All's Fair In Love And War

not a flipping meet cute

One, two. One, two. In, and out. Once more. Inhale, exhale. One, two. One-

"Ready, kiddo?"

The young boy flinched and opened his eyes, startled.

"Oh, hey Dad. Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be!" Jungkook's lips ticked upwards into a smile, albeit short-lived.

"That's the spirit! Now, have you packed all of your stuff?"

"Yup, all set! I'm ready to go!"

"Come here, love." The boy's mother pulled him into a bone-crushing hug before he could object.
"I wish you all the luck in the world today. Make sure you have some fun too! I know I've said this before and I hate reminding you so often, but try to talk to your new classmates, all right? One person, it's all I ask."

"I'll try, Mum."

The petite, chubby woman didn't seem too convinced.

"I promise!"

The woman chuckled, nodding approvingly. "Come on, give mumma a kiss!"

"If you insist," the boy joked and pecked his mother's cheek once. Twice. For good luck.

His mother took his face in her small hands and pulled him down to kiss his forehead.

"Everything will be all right if you keep a positive mindset, yes? Don't think about what terrible things could happen that would make the day go wrong. Think about possibly making a new friend! The new school's bathrooms finally having toilet paper! Even just seeing a funny-shaped cloud above your head!" The woman sighed, smiling warmly. "There is so much good out there, little one. All you have to do is look up and see."

The young freshman closed his eyes and nodded, smiling at his mother.

"I know, Mum. Thanks. Love you!"

After checking one last time that he had packed everything he needed, Mrs. Jeon finally let the boys leave, locking the door behind them.

It was now official, her little boy was not so little anymore. He was beginning high school. She let out a heavy sigh. When did all this time pass by?

She shook her head and went back to bed, hoping to sleep the morning off until her happiness would come back home and tell her all about his day.

--

After thirty-five minutes of driving across town, a sleek black car with a nervous to death boy inside it pulled up at the end of a long row of vehicles, all having teenagers to drop off. The boy looked outside the car window, craning his neck to get a better view of his soon-to-be school.

The building was tall, imposing, cold even. The muddy grey walls rendered it dark and unwelcoming, but the gathering of enthusiastic students in the schoolyard gave it enough warmth to encourage the boy a little bit. He nibbled on his upper lip, tapping his fingers against the window sill.

"All right, time to go out there, tiger! Live the life!"

"Yeah. Thanks, Mum. See you later." Taehyung smiled faintly and opened the car door, stepping outside.

He crossed the street to the school gates, losing himself in thoughts dumb and dumber, like what if the gate lock got stuck right when it was his turn to walk in and he had to struggle to open it in front of everybody? What if freshmen were supposed to come to the year opening earlier than the rest and he had already missed meeting with his class? Or what if he was somehow left out of the class distributions and was in fact not even allowed to go to school here? He winced, hesitating in front of the gates.