AGE FOUR
yoongi's mother drags her half-asleep son into his new classroom, muttering things like "are you excited little yoongi?!" and "you're going to have so much fun!"
yoongi only yawns in reply, rubbing his half-lidded eyes. his little body was almost completely enveloped in a thick, blue coat so long it nearly reached his toes; he was practically swimming in the cerulean wool.
his mother squeezes his small hand tightly as they go through the glass-paned doors and strut straight toward the teacher, who is finishing up talking to another set of parents.
the two wait a few seconds before the teacher gives them her full attention. she is a very young woman, probably youthful enough to still be called a 'girl.' she had straight, dark hair tied up in a simple bun, with wisps of black hair framing her delicate face.
"hello," his mother greets kindly, "i'm min yoonji, and this is my son yoongi. can you say hi yoongi?"
"ugh," yoongi mutters in response, close to falling asleep on the floor.
"hello! it's nice to met you, please, call me miss joohyun" his teacher says and smiles at the sleepy boy. "how about you talk to namjoon while me and your mother talk, yoongi?"
yoongi doesn't refuse the suggestion, so he's quickly pushed into a corner of the classroom, where another boy is playing around.
the boy towered over yoongi, much taller than the small child yoongi was. his skin was caramel, fairly tanned in contrast to yoongi's snowflake skin. the boy's hair was short and dark, covered up with a yellow jacket that hung on him like an old bathtub curtain. he was tightly hugging a lion-like plush animal, carrying it like it was his own precious child.
it was a strange sight, a boy like this being attached to a stuffed toy. but yoongi honestly didn't care.
"ohm, hi," the stranger says as he notices yoongi staring dully at him.
there was a few moments of awkward silence. the two boys just stared at each other, yoongi's uninterested eyes staring into the boy's soul with the most judgmental and careless glint in his gaze.
soon, the quiet was finally broken. "what is that," yoongi asks tiredly, pointing to the stuffed toy.
"this is ryan! he's a lion!" the boy says with delight and hugs the toy to his chest lovingly. "i love him!"
yoongi blinks a few times.
it takes him extreme self control not to pry the plush ryan away from the boy's hands and throw it across the room. he didn't understand why this boy was so emotionally attached to this... ryan.
yoongi says nothing, before dropping to the floor and lying down. "i'm sleep," yoongi says sluggishly and shuts his eyes.
the boy scrunches up his nose. "you're name's sleep? i wish my name was sleep. i'm just namjoon."
yoongi's too tired to reply and curls up into a small ball, squeezing his eyes shut and trying his best to ignore his surroundings. truth is, yoongi isn't really all interested in talking or being friends with anyone. he just wants to find a quiet spot of the classroom and nap for about a year.
but he did agree that it wasn't a very bad idea to befriend someone, in case he needs a friend later in the school year. so, namjoon wasn't too bad. but still, he just wanted to be alone.
about five minutes pass and yoongi is still sprawled out on the colorful carpet, resting. he was glad namjoon wasn't really bothering him. he just let his mind wander and pretended he was dreaming.
"sleep! wake up!" namjoon exclaims and gently hits yoongi in the face with his plush animal.
yoongi languidly sits up and shakes his head. "why...." he complains, rubbing his forehead.
"we have to sit with teacher! c'mon," he grabs yoongi's chubby arm and pulls him to the desks where the other children are waiting. they quickly sit at an empty table in the back of the room, waiting diligently for their teacher's instructions.
ms. joohyun adjusted her round-framed glasses before clapping her hands together enthusiastically. "hello class! we have a new student today... min yoongi, please stand!"
the whole class turns in their seats, their eyes wide and excited to meet the new boy. yoongi strongly hates the attention but stands up anyway, his arms crossed in childish anger.
"h-hi," yoongi squeaks out. his classmates stare at him intently, at the edge of their seats with curiosity.
and that was it.
min yoongi's great, booming introduction.
a simple, "hi."
honestly, he still didn't care. as long as he said something, people would pay no attention, right?
he hesitantly sits down.
before the teacher is about to ask yoongi to say more, there is a slam, followed by frantic footsteps.
a boy rushes into the classroom, panting heavily and holding on tightly onto a tattered green backpack. his thick hair is windswept across his forehead and his uniform is messily thrown together, crumpled and untidy. yoongi notices that the children pay no attention to the latecomer, and treat the situation like it was a regular, everyday scene. their eyes are still on yoongi.
the mystery boy gives a short wave and happy, heart-shaped smile to the class before turning quickly to the patient teacher, his weak smile growing noticeably nervous.
"hoseok, you're late again today," ms. joohyun says with a soft sigh, but she gives him a reassuring smile.
"i sorry! i sorry!" the boy... hoseok shouts and bows his head, quickly handing his teacher a pink note.
the teacher chuckles softly while tucking the paper slip into her pocket. "it's ok hoseok, you can sit now."
yoongi doesn't like hoseok at first glance. he was very hyper and yoongi was too tired to deal with someone like that. energized people require energy, yoongi has none. hoseok seemed way too high-maintenance.
he scowled, observing hoseok with his little eyes narrowed.
was yoongi hardcore judging him? yes. did yoongi care? no.
much to yoongi's frustration, hoseok spots the two boys and conviently picks the seat right next to yoongi and namjoon.
"i don't like loud," yoongi grumbles quietly as hoseok sits down.
"hi!" namjoon greets quickly, an adorable smile plastered on his face. yoongi assumes that they're friends, or something of the sort.
"hello!" hoseok chrips happily, waving at namjoon. he suddenly notices yoongi and gasps happily, glancing at namjoon with a surprised and overjoyed expression. new people excited him for some reason.
"hi! i'm hobi!" hoseok giggles, poking yoongi's face with his finger.
yoongi immediately flinches at the touch. "mmph... yoongi.." the sleepy boy mumbles, before closing his eyes again.
hoseok squeals, "aww! little yoongi you're so cute!" and pinches his chubby cheeks.
"i'm tireeeeeeed," yoongi whines in reply, lying his head onto the cold desk.
namjoon just watches the two eagerly, tapping his fingers against the table. hoseok turns to namjoon with a grin brighter than the sun.
"he's adorable!" hoseok excitedly whispers to namjoon; he points directly at yoongi, who is too clueless to notice.
namjoon just smiles and nods, clearly not as interested in yoongi as hoseok was.
yoongi pretended he was asleep, so he could hear the nice things hoseok said about him.
it was strange, they've only met minutes ago but hoseok was going on and on, about how he thought yoongi would be a great friend and how cute he was.
i guess he's okay... yoongi thought sheepishly in his mind. he's never had someone his age awe over him so much; usually adults would do that.
hoseok seemed special in some odd way.
strange...
yoongi spent the rest of class napping,
and occasionally sneaking glances at hoseok.
shhh...!
—
a/n
HIIIII !!!
sorry for somewhat abrupt chapter ending ;-; !! hopefully it was ok besides that tho !!
thanks sm for reading!