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it takes a while for her to get her drink, busy morning and all, but she manages to get her drink without having to confront a barista. it’s not like she was going to unleash her usual king queen kang wrath on them. as a minimum wage employee herself, she knew the struggle of customers blaming everything on her. she takes a sip and there’s no issue with her drink, so she makes her way to the strange boy’s table and takes the chair across from him as her seat. as she puts her drink and workbook down on the table, she opens her bag and grabs her pencil pouch before closing it and putting it behind her chair, the straps holding onto the chair by hanging on them. “who are you, by the way?” she asks. “you never introduced yourself. kinda wanna know who you are if you’re going to tutor me.” she could’ve been a little more polite when asking for his name, but she doesn’t notice it being too rude, so she goes with it.

As he mentally prepares himself for his “student,” Jaemin reminisces about high school. It hasn’t been that long since he was in it but it still feels like ages ago. He barely can remember what math class he took in grade 10. Regardless, it isn’t the classes that he remembers; it’s the people. Falling into a clique was seamless for Jaemin, due to his innate desire to please and be the center of attention. His boisterous personality definitely brought the other loud-mouthed kids to his social circle but Jaemin was and still is a competitive nerd. With parents that are both in the medical field, he had to work hard and get the best grades, no matter the cost. This certainly led to some rivalries and enemies. Luckily, none of those enemies from high school have come forward yet to seek their revenge.

Popping out of his thought bubble, Jaemin sits up straighter and turns his attention to the younger girl. While she takes out her things, Jaemin scans her over. With her clear skin, round face, and perfect hair, a pang hits his chest. Is this really what high schoolers look like nowadays? They look like babies! Such a cute baby face but then suddenly... a sharp personality. Jaemin at first thinks his “student” is being rude to her old “teacher,” but then reminisces once again to his high school days. He tried to appease everyone, even if they were weird, to benefit himself. Somehow, this girl’s honest, brash remarks are more respectable than his secretly selfish flattery from back then. Either way, this girl is an intimidating high schooler!

The coffee is most certainly needed and almost immediately, he sips from it, and realise that Jaemin has unfortunately waited for a good while. He scrunches his nose in response to the question rather than answering it, knowing well that the other is just joking around. “I’m sorry though, I have to cram all classes early and it’s just too much already.” He indirectly reveal it being a difficult transition from having one busy schedule to two busy schedules, and he has a feeling that they might need more coffee through their session. “Shall we find a place to sit down? And I can get us some more to drink,” he then suggests,

Jaemin is never afraid to admit that he can be a bit... extra. As someone who always sees himself as a background character dying to be the protagonist, it’s what he does to try and get people to remember him. An extrovert without an outlet is dangerous, so might as well get all of that social energy as often as possible. Some people find his flamboyant personality as a nuisance or an obvious attempt at trying to be the center of attention. They’re usually not wrong about the latter. Jaemin usually doesn’t care though. His natural desire to keep the peace prevents him from blowing up at people that sneer at him. On top of that, he is his favorite comedian. If no one is going to laugh at his jokes, he might as well laugh at his own!

Luckily, Taeyang seems to get a laugh out of his whacky jokes. Jaemin laughs harder at Taeyang’s snort than his own joke. Settling down a bit, Jaemin is surprised at his friend’s apology. Maybe his jokes came off as actual insults to Taeyang’s busy schedule. Jaemin furrows his eyebrows, worried for his friend. Jaemin’s main desire is to be an idol but there is no denying that the road to it is a rocky one. Reading about all of the grueling training they have to go through is one thing but being a trainee and a student... Jaemin’s surprised that Taeyang is even able to meet with him. Before Jaemin can interject with his own apology and hopefully pick Taeyang’s brain about his wellbeing, his friend suggests they settle somewhere. Hoping to cheer his friend up, Jaemin goofily wiggles his eyebrows. “You know I’ll always need more to drink, ‘cause I’m always spilling tea.” How many “spill the tea” jokes has Jaemin made this past month?

he was never a slow eater, so he was able to swallow down his food fast before he hears the compliment given from jaemin. otherwise, jaemin wouldn’t be the only one dying from a bowl of noodles. “you are too kind,” he says, stuffing his mouth with more noodles. as he gets it all in his mouth, he tries to talk without showing his mouth of noodles so that jaemin doesn’t get to see seefood (that’s a good one). “you’re good-lookin’ too, bro! don’t be sho hard on yourshelf.”he manages to swallow down the food and he speaks clearly now. “i don’t think i have much idol potential anyway.” thanks to mom and dad, anyway. he’s still in his music writing block. “we can be nobodies in peace.”

While Jaemin and Yeonjun are bros, Jaemin always is eager to try his best at keeping things interesting. Lately he hasn’t had much to talk about with classes and all. To be honest, things are usually slow in his life so he appreciates that Yeonjun’s eyes seem to get a twinkle in them, even if it’s just about Convex. He eagerly nods along as he listens to his friend muse about their stylist. Suddenly Jaemin remembers a phrase his sister Hayun would say: “You can’t style a good looking face without a good base!” He blurts it out without thinking. “I mean, those guys are naturally handsome. You and them both have that good base. Their music is good but they could probably win just on looks alone. It’s somewhat unfair,” he thinks out loud. Flipping his hair, he frames his face, “Some of us have to work for these beautiful looks.”

He raises an eyebrow at his friend’s lack of claim to fame. “You sure you don’t have that potential? I think you do!” He puts his head in his hands as he thinks. “I wouldn’t mind being a nobody with you bro but...” Jaemin trails off his sentence. “What are we missing to get us that potential?” Yeonjun’s has the looks and Jaemin doesn’t think he’s half-bad looking himself. Is it just natural talent? As Jaemin thinks, he plays with a noodle in his bowl using his chopstick. “Is it something that people are born with?” He pouts to himself. If that’s the case, then he’s screwed! Frustrated with that idea, Jaemin puts his head in his hands. “Come on, man! We gotta do something!” He grumbles both to Yeonjun and somewhat to himself.

She is about to respond to his outrageous questions when he somehow manage to break his cup, instant karma, perhaps, and so suddenly she is at loss for words and feel like she has to react quickly. While Jaemin head to the counter to fetch himself a new one, Yoohyeon heads over to pick up some napkins to clean up the mess that is all over their table. It is all amusing her greatly, so she can’t help but giggle when he comes back with a brand new drink. “Yeah– let me help you with that, silly. Here,” she carefully slides it over after piercing through it.

Jaemin’s energy levels take a significant dip after spilling his milk tea everywhere. He really needs to learn how to be chill around his friends, but it’s hard! Spending time with friends is something he treasures as he appreciates them making time in their busy schedules, especially one as busy as Yoohyeon’s. Even though Jaemin’s always ready to take the blame for her, he appreciates her acknowledgement that they both could’ve met up more over the Halloween season. It was hard to believe that it’s almost the holiday season; they really haven’t seen each other as much as he’d like! After the whole milk tea ordeal, Jaemin realizes he’s the one talking her ear off, when the whole point of this meeting was so he could hear what his busy friend is up to.

Collapsing in his seat, he lets his more level-headed friend stab the milk tea for him. Almost as flamboyant as a cartoon character, he visibly deflates. “Ah, thank you, Yoohyeon,” he sighs out while putting his hands in prayer. “You didn’t have to clean up my mess. You’re too nice... Where would I be without you?” He whines out as he slumps in his chair to the point where his head is barely visible over the table. He carefully reaches out for his drink, not wanting another fiasco. After a couple of satisfying sips, he lets out a sigh of relief. Maybe drinks are better the second time they’re made? Brushing off the situation, he gets back into his usual jokester mode. “Anyways, no use crying over spilled milk tea.” Wiggling in his chair, he sits back up. “I don’t want to be the one spilling all the tea!”

“I’m just one humble gamer gal. Nothin’ outta the ordinary. Lets focus on the game, ye? Or y’can gimme more fancy identities, I’d take any.” Her user name should usually be a dead give away but with impostors on the servers and people being sceptical, it sometimes so happened someone didn’t believe her.

“Lets finish this game, ye? Mc Cree, y’ready for the final?!”

Waiting for the mysterious “Yuzuru” to return from spawn, Jaemin tries to hold off the enemy’s DPS as best as he can. He raises an eyebrow in confusion to himself when she laughs at his comment on the name. After hearing her mention that Yuzuru is the same name as a pro-skater, he speaks sourly. “Yeah, I know he’s a skater.” Even Jaemin fanboys over him, the guy’s one of the best pro skaters in the world. “I’m not saying you’re one but are you some sort of celebrity?” He questions the identity of the stranger. Had he been playing with an idol the whole time? He can’t help but feel excited at the thought. The thought distracts him so much that he doesn’t realize that they’re losing.

After she points out the he’s distracted, he shakes his head, snapping back to reality. “Don’t worry, darlin’. I’ll make sure we win. Watch this!” He smooth talks in his cowboy impression. With an melodramatic tap from his ring finger, he beings his ultimate, High Noon. Looking around the map, he lets the targets fall on half of the enemy team. Bam, bam, bam! The shots go off and Jaemin unexpectedly blurts out “Oh, I actually did it!” With a nervous laugh, he corrects himself, “I mean, I meant to do that.” Since he feels like he carried his own for this final push, he bugs the girl once again. “Are you sure you’re just some humble gamer gal?”

so when a boy immediately comes up to her to ask if she wanted tutoring, she was a little startled. it’s not often that a stranger just goes up to you automatically when you’re on your way to get your “brain fuel”. most of the time, people wouldn’t even care to see who goes into starbucks. this guy is either a huge weirdo or he’s just bored out of his mind, which she can understand. plus, the idea of free tutoring wasn’t too bad. “i mean, i guess,” she answers, hoping he takes that as an instant yes. “but can i get my drink first? i don’t really focus if i don’t have coffee in my system.”

Jaemin can’t help but be slightly taken aback when the young high schooler even acknowledges him talking to her. The girl obviously thinks he’s strange but luckily agrees to his free tutoring. She had a good point though; he should’ve approached her after she got her coffee. Well, he’ll save that for the next time. With wide eyes, he nods his head rapidly. “Yes, for sure! Sorry! Go ahead!” He says quickly from a combination of nerves and anxiousness. “I’ll be over here.” After the awkward exchange, he lets out a sigh of relief and slumps down into his seat. That was more stressful than it should’ve been. Why do younger people always feel more intimidating when you’re older?

It’s been awhile since Jaemin’s taken the CSAT, so he quickly Googles the content of the exam. His eyes dart between the girl and his computer screen. Every section is optional but Jaemin took all of them except for the Second Foreign Language/Chinese Characters and Classics. English was more than enough for him, in his mind. The first section is the National Language, which is composed of Speech/Writing, Grammar, Reading, and Literature. From what he remembers, the hardest part for him was the Literature part. It’s frustrating being tested on literature because it can be subjective. That’s why the second section, Mathematics, is probably the section Jaemin can help with the most. He took the Ga portion, due to his pre-determined fate of being a STEM major.

“I thought that was you! How are you doing, and how are studies going?” It slips his mind for a brief  moment that he is actually out on duty to deliver out flyers to passerby’s, but only for one moment. “Ah… I have some news. Here,” the piece of paper explains everything. “I’m not sure if there will be much time for me to study regularly, I was– uh… offered a contract here.” He is hesitant to voice it out loud. “But I hope that we can find time anyway,” he makes a wish.

When Jaemin spots his friend Taeyang on the street handing out fliers, he immediately stops dead in his tracks and flashes a funny pose. Luckily, he doesn’t have to hold it for too long, as his friend spots him. “Yo, Taeyang!” He cheers as he jogs up to him. He’s missed his study buddy. Even if their study sessions weren’t always productive due to Jaemin constantly chatting, they still helped him at least get some of his work done. “Bro, I’ve missed you! I’m way less motivated now that we don’t study as much. How am I supposed to study alone?” The younger whines, pretending to sniffle. He snaps out of his playful teasing, when he takes the flyer.