My Light, My Jimin

Chapter 13: Class Pet

YOONGI

I sleep through the night without waking up, a record for myself, but Namjoon calls for me early.  Now that Trivia Night is in action, he's a man on a mission.  With a promise to help out at the event because of my endless complaining, Namjoon and Jin have already set up in a conference room with tables and chairs divided into teams before I've even arrived to the university.

By the time we're finished with decorating, students have filed in to escape the cold winds that nip at their cheeks.  We stay inside the conference room and talk about our best, worst, and weirdest teaching stories.  It's a nice feeling of nostalgia to share with them both and I'm relieved that they're doing well— until I see Namjoon's face suddenly fill with concern.

"Yoongi, don't you have him in your class?"

I look past him.  There, sitting at a desk in the corner of the student center with Jung Hoseok, is Jimin.  

My heart slams against my rib cage.  Namjoon says something else, but it's echoed, hollowed as my mind and thoughts race around.  Maybe this is an innocent observation: Park Jimin is a student who happens to walk in front of them.  There's nothing to suspect at all.  And yet, I shift on my feet, desperately wanting to run.

"Who is that?"  Jin asks.  "He looks really young to be here.  Almost like a high school kid."

Across the way, Jimin laughs at a joke Hoseok says, and his face squishes up, cheeks red and eyes squinted.  I cannot believe how long I've lived my life without hearing the sound of pure joy.  His carefree, natural self is what will make me combust in front of Namjoon and Jin. 

I force myself to put on a neutral expression.  "That's Park Jimin.  He sits in the back.  Kind of a quiet kid."

Namjoon doesn't look away.  "I have him, too."

"You do?"  I ask.

Namjoon's expression is laser-focused, like he's convinced Jimin committed murder and is spying on him.  "In my class he's quiet, but he's always drawing in a notebook of his."

I open my mouth.  Close it.

"He's a smart kid, I'll give him that,"  Namjoon says.  "I'm just worried he's getting distracted by something."

My stomach sours.  I feel like the entire campus building has collapsed on my shoulders, karma for what the walls have seen and heard.  

I swallow.  "So. . . what do you think is wrong with him?"

"I don't know."  He looks at me like this shouldn't be a surprise.  "I thought that since he spent more time with you in the mornings, you'd know more than we would."

I clamp my mouth shut.  No.  I don't.  Everything he does is on his own account, from sitting at his desk to laying on my couch.  And even if I did have an answer for why he acts aloof in Namjoon's class, there's no reason why I'd have to say anything.  I should have figured our little meetings would be found out, though.

"Wait, you let him stay in your class in the mornings?"  Jin asks.  "You never let anyone in before classes start, not even us!"

"There's a reason for that, you know,"  I say in a flat voice.

Namjoon still isn't convinced.  He's probably in the middle of analyzing Jimin like a profiler, a habit he developed soon after a day of teaching.  He claims it's to sharpen his attention and his skills to notice the small details, but Jin rolls his eyes and always says it's so he doesn't go crazy in his own head.

And that's how I feel now; stuck inside my mind, panicking at the thought of fingers pointing at me and Jimin.

"Well, I'm glad you've finally found a class pet.  If you still had your door locked up by now, I would be worried."  Jin's voice is light, playful, but the words carry weight for me.