COLOURS ✓

ONE

Only Seokjin and Younha came to see him off.

It hurt a little. He was going to be gone for the year; maybe he'd visit for Christmas, but he would still be away from home for a long time, and his mother. . .  well, she couldn't care less.

Seokjin and Younha, bless their souls, seemed determined to keep his mind off of that.

"You'll do amazing, Your Highness," Younha said earnestly, her eyes large and genuine. "I have no doubt that you will fit in well."

Hoseok held his tongue. He wanted to disagree, tell her that he was going to royally fuck this up, but Younha was giving her vote of confidence. He decided to bite his tongue out of respect for her. "Thanks, Younha. I'll miss you. Make sure no one gives you a hard time."

Younha nodded and gave a small bow.

Hoseok then turned to Seokjin, who was— teary-eyed?

"Jin, what—"

Seokjin sniffed. "You're so old now."

"You're only like 2 years older than—"

"Oh, shut up and come here." Seokjin spread out his arms for a hug. Hoseok, though confused, let him.

After pulling away from the hug, he said, "Seokjin, why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying, I'm just a little emotional," Seokjin corrected. He wiped his eyes. "It's just. . . wow, you're really going off into the world—"

"I can't tell if you're joking or not."

"And I won't see you for months on end—"

"Doesn't seem like something to be sad about."

"And I'll just really miss you!"

Hoseok raised an eyebrow, but eventually eased into a smile. "I know. I'll miss you too. I'll call whenever I can."

Seokjin nodded, and then dramatically put a hand over his heart. "Now leave me, Jung Hoseok, for I cannot stand to see your face any longer!"

". . . How did we ever become friends?"

-🎨-

The high school was huge.

As Hoseok's driver pulled up on the side of the street, Hoseok had to crane his neck to look out the window and see the building at its full height.

Of course, Hoseok had surfed through Google Maps to see what downtown Seoul looked like. He knew there were large, eye-catching buildings at every turn.

But for a school, it looked like a castle. It actually had towers, the type of towers you would see on castles in the old days.

Sure, Hoseok was a prince. Sure, he lived in a huge palace his whole life. But this was new: Hoseok was going into new territory, and said territory just happened to be 7 stories tall.

Hoseok swallowed nervously as he helped his driver, Hyunseok, unload his three suitcases from the trunk. Hoseok had a backpack slung over his shoulder, and the weight of it was beginning to make his muscles ache, but he endured it.

Standing by the entrance was some professional looking lady, and two teenagers. They began walking forwards, and Hoseok made sure to not look at them just yet; he wasn't too excited about having to socialize with new people. Meanwhile, Hyunseok—who Hoseok made a point of keeping his gaze upon—was someone who was familiar. 

Hyunseok smiled kindly at him. "Will that be all, Your—"

"We talked about this," Hoseok reminded quickly, stopping Hyunseok from saying 'Your Highness.'

"Hoseok?" Hyunseok corrected smoothly, though the clench in his jaw made it clear he wasn't used to the lack of formality. The lady and the teens were only a few feet away now. Hoseok didn't want Hyunseok to leave, but he had to let him go.

"Yeah, that'll be all. Thanks, Hyunseok. I'll, uh, see you whenever I get back."

Hyunseok nodded at him, suppressing the instinctive urge to bow, before getting into the car and driving away.

Hoseok steeled himself and turned to what seemed to be the welcoming group of the school.

His jaw dropped when he recognized the lady.

"Mrs. Kim?"

Mrs. Kim smiled. She had plump lips just like her son, Seokjin.

"Nice to see you, Hoseok, it's been quite a while," she said politely with a nod of her head.

"Since when---" Hoseok began.

"I'll explain at a later date," Mrs. Kim said, which sounded like a cover up for 'I'll explain when we don't have a crowd.'

"You two know each other?" asked one of the boys. He had slightly red hair, and his eyes were half-lidded, almost like he was bored. The other boy next to him had silver hair and plump lips. The two teens were about the same height, and were both wearing pins on their shirts that indicated they were part of the student council.

"We've met before," said Mrs. Kim smoothly. She smiled at Hoseok, introducing him to the boys. "Hoseok, this is Yoongi, and this is Jimin. They'll be your guides."

"Welcome to SSOA!" said Jimin with a wide smile. He stuck his hand out for a handshake.

Hoseok fixed his backpack strap before he took his hand timidly and shook it. He could imagine he didn't have an impressive grip.

SSOA stood for 'Seoul School of Arts.' It was a prestigious academic school, but all the electives were primarily art based. Music, painting, sculpting, you name it.

It worried Hoseok a lot. He had never done any of those things before. He was certain he would be the biggest disappointment at school. Briefly, he wondered how far he could get into the school year before everyone found out he was a fraud and kicked him out.

Yoongi blinked at him slowly, before seeming to remember that he was part of the welcoming committee as well. "Yeah, welcome." He put his hand out in a fist.

Hoseok blinked. "Uh . . ."

"Fist bump," Jimin explained.

"I don't really know how to. . .  fist bump," Hoseok said weakly.

Yoongi raised an eyebrow at that and put his hand back in his pocket. At Hoseok's 'sorry' he simply shrugged and waved it off. "Whatever," he said.

"Yoongi here is a man of many words," Mrs. Kim joked, smiling.

Yoongi muttered something that sounded like 'bullshit', but when Jimin elbowed him, he said louder, "Yeah. A man of many words."

Jimin giggled.

Mrs. Kim began walking towards the school. Jimin grabbed one of Hoseok's suitcases and Hoseok opened his mouth to stop him, but then Jimin said, "You have three suitcases. Surely you weren't planning on carrying them all yourself?"

That actually was Hoseok's plan, because he hated the idea of being a burden on his first day. Instead he just blushed and grabbed one of his suitcases, Yoongi taking the one left over.

They all followed Mrs. Kim as she went up the staircase and stood in front of the double doors.

"Boys, surely I can trust you to take it from here?" she asked.

"Yes, Headmistress," they chorused.

She nodded, satisfied, before turning to Hoseok. "I hope you settle in nicely, Hoseok. I'll be sure to see you around."

Hoseok nodded and gave a small bow. Mrs. Kim looked surprised, maybe even a little uncomfortable, at the prince bowing at her. Usually, it would be her bowing to him.

But starting now, Prince Hoseok was simply Jung Hoseok. They were both nobodies, anyways.

Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to fit in.