"You are quite the high maintenance," Jimin looked around Jungkook's room. His bed had a 14-inch thick mattress, silk sheets, matching curtains, big pane windows, all flat surfaces were propped with flowers, a corner of comic books, and Iron Man figurines, a PlayStation, and what intrigued Jimin most was 4 sleeping pillows and 4 toss pillows on his bed.

"I am not," Jungkook replied.

"Yes, you are, my sweet. My whole family manages sleep with the same amount of pillows." Jimin doubled over in fits of mocking laughter, not realizing his little slip of the tongue. The good thing was, neither did Jungkook.

"The guy with one pillow on queen size bed doesn't get to say anything about maintenance." The younger shrugged his shoulders.

"Wait how do you- did you go in my room?" Jimin asked, suddenly substituting jolly demeanor into seriousness.

"I might have." Jungkook nodded and hoisted his bag on the bed, causing the perfectly placed pillows to fall on the ground from either side of the bed.

"Don't go into my room the next time, I don't like it." The boy asked earnestly.

"I won't. Besides, your mom asked me to put the notes in your room. Shall we study now?" Jungkook pointed towards the bed.

"You study on your bed?" Jimin's eyes widened.

"Yeah, make yourself comfortable," Jungkook replied and hopped away into his bathroom. Jimin looked at the boy happily go and he could tell that he was pampered a lot by his parents. Looking around, he found a fancy-looking colorful chair and he pulled it closer to bed to sit there.

Jungkook returned in a few minutes white knee-length shorts and a lavender Toy Story t-shirt. Jimin checked his meaty legs and looked away before he was caught.

Sitting on the bed, Jungkook looked at Jimin intently so the older would say something about what they were going to study. However, Jimin seemed lost. "Hyung?" Jungkook called to snap the older boy out of it.

"Yeah," he quickly dug his hands inside the bag and pulled out a notebook. "We need to strategize, you are good at physics, I am good at mathematics, we have someone good in chemistry and I was told that the foreign student's forte was biology. We should play by our strength."

"Right, but I have a good command over chemistry and mathematics too." Jungkook shrugged.

"I heard you were the topper of your class," Jimin looked straight at Jungkook.

"I have been the class topper all my life," Jungkook replied, tilting his head skywards as if thinking about it.

"We'll see about that." Jimin scoffed with a smirk. "The point is, there is a reason I am in charge of the group."

Jungkook pouted while leaning against the pillows sideways. "Get up, Jungkook." Jimin scolded the boy and he did while straightening his legs. Jimin's eyes hovered there again. Shuddering, he pulled himself together.

"Do you want to have snacks?" Jungkook suddenly asked.

"You just ate, how can you still be hungry?" Jimin thrust the notebook on the mattress hardly that it made a sound.

"Oh, it is not for hunger," Jungkook was already jumping off the bed. He scrambled through his drawer cabinet and pulled out green Pringles. "It is like when you have dessert after your meal but instead of sweet, I eat something salty."

Jimin's face grimaced and Jungkook tilted his head again.

"Am I weird?"

"You think?" Jimin also titled his head as he keenly looked at the boy up and down again with ridicule plastered all over his face.

"Hmph... Pringles?" Jungkook ignored the judgemental look and extended the container towards Jimin who shook his head. "You were saying?" He jumped on the bed, causing the remaining pillows to fly here and there.

"I was saying..."

And Jungkook chomped on the chips with wide eyes, the sound of crunching tested waters of Jimin's patience that was hanging by the hair.

"As I was saying..." Jimin composed himself.

Jungkook chomped on the second chip.

"Give that to me!" Jimin harshly pulled the container away from Jungkook's hands while the lad remained with one lonely, sad chip in his hand. "Go ahead, finish it." Jimin allowed while tapping his foot vigorously on the floor.

Jungkook didn't need to be told twice when it came to food. He grinned while the powdered cheese smeared over his lips. Jimin huffed, feeling like he was babysitting this hefty teenager. One thing that Jimin now knew about Jungkook was that the boy didn't hold grudges. Just an hour ago, he yelled at him, and here Jungkook was, all sparkling and playful again, offering him his snacks.

"You might have been a topper of the school but it's just one school. We will be up against three more school students who also must be toppers of their classes. The point is, we need to really play by our strength. I feel you are really good at physics." Jimin said without hesitation, maintaining strong eye contact and Jungkook heard every word by heart.

"I am going to ask you to teach us physics, question you, challenge you like I do in class with teachers. All you have to do is brace yourself and study your ass off. If I am going there against my will, we might as well win the damn quiz, or else I am putting the school on fire. Get it?"

Jungkook nodded.

"Good, you are going to do the same to me in mathematics."

"Won't you get mad?" Jungkook asked, feeling as if he was set up.

"Oh, I will."

**

As Jimin was hurriedly getting to class thinking that they inadvertently managed to have a good time yesterday at Jungkook's place, somehow looking forward to seeing the boy there, a voice stopped him.

"Hey! Jimin?" He turned around while combing his hair up through his fingers.

The girl suddenly didn't speak. Jimin waved his hand in front of her face. "Who's asking?"

"S-sorry, my name is Utkarsha. Hi." The girl took in a shaky breath, enamored by the boy's charms. "I am the biology student. My teacher asked to meet you for the quiz?" She squinted her eyes.

"Oh, the foreign student. Right!" Jimin nodded his head and his eyes fell on Jungkook with Do-Jin, Kyong, and Jaein behind the girl. "Yeah..." His eyes faltered as he tried to focus on what Jungkook was doing with them.

"So, when can I come?" Utkarsha asked excitedly.

"Come where?" Jimin's attention averted back from Jungkook to the girl.

"Your place, my ma'am told me you and Jungkook are having group study sessions," Utkarsha repeated with a confused face. "Did Jimin have impaired hearing?" She thought.

"Gotcha! Actually," Jimin rubbed his left eyebrow as he faced the ground. "We haven't done it over the weekend yet. The other kid, what is his name?" Jimin closed his eyes and began to think.

"Taemin."

"Yeah, Taemin... We all need to do it."

"Do what?" Utkarsha asked.

"Seriously?" Jimin thought, rolling his eyes. "Same thing you are here for. Studies."

By then, Jungkook walked past them, waving at the girl merrily, "Hey! Uttu."

"It's Utkarsha!" The girl yelled as Jungkook strolled ahead.

"I can't remember that." He shook his head and disappeared. Being ignored by Jungkook, Jimin felt like he submerged under a sand dune. Nonetheless, he ignored the feeling royally.

"So... Utkarsha, what about the other two? We were supposed to be six, isn't it?" Jimin asked.

The girl shrugged.

"Text me your address." He hastily asked the girl while getting away.

"Why is it so wet?" Kyong was asking as he touched Jaein's backpack when Jimin entered the class.

"That's what she said," Jungkook replied and they all began to cackle. Jimin didn't like it even one bit that the younger was mingling with those scoundrels. If anything, he suspected these boys beat Jungkook and frame him a few months ago.

"Have you ever actually seen a vagina? A real one." Jimin asked Jungkook sarcastically and the boy's smile died down suddenly. He recollected that Jimin was the one to ask him to not interact with him in the school. What did Jimin really want? No one knew, not even Jimin, perhaps.

"He wasn't talking to you." Do-Jin pulled Jungkook behind his back and Jimin's eyes scanned closely how he held Jungkook's hand and then his ugly face smirked. Somehow, he didn't want Jungkook to make friends with these assholes out of everyone. Even Yoongi was fine, but not these three.

"Seriously Jungkook, how do you even stand close to this guy?" Jimin asked as he stepped back. "He is some mouth-breather, alright." Jimin clutched his nostrils shut with his index finger and thumb.

Do-Jin breathed onto his palm and smelled it. "I don't smell, douchebag."

"Exactly, mouth-breather means a stupid person." Jimin nodded with pitiful nods, "And you so have uncommonly gravely bad breath."

12 Nov 2021