Pairing: Nerd!Jungkook x Nerd!Black Fem Reader
A/N: I LOVE Black Nerds (I love black anything tbh)
Jeon Jungkook. By far the most attractive man you had ever laid eyes on. Just catching a glimpse of his side profile made it worth sitting through the mental gymnastics that was Calc II.
It was no wonder Dr. Kane called on him frequently. He was your class teacher's pet, whom no one minded when he answered every single question. And every answer he gave was correct.
When you chose your seat at the beginning of the semester, you unknowingly did yourself a huge favor. Managing to snag a seat right beside the man, who would quickly become your class crush.
His perfect hair was cutely fluffed out in a mullet. Clear framed glasses on his nose and a couple of neon yellow pimple patches on his cheeks. His hand moved in time with the lecture on his mini iPad. From the couple of glances you could steal from his notes, even his handwriting could serve as an official font.
Whenever it was time for breakout group work, students nearly tripped down the steps, hoping to get into his group. Being assigned to Jungkook's project almost guaranteed a good grade. I wish you were bold enough to strike up a conversation unrelated to classwork.
But it would take a month’s work of courage building excercises before you could foresee yourself having a conversation with him.
That was until, you walked into Calculus II. Expecting to have your day ruined with one of Dr.Kane’s surprise pop quiz that was 10% of your grade. You walked into class staring at the formulas you just learned in the previous lecture. Your grade is currently 88. Dr. Kane based his grades on four heavily weighted exams and his pop quizzes. And the next exam wasn’t scheduled until next month. You were looking for any opportunity to give your grade a boost to the ‘A’ category.
Entering the classroom not too long after you. The classroom chatter settled as they waited for him to start the lecture. You took your seat beside Jungkook.
“Good morning, class. I have received many emails over the weekend asking for extra credit opportunities, since I do not grade your homework. Per my syllabus, I do not provide extra credit, and I will be abiding by that rule.”
Your classmates groaned at the news.
“However, I like to think of myself as a fair teacher and would like to propose an alternative.” This caught your attention, as you stopped looking at your notes.
“I will allow you all to take the next exam as a group if you all fill out the course evaluations and give me high reviews.”
Intrigued by the offer, you watched Dr. Kane write on the whiteboard. He divided the board.
“The easiest way to decide this is by a vote. Raise your hand if you want to take the next exam as a group.”
It was almost comical how everyone’s hand was raised. Dr. Kane scanned the room.
“Alright, it appears as if everyone has spoken. Please open your Canvas to see your groups.”
Your eyes widened, as if you'd just walked into a trap. One brave student raised her hand, asking the question that was probably on everyone’s mind.
“We don’t get to choose our own groups?”
“No. I ran the statistical analysis, and since the majority of students in here have a B average, it would not benefit those with B’s and A’s to be in the same group. Canvas has randomized you, and those are the people you will be working with for the next exam.”
You crossed your toes, hoping that the software program had not screwed you over. This was your chance, you had been waiting for, to boost your grade.
You stared at the projection screen at the front of the lecture hall, your heart doing an uncomfortable flip as you read your name under Group 7. And right there, two names above yours: Jeon Jungkook.
Your crush. Your completely-out-of-your-league, devastatingly handsome crush was in your group.
“Looks like we’re together,” a nasally voice said beside you. You turned to find a guy with thick-rimmed glasses and a graphic tee featuring what looked like a level 80 wizard. “I’m Ethan. That’s Marcus and Lily.” He gestured to two others approaching—Marcus clutching a laptop covered in coding stickers, Lily with her hair in a messy bun and a Dungeons & Dragons manual peeking out of her backpack.
“Oh, hey—” you started, but Lily’s eyes widened.
“Wait. You’re in our group?” She looked between you and the screen, then back at you with obvious confusion. “I thought you’d be too busy with, like, sorority stuff for a project like this.”
You blinked. “Sorry, what?”
“Aren’t you rushing Kappa Delta?” Marcus asked, adjusting his glasses. “My roommate said you’re, like, a shoo-in.”
“Dude, she’s totally going to carry our presentation skills,” Ethan interrupted, looking genuinely excited. “Everyone loves you.”
Your stomach sank as realization hit. “You think I’m my sister. Athena.”
Three blank faces stared at you.
“I’m not Thea. I’m her twin, but we’re… we’re not the same person.” You tried to keep your voice steady, tried not to let it sting that your own groupmates didn’t even know you existed as a separate entity.
“Oh.” Lily’s enthusiasm visibly deflated. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize—”
“It’s fine,” you said quickly, even though it wasn’t. It never was.
Then Jungkook walked over, backpack slung over one shoulder, looking effortlessly perfect. Your heart stuttered.
“Hey, Group 7?” he asked with an easy smile. His eyes landed on you, and for a brief, wonderful second, you thought maybe he recognized you from your shared Intro to Psychology class last semester. “You’re Athena’s sister, right?”
And there it was. The final blow.
“Yeah,” you managed, forcing something resembling a smile. “That’s me. Athena’s sister.”
Not your own person. Not someone worth knowing independently. Just… Athena’s sister.
“Cool, cool.” Jungkook seemed oblivious to your internal crisis. “So, should we exchange info? Make a group chat or something?”
“Discord?” Marcus suggested immediately, perking up.
“Sure,” Jungkook agreed with a shrug.
You pulled out your phone, fingers moving on autopilot as everyone exchanged usernames. The group chat materialized quickly: Group 7 - Algebros.
Ethan: ok so when r we meeting up?
Marcus: tomorrow? library 3rd floor?
Jungkook: yeah im free after 2
You hesitated, then typed.
Jungkook: cool see u guys then
You locked your phone and shoved it in your pocket, trying to ignore the weird ache in your chest. Tomorrow you’d sit across from Jungkook and be invisible. Tomorrow, you’d be Athena's less interesting twin while working with people who thought they’d gotten the wrong sister.
The campus gym’s studio room was flooded with late afternoon light, mirrors reflecting your shaking legs as you held a plank position that made your entire core burn.
“And hold… five, four, three…” the instructor counted down.
You collapsed onto your mat with a groan at the same time Athena did, both of you breathing hard.
“I hate you for convincing me this was a good idea,” you panted.
“You love me,” Athena shot back, her pink matching set still looking annoyingly pristine despite the workout. Her headband kept every hair in place, while you were pretty sure your dad’s vintage Radiohead tee was developing new sweat patterns. “Besides, you said you needed to blow off steam.”
“I said I needed ice cream and a nap.”
“This is better.” Athena sat up, stretching her arms overhead. “So are you going to tell me why you’re stressed, or do I have to drag it out of you?”
You sighed, moving into a seated position. “Got assigned to a group project today.”
Athena’s eyes lit up immediately. “Okay, that’s amazing—”
“Everyone thought I was you,” you continued flatly. “Including him.”
Her expression softened. “Oh. Babe, I’m sorry—”
“It’s fine.” You grabbed your water bottle, taking a long drink to avoid her sympathetic look. “I’m used to it.”
“It’s not fine, and you shouldn’t have to be used to it,” Athena said firmly, but before she could continue, her gaze shifted to something behind you. Her eyebrows shot up. “Okay, don’t look now, but there’s a really hot guy by the weights who keeps glancing over here.”
You turned around before you could stop yourself.
Jungkook. Of course, it was Jungkook.
He was at the cable machine, biceps flexing as he pulled down on the bar, and—oh god, he was looking in your direction. You whipped back around so fast you nearly gave yourself whiplash.
“That’s him,” you hissed at Athena. “That’s the crush.”
Athena’s grin turned absolutely devious. “Oh, he’s cute. Okay, so here’s what you’re going to do—”
“You’re going to casually walk over there—”
“Ask him to spot you or something—”
“Athena, I will leave you here.”
“Come on!” Athena grabbed your arm as you tried to stand. “This is perfect! You’re all cute and athletic, he’s working out, it’s like a rom-com meet-cute!”
“We’re already in a group project together. The meeting has been met. The cuteness has been… cut.” You stumbled over the words, flustered.
“Exactly, so you already have an in! Just go say hi. Mention the project. Flirt a little.”
You stared at her like she’d suggested you spontaneously combust. “He thinks I’m ‘Athena’s sister,’ which is somehow worse.”
“So correct him! Be memorable!”
“In this?” You gestured at your dad’s oversized band tee and your basic biker shorts. Meanwhile, Athena looked like she’d stepped out of an athleisure catalog.
“You look cute. That vintage tee is cool, and you know it.” Athena was already scheming; you could see it in her eyes. “Okay, what if I go over there and—”
“No.” Your voice came out sharp. “Athena, I’m serious. Do not wingwoman this. Do not talk to him. Do not even look at him.”
“Promise me.” You grabbed both her hands, looking her dead in the eye. “I will handle this myself. In my own way. Which is to say, not at all, and definitely not today.”
Athena deflated slightly, but she squeezed your hands back. “You know you’re just as interesting as me, right? Just as worth knowing?”
Your throat tightened unexpectedly. “The instructor’s starting the next set,” you said instead of answering, because if you tried to respond to that, you might actually cry in the middle of advanced Pilates.
Athena gave you a look that said this conversation wasn’t over, but she let it drop. “Fine. But for the record, vintage Radiohead tee beats pink matching set any day for actual personality points.”
“You’re wearing the pink matching set.”
Despite everything, you smiled. And when you got back into position for the next exercise, you very deliberately did not look at the weight section again.
Maybe it was wrong of you to expect this meeting with your groupmates to be productive. Jungkook was running late, as his car was having trouble. Leaving you with Ethan, Marcus, and Lily. Who were currently in the middle of an intense debate.
“There is no way the DC is better than Marvel. Are you smoking crack?” Marcus looked at Ethan like he burned him.
“DC characters have actual depth to them. They actually go through a character arc that is worth reading.”
“You just like staring at the female characters.” Ethan accused.
“I can’t help it I have eyes.” Marcus shrugged off the accusation. His lips folded to make an upside-down ‘U’.
“Guys,” you cut in for what felt like the tenth time this hour. Every attempt you made to steer the conversation to Calculus was ignored.
“Can we please just do the first page of the study guide?” You held up the paper you graciously printed for the group.
“Stay out of this!” They said in unison and immediately went back to arguing.
You looked to Lily, hoping for backup, but she was in her own world. Moving her character on the D&D board, she brought to the library. Safe to say she completely checked out.
Thirty minutes. You'd been trying to get this group to focus for thirty minutes, and you had exactly zero notes to show for it.
"Okay, you know what?" You stood abruptly, shoving your laptop into your bag. "I have somewhere else to be."
Neither Marcus nor Ethan seemed to notice. They were now arguing about which fictional heroine was more attractive.
You walked out of the library, your frustration mounting with each step. The cool evening air hit your face as you pushed through the doors, and you checked your phone. 6:47 PM. If you hurried, you could still make it to the student center before—
Jungkook: Is everyone still at the library?
Marcus: someone please tell this dingus that Black Widow is not more attractive than Jean Grey
Ethan: How dare you :( !! You.. you.. pinhead
You didn’t, brother. Letting them talk to themselves in the groupchat.
The student center’s basement was exactly where you needed to be. You could hear the excited chatter before you could open the door to Room A6.
“Toby’s Spider-Man is a classic. He is the best adaptation of Peter Parker that we have gotten.”
“Are you defending a 26-year-old man playing a high schooler?”
You slipped inside and immediately felt yourself relax. Posters of various Spider-Man iterations covered the walls- Tobey, Andrew, Tom, and Miles. It appeared as if you walked into a Socratic seminar combined with four corners. A representative from each side stepped into the circle to explain why the actor did the character justice.
About fifteen people were scattered around the room, some stood in their corner and others sat on the floor.
Oh, hey! New person!" A girl with box braids and a vintage Spider-Man hoodie waved you over. Her blush was bright pink against her cool complexion. She dressed as if she came straight out of an anime universe. A buttoned cardigan, flared skirt, tights and leg warmers. Her braids were in a light honey blonde color that loosely woven into a jumbo braid, laying on her chest. "Come sit! I'm Jade, club president and Peter Parker apologist."
"All Peters or specifically one?" you asked, dropping your bag and settling onto a beanbag chair.
"See, that's the right question." Jade grinned. "What's your name?"
"Cool. That's Tyler, he's our Andrew Garfield defender—"
"The Amazing Spider-Man was over-hated!" Tyler was now in the center of the room, rattling off facts about Garfield's portrayal a mile a minute.
" That's Priya, Jin, and Sophie." Jade gestured around the circle. "We're debating the definitive Spider-Man actors. You have opinions?"
"Unpopular opinion, I think Tom Holland really did capture what a 21st-century Peter Parker would be.” You said without hesitation.
"Thank you!" Sophie threw her hands up. "Finally, someone with taste!"
And just like that, you were in. No one asked if you were related to anyone. No one looked at you with confused recognition. No one expected you to be someone else.
Tyler was passionately defending Spider-Man’s symbiote. Priya was pulling up her frame-by-frame analysis of the Spider-Verse animation style on her laptop. Jade was orchestrating the chaos like a conductor with an orchestra.
"Okay, okay, controversial opinion time," Jade announced.
"Would you rather have Spider-Man's powers but everyone you love is in constant danger, or no powers but everyone's safe?"
"That's literally just asking if we'd want to be Spider-Man," you pointed out.
"Exactly! That's the point!"
"No powers, easy," Tyler said. "I'm too anxious for that responsibility."
"Powers," you and Sophie said simultaneously, then grinned at each other.
"With great power comes great responsibility and all that." you added.
"Oh, she even quotes Uncle Ben. I like her." Jade nodded approvingly. "You're coming back next week, right? We're doing a watch party for the original Raimi trilogy."
"Absolutely," you said, and meant it.
Your phone buzzed again in your pocket, probably the group chat descending into more chaos, but you ignored it. For the first time all day, you weren't Mina's sister or the forgotten twin or the girl nobody noticed.
It was 11:47 PM, and you were three Red Bulls deep into creating a study guide that your groupmates would probably never look at.
Your laptop screen blurred slightly as you typed out another bullet point about parasocial relationships and media theory. The document was color-coded, annotated, and had helpful examples—because if this project was going to be a disaster, at least you’d have good notes.
A notification popped up in the corner of your screen.
Your fingers froze over the keyboard.
It was nearly midnight. He was online. On Discord. You stared at the little green dot next to his username like it might disappear if you blinked.
Before you could overthink it, another notification appeared.
Jungkook: anyone else still awake or just me
Your heart did a stupid little flip. Play it cool. Be normal.
You: working on the study guide
Jungkook: oh damn ur dedicated
Jungkook: i was gonna work on the real exam but marcus and ethan are still arguing about the answer to question 3.
Jungkook: They are both wrong lmao
You glanced at the chat. Sure enough, there were 47 unread messages of them debating the answer to the integrals.
You: yeah i muted notifs after message 20
Jungkook: hey u wanna voice chat? might be easier than typing
Your hands were shaking slightly as you put on your headphones and joined the voice channel. There was a brief moment of static, then—
“Hello?” Jungkook’s voice came through, warm and a little tired. “Can you hear me?”
“Yeah, hi.” You tried to sound casual and not like your heart was attempting to escape your chest.
“Cool, cool.” You heard him shifting around, the creak of a chair. “So, uh, about the exam. I was thinking we could maybe divide it into sections? Then double checks answers before we submit it?.”
“That could work,” you said, pulling up a blank document. “We could each take a page and then combine them at the end.”
“See, this is why I’m glad you’re in our group. You actually make sense.”
You smiled despite yourself. “The bar is on the floor.”
He laughed, and the sound made your stomach flutter. “Fair point. Okay, so I was thinking—wait, is that a Spider-Man poster behind you?”
You glanced at your webcam, which you’d forgotten was on, then at the massive Miles Morales poster on your wall. “Oh. Yeah.”
“Dude, that’s sick! Is that the limited edition one from the Across the Spider-Verse release?”
“Know about it? I stood in line for three hours trying to get one, and they sold out.” He sounded genuinely impressed. “Where’d you get it?”
“Comic shop downtown. They had like two left.” You were sitting up straighter now, your nervousness fading into genuine excitement. “Wait, you’re into Spider-Man?”
“Are you kidding? Spider-Man is like—he’s the best superhero, hands down.”
“Oh my god, finally someone who gets it!” You were grinning now. “Everyone always wants to argue about Batman or Deadpool, but Spider-Man is literally—”
“—the most relatable hero!” Jungkook finished. “Like, he’s just a kid trying to do the right thing and constantly getting screwed over by life.”
“Exactly! And the whole power and responsibility thing actually means something because he’s not a billionaire or a god, he’s just—”
You both laughed, and suddenly you weren’t nervous anymore. You were just talking to someone who actually understood.
“Okay, wait,” Jungkook said. “Best Spider-Man movie?”
“Into the Spider-Verse, no contest.”
“Totally!” He sounded so relieved. “My roommate keeps saying No Way Home and I’m like, that’s not even close.”
“No Way Home is good for nostalgia, but Spider-Verse is literally a perfect film.”
“The animation! The story! The music!”
For the next forty-five minutes, you completely forgot about the study guide. You talked about his iconic suits, debated whether Gwen Stacy deserved better, analyzed the themes of Miles Morales’s journey, and even got into a deep dive about Spider-Man PS4.
“Wait, wait,” you said, suddenly remembering. “There’s a club is doing a Raimi trilogy marathon next week. At the student center. You should come.”
There was a pause. “There’s a Spider-Man club?”
“Yeah, they meet Thursdays. It’s pretty chill, just people who are way too invested in a guy in spandex.”
“That sounds amazing, actually.” He sounded genuinely excited. “Can I really just… show up?”
“Yeah, of course! I’ll text you the details.”
“Okay, yeah. I’m definitely coming.” Another pause, then his voice got a little softer. “This is cool, by the way. Finding someone who’s into this stuff.”
“Spider-Man, yeah, but also just—” He hesitated. “I don’t know, people at this school are weird about hobbies sometimes. Like, I’m into working out and fitness, but I also love comics and video games, and people always act surprised that those things can coexist.”
“People are really into boxes,” you agreed. “My twin is the ‘popular’ one, so everyone just assumes I’m exactly like her.”
“For what it’s worth,” Jungkook said, and you could hear the smile in his voice, “I think the vintage band tees and Spider-Man posters thing you have going on is way cooler than whatever the popular crowd is doing.”
Your cheeks heated. “You noticed my band tees?”
“I mean, yeah. You wore that Radiohead one at the gym yesterday. It looked good.”
“Thanks,” you managed, trying to sound normal and not like you were internally screaming.
“So,” he continued, and was there a slightly flirtatious edge to his voice now? “Study guide. We should probably actually work on that before it’s tomorrow.”
“Right. Yeah. The study guide. That’s… why we’re here.”
“Totally why we’re here.” He was definitely smiling. “But after we finish, you have to tell me your ranking of all the Spider-Man villains.”
“Only if you tell me yours.”
You pulled up the study guide document, your heart doing complicated acrobatics in your chest. Jungkook started reading through what you’d already written, making impressed noises. You realized something:
He wasn’t talking to Athena’s sister right now.
And he actually seemed to like it.
