SCHOOL 2020 ▷ bts

1.5

I didn't bother explaining, I reacted instantly.

Grabbing the wrist on my shoulder I get a fleeting sense of hard muscle before I twisted. Any average person would instantly have found themselves in an inescapable wrist lock.

Unfortunately, I hadn't counted on my assailant to be Jeon Jungkook.

Once again showing me why they called him the golden athlete, he spun into my lock with near inhuman speed and grabbed my arm. Before I'd even known what had happened, he had my arm bent painfully behind my back, and his other free arm was encircled tightly around my throat, threatening to cut off my air supply.

"Now," came his voice coolly in my ear, "let's have a more civil discussion, shall we?"

He kicked open the laboratory door.

Multiple pairs of eyes looked up and all conversation ceased. Seokjin was the first to speak.

"What a pretty little bird you have there," he mused.

I tried to snarl and Jungkook choked me with no hesitation.

"I caught her sneaking around outside," he reported. "She was following Namjoon they all, so I followed her."

Jimin sauntered over, curiosity on his face. None of them displayed the faintest bit of surprise or offense at Jungkook's sentence. It was as if they couldn't care less what I had been doing.

Jimin was twirling a strand of my hair. I shot him the fiercest glare I could muster.

"I don't think I've seen her around before," he said.

"Oh and you know everyone, don't you?" I said scathingly.

Namjoon arched an eyebrow. "This one's got fire."

"Maybe she just needs a little taming." Hoseok's eyes were glinting.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here," I muttered.

Seokjin walked past me. I heard the door lock click and felt a momentary flash of uneasiness.

"Let her go, Jungkook," Seokjin's soft voice said.

The pressure on my arm and neck disappeared and I stepped away, massaging my throat. Jungkook went to stand beside Jimin and in that instant I felt like a powerless small creature out in the African plains, being stalked hungrily by six ravenous lions.

I did a double take at that thought. Mentally I counted them again. Someone is missing. Who -

There was a thump and the sound of a snore being interrupted halfway. Hoseok had tilted over a chair lazily and Yoongi was now on the floor. He sat up, and if looks could kill I was sure Hoseok had coiled over in rigor mortis.

"What?" he snapped.

"Stop sleeping, we have a guest."

He peered at me. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Same question," Jimin agreed, "but more polite. Who the fuck are you, pretty lady?"

I tilted my chin and refused to answer. Then came the moment I had been dreading. Eyes narrowed, Hoseok came forward.

"Don't I know you?" he asked.

I swallowed. "No."

"I do. I've seen you somewhere before." Please don't remember me, please don't - His eyes lit up and I felt a sinking in my gut. "You! You're that girl in the press conference!"

"What press conference?" Namjoon inquired.

"Had a press conference the other day to promote my books. She was there. As I recall, she didn't look very happy about it."

"That's because I don't like you very much," I responded bluntly.

"Then why come to my conference?" he challenged.

"I was accompanying a friend," I said shortly. "Who happens to like you."

"Your friend has good taste, Anis - it is Anis, isn't it?"

"Yes," I admitted grudgingly.

"You study here?"

"Was recently admitted."

"I'd always known the fates would play in our favor."

"This is a pleasant little reunion and all," Seokjin interjected smoothly, "but she still hasn't answered the question. Who are you and what are you doing here?"

All eyes back on me.

"What about you then?" I deflected. "What are all of you doing?"

Seokjin spread his arms wide and smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes. Out of the six, he set off the most alarm bells. There was something about him that seemed unnatural - his smile was unreal, his manner too charming and his entire behavior too perfect. Kim Seokjin was the epitome of something that was too good to be true.

"What do you mean? We're just six friends meeting up here to hang out."

"In a laboratory after school hours?"

"What can we say - we're a bunch of nerds. At least we don't follow people about."

He came a step close. The warmth of his appearance belied the frost in his eyes. "Now. Answer my question."

I stayed silent for a moment before replying. "I was following him. Yoo - " Belatedly I remembered I was not supposed to know their names; they hadn't told me that after all. " - you," I turned the word around at the last second, jerking my chin at Yoongi.

"Yoongi? Why?"

"He was smoking."

"And?"

I injected passionate outrage into my voice. "That's against the school rules!"

Jimin blinked twice, uncomprehending. "So?"

I crossed my arms. "School rules are here for a reason. And we as students should follow them." I tried to sound as pious as possible. "He - Yoongi - has broken a school rule by smoking. I was following him so I could either one, tell him to stop and turn the cigarettes over or two, report him. If everyone saw his example and started breaking the rules, where would we be?"

Silence followed my little speech. Then Jungkook let out a chortle. Jimin began to giggle. Soon the entire laboratory, save for Yoongi who had rolled his eyes and went back to sleep, was laughing their heads off. Even Seokjin was immersed in polite laughter. Hoseok looked like he had gone mad, hopping up and down while clapping his hands like a barking seal.

"School rules!" Jimin gasped, clasping his sides as if he had a stitch. "School rules, she says!"

Namjoon was doubled over, wiping tears from his eyes."She doesn't know us very well, does she?"

"If everyone saw his example and started breaking the rules, where would we be?" Jungkook mimicked with unerring accuracy, and the entire laboratory convulsed helplessly again.

"Har har," I said dryly. Secretly I was beyond relieved that they seemed to be buying it.

Seokjin came forward. The suspicion in his eyes had faded, to be replaced by a sort of condescending superiority. 

"School rules don't apply to us, Miss Anis. And next time, I would suggest finding out who you're really stalking before you stalk them."

The tall blonde opened the laboratory door with a mocking little bow. I stepped through to the outside, pausing for awhile to turn around and look at them.

Jungkook and Jimin were holding each other in laughter. Namjoon was snapping a photo of them with his phone while looking like he might lose it too any second. Hoseok had gone into such a fit of hilarity he'd collapsed to the floor, though I could still clearly hear his laugh. Yoongi was sitting calmly in a chair, one arm behind his head and eyes closed. And Seokjin was watching them all with an affectionate smile.

They looked nothing at all like the type of people the yakuza suspected them to be.

Then the door closed on me, and they vanished out of sight.