My Light, My Jimin

Chapter 7: Observations

YOONGI

It's early, and already Taehyung and Jungkook are at their seats. There's been no sign of Jimin yet, but class hasn't officially started yet. He still has three more minutes. The last ten have been agonizingly painful to wait out.

I'm nowhere near awake enough to teach, but I do my best with role-call. I read names out in a casual tone, and when I get to Kim Taehyung's name, I read it with a clipped voice. He must notice because his "here" is hesitant, like it's a question.

Jungkook tilts his head at me. Squints. So he's the bodyguard to our damsel, I see.

The door swings open and Jimin enters. Today he's in a grey t-shirt that says give peace a chance and a black long sleeve shirt underneath. On his head is a maroon beanie. Little tuffs of black hair peek out, and I'm tempted to brush them out of his eyes.

He starts toward his desk and I feel him frown as he squeezes past Taehyung and Jungkook's stares. Apparently the trio hasn't made up yet.

As I begin today's lesson of Shakespeare's play, King Leer, I can feel anxiety and anger radiating off Jimin, or it could be Jungkook. The corner of my classroom feels like an active volcano, with one of them on the edge of exploding and destroying my lecture. I continue calmly, ensuring myself that I've dealt with this before and it will be no different than the last time.

I'm undecided on what to do with Jimin. To his credit, he takes notes and listens to me, but I can tell he's listening for the ones beside him, the louder noises in his world right now. Part of me wants to stop the lesson all together and fix this tangled knot. It would solve multiple problems. The other part wants to teach this lesson one-on-one with Jimin so he really understands. I want him to pass my exams, after all.

I've never taken such an interest in a student's life, but it infuriates me seeing Jimin sneaking glances at Taehyung, his face broken and angry at the same time. It's a rare form of emotion I've seen once before, something that feels awful, but looks so raw and somehow beautiful.

When I'm done lecturing, I leave them five minutes of free time. The rest of class either talks with neighbors or reaches for their phones, completely oblivious to the far side where a silent war is taking place.

Taehyung is the first to move, swinging around in his chair to Jimin and whispering low. "Can we talk after class?"

"Why? Are you gonna be there?" Jimin says, his voice cutting deep.

Taehyung sighs. "Look, I said I was sorry, Jiminie." He puts a hand on his desk, reaching for his sleeve. "What is it going to take for you to forgive me?"

I watch Jimin closely. His eyes narrow like slits, his jaw set and hands crossed at the chest. The nickname Taehyung gave him sounded cute, but it doesn't match the person I see right now.

"Think about it over sex," Jimin says coldly. "I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"Hey," Jungkook snaps. His fists are balled under his desk. "Don't start with that."

At this point, the others have caught on and have turned their heads. Some threaten to take their phones out and press the record button. One or two students have their attention on me, silently asking what's going on? and what will you do? To be completely honest, I have no idea.

Jimin must sense the impending gauge of attention because he goes quiet.

I take this as an advantage and draw everyone's attention to me with the phrase "class dismissed" and that's all it takes to diffuse the situation. Students shuffle out, some sighing in relief, but the three don't move at first.