Jimin got off the bus and waved to Jongup with a smile, but Jongup just nodded back politely before turning the opposite direction and meeting up with Taehyung.

"Oh," Jimin said, surprised, shocked, a little hurt. "Ok-kay..."

"Boo," Hyungwon said softly, wanting to cheer Jimin up, and Jimin jumped slightly, startled, and laughed after he saw Hyungwon.

"H-Hyun- Y-YOUR HAIR IS P-PINK!" Jimin said, cutting himself off with a gasp as he stared at Hyungwon's hair.

"Yeah."

"IT WASN'T L-LIKE THAT Y-YESTERDAY!"

"I know."

"S-SO HOW-"

"My dad let me dye it," Hyungwon said, pulling Jimin away from Hobi and Yoongi as they walked to class.

"B-but why-"

Hyungwon sighed, narrowing his eyes as he looked away before sighing a second time. "I might have lost a bet to Jooheon..."

"A b-bet?!"

"Yeah. We bet that the last one to get a date for the dance had to dye their hair. Only Jooheon made the bet having already asked someone out, which I didn't know about, so I immediately lost." He groaned. "At least I don't have to worry about getting a date now since I already lost the bet."

"A d-date? What d-dance?"

Hyungwon looked over at Jimin curiously. "You don't know about it?"

Jimin shook his head, blinking.

"The school has a big dance every year. It's coming up in two weeks. Pretty much everybody goes. The music isn't too bad, and there's a lot of gross couple grinding on the dance floor. But they have a decent snack table on the opposite side, so you could say there's something for everyone."

"D-Don't people just g-go as friends?" Jimin asked, tilting his head slightly. He was starting to feel nervous. According to Hyungwon, he only had two weeks to find someone he didn't hate and then ask them to stand next to him for several hours which they acquired raging headaches and sore feet.

Hyungwon made a so-so gesture with his hand. "I mean, some people do, but according to Jooheon, it's pretty much all couples. There's some type of award for the best couple or whatever, and there's a pretty big gift card as a prize for the winners. It's the school's way of motivating people to buy tickets to the dance. Everybody wants the gift card, but you're only eligible as a couple, so that's why everybody tries to get a date."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Hyungwon sighed. "Even if I wanted to go for the gift card, though, I can't talk to girls, and nobody would want to go with the guy with pink hair."

Jimin smiled, patting Hyungwon's shoulder since he was too short to ruffle his hair. "I think it's n-nice."

Hyungwon sighed. "Thanks, Jimin, but I need a girl to think it's nice."

"S-Sorry."

"It's fine...I guess I'll just try again next year." Hyungwon pushed his lips out, making a pouty face, and Jimin giggled.

***

"Dance?" Hobi asked, turning around in his seat.

"The dance," the girl repeated with a nod, turning from her friend to look at him. "It's in two weeks. Are you going, Hoseok?"

Hobi blinked. He wasn't aware that she'd even known his name. Now he was embarrassed that he didn't bother learning hers. "I- I don't know. Maybe. I like dancing. Not so much all the other stuff."

She smiled. "You should think about going. It'll be fun," she said. "I went last year and had a great time, although I didn't have a date last year." She blushed as her friend stuck her tongue out at her. "This year I do."

"Oh...Do I need one?" Hobi asked, unsure, and she shrugged.

"If you want to win the gift card. But there's nothing wrong with going alone," she added a second later, hesitantly.

"But I don't really know any girls," Hobi said a second later, wincing. "And I don't like anyone."

The girl's short-haired friend shrugged before smiling at Hobi. "If you can't find anyone, you should ask me. I don't like anyone either, but I still want to go to the dance and have a good time."

"All right," Hobi said before wondering if their mom and step-dad would let them go. "I'll have to ask my parents. But what's your name?" he asked, cringing when he realized he'd exposed himself as a horrible classmate.

But the short-haired girl just smiled and stuck out a hand. "Jeongyeon."

***

"Dance?" Jungkook asked before swallowing. "The d-dance...I meant...I mean...Do you want to...Would you like to go to the dance?"

The girl blinked. "Yes, I'm planning on going to the dance."

"O-Oh, that's great," Jungkook said, his eyes wide as he tried to spit the words out. "I want to, too. Go to the dance, I mean. I want to go to the dance. I mean...I'm planning on going to the dance."

"Okay...?"

"But I mean, do you want to, you know, do you want to go to the dance? With me?"

"Like as your date?"

Jungkook swallowed and nodded before smiling nervously. "Yeah, like together with me. To the dance. As a date."

"I'm sorry," the girl said, her eyebrows furrowed apologetically, and Jungkook felt himself deflate a bit.

"You already have a date?" Jungkook asked, trying not to frown, and the girl hesitated before shaking her head. "You have someone else you like?" Once again, the girl paused before shaking her head. "Then...you hate me?" She shook her head. Jungkook opened his mouth and paused before finally asking, "Then...why not?"

The girl coughed awkwardly before looking up at Jungkook. "Um...I have no idea who you are..."

Jungkook stared back at her with wide eyes. Jungkook sat three seats behind her and two rows over. He knew everyone in his class. But she'd never even noticed that he existed. "Oh," he said after a moment. "Right. Okay." He blinked, stuck in a blank, defeated stare, and the girl left.

Finally, after a long sigh, Jungkook pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and crossed off the girl's name. "All right, then. Four no's and one 'maybe if nobody else asks me.' On to the next one."

***

"Dance?" Jin asked, and the five girls huddled around his desk nodded excitedly.

"The dance! It's in two weeks! Who are you going with, Jin?" one of them asked, and Jin hesitated, his mouth hanging open slightly.

He hadn't even thought about the dance. "I don't know...I'm not sure if I'm going to go yet-"

"Of course you're going!" a different girl said, and they all laughed as though the thought of Jin not going to the dance was hysterical. Of course Jin would be there.

Just then, a new football recruit entered the classroom. He was a transfer student and a wide receiver despite his slight frame.

"Changkyun!" one of the girls squealed, and the boy nodded slightly without smiling as he sat down in his desk on the other side of the room. The girls all squeaked and squealed among themselves as they flocked over, leaving Jin alone.

The dance, Jin thought anxiously. What am I going to do about the dance?

***

"Dance?" Tae asked, and Jongup nodded. "Not really. Or at least, I don't dance well. Hobi's the dancer in our family, not me."

"It doesn't matter if you can dance. Most of us can't," Jongup said, laughing before shrugging. "But it's kind of fun. Or at least it's one of those things that it's more annoying to hear about everything that happened when you weren't there than it is to actually just show up, so you may as well go."

Tae scoffed. "How would you know? You're a freshman."

"My older brother told me about it," Jongup said, but Tae just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. So I have to go to this dance thing?"

Jongup nodded, smiling. "Yes, you have to go so I won't be all alone."

Tae sighed harshly. "Jimin will be there, won't he?"

Jongup hesitated before shrugging. "I don't know. I haven't talked to him today yet." When Tae frowned, he added, "I usually walk him to his first class, but I walked with you instead today."

Tae just frowned. "I don't like when people have to choose sides."

"I'm not," Jongup said, holding his hands up defensively. "I want to be friends with both of you. I just have to split my time in half. Or make a clone. But I'm sticking with the first option for now."

Tae looked up at Jongup. "What do you know about clones?"

"Clones?" Jongup said, taken aback. "I was just jok-"

"Robot clones in particular," Tae said, scanning the lunchroom for Jungkook. "Just testing a suspicion of mine."

***

"Dance?" their mom said, and Yoongi nodded.

She blinked, shocked, and Yoongi gritted his teeth, looking away, his cheeks flushed a rosy pink.

"You want me to tell you how to ask a girl to the dance?"