Title: Student Affair.
Author: SYNdicate 930.
Summary: AU. One-shots of Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook, and their attempts at surviving undergrad, and their unruly libidos and constant desire to fuck each other into dust.
NOTE: This is super early in the timeline, so I'm sorry for not having hit sexual things quite yet. Points to whoever can guess who my TWICE bias is. I also don't speak Korean, so I google translate'd Uihag (Medicine) and Munhang (Psyhcology).
If anyone has any insight on what they call each other (ie., xyz calls Jimin "Jiminie" and etc.,) please let me know. I'm a new Army so I have no clue.
Monday, September 19th, 14:30
"I don't like the sounds of this anymore. I don't get why you're doing this."
"You want to get into medicine, and I'm a psych major. Obviously you wouldn't get it."
"This sounds dumb either way."
"Shut up and do the damn thing." Jungkook stares at the thick booklet blankly, eying the title "The Law of Love: Opposites Attract, and Withstand Similarities" underlined in bold black font. Yoongi hands him a couple of pencils and an eraser. "Even if you don't believe in it, just fill the thing out and give it back to me when you're done. You can listen to music while you do it if you want. There are over a hundred questions you have to plow through."
"Over a hundred!?"
"Don't be a baby."
"And that's it, right?" Jungkook takes a seat and, taking Yoongi's suggestion, begins to unravel his tangled earbuds and insert them into the bottom of his phone. "I don't need to do anything else?"
"You should be good." Yoongi turns to leave for the men's room as Jungkook presses play. "For now."
"Did you say something?" Jungkook pulls at an earbud curiously. He had just finished scribbling his name in the top corner.
Yoongi shakes his head. "Nope."
Tuesday, September 20h, 8:51
Jungkook is pacing around behind the Questions and Answers booth desk in the university center exhaustedly, carefully going through the communications binder for any new information. In hindsight, it's a sweet gig that involves answering questions every so often and directing those who are lost, and sitting on his ass and snacking all day. Not to mention the great pay for minimal work. The clock strikes nine o'clock when Jungkook opens the desk gate. And so begins an easy day of surfing the internet mechanically and catching up on supplementary readings.
An hour passes, dragging its heavy feet stubbornly, by the time Jungkook engages in his first conversation. A tall, handsome boy he's seen around the university centre often last year and during the summer, presumably still taking classes. Up close, he looks a tad more stressed than Jungkook would've expected, with faint dark circles below his otherwise bright and breezy eyes. "Excuse me, do you know when and where the pre-medicine students' association is having their first meeting?"
Fuck if I know, he thinks.
"Let me double check." He types into the search bar of their university's website, but to no avail before revisiting the communications binder. There it is. "Okay, so, you'll want to head to the second floor of the Uihag building next to the Munhag building. You can't miss it; Uihag is the one with all the glass and the Caffe Bene sign near the entrance."
"What room?"
"Room 212. I can write it down for you." Jungkook scribbles down the building name, floor, and room number on a bright red sticky note. "Here, in case you forget."
"Nice. Thank you so much." The instant he turns to leave, Jungkook watches stares longingly at his stuffed backpack and well-fitted pants. His maroon cardigan is just long enough to cover his butt, but Jungkook recognizes the amiable shape of his slender calves and thighs before they disappear behind the heavy glass door and then outside. He doesn't have a lot of visitors following his departure. The next few hours are busied with absently reading and browsing the front page of reddit humorously.
Half past noon rolls around with his favorite French-vanilla iced latte and least favorite shirt in Teahyung's closet. It's ill-fitting, an unsavory shade of over-saturate lime, but very much congruent with his 4D personality and quirky peculiarities.
"Hey, when's your break at?"
"Working here is a seven hour paid break." He swirls his drink around, listening to the ice mix before take an exaggerated sip. "Thanks for the drink."
"No worries, I owed you, anyway." Taehyung says as he sips his own from across the desk. A short girl waits in line behind him, and he steps out of her way so she can be helped. Jungkook points in her in the direction of the first year office, and Taehyung continues. "So, how was Yoongi's questionnaire?"
"Good, but way longer than I thought it would be. It was over a hundred 'rate on a scale of one to ten' questions and long answer questions. I was ready to pass out when I was done." He shoots him a tickled stare. "What, did you do it too?"
"Gross, no way. I'm not in the market for dating or meeting people." Taehyung appears almost disgusted at the thought. "Or at least not right now. Yoongi asked if I could play the sax at the event, and I agreed."
"But you fucking suck."
"Is that anyway to speak to your hyung?" He feigns injury, grasping dramatically at his chest.
"Yeah." Jungkook motions for Taehyung to step aside a second time for a pretty girl with bleach blonde hair tied into a high ponytail and gradient red lips. Though a bit sleepy in the eyes, her slender face and double eyelids produce an endearingly soft base facial expression. She's lost her student identification card and Jungkook rummages through the booth's lost and found for it. "What's your name?"
"Park Sooyoung."
"Birthday?"
"September 3rd, 1996."
"ID number?" She bites her bottom lip contemplatively, and Jungkook catches Taehyung mirroring her.
"I think it's 7998082?"
"Got it." He hands it to her, and, with a sweet 'thank you', she's on her merry way. Jungkook whistles. "Damn. Red velvet never looked so good on someone."
"I feel you." Taehyung slides back into view. "Anyway, Yoongi let me see the results, and I think you'll be pleased."
He's piqued Jungkook's easily excitable interest. "Am I with someone we know?"
"Yes. No. Maybe so."
"Spit it out."
"I can't."
"Give me a hint."
"Their last name is 'Park'."
He rolls his eyes dramatically. "Dude, that's a good ten percent of this country."
"Not my problem. At least it isn't 'Kim'."
"You're right. 'Kim' is a dumbass last name."
"Screw off. Either way, you'll figure out who it is when you show up on Friday. Come for eight-thirty to sign in and stuff—you better not forget."
"Yeah, yeah." They take a synchronised sip of their drinks.
"Anyway, I'll catch you at home after class. See ya."
"See ya."
Friday, September 23rd, 20:34
As instructed, with unyielding lanky limbs, Jungkook ambles in a little past eight-thirty in the evening disconcertedly, sporting a pellucid rogue shirt bought yesterday evening just for this occasion. Aberrant jazz is the first thing he notices, enthusiastic as a child, smooth as a sixth shot of whiskey, though, Yoongi's wonderfully composed piano arrangement on stage is vigilantly contrasted by Taehyung's outlandish and vaguely off-beat saxophone rifts. A major chord fades into a minor chord, and Taehyung arches his back comically, forcing out what Jungkook can only assume is every possible note he's every learned to play, which, in turn, has the small crowd huddled by the stage roaring in encouragement.
Numerous minute rounded tables litter the space at well-spaced intervals, with numbers assigned and only enough chairs at each to seat a single incognizant and awkward pair. The LED lights of the psychology student lounge are dimmed to recreate a noticeably forced gregarious tenor that distresses as greatly as it charms. Jungkook worries about his hair, the fit of his shirt, the layer of cologne he thinks he had accidentally overdone, and light eyeliner he thinks might be somewhat overkill.
Before he ventures in too far, he is stopped. "Namjoon?"
"Hey, man." Behind a wooden podium, Namjoon acknowledges Jungkook with a friendly salute and nod before glancing down to his pink clipboard. With a swift movement of his pen, Jungkook watches as he is presented with a large laminated number '4' attached to a black lanyard reading "U OF B PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS ASSOCIATION" in bold yellow letters. "This is just to let you know which table you'll be meeting your date at."
With enflamed ears, Jungkook is far beyond embarrassed to be caught at something like this. "Thanks."
"No worries." With a second glance to his clipboard, a chuckle rumbles in his chest and exits his nose. "Can't wait to see how your night goes."
"What?"
"Nothing." It's when Jungkook opens his mouth that a line forms behind him, and he is forced further into the student lounge feeling increasingly uncomfortable and judged. But he is very aware of his age, and apparent inclination to date and meet new people associated with it, so he reasons that there is nothing to be ashamed of, even if it doesn't feel that way.
Friday, September 23rd 21:02
After having wasted twenty minutes pacing uncomfortably along the walls and going through reddit on his phone, Jungkook is convinced that he will never agree to be a part of his friends' experiments again, especially Yoongi's. Jungkook busies himself with a story on the subreddit Today, I Fucked Up titled "TIFU by Crushing on a Straight Guy as a VERY Gay Male" when an abstracted shoulder collides phlegmatically with another's.
"Hey, sorry about that." He peeks upward from his cellphone to receive the astonished expression that surges across Jimin's previously placid demeanor.
"Hey, you. How's it going?" Jungkook's nod cues Jimin to continue, though he probably would've either way. "Interesting set up for the student lounge, hey?"
"You look good." Sputters Jungkook subconsciously. His breath hitches in embarrassment. Be cool.
"Thanks, you too." And he exhales in relief, taking the response for what it is—a mere pleasantry between acquaintances, or, rather, total strangers. "I didn't think I'd see you here."
"Same here. Did Yoongi get to you too?"
"Yoongi? Ah, I forgot he was a psych major. I just saw a posting on the bulletin board by the bookstore in the university centre and thought I'd give it a try. Taehyung also said he'd be performing and that it'd be a good chance for me to meet people. "
"You're looking to date?" Jungkook is a bit too excited.
"I guess, yeah. Dating is sort of hard for me." Jimin snickers while his frail shoulders create a shallow shrug he barely distinguishes from under his heavy leather jacket. "I mean, I'm not much of a looker, you know."
The notion of someone like Jimin disheartened by diffidence and uncertainty stuns him; with diaphanous clavicles which coo and shy away half-heartedly below elusive fabric cut in a flattering 'V', immersed by nebulously beguiling lights, Jimin's appeal and charisma spirals tenfold. Protests form and evaporate in Jungkook's knotted throat, knowing indefinitely the necessity that is holding one's tongue.
"May I please have your attention." Yoongi's voice is commanding as per usual. Jungkook had been so engrossed by Jimin, that he hadn't noticed the music stopping. "You have all been designated numbers. You are to go to the table with the corresponding number on your lanyard, and that will be your date for tonight based off the questionnaire you've filled out."
There is shuffling and Jungkook and Jimin glance to one another.
Friday, September 23rd 21:33
She had been a pretty girl in her preteens, and currently, Park Jihyo has grown into a remarkably beautiful woman. Given the restricted proximity across the blunt table, her doll-like eyes, straight nose and sweet lips become magnified by the flickering candle between them. He remembers having attended the same middle school and the large oak tree behind the tall, slowly rusting, gates that made going to classes really feel like the prison Jungkook often saw school as. She was top of their class and received all of the solos in the choir, but was always misplaced as the otherwise perfect girl for her weight.
Admittedly, Jihyo had been something of a late first crush; a stable puppy-love that withered in the shadow of Jungkook's awkward youth, silent coming out, and graduation. If rumours at the time were correct, she had ended up attended an all-girls private high school.
"We went to middle school together, right?" She asks with a generous smile. He nods. It is astonishing how much one can change. While he never minded her chubby cheeks and full thighs in the past, he can see how thin her arms have become and a sharper jawline below endearing puffy mounds that are her cheeks and the loveliness her post-pubescent body exudes.
"Yeah, we were in the same seventh and eighth grade class."
"I knew it! You look so familiar. Jeon Jungkook, right?"
"The one and only."
"Oh my gosh, you've grown up so much! And your voice—it's so deep now!"
A vibrant orange—Jimin's hair is the only thing Jungkook can concentrate on as they talk, that blurred color stuck in the corner of his sharp periphery. At this angle, Jungkook can't see who he's been paired with, and, while the uncertainty eats away at him, he's torn between needing to know and not wanting to know. He can see Jimin throw his head back in laughter, and the way he runs his fingers through his locks and leans forward in anticipation in his seat. Oh, the excitement that thrummed through Jungkook's body at the sight of a '4' and the discouragement that shook his system at the sneaky '1' situated proudly on its left. Perhaps it is fate, and perhaps it is far too early for Jungkook to be reading into such miniscule details.
Jungkook and Jihyo chat shallowly, pacing in formal circles with no apparent center or goal. Conversing with her is pleasant, and everything that leaves her mouth has him grinning from ear to ear, but not enough to reach his eyes. There really isn't much to say. If this had been years ago, amidst an awkward stage in puberty and uncontrollable break-outs that rocked his self-esteem to its weak core, Jungkook would have been ecstatic to find whatever reason he could to talk to Jihyo. Staring at her now, with her dark hair grown out to her elbows and bright eyes, Jungkook doesn't feel anything swell in his chest when he looks at her.
Surely something had gone astray in Yoongi's experiment, for he feels nothing; Jihyo is beautiful inside and out, but he feels a distinct lack of attraction. He can only guess the same for her, but Jihyo, in her teens or blossoming twenties, will always be Jihyo, and Jihyo is far too polite to leave or excuse herself so early or point it out. Come to think of it, she would be the perfect girl for Namjoon—relatively effeminate, with a sing-song voice, whose natural charm is constantly accentuated by her sweet personality and calm nature.
A waiter comes by to offer soft drinks and various snacks presented cutely on a round bronze platter. Jungkook grabs a muffin, and Jihyo a small slice of what looks like cheesecake. "Would you like anything to drink?" Asks the waiter.
"Can I have some iced tea?" Formal as always, he thinks fondly.
"And for yourself?"
"I'll have an iced tea too." Jungkook answers.
Friday, September 23rd 22:58
When all is said and done and Jihyo bows her pretty little head before departing, Jungkook is met with a firm hand on his. "So, how'd it go? Man, she's super cute."
He looks behind him. Jimin retracts his hand into his jacket pocket. "It was alright. I actually went to middle school with her, so we caught up a little."
"Childhood friends?"
"Not really. We were in the same class for two years, but we had different groups of friends and interests. I used to have a crush on her, but that was years before my voice decided to drop." Jimin can't help but laugh. "What about you?"
"I was paired with a family friend. In terms of dating one another, we aren't at all, so we just talked and enjoyed the free pastries and drinks the volunteers were serving." He shrugs and Jungkook rises from his seat. "It was nice, but I'm a bit disappointed."
"Why's that?"
"Truthfully, I was hoping to meet someone I could try dating."
You could try dating me. The two are greeted by Taehyung and his pristine saxophone hurdling towards them, followed by Yoongi, colored clip board in hand, and Namjoon. "So, how did it go for the both of you?" Asks Taehyung excitedly.
"It was alright. I had completely forgotten Jihyo's last name is 'Park.' She's so grown up looking now." Answers Jungkook.
He becomes visibly perplexed. "Wait, Jihyo?"
"You know, the girl we went to middle school with who had the super good grades and sang in the choir. You should know I'm more than over her by now."
"I'm so confused, why Jihyo—"
"And I hung out with a childhood friend." Is Jimin's summarized answer.
One by one, participants exit the student lounge in scattered pairs and lone individuals, the latter category Jungkook finds himself with Jimin awkwardly. For similar reasons, Jungkook is a tad dissatisfied with tonight, too.
"Thanks for attending, you two." Yoongi cuts in, jotting down the last of his notes in red pen and then tucking the clipboard under his arm. "I have this place booked all weekend, so I'll come back tomorrow and clean up before Monday if anyone wants to come help. Until then, drinks?"
There is a resounding 'yes' and 'fuck yes'.
"Nice, Namjoon's paying." Yoongi cheers, and the others high five.
"What—no way." He grabs Yoongi's clipboard and hits him with it.
"You owe me."
Namjoon rolls his eyes in submission. "Fine."
"I'll call up Hoseok and Seokjin." Adds Taehyung.
Friday, September 23rd, 21:32
Jungkook often finds Yoongi's utilitarian demeanor startling, no matter the quantity of unprecedented visits this rigidity pays during mundane trials and episodes. Yoongi's intelligence surpasses his physical age astringently, but, upon a shallow glance, hinders his awareness of interpersonal circumstances and pre-existing and possible bonds. He is not a malicious person by neither nature nor opulent nurture—though, his temper could heavily suggests otherwise—but, rather, uncontrollably frank. It is something worth acquainting oneself with in order to process Yoongi to some obtuse degree, if not wholly.
"May I please have your attention. You have all been designated numbers. You are to go to the table with the corresponding number on your lanyard, and that will be your date for tonight based off the questionnaire you've filled out." As people move towards their designated tables, he leaves the stage briefly to look over his clipboard by the door, allowing Taehyung free range to blurt out whatever his heart desires on his saxophone. Everyone appears to have attended, bright red check marks and assigned numbers to indicate their attendance.
"Hey, Namjoon, you switched these two by accident." Namjoon squints his eyes at the attendance list. "She was meant to be number fourteen, and he was meant to be number four with Jungkook."
"My bad. I read Park Jimin as Park Jihyo." Namjoon apologizes. "Should I let them know so they can switch?"
"It's fine. Jungkook used to like Jihyo when he was younger, anyway, right?"
"Yeah. Like, seven years ago. Won't having them together mess with your findings?"
"Whatever, they're already talking."
"If you say so."
"You'll make up for it later." Yoongi mumbles, and Taehyung's saxophone squeaks.
"Did you say something?"
"Nope."