LIKE A LONESOME strand of seaweed embedded in the sandy floor of a shallow stream, Neva swayed ever so gently. It was an attempt, albeit a feeble one, to remedy the thump in her head. It droned on and on and on, like the monotone voice of her lecturer.

She hadn't listened to a single word he had said. Crime rates... something, something... cities versus rural something... blah blah blah...

At the back of the lecture hall, Jungkook wasn't listening either.

A soft smile rested on his lips, eyes casually watching the subtle sway of Neva's body. Her hair was a mess, a long ponytail that definitely hadn't been brushed trailing down her back. Wrapped in a fluffy jacket that he guessed was at least three sizes too big, she was definitely suffering.

Now well over halfway through term, part of him wanted to gloat.

Uncharacteristically free from a hangover, Jungkook had spent last night cramming in an essay, that was due that afternoon.

He'd been keeping on top of his work - just. There was no way he'd let himself repeat high school, so making sure his assignments were done was the bare minimum he could do. So far, so good.

He'd never admit it, but keeping his grades up wasn't the only reason he always came to class, either. Or at least, always came to his criminology classes. He'd skipped a few psych lectures. But Neva wasn't in his psych lectures, so he didn't feel the same compulsion to attend.

"Assignments need to be with me by 4 o'clock - this is your final warning," their lecturer bellowed into the room. His thin, tapered nose hooked ever so slightly at the end, and Neva thought he wouldn't have looked out of place fighting against a cartoon platypus.

Junkook noticed Neva's shoulders broadening, her back raising from it's slumped position. There was a slight sense of alarm to her posture, and he instantly knew that she'd fucked it.

Unaware of the conclusions he was drawing, Neva was, in fact, thinking she'd fucked it. With last nights liquor still swarming around her body, she desperately tried to recall which assignment this was for. It didn't really matter, though. None of her assignments had been done this week.

The class began to filter out around her, the lecturer included. Neva didn't have the physical strength to drag herself out of her seat just yet.

Jungkook, too, had waited for most of the class to disperse before he stood up on the back row, swinging his rucksack over a single shoulder. There was an effortlessly cool nature to him, as if nothing was too much trouble.

Down the stairs of the lecture hall he went, before scooting into the row where Neva was definitely having a moment. Leaving a seat between them, knowing that grouchy Neva was not someone he wanted to get within biting distance of, he slumped into a chair. Not even acknowledging her, he got out his phone and began to type into their message thread.

It was a curious habit that they'd adopted in recent weeks: texting in the space of actual conversation. Jungkook had been the one to start it, following Neva's declaration of not knowing how to talk to him anymore.

"Fine then," he had said on their walk back to their dorms, after he had intervened a few weeks ago, pulling out his phone.

"Fine what?" she had grinned, curious to see where he was going with this - until her phone pinged.

Jungkook: if you can't talk to me without wanting to fight, try texting me instead.

Neva had stifled a laugh, looking towards the handsome man walking beside her.

In the light of dawn, his fluffed hair and rosy lips had an enviable charm to them, and she half wished that she had been the one to leave the bruises on his neck. She could still remember inhaling his scent as the taste of his skin embedded itself on her tongue, and it made her mouth water.

Neva: I'm very good at fighting over text ;)

It was his turn to suppress a laugh now, rolling his eyes. She hadn't been wrong, and maybe it would be a fickle attempt to forge a friendship, but he felt compelled to at least try.

Jungkook: im better at it.

Neva: Wanna bet??

Jungkook: stop flirting.

"I'm not flirting!" She had protested, but she had still been a little tipsy, and he had just come to her rescue. It was hard not to flirt with him.

Since that evening, they had adopted a ritual of sitting with one another and texting. It was stupid, and it was pedantic, but it was also perfectly... 'them.'

Cassie and Jimin would look at them with furrowed brows, wondering why they couldn't just communicate like normal humans, but the issue was that neither of them had ever entirely been normal in the first place.

They had a shared humour which other people never quite seemed to get, and a taste for films in languages they couldn't understand, just so that they could make up a script as they went along. They did communicate, just not conventionally.

As they sat in silence, the lecture hall around them depleted in population density, until it was just the pair of them.

Typing with both thumbs, Jungkook didn't even look in Neva's direction. She was slumped over the desk, arms outstretched, feeling sorry for herself.

Jungkook: you look like you've gone four rounds in a boxing ring with the hulk.

Reading the message notification, Neva groaned. She didn't even bother unlocking her phone, instead setting the screen back to 'sleep' instead.

Jungkook: rude.

Rummaging in his rucksack, his fingers nimbly hunted for the can of energy drink and kinder egg he had picked up on his way into class. It had been Neva's hangover remedy since she was about fifteen (not that her hangovers back then had ever hurt as much as they did now). Jungkook always made a point to have them ready on the mornings that he knew she'd be hanging.

It was the first time he'd actually presented them to her, mind you. Typically, he felt too awkward about the gesture, and ended up taking them home to Jimin or just eating them himself.

Sliding them over to her, he waited a moment for Neva to turn her head and pay attention.

When she didn't, he casually unlocked Snapchat and took a picture of them instead. The treats were in the foreground, while the back of her head was in the distance, looking awfully pitiful.

What a mess, he thought fondly - before choosing to also caption the photo with that.

Curiosity got the better of her with a snap notification, so she flicked her phone open. There was something incredibly endearing about Jungkook's kindness when he was in moods like this. He'd always been pretty selfless, but could also be incredibly selfish. She never knew which Jungkook she'd be getting when a notification pinged though.

Double tapping to reply, her front camera showed her just how much of a gremlin she looked like. Grimacing, she angled it upwards, catching just her eyes and haphazard hair. Behind her, Jungkook posed, grinning like a kid who had just won a free candy bar.

Neva couldn't help but smile too, capturing the moment and writing a big thank you along the screen.

"I mean it," she reiterated as she sat up, looking over towards Jungkook. "Thank you."

"Didn't hear you come in last night," he shrugged, playing off his gesture as if it had been no trouble. In all fairness, it hadn't been. Not now that it was a habit. "Figured it must have been a pretty rough one."

It had been a pretty rough one, even by Neva's standards. She was pretty certain that she'd never drink tequila again - though she had said that last week, too.

"Have you been holding a glass to the wall?" Neva quipped, unwrapping the foil that coated her chocolate egg. "Creep."

"Mhhm," he nodded, clearly joking. "I actually sleep sitting upright, just so I can keep my ear pressed to the wall."

"Knew it."

"Dickhead."

The truth of the matter was that their walls were paper thin. Neva couldn't turn in bed without Jungkook being well too aware of it. They'd come to the agreement that out of respect for one another, they wouldn't bring anyone back to their own dorms.

There had been many nights where Jungkook's bed had laid empty, but Neva's less so.

It was why he had noticed her absence last night. He bizarrely found that he missed it, the creak of her bed and the tap of her knees against the plasterboard.

"Have you done the assignment?" she questioned, cracking the egg to reveal the yellow container inside it. Without thinking, she handed it over to Jungkook.

"Mhhm," he nodded, fumbling around with the container, popping it open to reveal toy parts inside. He set to work assembling it almost instantly, not bothering to look at the instructions. He had a whole entire shelf full of them now, from all the eggs he hadn't given to Neva.

When they were still in high school, it was a bit of a ritual. He'd buy her one on the way to school every day, and she give him the toys. It was a win-win.

"Guessing you haven't?" Jungkook continued, to which Neva simply sighed. "Who are you, and what have you done with my Eva?"

My Eva.

"I meant Neva. Just Neva. Sorry, that was weird," Jungkook said as his cheeks burned.

She pretended as if her heart hadn't just stopped. Him still calling her Eva was bad enough, but claiming her as his own added a whole new element that she hadn't thought about for quite some time.

"You're always weird," she shrugged, playing it off cooly.

"Maybe," he stuck his bottom lip out, dimples forming on his cheeks. "But I have also done my assignment, and you're gonna have to be a bit nicer to me if you wanna copy."

"Literally what the fuck," Neva laughed. "How have we got to the point where I'm copying your homework?! Who are you and what have you done with my Kook?"

She knew what she had said. She had done it deliberately.

Ah, shit.

This wasn't going to end well.

"Do you wanna copy it, or not?" he rolled his eyes.

"Please," she nodded, eyes wide and beseeching.

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood."

"The luckiest," she nodded, in full agreement. "Library?"

Jungkook checked the time. 13:11. He was supposed to be meeting Jen after her lecture finished at two, for drinks.

Get laid, or go to the library?

It was a no brainer.

"Library," he nodded, mouth working before his brain. God damn it.

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At the start of the month, you up? Had like 90 reads, and now it's about to hit 1k??? lol hi, thank you for reading, please don't be silent!! I'd love to know your thoughts x