Perfect| Namjoon

2

Se-ri

The first days of school were always bittersweet. Bitter from the end of the stress-free and peaceful summer yet sweet from the excitement of the new year and enthusiasm to put your best foot forward. 

I stood in front of the huge golden gates of Shin-A High School, the cool breeze hitting my cheeks and my back, almost urging me to enter for the first day of my last year in high school. Ever since I'd woken up today, a sense of nostalgia washed through me. This was my last year in school. For 15 years school was all I had known and all of a sudden, and very soon at that, it would end. I guess that's why they didn't continue college education in school. To build a bridge between school and the real world.

I took a step. And then another. And then another. Followed by a flow of sequential footsteps into the campus. Making my way towards the main building, I returned the greetings and smiles of everyone who addressed me. 

I sauntered into the homeroom class that I was instructed to go to in the e-mail I'd received in the previous week, not surprised to see it empty. As usual, I was early and there were still 20 minutes to the first bell. The others had either not come yet, or were hanging out on the campus grounds.

Call me nerdy, but I liked the peaceful silence of the empty classroom, before it would be filled with chattering students and the boisterous voice of the teacher, trying to get everyone to settle down. It was more or less like a connection that I felt to the place that I'd be spending a lot of my time in for the next 11 and a half months. It felt...nice. 

I took my habitual seat in the back, the second last row of the class. A seat I'd taken in every homeroom ever since my very first day in high school.

...................................

"Ah, of course! Se-ri is already here!" a voice hollered throughout the now partially filled class room. A voice that I knew all too well. 

"Hey Soomi!" I greeted. Bai Soomi, my so-called 'best friend' walked towards my desk with our 'clique' of four other girls. There was nothing wrong with Soomi, in fact she could be a great friend when she wanted to be. Our friendship was just, for reasons unknown to her and me,  superficial. Our talks never went beyond the typical high school gossip. 

"I swear to god Seri-ah! If you weren't so hot and rich, I'd bully you to do my homework," she said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes at her statement. Needless to say, she was joking. Soomi was a kind soul and thought five times before even killing an ant, no matter how annoying those pesky creatures could be. 

"I'll take that as a compliment," I replied with a smile decorated on my face. She shook her head let out a laugh, one of those sophisticated laughs that could actually be considered 'lady like'. It came naturally for her, and to be honest, I slightly envied her for that.  If truth be told, Soomi was the definition of elegance and beauty. Her tall and slim but curvy stature attracted stares from both men and women alike. 

"Scoot!" she ordered and I did as she sat next to me on our desk that was meant for two. We'd always sat together, for as long as I could remember. 

It felt like deja vu when I was once more interrupted from the book I was reading by the queen reincarnate, Soomi herself when she slammed her palms on the table. 

"I swear, this is the year that I'll make Jung Hoseok mine!" She declared eyeing said boy who was seated in the front row next to him, Kim Nam-joon. I balled my fists and raised it in encouragement before my eyes automatically landed on Nam-joon, deep dimples on full display as he laughed at a joke Hoseok had made. 

The two had been attached at the hip, inseparable ever since they first met. Wherever Hoseok went, Nam-joon went and vice-versa. It was difficult to find one of them without the other, much like Soomi and I.  Although of course the situation was different. Soomi and I didn't share half the strength of the bond they did. 

"Do you think Nam-joon will be class president again?" I asked. 

"Huh, of course he will. He's only the top student here at Shin-A," she replied and I nodded. It was true. Nam-joon's high IQ of 148 and hard work had always guaranteed him a place as number one followed by Haerin and I who always alternated between second and third. 

Thinking of the intriguing girl had me staring at her, sitting at the corner in the back, alone, buried deep in a book about neuroscience, The Social Animal, the cover read.  She had interested me from a young age and I hung onto any clue that I could get to know more about her, creepy I guess? I made sure to make a mental note to check out the book when I went home. 

"Hello students!" I was ripped out of my thoughts by the loud voice of an unfamiliar teacher that I didn't even know had entered the class. She looked relatively younger than the other teachers, seemingly in her late twenties.

 "And welcome to another and last year of school, well for most of you. I am Ms. Song and I will be your homeroom and biology teacher," she announced and smiled warmly at us as we greeted her. 

"Good morning and thank you and now if you'd-" However Ms. Song was cut off by another teacher who had called out to her from the door of the classroom. She politely excused herself and took the note from the teacher, allowing a boy to enter the class. 

"Ah! Class we have a new student here with us," she gestured the boy to introduce himself.  

He fiddled with his fingers and inhaled deeply before putting on an adorable bunny smile. "Hello! My name is Jeon Jungkook! Please take care of me!" he presented himself before bowing. 

"Hello Jungkook! Now if you'd like to take a seat at the back next to..."  Ms. Song waved at the only vacant seat next to Haerin. 

"Cha Haerin!" she announced enthusiastically, something that surprised me. She rarely showed her interest in anything. 

"Right, and I'm sure she'd be happy to assist you with anything you might need," Ms Song looked at Haerin and she smiled and nodded firmly in confirmation. 

Jungkook bowed at our teacher and made his way to his designated desk. Deeper introductions could already be seen exchanged between the both of them. There appeared to be not a single stale moment between the two as they immediately dived into conversation about what came across as the book she was reading. 

I was happy for Haerin. This was the first in a long time I'd seen her so jovial, the last being when I'd got her a toy doctor's set on her tenth birthday. 

Jungkook was an attractive boy. His soft hair set messily but almost purposeful on his head and fell on his forehead. His doe eyes seemed to compliment his bunny smile, displaying his face as cute. However, his built and tall physique contrasted his child-like face in the best possible way. I could already see a strong connection form between Haerin and him that could later even bloom into something more. 

And I couldn't help but wonder if I'd ever share such a link with Nam-joon.