Chapter 3

It was Friday and it was raining. Yoongi got off his bed and stretched. A knock on his door startled him.

"Yah! Yoongi! You're gonna be late! We have to be quicker every first Friday of the month," Yungmin said while knocking on his door.

"Shut up, I'm coming!" he shouted back.

He quickly got ready and got out of his room. "What the hell are you waiting for? Come."

"Why didn't you just go first since it is so 'special' to you?"

"It's your first day, asshole. You don't know where the church is," he said as Yoongi mouthed an 'o.'

So every first Friday? We have to attend mass? Must be tiring as f.

***

"Hurry up, guys, you don't want to end up standing on the bus, do you?" the adviser said as the students started moving inside. Yoongi was the last one to go since they were late. He could only mutter a curse when he realized he had to stand.

"You can sit here, Yoongi," a voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked down to see who it was. It was Jimin, sitting so handsomely.

"O-oh, it's okay, I can stand. You don't have to give up your seat," Yoongi said.

"Hahaha, I won't give up my seat. I mean, you should come and sit beside me." By that, Yoongi got red all over his face.

What the fuck, Yoongi. You're just embarrassing yourself.

"O-oh, okay," he muttered under his breath and went to sit beside him.

"Is the church far away from school?" Yoongi asked, fidgeting with his fingers. This was very new to him; he had never gone to a church before.

"Kinda, why? This church is pretty popular, though," Jimin wondered. He was even more curious when the smaller boy hung his head low. "Wait, is this your first time entering a church?"

The smaller figure slowly nodded.

"I'm an atheist."

"Oh, oh..."

Jimin didn't mind if someone was an atheist; it was just new to him, especially when that student was attending a Catholic school.

"Is that bad?"

"N-no! NO! Never! It's okay to have differences, Yoongi. It's not bad," Jimin said as he patted Yoongi's back.

"Hey, lovebirds. You want some Pringles?" Hoseok butted in with his head peeking at the pair while holding a can of Pringles in front of them.

Both of them blushed at the nickname created by the boy. "Oi, Hoseok, shut it. We're not gay, weirdo," Jimin exclaimed and gently hit his friend's head as the other laughed.

Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows at that word. Gay.

***

"Yoongi, stay in line with them or go with Jennie or something. My friend and I have to serve," Yungmin informed Yoongi.

So Yoongi went in line with Jennie as they sat on a long chair. They were all divided into four groups and all had to sit there. Yoongi wondered where Jimin was. He didn't even know why he was searching for him when the boy was just new to him. But still, he searched using his eyes.

Then, he was startled when music began echoing through the church and all the students stood up. "Bitch, stand up," Jennie whispered.

The said man stood up. He wondered why the students were looking at the back when the altar was clearly in front. He peeked and saw a group of people marching on their way to the altar. The priest was in front, followed by the sacristans and the seminarians.

Yoongi could feel his cheeks heating up when he spotted Jimin wearing a clerical collar.

"I know, right," Jennie said, chuckling beside him. "He's a fine-ass man," she continued giggling.

"Why did he join as a seminarian when he can just be an ordinary student?" Yoongi whispered as the group of people got to the altar.

"Sheesh, why are you asking? You like him, huh?"

"Bitch, I ain't gay."

"Oh, shut up. From the moment I saw you entering the classroom, I knew you were rainbows and butterflies, bitch," Jennie said, chuckling. They jumped when someone shushed them.

They looked to see who it was and it was Namjoon, the student council president. They eyed each other and hung their heads low. "Why's he here? I thought he was a seminarian?" he asked Jennie quietly.

"Seminarians, as well as sacristans, take turns. For example, this August it's Jimin, Yungmin, Hoseok, and Taehyung. September will be somebody else, but it should be four seminarians and four sacristans, but not the same people who served the month before," Jennie explained, and Yoongi could only nod in return.

Why is it so complicated?

****

"Yoongi!" Yoongi screeched when he heard someone shouting his name. He was just about to enter the classroom.

"What are you doing? We're all gathering for a small program on the ground floor," Yungmin said in an annoyed tone.

"Aish, I didn't know, smarty pants."

They arrived on the ground floor and all of the students were seated on monoblock chairs, listening carefully to the person in front, speaking. Both of them looked for a chair and luckily found vacant seats in the middle section.

Yoongi was seated near Jimin, who was beside a girl. He wasn't familiar with her face but he was sure that she was his age. She was wearing a different uniform, similar to his uniform when he was still studying at KNHS. But how could a student enter here when it's not their school?

His eyes wandered and looked at every student gathering. Some were wearing his former uniform. Yoongi jolted when the speaker spoke.

"In case the transferees are confused, this is a tradition between two schools in this town where representatives from KNHS attend a small and short program on the first Friday of each semester," the woman spoke. Yoongi nodded, finally understanding the whole situation.

"Is this really a short program?" he asked the student beside him, who just chuckled.

"Nope."

"Nowwww, let's group ourselves into 10 groups! Starting with this young fellow here!" the woman exclaimed as she pointed to the student in front.

"1!"

"2!"

They went on like that until it was Jimin's turn.

"6," he said as they continued.

Yoongi was confused, again. He looked at the man beside him as he said, "5!" and looked at Yoongi, gesturing for him to say his number.

Oh fuck, why am I so slow?

"6!"

Does that mean Jimin and I are in one group? How lucky.

****

"Now! For the first question!" a man in his 30s exclaimed while holding a card.

Each group formed a circle. Jimin and Yoongi sat beside each other, because why not?

They readied themselves as Hoseok held the whiteboard and the marker. They decided that he was going to be the writer and the remaining students would say their answers to him, as quietly as possible since other groups were near them.

"What planet is closest to the sun?!" the man exclaimed.

"Bitch, what's the answer?" Hoseok asked them as they just chuckled.

"Man, that's a basic-ass question?" Youngjay said as Hoseok hit him with a marker.

"Hurry up!"

"It's Mercury, dumbass," Jimin said, laughing.

They all got a point. The game went on until the category went to the hardest one.

Group 1: 38 pts  Group 2: 40 pts  Group 3: 40 pts  Group 4: 32 pts  Group 6: 40 pts  Group 7: 38 pts  Group 8: 32 pts  Group 9: 34 pts  Group 10: 34 pts 

"Let's brace ourselves, everyone," a girl named Lisa said as their faces got serious. Yoongi was feeling the competitive tension although he wasn't really helping since he wasn't comfortable speaking yet.

"What is the world's largest ocean?!"

Yoongi's ears perked up; the question was familiar but he wasn't sure. But then, he heard someone say Pacific Ocean. He smiled.

"It's the Pacific Ocean," he whispered to Hoseok, who wrote it and waited for the timer.

Group 2, 3, 6, and 7 got the answer.

They were now at 42 points. Eight more points and they would win.

"How many teeth does an adult human have?"

"Oh, I know that! It's 32," a boy named Jinyoung said; Hoseok obliged.

They got the point.

Group 2, 3, and 6 got it.

"Who invented the lightbulb?!"

"Thomas Edison," Jimin said.

They got the point.

Groups 3 and 6 got it.

The two groups were very ahead until it was the last question.

"What element has the longest name in the periodic table?!" the speaker shouted.

Fuck, I know this one.

All groups went quiet after hearing the question; they were all filled with confused faces and competitive ones. Whereas Yoongi thought harder, he had heard this one before on TikTok, but he couldn't get it off his tongue.

He looked at Jimin, who had a blank expression. "I think it's something with ruther?" he said, unsure.

Bingo.

"Rutherfordium," Yoongi finally said, cheeks heating up, heart beating out of his chest with nervousness.

"What's the spelling?" Hoseok asked as they all face-palmed.

Yoongi grabbed the whiteboard and the marker.

"5! 4!"

R-U-T-H-E-

"3! 2!"

The group screamed; they were feeling the tension, and it was killing them.

R-U-T-H-E-R-F-O-R-

"1!"

R-U-T-H-E-R-F-O-R-D-I-U-M

As soon as he wrote every letter down, he felt someone carry him in the air.

"DONE!!!" their group shouted while Yoongi held the answer in the air.

They all cheered, including Yoongi, who was on Jimin's shoulder.

Man, this boy's strong.

"The winner is GROUP 6!!!!" the man announced as they all jumped with excitement.

"Yoongi, Yoongi, Yoongi!" they all chanted his name, making his heart flutter. This was the only recognition he had experienced, and it made his heart jump.