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Namjoon poked holes into the cheap, plastic tablecloth.
To put it bluntly, Namjoon was extremely bored. He wasn’t really the kind to party, let alone socialize, period. His small group of friends had dragged him here, rambling about how he was wasting his youth being holed up and reading and needed to ‘experience real life’. Namjoon protested but failed miserably; it was one against six—he was never going to win.
Namjoon’s friends were off playing beer pong with a group of other kids he thinks he's seen before during lunch. They had tried to get him to come but Namjoon needed a moment to himself, or as much as he could get while Fetty Wap’s song ‘Again’ was blaring through the speakers, each beat making his teeth rattle. Namjoon sighed. He felt painfully out of place, like a creepy hare within a crowd of cute bunnies.
Namjoon leaned back, his hands coming up to run over his face and into his hair. His muscles ached happily at the stretch, a bit of tension releasing from his body. He tried to lean into the vibrations rattling his bones in hopes of it feeling soothing, but it didn’t work. It felt jarring.
When Namjoon opened his eyes, he found himself glad for the blaring music. He let out a high-pitched scream, one that his friends would never let him forget had they witnessed it. He jumped, his head coming into contact with the girl’s forehead. He grunted and cradled his head as he winced in pain.
The girl mirrored him, only recovering faster than he did. As he felt the impacted spot on his forehead, he silently prayed it wouldn’t leave a big, ugly bump on his head.
Great, just what he needed.
Namjoon turned around, ready to face the creepy girl.
He froze immediately.
He recognized her; she was in his third period chemistry class, the one with the teacher he didn’t like. Good news was, at least she wasn’t a total stranger. Bad news, Namjoon had been crushing on her for the last 8 months. Namjoon bit his lip and gripped the back of the chair, conflicted on what to do next. He hoped he didn’t look like a total loser. He mentally cursed his past self for his poor outfit choice; black skinny jeans paired with a white t-shirt, a corny math joke written across the middle. Namjoon tugged his grey beanie down a little further, wishing he could hide behind it completely.
The girl looked utterly embarrassed. Her cheeks were flush with a bright red color and her eyes focused on everything but Namjoon. She fiddled with her fingers for a moment.
She said something—probably, but she was too far away and the music way too loud to hear anything.
Namjoon furrowed his brows and wordlessly pointed to his ears, the girl getting the message. She leaned in awkwardly, her legs already beginning to burn from the angle,”Sorry about that!” She shouted a bit too loud into his ear, making Namjoon wince. “My name is Minju—” she stopped abruptly, as if abandoning her previous train of thought.
She leaned in once more,”Let's go somewhere quieter.” Namjoon stiffened as his heart raced. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
Minju began to lead the way through the thick, hot crowd. Namjoon frowned as the scent of teenage puberty attacked his nostrils. Eugh.
He tried to hold his breath as long as he could without passing out.
Minju and Namjoon sat stiffly on the wide masonry fence of the house. Neither of them knew what to say and even if they did, they were too scared to be the first to break the silence.
A couple of minutes passed before Namjoon broke. “So uh…why were you leaning over me?” He let out a dry chuckle in a failed attempt at easing the tension.
Minju jumped slightly, not expecting him to speak. She tried to cover it up with an awkward laugh, but it just made things worse.
Namjoon cringed internally and turned his head away. Gosh this was going horribly.
Another bout of silence passed, this time filled with the chirp of crickets. Namjoon focused on the sound, desperate for anything to fill the uncomfortable silence.
“I was trying to talk to you.” Minju blurted,”I wasn’t trying to be weird—I swear!” She held her hands up in surrender, an innocent look spreading across her face.
“Oh. Hah…” Namjoon’s heart fluttered at her words. Hae Minju wanted to talk to me? His thoughts were interrupted when she spoke once more.
“We have chemistry together. Third period.”
Namjoon nodded a little too eagerly. She knows me. “Yup. With Mr. Son. Interesting guy.” He scrambled for words, failing miserably at keeping the conversation going.
Minju stiffened before taking a deep breath as if letting her mind clear and her guard fall down.
“Y’know Namjoon,” she turned her body to face him,”I always see you around school. You’re always so quiet during class but you’re so smart.” Minju clasped her hands together and sat up straight. “Next time Mr. Son assigns a lab, could we be partners?”
Namjoon’s breath caught as his cheeks turned red, matching Minju’s. He nodded vigorously like a fool.
The two teenagers sat in silence once more under the starry night sky, the bashful grins on their faces and constant fidgeting signs of their racing hearts and giddy minds.
“HAHAHAAA!!” Jimin and Hoseok shook with laughter as they stumbled trying to keep up with the rest of the group.
“Lab partners?!” Jimin hollered.
“Gosh Joon hyung you made it seem like she professed her undying love for you and signed it in pen.” Taehyung giggled.
Namjoon sucked his teeth and folded his arms, turning his face away from the hysterical group of boys.
“You guys just don’t get it.” He huffed.
Yoongi stopped walking and turned to face Namjoon. The group curiously watched Yoongi’s next move. His hand draped over his heart as his countenance turned dramatic. “Joon…don’t tell me you…you held hands too?!”
Namjoon let out an exasperated sigh and pushed past Yoongi, a chorus of laughter filling the night air once more.
“Yah…we’re only joking Namjoonie,” Jin’s hand came up to rest on Namjoon’s shoulder,”we’re proud of you. Aren’t you glad we made you come out tonight?” Jin smirked.
Namjoon rolled his eyes and shoved his hyung playfully.
He smiled to himself as he thought of chem class on Monday. For the first time in his life, Namjoon was hoping Mr. Son had assigned a lab for them.