2am ; jinkook

3.2

3.2
pretty please?
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there were no assigned seating in professor seokjin's english 1 class, but his students regularly occupied the chairs they attained from the first day. jeongguk liked knowing he had a spot in which he was comfortable in, not having to worry about who he'd sit beside or if he chose the right place.

on the days he has english, he also has art theory. since the majority of his classmates in seokjin's lessons were at least a year above him, none of them shared other classes with him.

sitting down in his seat located in the middle section of the rows, jeongguk placed his notebook and textbook on the desk, breathing out an easy sigh. he especially didn't have to worry about anyone other than taehyung taking up the space beside him. there were a couple other studens in the spacious room as well, most of them were around and talking.

a girl who jeongguk recalled was a junior came clambering up the side isle, smiling in his direction as she ascended up the steps. stupidly, jeongguk's heart began to hammer a few beats quicker than he'd like to admit. there were lots of students in this class, sure, but not enough to fill up every seat.

she stopped at his row; he stopped breathing. i will cry if she starts walking towards me, jeongguk whined under his breath. he prayed to each and every god that this girl wouldn't turn into his row, but she did.

"hey," her voice was low and soft; friendly and warm. jeongguk was briefly reminded of taehyung, but left that thought to wander as he offered a kind smile in return. maybe, just maybe, jeongguk was a little bit socially inept.

"i'm yeji." she stood next to jeongguk.

internally, the boy was experiencing a rampage of panic. if he could give a visual aid, his mind harbored tens of thousands micro jeongguks who were running about as if it were the purge or the rapture. then, he realized he'd been silently staring for a bit too long.

"ah," cue an uncomfortably awkward laugh, "nice to meet you, noona, i'm jeongguk." he gave a polite bow and flashed yet another overly friendly smile.

if yeji could sense the weird air surrounding them, she didn't pull a grimace. instead, she simply asked if anyone was sitting beside him. jeongguk immediately looked to the seat on his right, where taehyung normally sat and was ready to turn her down, but a shake of her head stopped him. "I meant on your left," that was the last seat in the row that he normally used for his bag. it was extra measure that no one would sit beside him, but today was the day his procedure had failed him.

"I know taehyung usually sits with you." she began to twist the ring that sat snug on her middle finger, "I sit with a friend of mine a few seats behind you, but she's out sick and I don't really know anyone else in the class," yeji paused her explanation again to avert her eyes elsewhere, "you seem nice."

jeongguk would be the biggest asshole in the world if he rejected her from sitting beside him. he could relate to her on some level, too, knowing he'd also hate not having someone he knew to keep him company, especially if he wasn't familiar with anyone else. taehyung was that person for him. even if he was relatively comfortable in seokjin's class—being who his professor is and what the man means to him—it would still feel odd and lonely without taehyung with him.

"the seat's open," he moved his bag, "I don't mind if you take it." yeji lit up instantly and broke out into a bright smile of relief. "thank you so much!" she was nearly squealing as she took the spot next to him. in truth, it was kind of funny. "everyone at the back are grumpy and old, you're so kind jeongguk; the sweetest freshman I've ever met."