Stars Of The Sky

1. Three minutes of terror

A visit to the zoo, arranged by the school, went terrifyingly wrong. How was Jeongguk talking to a monkey one second and staring right into the sleeping face of a lion the next?

Based on an episode of Charlie Chaplin.

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"Okay, boys and girls!!" Mr Kim clapped his hands once, and that one clap, dripping with authority, made all students in front of him fall into pin-drop silence, waiting for further instructions. 

"Form a line, come on!!" he said and within a minute, the students fell into a line, with not a single head peeping out of the arrangement. 

That was the kind of respect Mr Kim commanded among the students. The students simply adored and feared him all in equal measures. He was a great teacher and a friendly man, but you wouldn't want to anger him even in your dreams. 

"I know going to a zoo is a bit childish for your age, but I also know you guys are gonna enjoy looking at the animals no matter how old you grow. Please behave like humans and let the monkeys do their job, yeah?" 

"Great Expectations, sir," one of the students - Kim Taehyung - hollered from the back, making the rest of the students snicker as well. It earned him a dimpled grin from Mr Kim as well, seeing as 'Great Expectations by Charles Dickens' was what Mr Kim had made them write an essay on the previous week. 

Clutching his heart, Taehyung smacked his best friend in front of him, looking dreamily up at the sky. "I made Number One and Number Five laugh....dear god, I can die peacefully now," he said, earning an eye-roll from his friend, Park Jimin. 

Jimin knew all about his best friend's tragedy regarding his multiple crushes. 

Number One was their English teacher, Mr Kim Namjoon, the man who was currently escorting them to the zoo. Number Two was Mr Kim Seokjin, their science teacher, who was currently escorting the other set of students in the other bus. Number Three was Jung Hoseok and Number Four was Min Yoongi, two of their seniors. 

To his very bad luck, Number One was married to Number Two and they even had a kid through surrogacy. And much to Taehyung's chagrin, that kid was coming to the zoo along with them as well. Their principal had enough of a good impression on both of the Mr Kims to let them bring their son to the school's zoo trip. 

As to Number Three and Number Four, both of them had boyfriends - each other. Poor Taehyung had spent an entire night throwing tantrums and rants at Jimin when the news spread in the school. 

Number Five was special. He was someone Taehyung had a chance with. Why? Because that guy was single. 

Taehyung just hoped that guy noticed him back, but he supposed that would never happen. Why? Because that guy had many friends with him. He had a line of girls and boys waiting behind him for a chance with him. Why would he even look at Taehyung, right? 

"Okay, okay, that's enough," Mr Kim clapped his hands again, this time gesturing for everyone to get into their buses. Everyone got in without further ado, and much to Taehyung's shock, Number Five sat right next to him. 

But of course, he didn't look at him. Not even once. 

The guy was busy talking animatedly to his own friends, thus missing Taehyung, who kept stealing glances at his back from time to time. 

By the time they reached the zoo, Taehyung's lips couldn't straighten up. They remained rolled up into a permanent pout. 

"Yah, this is why I tell you to have reasonable crushes. Ones that you have a chance with. Look at me. I like Jeongie, Jeongie likes me back, and we are happily in a relationship. Why can't you like someone like that?" Jimin lectured and Taehyung rolled his eyes.