wonderland 「 jungkook 」

[ten] i could be happy

산다는 거 견디는 거,
living and surviving,
함께하면 조금 더 행복해져.
if we're together, we could be a little happier.

the first period classroom was quiet for once, because jake was gone. as jungkook sat in his usual seat, mr. harvey asked where he'd gone off to, undoubtedly thinking the kid must've skipped class again now that they had a new semester — and therefore more allowed absences — but the goons said he was on vacation with his family. although jungkook was relieved by jake's absence, the only one that crossed his mind was the one in the seat across the aisle from him.

"jungkook, do you know where alice is?" mr. harvey spoke to him passively for the first time in weeks, surprising him.

"o-oh, um... no," jungkook stuttered, looking down. he seemed to be the girl's only friend at the school that wasn't an elderly staff member, which was astonishing knowing her outstandingly warm and amiable demeanor. but jungkook had no phone, and therefore no way to contact her to ask her why she hadn't been at school for a few days.

mr. harvey muttered something to himself before getting out of his seat, maneuvering his belly with difficulty before waddling over to the center of the front of the room. "okay, then. they'll just have to be partners when they come back."

jungkook's blood ran cold, just as it did any time a partnered assignment of any kind was introduced. but this time, it wasn't for his fear of getting paired with one of his bullies; it was his fear for alice getting paired up with jake, the worst one of them all.

"this project will be twenty percent of your semester grade," mr. harvey began, completely oblivious (or maybe not caring about) how jungkook had paled until his skin turned whiter than snow.

"as i've mentioned, you will have assigned partners. no grumbling about who i put you with; if that happens, i can gladly find a million ways to make it worse for you," mr. harvey looked directly at jake's group of friends.

"it will be a research assignment, but will incorporate a deep understanding of a classic novel of your choice-"

one of jake's friends in the front row, adam, released a long groan in the stark silence, making mr. harvey's face light up in anger, flushing red. "what did i say, myers?" he scolded firmly, making the boy shut his trap immediately with wide eyes.

mr. harvey only got fired up when he was having a bad day, but he'd make you just as miserable as him if you gave him the chance, and everyone knew it.

after a moment, the teacher sighed, rubbing his temples before proceeding, "you will read the novel first, of course. then, you will apply your knowledge of the theme, what the author is trying to say, and apply it to society as you know it today. you will write a four-to-six paged essay of your argument using mla formatting, which includes single spacing and size twelve, times new roman font. if you try to get clever and manipulate the formatting so that it looks like the requirement but isn't, fifty points will be deducted from your final score..."

mr. harvey droned on with rules and requirements. he began passing out rubrics when there was a quiet rapping on the door. startled, every student, including jungkook, looked up. however, jungkook's eyes were filled with hope of finding a familiar head of bubble gum hair.