At 3:00, Jungkook returned to the student council room once more, his nerves lower than before now that he'd already met his supervisor for the semester, but Namjoon wasn't alone this time.
"Hey Jungkook," Namjoon greeted without looking up from one of the computers.
"You're being rude," said the student sitting atop the table behind him, giving Namjoon a light smack on the back of the head.
"I'm not being rude," Namjoon grumbled before turning off the monitor and looking over at Jungkook. "Are you ready?"
Jungkook's eyes flicked between the stranger's and Namjoon's. He was about to respond when the boy's eyes brightened.
"I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself," the stranger said before grinning.
"Now who's being rude?" Namjoon muttered, ducking to avoid another smack to the head.
"I'm Namjoon's friend and the student council vice president. You can call me Seokjin or Jin."
"Oh, hi, I'm Jungkook," Jungkook introduced with a small wave before looking back at Namjoon. "I'm ready whenever you are."
"All right, let's go then," Namjoon said, getting up and grabbing his backpack, which had been slung over a chair. He flicked off the other monitor before following Jungkook out the door.
Jungkook paused, waiting for Namjoon to take the lead, and was surprised when Jin popped out of the room as well, striding ahead of them. Namjoon followed Jin, and Jungkook hurriedly fell in step beside him.
"Is Jin doing the program too?" Jungkook asked, staring at the back of Jin's head for a moment before looking over at Namjoon.
"Yeah, Jin's actually in our school's buddy program so he's already sort of involved," Namjoon said, staring straight ahead before sparing Jungkook a glance.
"The buddy program?"
"It's where the school pairs a student with another student who is disabled either physically or cognitively."
"Is Jin..." Jungkook hesitated, reluctant to say something that might offend either Namjoon or his friend.
"Am I what?" Jin asked, craning his head around, his eyes curious.
"He's wondering if you're cognitively disabled," Namjoon said with a small snort.
"I am not! No more than you, anyway."
Jungkook immediately protested despite Jin's chuckle. "I just- the way he said it was unclear, okay, and I-"
"It's fine," Jin said, still laughing a bit as they headed down the stairs and farther into the school. "But no, to answer the question you didn't want to ask, I'm not disabled. You'll meet my buddy in a few minutes though."
"He's in this program too?" Jungkook looked over at Namjoon with confusion and a small amount of suspicion. "Okay, how many people are in this program? And what are we even supposed to do?"
"You have so many questions," Namjoon said, and although his words sounded harsh, the smile on his face told Jungkook that he didn't really mind. "Look, we're here."
"The gym? Is the program a second PE hour? Because I-"
Jungkook was cut off by the screech of rubber on tile as a boy in a wheelchair flew at them before braking hard, the chair tipping to the side for a moment before falling back on both wheels. "Hey Jin! And others!"
"Hey Hoseok!" Jin greeted back, giving him a high five (although for Jin, it was more like a medium five). "Where's Jimin?"
"He's coming. One of his wheels is a little flat on one side because he ran over something – he said it was a rock, I'm pretty sure it was a dead squirrel – so he's a little slow today."
Jungkook just stood there, trying to slow the beating of his heart after he'd been jump-scared by a kid in a wheelchair popping out at them.
"Is this your buddy?" Jungkook asked after he'd regained the ability to form words into a sentence.
"No, this isn't my disabled buddy," Jin said, and Jungkook's face reddened as Jin proceeded to tell Hoseok what Jungkook had asked on the way there.
Hoseok laughed good-naturedly for a moment before smiling at Jungkook. "Hi, my name is Hoseok and I'm disabled," he announced in traditional AA style before bursting out laughing once more.
"I'm Jungkook."
"Nice to meet you," Hoseok said with a bright grin just as another student rolled up.
Jungkook wasn't even sure if he was allowed to think of them as "rolling up." Was that offensive? He wasn't sure, and he was terrified of saying anything wrong and being laughed at or worse, hurting one of their feelings. He'd never had disabled friends before. What was he even allowed to say?
"Jimin!" Jin greeted with a big smile while Hoseok muttered something about playing favorites.
"Hey," said a boy with soft eyes and a smile that never seemed to leave his face. "How are you, hyung?"
"See, this kid has manners," Jin said pointedly while staring at Hoseok. "And that's why I pick favorites."
The three of them laughed, but Jungkook still felt wholly out of place. "Um, Namjoon? The program is in here, right?"
Namjoon, who had been watching quietly with a small nod of greeting to both Hoseok and Jimin, looked over at Jungkook. "Yeah. Or I guess it's more accurate to say that the program is here," he said before gesturing at the people around them.
Jungkook's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, so the program is-"
"Working with paraplegic students," Namjoon said, thankfully not mentioning anything about the accident to the people around them who were turning away from their side conversations to listen to Namjoon.
"Helping them get around and stuff?" Jungkook asked, still afraid of slipping up verbally, and his fear heightened exponentially with everyone listening now.
"Actually, no, not really," Namjoon said. "We're here to help them play basketball."
"What?"
-updated 04/16/20 (mm/dd/yy)-
