Chapter Text
It was a bitter cold September day when she first saw him.
A week before, the horrific entity known as school had started up again, pulling students out of summer days that stretched on forever to cold, dark classrooms. Though most students lamented this change, y/n had embraced it. School was a welcome change to the difficulties that plagued her daily life, and she enjoyed the continuous stream of work to occupy her mind. Though this semester brought new woes.
“I can’t believe it! Another semester without any of you guys, again?” y/n thrust down the paper schedule on the ground and was tempted to stop on it. It was technically the first day of school, but really was a half day for students to get schedules and get acquainted with their new classes. Brookside high school towered over the four friends like an omen. Protective yes, but also a signal of those to come. Daisy picked up the schedule and examined it. “Just for the first semester you don’t have any classes with us! But ooh, for the second one every single class is with one of us!”
She gave the schedule back to y/n, who accepted it with a frown. “What’s the point if that happens? I’ll still be alone for 6 months!” She craned her neck to look at the sky. Elema, who was standing closest to y/n, offered up a consolation. “Hey, who knows? Maybe you’ll be in a class with other people you know.”
Maelyn put a hand on y/n’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about these things, everything’ll turn out just fine.”
It did not turn out “just fine”. y/n grit her teeth as she stared out the car window going home on Friday. How was it possible she had every annoying kid in the school? Everyone she had ever hated with a passion was there. The mean girls were in almost all her classes, so even making friends was nonexistent. And how did the guidance office screw up so much as to exchange her advanced music class for advanced art??? She watched the buildings fly by as her mom’s car went farther and farther away from her high school. Right as y/n was going to go into another spiral of dismay around her current stage in life, her mom broke her out of her thoughts.
“How was your week at school? Good classes?” y/n blinked, then answered back in Farsi.
“I suppose so, Mother. But there’s been a slight mix-up with my classes-”
“Don’t ‘suppose’, it makes you look under confident. I hope you’ve been getting to know your teachers well, you want them to like you to earn higher marks. Did you bring any material home with you to study tonight?”
“Yes Mom, I am getting to know the teachers well. I’ll study hard tonight. But there’s been a mix-up with my-”
Suddenly, a springy tune filled the air. “Hush child, your father is calling.” y/n’s mother picked up the phone, and began to talk to her husband about groceries.
y/n stared at the large, imposing condo building that was her home. She saw a single leaf fly through the air. It lifted freely, and danced in the wind. It floated out of y/n’s vision, and she began to think about her study plan for the weekend.
y/n’s first period of the day, math class, was as rowdy as usual when she first walked in. She had a desk near the window, and unfortunately the window was open. It was such a cold morning that she thought it might snow, and the window displayed that factor by occasionally letting in freezing gusts of wind. y/n put her bag down and tried to wrench it closed, but to no avail. Her window spot looked over the Brookside football field to the Hill, as her and her friends called it. Last year, they had eaten on the Hill numerous times. It held many a great memory, and perhaps why she had chosen this spot was to remind her of her friendships during a boring math lecture. She pulled out her phone to see if there were any notifications. A blank wallpaper with the time greeted her and assured her that there was none. She sighed and pulled her jacket closer to herself. She hoped that maybe her friend from grade 7, Ryplo, would text. It was always a wonder to see a text from Ryplo, usually because it was something nonsensical like a single emoji. But nonetheless, y/n enjoyed their banter. Her math teacher, Mr Langdon, suddenly banged on the desk with a ruler.
“Class!” he barked out. “We have a new student here with us today. He’s a transfer student from…kor….eah…uh? Well, I don’t know how to pronounce that or the newbie’s name, but I’m sure he’ll tell you! Wait, kid, do you even know EnGlish?” Mr Langdon was a bit of a bigot sometimes.
“Teacher Langdon, I assure you I do speak English.”
y/n was so focused on the overweight teacher that she didn’t see the boy standing in front of the teacher’s desk.
He was tall, around 178cm. He was also toned, not too muscular but not just plainly skinny either. His fluffy ebony-black hair fell in a side part around his face. His long, slender fingers tapped a rhythm on his legs. He was nervous, but he didn’t let it show. It was like he had been in many different situations like this before. He had a poised way of holding himself, like a cat. y/n looked at his eyes. His crescent eyes looked like pools of ink, eyes you could drown in if you looked hard enough. They glittered in the light. Though he was obviously Korean, he had pale skin like the snow. The pairing was strange and you would think he was a goth, yet it looked perfect on him. Combined with his jet-black hair and eyes with his soft, pale complexion he looked almost like a perfect deity sent down to earth.
y/n blinked and realized she was lost in her head for a while. She vaguely remembered that at the time that he’d said his name. She looked at him again and realized he was staring, a gentle smile lining his face. Mr Langdon stood up and addressed the class. “So, who wants to take this fella under their wing for the semester? Must be a culture shock to come to Canada from uh…” he trailed off, but y/n got the message. She looked again at the boy. His eyes were lighting up hopefully at her. “So, anyone?” Mr Langdon said again. y/n stood up and shouted before anyone else could- “I’ll do it!” The boy smiled and came over to where she was sitting.
“Er…” she started, embarrassed. “What’s your name again?”
“My name,” started the boy with a smile, “Is Taehung Kimi. But you can call me V.”
y/n went cold inside in shock. V? Who was this guy? She did a double take at him. He was wearing a brown cardigan and forest green parachute pants. He looked so familiar ...and he asked her to call him V? No, it couldn’t be! It was impossible. y/n opened her mouth, to say an objection, a question, a demand. He flinched, as if realising a mistake, then swooped in before she could say anything. “Oh! I apologize! I didn’t mean to say V! Sorry, in Korea I was working at a convenience store for a while, and they made you say ‘Hi, welcome to VeeVee’s. You can call me V! I’ll be your cashier today.’ Oh wow… the uniforms I used to wear...Haha…You can call me Tae if you want.” He looked up, sending fluffed up hair flying in front of his face. Taehyung…Tae… was obviously lying. She tried to say something else, but he interrupted her. “Hey, do you mind if I sit on this desk next to you?” The desk to y/n’s left was empty, and she usually used it to put her bag or a coat on it.
“Y-yeah, sure.” y/n responded. Handsome and friendly as he was, y/n was intimidated by this guy. He sat down, put his bag next to hers, and gave her a bright smile. She gave one in return. y/n really wanted to find out more about Taehyung, but even him sitting next to her was enough to make her blush. She went back to staring out the window.
“Thank you for offering to take care of me this school semester!” At this outburst from Taehyung, y/n looked back over. He was doing a slight bow with his head at her. His face was mainly obscured by his hair. Wait, was that a blush on his face? “Well…um…it was no problem! No need to bow, it’s fine..” y/n answered back. There was a burning question she needed to ask him. “I’m sorry, it might have been my imagination, but why were you staring at me when I first saw you?”
Taehyung’s eyes darted to his desk and paused for a moment. After what seemed like collecting his thoughts, he spoke. “I was kind of hoping you would offer to be my guide… and you did! There’s a couple of reasons why…”
First, I can see you’re a very organised person. Look,” he extended his slender hand and pointed at y/n’s belongings, already laid out on the desk. “You’ve already got everything you need out, which tells me you’re ready for the class. No one else even has their material out yet.” y/n smiled, noting that Taehyung had a slight accent. She liked his rather formal way of speaking.
Then, she looked around the class, noticing also that everyone was either on their phones or talking. y/n felt another stab of anger that she’d ended up in this class, with people that only came to school because they were forced to do so.
“Second,” Taehyung held up another finger. “Since you have your material out, I can see your homework. It’s very detailed and neat, and looking at it now I see that the answers are right.” He held up the page detailing the questions for the math homework and quickly compared it with y/n’s homework, which she reluctantly handed over. “You even show all of your work.” Taehyung looked at her with an earnest smile and a small blush. “I’m really bad at math.” He put his fingers together and said with a grin, “Oh, if only there was someone organised and smart and good at math that could help me!”
“Haha. Very. funny.” y/n crossed her arms, a small smirk lighting up her face. “And the third reason?”
“The fight you had with the window was admirable.” Taehyung started to laugh, a gentle song filling the air. y/n was so enthralled in the sound that she didn’t realise what he had said. “Wait, huh? Grr, you’re such a jerk! How rude! Another minute and I would’ve closed it, ya know!”
Taehyung seemed taken aback for an instant. “Wait, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you!” His face darkened in worry.
“Jeez, it’s fine.” y/n said back. Taehyung let out a breath. “Well… the real reason number three?” he leaned on his desk and stared up at y/n, sitting. He laid his hand out near his face. “Who wouldn’t want a pretty girl like you as a guide?”
y/n was speechless, her face heating up. She sputtered, tried to speak, as the bell rang over her. “Well then, time to go!” Taehyung stood up and grabbed his bag. “I’ll see you tomorrow. It was nice to meet you, y/n.” She had nothing to say as he sprinted out of the classroom. Taehyung quickly walked past. Huh? She did a double take- it was just someone with glasses that looked like him. She rubbed her eyes, feeling tired from the interaction. As she picked up her bag, she wondered how Taheyung knew her name.
As y/n stepped in the doorway of her next class, she heard laughter. She saw the back of Taehyung’s head and was just about to say hello when a bout of loud laughter caught her off guard. Taehyung was surrounded by fellow students, and they seemed to be on friendly terms. He has friends already? y/n watched the group for a minute.
Though Taehyung seemed to talk less, all his classmates would gravitate towards him. Whenever he would speak though, everyone in the group listened. His words gave a smile to whoever talked to him. The sun beamed out of the window and fell on him, like it wanted to touch him, to make him happy. He seemed to shine in the light.
If he seemed untouchable before, he certainly was now. y/n still wanted to say hello to him, at least to make conversation about his classes, but he seemed so far away. She couldn’t hear exactly what they were talking about, but it must’ve been hilarious by the way everyone had bright smiles on their faces, including Taehyung’s, who was the brightest of all. y/n saw him make a comment to a girl in the group, which caused her to blush and giggle.
I think I’ve seen more than enough, y/n thought as she quickly walked to the back of the classroom to sit down in her chair. Almost seems as though he doesn’t actually like me, and just said those kind words just to make me feel something for him. Like he says it to everyone. y/n pulled on her headphones and put her face down on her desk. She let the sweet sound of Bangchan’s voice singing Red Lights serenade her as the joyful laughter died out.
y/n practically ran out of her class by the time the bell sounded the ring that signified the end of class. It was utterly painful having to listen to Taehyung whispering to other people in class, which kept feeding her worries about him not even liking her, him just thinking of her as another person to add to a pile of friends. Worse still, during class y/n answered some questions which should have alerted him that she was there, but he didn’t seem to care. y/n sighed. At least one guy with glasses looked at her. Thankfully lunch was next, so she could relax and attempt to forget about the whole thing before the dreadful afternoon.
The Taehyung issue still on her mind, y/n climbed up the stairs to her art classroom. Even her friends couldn’t cheer her up.
y/n came to the third floor and started to walk to class. Oh, art class. As usual, the guidance office was hopeless in changing courses and denied y/n from even taking another to fill the place of Art. y/n never got around to telling her mom- what was the point, when nothing could change? However, y/n secretly loved the advanced art class. Her parents had always wanted her to do something more literal, such as being a doctor, and had focused y/n on those tasks. What they didn’t know was that y/n had an affinity for drawing. In her increasingly little spare time, she would draw a manner of things, like animals or people. When y/n drew, time flew away. All worries and stresses would be gone with a mark of a line. Only single thoughts would appear, perhaps like what pose to draw Zoro in or where to shade Tanjiro’s outfit. It was methodical and calming, and having this art class to do exactly that was the highlight of the day.
y/n stepped inside the almost full classroom, and vacated to her seat. Her teacher, Ms Magentie, was already there. With her beautiful brown hair and unique fashion sense, she was a dictionary picture art teacher.
“Hello y/n, how are you doing on this lovely day?” She offered up.
“Just fine, Ms Magentie.” y/n replied. Ms Magentie had seen early what skill y/n offered in art, and had taken to offering up pleasant comments about y/n’s pieces to her. y/n enjoyed her presence. Just then, Ms Magentie clapped the class to attention. “Everyone,” she began, “You may already know, but we have a new student in the school, and will be joining us in class.” y/n went pale. It…it couldn’t be!
“Please welcome Taehyung Kimi to our classroom.”
Taehyung stepped out into the light and smiled. He noticed y/n, and tried to hide his smile with his hand. y/n shuddered. Oh no…please no… not again!
“Taehyung, do you know y/n? You’ll be sitting next to her in art. y/n, I trust you can update him on what we’re currently doing right now?” y/n was sure she saw Ms Magentie wink as Taehyung sauntered over to her table. The person sitting next to y/n gave him a nasty glare then left to sit somewhere else. Tahyung didn’t seem to notice, and gently sat down next to y/n. “Hey there, long time no see, right?” Taehyung commented.
y/n gave him a tight smile. “Shorter than you think.”