⠀⠀⠀| stage one: atelier
The heat of the summer morning was disruptive and the strong odour of sweat was bothersome on the crowded alley of Busan as a young lad stood by the roadside to cross over. He held his head down and covered his face with the latest edition of his favourite manhwa, which he read rather passionately - only breaking his gaze to check the traffic light occasionally as that was his attempt to avoid any unnecessary eye contact with others.
He could not really describe himself shy for doing so as he had his own group of friends. It was just something about the crowd that made him question why he was still in that town and how he could leave for somewhere better. The crowd simply reminded him that life was all about choices and regrets, and he was currently on that thin line, about to fall in either a path of decent future or an ocean of regret. Then again, he doubted there was no other high school senior, who shared the similar concern and had only a few more months to make a choice.
“Hey!”
It was a stranger’s voice that came from somewhere of the crowd and interrupted him as a reminder of the green light. Therefore, he pulled his manhwa away from his sight and walked with other wayfarers to cross the street - unaware that the stranger’s voice was directed to him.
“Hey, excuse me?” called the very same voice again, this time loudly yet he still did not notice the attempt of the feminine tone to get his attention. That was until she said the keyword that made him pause only for a second. “The one with high school uniform, wait.”
Surely, he was not the only one with the high school uniform considering it was just the right time for students to head to the school. However, that did not stop him from coming to a halt and slightly tilt his head back; towards the source of the voice. - and that happened to be the very first time he saw her.
She had a rather innocent face, almost childlike, with her slightly chubby cheeks and cat-like eyes. However, her aura said otherwise, so did her attire. She appeared naturally confident in her thin leather jacket - which was too much for the summer heat and a piercing just above her left eyebrow.
- and then, there was her smile, too bring and too unexpected to read.
“Oh, thank God,” she uttered once the other stopped as if she ran a whole marathon to catch up with him. She walked to stand in front of the young lad as an attempt to block his way and rested her hands on her knees to catch her breath. “Damn, I should really exercise sometimes,” she gave herself an advice, whereas the other just stood still and watched her in confusion.
He was still surprised to find out that it was indeed him, who she called for yet could not find a reason for that. Therefore, he allowed the curiosity to got the best of him and waited for the other to talk - even if he had only a few minutes to not miss his lecture.
“How tall are you?”
That was definitely not what he expected to hear but was indeed the very first question she asked him.
“You’re definitely above 175 cm,” she continued once he offered nothing but silence to her. “- and your face,” she mused and tilted her head up to finally look at his face. Her eyes slightly widened, as if she found a treasure, which she had been looking for decades. “You’re handsome as well.”
That happened to be the last string that had to be cut for the other to remember he could talk and he had to find a way to run away from the stranger. She might appear innocuous, yet her words made him feel uncomfortable. Therefore, he just took a step behind and bowed a bit as an apology.
“Sorry, I’m not interested.”
He only said those simple words to reject the other before he took a step aside to continue his way to the school. The stranger was not dressed in a uniform, yet he was sure she was not in his high school as well. So it made him sigh in relief that he could just reject her and continue his way - however, he was unaware that he completely misunderstood the whole incident.
“What? Wait, you didn’t even let me explain,” said the stranger as she looked at the other’s leaving figure. She did not hesitate to make another attempt to run after him, albeit this time he seemed to hear her approaching footstep as he began to walk faster as well.
“Please, wait,” she called, almost desperately. Such that one would think they were a couple that was forced to break up - and the girl just could not give up. “Hey!”
- and she did not even seem to be bothered by the glances others gave to them - as, whereas the young lad’s face was flushed in embarrassment, the other appeared unbothered. She was just annoyed, therefore, chose that moment to call for a help.
“Yoongi, catch him!”
The high schooler did not even turn his head to look who Yoongi was, he did not even spare a second look behind. Instead, the moment he heard that the stranger called for a help, he made a sharp turn at the side of the alley and just ran away. Unfortunately, he bumped someone on his way and even dropped his manhwa but he did not bother to stop and pick it up. He just ran and ran - until he was sure that no one was there to follow him and until he was between the safe walls of his school.
“Jungkook? What did happen to you?”
The renegade high schooler managed to walk into the classroom just a minute before the sound of the bell rang in the hall. He threw his bag on his desk and slumped himself in his seat before he turned to the source of the voice, who happened to be no other than a good friend of his, Jonggi.
“Not the best morning,” responded Jungkook as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. He just took another deep breath to calm down as not until he sat down that Jungkook noticed how tired he was.
He closed his eyes to gather his mind and maybe understand how he ended in such a situation properly. It was not the first time he was approached by someone else, not the first time he had to reject someone. However, it was definitely the very first time that someone approached him so boldly - almost in a creepy manner.
“You seem like such a tragedy right now,” uttered Jonggi as he noticed how tired Jungkook was, such that he could not even answer a simple question. “What happened, chased by your fans?”
“I guess, something like that,” whispered Jungkook as he finally opened his eyes and noticed that his heartbeat returned to its usual rhythm. He ran his fingers through his hair to push it back and leaned forward in his seat - so that he could give a detailed information to Jonggi about what happened.
However, the teacher decided to talk into the classroom just then and interrupted the conversation that could not even start.
“Write it down,” said Jonggi simply before he turned front to sit properly, just after he pushed a piece of paper and a pen in front of Jungkook.
Jungkook, on the other hand, stared at the empty paper for a brief second before he reached forward to grab the pen and wrote down a brief summary of his morning adventure before he passed the paper to Jonggi.
“So you think that she isn’t a student here,” said Jonggi once the break arrived. He questioned Jungkook enough through the lecture, such that their desks were surrounded by a piece of papers, so he knew a good amount of details about the incident.
“She didn’t look so old but also wasn’t wearing a uniform,” said Jungkook as he raised his hands and rested them behind his head. He barely managed to hide his yawn - actually, did not really try to hide it as Jonggi knew him good enough to guess Jungkook did not sleep properly once again.
“Maybe she is a university student,” mused Jonggi, “-there is one near to our school anyway.”
Jungkook’s face grimaced when Jonggi mentioned that one university, which was indeed close to their school. He was familiar with it as a great part of his family wished him to attend there and stay close to home once he graduated, whereas Jungkook dreamed bigger and waited for a chance to leave his hometown.
“Maybe,” he shrugged before he looked at his friend. “Do you want anything from the cafeteria? I’ll get myself water.”
“One for me too, please,” said Jonggi and used a playful tone to say ‘please’ and earned himself an amused snort from the other.
“God, being kind doesn’t suit you,” said Jungkook and ran out of the classroom before Jonggi could throw a book on his face. He let out a rather loud laughter and allowed it to echo through the corridors before he joined the crowd of students that headed to the cafeteria.
Jungkook rested his hands in his pockets and skipped his way to his destination, whereas he also whistled a ballad song he just recently listened. For a second, he forgot his morning adventure and once again became the ordinary student Jeon Jungkook. He forgot his responsibilities, homework and maybe other decisions - however, his peaceful mindset got interrupted the moment he turned the corner of the corridor and heard his name called.
“Jungkook, there is someone that wants to see you.”
One of his classmates approached Jungkook to inform him about a visitor, who happened to wait for him in the garden. Apparently, he found something that Jungkook lost and was there to give it back. Therefore, it became a more than enough reason for Jungkook to change his way and head to the garden instead, where he would meet his visitor.
However, Jungkook only noticed that he had no idea about who he was supposed to find when he arrived at the garden - that was until his gaze fell on to a young man that was dressed differently than other students.
He had his back leaned against a tree, properly avoiding the burning sunlight with its shadow. He was dressed in casual jeans and a white shirt but somehow, still managed to appear stylish - almost like a model. - and he seemed to be the one Jungkoom was supposed to meet as just when he made an attempt to ran his fingers through his sun-kissed hair, his eyes met Jungkook’s and a smile climbed on his lips.
Then, he just pushed his figure forward from the tree he leaned seconds ago and abandoned the shadow to approach Jungkook.
“Jeon Jungkook, right?” he asked once he was close enough, which caused a frown to appear on Jungkook’s features.
“How did you know?” he questioned, only to hear the other chuckle at his reaction.
“I’m waiting for Jungkook and so far you’re the only person that came here with a face that says ‘I’m looking for someone’,” reasoned the other in a gentle tone, “so, am I right?”
There was a pause, during which Jungkook tried to understand if he made a good decision to be there before he gave the other a slight nod - which widened his visiter’s smile.
“Great,” he said before he raised his hand to show the manhwa he held - which Jungkook recognised as the one he dropped while running away that morning. He almost parted his lips to ask why the other bothered himself that much for a manhwa and how he found Jungkook in the first place - until Jungkook remembered that he left his library card in it as well.
“Thank you-” said Jungkook as he raised his hand to take the manhwa but the other acted before him as he pulled his hand back.
“Sorry, I just thought it would be fair if I introduce myself properly,” said the young man with a small smile. “I’m Park Jimin,” he said with a nod and paused only for a brief second before he continued. “I believe my friends scared you this morning just a little bit, I apologise on behalf of them.”
Jungkook did not even try to hide his annoyance as he frowned at the other. He guessed the intruders from the morning was different and bold but he did not guess one of them to come to his school.
“I believe I made it clear that I have nothing to do with your friends. You shouldn’t even come here-”
“Oh, no,” interrupted Jimin in a calm tone. “I think you misunderstood them. Please let me explain,” he said and did not really give Jungkook a chance to interrupt him. “We’re a group of fashion designer seniors and looking for a model to carry our designs for our graduation gala,” said Jimin, “my friends believe you’re just right person that we look for and I must admit,” he paused to look at Jungkook from up to down, “-they’re right.”
Model? That was the last thing that Jungkook could imagine himself to be - actually, something that he never really thought about. Therefore, he found it nonsense that a group of university seniors believed he could be a good model for them. Jungkook never had such an intention.
“Sorry but I’m not interested in such things,” said Jungkook as he once again reached for his manhwa, which Jimin easily hid behind himself.
“How about you make your decision after you visit our atelier? I’m sure others would love to meet you properly. You can get your manhwa back then as well,” said Jimin suddenly - an option he offered to Jungkook, who clearly had no intention or interest to be a model.
Therefore, Jungkook just looked at him before he shook his head to show he had no reason to listen to others.
“You can keep the manhwa,” uttered Jungkook before he turned to head back to the building, however, was stopped by Jimin.
“How about your library card? I heard they can be a bit expensive if you lose one,” he said even if Jungkook had his back to him and did not meet his eyes. “-or maybe that love letter you forgot between the pages,” added Jimin as from the way Jungkook tensed, he guessed that he finally caught the other’s weakness.
“I will take the silence as a yes,” sang Jimin as he took a step forward stand in front of Jungkook.
He first placed the manhwa on the younger male’s hand, then a card that clearly had the information about where Jungkook could find them.
“We will wait for you, Mr Jeon,” said Jimin before he gently patted the other’s shoulder and turned to leave.
Jungkook, on the other hand, stood still as he wondered if he heard the other right or not. Then, he allowed his gaze to fell on the card that stood on the manhwa and a deep sigh slipped from his lips.
Atelier of Pied Piper
77 - xx
Haexxxxx
Busan 48100
