I slid down the hallway, my feet making noisy sounds. Then I stopped. I could see Namjoon standing in front of ‘our classroom’. Our classroom. Nobody knew this, but I called that place our classroom. Me and the hyungs and Jungkook, it was ours. I caught my breath and approached. I was going to startle them.
“Principal!” I had barely taken five steps when I head an urgent voice through the open classroom window. It seemed like Seokjin hyung. I stopped walking. Was Seokjin hyung talking to the principal right now? In our classroom? Why? Then I heard my name and Yoongi hyung’s and I saw Namjoon hyung draw in a startled breath. As if having sensed it, Seokjin hyung suddenly opened the door. There was a phone in Seokjin hyung’s hand. His shock and confusion was plain on his face. I couldn’t see Namjoon hyung’s expression. I hid and watched. Seokjin hyung looked confused. “Hyung must have had a reason.” After he spoke, Namjoon hyung passed by Seokjin hyung and went into the classroom. I couldn’t believe it. Seokjin hyung told the principal what Yoongi hyung and I had done for the last several days. He told everything, about skipping class and climbing over the wall and fighting with other kids. But Namjoon hyung said that was all okay.
“What are you doing here?” I turned around in shock. It was Hoseok hyung and Jimin. Hoseok hyung pretended to be even more shocked, then slung his arm over my shoulders. In a moment of confusion, I let Hoseok hyung pull me into that classroom. Namjoon hyung and Seokjin hyung were talking, and they looked up. Seokjin hyung got up in a hurry and said something had come up. He left the classroom. I looked at Namjoon hyung’s expression. He had watched Seokjin hyung’s retreating back, but now he laughed as if nothing was wrong. At that moment, a thought occurred to me. Namjoon hyung must have had a reason. Because hyung knew more than me, and was smarter and older. And because this was our classroom, I went into the classroom smiling the foolish smile that the others teasingly called my rectangle smile. I thought that I wouldn’t tell anyone else that I had overheard that conversation.