"Alright, brats. We're almost there," the teacher said as he stood up from his seat and turned around to find them all sleeping after a three-hour journey. "Wake up! Wake up!" he clapped his hands, startling them to wake up.
Taehyung groaned loudly as he stretched his arms high into the air, and Hoseok did the same. Everyone was slowly blinking and rushing to look out the window to see the beautiful place they were about to stay in and have fun.
Meanwhile, there was only one person who didn't get a single wink of sleep because of his worries. It was Jimin.
Jungkook was still sleeping while resting his head on Jimin's shoulder, attempting to alleviate the discomfort caused by the fever. He told Jimin that he wasn't feeling well because he was getting motion sickness an hour after the bus started moving.
His face was a little pallid, which made Jimin concerned as well as irritated about the boy's condition. Because of that, Jimin drew Jungkook closer to him and let the boy sleep on his shoulder, not really want to do it but Jungkook's whiny complaints were really testing his patience.
When he noticed Jungkook had closed his eyes to sleep, he struggled to keep himself from coughing. He didn't want to startle Jungkook as he wanted the boy to rest before they arrived at the specified location.
He cupped his hand over his mouth and coughed slowly every time he couldn't hold it any longer, then quickly checked on the boy to see if he had accidentally awakened him.
And thankfully, Jungkook didn't move an inch.
"Jungkook?" Jimin cocked his head forward, peering into Jungkook's face, hoping to rouse the boy. "Are you awake? We've arrived. It's past time for you to wake up."
Jungkook's face grimaced, his shut eyes narrowing in between long and breathy huffs. He actually heard Jimin. He was aware that they had arrived, but he didn't open his eyes or even move away from Jimin.
Obviously, he still wanted to stay with Jimin in that position for as long as he could. Who knows if he still will be able to sit next to Jimin once they get off the bus?
With that thought, he pretended as if he didn't hear what Jimin said to him and pushed his body closer to the boy, eliciting a small groan from the latter.
"Come on, Jungkook. Get up! How are you feeling? Better?" Jimin asked before looking around at everyone who started to gather all their belongings and loading their bags as the bus almost reach the destination.
But for Jimin, he couldn't even reach for the water bottle in front of him which was at behind the seat, because Jungkook was still clinging to him.
"Headache." Jungkook took Jimin's hand in his own and placed it on top of his head.
"What?"
"Help me, ease the pain. My head is throbbing."
Jimin scoffed in disbelief "I thought you were already fine? Why pretend when you clearly aren't?" He inquired, sounding irritated as he aggressively massaged the main character's head.
"Because... if I say I'm not feeling well, my brother will refuse to let me join the trip. Then I won't be able to see you until next week." Jungkook mumbled, barely able to get his voice out.
Jimin sighed and rolled his eyes "That's not even a problem to me. You're annoying me, do you ever realize that?"
"Ahh!" Jungkook moaned in pain, "More gentle, New Face! Do you want to crash my head?"
***
"All right, everyone." Jungkook, the president of the swimming club, stood in front of the crowds while holding a box containing small papers in his hands.
"As far as I remember, we don't have any activities planned for today and we will begin the first activity by tomorrow morning as according to the planned schedule. Now, we will first give you the keys to your room."
Jungkook raised the box above his head. "Pick a number in here, and whoever gets the same number has to share the same room."
The students' groans of dissatisfaction filled the small space. But, as much as they despise the idea of being separated from their friends, they understand that they must adhere to the properties of having this entire trip.
They began to complain as they formed a snake line in front of Jungkook, waiting for their turn to draw a number.
"It'll be cool if we get the same number, New Boy! It would be a lot of fun," Taehyung exclaimed with glee.
Jimin enthusiastically nodded "That's right. But I doubt we'd be able to come up with the same number. There might be hundreds of numbers in there."
"If you guys are lucky, maybe the chance of getting the same number will reach more than 80%," Hoseok said, standing in the middle between them while his gaze searching for Dongho, his other friend.
Taehyung pouted as reality slapped him in the face, realizing that he wouldn't be able to stay in the same room with Jimin.
"What do you think about this?" Jimin's eyes twinkled as he suddenly thought of an idea.
"What?" Taehyung narrowed his eyes as he looked at Jimin.
"Let's swap numbers with anyone who got the same as mine or yours. Isn't that enticing?"
Taehyung exclaimed lowly, his already large eyes rounding out in excitement. "Fuck! That's genius. Let's do it!"
"Okay. Let's stick to the plan."
They were both very excited about the plan, the level of confidence was even higher than the cute Jimin, as Taehyung couldn't help but smirk widely.
***
"New Boy!" Taehyung dashed towards Jimin, holding a small yellow piece of paper in his hand. He got the number before Jimin and quickly showed the boy the number written on the paper.
"It's 9!" Taehyung spoke in hushed tones.
"Okay! Go find someone who has the number." Jimin replied in hushed whispers, careful not to be overheard by the upper hands while Hoseok simply shook his head.
Soon, Jimin arrived at the front row where Jungkook was holding the box and Jimin was supposed to draw a number for himself.
At the same time, Hoseok and Taehyung were nervously waiting for Jimin, especially Taehyung. He was hoping Jimin would choose the same number as him since he was too lazy to find anyone else who had chosen the same number as him.
Jimin took a deep breath while ignoring Jungkook's stare at him. His gazes were fixed on the white box in Jungkook's hands. As he was about to put his hand into the box, Jungkook suddenly grabbed his hand and yanked him out of the queue line, which startled the boy and confused those around him.
"What are you up to?" Jimin asked angrily, in hushed whispers. "Now it's my turn to draw the numbers!"
Jungkook ignored the boy's complaint and let the other student proceed on the task. But he still held Jimin's hand as not allowing Jimin to walk away.
Jimin was irritated, and he glared at Jungkook lethally. "Jeon Jungkook."
Meanwhile, Taehyung's face was heavily lowered in such disappointment and annoyance, whereas Hoseok had a wide grin between cackles.
"Fuck, that bastard," Taehyung swore as he realized the chance of him staying in the same room with Jimin had quickly turned to ash when he saw Jungkook was holding Jimin's hand.
Hoseok laughed "I can say you're still acting silly. You should've known better when Hye-Joo said he likes Jimin. Isn't it obvious that he'll take Jimin with him?"
"Shut up before I punch you in the face. You know it will be such a good chance for me to take care of him since Jungkook still had no idea about his disease. Just what if he suddenly collapsed? What should we do if Jungkook starts panicking and start to throw us a rain of questions?" Taehyung sighed and ruffled his hair.
"I still couldn't figure out why Jimin wouldn't tell Jungkook about it." Taehyung shook his head and huffed softly before reaching out to grab Hoseok's hand in his.
Hoseok's eyebrows lifted in surprise. Taehyung suddenly grabbed his hand and dragged him away from the scene. "Can you tell me where you're taking me?" he asked.
"Just follow me," the boy said while facing forward. "Let's see if we can find someone who gets a 9."
"For what? Jimin is obviously staying with Jungkook."
"I know. Let's trade it with you." Taehyung said, his eyes already sharply gawking for the paper, and he began to ask for the numbers of each of his friends.
Hoseok, on the other hand, was secretly smiling behind Taehyung. His heart did something to his chest that caused his face to flush slightly. He looked down at Taehyung's fingers gently wrapping around his hand, and strangely, he didn't want to let it go.
***
"Jungkook, what exactly are you trying to do?" Jimin became irritated with the boy since everyone had finished picking up their numbers to find their roommates except for him, who was still standing stupidly next to Jungkook.
"I've got a migraine. Can you please give me a break?" Jungkook muttered a response before turning around and placing the empty box on the table behind him.
"I haven't yet drawn my number."
"There's no need."
"And why is that? Why am I excluded?"
Jungkook jerked his body forward from leaning against the table and grabbed the bag on the chair next to him, taking something like a keychain and handing it to Jimin.
"What?" Jimin asked, perplexed.
"Hold it for me," he said as he walked away for a moment to meet with the club's vice president while Jimin eyed every moment of Jungkook with his gaze which was fierce in rage.
Jimin then cast his gaze around, looking for Taehyung as he felt compelled to inform the latter. He was concerned that the boy might be waiting for him. But all he sees in front of him were only unfamiliar faces.
"Where did he go?" pouted Jimin.
"I'm right here." Jungkook approached Jimin once more, earning the boy's rolled eyes in hatred.
Jimin frowned. "I wasn't looking for you."
Jungkook smirked, "Oh, really? That's disappointing." muttered him as he moved closer to the boy to take Jimin's hand in his. And, without saying anything, he dragged the boy out of the hall and caused Jimin's face clouded with a surprise look and confusion.
"What now?" Jimin questioned, attempting to pry his hand free from Jungkook's grasp.
"I've done my job. They let me go and rest first since they know I'm not feeling well."
"That has absolutely nothing to do with me. Why are you dragging me along with you?!" Jimin whined in frustration, half-heartedly walking behind Jungkook with a huge frown on his face.
Jungkook groaned lowly as slowly becoming irritated with Jimin's whining. "Because you're staying with me, New Face."
Jimin's eyes widened "WHERE? In the same room?!"
"Obviously?"
"Who said I was interested in being your roommate? I was planning to share a room with Taehyung." Jimin stated as he ground to a standstill, causing Jungkook's steps to come to a halt as well, and turned around to face him.
"New Face," Jungkook sighed, "What now?"
"Aren't you being too much? Did you realize that you're trying to have complete control over me? And I can't do anything that I want because of that?"
"Since when?" Jungkook's face twitched to be serious, but a glimpse of his anger had already appeared between the darkened lines as the test of his patience was tested positive.
"When did I control you?" Jungkook inquired, his voice was much lower than usual.
"Like right now? I had no idea you were going to take me with you *Cough* and you just do whatever you want, and I have to follow and listen to everything you say. I don't even want to be in the same room with you, but as you can see, you're forcing me to."
"I told you I'm not feeling well and you're the one who has to look after me, didn't I?"
"As far as I remember, I had never agreed to something like that?"
"Who said that was even an option?" Jungkook's demeanor began to shift. In an instant, the soft gaze he always had when looking at Jimin had turned much colder.
However, despite his rage overwhelming at the moment, he didn't let go of Jimin's hand.
Jimin lowered his head to face down and his pout was visible as he was upset. He knew Jungkook was kind of furious with him, and he was tired enough to argue with the taller. So, he chose silence to speak for him.
And as what can be predicted, Jungkook's steamy heart failed to burst into flames when he saw the boy's expression. Jungkook quickly calms down and gently lets go of Jimin's hand and snatched the key out from the boy's grip between his nodding head.
"Fine. You can go wherever you want. I didn't mean to make it seem like I was forcing you to accompany me. I thought you were fine with it. I'm sorry. Go to your Taehyung." Jungkook said softly before turning around and stepping away towards the room.
Jimin was taken aback by the sudden change of mind. He was about to jump in relief and was almost grinning from ear to ear because he really didn't want Jungkook to be his roommate. However, when he saw Jungkook's expression, his smile slipped away.
The boy didn't appear to be upset, annoyed, or even angry. But he looked kind of down while trying so hard to hide it with a straight face.
It has immediately caused Jimin's shoulders to drop and surrounded him with a sense of guilt. He watched Jungkook until the boy disappeared from the place and huffed lowly before going back to the crowded area to find Taehyung and Hoseok.