Chapter 3
Kim Taehyung had always been beautiful to every other person with eyes, or even half the sight. Even when he was fourteen, both upperclassmen and underclassmen would stalk him from afar. There was something breathtaking about those silver orbs, curly tresses, straight nose, sharp jaw line, plump lips and even that mole under them that made everyone swoon in his presence. The way he smiled, the way he walked, the way his clothes were two sizes larger than his petite frame, the way he patiently listened others rant about their problems... Maybe it was all one of his illusions? Some of the rumors stated, but even in the no—magic barriers, Kim Taehyung would be equally ethereal.
Jeongguk hated it. He hated it so darn much! He hated how Taehyung's boxy smile could be the center of attention any time he entered a place. He hated how people stared at him with hungry expressions on their faces. He hated how they all talked behind his back...he hated it all.
Taehyung's roommates were Namjoon and Huening Kai that year while Jimin roomed with Yoongi and Hoseok and Jeongguk shared his room with Jin and Soobin.
Yoongi seemed to have been charmed by Jimin in no less than a week. Hoseok, forever being the shining sun, befriend Jimin and his best friend, Taehyung, and suddenly Jeongguk found two new additions to the cafeteria table that he shared with his hyungs. Jeongguk did not mind though, as long as Taehyung stayed away from dirty perverted people, he'd be fine.
It was unclear to Taehyung weather Yoongi really liked Jimin or was he just glad to have someone beside him who could read his mind and happily provide him with things without him having to even lift a finger or utter a word.
Jimin had bought a pair of headphones and constantly used them to hear loud music and block the thoughts of strangers that seemed to be clawing down the walls of his cranium. Demanding for them to be known.
"Park Jimin! Jiminie! Minnie!" Taehyung was busy calling out, but Jimin was too lost in staring at Min Yoongi to even sense him, until Hoseok shook the ginger head.
"Yeah, what, what, what happened, who died?!" Jimin gasped after being pulled out of his trance.
"Pass me the ketchup please," Taehyung grinned smugly. Jimin rolled his eyes and compiled as Hoseok tried to control a bubbling laugh. Yoongi was busy eating when Namjoon rushed in looking guilty, followed by an angry Jin and smirking Jeongguk.
Namjoon sat beside Taehyung, pulling at his dirty blonde hair and supporting his head on the younger's shoulder while Jin and Jeongguk took a place opposite to him.
"What happened now?" Hoseok asked curiously, while Jimin looked amused. He probably read it already.
"Yeah," Taehyung urged, wanting to know what new chaos Namjoon caused. Even though he was new, Taehyung was well acquainted with his roommate's destructive powers and chaotic personality.
"He was called up to solve a question on the board but when Jin hyung mouthed him 'Best of Luck' and blew him a kiss, he became so nervous that as he walked, the ground cracked behind him and then in a few seconds, the white board descended down in ashes," Jeongguk explained bemusedly and the table burst out in laughter.
"Oh! Dear Merlin! What next?" Taehyung questioned excitedly.
"So what, H.Kai appeared out of nowhere and restored everything. Taeyon gave him detention though, plucking cherries without magic and trying not to destroy the whole damn field!" Jin explained and Jimin clung onto Hoseok as they cackled, not wanting to laugh his way into another dimension. They all knew Jimin laughed easily and so hard that he tended to submerge into the floor.
Yoongi smirked at his poor friend.
Namjoon just sighed a sad sigh.
"Don't you juniors have a transformation class to attend?" Yoongi reminded in a monotone and Jeongguk cursed out loud. Jin smacked his head. "You guys have ruined my baby!"
Jeongguk scowled at being termed as 'baby' as Jimin and Taehyung howled with laughter. People around them would have stared if they weren't quite used their antics.
"Shut up hyung, I'm not a baby! I'm a man!" Jeongguk declared proudly.
Even Yoongi snickered at that.
"Says a thirteen year old who decided to not go near needles after watching 'The sleeping beauty', yes." Namjoon deadpanned and Jeongguk went beetroot, carefully slithering out of the cafeteria.
Taehyung and Jimin just laughed and followed.
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The classroom was a circular one that was painted in light hues and had weird dream catchers and birthstones hanging from different corners. As soon as the students sat on their chairs, the chair would float up and randomly rest beside some other chair in the air. It was the school's policy to assign new partners everyday so that the students would focus on the class and not get too chummy with each other.
Taehyung's wooden chair rested beside Jieun and they both gave each other wild grins as a form of greeting. Taehyung kept his books on the table and turned around to see Jimin who was three seats away from him, sitting beside some handsome guy whom Taehyung vaguely recalled as Kang Taehyun. Taehyung waved his hand to gain Jimin's attention—which really wasn't needed because Jimin had already felt his brain being attacked with Taehyung's desperation-and turned around to wave at his best friend.
"Hi Jeongguk! Hi Yeonjun!" Jieun chirped from beside Taehyung and the ash head turned to see Jeongguk and Yeonjun floating in front of them.
"Hello Unnie! Hi hyung!" Yeonjun greeted with a cute smile and Taehyung grinned in acknowledgement.
Jieun pouted, "Hey! I asked you to call me IU instead of Unnie, didn't I? Unnie makes me feel so old!" she complained, her soft, melodic, but shrill voice came out in a whine. Yeonjun bit his tongue under his teeth and stared sheepishly. "Sorry IU," he muttered, slowly blushing hard, and turned back in front.
Jeongguk just eyed the whole interaction with a dead face and turned in front when his partner did.
"Ahem, Ahem, Excuse me darlings!" there was a feminine slur in his words. Taehyung's eyebrow rose in amusement as he saw his teacher walking on thin air (He had the ability to manipulate air as he wished to). Today his hair was dyed a bright blue that were coordinated with matching contacts, lip colour, nail paint, dress robes and shoes. Taehyung blinked thrice to let his eyes adjust to so much brightness. His first day in MSMC was full of ridiculous surprises but now, at this point, Taehyung wondered if anything could surprise him anymore.
"I hope you munchkins had a good day! Mine was fabulous, as always!" he airily whispered, doing various hand gestures and exaggerated expressions, prancing around the circular boundaries of the class. There was a faint chatter of slight agreement or disagreement.
"So, my lovelies, today we will be practicing 'Transformation'!" he exclaimed with such enthusiasm as if the class wasn't already named 'Transformation Tuesday' or as if they did not do it every two days of the week (Tuesday and Thursday).
"Yay..."Jieun muttered dryly and Taehyung couldn't help but scoff. He wondered how Mr. Zee would look if his skin wasn't tan brown but blue. Don't imagine Taehyung or else you'll do it!
He sighed. Having the power to alter reality was cool, but it came with so much risk. He could not sleep in class-without letting his surroundings portray his dream—he couldn't think of lewd thoughts or have a crush without flowers erupting around them. Oof!
"Now, I want you all to close your eyes and sit straight," there was a shuffle around the class as every student complied. Mr. Zee, the teacher, exhaled heartily.
"Perfect darlings! Now, keep your right hand on the desk and your left hand on top of it so that you can concentrate your powers to your hands," he ordered and everyone followed.
"I want you to feel the beautiful air around you, inhale it, feel the scent that it carries—the scent of memories, the scent of a loved one, and the scent of joy...and as you relish everything you feel, channel it to your core. Do you feel your aura? Your ability? Feel your magic expanding from your core and feel it spread throughout your bodies..."
Taehyung was feeling exhilarated and annoyed at the same time. His air smelt like fresh coconuts and sweet carrots. It was beautiful but painful at the same time because he knew that Jeongguk was sitting just in front of him and it was affecting him. Why?!
Jeongguk, on the other hand, was smelling fear. Someone was feeling really suffocated near him...
"Now channel your magic to your hands and transform. Picture your magic, give it a colour, a feeling, let it materialize into something you want and BAM!"
Mr. Zee's words were figurative but Taehyung knew he heard a legitimate BAM in front of him and his eyes bolted open to see a puff of yellow mist and the most hilarious sight he witnessed in the 14 years of his existence.
Choi Yeonjun had always had a hard time concentrating and when he did concentrate; his patience would run out real fast. So it was positive to say that every Transformation class for him was a chore. And thankfully they only did theory for the first week. But when they actually moved on to the practical part—baby Yeonjun lost a tad control over his powers and there was a burst.
"Bravo! A marvelous example of transformation!" Mr. Zee had exclaimed when the once Choi Yeonjun, a beautiful twelve year old boy, was now a blue tabby cat and who was once the notoriously handsome Jeon Jeongguk was now a white rabbit.
The tabby cat kept on meowing and meowing as the girls cooed over it, Jieun nearly suffocated the poor thing with a hug, and the white bunny eyed the class with wide eyes full of fear with its pink button nose sniffling. The rabbit tried to hop away and was about to fall off the table when Taehyung caught him, mid air, shaking with controlled laughter.
"Such hardworking students! An A+ indeed!" Mr. Zee wiped faux tears out of his eyes and clapped with emotion.
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Jeongguk was being quite the head turner as every passerby would turn to see if he was real or not because the school had a 'No Animals on the grounds' rule. Some students just felt Jeongguk up and tried to cuddle him, some took pictures and when one of the guys wanted to kiss the rabbit, Taehyung kept his foot down. Mr. Zee had made him and Jimin in charge of Jeongguk and Kang Taehyun and Choi Soobin, in charge of the tabby cat until the spell wore off.
Bunny Jeongguk kept on fidgeting in Taehyung's arms as Jimin and Taehyung sauntered the hallways to find their friends. Taehyung had Jeongguk pressed against his chest and if he was not a bunny at that moment, Jeongguk would have cherished it. Alas...
"Jeongguk says; wait till the spell is reversed! I will get back at you!" Jimin took out the voice of a nasally teen as his best impersonation of Jeongguk. The rabbit sniffed in anger.
"I don't sound like that, great (Jeongguk said minuscule midget but Jimin would never accept) Jimin!" Jimin voiced Jeongguk's thoughts again and Taehyung held out Jeongguk to observe his small self.
"Aww, Kookie bunny is plotting revenge, I see? I wonder how you will get back at me. Claw me with your pretty paws or bite me with your adorable teeth?" Taehyung cooed, nuzzling the rabbit as Jimin cackled. He was laughing so hard that his eyes had disappeared and was sitting on the ground for support.
"He...he -he says, 'when you sleep...I-I-I will sit on your nose and suffocate you-y-you with my furry ta-tail!!' I-I cannot anymore..."Jimin choked out, now in tears over Jeongguk's 101 malicious bunny ways to kill Kim Taehyung.
Taehyung almost dropped Jeongguk out of his grip and joined Jimin on the floor, laughing over the man who once tried to murder him with a Lego.
Knowing that there was no more of his pride left to be saved, Bunny Jeongguk just huffed and gave up his fight with Taehyung. Mr. Zee said that the spell would wear off after 12 hours and that Yeonjun and Jeongguk could happily try to see the world with new eyes.
While the vegetarian Yeonjun suddenly had an obsession of fishes, Jeongguk was now placed in the middle of their cafeteria table, happily nibbling on carrots.
"This is too adorable! I cannot!" Jin cooed, petting Jeongguk's fur. The rabbit turned and glared at Jin and when Jin gulped and removed his hand, he proceeded to eat.
"I must admit, the way his butt moves is quite distracting," Yoongi commented and Hoseok burst out laughing. Suddenly all eyes were on Jeongguk's now furry butt.
"Jeongguk said that he would sit on Taehyung's face and choke him with his furry tail," Jimin recounted and Namjoon almost caused an earthquake when he fell off his chair in the process of laughing.
Jin was banging his hand on Taehyung's back as a windshield-wiper laugh echoed around them. Hoseok was all but neighing and Jimin had become one with the floor. Yoongi's shoulders were moving up and down as a bright gummy smile graced his face, though no voice came out of his mouth because he was laughing too hard.
Thankfully it was evening time and the cafeteria was nearly empty, only two tables were filled in a farther corner, where Yeonjun was eating fish after fish and Soobin was cringing over so much meat because he just wanted bread and the rest of the student body was out in the gardens, or fields, or doing detentions or catching up on homework. Jeongguk focused on eating.
"Why does that thought sounds insanely sexual?" Hoseok chimed in and suddenly Jeongguk was choking on carrots.
There we go again...Jeongguk's end always seemed to be something Taehyung related or the man himself.
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