Tension
(jeon jungkook/reader)
Fans have decided that you and Jeon Jungkook, the youngest of the global sensation BTS, have some underlying tension and consider each other enemies. They'd lose their minds if they found out the truth.
Word Count: 2.4k
note: I've really enjoyed writing on here recently! If you like this or want more, please check out my other bts works and my ao3 account! I have some longer fics on there and here :)
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tags: Jeon Jungkook, reader is an idol, MAMA awards, peak kpop era, i miss 2018 kpop, jungkook is not subtle, jungkook is a YEARNER, yearners are earners, bring back male yearning
The first time fans decided you hated Jeon Jungkook, you were nineteen years old and too exhausted to smile properly at an encore stage.
That was it.
One badly angled camera shot of you looking vaguely annoyed while Jungkook celebrated a win with his members somehow became the foundation of a years-long conspiracy theory. By the next morning, Twitter was full of slowed-down edits with dramatic captions.
“Y/N can’t STAND Jungkook omgggg”
“The tension between them is terrifying.”
“She looked at him like she wanted him dead.”
And unfortunately, the internet loved it. Every interaction after that became “evidence.”
If Jungkook bowed and you didn’t immediately bow back? Drama.
If you sat too far apart at award shows? Suspicious.
If you accidentally made eye contact during ending stages? Suddenly there were twenty-minute YouTube analyses titled:
“The REAL Reason Y/N Hates Jungkook.”
It got so ridiculous that idols started joking about it publicly, even your own members made fun of you for it.
“Please don’t fight Jungkook tonight,” your leader said while your makeup artist adjusted your lipstick.
You looked up from your phone. “I have never fought Jungkook.”
“You shoulder-checked him at MAMA last year.”
“He stepped on my dress.”
“He apologized.”
“He sounded sarcastic.”
Your entire group burst into laughter.
“Oh my god,” another member wheezed. “You sound like a divorced couple.”
You threw a makeup sponge at her head.
“I hate all of you.”
“See?” your leader grinned. “Exactly like that.”
—
Award shows always felt like organized chaos. Managers shouting schedules backstage. Stylists running around with emergency sewing kits. Camera flashes constant enough to leave spots in your vision for hours afterward. By the time your group stepped onto the red carpet at the Seoul Music Excellence Awards, your cheeks already hurt from smiling.
“Y/N! OVER HERE!”
“LOOK LEFT!”
“Y/N-SSI!”
You posed automatically beside your members, silver-black satin dress shimmering beneath the lights. Then suddenly the screaming doubled. You didn’t need to turn around to know BTS had arrived. The photographers practically lost their minds. Your leader leaned slightly toward you without moving her smile.
“Behave.”
“I always behave.”
“That’s objectively false.”
You rolled your eyes.
Still, against your better judgment, you glanced over your shoulder. Immediately you regretted it because Jungkook looked unfairly good tonight. Black suit. Dark hair slightly tousled beneath the camera flashes. Rings glinting as he adjusted his cuff.
Even worse-
He caught you looking.
Your stomach dropped instantly.
For half a second neither of you looked away. Then your heel caught awkwardly on the carpet edge. You stumbled. A hand grabbed your arm before you could fully lose balance. Warm fingers wrapped around your forearm steadily.
Jungkook.
The crowd noise exploded.
“Oh my god!”
“JUNGKOOK SAVED HER.”
“LOOK AT THEM.”
You stared at him in horror while he steadied you carefully.
“You okay?” he asked automatically.
Too soft. Way too soft.
“I’m fine,” you answered quickly.
His hand lingered one second longer than necessary before letting go.
And then, very faintly, he smiled. It was barely noticeable, meant for just you to see and not the cameras, but it was still enough to make your pulse stutter. Your manager looked ready to pass out.
—
“Stop staring at him.”
“I’m literally not.”
“You’ve looked over there seven times.”
“I’m watching the performances!”
“You’re watching Jungkook.”
You shoved your member lightly while she laughed beside you.
The ceremony had been going for almost two hours already, and the seating arrangement tonight was genuinely evil. BTS sat directly across from your table. Every audience camera sweep felt like a threat. Every accidental glance became dangerous. Especially because Jungkook apparently enjoyed making things worse. Halfway through another group’s performance, you looked up and found him already staring at you.
Not blankly.
Not casually.
Actually looking at you. His expression softened slightly the second your eyes met. Then the giant screen above the stage switched to a live audience shot. Directly onto both of you. The venue erupted. You snapped your head away instantly while your members collapsed laughing. Across the room, Jungkook physically covered his face with one hand.
“Oh my GOD,” your leader wheezed. “Twitter is gonna explode.”
“I hate this place.”
“You’re blushing.”
“I am under stage lights.”
“You are under emotional distress.”
Unfortunately, she wasn’t entirely wrong.
Because lately, things with Jungkook had started looking… weird. Not bad weird, just different. Longer conversations backstage, lingering eye contact, moments where the teasing between you didn’t quite feel like teasing anymore. And every time you caught him looking at you lately, something in your chest tightened in a way you didn’t fully understand.
—
BTS performed later that night, and honestly? That was probably where things became dangerous.
You’d seen Jungkook perform hundreds of times before through music shows and festivals and year-end stages. But tonight he seemed especially magnetic under the lights. More Confident, more sharp, you felt more completely consumed by the performance. Your members noticed immediately.
“Oh no.”
“What?”
“You have heart eyes.”
You nearly choked on your drink.
“I absolutely do not.”
“Y/N, you look enchanted.”
“I’m appreciating artistry.”
“You’re appreciating his biceps.”
You shoved her shoulder hard enough to make her laugh louder.
Still-
You couldn’t fully deny it.
Because Jungkook onstage was impossible not to watch.
And then, during the final chorus, he looked directly toward your table- directly at you. Your breath caught instantly. The eye contact lasted barely two seconds, but somehow it felt intimate. It felt intentional, like he was looking for you specifically in a room full of thousands. Your stomach flipped stupidly.
“Ohhhhh my god,” your member whispered beside you. “You’re doomed.”
—
Backstage after the performance, things somehow got worse. You’d just turned a corner near the artist waiting rooms when someone collided lightly into you. Strong hands caught your shoulders automatically.
“Sorry-”
Jungkook stopped mid-sentence. You froze too.
“Oh.”
Up close, he looked exhausted. Slightly sweaty from performing. Black button-up loosened at the collar now. Smudged eyeliner still lingering beneath his eyes. Somehow that made him look even prettier. Dangerously prettier.
“You okay?” he asked quietly.
“Yeah.”
Neither of you moved immediately.
The hallway buzzed with distant staff noise somewhere farther away, but this little corner remained strangely empty. Jungkook still hadn’t taken his hands off your shoulders. You noticed at the exact same moment he did. Both of you stepped back instantly.
Awkward silence.
Then-
Unexpectedly-
Jungkook laughed.
You blinked. “What?”
“This is ridiculous.”
“What is?”
“The whole enemy thing.”
You crossed your arms defensively. “You think this is funny?”
“A little.”
“There are compilation videos of us apparently wanting each other dead.”
“I watched one once.”
Your jaw dropped.
“You WHAT?”
“It had good editing.”
“You are unbelievable.”
His grin widened slightly.
And there it was again-
That warmth in your stomach. That weird softness every time he smiled at you lately.
“You did well tonight,” he said after a moment.
The sincerity caught you off guard.
“Oh.”
Your voice came out quieter than expected.
“Thanks.”
Something shifted subtly between you then. The teasing faded slightly, and Jungkook looked at you differently somehow. More carefully.
The air felt heavier.
Then footsteps echoed nearby, both of you instinctively stepped apart at the exact same time. Jungkook noticed too because he snorted softly.
“We look guilty.”
“We’re literally standing in a hallway.”
“Exactly.”
You laughed before you could stop yourself. Jungkook went completely still. Your smile faded slightly.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No seriously.”
He rubbed the back of his neck once, then muttered quietly, “I like hearing you laugh.”
Your entire brain stopped functioning. Before you could answer, someone shouted his name from farther down the hallway. Reality snapped back instantly. Jungkook stepped backward first.
“I should go.”
“Right.”
Neither of you moved. he smiled softly one last time.
“Try not to trip again.”
You rolled your eyes automatically. “Try not to stare at me during performances.”
His eyebrows lifted slightly.
Interesting.
Then he walked away, leaving you standing alone in the hallway with your heart beating entirely too fast.
—
“You have a crush on Jungkook.”
You nearly inhaled your iced coffee.
“What?”
Your members teased you while our manager looked deeply unimpressed from across the couch.
“You literally smiled at your phone for ten straight minutes after he texted you.”, the manager grumbled before getting up to get another drink.
You froze.
“…what?”
Your members stared in silence.
Then their eyes widened.
Slowly.
“Oh my god,” one whispered. “OH MY GOD.”
You buried your face in a cushion immediately.
Because yes.
Okay.
Fine.
There was a reason Jungkook had your number. There was a reason your stomach flipped every time he texted. And there was definitely a reason you’d been sneaking around like an idiot for the last eight months.
“YOU’RE DATING?”
“Keep your voice DOWN.”
They looked moments from exploding.
“Since WHEN?”
“Eight months.”
“EIGHT-”
You lunged across the couch to cover her mouth.
Another looked genuinely betrayed.
“You didn’t tell us?!”
“We wanted it private!”
“Private?!” she hissed. “You two stare at each other like you’re in a drama.”
“That is not true.”
“Y/N. Last week he carried your bag through an airport.”
“He was being nice.”
“He looked ready to murder the staff member who asked if you were single.”
You hid your face again because unfortunately, that one was true.
—
After your award acceptance later that night, Jungkook cornered you behind one of the backstage monitor walls during a commercial break.
No cameras.
No staff.
Just the muffled sound of the ceremony through the walls.
“You disappeared earlier,” he said softly.
“I was busy winning awards.”
“Excuses.”
You smiled automatically, and immediately his expression changed. Softened. That look again. The one that always made your chest ache unexpectedly. Jungkook stepped closer naturally, fingers brushing lightly against yours.
Comfortable.
Familiar.
Like this wasn’t secret anymore.
“We haven’t talked properly in days,” he murmured.
Schedules had been brutal lately- different countries, different rehearsals, different comeback preparations. Sometimes dating another idol felt impossible. Still, the second Jungkook touched you, everything else got quieter somehow.
“You looked really pretty tonight,” he said.
Heat rushed immediately into your face.
“You’ve said that three times already.”
“I’m saying it again.”
“You’re annoying.”
“You like me annoying.”
Unfortunately-
Very unfortunately-
He was right.
You leaned lightly against the wall behind you while Jungkook looked at you with that unbearably soft expression again. He checked around the corner and then, without hesitation, he leaned down and kissed you.
Gentle.
Brief.
Familiar.
Your fingers curled instinctively into the front of his jacket.
God.
You missed him.
“You know,” you whispered against his mouth afterward, “the internet still thinks I hate you.”
Jungkook laughed softly.
“They’d lose their minds if they knew the truth.”
—
Turns out-
The internet did find out. Next time, be careful what you speak into existence?
It wasn’t the way either of you expected. Near the end of the ceremony, fans started noticing strange things online. Little things at first- a blurry backstage photo posted by a staff member accidentally showing Jungkook holding your iced coffee in the background, a clip from the audience where he instinctively reached toward your chair when you stood up too quickly, a slowed-down fancam catching you smiling at him during BTS’s acceptance speech.
Individually, none of it meant much.
Together?
Twitter lost its collective mind, especially after one fan account posted side-by-side screenshots from backstage livestreams.
In Jungkook’s reflection through a mirror, barely visible, was you. Wearing his hoodie. The tweet exploded instantly.
“WAIT.”
Within twenty minutes, hashtags started trending worldwide.
#JungkookYN
#THEYWEREDATINGTHISWHOLETIME
#EnemiesToLovers
Your phone started vibrating nonstop backstage. Messages flooding in. Your manager sounded seconds from a breakdown.
“How did Twitter figure this out from A REFLECTION?”
Your members were screaming. Actually screaming. Meanwhile you sat frozen on the dressing room couch while tweets multiplied by the second. Somebody had already made a thirty-picture thread titled:
“PROOF JUNGKOOK AND Y/N HAVE BEEN IN LOVE FOR MONTHS.”
You groaned loudly into your hands.
A new notification appeared.
[Kook 🐰]
well
Another message immediately followed.
at least they stopped thinking you hate me
Despite yourself, you laughed. Your phone rang seconds later. Jungkook. You answered immediately.
“This is your fault.”
“My fault?” he repeated, sounding deeply amused. “You wore my hoodie on camera.”
“It was comfortable!”
“You looked cute.”
“You are taking this suspiciously well.”
There was a pause, then his voice softened.
“Did you see the reactions?”
You blinked slightly. You’d been too busy panicking. Slowly, you reopened Twitter.
And froze.
The top tweets weren’t angry.
They weren’t hateful. If anything, people seemed delighted.
“WAIT THE TENSION WAS FLIRTING THIS WHOLE TIME?”
“THEY’RE ACTUALLY ADORABLE.”
“enemies to lovers in real life i’m crying.”
“Jungkook looking at her like that during performances suddenly makes sense.”
There were memes. Edits. Fans joking about “winning” after years of conspiracy theories. But underneath all of it-
Support.
Warmth.
Excitement.
No outrage.
Your chest loosened unexpectedly.
“I think…” you said slowly, “they’re okay with it.”
Jungkook hummed softly on the other end of the line.
“Told you.”
“You did not tell me.”
“I implied it confidently.”
You laughed quietly. Outside your dressing room, your members were still losing their minds over Twitter edits. Somewhere farther down the hallway, staff rushed around panicking over press statements. But for the first time all night, you felt calm. Jungkook spoke again, softer this time.
“So.”
“So?”
“You don’t have to glare at me in public anymore.”
You snorted.
“I never glared at you.”
“You shoulder-checked me at MAMA.”
“You stepped on my dress.”
“I apologized.”
“You sounded sarcastic.”
His laugh crackled warmly through the phone and suddenly you realized something. Maybe the internet had been wrong about the hatred. But they’d been right about one thing all along. There really had been tension between you and Jungkook.
Just not the kind anyone expected.
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