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Chapter word count 5,432 words.
Chapter warnings/tags jimin has feelings 🤢, taemin has a highkey jealous boyfie, taemin is lowkey rooting for jungkook, yugyeom is a ball of anxiety
Jungkook has his duffle slung over his body as he stares down at his phone. Returning students didn’t have to go through the same experience as they did during their first semester. In the email on his phone, Jungkook had his full itinerary and dorm assignment laid out for him. G Building, Jungkook realizes a bit belatedly, is Gangnam - Hobi’s old dorm. Taehyung’s new dorm. A smile pulls Jungkook’s cheeks high as he searches out the rusting G of Gangnam.
Much like last year, freshmen are floating around the grounds with trolleys covered in bags or boxes meant for their dorm rooms. It reminds Jungkook of how he had to bob and weave the first day he searched for his dorm. The familiar feeling set Jungkook in a good mood as his eyes fell upon the G building; his new home for this semester. Unlike last semester, Taehyung is standing like a statue at the front door of Gangnam, greeting every returning student until his eyes fall upon JK.
Today, Taehyung surprised Jungkook. From where Jungkook stood, Taehyung was clearly wearing very loose black knit pants, a black shirt, and the most colorful sweater to top everything off. It was a big change compared to the gold shorts Taehyung had been wearing the first day they saw each other again.
“JK! We’re in the same dorm again!”
Jungkook cannot help but smile as Taehyung wraps him in a bear hug the moment he stops in front of the upperclassman. When they pull back from each other, Jungkook helps Taehyung greet a few new faces as he looks over at his friend, “I’m surprised you decided on RAing alone this semester.”
Taehyung sighs, animatedly, “Jimin wasn’t going to RA since he wanted to focus on his Junior year project, but when the RA for Itaewon pulled out, they requested Jimin to RA for I building as he was the RA for Itaewon last year. I had already been assigned to Gangnam and they wouldn’t let us change it.”
Jungkook nods as he greets some more new faces, a group of girls in particular, who rush past him as soon as he welcomes them and he can hear giggles echo in the main lobby of Gangnam. Taehyung slaps Jungkook’s chest, “Gangnam is a mixed dorm.” That explained the girls, Jungkook thought as he frowns at the possibility of the problems that would arise this semester. He did not want to be involved in some sort of campus scandal, but knowing how campus life worked now, that was probably inevitable.
“I’m going to room with Yoongs,” Jungkook claims as he moves to walk back towards D building.
Taehyung's hand holding the hood of his jacket keeps him from making much progression, “Nope. I need one ally in this dorm.” Jungkook tries to look over his shoulder at Taehyung, “Why does it have-“
“Jungkook?”
Jungkook turns and finds Yugyeom in grey sweats and what looks like a faded high school shirt. His hair looks like he rolled out of bed, which seemed pretty accurate for Yugyeom most days.
“Are you in Gangnam this semester?”
Taehyung wraps a possessive arm over Jungkook’s shoulders, “He’s mine, kid. Whoever you are.”
“Yugyeom,” Jungkook’s friend states, eyes never leaving Jungkook. “You look good.” There’s pink bleeding into the tall boy’s cheeks as he looks over Jungkook.
Over winter break, Jungkook had continued on with ignoring getting a haircut. He enjoyed having his long black hair, even though the ends would curl occasionally if he wasn’t careful. Jungkook had also become a bit more selective with his clothing choices, opting for some name-brand items even if that meant he couldn’t get a bunch of new clothes at once. “Thanks.”
“Ew,” Taehyung fake gags between them. “Love? gross!”
Jungkook elbows Taehyung in the arm, getting the RA to stop being obnoxious. He rubs his nose as he looks at his friend, “Which room were you in this year? Where’s Bambam?”
“Oh,” Yugyeom panics, pulling out his phone to triple-check his room number. “It looks like 7E, and Bambam is in Daegu this year.”
Jungkook couldn’t help but wonder how Bambam would fare with Yoongi as his RA. Yoongi wasn’t hard on people like some RAs could be, in fact, Jungkook felt he was one of the most laid-back RAs; but Bambam liked to push the rules. 7E, Jungkook feels like he’d heard that room assignment before. He checks his email and shows it to Taehyung then Yugyeom. “I guess we’re roommates this year.”
Yugyeom looks like he’s on the verge of a meltdown as he excuses himself to run into G building. Jungkook looks at Tae then, “I might have to impose on you this year.”
Taehyung blinks looking between where Yugyeom was standing and Jungkook, “Did something happen?”
“I’ll tell you later,” Jungkook mentions as he greets some more new faces. He freezes when he sees a familiar face, “Dan!”
Daniel looks up from his phone and has to do a double-take, “Gguk?”
Jungkook throws out a hand and pulls his old roommate into a hug, “How have you been? Have you seen Minghao?”
Daniel steps back, greeting Taehyung before he addresses Jungkook’s question, “I’ve been good. Minghao won’t be here this semester. He said something happened with his family over winter break, but he’s going to try and come back in the fall.” Jungkook hopes Minghao is okay, but he doesn’t want to think too much on it. After a moment, Jungkook realizes something off about Daniel, “Are you blonde?”
Daniel laughs, brushing his blonde locks from his face, “Yeah, man. Lost a bet to my friends back home. They said I didn’t look good with blonde hair, but I haven’t noticed much difference. What do you think? Is it bad?”
Jungkook laughs, “No, not bad. Just different.”
Taehyung nods in agreement, “Different.”
Daniel nods, “Well, I should head to Itaewon. I need to find out who my new roommates are. Text me, okay?”
“Alright,” Jungkook grins.
Jungkook chews his lip as he approaches 7E. Yugyeom being in the same dorm room as him was going to make this semester rather awkward. He hadn’t realized how obvious Bambam had been making the fact that Yugyeom had a crush on him until he talked to Yoongi about the stuff Bambam would say when he was around with Yugyeom. Now it sat like a weight in Jungkook’s stomach as he stared at the 7E in a gold that was reflecting his conflicted face back at him.
Should he ask to be reassigned?
The door opens to 7E and Jungkook is left to force a smile onto his face as he finds Yugyeom standing in the doorway. “Oh,” Yugyeom whispers, “Hey, Gguk, I was just going to help Bambam set up his room. I hope you don’t mind that I took the right-side of the room.”
Jungkook looks around Yugyeom to glance inside the room before looking back at the tall boy, “No, it’s fine.” When he and Yugyeom awkwardly move so Yugyeom can leave, Jungkook walks into the empty room to see bright colors lining Yugyeom’s side of the dorm room. The little Jungkook knew about Yugyeom was still enough to know that Yugyeom preferred being surrounded by bright colors to keep him in a good mood. In contrast, the colors made Jungkook feel like he was being mocked. He hadn’t been in a good mood since his encounter with Jimin.
Despite the hard truth that Jimin had found a lover over winter break, Jungkook still found himself wondering how Jimin was handling the dorm by himself. If he needed to, Jungkook knew Jimin could handle rowdy students- he’d seen it first hand last semester.
<Beautiful>
Beautiful: I know you’re upset, but can we talk?
JK: If you need help with something; just ask.
Beautiful: I meant about what happened last semester
JK: There’s nothing to talk about
Jimin frowns down at his phone and then at the empty side of his dorm room. The truth was that Taehyung was the one that pulled away when things happened between Jungkook and him. Jimin hadn’t changed. He still tried talking to his best friend every day, but Taehyung had kept him at an arm’s length. Maybe it was to try and remain impartial, but he was clearly taking Jungkook’s side. The problem was, Jimin wanted to be able to talk to Jungkook if he had the time to, but Jungkook didn’t seem interested.
<RA Club>
Jimin: Who is going with me to buy the drinks for the freshman party tomorrow?
Yoongi: Can’t. Joon is stalking me.
Joon: I’m not stalking you. I just want to do the project together.
Yoongi: That’s not you in the beanie two aisles back?
Joon: What the hell? How did you see me?
Tae: Let Yoongi and Joon go. They’re obviously already out together.
Yoongi: No
Joon: What do we need?
Yoongi: I said no
Tae: Send them the list, Ji
Jimin: 10 packs of water, 10 cokes, 10 sprites, 10 diet something
Yoongi: I’m not carrying all of that
Joon: I got it
Joon: Let’s go grab everything, Yoongi
Yoongi: I’m going to scream rape if you come near me
Tae: I should see if JK will come to help out at the freshy gathering
Tae: He doesn’t like being around his new roommate
Jimin: Who is it?
Tae: The kid you attacked last year
Joon: Fuck he really is screaming rape
Joon: He can get everything on his own
It’s getting close to curfew, Jungkook has checked the bright yellow clock on Yugyeom’s side of the room at least five times now. He shouldn’t worry, really, Yugyeom was old enough to take care of himself; but Yugyeom ignoring curfew put strain on Taehyung which is what bothered him.
“Knock, knock,” a voice calls which lifts Jungkook’s focus from the floor in front of him. “Are we able to have that talk now?”
Taehyung is in navy cotton shorts and a sleeveless shirt. His hair is mussed, but Jungkook is sure that’s from him running his hands through it a million times. However, he does look rather chill as he steps in and takes up the spot next to Jungkook on his bed.
“You said something happened between you and Yugyeom?”
“Right,” Jungkook sighs. “Over winter break, I complained to Yoongi about how Yugyeom was texting me all the time. You know Yoongi, he didn’t really care until I mentioned Bambam’s antics every time the three of us were together.”
Taehyung crossed his legs and leaned back, “Antics? Like what?”
Jungkook shrugs and leans back, as well, “Claiming he was drooling over me is one.”
“Did it make you uncomfortable?” Taehyung questions as he looks at Jungkook, “Knowing Yugyeom has a crush on you?”
“A bit,” Jungkook agrees. “I just- I don’t know how to answer his feelings. I’m still trying to figure out whatever it is that has me stuck on Jimin.”
Taehyung hums as he leans back against the wall, he had a bunch of regrets when he realized that he hadn’t talked to Jungkook over winter break at all. There were plans to explain more of why Jimin reacted the way he did to Jungkook, or situations, but he got carried away between festivities and his classwork that he forgot. “You know, you’re free to use my spare bed any time. It’s kind of weird not having a roommate anymore.”
Jungkook eyes Taehyung, “Have you talked to Jimin?”
“Not really.”
“Am I, perhaps, interrupting something?” a soft voice inquires by the door.
Jungkook looks up, wipes at his face after realizing he’s gotten a bit emotional while talking to Taehyung and shrugs as he scoots back to lean against the wall next to Taehyung, “No, come in. It’s your room too.”
Yugyeom shuffles into the room and sits on the very edge of his bed, “I know I was a few minutes late, Taehyung, but I promise-“
“Yugyeom, you’re no longer a first semester freshman. I don’t care when you come home.” Taehyung stands and shoves his hands into the pockets of his shorts while adjusting them. “I have to go talk to the other RAs about clean up for freshy night. I’ll talk to you two later.” His eyes find Jungkook and he makes his hand into a phone shape before wiggling it near his ear as he leaves the room.
A frown finds Jungkook’s face when he realizes he’s alone with Yugyeom again. The earlier feelings come flooding back in as his skin feels on edge like the other boy is staring at him. He doesn’t like the feeling. “I’m going to head to bed.”
“But I-“
“Night, Gyeomie,” Jungkook huffs and pulls his comforter over his head.
<Roomies I-8H>
Dan: Please tell me you have weightlifting again, first slot.
Minghao: Good evening to you too…
Dan: Hush, I’m asking Gguk
Dan: Gguk?
Kook: Weightlifting at the beginning of the day?
Kook: Are you crazy? Why would I?
Dan: Gguk…
Kook: I’m just joking, man. Of course, I took the first slot class.
Kook: I wouldn’t leave you hanging
Kook: And it lets me avoid the lunch crowd
Minghao: lunch crowd?
Dan: I guess he means the person he was into last semester 🤡
Minghao: Jungkook was literally always alone
Dan: Not always 😏
Minghao: Gguk?
Kook: Dang,,, oh, shit,,, look at the time… I’m late for class
Kook: 🏃💨
Dan: He does realize classes haven’t started yet, right?
Minghao: I don't know. I’m going to bed. Bye!
Jungkook switches into some joggers and a top before he heads to the gym. Today wasn’t the official first day of classes, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to start getting his body used to working out in the mornings. The morning is still very chilly as winter lingers in the air. It makes Jungkook go from walking to jogging to warm himself up as he makes his way towards the gym.
“No jacket?”
Jungkook stops at the familiar airy voice that pierces his heart. Just diagonal from him on another walking path is Jimin. He’s got a steaming cup of something snuggled between his two hands and a dozen layers of winter items to keep him warm. The part that steals Jungkook’s attention is his smile, the ever present cause for his demise. “Gym,” Jungkook answers as if giving complete sentences would distract him from his goal.
Jimin frowns on his approach, shoving his cup into Jungkook’s hands before he takes the thick scarf around his neck and unravels it before gingerly wrapping it around Jungkook’s neck. He knows that the instant warmth he feels is whatever lingers from being wrapped around Jimin, “Thanks.”
Jimin takes back his cup and takes a hesitant sip of it, “You should take better care of your health. Tae barely minds his own, so you will have to be the adult-ier adult between the two of you.”
“He misses you,” Jungkook says without thinking. It causes Jimin to offer him wide eyes and an awkward smile. It wasn’t something he usually saw on Jimin.
“I’ll call him. Get inside before you get sick.”
Jungkook laughs, “Yes, mom.”
When he jogs off, Jimin shouts at his back, “I’m not your mom!”
Perfect, because Jungkook did not have mom-like feelings for him.
Dan is staring at Jungkook the moment he approaches the bench press. He can see a lot in his old roommate’s eyes, but Dan tends to have a lot on his mind. Jungkook stands in front of him where he sits at the end of the bench. Neither are talking, only staring. It’s definitely too early in the morning for conversation, but Dan eventually breaks the ice.
“It’s Jimin, isn’t it?”
“Out front? Yeah, that was Jimin,” Jungkook blinks and pulls his bangs into a small pony at the back of his crown.
“No, your crush is Jimin.”
Jungkook is immediately defensive, “Why would I like Jimin?”
Dan shrugs and wipes his hands on his NewBalance towel, “You’ve never looked at anyone the way I just saw you look at Jimin. I’ve watched how you are with Tae and others last semester, but you only look at Jimin the way one would look at a lover.”
Jungkook stares at Dan for a moment, being adamant about not liking Jimin wasn’t going to get him anywhere. This was, however, the first time Jungkook recognized Dan showing real interest in his life; it was strange. “Can you not tell anyone about it?”
Dan blinks a few times, “What’s wrong with having a crush on Jimin?”
”Nothing,” Jungkook answers quickly, “You’re not the only one that knows, Tae knows and Jimin might even know, but I don’t want to pressure Jimin into dating me. I’m just a freshman with a crush on an upperclassman.”
“So like any cheesy, American school movie?”
Jungkook laughs, “Exactly.”
After a few jabs back and forth, the two fall into a steady rhythm for exercises. Jungkook shows Dan how to use the equipment, recommends how many repetitions he should do on a low weight before going higher, explains how he’ll know when he’s ready to move up, and teaches Dan the importance of stretching after working out.
Jungkook helping Dan learn the workout equipment takes up the morning hours, which is why the two boys part ways at noon. Jungkook debates if he should shower at the gym or his dorm considering the chill in the air and his lack of winter wear. Either way, he could possibly get sick. As he thinks about it, rubbing his towel over his head to attempt drying it, a body stands next to him on his left side. It has Jungkook’s eyes sliding that way before facing the new person standing there.
He has a round face, round eyes, straight dark brown hair, and plump lips. It takes Jungkook a moment to place where he had seen the boy before and when it hits him, his brain is telling him to leave. It’s the boy that came with Jimin to school this semester.
“You’re a good guy, JK,” the boy tells him.
Jungkook wants to roll his eyes, but instead he settles on, “Only my close friends can use my nicknames.” Before he turns and offers out his hand, “I’m Jungkook. I’m not sure how Jimin addresses me to you.”
The boy’s plump lips stretch into a smile before he takes Jungkook’s hand, “Nice to meet you, I’m Taemin.” When they take back their hands, Taemin looks back out the door at the cold, gloomy day, “When Jimin talks about you, Jungkook, it’s always as JK or Tae’s NFF. That’s why I chose JK since referring to you as his best friend’s NFF was a little awkward.”
Kind of like calling someone by their nickname without knowing them, Jungkook wants to say until he remembers last semester. Jungkook had called Yoongi as Yoongs before Taehyung had told him Yoongi’s full name. He bites his remark back and looks over at the other boy from his slinky, dance pants similar to Jimin’s and then to his fitted work-out top. It must be a dancer’s common work-out clothes as they were similar to what Jimin always wore while working out last year. With a sigh, Jungkook makes a decision, “Well, I’m going to head back. It was nice meeting you.”
Jungkook turns and makes his way to the locker room to grab his duffle and Jimin’s scarf. It takes him only a few minutes before he’s met up with Taemin at the door once more. Jungkook offers Taemin only a nod of his head in his departure before he is wrapping Jimin’s scarf around his neck and running for his dorm.
Taemin crosses his arms over his stomach as he smiles seeing a familiar person passing Jungkook on his run back to his dorm, “If you had just stuck around a bit longer, JK, you would have realized I’m not the enemy.”
Bambam is staring over the top of brunch with Yugyeom who is curling in on himself as he sips an iced chai latte while Yugyeom explains everything that happened the night before to him. It’s somewhere in the middle that Bambam gets distracted by a bird outside the window of the cafe, but he can still hear Yugyeom talking about how nervous he was around Gguk and how he doesn’t know how to act when they’re alone together. Part of him wants to tell Gyeom to move on, it’s obvious to him at least that Jungkook isn’t interested, but Bambam remembers this is a necessary event. The first love is always 50-50, but if it’s meant to crash and burn then Bambam shouldn’t soften the landing. “Have you tried talking to him?” Bambam questions as he turns back to look at Gyeom who is already more than half-way done with his latte.
”I did,” Gyeom admits, his teeth worrying over the pink straw between his lips. “He completely shut me down before I could talk to him. I- When I got back he was talking to Taehyung about something, so maybe he was upset that I interrupted them.”
”Why not try again tonight? It’s not like you had trouble talking with him before. Maybe he was just having a bad day when you tried last night.”
Yugyeom nods and finishes off his latte. He hasn’t touched the chocolate danish that he ordered which was strange since sweets were usually a treat for Yugyeom. He tended to eat them only when he was stressed or celebrating something. Bambam frowns over at his friend, but doesn’t continue to press him on the topic. Instead he switches to something new, “Are you ready for class on Thursday?”
”As ready as I’ll ever be,” Yugyeom remarks sadly. “Jungkook is with us in the third class.”
”How do you know his schedule if you haven’t talked to him?”
Yugyeom pushes his empty cup away from him on the table, “I snuck a look at it while he was gone the first day.”
Bambam frowns harder, “So we all share Film Studies?”
Yugyeom nods his head but doesn’t add on to that. Originally it had been part of his plan to get closer to Jungkook, but now he wonders if maybe he had overstepped since he and Jungkook don’t even talk to each other. That first class together could be hard if they all sit together and Jungkook continues to ignore him. It would actually hurt him to some degree. Yugyeom sighs and looks over at Bambam, “Can I drop the class? Do you think my counselor would get upset with me? Maybe I can find another class to pick up around that same time frame.”
”Now you’re overthinking it,” Bambam accuses. “It’s just a class. We can sit on the opposite side of the room from him if you’re really that worried.”
”Okay,” Yugyeom agrees; deflated.
Jungkook is shaking the water bottle he’s holding as he walks across campus. In short, his morning had been nothing but chaos since he was shook violently awake by Yugyeom at 3AM because his roommate had accidentally set the one set of curtains they owned on fire trying to fry something because he was hungry. Not only did Yugyeom wake up most of the floor from his yelling, Jungkook had to witness a half-naked Taehyung running into the room to put out the fire with an extinguisher thus leaving their room in an even bigger problem.
Jungkook still hasn’t responded to Yugyeom’s 50 messages full of apologies and Taehyung already wrote him to say that he’s moved all of Jungkook’s things into the empty side of the RA’s room; something Taehyung had offered before Jungkook moved into the room with Yugyeom. It’s now that Jungkook is approaching the technology building that he sees Taemin standing there wrapped in oversized sweats and a charming smile. Jungkook almost stops, but he’s tired and doesn’t want to be late to his film editing course (one he had accidentally clicked instead of the class he promised to take with Yugyeom; a grateful mistake).
“Morning, Jungkook,” Taemin says sweetly.
Jungkook waves, a bit put out by the fact that this new guy of Jimin’s is literally everywhere he has to be. Jungkook notices an athletic emblem on the front of the sweatshirt that Taemin is wearing and pauses. Did Taemin double major in dance and something less graceful?
“I’m waiting for someone,” Taemin answers without being asked. “Are you heading to class?”
Jungkook nods and continues up the stairs, his mind still a mess of adrenaline thanks to the early morning and lack of sleep. He knows he’s going to crash as soon as this class ends thanks to his other class being in the afternoon. There wasn’t enough time for him to question Taemin’s waiting outside of the technology building and Jungkook was almost positive that Jimin didn’t have a class in the building.
“Have a good day, Jungkook,” Taemin adds before the door closes behind Jungkook.
<Beautiful>
Jimin Can we talk now?
Jimin JK?
Jimin I know you said there’s nothing to talk about
Jimin But I want to talk about it
Jimin Are you really going to ignore me?
Jimin JK?
Jimin Are you going to the party this weekend?
A slap to Jungkook’s knee has him looking up at a disheveled Taehyung as he rakes his fingers through his unruly locks, “Where have you been, man? I tried texting you twenty times to meet up for lunch.” Jungkook reaches into his sweatpants pocket and pulls out his phone, there’s a total of over 100 unread messages and he sighs and covers his eyes. Jungkook had spotted Jimin’s name before everyone else, but looked up at his new roommate, “Sorry, man, I was dead after my first class and came back to pass out. Dinner?”
”Of course,” Taehyung grins. “Date night with Jungkook is always fun.”
Jungkook laughs and sits up, “Yoongs told you about the first day with Namjoon, didn’t he?”
Taehyung grins and sits on the edge of Jungkook’s bed, “Of course he did. You literally made his whole year. He might even dedicate a song to you for it.”
”I doubt it’ll go that far,” JK laughs.
Taehyung agrees with a nod before he stares at JK, “When’s your next class?”
”Twenty minutes,” JK frowns and starts to stand and stretch out his tired body. He hadn’t lost sleep since he stayed up for three days straight studying for the exam to get into this university. JK’s mom had worried he would oversleep, but he had made it on time and passed. So it worked out in the end.
JK goes through the motions of getting ready for class; his last one of the day. Taehyung is watching him with disinterest, even though you can read his thoughts as they fly over his face in quick succession. Finally Taehyung’s eyes focus on him again, “Are you going to the party this weekend?”
Jungkook stares at Taehyung through the mirror he is standing in front of and wonders. Taehyung used to drag him to parties last semester and now he was asking. Was Jimin going to be at the party and that was why he was asking this time? “Yeah, let’s go,” Jungkook shrugs to dissipate whatever gloom was in the background of Taehyung’s eyes. “We deserve to have some fun.”
Taehyung chews his lip a bit then looks down at his knees, “I think I’m going to get back together with Julie.” The sentence reminds JK of last semester and a room full of glitter when he turns to stare at Taehyung head-on. Taehyung looks a bit embarrassed by the admission and Jungkook is worried that Taehyung is forcing himself from that alone. “She’s the reason I was busy all winter break,” Taehyung tacks on in explanation even without Jungkook demanding one.
Jungkook stares at Taehyung’s brown corduroy pants, white shirt, and green blazer. Normal, Taehyung was looking relatively normal compared to or in contrast to Taehyung’s normal. Did Taehyung limit his crazy wardrobe when he was getting serious about someone? It’s such a shock to JK that he isn’t sure how to comprehend what he’s seeing. The RA he knows for his crazy style is so somber it’s off-putting. JK frowns, but doesn’t say anything about it. If that’s what Taehyung wanted, he wasn’t going to stand in his way.
“Plié,” Taemin says as he and Jimin shift to the next warm-up.
Jimin is shirtless, leggings and leg warmers in monochrome colors as he adjusts his feet to point outward so he can begin the exercise. He can hear his ankle pop which causes him to straighten and rotate it a few times before beginning again. His mind is stuck on the fact that Jungkook still hasn’t answered him about their kiss, even though it was him who forced JK to redeem his favor that night. Jimin was the one who wanted to kiss Jungkook that night.
“Are you going to tell him?” Taemin questions softly. Taemin wasn’t one to talk during warm ups, but he figured it was better to be distracted during warm-ups instead of their practice time.
“He won’t talk to me,” Jimin frowns into the mirror at Taemin. They were both lined up along the same wall, facing the mirror as they plié. Despite Jimin’s background in classical dance, Taemin always seemed to have this quality about him that made it seem like he had been doing ballet for years instead of months; it was in the way he carried himself, Jimin assumes. “I kissed him last semester and avoided him after. I told myself it was to focus on the play, but I was scared that JK would get mad at me or never talk to me again.”
”You mean like he’s doing now?” Taemin unhelpfully supplies.
Jimin stops and glares at Taemin, “Don’t remind me.”
Taemin grins and stops as well. This had been their ongoing conversation since they met up over winter break; with Minho’s supervision. Jimin was laying out the whole semester to Taemin between practice sessions and requested Taemin’s advice on the matter due to Taehyung avoiding him all winter break.
“Really?!” A voice calls from the open door. Jimin and Taemin both turn to find Taemin’s boyfriend standing there with his arms crossed over his barely clothed chest. It seems his soccer practice had ended early which was the reason he was now glaring at Jimin’s nakedness.
What Minho failed to understand was that masculine ballet roles involved some shirtless characters so neither Jimin nor Taemin ever thought anything of it. Even though they had explained as much to Minho, he still refused to accept their answer. Taemin was beautiful, but Minho was more Jimin’s style. Like Taemin, Jimin found himself attracted to an athletic body, not necessarily the thinness from a ballet dancer.
Without a word, when Taemin goes to soothe his boyfriend, Jimin grabs his shirt and pulls it over his torso. They didn’t intentionally cause Minho grief, but it seems that until their partnership was over that Jimin would be a sore subject for the soccer captain. Even so, Minho sits down quietly in the corner with his Nike bag, his eyes extremely focused on Taemin as they cut short their warm-ups and move on to practicing their joint dance project. The intensity at which Minho watches Taemin reminds Jimin of how focused JK got when helping Hobi with his dance practices last semester. Jimin isn’t sure he could handle that kind of focus from his junior.
”Misstep,” Taemin calls out loud which brings Jimin out of his thoughts. Jimin looks at his position and Taemin and realizes that he was idling through a routine he learned when he was seven; a far cry from the piece he and Taemin had been building up over the break. “Should we call it a day? You’re not focused right now,” Taemin explains as he turns to look directly at Jimin instead of staring at him through the mirror that lines the wall.
Minho perks up from his spot on the ground, “I’m fine with that.”
Taemin rolls his eyes, only because Minho cannot see it and continues to wait for Jimin’s reply. Jimin smiles, “That might be best.”
”We still have a lot of time to practice,” Taemin reassures Jimin before he turns and grabs his jacket from his boyfriend; who had miraculously appeared behind him while Jimin and Taemin were distracted.
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Chapter word count 2,858 words.
Chapter warnings/tags winter break is over, it seems now that joon has a need for yoongi, shield jk makes a reappearance, jimin has feelings 🤢, taemin has a highkey jealous boyfie
<Babe Squad>
Gyeom: I still cannot believe we won that match
Bam: It’s only because Jungkook carried you through the whole thing 🙄
Gyeom: That’s not fair!
Gyeom: I tried!
Bam: Just because you try, it doesn’t mean you’ll succeed
Bam: I think Shih Tzu or someone said that
JK: Shih Tzu is a dog breed, isn’t it?
JK: Did you two finish packing?
JK: I’m hoping that my new dorm mate(s) are chill
Gyeom: I didn’t even think about that 😰
Gyeom: What if we’re not rooming together, Bam?
Bam: I’ll be able to sleep better
JK: I wonder if I’ll still be in Itaewon
Gyeom: You slept just fine!
Gyeom: Stop being mean!
Bam: I’m packed, Gguk.
Bam: Are you sure you don’t want to ride with us back to campus?
JK: Yeah, Yoongi already said he’d be by later to kidnap me
JK: Apparently he pulled a short straw and became an RA this year
Gyeom: Why is he dragging you along with him?
Gyeom: Isn’t it too early for normal students to return?
JK: 🤷♂️
Yoongi lets out a low whistle as Jungkook approaches his car. There’s been a few changes since the last time the older boy had seen him. For one, Jungkook’s hair was a lot longer than when he had left campus and his clothes seemed to have upgraded a bit as well. Yoongi could spot a few name brand items from a glance, but that was nothing compared to the smile on Jungkook’s face. He seemed happier than the last time Yoongi had seen him.
When Jungkook loads into his car, Yoongi gives him a slow lopsided smile, “Did something good happen? Did you get laid?”
“What?” Wide eyes turn on Yoongi.
There’s his Jungkook.
Jungkook tosses back his long locks from his face and adjusts himself in Yoongi’s leather seats, “We both know that’s not true.”
“Still pining after Jimin, I see.”
Jungkook steals Yoongi’s black beanie and covers his head with it, “Come on, Yoongs, we talked about this. I’m over it.”
Yoongi glances at him two times as he drives towards the highway, “We’ll see.”
Campus is just as Jungkook remembers it. The tree lined walkways, students walking around and professors ignoring their existence until they had no choice. Jungkook sees I Building in the distance and feels a pang in his heart. Maybe he wouldn’t see that person after all. When Yoongi parks, it’s as close to D Building as he can get. Jungkook stares up at the building and it’s rusting letter D, “Daegu?”
“That’s right,” Yoongi yawns as he climbs out of his car. He’s barely moving as he heads for the trunk of his car. It was cold, his nose was already starting to run, and the odd weather was making him think of things he’d rather not. Yoongi sniffs, as he opens the trunk and there’s a loud thunk. He looks at his trunk then his car. Just by the passenger door, Yoongi sees Taehyung being held up purely by Jungkook as the RA wiggles around in his arms.
“I missed you so much, JK!” Taehyung has shouted it at the top of his lungs as he flails in Jungkook’s hold. If one were to see it, they would think Taehyung was the returning freshman and not Jungkook. Yoongi shook his head, Taehyung was always like this after he got attached to someone so it was a canon event that he couldn’t interrupt.
Jungkook lowers the RA back to the ground. Truth be told, he also missed the eccentric RA and his wild clothing choices. Today was no different. Jungkook took in the gold shorts and black hoodie as he looked over his friend; it was never a dull fashion day for Taehyung. “Are you cold?”
Taehyung looks down at his bare legs then back at Jungkook and shrugs, “Not really.”
“I’m not nursing you then,” a soft, airy voice penetrates Jungkook’s once good day. “You need to learn to take better care of yourself.”
There the handsome ghost stood, slinky black dance pants and an oversized black shirt. He’s got a beautiful smile on his face, that turns and looks up at the person Jungkook didn’t even realize was standing next to him. It’s a guy of similar height to Jimin, with light brown hair and plump lips. He’s laughing at something Jimin whispers between them and Jungkook doesn’t even realize that Yoongi has been calling him for a while now. He only turns when Jimin looks at him and snaps him out of his mind, “Huh?”
Yoongi holds out Jungkook’s duffle bag to him, “I’m not your momma. Carry your own shit.”
Jungkook feels red creep up his neck as he grabs for the bag Yoongi was holding out towards him. He could see the way Yoongi watched him, knowing he now understood what Yoongi mentioned earlier. He pressed a hand to his cheek as if realizing, belatedly, Yoongi had slapped him earlier. Jungkook’s heart squeezed and he heaved a sigh alongside his duffle he threw over his shoulder, “Lead the way, Yoongs.”
“Where are you going?” Jimin’s voice stops him.
“Staying with Yoongi until I get my room assignment.” Jungkook didn’t know why he was explaining this to Jimin, it was clear that Jimin had been just fine without him over the break. “Did I need permission, RA?”
Jimin’s face twists into a frown, but he doesn’t respond.
Jungkook’s eyes fall to Jimin’s new belt, the boy smiling despite how he had responded to Jimin. He wondered what the mystery guy’s major was, but that would imply he cared- which he doesn’t. Whoever Jimin wants hanging all over him wasn’t Jungkook’s business.
Jungkook grabs Yoongi around the shoulders and turns them toward D building, “Lets go settle in.”
Yoongi tosses a hacky sac at Jungkook when they’ve finally put all of Yoongi’s things away in the room. “I meant to tell you, JK. I just didn’t know how to start. Taehyung and Jimin didn’t hang out much over the holidays and when Jimin resurfaced he had that guy with him.”
Jungkook rolls the hacky sac between his hands as he thinks over what Yoongi had told him. Jimin and Taehyung didn’t hang out much over the break. So they all found out around the same time that Jimin was hanging out with that new guy. “He seems nice,” Jungkook offers before he tosses the hackey sac back towards Yoongi.
“Yeah, a real saint,” Yoongi comments as he rolls his eyes. “I’m sure Jimin prays to him every night.”
Jungkook starts coughing violently as he beats his fist against his chest. He might have been very sheltered due to how his parents raised him, but he wasn’t so out of the loop that he didn’t know what Yoongi was implying.
Yoongi’s phone ringing had the newly made RA glancing down where the device rested against his thigh. “Ew,” he mumbles before picking up the device and replying to whatever had been sent.
Jungkook pulls out his own phone and stares at the black screen before tapping the screen. There’s at least five messages from Taehyung asking him to visit and about ten spread between Yugyeom and BamBam. BamBam had made it to Yugyeom’s place it seemed.
“Joon is coming over,” Yoongi announces.
Jungkook’s eyes roll up to stare at his friend, “S-should I leave?” A snort comes from Yoongi as he stares at Jungkook, “No, I need a witness in case he’s coming to murder me.”
That was probably more likely, Jungkook agreed. Namjoon, as Jungkook later became aware, was a very indie kind of guy. He wore a mullet and baggy clothes with thick plastic frames. Namjoon was very good looking, unfortunately, as Jungkook had time to inspect him before he realized who Namjoon was.
A knock on the door has Yoongi standing to open it. This Namjoon had shaved his head, which didn’t break Jungkook’s thoughts on how handsome he was. He wore a beanie in dark gray that covered most of his shaved head. His eyes were still shielded behind a pair of black frames and his clothes were still the baggy look Jungkook had come to recognize as Yoongi’s Namjoon.
“What? Are you babysitting?” Namjoon questions aloud while staring Jungkook down.
“Always the first to arrive and the last to leave,” Jungkook grins. “I also leave them satisfied,” he adds on while winking at the tall RA.
Yoongi doesn’t comment, Jungkook knows his friend, he’s doing his best not to double over laughing. He stares directly ahead at Namjoon as he knows he will not make it if he sees Jungkook’s goofy smile. “What did you need?”
“It’s about our joint project this year.”
Yoongi leans against the door frame and crosses his arms over his chest, “We talked about this, Joon. I’m doing the project solo. I already got permission from the professor.”
“Yoongs, come on, think about,” Namjoon’s eyes suddenly find Jungkook and the Freshman raises a brow in question. “Can we talk about this privately?”
Jungkook stands and moves to lean just next to Yoongi, “Or you could say it here. You interrupted us, not the other way around.”
Jungkook can feel Yoongi relax next to him. If it had been him that Namjoon was trying to corner, Jungkook isn’t sure he would’ve been able to stay strong either. Even now, looking at Namjoon was filling Jungkook’s stomach with small cocoons. If he didn’t know how Namjoon had treated Yoongi, he probably would be filled with butterflies.
Namjoon directs his gaze to Yoongi, “Tell your child to back out of adult conversation.”
Yoongi scoffs, “Who exactly is the adult?” Yoongi’s hand loosely motions between himself and Namjoon, “Me? You weren’t very adult when I asked you about what happened. You were also rather irrational when I flirted with you at the party.”
“That’s between us,” Namjoon grinds out, jaw ticking in anger.
“No, sweetie, what was between us was a horrible kiss and the best handjob of your life. So spare me. Jungkook stays.”
Jungkook’s eyes have gotten so wide, he’s sure he looks like a deer. He’s having to bite his lips to keep himself from laughing as Namjoon throws a whatever Yoongi’s way and grumbles as he walks away. When Yoongi closes the door, Jungkook high-five’s him, “That was amazing!”
Yoongi grins, his pink gums popping out, “It felt good.”
Jimin is sitting on the edge of his bed. He had opted out of being an RA this year, but somehow still managed to become one when the person they picked had backed out at the last minute. Which had Jimin here, early, realizing he hadn’t forgotten one thing about Jungkook over winter break.
“He’s cute,” the boy across from him hums. “I see why you like him.”
That one sentence had Jimin realizing just how much he had talked about Jungkook to Taemin, his partner for his Junior year dance project. Jimin hides his face behind his knee of the leg he had propped up on the bed, “Is it that obvious?”
“Not to him,” Taemin laughs, “He seemed to think something else.”
Jimin watches Taemin as he dusts off his outfit. From where he sat, there was no way that someone could misconstrue Taemin’s presence in his life currently. Jimin wishes he was cold-hearted enough to try and convince Taemin to help him get over Jungkook, but Taemin had his own problems. It was more than once that Taemin’s boyfriend would stop by to make sure that nothing was happening between the two dance majors.
A tinkling tone that Jimin had come to recognize as Taemin’s boyfriend calling cuts through the silence and Jimin just waves Taemin off before he can excuse himself. As he looked around the room, it was a bit depressing. Taehyung had taken over Hobi’s RA position, so Jimin was going to run Itaewon alone. Jimin had never had full command of a dorm, so he felt a bit overwhelmed.
Jimin’s door opens and it’s Taemin poking his head inside, “Minho’s here. I’ll text you later to set up a rehearsal schedule.”
“Bye,” Jimin smiles and waves.
Once he’s alone again, Jimin stares around his empty room. He already missed Taehyung’s art on the walls and funky clothes busting out of his closet. Jimin missed his best friend.
<Losers Anonymous>
Jimin: Can we hang out? I miss you
Tae: Oh,,,
Tae: I was actually going to meet up with JK
Tae: I didn’t bother him over the break
Tae: So I was trying to catch up with him
Tae: Why don’t you come with me?
Jimin: He doesn’t want to see me, Tae
Jimin: He probably hung out with that tall film major all winter break
Tae: Yugyeom? I doubt it
Jimin: I’m going to unpack
Jimin: See you for dinner?
Tae: We have that welcoming party…
Jimin: I’ll see you there
Jungkook hadn’t hung out with that kid over winter break? Jimin chews on his thumb as he thinks about it. He had just assumed that Jungkook and his friend would get close since Jimin had blown him off at the end of the semester. Jimin stares down at this thread with Jungkook on his phone. Should he write him? Would Jungkook even answer his messages if he did? Jimin tosses himself back on his bed with a sigh. Was this how the spring semester was going to go?
Music is blasting from four prominent loud speakers at every corner of the lawn as a handful of new and returning resident advisors enter the space. Jungkook sighs as he was the outcast at this party. The tag-along, as Yoongi didn’t want to be alone, which Jungkook now knew the reason why. Namjoon must have been hounding Yoongi to work together over the break, but Yoongi was blowing him off. He looks down into the contents of the solo cup that Yoongi had handed him before he got swept away by another RA and could instantly recognize the concoction as the green liquid death that Yoongi had been drinking the first night he met him.
Jungkook is lifting the cup to his lips when a voice stops him.
“It’s poison,” the airy voice of the guy who ghosted him last year comes forward followed by the ghost himself. Jungkook was always in awe every time Jimin was around. He’s tucked away in black skinny jeans and a somewhat buttoned silk shirt with his hair looking windswept as he approaches. “Yoongi is a mutant, so I don’t recommend trying jungle juice.”
Jungkook offers a smile, but lowers the cup back down anyway. A question burns in Jungkook’s mind as he stares at the beautiful RA, eyes now sporting blue contacts instead of his ethereal gray last year, but he keeps his mouth shut.
“How was winter break?” Jimin tries to open a conversation. “Taehyung said he didn’t have much time to text anyone, and neither did I. I guess that makes us pretty bad RAs, doesn’t it?”
Jungkook half-shrugs as he whips his long fringe out of his eyes, “If that’s what you want to use as the deciding factor, then sure.”
Jimin’s pretty lips poke out into a frown, “I was busy, JK.”
Jungkook merely stares at the RA for a moment, before his eyes drift off around the get-together. He couldn’t understand why Jimin was so concerned with ignoring him over the winter break when in the last month of the last semester he did the exact same thing. Jungkook was getting used to Jimin ignoring him. Even if his heart was still pounding in his ears just from how close Itaewon’s RA was to him now. His mind reminds him how it felt to kiss Jimin, even if he wasn’t sure of what to do in those moments- Jimin’s lips had haunted his dreams well into mid-December.
“JK!” The voice that gave Jungkook instant relief yells almost right next to him. “There’s someone I want you to meet! Oh-“ Taehyung lowers his excitement when he realizes Jimin is there. “Jimin, I didn’t even see you. Can I steal JK for a moment?”
Jimin is staring holes into Jungkook, but Jungkook is looking at Taehyung as he spouts something about some game the RAs play every year to break the ice. The person who leads that game is probably the person Taehyung is talking about. “Sure,” Jimin offers with a weak smile. “I need to go talk to someone else, as well.”
Jimin doesn’t wait for any response and wanders off, Jungkook’s eyes following the boy for only a moment before he gets pulled into Taehyung’s story again as they walk to where Taehyung wants them to go. Even if Jungkook tries to give Tae his full attention, his mind wanders back to Jimin. How he looked in the usual get-up that would have had old Jungkook falling all over himself just to talk to the RA. Jimin just had to make eye contact with Jungkook to make him feel like a blubbering mess. Yoongi was right, he was not over Jimin.
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Chapter word count 2,182 words.
Chapter warnings/tags yugyeom isn't very subtle, jungkook is regretting life low key, jimin who?, Christmas presents, uppity judgy retail workers, jk give them a break, studying is jungkook's life ok
Taehyung has been watching him as he twirls his pen in one hand while he focuses on the materials he's been studying for the past few hours. His RA hasn't left his side since he found him and Jimin in Jimin's bed a few weeks ago and the look that followed when he woke up to the empty bed. It was like he had expected him to fall apart at any moment, but despite his worries, Jungkook had been keeping himself together rather well. He attended all his classes, even weightlifting. He had turned his video project in a whole week in advance and now he was sure he would be prepared for his finals as he spent all his free time in the library or his room studying his heart out.
This time, it was Jimin who was doing the avoiding.
Jimin who used his recital as an excuse whenever Jungkook's name fell from Taehyung's lips.
Jimin who skipped his regular lunchtime workout sesh.
Jimin who barely made an appearance in the dorm unless it was required of him.
Jungkook was over it. Over the empty feeling he had when he woke up in Jimin's bed alone. Over the way, Taehyung had looked at him with pity in his eyes seeing him in Jimin's bed alone the following morning after their kiss. And this newest edition, where Taehyung glued himself to Jungkook's side like the freshman couldn't handle a little bit of heartbreak. A lot of things might be new to him, but understanding how to handle himself when he was hurt was not one of them. He places his pen down in the crease of the book he has lying open between them to eye his friend, "What?"
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Jungkook pinches the bridge of his nose, "I don't even want to think about it."
Taehyung nods as he leans back in his chair, arms stretched out over the tabletop in front of him, "If it makes you feel any better, I haven't seen Jimin at all either."
"It doesn't." he sighs.
He looks around the library at the tables full of students studying for their finals. Taehyung being the only student there to make sure Jungkook wasn't going to ignore his studying. No nevermind that he had his own exams to study for. His eyes return to Taehyung and he releases a heavy breath, "It doesn't help at all."
Taehyung nods, "Just let him be."
Jungkook throws his hands wide, "Not like I have a choice." He closes the book in front of him, leaving his pen to mark the page as he loads it into his messenger bag. The weeks Jimin spent avoiding his existence had been long and tiring. When he realized the dance major was keeping away from him, he did his part to remain normal. Jungkook didn't look for Jimin, but he didn't try to avoid him either. He didn't want to even if he felt discouraged from how that night had gone. "I have to get to my Film Theory class. We're going over the review today. Well, in theory. Pun intended."
Taehyung purses his lips.
"Yeah, I didn't think it was funny either," JK dismisses as he pulls his bag onto his shoulder. He had found smiles rare since that night and even if he tried to relieve the discomfort his friend felt on his behalf, he couldn't muster up the energy to. "I'm just going to focus on exams from now on. Don't worry about me, Tae. I'll text you if I need anything."
"Okay," he sighs. "Take care, JK."
"You too."
It's the Sunday before finals, Jungkook is sporting a pair of Minghao's black skinny jeans with rips in the knees and thighs. Daniel's thick Timbaland's in a brown color that contrasts against his jeans and under his jacket is a white t shirt. Yugyeom is smiling just next to him as he pushes a Santa hat down over his bed head. He offers only a slight upturn to his lips at his friend's excitement for their impending break from school.
"Are you buying anyone gifts? We should do a present exchange before we go home."
Jungkook glances over the items around him at his friend's words. He could only think of two or three people he really wanted to give presents to, his current company excluded. However, one was avoiding him. The other had done as he asked and given him his space and the third had locked himself away in his studio after he embarrassed himself at the party Jimin had made him leave early from. He had been to visit Yoongi recently, dropping off a small token in the form of a large Americano in thanks for him reviewing how the music had settled on his semester project. The music major had been so impressed with how it turned out that he promised to help Jungkook if he needed music in the future.
What could he possibly get a guy like Yoongi who had everything going for him?
Yugyeom grasps his hand and drags him to a section of Christmas sweaters, pulling a gaudy one covered in sparkles off the front of the rack, "What about this? Maybe a gag gift?"
He shrugs in answer, the sweater reminding him of a memory from the middle of the semester. Why his mind pulls forth the image of Jimin standing in his room with glitter stuck to every inch of his body has him baffled. He had tried his best not to think of his RA in the past few weeks.
"Oh, a smile!" Yugyeom exclaims. "Who did you think of giving it to?"
Jungkook pushes the sweater down with one of his hands, "No one. It's ugly."
"That's the point!"
He shakes his head and leaves Yugyeom's side to do his own searching. Taehyung could probably be content with getting a new set of paints. Jungkook could feed Yoongi's caffeine addiction by giving him a gift card to the coffee place he likes on campus. So what would he give to someone who had become a ghost in his life? He stops in front of a handsome forest green sweater, his hand touching the soft material before he can stop himself. For someone like Jimin who had such a chic lifestyle would look beautiful in the green sweater; especially if he got it a size too big so it swallowed his frame. He pulls a large from the middle of the rack and smiles down at the earth tone.
Jungkook doesn't waste any time as he walks it up to the counter with little to slow him. When the lady asks if he wants it to be gift wrapped, he nods. The only time she seems perplexed by the exchange is when she asks him who the gift is for. "A ghost," he smiles, taking the bag from her hands. "A very charming ghost."
Yugyeom is standing at the front of the store when he finds him. His friend is empty-handed in comparison which makes him tilt his head. Gyeom had been the one to drag him out saying he was looking for gifts for Bambam, but at every chance, he had been asking Jungkook's opinion on every little thing. Did he actually know what Bambam would like to receive as a gift or was he just messing around so that JK would leave his room? "You didn't find anything?"
Yugyeom looks up from his phone in his hands to him, "Not really. Bam has expensive taste. You've seen the clothes he wears for parties. Everything he owns is like that."
"Maybe you should try the main street then," he jokes as they shuffle outside.
Yugyeom huffs, "I cannot afford main street. They probably won't even let me walk down main street."
"It is a risk," Jungkook jokes, letting his present for the ghost rest on his wrist as he shoves his hands into the deep pockets of his coat. "Can we go by the art supply store? I need to get something for Tae from there. Oh, and that coffee place on campus."
"Do you think Bam would accept a gift card?" Yugyeom questions as they make their way to the art supply store.
He hums as he listens to the different Christmas songs for each store they pass by. Bambam didn't strike him as someone that would belittle his friend for anything he gave him; not that he knew him all that well. Yugyeom had been the one he usually hung out with during his downtime. "I'm sure he'll accept whatever you give him, Gyeomie."
It's the last day of exams, if the RAs of each dorm didn't have to stay until every student of their dorm left campus, Jungkook would have worried he would miss his duo. He walks straight back from his last exam, stopping briefly in his empty dorm room to grab his presents before he marches to Taehyung and Jimin's room. He opens their door without knocking, sure to not show his disappointment when it's only Taehyung in the room packing away his things. Jungkook forces a smile to his lips as he walks into the room, letting the door close behind him as he offers a gift wrapped in butcher paper to his friend, "Merry Christmas, Tae."
The RA accepts the present with a smile, "Can I open it?"
"Yeah, totally," Jungkook laughs as he pushes his hands back into the pockets of his jacket to watch him tear into the paper. Taehyung flips the paints set over in his hands as he grins down at his gift, his fingers tugging at the receipt that JK left taped to them. "The owner said if they're not the brand you like that they will exchange them."
"They're perfect," Tae laughs. "Thanks, man."
Jungkook shrugs, feeling a little better now that he's almost finished passing out the presents he had bought for his new friends. If it wasn't for the bag around his wrist weighing on his mind and the missing owner of the present; he would feel complete. With a sigh, he moves towards Jimin's pristinely kept bed and sets the bag on top of it that had been heavy on his heart since he bought it. He doesn't like the look Taehyung is giving him when he turns back to face him, in fact, it feels like he's twisting the knife that Jimin had speared his heart with. Still, he forces his smile wider, "You can just throw it away if he doesn't accept it."
He doesn't want to dwell too long on the possibility that Jimin will throw away his gift. He just steps forward and wraps Taehyung in a hug, pulling the RA tight to him, "Thanks for looking after me this semester. Don't forget to text me during the break. I'll probably be bored out of my mind."
Taehyung turns and grabs something before he turns back with a box covered in candy cane red lines with a green ribbon around it. He pushes it into Jungkook's chest, "Don't open it until December 25th," he commands. "It'll ruin the surprise."
Jungkook cradles the gift against his chest, "Thanks, Tae. When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow morning, you?"
"Later tonight," he informs, the wrapping paper crinkling under his hands. "I have to catch a train back to Busan so that I can get there before Christmas day. That's all I had enough money for after I bought another camera."
"So soon?"
"Afraid so," he sighs. "Tell Jimin I said Merry Christmas."
"I will."
A silence falls over them since neither of them knows what they should say next. With an awkward bob of his head, Jungkook excuses himself from the RA's room. There was no point in dragging out the inevitable. Jimin was still avoiding him. Taehyung was still doing his best to make Jungkook feel comfortable even though he never really did anymore. And he, Jungkook, just missed how things went during the first half of the semester when he hadn't done anything stupid yet.
He closes their door behind him, his eyes fixed on the grey carpeting as he walks a few feet down to his own door. He had nothing but time to kill until he had to leave for the train station. He pauses outside his door, eyes on the balcony that looks over the common area with the thought to watch some tv until he leaves. His breath catches when he sees Jimin. His charming ghost.
The RA is sitting on the couch, legs wrapped in black sweats and a shirt with something sewn into the front of it. His eyes are focused on a book in his hand, the other pinching his lip as he reads the words on the page. When he looks, there's a pair of house slippers just in front of where he sits with his knees pulled to his chest. He stands there, quietly watching Jimin as he reads his book, hand pushing back his blue hair before he turns to the next page. Jungkook no longer had the confidence to approach his charming ghost, even when he could see him with his own two eyes.
"Merry Christmas, Jimin," he whispers before he goes into his room.
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Chapter word count 3,050 words.
Chapter warnings/tags return of minghao and daniel not trusting jungkook to dress himself, jimin jealous?, jimin demanding jungkook accept his kiss reward, jungkook feeling sad after, yugyeom is clingy with jungkook, jimin acts a little out of character
Jungkook stands in front of Minghao's open closet as his roommate goes through his clothes looking for something suitable for him to wear to a party. He huffs as he looks at Daniel from where he's sitting at the opening of his top bunk from the ladder, "Is this really necessary? I'm just going to hang out with friends."
"That's the perfect time to pick up girls," Minghao explains as he gauges a shirt to Jungkook's body. "Besides, looking good should be the standard, not an accident."
"Shoes are the only thing that matters, if you ask me," Daniel chimes in.
"No one did," Minghao shoots back.
He releases a breath when Minghao pushes a pair of black cargo joggers into his arms with a layered black on black shirt set. He raises a brow at the fully black outfit, but sets the clothes on his bed and goes about changing anyway. They always said black is the warmest of any color and with the temperature dropping outside at night; he wouldn't argue.
"Your video is looking good," Daniel comments when he pulls off his shirt, "The song you picked is good too. What made you decide on that song?"
Jungkook shrugs while scratching his stomach, "It fits his performance."
"That's pretty confident," Minghao adds. "If his performance turns out poorly, any and all changes you made to it could be pointed out as to why he failed."
"Hoseok doesn't fail," Jungkook squares his shoulders. "He's the hip-hop departments' joy. And," he smiles, "I'm confident in my choice." When he pulls on the pants, he rubs his hands over the shirt as if he's dusting himself off. It's not a bad look, given his long hair. He looks to his two roommates to find Minghao nodding while Daniel points vaguely in the direction of his closet, "You can use the same shoes as last time or there's a pair of white sneakers in there with black ankles. Those will look good too."
Given that he was going to a party, white kicks were not high on his list, so he reached in for the Nikes he wore the first time. By the time he is standing, there's a knock on the door. It's still too early to be Taehyung, so he opens it wide and almost chokes when he finds Jimin standing there. "Uh, is something wrong?"
"Are you going out?"
Jungkook feels self-conscious as he rubs his arms over the long sleeves of the shirt he's wearing. He licks his lips as he takes in Jimin's sweats that he knows are hiding the spandex shorts he wears while he practices. "Yeah, uhm, with Tae actually. He invited me the other day. He didn't tell you?"
"He doesn't tell me everything," Jimin frowns.
Jungkook slides his hands into the pockets of the joggers he wears, "How is practice going?"
Jimin looks down at himself as if he can see his practice clothes through them. He sucks on his lip before he turns his eyes up to Jungkook once more, "Good. It's going good." His eyes move past where they stand to take in his roommates. Jimin lifts his hands to greet them before he looks back at Jungkook, "Well, sorry for bothering you."
Jungkook looks back at his friends then steps out into the hallway and closes the door behind him. He leans back against the door when it is closed and crosses his arms over his chest, "Did you need something?"
"No," Jimin mutters as he looks over Jungkook's body.
He pushes forward from the door and grabs his RA's hand, "Are you sure?"
Jimin's eyes turn to their joined hands, taking in just how big the freshman's hands are compared to his while they stand there.
"If you finish practice early," Jungkook coughs, swinging their joined hands, "You should stop by the party and unwind. I'm sure we'll be there most of the night."
"Curfew," Jimin utters, eyes now on Jungkook's dark browns.
"I guess you'll have to come and make sure I get back on time."
The RA brushes back his blue locks with his free hand, putting some power behind his eyes as he looks at Jungkook, "Or I can lock you out to sleep in the cold."
"Only if you nurse me better afterward."
"Hmm," Jimin seems to think on it. His eyes make another sweep over Jungkook's body as he steps closer. His face is so close that Jungkook feels his heart stutter as he finds the RA's gray eyes. He had just been this close to Yugyeom the other day, so close he could see his friend's every imperfection, but it didn't affect him like looking at Jimin this close up did. From what he could tell, Jimin's skin is as smooth and blemish-free as a baby's butt and he wants to reach out and touch his cheeks. "Maybe I should punish you instead of nursing you."
Interest burns in Jungkook's gut as he leans into Jimin, "Oh? What does Jimin do with bad kids who don't listen to him?"
There's a smirk growing over Jimin's plump lips, his eyes focused on Jungkook's own smile as he goes to lean in; only to stop. He pulls away and turns his head when a door opens down the hall. A frown pulls his lips down and he steps back, "I'm late."
"Huh?" Jungkook turns and finds Taehyung coming out of the RAs' room down the hall. He looks back to Jimin who's already turning to leave. He debates calling out to him, but Tae stopping in front of him silences his choice.
"Are we in sync? We came out at the same time."
Jungkook smiles and wraps an arm over his friend's shoulders. "We're both ready to party, I guess."
Jungkook is staring into an empty red solo cup that Yoongi had handed him an hour ago. When he had walked away drunk off his ass and falling on anyone willing to catch him, JK hadn't thought anything of it. He hadn't said anything when the blonde had accidentally sat in his lap upon his return, nor when he handed him the empty solo cup. He did worry, however, when Yoongi disappeared into the crowd again. His eyes are constantly tracing over the crowd around him even though Taehyung has told him not to worry countless times since the blonde left. He couldn't help feeling a little protective of Yoongi since what happened with Joon the first night he had met him.
Taehyung pulls the empty cup from his hands and shakes his head, "Was it always empty?"
"Yeah," Jungkook confirms. "He should probably go to his room."
"I already tried that," Tae sighs. "Just let him be."
When his eyes spot Joon, the tall upperclassman still has his mullet minus the lavender pieces at the back of his neck. He's standing against a wall with a circle of girls around him as he drinks from the cup in his hand. It has Jungkook tapping his hand against Tae's thigh. "Joon is here."
Taehyung's eyes search the room until he lands on the area where JK's eyes are focused. He stands immediately and looks around the crowd, "Dammit Yoongs." He paces for a moment before he looks down at JK, "Stay here. I have to go find him before he reaches Joon or all hell could break loose."
"Yeah," Jungkook mutters as he looks for Yoongi too. In his search for their missing friend, his eyes land on another friend. Yugyeom is off to the side talking with someone about the same height as him. He's got his hand holding a red cup hiding his mouth as the stranger talks to him. Yugyeom doesn't seem interested in the stranger when his eyes find JK watching him. It gives his friend an excuse, he's sure, to approach where he sits. Yugyeom collapses into the cushion next to him as he leans on JK's side.
"He wouldn't stop talking about banking like it was a personality trait," his friend complains.
Jungkook smiles and pats the top of his friend's head.
Yugyeom pushes himself closer to him, a dreamy look in his eyes as he stares up the length of Jungkook's nose. He's inching closer to the point that anyone could smell the alcohol on his breath.
"Curfew," a voice says.
Jungkook turns away from Yugyeom to find Jimin standing there. He's got a long coat closed tightly around his frame and his arms crossed over his stomach as he looks down at JK. He would stand if Jimin wasn't, once again, between his thighs. He opens his mouth as he looks over his sweaty RA, "It's curfew already?"
Jimin makes a show of checking the time on his phone, "Close enough."
Jungkook sighs and untangles himself from Yugyeom who whines and pulls at his shirt. He sighs and pushes his hands away, "I have to go."
"Don't go," Yugyeom whines louder. "I don't know where Bam is."
Jimin pulls JK to his side with an arm around his waist, "You'll be fine."
Jungkook wants to say something to that, but the look Jimin has on his face keeps him quiet. He was in RA mode, eyes full of anger as he glared down at Yugyeom. "I'll call Hobi to pick you up," is what he hears before Jimin pulls him from the main room in Cheongdam-dong. He's not sure why Jimin is mad, but he gets the feeling that he's upset his RA to some degree and it worries him. Jimin's hold on his waist as he drags him all the way back to Itaewon is strong; the trip is quiet. Jungkook is sure that his RA will release him once they're inside, but his hand shifts to where he's holding the front of Jungkook's shirt as he drags him down the second-floor hallway to the door with his and Taehyung's names in bubble letters over the front. Jimin opens the door and pushes him inside.
Unlike the last time Jungkook had seen it, the room was free and clear of the nuisance that was Taehyung's glitter-filled letter. He doesn't have much time to admire it when Jimin is backing him up to his side of the room, JK's legs buckling when he is up against the RA's black and gold bed. "What are you-"
Jimin climbs into his lap after he throws off the jacket over his body, his thighs trapping Jungkook's own, "You said you wanted a kiss."
Even though he reaches out to hold Jimin's waist, he leans away from the RA, "You don't have to. I just suggested it since you wouldn't go on a date with me."
Jimin leans into him, closing the space that Jungkook had added when he leaned away. His small hands wrap around the back of JK's neck and pull him forward. He can feel the upperclassmen's breath on his lips from how close they are, a strong smell of mint pulling his eyes to his plump pink lips. "I don't date," Jimin finally speaks.
Jungkook pulls his face from Jimin's hold, "Don't date?"
"I'm always disappointed in the end, so what is the point?" Jimin pulls Jungkook back up to their original position as he adjusts himself on top of Jungkook's lap, "It's nice to be able to brush someone off if the sex is bad."
He turns his face away without putting any space between them as he had previously. Instead, he sighs, "Maybe we shouldn't do this then. I wouldn't want to disappoint you."
"It's just a kiss, JK," Jimin runs his lips over Jungkook's cheek. "It's supposed to be fun."
"How is disappointing you fun?"
Jimin has made it down to his neck, he's leaving open mouth kisses there as his hands run down Jungkook's back. He knew his RA was a bit impatient, but he couldn't help but wonder what drove him to be that way. He runs his hands down Jimin's back to the swell of his ass as he waits for an answer. His fingers dig into the flesh of his RA's ass when Jimin sucks hard on a spot between his neck and shoulder, earning a breathy laugh in response.
"Jimin."
His RA leans back, his lips a pretty red from the kisses and sucking on his neck. "Kiss me."
Jungkook cups Jimin's cheek with his hand, rubbing his thumb into the apple of it that's a pretty pink. He lets his thumb move to trace over the bottom plush lip as he stares at them.
"Come on, JK. Kiss me, please."
A series of chimes sound from the coat Jimin had tossed to the floor before he climbed into Jungkook's lap. Jimin ignores them, too focused on what he's requested to care about a few messages from some unknown party. It's only when his phone starts to ring that he pulls away with a sigh. Jimin stands and manhandles his coat until he pulls the silver phone from one of the pockets to answer the call. "What is it, Tae?"
Jungkook leans back on his hands as he watches Jimin pace around the room as he listens to whatever his roommate is saying.
"Jungkook is missing?" Jimin's eyes find him on the bed, a soft downturn to his lips as he turns away again, "He's at Itaewon. I made sure to grab him before curfew."
Taehyung's voice is no longer panicked from what JK can hear as he tries to speak over the music at the party.
"Hmm? No, Can you call Hobi to pick him up? I forgot."
Jungkook sits up at that. He had forgotten about Yugyeom being drunk given the turn of events. Jimin seems to feel the crisis and holds a hand out to calm him down.
"Can you stay with him until Hobi gets there? Jungkook would probably feel better knowing one of us was with him." He laughs and switches the ear his phone is pressed to, "It's too early for you to leave anyway. Hm? I won't wait up then. Have fun."
Jungkook is in awe with how fast Jimin can drop his phone and get back into the earlier mood. His eyes hooded as he crawled back into Jungkook's lap, settling when their crotches were perfectly aligned with each other. He cannot help but rest his hands back on Jimin's ass as the RA leans into him once more. This time he holds his position, "You never answered my question."
"You won't disappoint me," Jimin whispers against his lips. "Quit stalling."
A smirk tugs at his lips, "How will you compensate me if you're wrong?"
"Jungkook," Jimin huffs.
"Alright, alright," he laughs, running his hands up from Jimin's lower back to his neck. He slides his fingers into the RA's hair as he presses his lips to Jimin's puffy ones. He hadn't been sure what to expect, he couldn't help but run his tongue along Jimin's lips until he opened them enough to slip his tongue inside. The cute sound Jimin makes when he returns his kisses has Jungkook smiling into them.
It has to be payback, Jungkook decides when Jimin rocks his hips into JK's and earns a groan from deep in his throat. Jimin's eyes are blown out to a deep black when he pulls away, watching as his RA chases after his lips. A pout pushes those red plump lips out in dismay as Jimin looks up at him through his eyelashes.
"I told you that you wouldn't disappoint me," Jimin whines.
Jungkook pulls at the small hairs on Jimin's neck as he leans back some more. He was sure without a doubt in his being, that Jimin could feel his semi. He lets his hands run down the back of Jimin's body before he rests them on the bed next to Jimin's thighs, "You don't owe me now," he smiles; a bit regretful. "I should go."
Jimin grabs him around his biceps, "You don't have to."
It's a bitter feeling in his stomach as he thinks about how this moment could only happen because Jimin owed him something. The RA probably would have never even considered it if he hadn't helped Hoseok out with his dance practices. It was his first real kiss, but instead of feeling happy about it like he had expected to - he feels down.
Jimin slides off his lap and pulls at his hand as he gets comfortable against his pillows. "Stay for a while and talk with me. I won't be able to sleep until 2 AM."
Jungkook presses the heel of his hand into his right eye, his left hand still being held captive by Jimin as he pulls on it arbitrarily. He's just on the edge of giving in because even if he feels like this will all turn into a vivid daydream later down the road he wants to be here in this spot next to Jimin. "I'm tired," he complains before dropping his hand back to the bed.
"Just for a little while," Jimin urges.
"Fine," he complies as he allows the RA to pull him down in the spot at Jimin's side. He lays his head on Jimin's pillow which faintly smells of some flower, but it makes him relax into his position.
Jimin lays close to him, his eyes slowly returning to normal behind the contacts, "I'm sorry for being so pushy."
Jungkook pushes a blue hair out of Jimin's face before taking that same hand and yawning into it. Either way, the deed was done and no matter how he felt right now, he was glad it was Jimin that had been his first kiss. The RA didn't need to know his significance. He snuggles more into Jimin's bed, feeling his exhaustion from the day getting the better of him. "It's fine. I wouldn't want to owe a favor to an underclassman either."
Jimin's eyes widened, "You can- That's not what you really think, right?"
Jungkook eyes him lazily.
"We don't think of you like that, JK."
He blinks slowly, pushing his hand under his cheek against the pillow, "We?"
"Tae and I. We've only viewed you as our friend since Tae brought you to that party your first week at school."
Jungkook yawns into his hand before looking back at Jimin, "Then I made you feel awkward," he hypothesizes as his eyes get heavy. "I asked you stupid things like going on a date or kissing you. I'm sorry, Jimin."
He doesn't realize when he gets too tired to open his eyes again that Jimin is frowning at him. He doesn't see how Jimin takes his time to pull the blanket over them before he just stares at JK's sleeping face for a while.
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Chapter word count 3,421 words.
Chapter warnings/tags procrastinator yugyeom, tae seeks out jungkook, pity date request, kiss request, now it's jungkook's turn to hide
It's Sunday, bright and cool, and Jungkook finds him and his friend shut away in the library as he watches all the clips that Yugyeom has compiled for his semester project. He had tried tackling the socioeconomic depravity on a minor scale by starting with the problems on their university campus. It was a good idea, but since most of the videos were him discussing the issue with news clips thrown at it, it wasn't exciting enough for anyone to sit through. There was a very clear beginning, middle, and end - but again, boring. He looks at his friend, he has his chin on his arms as his eyes study the screen and the material for his project as if just that could help him figure out what he needed to do.
This close up, Jungkook can finally see the small mole under his right eye. The puffy pink of his lips and his straight nose. His hair has a bit of a wave to it like he styled it after his shower and he's wearing a university sweatshirt with jeans of some sort. He looks back to the screen of Yugyeom's laptop and sighs, "It's not horrible, but it does need something to keep it from losing its audience. You're dishing out a lot of information without much room for their brain to process everything you're telling them. Even if you just throw in a couple of memes and some kind of background music, that would be a good start. Just make sure the memes are along the lines of what you're trying to convey."
"Really?" Yugyeom has tilted his head to look at him.
"Yeah," Jungkook nods as his fingers click a few keys on his keyboard to return the video to the beginning in the editor, "You picked a heavy topic, so it was going to be a rough go from the beginning. If you had more time to compile things, it probably would have been easier, but since they expect it at the end of the semester this is actually a good collection of clips and information. Make sure to date it so that the professor understands that if the information is outdated it's because it was from a certain year or time period."
"Got it."
Yugyeom turns his computer screen back towards him, his fingers flipping open a browser to find memes that would work with his video as Jungkook had suggested. His thin fingers pause for a moment as he looks at his friend, continuing on when he finally opens his mouth, "Did, did you and your RA talk finally?"
"I never asked him about the party, if that's what you mean," Jungkook sighs. "I think I'm waiting for him to talk about it first. You never told me what happened either."
"It was stupid," Yugyeom frowns. "True, but stupid."
He raises a brow at his friend's statement.
Yugyeom sighs and leans away from his computer, "I bother you too much. Like right now, you could be doing whatever you want but you're here helping me with my project. You could be finishing off yours."
"I would have told you no, Gyeomie."
His friend frowns harder, "I feel like sometimes you don't know how to."
"Then that's my problem," Jungkook blinks, "Why would Jimin mention it?"
"He is your RA," Yugyeom defends with a shake of his shoulders as if to say duh, "It's kind of his duty to make sure your change between high school and the university is pretty painless. Hobi tends to step in when we seem stressed out, but you always seem the same, Gguk. Maybe that's why Jimin was worried about you and said something."
"He didn't have to fight with you, physically though."
"That was my fault," his friend ducks his head, staring at his lap. "I had heard people call Jimin the fairy of the classical dance department - I just didn't know it was a bad thing." His friend fidgets in his seat, swaying side to side, "Okay, that's not true. I knew it was considered a derogatory thing towards Jimin. I was just mad because he was doing his job and I decided to be mean in return. It was my fault. The whole thing."
Jungkook runs his hand down from the top of Yugyeom's head and over the back of his neck, "You should apologize to him. If you know you were wrong, you should apologize."
"I will!" Gyeom shoots up in his chair, "I'll tell him I'm sorry."
"Then everything is fine," Jungkook stands and stretches his arms up over his head. He twists to the left and the right until he hears a pop from his back and drops his arms back to his sides. "I have to head somewhere soon, but text me if you get stuck again, okay?"
Yugyeom salutes him.
JK laughs.
Jungkook halts inside the doorway of the practice room that he usually uses with Hoseok. His eyes trace over Jimin's back, the muscles, and the way his butt looks in the spandex shorts without the sweater hiding it from his eyes. He's positive his mouth is open in awe as he watches the upperclassman glide around the practice room to a beautiful piano piece with a medium tempo. He can see the sweat glisten on his body with every turn, stretch, and point of the dancer's body. It has him licking his dry lips, eyes barely blinking so he doesn't miss any part of the dance he's walked in on.
He feels silly, but that's probably because he is.
Who stares at their friend so intensely while he practices dancing?
When the piano slows, Jungkook blinks and shakes his head as he walks into the room with his eyes down on the bag hanging against his thigh. He sits on his normal bench as Jimin pressed pause on the remote while grabbing his towel off the ground before turning to find him there. A smile is on his lips as he walks towards Jungkook. JK, however, is in awe again as he finally gets a better glimpse of the dancer's abs.
"How come you're here? Did you and Hobi book a practice today?"
"Huh?"
Jimin blinks in his confusion.
"Oh, yeah," he shakes himself again. "Hobi wanted another quick ass."
Jimin licks his lips, a laugh bubbling from his core, "Ass?"
"Practice! He wanted another quick practice," Jungkook whines as he leans forward to put his head in his hands. "I knew I should have taken classes from home. This is - UGH!"
His RA walks forward, pushing his thighs between Jungkook's until the freshman is forced to sit up and either stare at his abs or look up at his face. He chooses the latter. Jimin gives him a beautiful smile as he runs his fingers along Jungkook's jaw, sending shivers down his spine.
"There's nothing wrong with liking someone's ass, JK."
Jungkook runs his teeth over his bottom lip as he stares up into Jimin's eyes while he clenches his hands at his sides. He didn't just like Jimin's ass, he wanted to sink his teeth into his ass and thighs. Was that normal too? He lets out a heavy breath, "Don't you think it's weird that it's your ass?"
"I work hard on this ass," Jimin smiles, closing the distance between their faces. "I'm glad someone is appreciating it."
"I would appreciate it more if it was out of my practice room," Hoseok calls as he walks into the room. He's pulling off a bag that seems to be full of books and papers as he sighs loudly. "Are you done trying to steal my cameraman from me or can we start?"
"I'm ready," Jungkook announces as he pulls his camera bag into his lap to root around in it for his camera. It shouldn't take him as long as it is, but Jimin hasn't left his spot between his thighs and he's honestly too ashamed to move the bag that's covering his semi.
"You can watch," Hoseok concedes as he stares at Jimin through the wall-length mirror. "Just don't distract us."
Jimin pulls away then, muttering a fine as he takes up his spot on the ground next to the bench as he had in previous times he would sit in on their practices. It gives Jungkook the space he needs to avoid letting Jimin see the state he's in as he paces around Hoseok while setting up his camera in the stabilizer so they can start practice. He had planned to work on extreme close-ups today for certain parts of Hobi's choreography to give the project he was working on some highlights.
Jungkook wants to say he's focused. Wants to say that he hasn't once glanced back at Jimin and the way one of his legs is bent while the other leg lays flat. Doesn't want to admit that he's licked his lips a few times wondering if that one muscle on Jimin's thigh that he's been staring at for a while will be salty from his sweat.
"Was that okay?"
Hoseok's voice pulls him from his distraction, his eyes automatically back on his camera as he stops the recording and reviews it.
"You don't remember?" Hobi laughs as he watches from his spot; hands on his hips.
Jungkook can feel his ears turning red as he tries not to look up from the camera, "Sorry, that clip wasn't that good. Let's start that part over again."
Focus, JK.
He chants those two things in his head. He grips his camera extra hard as if that would keep him devoted to his task at hand and not the body in the back of the room who has done nothing but sit quietly as he was asked to. So why was he so distracting?
"Hobi, that part where your hands are up - put a little more sharpness to your movements."
Hoseok nods at that direction and redoes the part he corrected. It looks better, the power behind his movements gives the shot a cleaner look and he cannot help the smile on his face. He finds that there are not too many things that Hoseok would need to work on this late into practicing now that the music has been set and everything is going as the hip-hop dancer had wanted. When they finish, Hobi is drenched in sweat as he repeatedly runs his hands through his hair while he walks around the practice room trying to cool off.
Jungkook takes that moment to turn back to his bag, pulling the microfiber towel from his bag so he can start wiping down his camera. Jimin must have passed out some time while they were in the middle of things because now he's slumped against the mirror with his arms crossed over his stomach and his eyes closed. He cannot help but smile as he takes his camera off the stabilizer and places it into his camera bag, shortly followed by the other things. Hoseok looks just as drained when Jungkook finds him from his reflection in the mirror. He's pulled out a water bottle that he's downing pretty fast.
"You should get some rest," Jungkook offers while zipping his bag closed. "I'll take Jimin back since we're in the same dorm."
"You sure? He's not much help when he's tired."
"I can handle it," he grins. "I've been working out."
Hoseok offers him a wave and a laugh as he leaves the practice room. Exhaustion is written all over him as he drags himself to go back. Jungkook squats down in front of Jimin, his hand hovering over the dancer's thigh in a debate if he should actually touch the RA while he's sleeping partially naked. You're both guys, JK reminds himself as he finally decides to shake Jimin's leg instead of pondering life's meanings. His RA stirs enough to slap his hand away, readjusts himself against the mirror, and goes back to snoring softly.
So he tries again. Shaking Jimin's leg as he leans closer, "Jimin you should sleep in your room. Not the practice room. Should I call Taehyung?"
Jimin stretches with a whine, "Don't call Taehyungie." He bends in half, stretching out his back over his legs as he yawns, "What time is it?"
Jungkook pulls his phone from his sweatpants, hitting the button on the side to light up the screen, "Almost curfew. We should head back before it's too late."
The RA sits up and stares at him a few moments before he yawns again, "You could have gone back without me. I don't have a curfew." Jimin stands on wobbly legs as he continues to stretch out his body from the rigid position he had been in since he fell asleep. It brings back Jungkook's earlier dilemma as he watches the upperclassman's thighs again, this time without Hoseok to pull him back from a ledge he should probably avoid.
"I'll remember that for next time," he mutters while tossing his bag over his shoulders and moving for the door. He catches Jimin pulling on sweatpants and a shirt before he's out of the room and moving down the hall. If he was honest, all the extra hours he has dedicated to helping Hoseok which has also helped with his own semester project was wearing him out. It was refreshing to be able to sit down with Yugyeom earlier and talk about something, or even focus on something that wasn't his own. It was a short reprieve and he couldn't wait to be done with all of it.
He's already outside when Jimin catches up with him, throwing an arm over his shoulder before it falls with a sigh, "Sorry, I'm a bit grouchy when I wake up."
"It's fine. I still have a Park Jimin Golden Ticket, so I'm not too worried right now." He glances at his RA with a smirk on his lips, "Does my favor roll over if I don't use it before the end of the semester?"
"And if it doesn't?"
He tips his head back to look up at the stars. What could he possibly ask the RA to do for him if he's not even sure what he could possibly need within the next 7 weeks? He tilts his head back in Jimin's direction, "Do pity dates count?"
Jimin laughs, his eyes focused on where they're heading, "Why would JK need a pity date? Taehyung told me about the guy at Marco's pizza. You don't need a pity date."
I'm not interested in the guy from Marco's Pizza, Jungkook thinks as he watches Jimin expertly avoid his gaze. He sighs and refocuses as Itaewon comes into view, shuffling his camera bag on his shoulder. The light outside of Itaewon shuts off, signaling the beginning of curfew just as they reach the front door. He grabs Jimin's wrist when he moves to place his badge against the card reader, "What about a kiss?"
When Jimin looks his way this time, his eyes are a dark pool with the only light being from the moon and a street light a few feet away. He looks taken aback by the question as he pulls his hand from Jungkook's grip.
"Nevermind," he scrambles to get away now. Jungkook takes Jimin's ID from him and swipes it over the card reader before he pulls the door open and leaves the RA standing there in shock. He shouldn't have asked.
Jungkook takes the stairs two at a time as he runs from Jimin. He can hear the RA hot on his heels as he takes off at a jog once he reaches the second floor. It took him all of two seconds after his stupid question to decide he didn't want to face the RA anymore today in fear he may say something far dumber than requesting a kiss. He's closed the door behind him, his body's weight keeping it closed when he hears Jimin's heavy breaths against the other side.
"JK," he whispers against the door. When he doesn't get a response he sighs. "Have a good night."
Jungkook tilts his head up to look at the ceiling. Waiting until he hears Jimin walking away before he whispers a goodnight as well.
For the next three weeks, Jungkook does his absolute best to avoid both Taehyung and Jimin. He even turns down every invite from Yugyeom and Bambam to go to any frat parties with the excuse that he wanted to tweak some things on his video project. One time Yugyeom even finds him in his room so they can work on their projects together - his friend is farther behind on his project than he was. He should have known, given how well he knew Taehyung, that he could not keep avoiding his RA for long.
It's on a Thursday morning after Jungkook has avoided his weightlifting time slot for the twentieth time that he finds his RA pulling out a chair across from him with a scowl on his face. Jungkook barely has time to recognize the funky striped shirt and beret before the RA is attacking him. Well, attacking may not be the word. "Did something happen? Jimin said you stopped going to class and he hasn't seen you since he sat in on Hoseok's dance practice three weeks ago."
He slowly lowers the screen of his laptop to give his RA his undivided attention, "Nothing has happened. I've just been trying to finish my project. It's due in the second week of December before finals."
Taehyung sits back, drumming his fingers on the top of the table he's sitting at, "Hoseok said you were basically done. You even sent him a rough draft of the video for his approval."
That part Jungkook had forgotten about. The part where Taehyung and Hoseok were close like Jimin and Taehyung were close. He didn't even think that Taehyung would know that he was finished with his project - well, almost finished. He was still tweaking cosmetic things like coloring, but his friend didn't need to know that much. He chews his bottom lip for a moment before he drops his head down on top of his laptop. His face is smothered by the laptop, but he still tries to speak, "I aissed Jimin to kith me."
"Come again?"
Jungkook looks up at Taehyung, his ears a bright red, "I asked your roommate to kiss me."
Taehyung's mouth falls to the ground, his hands very still as he openly stares at Jungkook. It sets the freshman on edge as he hides his face behind his hands. Had he been too honest? Jimin must not have mentioned it to Taehyung, so was he also not supposed to mention his slip up? But his RA did ask him what was bothering him and that was it. He asked Jimin to kiss him. He takes a deep breath and moves his hands from his face, "We were talking about the favor Jimin owes me. I asked him if it would carry over to the next semester and he asked what I would want from him if the favor didn't carry over. At first, I told him a date, a pity date, but he said I didn't need one since the guy," Jungkook glares at Tae, "the guy from Marco's Pizza was interested in me. So, I asked about a kiss."
"And he said no?"
Jungkook shakes his head, "He froze up, so I kind of took it as a no." He presses his head back down onto his laptop. "That's all that could mean, right? You said he's just flirty by nature, but that doesn't mean he's interested in me. I should have listened to you on that first day. Now, look at me having a mental break-down in the middle of the semester."
Taehyung rubs the back of his head, "Maybe it's for the best. You have to finish your project anyway and cannot afford to be distracted by my roommate."
Jungkook rolls his head so he can stare over at his friend. He couldn't keep avoiding Jimin. He wasn't as stubborn as Taehyung who would search him out, but he was sure that skipping their shared gym time wasn't something he could keep doing either. "Can you just tell Jimin that if he sees me that he doesn't?" He huffs and sits up, "I guess that's impractical to request as well."
"Just treat him like you normally would, JK," Taehyung suggests with a soft smile. "Eventually it'll be easy to talk with him again. Also, come to a party with me tomorrow night. Jimin will be at rehearsal for his recital, so you won't have to worry about running into him."
"Sure."
Taehyung stands, a smile replacing his earlier scowl, "Don't forget to eat something."
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Chapter word count 4,625 words.
Chapter warnings/tags glitter explosion, a derogatory nickname for jimin (fairy), jungkook makes jimin nervous, library date
< Dancers Anonymous >
Jimin's Friend: Jungkook, right?
Jimin's Friend: He said you would help me with recording my practice
Beautiful: He said he would, Hobi lol
Jimin's Friend: Do you think he'd be ok with Friday?
Jimin's Friend: That's my only available day right now
JK: Yeah, Friday is good
JK: my last class is around 6, should I meet you somewhere?
Beautiful: I can walk you to the practice rooms?
JK: I would have to pick up my camera from the dorm
Beautiful: I can meet you there
Jimin's Friend: Yeah, that time is good
Jimin's Friend: This is a big help, so thanks man
JK: No worries
< Jimin's Friend >
JK: Hey Hoseok, would it be cool if I used some of the films from
your practice for my semester project?
Jimin's Friend: Oh, that's right, Jimin mentioned you're a cinematography major
Jimin's Friend: Yeah, that's fine
Jimin's Friend: Just make this old dancer look cool, okay?
JK: I'll do my best!
Jungkook is watching Hoseok quietly as he pulls out his equipment. It was mostly the stabilizer since his Nikon was fairly small even with its weight. He had been pulled to the practice rooms for the dance majors by Jimin as soon as he had walked into Itaewon and set down his messenger bag. Now, his RA is pressed up against the mirror next to the bench Jungkook's got his camera bag on top of - his full attention on the dance Hoseok has been working on since they arrived. Jimin had told him only once, on their way over, that it was rude to interrupt a dancer while they were practicing. That is the only reason why Jungkook had not yet properly introduced himself to Jimin's friend.
When the song stutters and cycles back around, Hoseok rounds on the two of them with a bright smile on his face before he lifts his shirt and runs it down the front of his face. Jimin stands to approach his friend while Jungkook turns to face the hip-hop dancer, his camera in hand as he leans the top of his back against the mirror behind the bench. He watches with mild interest as Jimin and Hoseok exchange their greetings before both turn to look at him.
"This is Jungkook," Jimin smiles, using his hand to call JK to his side. "He'll be your cameraman while Tae is busy."
Hoseok adjusts his bright red windbreaker pants with strange rubber band ties up and down the legs as he steps forward and tosses out his hand, "I'm Hoseok, officially. Most freshmen call me Hobi."
The name does ring a bell, Gangnam's RA is considered one of the most promising dance majors in the whole school with numerous titles under his belt. Yugyeom and Bambam happen to live in Gangnam, so Hoseok would be their RA - well, this was awkward. He takes the dancer's hand and offers a smile, "Nice to meet you."
Hobi stretches his arms over his head, the long-sleeved crop top finally catching Jungkook's attention as he's greeted by the caramel skin of the dancer's abdomen. He watches quietly as Hobi lowers his arms and starts rotating his legs in a circular motion to the sides; was this a form of stretching? His voice breaks the moment, "Let me know when you're ready, Jungkook."
"R-ready," he stumbles over his word, lifting his camera level with the ground and walks forward so Hobi hits the top and bottom of the screen - flaws, if he had any, would be noticed this close up.
Jimin takes his spot back by the mirror, eyes watching the two closely as Hoseok runs through his dance. He's impressed by how easily Jungkook falls into his role as a cameraman, but he exceeds that when JK even points out things as he's recording. Directing Hoseok to lift his hands just a bit more, put more power behind a kick - even those small adjustments has Jimin enthralled just that much more watching them feed off of each other. Jungkook even tosses the remote to the audio system at Jimin when they pause at a part Jungkook wants to discuss with Hobi more in-depth. He questions the feeling that Hoseok wants to accomplish for that part and offers some pointers before shyly muttering, "I mean if you want to try that."
Hoseok claps him on the back, a smile firmly in place as he falls back a few seconds in his dance, "I can always change it back if I don't like it."
Jungkook lifts his hand and spins it around in the air, his way of telling Jimin to start the music up again. Jimin skips it back a little bit and presses play, his eyes falling on Jungkook instead of his friend. The intensity with which the freshmen works has chills running up Jimin's spine. The hard focus of his eyes, how he licks his lips before he leans down to get a shot from a different angle, and even the smile on his lips when the shot turns out as he had hoped. Jimin finds himself in love with this side of Jungkook.
Hoseok calls it quits close to 8 PM, hands on his hips as he breathes heavily. He had been following Jungkook's direction for two hours and he felt more worn out than he would have if he just practiced by himself alone. It's a great feeling.
"I'll send you the file tomorrow, Hobi," Jungkook grins as he starts wiping down his camera. It was covered in sweat from how long he had been holding it and how the heat in the room had only increased the longer they stayed inside. His eyes stray to Jimin, he's been sitting against the mirror quietly since they began recording and operating the music as he had been told. "You ready to go, Jimin?"
His RA nods, placing the remote on the bench next to JK's camera bag as he struggles to stand up. Jimin's legs had fallen asleep within the two hours he had been sitting against the mirror. He feels numb below his waist, but he bounces his legs a few times to speed up the process before he tries to move around the room. His ankle refuses to lock when he steps forward, sending him flailing towards the hardwood floor of the practice room. Only strong arms around his waist stop him from becoming acquainted with the ground even better than he already was.
"You need to be careful," Jungkook's voice whispers into his ear before he pulls away completely.
Jimin's first thought is to see if Hoseok had caught that, finding the hip-hop dancer in the middle of changing shirts. It gave him room to marvel at how strong Jungkook actually was. His gains in the gym were leaps from when he had first started his weightlifting class and it showed since he was the only freshman who took the class seriously. When he turned, Jungkook had already situated his camera bag on his shoulder; maybe Jimin had been staring at him for a while.
"Shall we head back?"
Jimin nods, turning to wave at Hoseok, "I'll text you later, Hobi."
"See you," he laughs.
Jungkook pops his neck as they clear the dance studio, lifting his hand to yawn into as he walks. He sighs, his eyes sliding to the very quiet Jimin which is not how he was used to his RA behaving. "Is there something on your mind?"
"Hm?" Jimin sucks his bottom lip as his gray eyes find Jungkook staring at him, "I was trying to think of where I should start. I haven't been very nice to you lately and I even requested a favor from you."
Jungkook laughs, it's full and distracting, "Hobi is kind of helping me as well, so it's not really that big of a deal. You don't owe me anything, Jimin."
"I do," the RA counters. "I shouldn't treat you like you're a little kid still."
JK rolls his shoulders, when he had first come to university, there was still a lot of things that he felt would keep him labeled as a kid. That's why he had never corrected Taehyung or Jimin when they treated him that way. By definition, in comparison to the two RAs, he would always be a kid. He had come to terms with that the month he had spent away from them. His eyes fall on Itaewon, they were probably hitting close to curfew, so he was surprised that Jimin wasn't running for the door - well, it was really only him that was under curfew. "Don't worry about it, Jimin, it's already forgotten."
They grow quiet as they enter Itaewon, Jimin flicking the lock behind him to lock out any late freshmen. He follows quietly behind Jungkook, barely paying attention to his surroundings as he ascends the stairs behind the freshman. It's only when JK stops in front of him, causing Jimin to walk directly into his back that he breaks out of his mind and realizes he's been stopped at his room. His eyes read the bubble letters on the door that had his and Taehyung's name in the school's colors alongside a box for students to put messages in if they had any problems.
Jungkook turns and watches Jimin for a moment. He leans forward, his hand rising at the same time as he stares at the RA's cheek. Jimin pushes him back.
"What are you doing?"
He laughs and picks a fallen eyelash off his cheek, "You lost a friend," he comments, showing the eyelash to Jimin. "Why?"
"Nothing," Jimin laughs at himself as he opens the door to his room. "Thanks again for helping Hoseok. Remember I owe you one."
Jungkook smiles as he shakes his head, "Goodnight, Jimin."
"Night!"
Jungkook and Hoseok easily mesh together, the two of them setting up a finite schedule on when they meet so that Jungkook can record the hip-hop dancer and so Hobi can practice. Just as he originally promised, he sends the files to Hobi the next day early in the morning. It's after their sixth meet-up that he pulls Hoseok aside, "I think that the song I sent you alongside the practice video yesterday would be better suited for this performance."
Hoseok grins, hands holding the hem of his purple sweatshirt, "I was going to ask you about that."
Jungkook always feels shy in front of Hobi when he offers suggestions to change something the dancer has been working on for two months now. He didn't want to be pushy since it wasn't his project, but he really felt the song he had sent the day before would match the feel of the choreography better.
"I think you're going to owe my roommate penance since I practiced in my room to that song for a few hours yesterday."
Jungkook ducks his head, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," the dancer grins, "I really like the feeling of the new song better."
The smile that graces his face after Hobi's compliment could blind even the sun itself. Jungkook's gripping his camera hard as he tries to get back into the mood to film his new friend, "Tell your roommate I'm sorry."
"I will."
This session was one of their shorter ones as Hoseok had to run to the other side of campus right afterward to make his next class. Jungkook, on the other hand, presses his back into the mirror as he reviews the video he had recorded from today. The new song really did wonders for Hoseok's performance; giving it a sharper edge. He could feel it in the energy that Hoseok brought to this practice compared to their previous ones.
"Is that Hoseok?"
Jungkook turns his head towards the door, Jimin slipping inside in black spandex shorts and a cream sweater over his bare torso. He has to close his mouth before he drools all over himself. "Yeah, Hobi." It's only when his RA sits next to him that he realizes Jimin doesn't have shoes on either. Jungkook lets his camera fall to his lap, "Were you practicing?"
"Hm?" Jimin looks down at his attire, far too used to his partially naked state. "Oh, yeah. The classical portion of the dance department is going to have a recital before winter break."
"Ah," Jungkook hums as his eyes trace over Jimin's thighs. There was so much muscle definition in them that he wondered just how much the RA could dead-lift. A second, very important question was whether the dancer would let him lick or bite them. He wasn't picky. The third would be, "Is that open for the whole school to watch?"
Jimin nods, reaching up to tie his long blue hair into a bun on top of his head. His eyes finally make their way to Jungkook instead of the forgotten camera in his lap, "Will you come to watch it?"
"Is that a personal invitation?"
"You might like it," Jimin suggests.
"When is it?" Jungkook asks as he pulls the camera bag off the bench to load his camera back into it. "Will you save me a seat in the front row?"
Jimin shuffles his legs and Jungkook cannot look away from how they flex as they're moved.
"Will I be able to smell the sweat?"
"What?"
Jungkook shakes himself, "I honestly don't have a way to fix that question."
The dancer pulls away from the mirror to stand, or try to, as his laughing has kept him grounded since he began.
Jungkook stands once he's made sure his camera is safely put away. He straddles Jimin, who is on all fours, and wraps his arms around his waist, pulling the dancer up to stand - it's to save himself more than Jimin. He turns away right after helping his RA stand, grabbing his bag from the bench to see Jimin with his sweater loosely wrapped over him, hiding his shorts completely. He notices it but keeps his thoughts to himself. "I have to go drop my bag off then head to class. Are you going to stay and practice?"
"Oh? Oh, yeah," Jimin answers albeit a bit distracted. "Practice."
< Babe Squad >
Gyeom: Kook, how far are you on your project?
Bam: He's probably already done unlike you
Gyeom: I've been working on it!
Bam: Not enough
JK: I'm actually working on transitions right now
JK: I was going to ask my friend if I could get a song for background music
JK: But I think I like the one I already have
Bam: See Gyeomie, he's already basically finished
Bam: You slacker
Gyeom: You try putting together a video on such a vague topic then!
JK: What part are you stuck on Gyeom?
Bam: the beginning, middle, and end
Gyeom: The direction I want it to go, I guess
Gyeom: I've filmed most of the stuff I want
Gyeom: I just haven't decided where to go from there
JK: I can help you look at it on Sunday if you want
Bam: He'd love that
Gyeom: Shut up bam
JK: Uhm
JK: We can meet at the library
JK: Gyeomie?
Gyeom: yeah, that's perfect
Gyeom: Thanks Kook
Jungkook is grabbing at his pants, there's a distinct feeling that he's forgotten something important. He runs over his checklist: phone, got it. Keys, got it. Daniel seems to catch the action from his top bunk and leans over to inspect what is wrong with him. Watching as he makes another round on the items he needs to have with him in order to leave the room.
"Do you have your phone?"
Jungkook looks up at his roommate, "Yeah."
"Keys?"
"Yeah."
"Wallet?"
Jungkook slaps his left butt cheek," Yeah."
"Do you need your camera?"
He shakes his head, "no."
"Then I have no idea," Daniel sighs, plopping back on his bed.
Jungkook pouts, patting his hands against his ass as he looks around the room, "Me too." The feeling that something is off will keep him rooted to this spot until he can figure out what's wrong. He almost missed his own graduation because he forgot to brush his hair before he was ready to go; which shouldn't have mattered as long as his uniform looked good. He looks himself over in Minghao's mirror, his hair is laying flat, his jeans aren't creased in weird places and even his shirt smells good. What was he missing?
The door opens to their room, a head popping inside, "JK, can you come to help me with something?"
He glances to the door and freezes in the middle of feeling up his own pockets again trying to place his missing piece. "Help?"
Jimin is standing there, his body now framed by the door as he brushes his blue hair from his face, "Uh, yeah, unless you're busy."
"He's on his way out," Daniel says.
"I can help!" Jungkook shouts, shooting his roommate a glare before he makes his way for Jimin. He follows Jimin down the hall and halts outside of the RA's door, "Wait, what did you need help with?" Of course, he would only worry about this when he would be alone with the RA in his room instead of out in the open. Why would he worry otherwise?
Jimin slips into his room, "Just come in."
Jungkook is a bit apprehensive as he steps into his RA's room. Would it be a Narnia situation? Is it possible that stepping through that door would end with him on some magical journey to be able to leave the unknown territory? Jimin surely had to have some kind of mystical powers for Jungkook to fall under his spell at every turn. He's in shock when he hears the door shut right behind him but for a completely different reason. "Uhm, that's a lot of glitter."
Jimin sighs, moving to pick up something from the ground for a waterfall of glitter to fall from, "I opened a package meant for Taehyung because he told me it was okay - he's still on the phone if you don't believe me - and this happened."
Jungkook finds Jimin's silver phone easily, Tae's name near the top to indicate the truth. He picks up the phone and tries not to laugh, "Who did you piss off?"
Taehyung has a whine to his voice, "I don't know! I've been so busy with the painting project that I haven't really talked to anyone but you or Jimin. Was it you?"
"Not even," Jungkook watches as Jimin tries to brush the glitter from a shirt he recognizes as Taehyung's.
"How bad is it?"
"It's everywhere," the freshmen frowned at the glittering paradise that was the RAs' room. "I guess it'll have to be a new statement you and Jimin make together."
"I swear it was Julie," Jimin mutters as he moves about his room, shoving clothes from the floor into a trash bag - most likely to contain the glitter. He watches the dance major grumble for a few more moments as he moves around the room before he remembers that Taehyung is on the phone.
"I'll let you go, Tae. I should help Jimin pick up what we can."
"Okay, I'll be back after this class. Tell Ji that I'm sorry."
"Will doo," Jungkook drags the last word as he hangs up the call. He moves to the bed he assumes is Jimin's and starts folding the sheet over itself to keep the glitter in the middle before he shoves it into Jimin's bag, "Tae said he was sorry." He holds the silver phone over to Jimin and grabs for the bag as he looks around the room, "This could take all night. Glitter multiplies as you go."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Jimin whines. "I can't sleep here."
"You would leave Tae to sleep in glitterland by himself?"
Jimin pouts, his eyes survey the glitter that surrounds where they stand. The glitter is everywhere. His bed, Tae's bed, both their desks, the ground, both dirty clothes piles and he's not sure if he wants to know if it reached their closets. It was already bad enough that people called him the classical department's fairy; raining glitter everywhere would not help.
Jungkook frowns at the damage, "You should ask the other students if one of them has a vacuum or you may have to sleep covered in glitter for the rest of the year."
"Yeah," Jimin agrees, leaving the room just as fast as the suggestion comes up.
Jungkook continues stuffing the bag with things he is sure will fit in the washing machines on campus while he sighs. There was just so, so much glitter. Jimin was covered in it more as they worked than when he had come to ask Jungkook for help. He can only imagine what the other residents of the dorm are thinking as he goes around asking if they have a vacuum. He shoves their dirty clothes into the bag, their piles too high anyway if he was being honest; they should have washed them sooner.
He ties the bag off when it cannot fit anymore and looks around. What he can wash is mostly in the bag, the rest he hopes can be vacuumed off or Tae and Jimin really will have to live with being covered in glitter for the rest of the semester. Jimin walks back in, making a bunch of noise as he slams his door open with the heavy-duty-looking vacuum alongside him.
"I ran into a custodial person and they lent it to me."
Jungkook lifts the full bag, "I'll take these to be washed while you vacuum. Or start them. Send Tae to the washing machines when he gets here so he can take over."
Jimin stops him before he can leave the room, "Thanks JK."
"You're welcome," he smiles.
Before Jungkook even enters the building that holds the on-campus cleaners, he grabs one of their buggies. He takes the time to shake out each and every piece inside the bag from Jimin and Tae's room so that when he brings them into the cleaner there won't be as much glitter when he tries to wash them. The student that is on duty watches him for a moment while they flip between pages of the magazine in their hand then ignore him completely. No one seemed to want to help him when it came to the pile of glitter now decorating the lawn of the laundry building.
He drags the buggy full of glittery clothes to the first machine he can find and starts loading the items inside. Jungkook pours in a scoop of the school's off-brand detergent and starts that machine before he moves to the next one and puts in another load. For being a Friday night, the laundry building has no one in it. He starts that machine and stares down at what's left. Two sets of bedding. He moves down one more machine and puts the two bed coverings inside, soap, and starts the machine.
< Beautiful >
JK: How is cleaning the room going?
Beautiful: Not too bad
Beautiful: It's just eve-ry-whe-re
JK: yeah
JK: it took three machines for the laundry
JK: you really should do laundry more often
Beautiful: Tae and I rotate duties
Beautiful: it's his turn to do laundry
Beautiful: he just hates doing it
JK: laundry is fun though
JK: I like smelling good
Beautiful: you do smell good
JK: ...
Beautiful: nothing
JK: lol ok
Beautiful: I just sent Tae your way
Beautiful: you can just leave when he gets there
Beautiful: don't let him talk you into doing all the work
JK: Okay :)
Jungkook is leaning against the middle machine with his arms crossed over his chest when Taehyung barrels into the laundry building. He looks out of breath like he had run from his class to the dorm and then the dorm to the laundry building. He raises a brow at his RA, "So, did you find out who it was?"
Tae heaves a breath as he leans on his arm supported by its position on his waist, "No, I still have no clue."
JK nods, walking towards his RA, "Well, good luck. It might be safe to put the machines through a few rounds. There's three, by the way, so make sure you check everything before you leave."
"You're leaving?"
Jungkook sighs, "I was in the middle of something when I stopped to help Jimin."
"I'm sorry," Tae frowns as he walks to the machines that are still running. "Did Jimin say anything?"
"Who's Julie?"
Taehyung's thick eyebrows pinch over the bridge of his nose, "Julie?"
"Yeah, Jimin mentioned Julie when I was helping him put all of your clothes and stuff into a bag so they could be brought here to be washed."
"Oh," the RA looks down at the washing machine he is standing next to, "She's just an ex."
Jungkook nods a few times before he pats his thighs, "Well, I'll see you later. I'm late."
"Thanks, JK," he hums.
He's not sure why he was so determined to leave Taehyung at the laundry area as Jimin had told him to do. At this point in his day, he couldn't even remember why he was leaving his room in the first place. Whatever it was probably had originally been important, but he couldn't remember what it was. He leans against the wall outside the door where Taehyung and Jimin's names are bubble letters on the door and knocks on the 'm' in Jimin's name.
"Come in."
Jungkook opens the door to find Jimin sitting on his naked mattress as he stares around the room; hope dying in his eyes. There are miscellaneous glitters stuck to the sides of his thighs and calves, there's even some on his fingers and cheeks as he looks up to see Jungkook standing at the doorway of his room.
"Oh, hey JK, I thought you had something to do."
"I did," he agrees as he moves into the room and takes a spot next to Jimin on his bed. The room looks cleaner than it did when he had hauled their clothes to be washed. "It's looking a lot better."
His RA frowns at the room, "From now on, Taehyung has to open his mail outside of our room. I'm not going through this again."
Jungkook laughs, leaning back on his hands as he takes in the room. On Tae's side, there are paintings on the wall. Some photo prints of scenic areas, maybe from a photographer he admires, and lots of colors. His desk has a bunch of art books along with a drawing he had probably been working on before he went to his class. There's even a small bucket with art supplies in it sitting next to his desk.
Where he sits, Jimin's side of the room is chic-er. His bed frame is matte black metal with what looks like gold stickers used as accents that Jimin did himself. On the wall in one line are of a ballerina in a gold frame. His desk is also black to match his bed with a sleek laptop on the top of it with a gold lamp. That all bleeds into his closet with a similar chromatic scale. Jimin seemed to like a very chic look - which begged the question, why had he dyed his hair blue?
"You're staring," Jimin comments as his eyes find Jungkook's.
"I was curious about your blue hair."
The RA reaches up to scrunch the blue strands between his fingers, "This?"
He nods.
"Does it look bad?"
Jungkook reaches up and touches his blue hair, the silky strands feel cool against his fingertips. He shakes his head as a smile comes to his lips. JK wasn't sure that Jimin could ever look bad, silly maybe, but never bad. "You look beautiful."
"Am I interrupting?"
Jungkook pulls completely away from Jimin to find Taehyung standing in the doorway. He's got what looks like a borrowed IKEA bag full of their clean laundry where he stands in the doorway. Where JK figured the conversation would be directed at him, the RA's eyes are on his roommate with a stern set to his jaw and the look confuses the freshmen. He stands and runs his hands down his jean-clad thighs and coughs, "I'll go."
He's just outside of their room when Tae calls out to him, "Did you make it to your thing?" So he turns and shakes his head, pressing his hands into his pants, "No, I'll try again tomorrow."
"Sorry again," Tae yells before closing himself away in his room.
Navigation Previous chapter | Story Masterlist | Next chapter
Chapter word count 3,232 words.
Chapter warnings/tags fighting, more parties, yoongi is almost healed, minghao and daniel actively tell jungkook that his wardrobe is trash, yugyeom's wardrobe isn't much better lol, jimin jealous?
Minghao is laying on Jungkook's bed, his arms a pillow under his chin as he watches his roommate tear apart his closet. The small array of color choices either for shirts or jeans is enough to give him a headache as he watches with null interest. He finally grabs at Jungkook's pant leg before he can turn back to his closet, "Hey, Gguk, why not just borrow something from me. It's not like you can wear anything you own. I haven't seen such a goodie-goodie closet since I was in elementary school."
"I would, Ming, but the problem is that we're two different sizes."
"Not in my sweats," his roommate offers as he rolls off Jungkook's bed and towards his own closet, "I order them bigger so they don't make me look scary thin." He pulls out a medium gray set, handing them over to Jungkook before he can oppose, "Besides, you don't own anything name-brand. You should at least make a small statement if you're going to a party."
"Name brand isn't everything," Jungkook mumbles as he accepts the outfit.
Jungkook looks over the sweats as he pulls off his shirt. Puma, he had heard of that brand before a few times between Daniel and Minghao when they would discuss things. Daniel seemed to be more interested in sneakers where Minghao focused more on clothes and then there was him, the boy who only wore whatever his mom would buy him since he was five.
"Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?"
Minghao sighs, "Look, I cannot be held accountable for how many people are going to fall all over themselves for you at the party. I can only give you the means to succeed. It's up to you how you use that success."
The door of their room opens behind them, Daniel appearing wrapped in black skinny jeans and a burgundy jean jacket that covers what has to be a black university tee. He's carrying his leather boots, another black addition to his dark lifestyle, as he eyes his two roommates. "So, do I need to come back? I didn't know you two had gotten that close."
Jungkook pulls on the sweatshirt over his naked torso, checking out the fat pull strings instead of answering his roommate. The jaguar was cute, he guessed, for lack of a better thought on the brand name. He slides out of his pants to pull on the bottoms while Minghao tackles the conversation with Daniel.
"Gguk's going to a party again. I wasn't going to let him go in his clothes."
Daniel nods, obviously having discussed this with Minghao previously, "I can lend him some sneakers since I'm the only one with taste between the three of us."
"Whatever sneakerhead," Minghao laughs, turning to clap when he sees Jungkook checking himself out in the sweats outfit. "Looks good. The girls are going to die."
Jungkook can feel his eyes widen marginally. Girls, right, that was the normal thing. He was doing this for the girls. And the gays, his mind supplies quickly. Well, maybe only the latter, Jungkook corrects in his head as he puts his hands in the pockets of the sweatpants and turns around to give Minghao the full view.
Daniel pushes a pair of chunky black Nikes into Jungkook's chest as he looks him over, "I don't own anything Puma, so you'll have to put up with mixing brands." He waits until Jungkook grips the shoes to turn away, putting his boots away in his closet in their designated box as he goes about pulling his jacket off to hang back up.
Jungkook eyes the bulky Nikes. Would he even be able to walk in them? They felt heavy compared to his usual shoes. With a shrug, he sits on the edge of his bed and slides his feet into them; panicking when he feels a piece of cardboard above his toes. "Uh, Dan, what's in the shoe?"
"Cardboard," he shrugs and sits on Minghao's bed, "Keeps the shoes from creasing."
"They're meant to be worn," Minghao rolls his eyes, "What is with you and creases in your shoes?"
"The same as you and stains."
"That's different," Minghao argues, hands flying around him, "You know that's different. One affects whether they're wearable or not while the other is just a part of owning a pair of shoes." The boy rounds on Jungkook as he sits there quietly, just watching them. "Gguk, what would make something unwearable to you? Stains or creases?"
"Neither," he admits shyly, "I have a pair of jeans back home with grass stains from when some kid pushed me down the last stairs at school and it tore out one knee and stained the other knee forever green. I still wear those sometimes."
Daniel laughs, "Damn, dude, throw them away."
"Seriously," Minghao agrees, "I'm surprised your mom lets you wear them still."
"Only around the house," Jungkook frowns.
The boys laugh right up until Yugyeom and Bambam appear at their doorway. Jungkook sighs and closes the door behind himself as he looks over his two friends. Yugyeom has always been similar to him when it comes to color choices, which explains his black joggers and oversized peach shirt he has loosely tucked in at the front. Next to him Bambam always looks like he walked out of a fashion magazine. Jungkook was sure, without asking, that everything from the silk shirt to the dress pants clinging to the boy's skinny hips and long legs was designer. "So," he starts hesitantly, "Are we ready?"
Yugyeom nods, but elbows Bambam, "I cannot believe you wouldn't let me wear my sweats. Jungkook is wearing sweats."
"His sweats are also worth looking at," Bambam sighs. "Yours were from the university store. No one wants to see those."
"They have sweats at the university store?"
"Not you too, Kook," Bambam frowns. "I had hope for you."
Cheongdam-dong, or C building as freshmen called it, was much like how Jungkook originally remembered the first party he went to. Students have overflowed from the confines of C building into the street as they had at Jungkook's first party, but unlike how he was scared to approach those students, now he freely walked forward. It was Yugyeom, between the three of them, who seemed to need encouragement as they made their way inside Cheongdam-dong. Bambam took the lead in bringing his friend in as they entered the steaming house full of loud beats and intoxicated students.
Jungkook has his hands buried in the deep pockets of the sweats he's wearing, eyes on the people around him so he doesn't accidentally bump into someone. He could probably pay Minghao back for his outfit, but paying back Daniel for his kicks? He doubted it was possible. He's only been inside the area where the DJ equipment has been set up for a few moments when he finds Taehyung sitting around their same table. He detaches from his friends to make his way over to the RA, pushing himself down between him and Yoongi.
Taehyung grabs his waist, correcting his position to sit on his lap instead as he wraps his arms around the freshman's waist. He laughs, feeling a bit awkward as he nods towards Yoongi, "Hey man, it's good to see you again."
Yoongi nods, lips wrapped around an unlit cigarette. He was almost as good as new, compared to the last time Jungkook had seen him. The quiet blonde may have had a run-in with the jerk that had injured him the first time Jungkook had met him, but he hoped that was not the case. Yoongi rolls the cig to the side of his lips, "How's your first semester been? You seem like you've been adjusting."
Jungkook nods, resting his hands on his knees as he adjusts himself on Taehyung's lap; still confused as to why the RA didn't let him sit on the couch. "It's been ok. I'm working on my project a little every day since it's a big part of my grade."
Taehyung's chin bears down on JK's back, "Did you pick a theme yet?"
"Kind of," Jungkook shakes his head side to side.
"Let me know if you need help," Tae grins, "I have a good eye for angles and direction. Yoongi wouldn't mind helping you with a backtrack."
Jungkook looks at Yoongi then, "You're a music major?"
"I'm technically already producing music," the blonde explains, "I just want to finish my degree."
The freshmen now sees the blonde in a new light. He had no idea that his clan was so talented. Tae with art, Jimin with dance, and Yoongi with music. Had he struck gold unknowingly?
"Shit, let me up," Taehyung forces out as he pushes Jungkook up off his lap.
JK's eyes follow after the RA, watching as he pushes himself to the front of a circle of students hollering. It's probably a fight of some kind, Jungkook decides, having seen many circles like it back when he was in high school. He stands there for a moment, watching the fray. Yoongi taps his hand, earning his eyes once again.
"You should take your friends and go," he looks over his shoulder to the circle of students briefly, "It's getting kind of rowdy. The campus police are going to be here soon."
He offers his hand to the blonde, "You coming with me?"
Yoongi laughs, pulling the soggy cigarette from his lips, "I have to go pull Tae and Jimin before they get themselves in trouble. Don't worry about me."
Jungkook drops his hand and immediately starts searching for Yugyeom and Bambam. It should have worried him more that he hadn't seen either of them since he sat down with Taehyung. It's with measured steps that he makes his way for the circle of students, some of them falling away as it's broken up from the inside. He can hear Taehyung's deep voice yelling at someone to stop. As he makes it to the front, JK feels a hard frown set on his face. Taehyung has Jimin pulled back against a wall, his arms under than dancer's as he keeps him from trying to attack the other side of the circle again.
Jimin looks furious, eyes able to set someone aflame if he puts oil to them as he huffs and struggles against Taehyung's arms. Despite his anger, Jungkook finds him just as attractive as he did the first day he saw him. His hair is a mess, given his situation, but Jungkook can make out a section that's a pretty blue color that matches the contacts he wears. He's wearing a black dress shirt and pants. There seems to be something wrapped around his waist that makes his small waist look even thinner. He shakes himself and looks at the other half of the circle and his mouth drops.
Jungkook moves forward before he can stop his feet, "Gyeomie, what happened?"
Yugyeom isn't looking anywhere near as Jungkook had left him at the door of C building. His cheeks are scraped, his left side is even bleeding. His bottom lip is busted and Bambam has made himself a physical barrier between the two sides of the circle.
"An accident," Yugyeom manages, his eyes glancing at Jimin before he looks at Jungkook, "It's not a big deal."
Jungkook grabs for his friend's hand, turning to pull them both from the middle. "Let's go, Bam!" he shouts over his shoulder.
Jimin huffs and throws Taehyung's arms off of him as soon as Jungkook is out of sight. He doesn't stick around long after that, thoroughly embarrassed with his actions once more as he leaves Cheongdam-dong at a run. Tae catches up with him at the corner by Itaewon, pulling him back before he can enter.
"What is going on with you lately, Ji?" his arm stays on Jimin's shoulder as if he would run away still, "Why are you fighting with freshmen? Jungkook's friends of all freshmen?"
"It was an accident," Jimin mimics JK's friend, "A misunderstanding."
"Like hell, it was," his best friend growls, "Tell me the truth. You've been acting weird since we handed out room assignments to all the freshmen."
Jimin frowns. It's not that he didn't agree he had been acting weird lately, he just doesn't think it had been since the first time he had met Jungkook. "I need a break," he settles on, pulling his shoulder from Tae's hand. "I'm gonna go to the practice rooms. Don't wait up for me, I'll probably be there all night."
"Ji!"
Jimin ignores Tae's calls as he turns and walks away. He didn't want to think about what had just happened and he definitely didn't want to talk about it. Jungkook making friends of his own had been a good addition to the freshmen's university life but the one, in particular, Gyeomie (Jimin rolls his eyes at the name) didn't have to hang all over him for no reason. Every time Jimin would see them hanging out lately, that tall film major would be laying in Jungkook's lap while he tried to work. Tae's NFF, being the nice kid Jimin had always known him as, would never say anything even if it bothered him.
He just wanted to tell the lanky kid to give Jungkook some space.
That was all.
Jungkook is leaning back on one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the clinic, legs spread and head hanging over the back. The nurse had assured him that Yugyeom's injuries were mostly superficial and that he was lucky he stepped in and stopped the fight so his friend hadn't been more injured. He wasn't sure if he agreed with her thoughts. If he had actually seen Jimin and Yugyeom fighting, would he have taken Gyeom's side as he had or would he have flocked to Jimin's side? It wasn't really about who was at fault, he had wanted to approach Jimin first before he had even realized it was Yugyeom on the receiving end. Only good sense had him turning and going to Yugyeom's side first.
Something hits the toe of his shoe, it has him sitting up quickly to find Yugyeom standing there looking like a mummy instead of his usual self. Gyeom's cheeks are covered in bandages, his lip has a butterfly tape on it, but he still smiles as he looks down at Jungkook.
"We should go," he offers, "Curfew is soon."
Jungkook stands and grabs Yugyeom's hand again to pull him forward. Being late for curfew didn't bother him anymore, but he wouldn't let his friend get in trouble for being late because of him.
Jungkook is laying face down on one of the few couches in the common room of his dorm building. His phone is to his ear as he listens to his mom talk about how excited she was for him to return back home during the upcoming winter holiday. Even his father seemed to have melted a little on his dislike of Jungkook's chosen major as he told Jungkook he already had a project for them to do together when he got back home. It has a smile on his lips as he listens to the two without needing to actually voice anything himself. They were far too used to holding and moving the entirety of the conversation themselves since he was very young and he was grateful since he didn't have much to talk about in regards to university life.
He can feel a weight on his legs when his mom goes into the third renewal of her excitement on his returning home for the holidays. Jungkook can still not help the smile on his lips as he finally speaks, "I cannot wait to see you as well, mom. I have to get to class soon, well, I shouldn't say class. I have a study session with some kids from my major soon. I'll call you next week, okay?"
Her happiness doesn't wane, even despite his constant lies; but she didn't know they were lies. Jungkook hits the red phone on the screen to end his call as he looks over his shoulder at the person sitting on top of him. He is surprised to find Jimin sitting there, an awkward smile on his lips as he sits up enough to let Jungkook pull his legs from under Jimin's thighs. The freshman faces his RA, rubbing his nose for a second before he's brave enough to ask. "Did I break a common room rule?"
Jimin shakes his head, "No."
Jungkook leans forward as if waiting for him to further his answer, but the RA doesn't.
"I'm actually here as a favor for a friend."
JK waves his hand as if to let the other boy know he could continue.
"Uhm, my friend Hoseok is a hip-hop major. He had actually asked me this over a month ago, but I had gotten Tae to help him at that time."
"O..kay?"
Jimin laughs, "He needs someone to record his dance practice so he can monitor if he needs to make any changes to his choreography. He does better when someone moves with the choreo than a stationary camera."
Jungkook's mind is already bringing up the new camera he had recently bought with money he had been saving up for a while. Instead of buying new clothes, which is what the money was for, he had been putting it away to buy a Nikon. He even had a stabilizer for action shots like Jimin was talking about and wouldn't mind using this Hoseok as his test subject.
"I would owe you a favor," Jimin offers, squeezing his thighs, "Maybe a get out of jail free card for when you miss curfew again?"
He licks his lips at the suggestion - he didn't want that. Jungkook had made it his personal mission to always be back before curfew now unless it was Sunday and curfew didn't apply. He pouts and leans towards the RA, "Can I ask for something else?"
Jimin raises a brow, "What does JK want?"
Jungkook shifts to where his arm lays behind Jimin, drawing closer to the dance major as he breathes slowly while staring at his pretty plump lips. His hand ghosts over the huge tear in Jimin's jeans over his thigh before his eyes move up from the RA's lips. He leans forward, a small smirk playing on his lips when he feels Jimin shift, "I'll let you know."
He had whispered it into Jimin's ear before he pulled away completely, lifting himself from the couch to look down at his phone; ignoring the way the RA shudders. When JK does look at the RA, he's recovered some - or enough - as he grins down at him.
"I really do have somewhere to be, but let Hoseok know I'll help him." He nods, turning only to pause and look back at Jimin, "You'll need my number to pass along to him."
Jimin's lips part as if recognizing his misstep. He pulls out a slim silver Samsung and hands it over to Jungkook easily. He watches as Jungkook's fingers fly over the screen of his phone, a smile in place as he hands the phone back over. It's open on Jungkook's entry, saved under JK and he smiles. The only ones who had called him JK were Tae and him. All of his new friends called him Gguk or Jungkook, so the name held a soft spot in Jimin's heart.
"I might respond a little slow since my friends are pretty active texters, but I will reply."
Jimin nods, sliding his phone back into his jacket, "Go study."
Navigation Previous chapter | Story Masterlist | Next chapter
Chapter word count 4,040 words.
Chapter warnings/tags Another one-sided mlm crush (gyeomkook), the long awaited meeting of namjoon, aannnddd jungkook's initial man-crush on joon, wingman bambam, jungkook mentions sucking tae off (to get someone to back off), harry potter reference (don't at me I know she stayed in the w/c)
"What's eating you?"
Jungkook glances up, his hand paused in his writing as he finds a set of twin towers in front of where he sits at the library. One looks familiar while the other is definitely a stranger. He narrows his eyes as he tries to place the one that looks familiar, but even if he wants to, the boy's name slips just out of his reach.
"Yugyeom," the one he remembers says, a smile on his lips as he pulls out a chair while tossing a finger at his companion, "This is my friend Bambam."
"Oh, Yugyeom."
Bambam dies, his face contorts in joy as he slaps his knee, "He didn't even remember your name, bro."
Yugyeom elbows his friend to settle him down, "So, what's up?"
Jungkook sighs, dropping his pen down and leaning back in his chair. The library was not a place to have a discussion, but as they were the only three there it couldn't harm anyone but maybe Moaning Myrtle; if she had transferred from Hogwarts, that is. "I got caught out after curfew last night. It's nothing big. I just don't get in trouble, you know?"
Bambam rolls his eyes.
Yugyeom ignores his friend, resting his chin on the palm of his hand, "Dang in the first week? I bet that was rough. I heard Itaewon's RA was raving well into the night. You must have gotten an earful."
The corner of Jungkook's lips twitched, "That's the thing, I didn't."
Both boys across from him seem surprised. "Then who got yelled at?" Bambam questions, interest clearly covering him now that they've heard that one counter statement.
"The other RA," he looks down at his hands, "I building (Itaewon) has co-RAs. One of them stood up for me since we had gone out for dinner together. That's how I didn't get yelled at. The other RA took all the yelling from his roommate."
"Tae, right?" It's Yugyeom who asks, "My friend said he's the nicer of the two RAs."
Jungkook nods. He didn't realize that the fight between the two RAs over him missing curfew had already spread around campus. It hadn't even been a day yet. He chews his lip, if he had known that the gossip spread so fast, he wouldn't have skipped his weightlifting class again. There was no doubt in his mind that Taehyung had already found out about that if some of the recluse cinematography majors had heard about something that should have been contained to I building.
"Better be careful from now on then," Yugyeom's sweet voice reminds him, "You don't want to cause any more fights between them. I hear they're best friends that rarely fight. You probably did a number on them last night if they argued most of the night over your returning late to the dorm."
"Jimin's just jealous," Bambam counters boldly.
"Jealous?"
Yugyeom slaps his friend, "Ignore him. It's just gossip, you don't need to worry about it. Uhm, I actually came over here with a purpose." He leans forward, "Have you made any headway on your semester project? I'm struggling with picking a topic. Bam thinks I should just pick something like my secondary passion for niche dances, but that doesn't seem to follow the feeling of the project, you know? Did you already pick something?"
"I have a few ideas," Jungkook frowns, "Well, maybe just a couple," he corrects as he remembers how angry Jimin seemed to be with him. There was no way that he could ask the RA to help him now.
"A few of us cinematography majors were going to get together on Saturday night to spitball ideas. Most of us share the same class, but I didn't remember seeing you in my class, so I thought I would extend the invite to you."
"He also wants your number," Bambam claims, pulling a phone from Yugyeom's pocket of his denim jacket to pass over the table. "The passcode is one-one-one-seven."
"Bam!"
The leggy friend shrugs, "We both know you weren't ever going to ask him yourself."
Yugyeom shrinks down in his seat, watching Jungkook quietly. Jungkook envies his cinematography ally for having such an extroverted friend who helps him get what he needs to stay afloat. He puts in the code that Bambam had supplied him, quickly opening the phone app to put in his number and save it for Yugyeom. Jungkook hands the device back over, copying the tall boy's smile when he realizes that he has really just gotten a new phone number thanks to his friend's help. "I'll text you the address where we plan to meet!"
"I appreciate it," JK grins, picking his pen back up. "Oh, also," he stops himself from diving back into studying, "Do you have all the notes from last Tuesday? I missed the beginning of the class and wasn't sure who to ask."
"Yeah," Yugyeom smiles prettily, "I can send them over as a PDF later."
Bambam rolls his eyes again as he stands, pushing his friend from his chair, "Yeah, yeah, let's go. You're practically drooling."
"I am not!" Yugyeom yells at his friend while following behind him in his retreat.
Jungkook watches the two boys leave, not sure what that whole last minute was about, but he shrugs it off as he looks back down at his notepad. He taps his pen against the JM he had jotted down under possibilities. With a sigh, he scribbles over the two letters as he remembers what the two boys that just left had told him. Taehyung and Jimin had fought through most of the night because of him - the two best friends who rarely fought. That was his doing.
New Jungkook was ruining friendships.
He shakes his head as he slaps his notepad closed and starts loading all his materials back into his messenger bag. If this was the consequence of him trying to be a new, better version of himself then he would have to put off being New Jungkook for a while. Maybe just until the end of his first semester. He needed to focus on this semester's project about movement anyway.
Jungkook pulls the strap of his bag onto his shoulder as he makes his way out of the library. It was already getting dark outside, which means once again he had lost track of the time. He takes off at a jog as he was on the opposite side of campus. There was no way that Jimin nor Taehyung would forgive him if he was late returning today and he couldn't make them think he was unreliable. He's panting as he enters I building, hands on his waist as he stares down at the white subway tiles of the ground floor. The rest of the building was covered in aged gray carpeting that had seen better years, but the front foyer and most of the first floor was covered in sleek white subway tiles.
He stands up straight, eyes falling on Jimin who is curled up on the couch with a thickly bound paper script of some kind. He seems to have already dressed down, stretchy black drop crotch pants on his legs, some unidentifiable dark water splotched shirt covered by a loose black cardigan that was definitely not something a guy would wear. His feet are tucked up on the couch as he reads comfortably, probably not even realizing that it was Jungkook that had walked into the dorm building just a few minutes before the curfew was to take place.
Jungkook doesn't figure he would get a greeting either way. He turns and makes his way towards the stairs for the second floor. He had been somewhat lucky despite his three-person room to have been given one of the highly-requested second-floor rooms. In his opinion, being so close to the RA's room wasn't really considered a benefit, now that he was in danger of angering one of them irreparably and causing immeasurable discomfort to the other. Not that it had been all sunshine on his end either. One moment being lifted up because he was now an adult and shot down in the next to be relabeled as a kid within the same breath.
"Good night, Jungkook."
He stops and turns at his waist. Jimin was still focused on his book, but he was sure those three words had come from the RA's lips. No one else had that same airy tone that Jimin had. Jungkook opens his mouth to tell him goodnight as well but closes it just as fast. He didn't want to be sent to his room again like the night before. He wanted to prove to Jimin that he was a mature adult and could do better. He would do better.
He dumps his bag on his bed, both of his roommates nowhere in sight. He takes that small moment to sit there on the edge of his bed, eyes on his hands as he makes a declaration.
Taehyung and Jimin could not interfere with his schooling.
His major was hard enough as it was without added stress or harming others.
From this moment on, he would grow as an adult at his pace. He didn't need to feel cool being called out by his older RA's to go to parties. He needed to focus on his classes, workload, and making friends in his own major. Narrowing his sights would give him some clarity that he definitely needed given the past week. You can do this, Jungkook.
It just takes some discipline.
Jimin finds his eyes following the freshman he had taken a keen liking to far before his roommate had declared him as NFF. Jungkook is facing one of the wall-length mirrors in the gym, doing bicep curls on his right arm. When he had brought up Jungkook missing more classes with Taehyung, his friend had said he would talk to him again. The only reason Jimin hadn't brought it up himself was anger. He was still mad about how he handled Jungkook returning late with Taehyung. For previous NFFs, he had never batted an eye when Taehyung would bring them home late nor would he care if those freshmen would be labeled as bad kids when they would drag them to frat parties every week.
Jungkook had been an exception for him. One he didn't understand.
He dips to pick up his bottle of water as he watches the freshman switch arms, almost losing his open bottle when he realizes in the past month that Jungkook had upgraded to 40lbs weights. Jimin had been keeping an eye on his weight training since he returned back to class. At first, it was just to make sure he was there. Now, he licks his lips as he watches how the freshman's muscles show a prominent bulge forming in his arms.
"Hey Jimin!"
The RA trips, hiding behind the person who had called out to him, "Don't say my name," he begs. After a few moments, he glances around the side of the person before realizing the coast was clear. Jimin wipes his mouth to engage with the person before him, "What's up, Hobi?"
Hoseok, or as some freshmen referred to him as Hobi, is a tall dance major with amazing control over his long limbs. He's able to create whole choreographies within moments and rain sunshine down on his audience with a smile alone. The difference between him and Jimin was their focus; Hobi was a hip-hop focus to Jimin's classical. Hobi runs a towel over his face as he stares down at the I building RA, "I haven't seen Tae around much lately. Do you remember how he hangs around the practice rooms sometimes to kill time? Put in some photos for his portfolio? He's been a ghost for the past month."
It was true. Taehyung had been a ghost in their own dorm room; even shirking his RA duties. This was his fault, really, Taehyung was very sensitive when it came to yelling. It didn't matter how many times Jimin apologized for his misdirected anger, Tae would still sulk about it and if it was as bad as it was now, Jimin wouldn't see him for days. When they had first become roommates, it had scared Jimin more than once how easily Taehyung could distance himself from people or problems. "We had a small fight. He's probably just switching up his hangout spot since we haven't completely reconciled."
"Oh," Hobi frowns at the new information. "Can you help me ask him if he'll record my practice? I want to see if I'm messing up anywhere before that review in the second week of December."
"Well, I can try," Jimin forces a smile, "He's not really answering my texts."
Hoseok frowns, Jimin and Taehyung rarely fought, but when they did no one ever knew how to interact with them. It was as if they were a couple on the brink of divorce and no one wanted to sway their decision one way or the other - reuniting or the inevitable breakup. They always returned to each other stronger, Jimin or Tae swallowing their pride and approaching the other depending upon whose fault it was. Maybe that was a soulmate thing, Hoseok wondered as he tried to think of something to say.
"If not, I know a cinematography major that might be able to help," Jimin mumbles, clearly unsure, "Not that I've ever seen any of his work, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
"You do?"
Jimin brushes his hair back, eyes moving to the other side of the gym, the tall freshman nowhere in sight. It pulls a frown to his lips as he nods, "Yeah, Tae's NFF is a cinematography major."
"Ok, cool, let me know. My schedule is pretty flexible this year, but I really should get that done before the 10th."
"I'll text you," Jimin agrees before he pulls away from the other dance major. Part of him hoped that he might meet up with Jungkook in the locker room before he showered, but it was empty except for a few stray people coming in. He sighs, was the freshman avoiding him because of his fight with Tae? Or was he avoiding Jimin because he got angry at Jungkook? Maybe it was both. "You need to apologize, " Jimin tells himself as he grabs a towel from the locker he's placed his stuff in, "Apologize and accept that he may never let you close again."
Jungkook yawns into his curled fist, eyes squeezed shut before they give way to the bustling library around him. Even though Yugyeom was in a different class slot than he was, it had become commonplace for them to meet up at the library to study together. Bambam tagged along as a silence breaker - always one to bring up a moment while they gamed together over the weekend when Jungkook completely destroyed the team they were up against. Moments like this, JK missed how Yugyeom's fair ears would turn pink as Jungkook would always have to watch his back so no one on the opposing team could take him out. They were sort of like the three musketeers minus the ancient robes and feathered hats.
"Which clip did you think was a POV? If it's told from our point-of-view, you think I would easily be able to figure it out," Yugyeom whines.
Jungkook grins, leaning forward to look at the tablet in the boy's hands, "It's definitely B," he explains as he presses play on the video, "See how the story develops from the perspective of the cameraman? The reactions are in direct correlation with the person watching."
"Ah," Yugyeom frowns down at the screen. "That does make sense."
"You're so dumb," Bambam laughs, hitting his friend on the shoulder, "I may not have known the term, but anyone could tell that."
Jungkook sits back in his chair, eyes focused on the two boys, "clip A is a montage and clip C is a close-up for a news anchor. B was the only answer you could pick if you understood what A and C were." He recalls when he was little, his father had gifted him his first camera that recorded only on VHS tapes - it was an outdated model even for the time, but his father figured that would be as good as any considering he was just a kid. Jungkook hadn't minded the gift, he often would experiment with shots, sliding in or zooming out really fast. Tilting the camera just off-balance to give the shot some mystery. He had spent a whole summer collecting different ways to use his camera and spliced together home videos for the family to sit around and watch together once winter came.
Those films he would never share with his friends, they were precious memories, but the ones he had put together during high school - those were his favorite. He had rented a camera from the AV club since he was a member and put together videos for special events for the school. His principal had liked his material so much that he had been requested to film the commercial for the school's spring festival. Even if he was sure it wasn't so, the principal had praised him for the increase in revenue and people who had shown up that year. It was still strange to him that his father could think that film-making was only a hobby for him. He should have known since the first time he had given Jungkook a camera that he would fall in love with storytelling. It was his bliss.
"Are we going to that party this weekend?"
Yugyeom frowns, "Bam, we were gonna play that league match this weekend."
"We can play League anytime," Bambam rolls his eyes. "This is a university party. Our first as freshmen. We deserve to unwind a little since the semester is almost half over."
Jungkook watches the two bicker for a few moments before returning to his own homework. Unlike Yugyeom, he wasn't on the online quiz that his film friend was still working on. He was, however, milling over the project that was due the day before they were released for winter. JK had been leaning towards asking his RA if he would be okay with being filmed for this project since it was a big part of his grade this first semester. He had even written Jimin's name out next to the scribbled out initials from before as he stared down at those letters.
He hadn't talked to either of the RAs since he got in trouble. The time he wasn't doing homework, in-class, or working out was spent with Yugyeom and Bambam. Jungkook did catch sight of Jimin from time to time, whether in his gym class or the times he would cut it close to curfew; but that didn't mean he talked to him. Tae, however, he hadn't seen much of since he found out that they had fought most of the night he had been sent to his room. He needed to find him. Jungkook starts piling his things back into his bag, earning the eyes of his friends.
"Where- what's up, Gguk?"
JK looks at Yugyeom and Bambam, "I forgot I needed to do something today. I'll catch you later."
"Let us know if you're going to the party!" Bambam reminds him.
Jungkook lifts his hand holding his phone as he waves goodbye to the two before he runs out of the library. He picks up his pace as he heads towards the Fine Arts building a few yards away and slides in easily behind one of the pretentious girls with pigtails and paint-covered overalls. He ignores them when they shout at him as he heads for the second floor, following signs vaguely as he rounds and stops at a set of open doors on the landing. The far wall is full of windows and natural light as he walks into the room, his mind still racing to find his RA as he looks around the room.
"Who are you?"
Jungkook turns to see a tall man with thick brown glasses, a mullet with lavender streaks on either side, and dimples. His first thought was if this was a teacher, he was willing to buy into all those stupid teacher-student tropes right now; because he's gorgeous.
"Joon, calm down," a familiar deep voice comes as Taehyung rounds from behind a sectioned off piece of the room. He comes to a halt when he sees Jungkook, "JK, what are you doing here?"
Joon, that name brings back a sour feeling in his stomach. He glares at the tall man, now noticing flaws in him that weren't there originally as he puts his full attention back on his friend. "I haven't seen you in a while. I was worried." He steps closer to his RA, noting how he's back to his eccentric clothes. This time he's wearing purple bell bottoms and a gold and flower print shirt that, he's positive, only Taehyung could make work. He would look rather ridiculous in that outfit.
"Well, I gave you your space," Tae frowns, "I did try talking to you a few days after that."
"Yeah," Jungkook sighs, "I'm sorry, Tae."
His friend just offers him a smile and a shrug of his shoulders as they look at each other. Taehyung, between the two of them, was not the shy one. He always had something to talk about so that no one would be bored and everyone usually felt included. It was one of his quirks that made him one of the best RAs, in Jungkook's opinion.
"Are you two done kissing? I need to finish that talk with you, Tae."
Jungkook rolls his eyes up to the tall man he had previously felt was very handsome; maybe if his attitude didn't suck. Oh, and the fact that he had hurt Yoongi, maybe then. Jungkook leans into the tall guy, bracing his hand against the room divider to grin up at the mullet man, "I wasn't done with him, so you might have to wait your turn. He owes me a month's worth of kisses and if he's lucky I might even suck him off. You're free to wait around."
Joon looks between Jungkook and Taehyung, rolls his eyes, and leaves the room.
Taehyung bursts out in giggles, wrapping an arm over Jungkook's shoulders as he leans on him. He had never seen Joon so put off by a situation when it came to a freshmen before. He pulls back to stare at the film major, "Where did that come from? Yoongi would have been proud."
The freshmen shrugs, "The guy annoyed me." He releases a breath and brushes back his hair that's grown quite a bit since the month he'd last talked to Taehyung, "How is Yoongi?"
"Holding strong," Tae grins, "He keeps asking where you disappeared to. I think he has taken a liking to you since that party."
Jungkook grins, "Speaking of parties, are you going to the one this weekend?"
"Are you?"
Jungkook shrugs and pushes his hands into his jeans, "I mean, my friends invited me to go with them. I just haven't had good experiences at university parties."
"You should go," Tae reassures, running a hand down Jungkook's bicep. "I'll probably make an appearance to keep Jimin out of trouble, but I won't stay the whole time. I'm working on some paintings for my semester project."
"I'm sorry, by the way. I didn't mean to cause a fight between the two of you."
Taehyung blinks, lips pursed, "What are you talking about?"
"A bunch of kids from the other dorm told me that you and Jimin fought most of the night, that night."
"Oh," Tae laughs, "I keep forgetting how fast gossip travels here." He leans back against the portion that was divided into his own personal space, "Don't worry about Jimin and me. We're soulmates. Even if we stumble, we always go back to each other. It just happened to hit right when we started getting serious on our own projects - so our timing is off right now. We'll be fine again before winter break. Don't worry."
"So I'll see you at the party?"
Taehyung nods, "I'll make sure to find you before I leave. Just be careful, okay? You were fine at the first one since Jimin was there with you most of the time, but people can be a bit pushy if you're not ready for it."
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Chapter word count 3,084 words.
Chapter warnings/tags Mama bear Jimin, oblivious Jungkook, I missed the opportunity to use the do you even lift, bro? meme, jealous Jimin?
Taehyung finds him the next day, the RA had a habit of pulling him away from a door right before he could run away. Unlike his usual eccentric clothing choices, Tae has on black dockers, a white tee, and a prickly looking khaki sweater. It's almost too normal in comparison to his previous outfits, that Jungkook wonders if an alien has inhabited his RA's body.
"They're not mine," Tae answers his burning question before he can voice it, "I just wanted to come to say I'm sorry. I know I treated you like a child last night and that wasn't fair to you. Jimin was also a little rough, but we just didn't want you getting in trouble or marked down as a bad kid for being a freshman at a frat party on your first week at school."
Jungkook tilts his head, eyes sliding to the door behind his RA before back to him, "Okay."
"Okay? You looked really upset that night. That's all you want to say?"
Jungkook lifts his hand to point at the door he had been meaning to enter for the past twenty minutes, "I'm late to Film Theory and Criticism."
Taehyung's eyes widened as if just remembering he pulled the freshman away from a classroom, "Right, uhm," he runs his fingers through his hair, "I'll come to find you later. I want to take you out for dinner, my treat. As an apology."
"You don't have to, Tae, it's no big deal. I am a kid."
"You are not," the RA frowns, lightly punching his arm, "The minute you stepped onto this campus' grounds you became an adult."
"An adult that's late for class," Jungkook laughs, sliding around his RA, "I'm going to tell my advisor you made me late to class!"
"Don't do that!" Tae whines at his back, but he ignores him in an effort to try and find someone towards the back of the lecture hall so he can quickly copy down any of the notes he missed. He would never rat Tae out for making him late to class; he just wanted to have a little fun.
Movement. That had been the topic the syllabus stated he had to come up with a short video for. Movement could be interpreted in many ways. Emotional, Physical. Vocal even, he recalls his thoughts on the plight of the older generation's views and the new generation's oppositions to the outdated practices. Emotional, maybe a change in direction of a previous moment in life. Physical, maybe moving to a new place with a very real new perception on his point of view. Physical and Emotional, he queries, his mind remembering the enchanting RA who belongs to the dance major.
He wondered if Jimin trained in classical or hip hop as the nuances would be vastly different. Classical, he considers, the RA definitely felt like he had a graceful aura about him that could only come from the discipline gained by a classical dancer. The way Jimin held himself or approached things in his life seemed beautiful from many aspects as if he knew how he wanted to look from every angle.
Daniel appears next to him, pulling him from his thoughts on Tae's roommate to look up at the other boy. His roommate motions towards the door, "I swear, Tae is going to have to start paying rent he's here so often."
"I do pay rent," the RA grins, "We all do. University life, am I right?"
Daniel rolls his eyes, "Yeah, I hear you. My job is killing my sleep hours. Any chance you could help me find something on campus?"
"I could ask around," Tae nods, his smile making his cheeks round. "Might cost you a roommate from time to time."
"I'll trade you Jungkook for the job."
"Hey!" Jungkook protests while standing and pulling at his shirt.
Taehyung grins, his eyes sharp as they cut to his NFF, "Deal. I'll take custody of him now if you want to sign on the dotted line."
"Bring a pen."
"I am not a charity case," He frowns as the two joke around. "If it's such a big deal, I'll find a new room. I'm sure resident services wouldn't be opposed."
"Has to be cleared by your RA," Tae steps in, grabbing Jungkook's wrist before he can get too huffy. "Besides, there's a perfectly shareable bed in my room if I kick Jimin out for a few hours."
Daniel lifts his hands, not willing to touch that comment at all. He backs away from the fray to turn back to his desk, the homework laid out over it looks like it could use someone's discerning eye to help the freshman along, but he doesn't seem to mind the struggle as he dives right back into it.
Taehyung pulls Jungkook towards the door, stopping only for a moment so that he can pull on his sneakers before they're out in the hallway. He feels the boy stop behind him when they both catch sight of Jimin down at the end of the hall. He's got a goofy smile on his face as he hangs on one of the freshmen he covers on his side of the dorm. They're joking around about something, Jimin comparing their stomachs to each other one moment to feet size the next. Taehyung coughs and starts walking again, pulling Jungkook along with him as they pass his roommate and the freshman he was conversing with.
"JK!" Jimin calls.
Jungkook twists his wrist to grab Taehyung's hand and takes off at a jog, pulling the RA along behind him as he removes himself from the other RA's sight. He slows when they're a block from the dorm, his hand dropping Tae's as he bends to catch his breath. That moment felt like it would need an explanation; one he didn't have. Well, maybe he did, but that didn't mean he wanted to give it. A warm hand pats his back, spreading out over his spine as his RA walks forward down the sidewalk lining the streets.
"How do you feel about pizza?"
Jungkook rights himself, falling into step with his long-legged RA, "Pizza?"
"Yeah, Jimin won't eat it while he's working on a play."
The freshman grins, "So I'm just filling in for your roommate?"
"What do you mean?" Tae claps him on the back, "As of just now, you're officially my other roommate. Daniel willed it so!"
"Ugh," Jungkook frowns. "Does that mean I'm going to have to put up with Jimin's 2 AM antics?"
"You'll get used to them," Tae laughs, his eyes dancing over the fast food places around them. "If you're not interested in pizza, we can get something else."
"Pizza is fine," Jungkook concedes. "Food is food."
Taehyung shrugs at the conclusion. He points to a red awning just down the street from where they're walking, "Well, if it's pizza, Marco's is the best."
Jungkook slides into the wooden booth, one leg tucked underneath his butt as he glances over the menu with Tae. Strangely enough, they both match pretty well on pizza toppings. Jungkook likes anything with meat and Tae sliding in some vegetables just so that their parents cannot say they weren't eating healthy enough. Both ignoring that pizza in itself was considered highly unhealthy in large moderation - but, boys will do what boys do.
Taehyung orders for them, noting Jungkook withdrawing when the waiter approaches them. He leans forward when the guy walks away, "I hope I didn't make you miss too much of your class earlier."
Jungkook blinks up at him. He had taken to making a pile of salt on top of one of the napkins that had been placed down on the table when the waiter showed up. It had been his distraction from having to converse with the guy. "My class?"
"Theory on how to renegade, or whatever," Tae waves his arm as if to dismiss the fact that he had already forgotten they had spoken earlier. "Were you able to get notes from someone? If not, I'm sure I can steal them from Joon. He changed his major a year ago, but knowing him, he most likely still has his notes. He had the same professor and everything."
"Joon? As in the guy that hurt 'Yoongs'?"
Taehyung's brows pinch together, "Why do you call Yoongi like that?"
"You never introduced him to me," Jungkook sighs, "That's what you had called him and it's the only name I know him by. It's rude to call him the blonde guy that got beat up." His thumb and forefinger pick at his salt pile, "So how is he? Yoongi?"
The RA slides down in his booth seat, probably spreading his legs under the table to get comfortable. "Well, we figure if he's still able to curse out Joon every time he moves wrong and causes himself pain then he's fine. Jimin had taken him to get an x-ray of his ribs earlier, but it seems like there weren't any major problems; just lots of bruises."
"That's good," Jungkook agrees. "And no offense, but I'm not going to accept notes from someone who beat up his friend."
"That's fair," his companion nods.
As allegiances go, Jungkook felt he belonged to whatever clan had him surrounded by two RAs and one strange, blonde mystery. A sort of unspoken loyalty to those founding members already felt etched into his gut as he leaned back against his booth chair. He didn't know or care who this Joon guy was, but anyone who could hurt someone as chill as Yoongi without even caring if he was hurt while claiming they were friends was someone he wanted to avoid. Even if the guy was some god with perfect notes, Jungkook would rather suffer from the missing notes than owe him anything and he stood by that decision.
When the pie is set between them, all gooey cheese, savory meat and colorful, the boys don't find the awkward silence that had fallen between them too unbearable. It's the excitement and filling belly that has Taehyung breaking the quiet of their small table. "Jimin asked about you."
"Oh?"
The RA nods, picking up a line of cheese that's hanging from his pizza to pile back on top of the slice, "He said he didn't see you in your weightlifting class today."
Jungkook ducks his head. The fact that Jimin went to the gym at the same time as his weightlifting class had completely slipped his mind. "I had to meet up with one of the other film majors to get the notes I missed from class earlier." A lie. Jungkook had told his first lie and it was to someone he liked as a brother - trusted as a brother. He couldn't possibly admit that he had skipped the class to avoid Jimin after the way his RA's roommate had sliced through him with one thoughtless sentence. "I'll be there tomorrow to make up for the missed time. I already emailed my professor and he said just to tell him what I do while I'm there."
"Sanders, right? Man, I miss that guy," Taehyung smiles. "He doesn't really enforce pushing yourself, as long as you do something; you know? I would've died freshman year. I signed up for it thinking it would be an hour to myself, but I had been wrong."
"Yeah, Sanders," Jungkook nods. "You lift?"
Taehyung makes a show of grabbing a new slice, "This pizza? Yeah."
"No," the freshman laughs as he throws one of the rolled-up straw sleeves at the RA. "Weights. You don't look like the kind interested in building muscle."
"I'm not," his friend agrees, inhaling a bite of his pizza. "I was one of the 'cool' freshmen who skipped the class after the professor left."
"Not cool," Jungkook chides.
"I know."
Jungkook sets down the crust of his pizza, chin on his fingers as he watches Tae finish off the slice of pizza he had just picked up. There is tomato sauce and grease from the cheese all over his face, but he cannot help but smile. His RA seemed more childlike at this moment than he had felt for a long time. "Are you interested in at least getting some arm definition? We can go together on Sundays?"
"Is JK asking me on a date?"
The freshman rolls his eyes at the thought. The one he would ask out, he cannot even face right now. New Jungkook could handle Jimin, but old Jungkook was around more often than his confident counterpart. "You're not my type."
Taehyung actually looks offended at the statement. He holds a hand to his chest, face full-on dramatic as he pulls away from the table a bit, "Me? I'm not your type? That's just rude."
Jungkook shrugs, shoving his straw down into his cup full of melting ice. It wasn't that his RA wasn't good looking, nice, or helpful. He just didn't pull that spark from the depths of Jungkook's soul or set his body on fire from one look alone. His strange choices in clothing should have been off-putting, but his personality still pulled people to him like magnets.
"On the topic of type," Tae treads lightly, "Have you found someone you're interested in? I only ever see you in your dorm room or the library."
The freshman chews his lip, eyes focused on the last slice of pizza between them, "I guess I don't really have one," he laughs, wiping at his nose, "No one really seems all that interested in me as well. Must be because I'm a freshman."
A hand waves in front of his face, "That's not it, at all," Tae's deep voice kills the notion. "I think a lot of people like you, JK, you're just only open like this with me. We need to work on your communication skills. Maybe then you'll see the line of people interested in you."
"What line?"
Taehyung motions his eyebrow towards their waiter that comes back to their table. He has a smile on, but instead of being directed at his RA that has been talking to him most of the night; his eyes are on Jungkook. "Can I get you anything else?"
Jungkook's jaw drops open, the realization of the subtle differences between how someone would just ignore him when he refuses to talk versus how this waiter is going out of his way to be noticed has his head in turmoil.
"We're good," Tae hands the man money for the pizza, "Keep the rest. Tell Marco I'll be back."
"Will do," the boy smiles, his eyes sliding back to JK just when a dimple pops on his cheek. "Have a nice night. Make sure to stay warm, the weather is changing."
His friend isn't able to keep it together, bursting at the seams with laughter as they step out of the pizza place. "Did you see your face? I thought that guy was going to ask if he could sit in your lap."
Jungkook's eyes are wide, shock still hanging on his every movement, "Was that real?"
Taehyung snaps his fingers in front of JK's doe eyes, "Wake up, Romeo. You were just hit on by a guy at the pizza parlor. It's not that big of a deal. Jimin hits on you constantly." He seems to regret those words, slapping himself in the face with his hand as he picks up his pace to leave the freshman in his dust. When he turns, Jungkook has frozen in place, his face bright red as he stares at Tae with those wide eyes that had been present since the waiter was overly friendly. "Come on, JK, I was just kidding. Jimin is like that with everyone. That's why I said you'll either get used to it or have a meltdown. Don't take it so seriously."
The clarification of Jimin's flirty nature did little to settle the sour feeling in his stomach. He just moves, engaging in small talk with Taehyung as they make it back to the dorm. It's probably close to freshman curfew, but being friends with the RA seemed to make the rules a little bendable for him. Tae walked slowly as if he had nothing but time, his hands shoved into the dockers he had borrowed, eyes on the night sky as they commuted.
It was a certain co-RA that was fuming the moment they both walked into the dorm. Taehyung had slid his badge over the door as the curfew didn't apply to him and pushed JK into the warm building ahead of him so he could slide the flip lock behind him. That left Jungkook to face the full force of the hurricane that was an angry Jimin as he walked into the common room.
"What the hell," Jimin glares into Jungkook, "Freshman curfew started thirty minutes ago."
"I-"
"He was with me," Taehyung covers, pushing Jungkook a bit behind him as he approaches his roommate, "It's not like he was out fucking around. We went for dinner. You saw us leave together, Ji. What the hell is your problem?"
"He doesn't get special privileges," Jimin retorts, crossing his arms over his chest, "He's a freshman so curfew still applies to him even if he is out with you and not doing stupid things. If you're lax with one freshman, you have to be lenient with all of them, Tae - that's the rule. Favoritism is not acceptable. Did you forget the contract you signed when we became co-RAs?"
"I'm sorry," Jungkook steps forward, his chest against Tae's shoulder. "It won't happen again. We lost track of the time."
"It's fine, JK."
"It's not fine," Jimin glares at his roommate. "Tae, we talked about this. If you want to keep this position, you have to follow the rules. Those rules apply to everyone, even your NFF."
Jungkook wraps his hand around Taehyung's large one, hoping to offer him a bit of comfort. He doesn't see how the action makes the other RA's eyes turn just that much icier in regards to it. "I'll take the punishment, Jimin. Please stop yelling at Tae."
"Go to your room, Jungkook."
He frowns. The good atmosphere and clearing up on Tae's end had been washed away in one more thoughtless phrase by Jimin. Kid. Tae's roommate was treating him as if he was a child yet again. Maybe that's all Jimin saw him as. He nods anyway, dropping Tae's hand to move around the two bodies and down the hall. Taehyung had told him he was an adult the moment he stepped onto campus, so why has every action since the frat party by Jimin made him feel like he shouldn't even be there?
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Chapter word count 4,363 words.
Chapter warnings/tags Jimin has no sense of time tbh, drinking, smoking (cigarettes), mentioned fighting, one-sided mlm crush (namgi), Jimin likes seeing Jungkook squirm
Jungkook glares down at his syllabus, there right at the bottom, was the semester project that was a short film with the theme of movement. Many thoughts race to his mind, many on the varying discrepancies between socioeconomic classes and the very system his country was built upon and how his generation would love to demolish the whole thing. The downside was his inability to converse with people even in his classes. Of course, his subconscious chooses this moment to remind him about his mystifying RA that admitted to being a dance major the night before. With the right editing, it had the potential to be a very powerful piece.
With a shake, he denounces the thought and lays the paper down on the table he's sitting at. Wouldn't that mean he would have to force New Jungkook to the surface or at least fake him until he would willingly just take the wheel? Aside from Taehyung's roommate, he was able to talk easily with anyone that approached him. Especially Monique in his speech classes, who is very pretty. Her smile alone would have been a reason for Old Jungkook to run for the hills, but he sat there the whole time and was perfectly fine when they agreed to pair up on giving a speech together to the next class.
They wouldn't have to come up with their own topic or even the words to speak, their professor just wanted to see how comfortable his students were with reading a teleprompter and keeping eye-contact with the camera. This would be a good class if he ever wanted to be in front of the camera instead of behind it, but he could tell Monique had an interest in being in front of the camera. She was a character, always having a joke to derail the conversation and keep it flowing without that awkward moment where everything died in silence. She was by far his favorite person that didn't live in the same building as him.
After his screenwriting class, he had to sit through an hour-long lecture that the university disguised as freshman orientation, as they seemed against putting aside a full day to thrust them into the life (which in retrospect, it was fine, just tossing him into his classes was the best way for him to understand what is expected of him). He did meet other film majors, which had been kind of beneficial to him if he really wanted to think about it; it gave him a group of people he could bounce ideas off of. It would have been smart to exchange numbers, but none of them being of similar personalities, even thought to offer their numbers to get the subject going. New Jungkook didn't step up for that one either, despite being comfortable with the group of film students.
He has been sitting at this table in one of the five eateries scattered around the campus, debating if he should eat something before his next class. Across from him, the chair is pulled out and when Jungkook looks up he sees Taehyung plopping down a tray covered with burgers and a basket of fries. He seems to be in a good mood, not that Jungkook was sure he had had enough time to understand his RA to such a degree.
Taehyung pushes a burger towards Jungkook, "I figured I would help you," he grins taking the other burger off the tray, "A lot of freshmen don't seem to be able to make a decision on the first day for whatever reason. Isn't it kind of cool that an upperclassman is treating you to lunch?"
Jungkook laughs, unwrapping the burger to stare over the fry basket at his RA, "I think you're just wanting to impress all the new gullible girls that haven't been around you like the ones that are your age." It earns him a few snorts from his deep-voiced companion and he grins watching Taehyung enjoy his company while working on his burger. He pulls some fries from the basket to munch on before taking his first bite of the burger and allowing the RA to talk to him about his first few classes and what he was feeling. It was such an easy-going conversation, and then a bomb seemed to fall into their space.
"Jimin didn't bother you last night, did he?"
Jungkook audibly swallows the burger in his mouth as he wonders just how much Taehyung actually knows and if Jimin had told him about the 2 AM goodnight. It's a 50-50 bet and he chooses to keep the strange rendezvous to himself, "No. I went back to my room, showered, and slept. Soundly, mind you, which is weird when you're used to not sharing a room."
"I can imagine," he bellows, shoving a fry into his mouth, "Getting used to Jimin was a hassle. He has trouble sleeping, so he tends to wander the hallways after he showers and doesn't sleep until around 2 AM. That's why I had asked you if he bothered you, he gets things in his head on his way back to our room and won't return until he's accomplished them. He once went off campus to find a place that sells donuts at 2 AM, brought them back, woke me up, and had me eat them with him before he would go to sleep. Of course, by then, I wasn't able to sleep thanks to all of the sugar."
"That sounds fun," he chuckles, grabbing a few more fries, thankful for Taehyung's presence since he was floundering for that moment, "Is that the craziest thing he's done at 2 AM?"
"You would not believe the things I've woken up to at 2 AM," Taehyung mused, "Jimin is a spitfire, but it's always a good time."
Jungkook clears his throat, the fact that Jimin had easily come up and become the topic of this whole talk with Taehyung hit him like a ton of bricks. He wasn't curious about this confusing roommate of Taehyung's in the least bit, he argued with himself, letting the bewilderment take over his face. It must have been easy for the RA to read, so he swiftly shifted the topic to a party that was generally for non-freshmen and Jungkook wondered why Taehyung would invite him to this party. He was a freshman.
"You're my friend," he counters easily once the question leaves Jungkook's lips.
The acronym that Jimin had mentioned at the meet-up the night before comes to the forefront as he stares at Taehyung. Today he's not sporting the weird beanie from the night before and Jungkook takes an actual look at his clothing as compared to the day before. His brow furrows at the unironic use of the silk nightshirt hanging from Taehyung's shoulders, but he doesn't mention it, because if he wasn't paying that much attention he wouldn't even have recognized it as a nightshirt. "What is an NFF?"
Taehyung tongues his right cheek, tossing the fry back into the basket that he had just picked up, "Jimin told you that, didn't he?"
Jungkook panics for the first time since he's met Taehyung, was he not supposed to bring that up? Was that something that was only supposed to be between him and Jimin, but Jimin had shared it with him?
Taehyung nods to Jungkook's silence, leaning back as he cleans something out of his teeth with his tongue, "It's what I call a freshman that I think will be a good friend in the future, but it stands for New Favorite Freshman," he explains, "I can usually tell from the first meeting if I can get along with someone long term."
"You're nice to everyone," Jungkook blurted.
Taehyung grins and leans forward once more, picking at the fries in the basket again, "I don't quite have the same skill set as Jimin when it comes to that, but I try."
Jungkook shrugs and licks his lips, "I think you're easier to talk to."
"Thanks for that," his RA stands while picking up the tray with all the trash, "I'll come to find you later, and you can tell me if you want to go. I have to head to my next class."
He waves Taehyung off before picking up his own things after catching the time from a digital clock that sits on the wall. If he didn't hurry, he would be late to the one class that he enjoyed outside of the ones a part of his major. He had picked up a weightlifting class because that was something he had already had an interest in and it would be, he hoped, a way for him to relieve stress as the crippling weight of upcoming work due to his many professors.
Jungkook is laying on the bench, arms gripping the bar above his shoulders, adjusting them really, as he listens to his professor take him step-by-step from lifting the bar off the rack to how he should bring the bar to his chest and speed on the uplift and returning the bar back to the hooks. He respected the walk through since he wanted to know the proper way to handle the equipment. When he sits up, he regrets the decision instantly when he finds Jimin across the gym on the pull-up bar. He's hanging there like it's his job, barely even a quiver in his arms, but he couldn't imagine how much strength a dance major would have to have.
He grabs his towel, wiping his hands on it, and wonders if he can work towards New Jungkook by approaching Jimin first. He's a few feet away when Jimin lowers himself, not dropping, but lowers himself from the bar to finally fall to his feet on the floor and he loses his nerve. Jungkook could see the sweat from where he stood, watching as Jimin brushed his hair back while he breathed out in heavy breaths. He swallows when Jimin does, fuck it he screams in his mind as he closes the distance from Jimin and offers up his towel.
Jimin looks at him and smiles before taking the towel to brush against his forehead then against his hands. Jungkook notes that Jimin doesn't seem interested in returning his towel so he leans against the pull-up bar to stare at the RA who very much still confused him in many ways, "Is this the normal workout time for a dance major?" Jimin dips to grab his bottle and takes a sip before he chooses to respond to that question after tying Jungkook's towel around his wrist, "I tend to like working out at this time," Jimin explains and takes another gulp of water.
Jungkook pulls at his towel that's wrapped around Jimin's wrist, the thought to take it back comes, but he leaves it when Jimin shoots him a sultry look. He's almost afraid to stay there, the look Jimin has fixed on him stirs something in him that he had never felt before. Contrary to what Taehyung had told him, he doesn't see how Jimin could be the gregarious one between the two RAs. Jungkook shifts where he stands and tries not to let it show how much Jimin has been affecting him.
"Did you eat?" Jimin questions him, his body language changing as if falling into his role as RA, "I can show you a good place to get something."
"I ate," Jungkook shrugs and pulls from the bar, "I'm actually in the middle of a weight lifting class."
Jimin quirks a brow, "And you're over here talking to me instead of paying attention?"
"I was the first person he explained things to," he looks over to where he was originally to find that most of the class was no longer there, as in no one at all, "and everyone is gone."
Jimin follows Jungkook's sight to where the weight benches are and laughs, "Most people leave once the professor does, at least the first year since they think it's cool they're not chained to a classroom." Jungkook finds his way back to Jimin's eyes after a few moments of thinking on how he was not acting like a quote, un-quote, cool freshmen. It couldn't be any less cool than high school Jungkook, so there was that, he supposed.
"Are you going to go then? You don't have to stay now," Jimin laughs.
"I probably should, huh?" Jungkook laughs, hand running up the back of his neck, "I gotta go shower for my next class. Hm," he stutters feeling his confidence wane, "I guess I'll see you around."
"Yeah, sure."
Jungkook is sitting on his bed, notepad positioned on his thigh, studio type headphones blaring rock music as he outlines different ideas for his filmography class. The semester project felt like a nice pressure, there was a lot of time for him to pick the theme but usually when he started on what he picked he felt like there was never enough time, so he wanted to pick the topic as fast as he could. He's so engrossed he doesn't even notice when Minghao goes to open the door, he only realizes when his roommate taps him on the shoulder a few times before pointing to the door.
His eyes go to the door where he sees Taehyung standing there, this time his hair is curled with a scarf tied around his head and a dress shirt that matches with the scarf. Jungkook jumps up off his bed and tosses his headphones back to the bed to make his way over to the RA standing in the doorway.
"You ready?"
Jungkook's eyes widen as he tries to remember what Taehyung could be talking about. Ready for what? He looks Taehyung over again and it hits him rather slowly when he finds black loafers on his feet with faux fur lining that he's dressed up and not actually wearing this as day clothes. The party. Jungkook hikes up his pants and looks around, wondering what kind of shoes he should wear. He had nothing at all similar to what Taehyung was wearing, nor did he feel he could pull it off as well as the RA did. "Is it okay if I wear this?"
Taehyung looks him over, gray sweats and a random shirt from his limited array of dark hues. "If that's what you want to wear, JK," he throws out his arms as if to say that it's his choice, "Put on some shoes and let's go."
Jungkook paused outside of C Hall, the kids who lived on campus usually referred to it as Cheongdam-dong (each building corresponding to a place in South Korea), the thrumming bass, and students milling around outside were his first impressions. Taehyung wraps an arm over his shoulders with a smile as he pulls him into the crowd of people before dragging him into the open doors. The closer to the blaring music that he got, the more the stench of alcohol assaulted his nose followed up by the smell of sweat.
He was surprised to find that Taehyung kept him close by after they entered the party. The RA grabbed a beer for himself and cola for Jungkook before pulling him around the room. They tucked into a couch while Taehyung reached forward to slap a guy on his knee with a big grin on his face.
"Man, I didn't think you would come." Jungkook can barely hear Taehyung's voice over the music.
The guy looks at Taehyung, a cup of green liquor pressed to his lips as he grins back, with his eyes covered by long blonde hair. The only discerning thing about the guy is his clothes. Black skinny jeans, a long black tee that reaches his thighs, black kicks, and a black beanie that keeps his hair from moving around.
"I wasn't going to," the guy admits, "Namjoon dragged me out."
Taehyung leans back against the couch, shuffling his legs wider as he grins at his friend, "You're too soft on him."
Jungkook tries not to react to that statement. It could mean anything, but he felt like Taehyung was saying this mystery guy was sweet on whoever Namjoon was. It made him study the mystery man for longer than he meant to and it seemed the guy realized he was staring as well.
The blonde guy leans forward to grab a lighter and a cigarette from a box sitting on the table covered in cups; some of which he's sure spilled over the table at some point before they sat down. He lights the cig as he leans back, but Jungkook is sure he's being evaluated. When the mystery guy points his hand holding the cigarette towards him, Jungkook starts chewing his bottom lip as he's worried about what the man could say.
"Who's the fresh meat?"
The mystery guy takes a drag of his cig and blows it out before Taehyung realizes that his friend was talking to him.
Taehyung points to Jungkook, "This handsome devil?"
The blonde offers a pout before he takes another puff, "Who else?"
Jungkook feels his fingers digging into the top of his thighs. Why was he so nervous? If this guy was friends with Taehyung, then he kind of trusted him, but that didn't relieve his nerves.
"BABY~!" Is screamed just behind where Jungkook sits before arms reach over the couch and wrap around Taehyung.
Jungkook leans away from the RA next to him and his attacker. That's when he realizes the dark styled hair, flushed cheeks, and devastating sharp eyes of Taehyung's roommate. His pillow lips placed a very wet kiss, it seems, to Taehyung's cheek, "I was worried you weren't coming."
"I had to pick up someone," Taehyung's deep voice drawls, eyes turning to Jungkook.
Jimin turns then and Jungkook is sure he's shaking. Those beautiful gray-contact eyes are hard as they study him. It's crazy how soft and almost sparkly they get as they seem to recognize who he is.
"Oh, he's Jimin's new plaything?" The blonde concludes.
Taehyung laughs, "No, this is my NFF," he corrects as he pulls Jungkook to him before Jimin can pull him off the couch, "Cute, right?"
The mystery guy releases a cloud of smoke as he shifts in his seat and crosses his legs. He finally shrugs his shoulders, lifting a cup from the table with the hand holding his cigarette to take a gulp of, "He's ok."
"You're just sprung on Namjoon!" Jungkook's RA claims.
It's in this struggle between the two men that Jungkook finds Jimin sitting on the arm of the couch, almost in Jungkook's lap as he stares down at him. He's got one of the most beautiful smiles that Jungkook has ever seen covering his plump lips and it makes his stomach flutter while his hands fidget in his lap. He tries not to stare at the boy invading his bubble, but it's so hard for him to look away now that Jimin has caught onto his nervous habit.
Jimin offers his hand, "Want to dance?"
Jungkook finds himself staring at Jimin's hand, his pinky in particular which is cute and short that pulls his attention. New Jungkook, he reminds himself, New Jungkook would take his RA's innocent offer to dance because there was no way it could be anything more. He doesn't even consider himself friends with Taehyung's roommate.
Jimin doesn't seem to like waiting as he stands and grabs a handful of Jungkook's shirt, pulling him from the couch with a huge smile as he pulls him along. The music gets louder the closer Jimin drags him to the crowd dancing. His RA turns when they're in the throng of gyrating bodies to offer him a beautiful smile as he drags Jungkook into copying his movements. He leads the freshman into swaying his hips, nodding when he's pleased with the movement to turn and do the same in time with the music.
Instinctively, Jungkook's hand reaches out for the swell of Jimin's butt; the silk pants making his rump look remarkably squeezable. He holds himself back, forcing his hand into a fist and back at his side as Jimin rounds again to face him. The beautiful smile on his lips could have him commit whatever atrocities could come from them all the while looking just as innocent as they do now; shining in the colorful lighting. Jimin holds his hands, sliding his fingers between Jungkook's as they stare at each other. His cheeks are a bit rosy still, a testament to how much he's consumed while waiting around at this frat party for Taehyung to show up.
Jungkook wonders, being just slightly taller than the beautiful RA, if maybe he was waiting for him to arrive as well. Had Taehyung told his roommate that he would be bringing this new freshman that he had taken an unusual liking to? He licks his lips, eyes locked onto Jimin before he spins him by his waist and settles them back into the rhythm of the music that had been abandoned thanks to the RA's smile. Jungkook rests his chin on Jimin's shoulder, leaning into his neck when he catches a sweet musk undertone instead of some expensive cologne that would have driven him away. Did this man know just how crazy the contradictions were making him?
Jimin drapes an arm behind Jungkook's neck as they sway. This had been what he wanted when he had dragged the freshman onto the dance floor, sure. Had he expected him to catch on this quickly? Fumbling, shy, red-faced, freshman Jungkook who wouldn't even look at him during schedule pick-up? No, but he also hadn't figured baby Jungkook would have approached him in the gym when he had made a point of giving the freshman his space - especially since he realized it was for a class. He glances to the couch where he remembers Tae sitting, wondering if maybe he'll come to rescue his NFF sometime soon, but he's met with an empty couch. Neither Taehyung nor any of his other friends are gathered around on the couch.
If he had been alone, Jimin would have cut his losses and went back to the dorm. However, he spins and grabs Jungkook by the front of his preppy Polo shirt and pulls the lanky freshman to him. His heart stutters at the smell of mint and cola on his breath. Unlike Jimin, the freshman hadn't been drinking, so those blown out eyes and lips that were red from the boy probably chewing them raw while they danced were done on sober thoughts. It's enticing, this thought of his, to steal the very air Taehyung's NFF breathes from his lungs and to make his heart stop for just a moment.
"Jimin!" he hears his friend call him, breaking his hold on the bubble he had placed the freshman and himself in.
Jungkook pulls away as well, creating space that had dwindled so quickly between their two bodies since Jimin had pulled him onto the dance floor. He can feel his face heat up as he finds his RA standing just inside the hallway he had been dragged through to join the party. The blonde mystery man is leaning heavily on him, his face downcast. He's moving to them before Jimin seems to even register the problem, taking the blonde's free arm to wrap around his shoulders.
"Fuck that hurts," the blonde growls into Jungkook's ear. "I think he broke a rib, Tae."
"Don't make me drag your ass to the clinic, Yoongs," his RA frowns.
This had not been how Taehyung wanted to introduce the freshman to party life at the university. Life is about risk, however, and his friend had taken a big one tonight. "JK, put your hand at his waist since he's less damaged there."
"Got it," he calls back as they turn in tandem to pull the blonde 'Yoongs' from the party. Jungkook makes sure to set the pace, not sure just how injured his RA's friend is and not willing to stress out any fractures in the process of going to get him some help. Jimin is by their side when they reach the end of the block while heading towards the clinic. He's got a jacket wrapped around him as he stops the progression to look the blonde over, his eyes beacons of concern in comparison to his earlier slow thoughts. Jungkook waves him out of the way, "We need to get him to the clinic."
"I know that," Jimin shoots him a glare, swallowing hard. "You should let me take over, you're not even supposed to be out here," the RA grounds out as he pushes Jungkook from the blonde's side to slide into that spot. "Tae, let's get going. Joon hits pretty hard when he's pissed. He could have broken something."
"Good ol' bulldozer Joon," Yoongs laughs as if drunk, but Jungkook is sure he's just delirious from pain or anger.
"I told you to watch yourself," Tae chides, his eyes flipping to Jungkook, "Head back, kid. We'll take care of him."
Kid. From favorite freshman to a kid in a matter of moments. Jungkook just turns and heads towards the dorms. He can hear Taehyung bickering with Jimin as they get further away until he hears 'Yoongs' yell at the both of them to shut up. Jungkook shivers as the cold sets in when he finally realizes the difference between the hot frat house and the night air outside. It was barely breaching autumn, but the night air had a fresh chill to it as if to anticipate the coming of winter within the next few months. He loved it. Winter was one of his favorite times of the year.
It's almost a walk of shame, if he thinks about it, the way he had been wrapped around Jimin's cute pinky finger and then tossed aside so viciously. At least, he feels shame as he walks into the pitch-black room, barely finding Minghao's Pikachu lamp when he shuts the door behind him. Jungkook drags himself to his bed on the opposite wall from Daniel's and Minghao's bunkbed to toss himself down on top of it. Only moving when he feels his headphones under his thigh. He yanks his covers up over his head and sighs heavily. Week one down, only fourteen more to go.
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Chapter word count 4,007 words.
Chapter warnings/tags Jimin makes Jungkook tongue-tied, Jimin has no sense of time tbh, Taehyung is best RA (fight me) -- nothing bad 😊
Large doe eyes take in the ground around him, sparse trees and sparser flowers, as he waits in line to grab his bunking assignment and class schedule. It was barely sun up and he could feel the sweat pooling on the back of his body as he shifted from one foot to the next. The line was impossibly long for only being 6 AM, but he huffed and pulled his duffel further up onto his shoulder. Today was the day, he decided, today he would be a New Jungkook. He moved up with the line, spotting that there was only one head in front of him before he would be able to grab his packet. It was a short-lived relief.
When the body in front of him moves, Jungkook lifts his eyes and lowers them just as fast. He steps forward slowly, licking his lips as he tries to raise his gaze once more. The student manning the table has rings lining most of his fingers, the black dress shirt he wears isn't buttoned to the top and when Jungkook can finally make it to his face, he swallows.
The student in front of him licks his lips as he stares up at the new kid before him, he lifts his hands to brush back his hair then smiles, "What's your name?"
Jungkook swallows again then coughs and tries to think past the crisis he's facing. He opens his mouth, trying to force his name out so that he can move on, but he closes it and looks around hoping to find someone else to get his packet from. There's a guy next to him, hair stuffed up under a beanie as his fingers thumb through the folders in the box in front of him. He only stops when he realizes his counterpart still hasn't gotten Jungkook's name yet. The thick eyebrows overshadowing lively eyes stare into him as if questioning him once more if he even knows his own name. "Jeon," he coughs, "Jeon Jungkook."
The boy in front of the folders elbows his partner, his hand reaching over to point something out before he rifles through the box in search of his name. The raven-haired boy pulls Jungkook's attention back to him as he taps his hand from across the table. Jungkook raises his brows while sucking on his lips, his eyes staring into the dark-haired boy's eyes now and stealing his breath as he takes in the golden contacts that make the boy seem far too ethereal. He tries hard to pay attention when the boy directly in front of him points out his name on the paper in front of him, indicating he had to sign for his packet, but his mind blanks even with the boy not looking at him.
Beanie boy takes over, shaking his head as he hands Jungkook's packet over to point out the very thing that his friend had just explained, "You just sign right here to say you received your packet," his deep voice drawls as his fingers push the other boy's out of the way. He even offers Jungkook a pen that he takes from the other boy's hand in frustration, probably upset the other boy wasn't committed to moving the line along as it was growing steadily as more and more new students arrived. Jungkook takes the pen and quickly signs the form, understanding just how perturbed the beanie guy was by his friend's and even Jungkook's lack of response.
When he walked away, the packet clutched to his chest, he chanced a glance back to see if ring-boy was staring at him, interest shining in his eyes and Jungkook pulled the packet tighter against his body. He's not sure what to do when the boy shoots him a wink before greeting the person who had been behind him; to start their process that had taken Jungkook so long. That person walks away just a moment later and Jungkook feels guilty, shaking his head as he finally turns and compels his feet to leave the area. New Jungkook, step one: failed.
Jungkook tosses himself down on the atrocity that would be his bed for the next fifteen weeks and deep within him, he hoped that a new Jungkook would step forward. His head lulls to the left, taking in the bunk bed just a few feet from his single one. It would seem his name had been unlucky upon the room assignment draw as most students only had one other person to deal with and he had two. To his relief, both boys were nothing like the confident one he had met while gathering his info packet.
Daniel, the boy on the top bunk, kept to himself mostly. He and Jungkook shared interest in video games, but that was probably where their similarities stopped. Daniel wanted to be a business owner, the definite business was still a mystery, but he had plenty of time to figure that out while he studied for his degree. His roommate said he would return back to the States after completing his degree and Jungkook took that as they weren't meant to get close even though they would be living together.
Minghao, his other roommate, had very weak Korean language skills. From his broken Korean, Jungkook could understand that Minghao likes to dance, but his major was going to be geared towards becoming a stunt double. He had shown off a few flips before throwing himself down on the bottom bunk to pass out after the exhaustion. Jungkook liked him, despite their language barrier, and he hoped maybe to help Minghao with that as best he could when his own classes would permit it.
A knock followed by their dorm door being pushed open reveals who Jungkook recognizes as the beanie guy from packet pick-up earlier. "Knock, knock," his deep voice calls attention to him, his eyes grazing over Jungkook's roommates before landing on him, "I'm Taehyung, my roommate and I are going around from room to room to introduce ourselves. We're the freshman welcoming committee and this is also the half of this dorm complex that I am RA for. If you need anything, someone to chat with, or help with your art classes, I'm your guy."
Jungkook hops up from his bed, his roommates not giving Taehyung any attention, so he moves forward to toss his hand out, "Jungkook, but I guess you probably won't remember me."
Taehyung grins, taking Jungkook's offered hand, "You're the guy that my roommate made sweat this morning," he corrects, his eyes knowingly taking him in with a smirk resting on his lips. "Sorry about that, by the way, I want to say that he doesn't know what he does to others, but it would be a lie. You'll learn to ignore it, or you will have a breakdown mid-semester."
Jungkook frowns, retracting his hand from Taehyung as if it had burnt him. He didn't like the implication that Taehyung's roommate (?) had some kind of effect on him. He was tongue-tied, that was all. His roommate was just a lot to take in first thing in the morning.
"Your roommates don't seem too interested, but there's a party that all the dorms have on the first night so that all the freshmen can make some friends. The RAs will be there to monitor the gathering, but we won't get in the way unless there is any trouble."
Jungkook nods, blinking nervously as he runs his hands down the back of his jeans, "Where is it? Is there a specific time we should be there?"
Taehyung leans against the door jam and crosses his arms over his chest, "Well, it'll be in the same area that you picked up your packet this morning. That usually makes it easier for freshmen since they haven't had much time to explore the vast campus. As for time, it starts around 6 PM, but I'll tell you now that it doesn't make much sense to show up then. I would recommend waiting until at least 8 PM if you get as nervous as you were this morning. You will easily blend in then."
So he had noticed, Jungkook thinks, chewing his lip as his eyes fell to Taehyung's feet. He tilts his head, as he realizes that Taehyung is barefoot and it doesn't seem to bother him one bit that someone could step on his feet or he could step on something painful. The toes wiggle, which causes him to look back up at Taehyung's face, "Thanks, Taehyung, it was uhm nice to meet you?"
"Tae," he corrects Jungkook as he pushes off the doorway, "I let all the freshmen I RA for to call me Tae. It's what most of my friends call me, and we're friends now, right?"
Jungkook nods awkwardly, his eyes never meeting Taehyung again as he finally leaves the room. He couldn't commit to a friendship that fast, but to say that out loud to Taehyung felt rude and he was trying to be a better version of himself. He had even already told himself that he would go to that freshmen meet-up after Taehyung had mentioned it, but old Jungkook would have turned him down flat on the spot. Jungkook had promised to be down for new things. New Jungkook wanted to be confident and able to put himself out there to meet new people. New Jungkook could make definitive decisions and stick to them no matter the consequences he didn't know were coming.
He could do this.
Daniel stares over his phone down at Jungkook as he goes through the piles of clothes laid out on his bed. Five different pairs of jeans in varying shades of blue from bleached to the darkest blue he had seen; all of them looked like they had been ironed. There were a bunch of polos, all of which were dark shades of every color imaginable and he wondered just what his roommate had signed himself up for. "Where are you going?"
Jungkook's round, scared eyes shoot up to his top bunk as he folds and unfolds the shirt in his hands, "I, uh, was told there's a freshmen meetup tonight where we picked up our packets. So I was thinking I should go and see if I can make any friends." The wrinkles in the shirt that he keeps folding are having babies and it's amusing to see the nerves in physical form. He watches Jungkook lick his lips as he places the folded shirt back down on his bed, "The RA came to introduce himself earlier, but you were busy and Minghao was asleep. Did you want to head there with me?"
"No, I have to call my parents to tell them how my first day went. You know parents, they keep you on the phone all day like you've been gone for a year, married and don't have time for them anymore. The guilt trips are the worst."
Jungkook blinks rapidly before nodding, "Yeah, I hear that," he agrees, but he didn't agree. Talking to his mother alone relieved a lot of his stress. She had always been the person he could go to when he couldn't trust his friends back home to not make fun of him for certain things. Parents were supposed to be your biggest support and biggest critic, his mom was the first one while his dad held the second role. He turns back to the extent of his clothes on his bed to put his hands on his hips, none of the options seemed to make a difference compared to what he had shown up on campus with. With a sigh, he decides to just put all of his clothes back into his small closet space, what he was wearing was just as good as anything he could change into in the end.
Jungkook had made it to the get-together 10 minutes before 8, his nerves close to making him give up, so he had practically run back to the lawn he had picked up his papers from that morning. It was what he expected, a multitude of freshmen crowding around the various tables lined with coolers of drinks, snacks, and the RAs that the new kids were interested in getting familiar with. His feet led him to the table covered in coolers since it was better to have a drink in his hand when he got nervous than not; it was a good distraction. He makes it to the front of the cooler with water bottles fairly easily as most of the freshmen seemed more interested in the tooth-rotting caffeine that he rarely touched unless he needed a mood boost.
A hand reaches into the ice and pulls out a water bottle with him, the hand Jungkook notices is covered with rings and he squeezes his eyes shut. He had forgotten what Taehyung had told him earlier about him and his roommate being co-RAs of their building. Which, now he realized, meant that the boy who had made him nervous earlier was the same one pushing the water bottle he held into his hand before standing straight once more. Jungkook squeezes both the bottles he holds and lets his eyes rake up the black jeans that squeeze against the boy's thighs, up the dress shirt he had seen earlier, and finally to his face. He gulps and tries to distract himself, but it's not working.
"You're Tae's NFF," he says in a smooth tone that makes Jungkook squirm, "I'm his roommate Jimin, by the way."
He tilts his head at the acronym, what in the world could NFF stand for? His confusion and quietness doesn't deter Jimin one bit as he continues to chat.
"I cover the other half of the dorm, and you can always come to talk to me if you need someone just to listen to you. I major in Dance but don't let that keep you from reaching out to me. We're not all stuck up."
Jungkook chews his lip, not sure what he would say or where he could even start. He wonders if he would be lucky enough for Taehyung to come and bail him out once again like he had that morning, but it seems he is one of the RAs being crowded around a small world away with a handful of RAs who are joking around with the freshmen gathered around them. He breathed out and looked into Jimin's eyes, "Nice to meet you," he stammered, cursing himself as soon as he spoke. Jimin just gives him a smile that melts Jungkook into a mental puddle at the RA's feet. It seemed very unfair in Jungkook's eyes that someone as confident in himself as Jimin could be responsible for someone as scared of his own thoughts as he was.
Jungkook juggles the two bottles, feeling stuck under Jimin's watchful gaze as he cannot even think of something more to add to the conversation. The original plan of using water as an excuse is shattered as he cannot function enough to even twist the lid off. New Jungkook is an elusive punk, he decides with certainty. He looks around himself and decides to leave so as to not hog the water cooler even with its lack of a line compared to the other coolers. He wanted to give a cool goodbye, maybe a head nod or a short bow, but he takes Jimin's distraction by another freshman as his chance to leave and high-tails it out of his space.
Jungkook takes refuge against one of the few trees in the yard, perching upon the brick barrier as he unscrews one of the waters to take a sip. The whole bottle drains into his mouth before he crushes the bottle down and screws the lid back on to keep it small. When he focuses again, Jimin is there, brushing back his dark hair like he had that morning and Jungkook swallows down the noise he involuntarily makes at the sight before letting his eyes swim anywhere around the RA except for his face as that was probably the primary thing that was making his heart speed up.
Jimin pushes himself down next to Jungkook on the bricks, crossing his legs as he turns to him once more, "You ran away before introducing yourself," he grins, noting how Jungkook refuses to meet his eyes, "You're Jungkook from this morning, right?"
Jungkook squeezes the bottle full of water in his hands, the grip making the bottle give off sounds in protest, as he swallows his spit down and starts choking on it. A hand pats his back and he refuses to think about who it could belong to as that would probably make it worse. Instead, he turns away, to find the other dorm RA Taehyung focusing on them both. He watches Taehyung raise a brow in question and he wonders if he's asking Jungkook if he needs help. Taehyung seemed to be able to read him too well for someone he had only spent a limited amount of time with that morning and the few minutes he had seen him in the afternoon. As slyly as he can manage with Jimin still tapping his back, Jungkook shakes his head and leans back while looking away from the other RA. "I'm Jungkook," he finally agrees.
When Jimin's hand slides from his back, it leaves a burning trail with the imprint of his rings as if he had been trying to bruise him instead of helping him to stop coughing. New Jungkook is confident he reminds himself as he tries to give his full attention to Jimin, "What made you choose dance as your major?" It only takes Jimin smiling at him for him to divert his eyes from the boy next to him. So much for New Jungkook.
"I've always loved dance," Jimin's voice softens when he reveals this interest to Jungkook and it makes him shift uncomfortably as Jimin continues as is his habit to do it seems, "I've been dancing since I was young, so I guess that gives me more motivation to prove myself to my family and friends back home who thought it was just a hobby. I want to make something of myself, but I want it to be my perseverance in dance that leads the way."
Jungkook nods his head, eyes tracing over the bottle in his hands as he sucks on his bottom lip. He had yet to tell anyone his major, not even his roommates, so he wondered if Jimin would question him about his. He had to have seen it on the folder that Taehyung had handed him this morning, right? Jungkook wouldn't have to say it, right?
Jimin sits there, hands folded over his knees as he waits patiently, he knew from earlier that the boy next to him was rather quiet around new people. Taehyung getting him to speak this morning wasn't much of a miracle as his best friend and roommate had that effect on people. He could use his eyes alone to get people to calm down and if that didn't do it, his soothing voice definitely did. He was like a walking, talking security blanket. He can feel his phone vibrate in his pocket, but he ignores it to keep his eyes on Jungkook as he seems to struggle with his words.
"Film," he admits, leaning away from Jimin's thigh that had become pressed to his when the RA uncrossed his legs to sit more comfortably. "I'm a cinematography major." He can feel Jimin shift once more at his side and even how his own ears are burning from having to admit that out loud. It had been a secret passion until he announced to his family that he would be studying film after he graduated high school. The one who had disliked the idea the most had been his father, his mother always showed him nothing but support so he was never sure how he should take his own major now. "I've always loved filming special moments," he explains, his eyes racing over the grass beneath his shoes and over to Jimin's feet that are covered in dress shoes, "I want to be able to tell a story from my perspective that everyone can feel and understand. It has to pull the same emotions I felt in that moment," he laughs and tries to meet Jimin's gaze, but shies away in the end, "If that's even possible."
Jimin's hand enters Jungkook's field of vision where it's been trained on the hands clutching the water bottle in his lap for the past few minutes while he tries to explain his major. The rings on Jimin's hand glint sharply in the lamps strewn about the yard as his hand finally takes purchase over one of Jungkook's hands. "I'm sure you can do it," he assures, his thumb running soft lines over Jungkook's knuckles.
"Jimin," a deep voice calls, cutting the interaction short. Jungkook yanks his hands from Jimin's and moves to stand when he realizes it's Taehyung that stands before them. "The coolers need to be refilled. Can you go get the drinks with me?"
Jimin makes a huff as he stands, but wraps his arm over Taehyung's shoulders anyway as they turn to leave Jungkook standing there. At that time, Jungkook turns to grab his crushed bottle and make his exit. The only people he had met today aside from his roommates were his RAs, Taehyung the one who definitely already felt like a friend, and his very confusing roommate Jimin whom he couldn't look at for more than five seconds at a time. He throws the crushed bottle angrily into the recycle bin next to his dorm building, New Jungkook is still a coward like Old Jungkook and the thought is infuriating. He grabs his bathroom caddy from his room, nightclothes, and a towel before he stomps off in aggravation.
A soft knock stirs Jungkook in the middle of the night. He was a light sleeper and he was sure that having two roommates would mean that he would have terrible trouble sleeping, but this was the first sound the whole night that had woke him enough to be classified as an annoyance. He scratches his stomach and adjusts his pajama pants as he makes his way to the door to pull it open. The door is pulled open to reveal a very different Jimin than the one who had stolen his breath earlier, many times, but this one doesn't give his heart a break.
Jimin looks freshly showered, his hair is still wet at the ends and fluffy at the top. He's wearing track pants and a shirt that is very big for his small frame. Jungkook looks down and is glad to find house slippers on his feet where Taehyung had been daring to wear nothing. Jimin must recognize the action as he laughs until Jungkook stares back at him again, "W-what,,, why are you here, Jimin?"
His smile is no less distracting now that he's defenseless looking, "I wanted to say goodnight. You left the get together before I could tell you."
Jungkook glances at Jimin's own version of a bathroom caddy and the towel that hangs over it is still wet. It's a bright yellow in that fabric he could only describe as what a travel bag would be made of. The color was boisterous considering his earlier ensemble was monotone. It was unexpected of a guy that presented himself as chic since Jungkook had met him that morning. "That's it?"
Jimin nods before he lifts his hand to wave and patters down the hall to the right. Jungkook can hear the opening and closing of a door down the hall which leads to him closing his door still unsure how to process what exactly just happened. Did he wake Jungkook up just to say goodnight? He wipes at his eyes and climbs back into his bed, this was the end of only his first day on campus? He wasn't sure he would last a whole semester if this was what he was meant to expect.
Before You Read This story was originally posted to wattpad and is being moved to tumblr as I plan to get rid of my wattpad. Thank you for understanding.
Summary Jungkook lived a very sheltered life leading up to now, entering college. He's shy, wet behind the ears, and is having to figure out how to interact with people he's forced to share a room with. It's a whole new experience. Throw in a charismatic and beautiful dorm resident advisor and you might just find him having a meltdown within the first month.
Warning/Tag(s) member x member, mlm, the problem of using glitter as payback, jungkook is kind of awkward, jimin is a flirt, rm is a jerk, yoongi deserves better tbh, bruises, smoking (cigarettes), alcohol (I mean, it's college) + more to be added later.
Status ongoing.
Chapters
First Semester: Fall (23,283 words)
New Jungkook
NFF
Theory on how to: Renegade
Month's worth of Kisses
The Clan
Glitterbomb
Jimin's Golden Ticket
Kiss Me
Charming Ghost
** I'll post the first semester chapters as soon as I have a day off. Sorry if I flood anyone's feeds 😞
Second Semester: Spring (n/a)
Pre-Spring Semester
Cursed Gangnam 7E
** more chapters to be added as they're written
*** second semester starts the newly written parts. I'll post them as I finish the semester.
I will be transferring stories from other places to here (the one story from wattpad and others from AO3) just to keep them in one place.
I will be shutting down my wattpad account (mostly because I never look at it), but keeping whatever is on AO3 where it is at.
Any future updates on fics (including current ones on AO3) will be here.
I may bring out old fics from my LiveJournal days, but I need a warning so: !! WARNING - SHINEE FICS WILL HAVE JONGHYUN IN THEM AS HE WAS MY BIAS ALONGSIDE KEY BEING MY BIAS WRECKER AT THE TIME. READ ONLY IF YOU'RE COMFORTABLE WITH THEM !!
That being said, a lot of those SHINee fics were JjongKey, MinKey, JjongTae, or 2Min. They will be clearly marked, so please make sure you're reading the top part before diving into the fics.
The old fics will be very strange as those were written when I was younger and writing whole fics in one day. If I have time to go in and edit them, I will mark when they've been revised.
As always, please feel free to leave comments and let me know if I missed any warnings :)
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