall apart from each other, according to their instruments; so Taehyung sat with the rest of the clarinet players and Seokjin sat with the guitarists. Class had pretty much begun.

Performances flew past each minute as names were called upon quite quickly. According to the first letter of the Korean alphabet, Taehyung and Seokjin found themselves being among the first batch of people to perform; the Kims being right after the Kangs.

Seokjin was next after a number of people whose first names began with the letters G, B, M, N and so, according to the way the Korean alphabet was patterned.

He played a medley of about five songs he had mashed up by himself, and due to a lot of time he'd given to practice (he had begun the preparations for that class even before his former guitar broke), he found himself coursing through the progressions in an easy—smooth bounce, left hand's fingers deftly stringing through notes and stacks of cords.

Basically, he just enjoyed himself. Had fun with the performance. Even wished it could go on. He hadn't even the slightest bit of pressure.

It was deserved confidence like that that the music professor liked to see. Seokjin scored an indubitable grade.

According to the Korean alphabet, the letter 'T' was third to last, and so Taehyung was next after the letters that went after the canonical beginning 'S' in Seokjin's name.

He played a ballad he'd been practicing. He was really calm and collected, that even when he made a mistake, it wasn't obvious. But everyone could tell everyone else's mistake—they were all musical students and their ears were inclined to know and tell stuff like that. That didn't mean mistakes were forbidden, though. It rather just put emphasis on how one composed themselves during the mistake. Taehyung had that skill well sat under the bag.

The alphabets according to roll call stretched on to an H, as in the surname "Hwang". Seokjin and Taehyung critiqued the rest of the performances with a veteran ear, just as their classmates had done for theirs.

--

The rest of the thirty minutes before the 3;o'clock class were used for a quick revision for the 3pm to 5pm one.

While the music class had been going on, Namjoon had gone on a mini macro photography expedition of his own. Now, he was studying his notes with his friends in a corner of the Art Library.

3; o'clock came, and the students filed into the theatre. A few minutes later, and quite a number of exasperated sighs filled the hall.

The professor hadn't set a test.

--

'I strongly dislike stuff like this,' Joon said, his face a mirror of the displeasure his words expressed. 'Making me get serious for a while and then letting it all be in vain'.

They were on a path outside the campus, leading to any certain "somewhere" as their conscious might wish.

Seokjin walked a few steps faster so he could catch up with him. 'You know, its not bad she keeps us on edge like this. It helps us refresh our brains so stuff sticks better. You'd be grateful when we write the finals'.

Taehyung was rolling his eyes. 'I beg to differ'.

Seokjin sent him a look. 'There really is nothing to be opposed to, and you know it. We all know it. We just get frustrated every time, because we're human. If someone happened to deliver us free cupcakes every time we were already in bed ready to sleep, we'd still feel frustrated and complain, even though we're literally being blessed with boxes of sugary goodness'. He glanced at the others, throwing his left hand about in emphasis. 'Who doesn't love sugary goodness?'

Joon looked at Seokjin. 'You make it sound like the Earth is a pen for a bunch of sick alpacas or something'.

'Jin here is an alpaca'. Taehyung was laughing.

Seokjin glared at him. 'And what would that make you?'

Joon answered before Tae could.

'A fish'.

Taehyung paused in confusion. 'How so?'

Joon glanced all over him. 'I don't know, you just have that vibe. Like you could be a merman or something'.

Taehyung huffed, and picked up walking pace. 'If I'd be a ridiculously handsome underwater habitant, then I'm cool'.

Seokjin scoffed. 'But can you swim though?'

Namjoon guffawed.

Taehyung shuffled his brain cache for words. 'I—just shut up'.

Smiling, Seokjin span his gaze beyond the side walk and unto the road. An umpteenth car zoomed past them. He turned to Namjoon.

'And what would you be, Joon?'

'Koala, pfft', Taehyung spat.

Namjoon would have jumped him, if Seokjin hadn't gripped him by the coat in time.

'What would you be, Joon?'

Namjoon glared at a smirking Tae, before resuming a calm walk. He sighed satisfactorily at the air and whipped his hair. Unfortunately for him, the wind wasn't enough to give that drama-like effect he desired.

'I'd be a ferocious tiger, for the life of me'. He seemed like his mind was taking a short trip. 'And someway somehow, Yoongi would be the hybrid of a cat and a turtle. With a little sloth DNA in the mix. Don't ask. It's an unexplainable concept'.

Taehyung recalled the times he had interacted with Yoongi; how his appearance had been, and the amount of surrealist stuff that flowed out of his mouth. He rarely took account of the silly stuff that Namjoon blabbed half the time, but he found himself strongly agreeing to this. 'I don't think there could be a better comparison'.

Seokjin felt like if he didn't stop laughing soon, his laughter would choke him and he'd fall to the ground in a coma. He too, agreed with Joon. 'And I think Hoseok would be a chimp. He would nail the ooh ooh aah aah chattering thing to the wall expertly'.

'Oh Lord', Taehyung sang, his eyes wide in realised amusement. 'He would hoot if he heard that'.

Namjoon's eyes crinkled. 'So he'd be sort of an owl too?'

Taehyung watched a bicycle speed up past them. He buried his hands deep in the pocket of his warm overalls and let a grin take over his face.

'Just maybe'.

--

Seokjin felt warmth creep its way through his shirt and unto his chest. He let it in, and it found its way to his heart and buried itself in there.

He was with the others together at this nice eatery; the interior a vintage vibe with dim lights—this time close to Seokjin's apartment, ordering boxes of barbecue pizza and ice cold sodas.

The evening was drifting into the night, and the sky was beginning to wilt into a deep navy blue. The friends were sat in a circle around the table, unrepentantly chattering the rest of the day away. Seokjin felt good to be a part of it.

They were long way into a "koalas are baby bears" argument when someone mauled a chair into their midst and sat with a light thump. Seokjin would lie for the group if he said it hadn't made them jump a little.

It was Hoseok.

'Hey y'all. Care if I joined?'

No one minded. Heck they were glad to have him.

'What's this? Its like the first time you'd eat with us outside of your apartment', Taehyung said, dishing him some pizza.

Hoseok accepted the plate with gratitude. 'Right? Our time tables are different and all—when you have a break time, I'm in class, and when I'm free, you all are busy. It feels nice to be able to do this for once.' He took a sip out of his soda. It was a Sprite. He made a weird face and dropped it. Seokjin took it as a cue to get him some Fanta instead.

'My classmates and I come here a lot when we want to unwind and all. Having mathematical equations in your head twenty-four seven wouldn't be so healthy, you know?'

Seokjin arrived again with Hoseok's Fanta. It was very much appreciated.

Taehyung was watching Hoseok. Namjoon noticed and elbowed him slightly in the ribs. It made Tae release the filter that held his lips from spilling his mind.

'We're going to miss you when you graduate, you know?'

Hoseok trained his gaze on Taehyung. His dimples blinked from his smile and the dimmed lights above. 'It's a whole year away. That's plenty of time to spend with my play station'.

Taehyung shook his head and waved his hands out at Hoseok. 'I swear that's not the only reason'.

Hoseok's eyebrows raised in taunt. He looked round the faces at the table. 'I still don't want any tears at my graduation.'

Seokjin let out a small laugh. 'Still not guaranteed.'

'We'll see whose tears we're going to be dabbing at', said Taehyung, giving Hoseok's taunting face a run for its money.

Joon spoke next. 'Before you go, I want to be able to beat you at PUBG like my friend did yesterday. Would you teach me how to?'

Taehyung whooped the back of Namjoon's head. 'Couldn't Yoongi teach you all you feel you need to know instead?'

Joon rubbed the spot Tae had hit. 'Yoongi's ego is too large to tutor anyone. I once asked him to explain the basics of violin to me. He literally spluttered through his first sentence before he finally gave up and left. He was blushing a bright pink too'.

'That's not his ego,' Hoseok chimed. 'He's like me whenever a classmate asked for my help with maths in high school. I just didn't know where to begin and the stuff I knew in my head got mumbled altogether. Its like stage fright, only without a stage and a ginormous audience .' He deliciously sipped from his glass. 'I'm way past that now though. Don't worry, he'll grow past it too'.

Namjoon liked Hoseok's feel of experience. It was as though he had lived a decade before him, even though he was only two years older.

'Maybe he should get lessons from you', he began, matter of factly. 'On self confidence in things one has a mastery of. Impact a life before you leave. Get to add it on your resume. "I, Jung Hoseok, freed one Min Yoongi's soul from the clutches of confidence misplacement"'.

'I heard that'.

Joon whipped his head to see Yoongi dragging a chair towards their table. He watched the blond scrunch his nose as he sat next to him, eyes narrowing.

Yoongi countered Namjoon's glare with a calm face. Then he reached out and smacked his head.

Namjoon's hand flew to the back of his head. 'Why, Yoongi, why? I just got hit there! Right in that spot!' He tried to hit Yoongi at the back of his head too but got his hand shrunk away from the latter's judo block. He suddenly stopped wriggling and his eyes widened.

'How did you know we were here?'

The latter ruffled his own hair, shrugging shortly after his hand came down from his head.

'I tracked your phone'.

Namjoon gasped, his eyes widening farther. 'I thought I told you to stop doing that!'

'I thought I told you there was no guarantee I would listen?'

Seokjin's laughs came out in splutters. His pepsi had gotten in the way of its smooth outage.

Taehyung's hands kept his teeth from peeping as he once again enjoyed his friend's distress.

'I'm going to have to have a word with that Jimin guy. Again. He's being a bad influence'.

The rest wondered who Jimin was.

Yoongi sniffed, a hand going up to flick his nose. He snickered and turned to look at Hoseok, who looked taken aback.

'This guy's trying harder than my aunt', Yoongi began, sniffing again. 'And she's my guardian'. He lolled his head to the side a bit, his dark eyes meeting the oldest's brighter ones as he did so. 'Save me from him'.

His eyes left Hoseok's and travelled the circumference of the table, right hand moving in succession. He swiftly leaned in to grab a cup of Pepsi across from him and brought it to his lips. He took a huge sip.

Seokjin's eyes widened, looking down to the table where his Pepsi had been, and staring at Yoongi, who kept downing his drink.

Hoseok found Seokjin's face incredibly funny.

'Uh, that's mine', Seokjin finally said, pointing at the cup in Yoongi's hand. The blond paused, eyes flicking up to meet Seokjin's. Then he dropped the cup and slid it back to where he'd picked it.

Seokjin set his cup on the table right in front of him, eyes trailing over the rim.

Yoongi's gaze span over the table again, and this time picked up a cup with sprite. He drew it to his mouth just as quick as he did Jin's cup, as though the last minute did not occur.

Taehyung pushed a pizza into his mouth, eyes showing the smile his teeth were to busy to tell. 

Joon was glaring at the blond as he determinedly drained the contents of his cup. 'You know Hoseok drank from that earlier, huh? His lips touched it and everything'.

Yoongi gave a stare that could easily win blankest in the universe. 'Would it have been his eyelids to touch the cup instead of his lips?'

Hoseok's eyebrows crumpled in puzzlement.

'I swear', hissed Namjoon, leaning back into his seat and crossing his arms. 'Park Jimin will pay for this'.

Silence, a sniff, and another sip from the Sprite cup.

The other three were a chuckling mess by then.

--

Seokjin had spent time pleasantly. The group had dispersed when his wristwatch had beamed a digital 9;30pm. They had classes begin early the next day; save Hoseok whose first class began by 12pm; and they didn't want to turn up for them looking strikingly similar to the walking dead—because they went back home too late and couldn't have enough sleep.

However, as soon as he unlocked his apartment and walked into its protective confines, his mind split into shards of thought compartments; unable to sift which ones he needed then, and those he had saved for some other time.

Somewhere deep in Seokjin's chest, one thought poked at his heart; pulling and tugging till it burst, the warmth he'd carefully let in spilling out and displacing itself in the shadows over his head.

His left hand hitched up his shirt and rested on his heart, trying to feel in faith, if there was any left.

All he felt was cold, and slightly, a twinge of fear.

But he didn't know what for.

He stripped and entered the shower.

~
Yoongi in this chapter pfffffffff❤