chapter synopsis: the third and fourth grade classes are at war, seokjin tries to make yoonjin happen, and jeongguk sulks alongside his rival while eating lunch.
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kim seokjin, the prince of his elementary school. commonly referred to as rj, or royal jin, all the boys fancied him and all the girls wanted to be him... or maybe it was the other way around.
doesn't matter. the sheer power the nine year old had over his peers and even most of his instructors was frightening. and he knew it.
ever since that stunt his desk mate, kim namjoon, tried to pull yesterday, seokjin began to find those meddling third graders sickening. it wasn't like this was the first time something like this had happened.
namjoon had many failed attempts at trying to make seokjin actually use his brain. how dare he?! he even had the audacity to have the same surname as the prince, he knew nothing of manners!
seokjin just wanted to pass the fourth grade without actually trying, was that too much to ask?!
but yesterday was the last straw, seokjin decided. he was going to show that kim namjoon that no one told royal prince kim seokjin what to do.
it wouldn't be hard at all, considering his reputation at their school. all he had to do was turn up the charm, spit a few meaningless words to get people on his side, and done.
but, he couldn't do it alone.
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seokjin strutted over to the wooden picnic bench near the swing set, his rich boy posse tailing after him.
"min yoongi." he lifted his leg up onto the bench, elbow resting in his knee and chin in his palm.
the blond glanced at the purple haired boy over his shoulder and groaned loudly, the roll of his eyes following suite. "not you again."
"i'll pretend i didn't hear that." seokjin flipped his dyed locks out of the way of his vision. "i'm here to make a proposal-"
"ew no, i don't want to marry you."
"not that kind!! gosh, this is what happens when i try to use big words like joonie." the older boy muttered to himself, cheeks flaring up. "listen, i think we can all agree when i say i'm sick of those little kids, the third graders."
chenle and junmyeon nodded in agreement, arms crossed with their noses upturned.
yoongi stared at the trio with blank eyes. sure third graders could be a little annoying sometimes, but they were all in third grade at one point in their life. the blond knew what seokjin was trying to do, he had heard about his petty little rivalry with namjoon, starting a whole brigade against him and the other third graders. now the 'prince' was attempting to get yoongi on his side for whatever reason.
yoongi thought it was pretty dumb, to be honest.
"third graders are only like a year or two younger than us. they're not 'little' kids." he stated, then turned to chenle. "you aren't even in the third or fourth grade. hell, you're not even supposed to be out here right now."
"he's an exception!" seokjin tried clarifying, but the second grader had already ran back inside the school building before yoongi could snitch on him.
he pinched the bridge of his nose and frowned, throwing a slight glare the blond's way. "look yoongi, we're so close to having this school all to ourselves. we just need one more voice the people will listen to. who better than you? with my outstanding looks and your... uh.. your aloofness, we'll be the kings of the playground!! you won't have to stay at this rickety, old bench all the time- hey! where are you going?!"
"no thanks, i'll pass." the younger declined, halfway across the school playground on his way to the swing set.
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"ugh hyung, you don't understand! everywhere i go, everyone looks at me like i'm a spawn of the devil! even other third graders!"
"...what's a spawn?"
namjoon sighed and patted his dimpled companion on the shoulder.
"nothing hobi hyung, you're missing the point. jin hyung is literally turning the whole school against me. just because i tried to make him do a math problem!" namjoon explained, pulling at his silver locks. "that's such a stupid reason to do something like this."
hoseok thought about the situation, staying quiet. "well joon, math is kind of hard." he gave seokjin the benefit of the doubt.
"who's side are you on?!"
"i'm just saying, joonie. maybe he's upset because you're trying to make him do stuff he doesn't want to. if he doesn't want to do the schoolwork, then he doesn't have to. he'll just have to repeat the grade." the brunet shrugged, slipping the lollipop yoongi gifted him into his mouth.
"you'd be right if his parents weren't filthy rich!" namjoon stood by his argument. "but they are! and if jin hyung starts failing, they'll probably just pay the teachers or the principal to let him pass! which isn't fair!" he whined.
"plus, desk mates are responsible for each other! if jin starts slacking off, i'm the one who's going to get scolded for it. i don't need that on my discipline report!"
"..."
"we have discipline reports?"
another sigh left namjoon. his hyung did have sunny smile, but that didn't necessarily mean hoseok was the brightest.
"just explain the situation to our teachers. i'm sure they'll understand, they all love you, joon." hoseok assured, sucking on the pineapple flavored candy.
"what does that mean?" The younger questioned, noticing the slight envy in the other's voice.
hoseok went quiet again, fidgeting with the rim of his olive green bucket hat. "well, you know.."
"what?"
"you're just.. you're kind of a teacher's pet, joonie..."
the eight year old was absolutely appalled by his friend's words, a curse almost slipping past his lips.
"i- i am not a teacher's pet!!"
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a cool breeze came in from the east, nipping at the two young men near the beach's harbor.
it was a pretty nice day that afternoon, unlike yesterday, where the weather was grey and gloomy. tame sapphire waves crashed against the wooden dock, white cotton candy clouds moved across the sky, and the afternoon sun hung amongst them, sending warm rays down on the people below.
jaehyun blew on the steaming spicy bun to cool it down before taking a bite out of the piping treat, a satisfied sigh leaving him.
jeongguk enjoyed a bowl of fresh sweetfire chicken beside him, shoveling the food down as if it'd disappear before he'd get to finish.
the rival employees of hotpot pig bistro and boba bunny café eating lunch together by the beachside, respectively. a beautiful sight to see.
"god, i'm so ready to quit."
"same."
"like, i'm just not feeling life right now."
"same."
jeongguk washed down the food with a cold cola, as did jaehyun, except with a matcha milk tea.
"what are your plans? college?" the bunny boy asked his stoic companion, getting a shrug in response.
"i don't know, probably not, unless i get any scholarships." jaehyun closed his eyes and leaned back, soaking in the sun's rays. "i'll probably just become a kpop trainee or something."
.
.
.
both boys bursted into a fit of laughter after the pink haired jaehyun's statement, neither could even imagine a reality like that.
"yeah, sure. and i'll be in the world's most popular boy group." jeongguk played along, pushing his friend by the shoulder.
content sighs sounded in unison. in that moment it almost felt like their worries were a thing of the past, a comfortable silence settling in, only the sound of the calm tide.
"my boss's been talking about 'rebranding', whatever that means." jaehyun spoke once again, piquing jeongguk's interest.
"oh?"
"yeah," the young adult ran a hand through his dyed hair, stretching his long arms. "so if i have a hog costume next week instead of that damned pig, i might off myself."
" 'hotpot hog'?" jeongguk snorted, bunny like smile shining through, "it doesn't have the same ring to it." he shook his head, expressing his disapproval. "but best of luck, man." he wished and gave a pat on the back to the other.
despite the relationship their managers had with each other, the two were embarrassingly dressed partners in crime. their part time jobs destined to get no business whatsoever on that abandoned street.
as hard as it got sometimes, jeongguk wouldn't want it any other way. he liked having someone to look stupid with, maybe even more so.
poor guy had no idea how much that was going to change.
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|| unedited. ||
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