Jungkook hesitated outside the door, his eyes flicking to the room number on the plaque before looking back down at the instructions on his phone. His mom had technically banned him from using it, but she'd relented when he'd explained how he needed to check his school email and he didn't have a laptop. In the end, she'd compromised by letting him use his phone during the school day, but after he got home, it was supposed to go back on the kitchen counter. He was about to check the email again when a head popped through the doorway.
"Are you looking for the student council room?" the student asked, scanning Jungkook quickly and apparently not coming up with what he'd expected, as a frown graced his face.
"Uh, yeah," Jungkook said even as he tried to load the email to check for the fourth time. He always got nervous going to new rooms for some reason. A text notification slid down from the top of the screen, but Jungkook ignored it.
"Okay, well, instead of lurking outside the door why don't you come on in," the student suggested as he disappeared from the doorframe.
After a moment, Jungkook followed, shoving the phone in his pocket and trying to ignore the 100+ unread texts that had been glaring at him from the corner of the screen.
The room was small but tidy. Two computers lined one wall, and although both were on and clearly being used, the student he'd seen was the only one in the room. Opposite the computers were two windows, and in the middle of the room was a round table with six seats tucked in neatly. To his left on the wall adjacent to the doorway was a whiteboard, which had been cleaned but still held vague and blurry remnants of previous scrawlings.
"Kim Namjoon," the student introduced, reaching out to give Jungkook a firm handshake, which he accepted on reflex. "I'm the student council president. And you are?"
"Jeon Jungkook," Jungkook said after a moment, taking a second cursory glance around the room. He'd never been in the student council room; he'd vaguely known that his new school had a student council, or he'd assumed as much, but he'd never considered getting involved or anything. "They said I'm supposed to report to the student council room for the program they assigned me to."
"You're really not supposed to end a sentence on a preposition," the student council president said with a concerned turn to his eyebrows before shaking his head to disrupt his thoughts. Jungkook truly had no response to that and just waited to hear what he had to say next. "I'm sorry, who exactly is the 'they' you mentioned?"
"The judge," Jungkook amended, swallowing before clenching his teeth to stop himself from showing how nervous he was. The accident had occurred over winter break. Nobody had heard about it. It was his dark little secret, one that was apparently supposed to be shared with the student council president, by mandate of the court. What if he told everyone? Jungkook hadn't made any friends at this school, but he would definitely never make friends if people found out.
"Oh. That. Yes. Although 'the judge' is singular and 'they' is plural..." Namjoon corrected, trailing off and turning to one of the computers. He exited out of several tabs before pulling one window up, then another. After a few unsuccessful clicks, he gave a frustrated exhale before turning to the other computer and repeating the process. He eventually found what he was looking for as he scanned an email, reading select parts aloud. "Jeon Jungkook...community service...school program...student council president Kim Namjoon – hey, that's me – as your supervisor." Namjoon looked back at Jungkook. "So basically, we're doing a community program at school this semester, and if I believe you've adequately reflected and given sincere effort, then I can sign off on some form."
"Are you doing the program too?" Jungkook felt like he could breathe a little easier knowing that he wouldn't be alone. Maybe no one would find out what he'd done.
Namjoon nodded, turning back to the computer to log out of his email. "It'll look good on my resume. Additionally, it's sort of hard to determine if you've 'adequately reflected' if I'm not observing."
"Oh. Right. So...what's the program, exactly?" Jungkook asked.
Namjoon sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Calling it a program makes it sound very official. It's really not that big of a deal."
"Okay, but so, what is-"
"Meet me back here after school ends," Namjoon said, standing up without further explanation. "We'll start then."
"All right..."
Jungkook was left behind alone in the student council room. Now that the older student was gone, Jungkook felt a bit curious, and he slipped into the seat in front of the closest computer. Scholarship applications lined all the tabs in one window, the current tab flashing the logo of a very prestigious university in the upper left corner. Another window with colleges was pulled up, along with some half-finished applications, and the same logo appeared in several of those tabs as well.
A quick glance at the other computer revealed math Jungkook hadn't learned yet (and most likely wouldn't learn even when he sat in the class several years later). That, along with the undefined feeling of guilt for no particular reason, was enough to propel him out of the room, the logo floating in his mind.
He wondered what the afternoon would bring.
-updated 04/09/20 (mm/dd/yy)-
