Strings of Fate (rewrite)

Chapter 2

Mr. Yung lectured for a while and once he finished getting through the material he wanted them to know, he handed out worksheets and told them to work on it in groups of two or three. "Don't spend the time just talking, this worksheet will be due at the end of class," Mr. Yung warned as he finished handing out the sheets and went back to his desk. 

The class started to move their desks around as they quickly began to form groups. Jimin saw Taehyung moving his desk close to his but ignored him to turn around towards the new student. Junkook noticed him turning and looked at him awaiting the other to speak. 

"Hi, I'm Jimin and this is Taehyung. Would you like to work with us on the assignment?" Jimin offered with a sweet smile. Jungkook looked from Jimin to Taehyung who waved at him cheerfully. Jungkook gave him a nod in acknowledgment before turning back to Jimin and nodding mutely. 

"Great, let's turn our desks around Tae so we can all face each other," Jimin suggested to Taehyung who nodded and waited for Jimin to turn his desk around first. Once Jimin's desk was turned around and pushed against Jungkook's, Taehyung pushed his so that it touched both Jimin and Jungkook's desks from the side. The three looked down at the worksheet once the small semi-circle had been formed with the desks.

Taehyung read the first question aloud and then they all worked together to come up with the answer. Jungkook didn't speak too much except when contributing to the discussion. The three worked diligently and managed to finish the assignment with lots of time to spare, so Jimin and Taehyung decided to get to know the new student.

"So, how old are you?" Taehyung asked the first question as he leaned forward and stared at Jungkook.

"Just turned fifteen a couple of days ago."

"Oh, happy belated birthday!" Jimin did a little cheer and smiled brightly. Jungkook thanked him, the corners of his lips turning upwards slightly.

"Happy belated birthday, fifteens young though, Jimin and I are sixteen but we'll both be seventeen by the end of this year," Taehyung motioned between himself and Jimin.

"Thanks and yea, I figured you would be older than me. Most of my classmates usually are," Jungkook sighed.

"Did you skip a grade?" Jimin questioned as he rested his face on his hands.

"Yeah, I skipped fifth grade."

"How'd that happen?" Taehyung wondered aloud, gazing at Jungkook curiously.

"Well, schoolwork was always a little too easy for me. I'd finish my homework quickly and spend so much time playing my mom was sure I was just rushing and not learning. But I'd always bring home good grades so she started wondering if the work was too easy. So she spoke with my teachers and they all agreed to move me up a grade to give me more of a challenge," Jungkook explained.

"So did it give you a challenge?" Jimin decided to ask.

Jungkook shrugged, "Yeah, it sort of did. I'm glad it did, but honestly, if it hadn't I wasn't going to make the same mistake again. I'd have pretended it was challenging just so I wouldn't be moved up again and end up finishing high school early. Rather have my youth then speed through it and go to college early."

Jimin laughed, "I get your viewpoint but you wouldn't have to go early if you didn't want to. You could take a break or be like Joonie hyung and take college classes while still in high school."

"Jonnie hyung?" Jungkook repeated the name, having no idea who that was, and looking at the other two hoping one of them would shed some light on who that was.

"Namjoon hyung is a junior here. Well, technically he should be classified as a senior since he's already got enough credits to graduate. But he's choosing not to graduate till next year with the rest of his peers. Instead, he's taking a few online college courses and the most advanced courses that are offered here. Next year he's just going to be taking a bunch of electives since there'll be no more advanced classes for him to take," Taehyung explained.