fruitybanqtan

maybe.,.,

just mAYBE you should’ve warmed up a little bit more before this goddamn practice match

it doesn’t help too that you’re still a lil bit hungover from last night because seokjin and yoongi iNSISTED to get everyone drunk

they put a beanie on the corner of the tv and each of you had to drink whenever someone appears at the edge of it :’’’)

also didn’t help the fact that yoongi tried to be helpful

shoved his fingers into your mouth in an attempt to get you to puke (so you would feel better in the morning) but in doing so, HE’S the one who puked

and now you were disgusted and therefore unable to p-word

everyone’s lagging in their game today, and with you being the team captain, of cOURSE you had to boost team morale

by boosting team morale u meant moving excessively and grinding extra hard and jostling them much more so they’d do the same

and it’s working!!!!

it’s working and now you feel like passing out :D

your jersey’s soaked and your socks are damp and you want to nestle in the cooler by yourself

fortunately, your coach fINALLY called for a ten-minute break

rip you’re sprawled out in the bleachers

extra rip why is the sun being blocked rn ://

yeah well you dO wear sunscreen and reapply it every two hours, but you didn’t think that it’d be this effective

almost like you can’t see the sun at all

like your eyes are closed and there’s no heat beating down on them

it’s almost as if someone’s i-in... front.......... of you

this is not white chicks??????

that is most definitely nOT terry crews??????

“m-miss y/n?”

you’re still a little bit groggy and it’s taking your eyes awhile to re-focus, unintentionally having a scowl on in the process

“who’s asking?”

you’re gonna scream if it’s another one of those scouts jeez they can ask for you after practice and not during your break!!

“o-oh! i’m uh, jeon jungkook?? sorry, yeah, i don’t know why i sounded unsure. i am jungkook, your junior...?”

....

WAIT WAIT WHAT

you try not to move up abruptly, putting yourself up on your elbows that makes jungkook intimidatingly take a few steps back and give you your distance

you clearly did not expect this

“how may i... help.... you?”

kook is literally shaking in his boots and he’s not even wearing boots

you’re just giving him a blank glance and not to be rude but USUALLY (!!!) he’s used to the other person making conversation and taking it from there

he’s blanking out for a second and it’s only when you tilt your head at him that he snaps out of it

“right!!! we have this statistics assignment?? a-and we need to interview an athlete for it and i was hoping if i could uhm, if i could interview you?”

weird

out of all the athletes in uni, why would jungkook ever come to you??

not that you’re complaining but you didn’t exactly expect that your first interaction with him would be out of necessity

there’s this tense silence that stretches and jungkook still awkwardly has his hands balled nervously and your still on your elbows

“oh. okay. i have eight minutes left of break before i go back to my game.”

he jolts up at that before he’s meticulously pulling things from his backpack rather ungracefully, “no worries!! i can just wait for you after your game.... i-i think?”

cute

you’d find him cuter if only he hadn’t been giving your lunches that you’ve worked hard on

>:(

“yeah? and when’s that deadline of yours?”

jungkook stills as if you’ve just exposed him, sheepishly bowing his head

“tonight. 11:59 pm.”

huh

even more weird

you thought jungkook was an early bird when it comes to these things because he’d literally march to the desk just a day after a task was given

you ponder in thought, abruptly standing to go to your coach

jungkook fREAKS out on his knees

“i’m so sO sorry to have bothered-...”

coach jeong only nods once with a firm line on his lips, dismissing you because he’s figured that the captain cOULD ask favors from him every once in a while

kook stops his apologies when you look at him again, towel on your shoulders

you look bored with him

“i can squeeze you in.”

:O

alright that’s gonna sink in eventually

pls function

one

two

“o-oh! thank you so much!! i-i won’t take long, i promise.”

jungkook wastes no time in setting everything up even if he seems disorganized

he has his pen and paper ready plus his phone to record you

apparently, it’s all just bASIC questions and lmao they truly were

do you eat breakfast everyday? how often do you work out? how often do you get injured in a game??

“lastly, how do you pack your lunchboxes?”

“well-...“ your eyes narrow at the question, tilting your head in confusion

there is absolutely nO way that is still a part of his questionnaire

not unless he knows it’s you in the flesh?????

jungkook’s eyes widen at the same time yours do and your jaw clenches because oh my fucking god did he figure you out

o_O

jungkook sheepishly shakes his head, going immediately into a sad smile before he waves it off

“sorry. i uh, i’m just going through it right now,” he mumbles under his breath, writing something on his paper, “... but really, how do you do it?”

“jungkook.”

he giggles at the way you deadpan eVEN when you were ready at the moment to worm your way out of it, thrusting his pen and paper to your hands

“write your full name and sign, please. y’know, ‘i, blank blank, consent to jeon jungkook’ the basic?”

???

did this mf just say blank OUT LOUD??? TWICE????

you only try to discreetly laugh under your breath when you do so, handing it back with ease unlike him

“i also need a picture for documentation, i-if that’s alright?”

oh uhm

you’re still soaked in sweat????

jungkook must’ve seen your panic as he aids in, handing you a mask and gesturing for the towel to cover up how cLEARLY drenched you are

(but with your jersey showing!!!!!)

this is clearly a lot to take in

your first interaction aND a picture together???

jungkook keeps profusely bowing his head to you, gathering his items neatly before bidding you goodbye

his eyes do a double-take at the notebook, only wanting to make sure that all the details are complete and he wouldn’t have to trouble you later for clarifications

jeon jungkook

he goes rigidly frozen that it makes you tilt your head once again, a shaky sigh on him that he’d only correct later

“is that tequila???”

yoongi opens your door and it’s seokjin’s bOOMING voice that enters instantly, making you usher him inside your dorm faster

alright maybe this was a bad idea

maybe inviting an official who worked in student affairs to your dorm is a bAD idea

yoongi carelessly shrugs, lifting the mug he’s stole from your cupboard to his lips just right in front of him

jin’s shoulders visibly sag, eyes closing in relief :D

“good. shit. let me have some!!!”

oh right lmaooo

seokjin happens to be your best friend (the closest after yoongs) before he graduated and worked in student affairs

he was the cool senior that everyone wanted to be friends with!! it just so happened that he hated almost everyone in the years below him lol

you and yoongi are the only juniors that jin ever tolerated and liked so that basically meant that the two of you are pERMANENT and cemented in his journal

he shouldn’t be here hanging out with his friends that are still students... nor drinking with them... in their dorm..... like not at all

what’re they gonna do?? FIRE HIM????

PLS THEY’D BE DOING HIM A FAVOR

“i had one of the weirdest things happen to me awhile ago,” jin whistles and laughs at the fresh memory by himself, clearly hung-over it still

yoongi grimaces at jin’s sudden announcement, suddenly feeling iffy

:((

“you tried the joint in our chess room?”

?????

“what?”

“wHat??”

“wHAT?????”

you’re half-confused and half-envious at the same time, with you and seokjin exchanging glances to each other and to a now very sheepish yoongi, accidentally speaking at the same time

“they don’t test the chess club?”

“you didn’t even share????”

yoongi snorts at both, hands defensively crossed on his chest as he looks down from being the accidental center of attention, “y/n, do you hear yourself? who in their right mind would think that the chess club needs a drug test??”

lmao right

alright good point

a ch- you can’t even say it club.... a chess CLDUIFVBEUFDBEBEHVBHV

“anyways,” jin continues as if he didn’t hear a student admit to having weed in their practice room, dramatically sighing before he goes on, “i don’t know if you know him, but there’s this weird junior.”

that may be a lil vague

which one???

you have a junior that carries around a puppet

there’s this girl that does the cups song in every surface available to her

OOOH there’s also this guy that answers to everything in haiku structures

right!!!! how could you forget the one that speaks in rupi kaur poetry exclusively smh

“he’s a stem nerd. wanted to file a case because his lunchboxes were missing!!!”

..

......

yoongi cackles and it takes a second before it registers in his mind, the tequila he’s sipped going right back to his mug

“who even uses lunchboxes in college anyways?? back when i was a senior, the trend was to eat from as much styrofoam and carcinogenic styrene as much as possible!!” he snickers, completely oblivious to the panicked and shocked gazes that you and yoongi are exchanging

“and get this!!” seokjin exclaims and you’re caught off-guard, leaning back into the couch cushions as you listen intently, “he doesn’t even own the lunchboxes! someone’s just leaving them out for him and his first thought was that there was a thief.”

wow

you never actually thought that jungkook would take this into heart aND student affairs :O

“big deal. someone has a crush on him, and now they don’t anymore! cry me a river — oh right, he rEALLY did!!!”

jin is half-parts amused and half-parts pitiful for the guy, shaking his head as he leans into his couch in the spot, in the middle between and yoongi

“how weird.”

he mutters out loud and yoongi only nods his head, biting into his lip so he could stop his tattletale tendencies

you’re still caught in a gaze, mouth slightly apart before taking the mug of tequila from jin to take a sip yourself

seokjin and namjoon borrowed uniforms from the staff so they could thoroughly check if jungkook’s sneaked out to try and sit at one of the chairs again

one time he sat on a chair too long while the people were already pouring in and the girl whom the original seat belonged to lost her goddamn shit at hIM

kook had to do some damage control bc she kept yelling and he had to put his mask down a little

aaaaaand security had to piggyback him back to the dressing room :D

yoongi and taehyung are looking for him in the bathrooms and to be precise there are seventeen bathrooms in this venue and they’re all spread out

hoseok’s looking for jungkook at the spacious outside lounge and parking lot but all he sees are angry pigeons trying to corner him

jimin’s busting down the door of every artist lounge that there is and he is nOT having it because this has got to be a joke

jungkook oddly likes scavenger hunts a lot and he springs them out sO suddenly that everyone has no choice but to participate

one time at rehearsals, he hid everyone’s instruments and it was at midnight that everyone could come home 

he managed to hide jimin’s bass guitar????? the oBVIOUSLY big bass with the long neck and jungkook managed to hide it??? 

namjoon found his keyboard at a fLOWERBED????

taehyung found everyone losing their shit at jungkook’s impractical yet funny prank, because all that’s missing from him is his microphone

how hard could it be to find? sheesh

apparently the hardest,.,.,, because taehyung found his mic amongst forty-two similar mics and he had to test them one by one 

in conclusion: jimin is gonna get back at jungkook one day

like maybe he’d dust cinnamon powder all over his drum heads but maybe that guy would even LIKE it

jimin checks at the staff’s break room even if he knows that jungkook would never come inside

god forbid that jeon jungkook ever comes and stays in a room that isn’t freezing cold like how he likes it

this “scavenger hunt” sucks. -10/10 he would rather-

....

......

........ this is weird

“jungkook?”

jungkook’s sat alone at a couch in the staff room,, a room that isn’t freezing cold,,,, while he’s still in his stage outfit like the rest of them were

“hi?”

kook’s a little confused as to why jimin looks constipated with all the anger and confusion in his face

if he checked his phone instead of watching a crappy sitcom to pass the time, he would know that practically EVERYONE is looking for him

jimin.... is calm

inner peace inner peace inner peace inner peace inner peace inner peace inner peace inner peace inner peace inner p-

“jungkook,” there’s an edge to his voice, making the receiving end of his anger look at him with such wide eyes, “is there a reason why you’re here?”

the younger boy scrunches his eyebrows as if the answer is not already plastered to the air

he even tILTS his head at jimin like he’s the one at fault here

“i’m waiting for y/n! always brings me a smoothie before the show.”

“y/n the PA?”

jimin takes a shot in the dark as he tries to recall you, then recalling that you were a junior personal assistant and didn’t even interact with them directly all that much

you’re an assistant to the assistant!!!

jungkook eagerly nods his head, getting more comfortable on the couch as if he isn’t baffling jimin more than ever

even the members are coming to the doorframe one by one because they were on a group call the whole time

hoseok was about to faint because that has gOT to be jungkook’s evil clone and not jungkook himself in this warm room

“there’s a smoothie bar right outside our dressing room, kid,” yoongi all but mutters, trying to get to the bottom of this and nOT just have their drummer disappear all of a sudden because of a smoothie

“not from y/n though.”

jungkook insists and he’s oblivious to how everyone is somehow being tested by his nonchalance

they are tRYING to understand alright

“what is so special about-...”

taehyung doesn’t even have time to finish his sentence (kook wouldn’t have let him either) because someone’s coming in from the other door, a crinkling of cup holders filling the room

“sorry, sorry!!! i’m late oh my gOD my classes finished extra late today because the professor kept going on and on about the symbolism of blue curtains in this novel we were reading?? and we weren’t even halfway through it when she started explaining?? so anyways, i said miss may i please be dismissed early?? there’s a literal rockstar waiting on my smoothies everyday and-”

oh

jungkook is not the only one here

you barely got to see the guys all together outside of stage and that’s because you’re always assigned to the tasks behind the scenes

this is a total shock for everyone in the room clearly

jungkook likes your outfit today :D

maybe it’s just the crush that he’s harboring on you that makes him like every outfit or maybe you’re just the sweetest 

look at you!!! in your blue knitted cardigan that has little sheep characters knitted on them and a shirt underneath that definitely looks yours 

the blue satin shirts that jungkook wears is borrowed from you and that’s wHY he doesn’t answer any of them when they ask where he got it from

“h-hi! i only brought two smoothies,” you think out loud in panic, quickly retracting your hand when jungkook tries to grab his from your hand, “but i could pour them into tiny little cups!!! it could be like smoothie shots!!!”

....

yeah they understand why jungkook always disappears before shows and even cutting it close today because he was waiting for you

you are adorably endearing

jimin, who used to be the angriest at the whole situation, is now happily plopping onto the couch :D

“we should join in on this tradition, don’t you think?”

everyone laughs in unison in agreement and jungkook is suspiciously cackling tOO loudly, waiting until your out of earshot from getting the tiny little cups

jungkook has his eyes wide open that everyone’s a lil freaked out and at the verge of laughing at the same time

“i will quit this band if any of you just even try to join in on MY tradition with y/n!!!”

Jungkook, by all means, is the very definition of enrapturing.

There’s something so fluid about him that exceeds gracefulness when he’s dancing. Both in and out of the stage, it was a fixed spotlight atop his figure that never seemed to dim. He was a combination of everything, and when you take those variables away from him piece by piece, he doesn’t change.

Put him in the most worn-out hoodie that’s gray and tattered, and he’d be the brightest one in the room. Take out his jewelry and he’d still carry himself with elegance. Remove his favorite chunky shoes that he’s splurged on, and he’d still stand out the tallest.

Jungkook’s in fact so fluid that he’s managed to weasel himself into the tight spaces in the crevices of your mind, inhabiting it rent-free and you, the landlady of supposed mind, don’t even question his presence nor tax his presence there.

“Head in the game, Y/N.”

Coach Kim, seeming like every possible antagonist in everything you’ve ever watched, takes a rigid finger to flick into your forehead. You’ve been caught unguarded numerous times this week by your coach, and the frown you give is apparently not enough to tell him that your forehead absolutely does not want anything to do with him.

“Didn’t wanna interrupt Jungkook,” you mumble just loud enough for him to hear, looking at the boy who’s distanced from you and was doing his own thing.

He’s so immersed in himself, phone tucked to the waistband of his boxers instead of the pockets of his rather tight sweatpants, and he quotes “I’d rather shatter my own femur than cave in buying these stupid wireless earphones” in heated verbatim.

It meant his long hair in a ponytail, his truly wired earphones hooked and secured with his hoop earrings for them not to fall, busting out freestyle to what you could only imagine.

“That isn’t a part of your choreography.”

Namjoon only scoffs, gesturing to you who’s been standing on your feet doing nothing because you were all so busy checking out your dance partner.

He’s no stranger to the two of you, actually. He’s just only a couple years older and in fact, he’s been yours and Jungkook’s coach for the past two years. Namjoon’s too young to be a dad in his own opinion, but simply being around the two of you made him feel that he’s been a father forever.

What compelled him to dye his hair a dirty ash silver was when he saw two gray hairs from his head at the same day, immediately dipping into the salon the day after. Even got his hair longer and cut in a certain way to make him feel that no, seeing two gray hairs doesn’t equate to being bald the next day.

His vision’s not the clearest but he’s not resolutely blind to see that his student likes his other student. Has been and still is crushing on the other for the past two years, and normally that wouldn’t irk him because his students’ personal lives aren’t the things he manages, but this one just takes the cake because you need the lengthy attention span, and not for when Jungkook’s shirt lifts when he moves around fiercely.

So when Namjoon says that checking Jungkook out isn’t a part of your choreography, you make it your living wish to come bother him some more as his favorite student.

That’s still up for debate, even if Coach Kim never confirms and always denies, but you take your chance nonetheless.

“Exactly! Coach Kim, alright hear me out,” as soon as you were about to start another one of your pitches, he immediately groans. You’ve pitched business ideas at him left and right for one whole week after watching a singular episode of Start-Up, and it’s completely made you forget that you studied four years of dance, not business. He physically holds his hands over his ears, not being able to take it if you pitch one more time of opening a donut shop with him, when you tug at his arm with your whole body weight to stop him.

“But what if we let Jungkook choreograph this one out?”

Your genuine tone behind it, and even if it doesn’t take away that you were also genuine when you asked your coach to open up a shop of some sort with you, makes him stop in his tracks completely.

This one being the grand competition that practically everyone in the world of dance knows about, and that only few would be privy to even enter. This one being a competition that’s measured even to the smallest increments of a toe raised and rankings that would be changed even by just a falter of a smile. This one being an event that you and Jungkook got into in your first try, and an event to Namjoon that he’s been trying to get his dancers into for three consecutive years before the two of you came along.

Your pitch sounded absolutely absurd.

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that."

Namjoon rolls his eyes and purses his lips, deciding that this is even worse than all your business pitches combined.

Everyone seems to forget his backstory of how he came to be though. Namjoon's foregone his dancing to do choreography instead because there was just something about directing that made him happier, the ability to take control instead of action soothing his burnout back from when he was a dancer.

Pointedly, he's become a champion at this very competition you and Jungkook are earnestly trying to win together. It was his last rodeo as Kim Namjoon the dancer, and nothing else. It was his graceful exit from the particular scene and he's back — actually back to the same place, but with you and Jungkook under his belt that actually have the chance to win.

“You’re the greatest in your field, though."

You've known your coach for two years likewise, and you'd be a fool to not know that he's absolutely pliable with sweet talk. He's let you off the hook from being late from time to time, because not only is he the one who's tardy most of the time, but because you have an apology croissant just for him.

What you're saying is not meant for ass-kissing's sake, because it's the genuine truth. Namjoon's the greatest in his field and it goes to show with his students that he mentors every week, and the two of you that he spends most of his time on.

You know he's listening, taking the time to wiggle your brows playfully before taking large leaps towards your coach.

“And Kook’s the best at his too.”

Coach Kim snorts but for an entirely different reason, not even contesting Jungkook's abilities, but rather for you downplaying yourself.

You've always had a nitpicking habit, one he's also possessed back when he was still just starting as a dancer. The thing that got him out of rut that being a little proud of yourself wouldn't do you as much harm.

“Not even gonna pat yourself in the back for that one? Just all the credit to him?” He hums as he turns to look at you, sweeping his hair back to put on his hat because his love for beanies dwindled ever since his recent dye job.

For the two years he's had you and Jungkook as students, he's come to known the very dynamic between the two of you.

It was rare for him to see a pair that barely even disagreed. He's had his fair share of dance partners and to put it bluntly, he's hated all of them.

But between you and Jungkook, the two of you just always seemed to fit. Your duo's complimentary and actually possessed what pairs lack often — chemistry.

Pressing foreheads and holding hands and raising calves are all basically the same thing, but doing those things with sincerity and the notion that you genuinely would do that even if it wasn't for a piece, is a whole other ball game.

Jungkook's moves were powerful and critical, precise to the point of total accuracy yet still delved into the territory that he's not performing it out of mastery. Your moves were elegant and entrancing, soft around the edges yet emotional at the core that you could convert anyone who doesn't have the slightest interest over dance.

Being the exact same person wasn't the key to being partners and the two of you fit Namjoon's criteria hauntingly well.

You seem to downplay yourself more than necessary, even if he knows what you're capable of.

He could say that surely because here you are, almost gushing while you blatantly point at Jungkook who doesn't even know what's going on because he's stuck in dancing.

“Deserves it. I mean look at him!”

You unknowingly grin when Jungkook breaks into a pirouette, muscle memory at this point when you turn back your glance to Coach Kim.

“Coach, I know I’m kinda overstepping it but I know that I’m also your favorite student!" you grin at the same time he scoffs, tip-toeing back to him again as if you're letting him in on a secret. “But how about we do it half and half? Lay out the structure, then Jungkook takes the lead of our dance and I’ll just follow.”

Namjoon follows your line of sight, now seeing Kook practically hump the floor yet no one comments on it, something that was casually sexual seeming so graceful, even to untrained eyes.

“Brains," you mumble as you push it even more and flick your coach on the forehead, one that would surely get your fired if you did it on anyone else, before glancing back to your partner — "and brawns."

Namjoon weighs his options, being confused that you've actually given him a good argument with just little words.

You did make sense, and surprisingly, he he no qualms about your preposition because after all, you do just always follow around Jungkook like a lost little puppy.

“I’ll think about it.”

He breaks the silence with a firm nod of his head, almost making you squeal as you resist the urge to smack a kiss on your coach's cheek, only reserving it for when you win gold.

“Please do. Jungkook would never fail us, y’know?”

You nod more than eagerly to convince your coach who doesn't need any more of it, once again turning your gaze to someone who takes the place in your heart for being the most enrapturing.

Jungkook would never fail you.

... \ ( ♡ ) / ...

“You’re cute.”

Because for some acute reason, not only did you manage to sleep last night at a reasonable time, but you also wake up before your alarm this morning. This wasn’t your first time being early, but it is the first time you’ve went in early out of your own accord, and not just because your coach wanted an early start. 

Something’s felt weird all morning, and even if you aren’t the biggest advocate for fate, you’ve already made the decision that maybe the stars really are aligned for you because of the sight in front of you.

It’s Jungkook who arrived even earlier than you did, hair tucked behind his ears as he’s standing in the middle of the room.

Wearing a tank top, of course.

You’re used to seeing him in big and loose sweatshirts because they were the most comfortable. That one you’d agree on because additionally, he prefers the tighter-fitting tank tops when it’s dance cram season because they make him feel more composed and very professional. You did say share the same outlook over practice clothes, but that just launched you to buy the better, non-stained, non-two-year old and definitely more expensive tank tops all the way to sport bras.

It’s apparent that Jungkook’s sinfully toned and it’s not only his physique that catches you speechless, but also the way to how he looks irresistible sort of way.

“Yeah. You’re cute,” you mumble for good measure as you think about it again, wasting no time in dumping your duffel bag right next to his to get started.

“Thanks, buttercup.”

Jungkook doesn’t skip a beat letting your term of endearment roll out of his tongue, smiling to himself because his first interaction of the day was a compliment and it’s the early morning ego that makes him clench his bicep out of reflex. The name was born out of fondness when it was a day before competition and you’ve still showed up to practice, voice groggy and raspy while wearing the ugliest shade of green if he remembered how you promised you’d never wear that hideous of a shade to your deathbed.

“What’re we gonna do today?” you frown at how Coach Kim still isn’t here when you actually feel excited about rehearsing, routinely standing beside Kook and doing your own set of stretches.

“Dunno. Coach just said to stretch really good because it’d be strenuous.”

The word didn’t really sit right with you because you know you’d be sore the whole week, instinctively shuddering because it’d be unsurprisingly your hardest and most demanding routine ever, already feeling the pain in your muscles.

You’re too busy huffing under your breath that you don’t notice Jungkook who’s smiling at you through the mirror, the particular crack of your joints always making him crack up because it sounded so rough that it felt like it didn’t belong to you.

You’re probably too busy because you only take notice when Jungkook puts his hands snug on your waist, looking at you as you’ve just stretched upright from touching your toes.

It’s only tunnel vision as soon as you decipher the interruption in your stretches, your eyes that you’ve sworn were strained because you haven’t updated your prescription in a year suddenly becoming clear.

Are we about to kiss right now?

The nervousness and confusion is visibly evident in your face, manifesting into a shaky giggle as you try to swallow down that oh god, this would be your moment after two long years!

“W-what?”

Jungkook seems offended that you don’t manage to grasp the context he’s trapped you in, even going so far to playfully roll his eyes and dart around you in circles. It’s when he stops in front of you again, this time with a playful scoff and eager pats on his shoulder —

that you actually wanted the ground to swallow you whole.

“I’m no Kim Seokjin, but I think my shoulders are higher than the barre, don’t you think?”

Right. Totally not a kiss from someone you’ve been crushing on hardly. Totally just professional stretching and workplace teasing.

Kim Seokjin’s got to be Jungkook’s top idol when it comes to dance, having been enthralled in his talent even before he got the semblance of a mind that he wanted to get in the same field too. Seokjin’s a man full of power and grace, not scoped out by criteria because he is the criteria himself, already having been a powerhouse at his young age because he’s just got to be a few years older than Coach Kim, and Namjoon wasn’t ever far off from Jungkook’s age. 

Jungkook’s merely insinuating that you stretch on him and out your foot on top of his shoulders that would never compare to his lord and savior Kim Seokjin’s, humbling himself as he doesn’t even bother to crouch because he knows your leg would reach that high anyways.

You comply wordlessly, repressing your feelings because you must be astronomically dumb to reach that far anyways, and that you don’t have a fighting chance with him.

Jungkook probably has a knack for surprising you because he leans his face a little when you stretch at your maximum, forehead pressed to your leg that was still hiked up on his shoulder.

“Mhmm. Your hair smell’s nice.”

It’s a sigh of relief that you didn’t notice you were holding, timid smile on your face as you try to hide your expression as much as you could. 

“Thanks, bun.”

Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t because of his teeth but rather how high he jumped and how far his reach was when he leaped, knowing that you’d be doomed forever if Jungkook was your opponent instead of your partner.

He doesn’t even think twice at your nickname for him, pressing his nose to the center of your head like it was a normal occurrence that didn’t just make you tense up all of a sudden. “Never change your shampoo.” 

You snort at his grave tone, switching to your other leg yet his gaze remains official. “What if I do? You never know what’s gonna go on sale, y’know.”

“I’ll hate you forever.”

You giggle to how he deadpans, eyes later turning worried because Jungkook sounded that he was only half-joking.

“Alright, alright. No need for that.”

You pull from him quickly, making a mental note that your shampoo is the most important thing to your possession up to date and probably ever. It makes you wince to think that your shampoo’s custom-made and you’ve only gotten it with a massive discount code, and as much as it was effective, it was also much more expensive.

There’s no time to think about your purple-colored, pear and vanilla-scented shampoo you have at home because Coach Kim appears out of nowhere, clapping his hands together and you try to recall if he’s been here longer than your hair product-overthinking session.

He’s easily gotten both your attention because after all, it’s only the two of you he’d be focusing on until the competition. Namjoon’s more than glad to not teach the introduction to dance to five-year olds who don’t exactly have the best attention span.

“I thought about it long and hard the night before and-...” he pauses to look at you, Jungkook having his cheeks puffed like a goldfish confused of its existence, not wanting to be left out with the glances.

Namjoon can’t believe it either that he’s saying this, chest puffing out against the confines of his navy blue sweater.

“Let’s do a split.”

He says it so abruptly that you gasp, and Jungkook, who’s so afraid of being left out that his next best bet was to pretend to know what was being insinuated, legs about to spread out because he was going to descend into a literal front split that you had to hold his bicep firmly to stop him.

Coach Kim resists the urge to laugh, scratching at his eyebrow with his pinky as he strives to make things clearer.

“I mean the choreography, Jungkook. Half of my concept, half of yours.”

There’s a beat of silence, exchanging your glances between Coach Kim and Jungkook that you feel tense even if you aren’t directly involved into the presented scenario, only being broken when your partner lets out a belated squeal from the back of his throat.

“You’d let me do that?!” he wastes no time into taking his coach in for a hug, the older guy clearly being surprised but later melts into the sincerity of his student’s excitement.

“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t muck it up.” 

He tries to wave off Jungkook because the hug is clearly getting too long now, exaggerating with how he irons out the wrinkles in his sweater but the dancer doesn’t mind at all, still a toothy grin on his face. “You and Y/N are one on-stage, okay? Shadows to each other. Don’t let the other fall.”

Jungkook has a flair for the dramatic, but in controlled amounts. Likes incorporating things that don’t belong until they’re adept for the scene naturally, and the moves he has in mind (you’re judging from what he busts out in freestyle) are admittedly far from being the easiest.

“Coach, I make your studio a gun show every time I’m here.”

You cackle at the the same time Coach Kim groans, the both of you amused at Jungkook’s bit when he flexes his arms and goes as far as to imitate a certain opponent you once had in a competition, Coach Kim being the one to tap out early because he’s absolutely lost it.

Jungkook grins at you as his coach’s still screeching like a hyena and the two of you would have to calm him down before he coughs out a lung just by laughing.

“Besides, I’d never let you fall.”

You seem more than happy and comforted to have heard it from him, warmth spreading all the way to your toes before Jungkook makes the moment his in his own fashion.

“Just don’t make funny faces at me when you’re in the air.”

... \ ( ♡ ) / ...

You’ve had a lot to think about in the past hour by yourself.

Coming to the studio early and having an actually healthy sleeping pattern’s become a habit the past week, and you indulge in the form of routine you have before it’s the last two weeks of practice for the competition, no doubt in the fact that you’d be stressed more than ever.

It doesn’t help that Coach Kim’s running five minutes late, and the moment he steps into his own studio is when he felt that something was wrong.

“Where’s Jungkook?”

The question beats you too because you’ve been wondering that for the past hour, because just last night he’s sent you a link to a tweet that reminded him of you, and now he’s suddenly 65 minutes late to practice which has never happened before.

Your brows furrow in confusion, holding out your phone for Coach Kim to see all your one-sided texts.

“Dunno. Is your message delivered?”

That alone is enough to make Namjoon sit on the floor to both text Jungkook and calm down his habit of nervous pacing.

Jungkook, irritatingly, is one step ahead.

His location’s turned off and so is his phone, tucking it to the bottom of his backpack instead in his pocket because he knows that he won’t be able to take the guilt for whatever he’s doing right now.

Because if his location was turned on, then you’d know he’s in the studio.

Not his coach’s studio, though.

The Min Studio.

The Min Studio being Min Yoongi’s, the same dancer from the roster where Namjoon came from. It’d be an understatement to say that Yoongi was averagely-talented because he’s truly much more than that.

Jungkook’s seen clips here and there of his own coach, but never an abundance of it like he did with Yoongi’s. Yoongi was almost as fluid as he was and he carried himself with emotion through every move. 

He’s the same path that Namjoon did from being a dancer to a choreographer, but only in a grave last-option decision because of a shoulder injury that he knew would alter the way he’d dance forever.

Despite that, Jungkook respects Yoongi all the same.

All that Jungkook meant to do this early morning was to do his grocery run, and by grocery run he meant getting any household food he could scour at a convenience store, then calling it a day.

He’s in the middle of looking for bread that wouldn’t experience two days from now until someone so poshly-dressed stood beside him, seemingly doing the same as he’s engrossed at looking bread.

He pays no mind to that, and in fact, Jungkook’s eyes widens because the dude was probably doing the same he was and he might get the only batch of bread that had the furthest expiration date, slightly quickening his pace of skimming his hands through the shelf.

“Hey, I know you! You’re the one who did the 32 Fouettes on stage, right?”

Jungkook freezes because as he recalls, the last time he did 32 Fouettes from Swan Lake was three years ago, and the fact that this stranger who he just thought was getting bread is suddenly talking to him, and he solidifies even more because the voice most certainly didn’t belong neither to your or Coach Kim.

It’s Jung Hoseok, he realizes —Yoongi’s assistant choreographer and caster.

And one of the judges from three years ago who’s seen his routine, including the 32 Fouettes, from the competition that made Namjoon take him under his wing.

“I am, yeah.” 

He sheepishly bows in realization, the odd turn of events making him lose his focus on what he came for originally and that he was just one row away from finding the bread with the furthest expiration date that he needed.

Hoseok’s smiling at him brightly, looking dapper in a convenience store at 5 AM in the morning as he doesn’t even continue to pretend looking around the shelves, digging into his pocket and too quickly being able to find a company card.

“Yoongi wants to get to know you better.”

Jungkook doesn’t question the rarity nor oddity of the situation, being left alone with a pat on his shoulder that he rethinks if this situation ever even happened at all. He clearly knows what Hoseok meant when he said Min Yoongi wanted to get to know him better.

Whether it’s a stroke of luck or forced circumstance, he just ponders looking at the calling card and if he wasn’t so engrossed, then he’d be able to know that he was about to run late.

It was definitely a forced circumstance because Hoseok totally tailed him, and Yoongi’s been on his ass ever since when he recalled all of a sudden about the boy who did the fouettes and how Hoseok made the mistake of not casting him right after he won gold.

Jungkook and his belief for destiny is what compelled him to leave his groceries on the floor and run after Hoseok who was just about to get into his car, a hesitant smile on his face before explaining, and the caster couldn’t be any more pleased because he didn’t think that it would work this easy.

And here he is. Doing a one-on-one audition in front of Min Yoongi.

He’s severely under-prepared because he didn’t wake up this morning and immediately think that this would be happening. He’s even whispered it to Hoseok himself who just waved him away, saying that it wouldn’t matter either way.

The music starts and Jungkook forgets for a second that Yoongi’s sitting in front of him instead of Coach Kim and you, going freestyle as to what Yoongi insisted upon instead one of his past routines that’s still committed to memory.

Hoseok’s noisily clapping and that’s what gets Jungkook back down from the high that he’s just gotten, back to reality where Yoongi’s standing in front of him.

“What warmer do you want?” he asks with no introduction, putting the younger boy one on the spot because his hands are outstretched with a telling look on his face. “The black one or the grey one?”

You’ve spent your whole day without Jungkook and only under the instructions of Coach Kim, one who still feels ultimately puzzled as the routine feels incomplete because it was supposed to be a pair that performs it.

Jungkook, however, goes to sleep at peace. He’s too in peace to even remember that his phone’s still turned off, and only remembers it by the day after when he wakes up.

It was his first day that he estimates, despite not being bound to a contract or anything of the sort.

There’s only eases when he enters the lavish studio with the high ceilings. Admittedly, it’s much better than The RM Lab and whatever it could be. There’s a table by the corner for free snacks and not just a beat-up coffee maker from home. There’s an actual closet instead of an exposed closet rack. The mirrors are giant and even have an option to light up, instead of the ones that you had to clean vigorously after every session for it look somewhat pristine.

Jungkook lists and lists the differences in his head, until suddenly, he doesn’t feel any remorse leaving your messages delivered, and putting you on silent.

... \ ( ♡ ) / ...

You should’ve known.

It’s two days later when Jungkook comes back to the studio, but with finality in his steps and not the positive kind that would’ve made you leap towards him.

Coach Kim’s been actually worried sick, and he shoots straight up into the air when the usual third figure entered his studio and stops himself from initiating a hug this time.

Jungkook still looks dashing, far from the worried looks you’ve been carrying for the past days he’s been absent and the times you’d dropped by his apartment with no one to answer the door.

His duffel’s slung right on his arm and devoid of his usual relaxed sweater he’d come into practice with, donning an oversized black shirt instead.

Namjoon tries to take in stride with relief that his student’s already returned, but the relief quickly turns sour when he squints — seeing that the familiar black shirt Jungkook’s wearing carries the same black embroidering by the chest, being able to see it underneath the shift of lights.

The Min Studio.

Namjoon’s caught on earlier before Jungkook could open, a sense of regret in the latter that turns away from who used to be his coach’s gaze to look at the floor that’s a long shot away compared to the studio he’s been coming into lately.

“I’m sorry. I can’t.”

You’re panicking by yourself, looking even more distraught when Coach Kim turns his back and touches his nape when he’d only be doing that when he’s extremely stressed when neither of you could get a move right. You’re left in the dark yet again that makes you yank at the older guy, his lazy glance back to Jungkook’s shirt giving you a hint.

It can’t be.

“But it’s always been us.”

The panic in your voice is clearly unsettling, and the selfish part of you is just haphazardly clawing at your throat. You can’t even discern if it is selfish, that much you want to warrant yourself.

Jungkook looks the plainest that he could ever be, indifferent to how your voice wavers.

“This is the biggest competition ever, Jungkook! It would mean a lot to win and even entering it is a victory within itself. We already have a routine! You made it!”

The entire studio’s silent with only the hum of the airconditioning making up the white noise, but you think otherwise because your heart’s drumming in your ears and no one makes a single move.

Namjoon stays silent because this is not about claims on choreo, but rather betrayal. For the past two years has he had Jungkook underneath his care and he’s even looked at him as a younger brother. When he didn’t come to practice was the equivalent of him running away from home, and this being the equivalent of the arc that Jungkook wanted nothing to do with him as he starts afresh in another setting.

You find yourself inching towards Jungkook, lip trembling to try and tug at him like you usually would.

“We’re one. Jungkook, please-“

“We’re not one, Y/N. We’ve never been one.”

You’ve hit the fuse that made Jungkook finally speak, yet you backtrack almost as quickly because he’s already spilling words you’ve never wanted to hear.

“I can’t always be with you! It can’t always be us! The reason I look better on stage is because I’m partnered with you. You’re sloppy! And your movements aren’t even precise!” he lists off one by one like he did with the differences the two studios boasted, chest heaving and nostrils flaring because he’s succumbed into anger, “and I don’t even know why Coach even took you in the first place.”

You’re standing parallel to him like you would for every standing position, and you regret that you’ve ever come this close to him.

You’re frozen and trembling in your spot while Coach Kim runs on autopilot, an accusing finger pointed right at Jungkook for the first time.

“Take that back right now, kid.”

Namjoon’s beyond offended for you on your behalf because you’re the furthest thing from what Jungkook paints you out to be. Jungkook, on the other hand, feels so ridiculed with Namjoon’s addressal for him because he knows that he hates it the most.

“I’m better off when I’m not here.”

He only ignores the bile in his throat, giving an equally-harsh glare to Namjoon who’s telling him that he’s severely getting out of line, and Jungkook just wants to get the last word out.

“I’m better off without you.”

It’s when your break down right after he leaves, the first time Coach Kim hears your cries and it sounds the most painful than any physical injury you’ve ever had in his vicinity, hurting more than sprained ankles and torn ligaments.

You’ve been practicing your part of the routine alone in hopes that you could just iron it out when Jungkook shows up in class one day, and he did. Coach Kim bears witness to your hardships for the past two years, and this is the only time that he doesn’t know how to console his student — much more when you mumble in between sobs when you parrot the hurtful words.

“Better off without me.”

... \ ( ♡ ) / ...

This was somehow torture.

You’ve begged and begged Coach Kim to back out of the competition entirely. You’re by yourself and performing what was supposed to be a duo routine is completely pointless, not to mention disqualifying.

You’ve completed your practice for the sake of it, even until you’re alone for the sake of getting your mind out over what transpired and to appease Coach Kim because he needed the distraction, but the one time you plead to back out is when he insistently disagrees.

He couldn’t give you an explanation to why he’s still adamant coming into the competition, and even if he had one, he’s keeping it to himself. Too adamant to the point that he’s talked you into coming with him, warmer on with your outfit in two, yet without the assurance that you’d even perform.

Dropping out is relatively easy, if ever. He’d just talk one of the staff, say the excuse of either a family emergency or an injury to save face, and your name would be ticked off the list easily compared to the effort you’ve had to make to even be listed there.

Jungkook doesn’t even know why he’s here, honestly. By the time he transferred was absolutely too late, and the competition wasn’t accepting any more competitors.

It was supposed to be closed and he was only supposed to be here with entirely different people.

He’s anxious, to be honest, and talking to Hoseok about it doesn’t help even in the slightest bit because he barely looks up at him, before proceeding to drink his coffee and type on his phone.

“Hmm. You’d get your number later. Yoongi’s just gonna drop a couple of words later and you’ll get your sticker.” 

Normally, Namjoon would be extremely attentive in situations like these. The whole ten miles would’ve been covered even before the competition, and he would’ve gotten a cutely laid-out plan of action in a folder already, everything from the panel of judges to the competitors and exact wordings for the routine he’d be doing.

Jungkook does not have a single clue. Where was he even enrolled in? Would it be improv? He’d be competing individually for sure, right?

He’s used to carrying the weight of someone, someone being you. Individual competitions now sounded so daunting and lonesome to his ears, because now that he realizes, he doesn’t know anyone well enough in Yoongi’s team to trust them to become his partner.

He’s never really been signed into a contract either, and in the even that he gets entered into a competition, which name would be mentioned?

Fuck, this is absolutely the biggest competition ever and he wants to find you and Namjoon, but most especially you, for a sense of familiarity in something so vast. 

Jungkook just only manages to process the situation he’s put everyone in, only dawning in him now how big of a clusterfuck he is that an all-familiar knot’s starting to form on his throat.

He manages to keep looking and looking until he spots you, although not only accompanied by Namjoon but-

Kim Seokjin?

Your eyes widen comically when you look to see who’s standing beside you, mouth slightly hanging open at the bluntness of the situation, but Coach Kim only stands beside you perplexed yet not surprised.

“Sorry. Couldn’t seem to stop myself but by any chance, you’re the one who did the cover of my contemporary, right?”

Your eyes feel like bulging out, and Seokjin eases you with an amused chuckle that surprisingly did the job of calming you down.

In all honesty is he curious, because his routine-checking of searching himself up landed him to a video of you — it was a rendition of his own routine you’ve completely made your own with your touch, and Jin’s never been floored for a long time to the point that he had difficulty sleeping that night.

That was merely four months ago, and he just happened to spot someone so familiar within a sea of faces that curiosity’s got the best of him, and he’s the one who’s fanboying over someone.

Jungkook sees you that he’s sputtering out of thin air, and the both of you are sputtering for different reasons and out of nowhere, the moment Jin leaves is when he gets replaced by someone you certainly didn’t expect seeing.

Namjoon spots him first and he immediately scowls, lips setting in a straight line before loudly huffing. Before you could even ask him was wrong though, your train of thought crashes the moment someone pipes in almost nervously.

“I-I brought my costume!”

“Why would you?”

Coach Kim snaps as quick, his student’s face falling yet he doesn’t have it in him to feel guilty over his harshness.

Jungkook can’t even let the words tumble out of his mouth because he’s ashamed, really. It was an instinct to do what he’s been doing for the past two years; a force of habit he never really wanted to leave in the first place.

You make yourself as small as you could, detaching yourself from the scene completely and not even telling Coach Kim where he could find you.

“Let me do this, please. Let us do this. Let me make you proud. Let me put your name on the screen, coach,” he scrambles for the words the moment his coach looked disinterested, hands clasped as he tries to block his exits. “Won’t let you down.”

Namjoon momentarily softens as quick as butter does from the chiller, but he remembers to bring himself back to his senses because not everything should be followed through as quickly.

“Not me who needs the promise.” 

He shrugs carelessly, not having to look behind him because he knows that his student’s trailing him behind anyways.

“Y’already let Y/N down, y’know.”

Jungkook frowns at the reminder and it only settles in him that what he both said and did are clearly low blows and aren’t true at all.

“Remember, kid, she’s just doing this for the competition.”

Namjoon already knows within himself that the moment you excused yourself, it was partly to destress but to mostly slide into your costume. He knows your passion over emotion, and even something as scarring as what happened to you just a few days ago still wasn’t enough to break down your will to perform and be done with it.

Jungkook’s sins aren’t absolved — that much he knows. 

He knows it because backstage, you stand farther from him than you needed to. You don’t have a final run-through over the routine, and you felt that your rehearsals with him before he left, should be enough. You’re silent and you’re not nervously babbling to him. You’re not comforting each other.

You aren’t jittery, but Jungkook is for the first time.

“Do you trust me?”

He asks, unsure of an answer as he looks at you who’s standing on your feet away from him.

“Do I have a choice?”

Your tone was soft yet cold, and it’s another reminder for Jungkook how much he’s fucked up. He only bites his lip softly, twiddling his fingers as he’s trying to catch your gaze before you look away again.

“Please trust me.”

The tapping of the mic and the appearance of a staff member are all-telling happenings that the two of you are bound to perform in the soonest, and Jungkook shoots straight up while he tries to catch his breath.

“Do you trust me?”

He repeats his question again, eyes about to start stinging if he doesn’t blink rapidly soon.

You look at him as the dancer, one who’s held your waist more than a dozen of times. He’s the one who literally picks you up from your feet and throws you around like a ragdoll, but with the firmest holds and assuring words. Jungkook, the dancer, who lets your borrow his kneepads and massages your feet after rehearsals and hairsprays your hair into place.

The ninety-nine times he carries you, and the one time that he lets you fall.

“I do.”

It’s a silent confession before the music plays and the two of you walk in, no longer hostile and heavy with each other, but instead the partners that you needed to be.

The music plays and all worries ease, water remaining under the bridge as emotions pour out more than genuinely than they needed to be.

If this can no longer resonate, no longer make my heart vibrate

Jungkook hits every note perfectly as if it was muscle memory. No tension in his muscles and no hesitance in his steps evident from the way he moves. It’s as if he was born to play this routine and this routine only.

You’re fluid with your gestures yet even more concise with the swan that you portray, unwavering yet specific, and the audience can’t even remember what this song was before they saw you.

Jungkook looks at your visage and thinks of nothing but peace, completely transparent as to what he feels on how he moves that this routine felt like it wasn’t planned nor taught.

But what if the moment’s right now?

You launch yourself into a high kick, shifting to arabesque as Jungkook turns you through a short-live promenade before lifting and spinning you thrice through the air; hold firm, heart steady.

Pas de deux.

The moment it ends is when everyone’s collectively emotional, sucked up into the tenderness of their feelings that they only burst up when the music ends and the curtains start to close, uproarious clapping and cheering being heard even if you’re shielded away from them as it only continues and grows in volume.

Jungkook grips your face and kisses you, hands shaky as he holds you in the fear of losing you if he even moves one bit.

You’re looking up at him with the same curiosity he did for you, roles reversed because it’s him who’s falling for you now, only hoping that you haven’t stopped.

You feel the slightest of pulls in your heart, softening at the edges until it isn’t cold to the touch with how he’s looking at you like you’re the only one underneath the spotlight.