Chapter Text
“Have you heard about that new kid strutting around like he owns the place?“
The lilac haired male grinned as he placed a tablet almost bursting with canteen food down next to where his best friend had his worn black combat boots kicked up on the table. His voice didn't sound nearly as malicious as his words would suggest; rather you could say there was a hint of amusement hidden in there. There was a slight twinkle in his eyes as he watched the other male's reaction before flopping down unceremoniously on a seat and giving the food in front of him his undivided attention.
The shorter boy the words were directed at cracked his eyes, rimmed with dark eyeliner, open at the statement and fixed the male across the table with an intense stare, momentarily dropping his front of pretend boredom that he seemed to have adapted ever since he finally maintained his status as the school's bad guy.
“We have a new guy? Since when?” he asked slightly perplexed. How come this was the first he's heard of this?
“Shince Yeshterday..?” the taller boy replied while continuing to stuff his face, spitting bits of his food all over the table.
“Ew Tae, what the fuck!”
“Ah” Taehyung made a noise of realization through his mouthful of food, swallowing it down with one big gulp before continuing. “Forgot you weren't in school yesterday.” The taller boy licked away any excess food that was still around his lips before letting out a long burp, grinning unapologetically. “What were you up to anyway? Don't tell me my little playboy chim-chim had another conquest last night? Hell, how many would that make this week alone?”
Jimin just rolled his eyes, waving the other boy off. Actually, he didn't go to school yesterday because he had been catching up on his favorite anime show all day, but it wasn't like lilac haired pabo needed to know. “Don't change the topic now! Tell me about this new kid!”
Taehyung just grinned his typical box shaped smile before popping in a lollipop he was known for always sucking on. Leaning forward on his elbows, he beckoned his best friend to come closer, gearing into full blown gossip mode.
“Apparently he transferred here yesterday from a high school in Busan. He is tall, muscular and really good looking. The girls are gushing about him non-stop. But-”the taller male paused for effect, removing the sweet treat from his mouth. “rumor has it he is suuuper arrogant. Like, he looks no one in the eye, never talks and stuff. Probably thinks he is better than everybody. Which probably is true because I heard from Hobi that he is in the same dance class as you guys and he is a fucking prodigy.”
At that Jimin's eyes widened slightly in confusion. He never heard Hoseok call anyone a prodigy before except himself. It was hard enough to get his athletic hyung to praise him, and he knew he was really fucking good at dancing. He kind of wanted to see the new guy dance now; but at the same time he didn't. Going by Tae's description, he was a huge snob that was probably born with a silver spoon in his mouth and a shit load of talent and didn't even have to try; unlike Jimin who had worked his ass of every day to get to the level he was at currently. Damn, he was already starting to hate that new dude.
Taehyung smirked as he saw the dark expression in his friend's hazel eyes. “So? Are you gonna put this guy in his place?”
Jimin fished a forgotten fry from Taehyung's scavenged plate and popped it into his mouth, feeling a grin pull at the corner of his lips himself. “You bet.”
-----
Jungkook worried his lower lip between his teeth for the umpteenth time that day. If yesterday was anything to go by, his second day of school would be hell. His first day at his new high school had been nothing short of torture. Not only did he know nobody around here, since he transferred this late in the year he would have quite some trouble catching up with the material. He got yelled at by the teacher because he had spoken too quietly during his self introduction, and when he tried talking a bit more loudly he got scolded again for being 'rude and cocky'. He had just been nervous! Talking in front of so many people always had his knees shaky, his palms sweaty and his throat dry as a desert. By the end of the day he had completely given up on talking to anyone, his cheeks burning hot with embarrassment, keeping his head lowered to not let anybody see the tears pricking at his eyes. And worst of all: he was still sticking out like crazy. The young brunette hated being the center of attention, yet he could feel everyone's eyes on him even now, when he was simply heading for his locker to get his books. He could hear the people whisper when he passed them by and he could tell they were talking about him. Making fun of him, most likely. A group of girls broke out in giggles as he briskly walked by them and he nervously tugged at his fringe, trying to cover as much of his face as possible and wishing the ground would just swallow him up already.
The only place he felt comfortable in this god forsaken school was the dance studio. He loved dancing, it made him feel free, alive, confident. It was about the only place he felt like he belonged. It was also the reason he left his friends and family behind in Busan and enrolled in a school in Seoul. Having dance as a class and not only a hobby was a dream come true. He thought back to all the late hours he spend dancing by himself at his old school's gym for lack of a proper studio, learning everything through self study and videos, because no one he knew was interested in dancing and he couldn't afford a private dance instructor.
Just the thought of being able to dance among all those talented people at this studio, as if he was on par with them, brought a smile to his lips, but he quickly fought it down again.
Everyone's watching you, kook, so get yourself together. Don't want them to think you're weird...
Just as he was occupying himself with the combination lock on his locker, he registered the whispers around him pick up in intensity, before slowly but surely quieting down. Confused as to what had caused that reaction, he raised his head, only to see the sea of students in the hallway part to make way for a pair of male students, leisurely strolling in his direction. The two looked...intimidating, to say the least. The taller of the two wore navy blue pinstriped trousers, a black low cut shirt with a leather jacket and some flashy silver chains. But his hair was the most eye-catching about his appearance: it was dyed a rather interesting shade of violet, like a soft lilac. Jungkook would never admit it out loud, but he found the color rather pretty. Saying so would probably earn him a punch though.
The other boy, although shorter in height, looked more intimidating. The combat boots and bomber jacket had a delinquent vibe about them, whereas the bright red trousers that hugged his toned legs perfectly and the white shirt with the first few buttons undone gave the male a more mature, playboyish aura. Black, perfectly styled hair and dark eyes rimmed with eyeliner sharpened his rather boyish and cute features and made him the epitome of people his mother told him to stay away from.
Jungkook couldn't help but unconsciously shrink back into the lockers behind him, praying to go unnoticed by the approaching duo. He couldn't handle those types of people at all, always brimming with self confidence. The fact that those two were almost ridiculously handsome didn't help his nervousness in the slightest. Suddenly he felt under dressed and inadequate, with his simple jeans and white tee. If those two were the cool guys, he was the loser, the nerd. He made a mental note to remove the iron man stickers from his notebooks before anyone saw and his social status would plummet even further. He could feel cold dread creep up his spine and his toes curl in his Timberlands when suddenly, the taller male's gaze landed on him. He stood frozen in place as he watched the lilac haired boy tug on his companion's sleeve, saying something Jungkook couldn't hear before nodding in his direction. The brunette gulped when the two figures all of sudden started moving straight towards him, two sets of piercing brown eyes fixed directly onto him.
Oh fuck...I'm screwed.
-----
“Jiminie, that's him, over there!”, Taehyung exclaimed, tugging excitedly on the other's sleeve. The shorter male's gaze flew to the person the taller boy was pointing at. Eyes slowly working their way up ridiculously long, jean clad legs, a toned, lean torso, handsome features, the downcast eyes hidden in the shadows of dark brown bangs. Jimin felt his smirk slowly turn into a displeased scowl. The new guy was exactly the type of person that used to make his life hell, always picking on him, teasing him; the type of person he despised.
It all started three years ago. Jimin still vividly recalled the first time he confessed to a girl; he was in the second year of middle school and was convinced this girl was the love of his life and that he would marry her one day. Everything she did seemed endearing to him and being the love-struck fool that he was, he did everything to try and get her affection: carrying her bag, showering her with compliments, helping with homework, buying her snacks and little gifts. When he finally worked up his courage to confess to her, after months of pining and lots of encouraging from his best friend since childhood, Taehyung, he made sure everything would be perfect. Writing out what he would say days in advance (using every romantic movie and drama his mother possessed as reference), getting fashion advice from the neighboring noonas and asking around about what kind of behavior girls liked in boys, practicing until he was sure he was the perfect mixture of gentleman and bad boy that the ladies apparently loved. That's right, it should have been perfect. He was ready to sweep her right of her feet, and then they would be happy forever as boyfriend and girlfriend.
But the real thing went nothing like in Jimin's imagination.
***
“...so, what do you say, Yeon Sung-ah? W-Will you be..my girlfriend?”
He thought he was prepared for rejection, but nothing could have prepared him for the soft, pitying look the girl flashed him in response.
“Sorry, Jiminie. You are really cute and nice too, but-”
But? But what? Being cute and nice was good right?
“-but I don't want my boyfriend to be cuter than me. I need a real guy as boyfriend. Someone who is tall. And strong. And manly.”
The words cut him like knives.
Tall. Sure, he wasn't tall. No one in his family was. But still; he was nice. She said so herself. Didn't that count for anything?
Strong. He wasn't exactly weak. He was good at tag and soccer. So what if he couldn't lift up the girls in his class like other boys could. They were perfectly capable of walking themselves. Why would you want a boyfriend who can lift you up and carry you around when you can have one that loves you more than anything in the world, like Jimin would have? Wasn’t that worth anything?
Manly. All his life he had been told how cute he was: his round cheeks, his eye smile, his bright laugh. But cute wasn't as good as manly, was it? Cute and manly apparently couldn't go together. So even if Jimin had swore to be the perfect gentleman for Yeon Sung, to always protect her, to care for her, it wouldn’t be enough. It didn’t mean anything.
It was on that day that Jimin, who had always loved himself, had been happy with his looks and confident in his personality, began to doubt himself.
He wasn't sure if it started at that point, or if maybe he had just started to notice it now, but there was always this huge gap between how he saw and presented himself – and how others perceived him. Like his ‘cute’ appearance was a filter that converted everything he said and did into an image of soft, fragile submissiveness. He wasn't only talked and walked over: he was seen as the person who willingly allowed others to treat him this way; wanted it even. He was simply assigned a personality, in complete disregard of his actual feelings, of the adorable, soft, clingy mochi Jimin. Shy, modest, selfless. Never demanding, never complaining, never angry.
It wasn't like they were completely wrong. He was and had always been a nice person who cared about his friends and family a lot. He liked making others happy. But he was still a human being and even he acted out at times, got jealous, possessive, angry, proud, selfish. It was normal to feel like that. But constantly being denied these feelings, having this part of his personality completely ignored by others, never being taken seriously – it was unnerving. It was crushing him.
And so Park Jimin made a decision. Once he entered high school, he would dig deep into himself and drag out the side of him everyone refused to acknowledge. It was time for the fluffy mochi Jimin to sit out, while the sly, seductive bad boy Jimin took the stage.
Of course, he could have never pulled off this image change without the help and support of Taehyung. He had always admired the quirky brunette for being so open and assertive when it came to expressing himself. Tae never cared if anyone called him weird, he always did what he felt like, and the people around him had long since accepted that it was impossible to put Kim Taehyung into a category. Cute, funny, annoying, sexy, compassionate, cool, weird, ridiculous. He was all over the place, switching from one extreme to the other in a matter of seconds like it was nothing. Jimin was truly glad to have him as a friend. He wanted to have that too. Finally, he wanted to be seen as a man, and not just a small boy. He started working out, exchanging his sweater paws for a leather jacket, his bright eye smile for a seductive smirk, the skip in his step for a confident stride. And soon enough, he could feel how the attitude others showed towards him started to change as well. When he got serious in a conversation, no one turned it into a joke anymore. No one treated him like a pet or errand boy anymore; on the contrary – people fell all over themselves to please him now. He could feel the patronizing coos transform into looks of admiration – and want. And damn, did it feel good being wanted. It did wonders to his self confidence, and he never felt more comfortable with himself. It wasn't perfect, though. Presenting this way allowed him to live out new sides of himself, as he never could before; but it also meant sacrificing part of himself as well. He couldn't afford to act in a way that was regarded as 'weak' or 'girly'. Always watching out he didn't act in a way that would make others label him as cute or adorable again. Because he was certain, once he got stuffed back into that category, he wouldn't be able to escape again. He hated this society for their black-and-white mindset. It should be possible for him to like cute stuff and let out his soft side without being emasculated at the same time. It wasn't fair. But everyone else seemed perfectly happy just fitting their designated molds, so he should too. He already defied the norm by breaking out of the role of the small, cute pushover. It should be enough. Still, he felt jealous of those so-called 'manly' men. Tall, strong and muscular. They didn't have to build up their self-confidence like Jimin had. They didn't have to constantly watch and prove themselves to be recognized. They probably had everything and everyone laid out on a silver platter before them. Even girls like Yeon Sung. He wasn't bitter. Not at all. But the second his eyes landed on the new kid, he was determined to put the guy in his place. Just because he was good looking didn't mean he could walk around Jimin's school, like he fucking owned the place. Just because he was a little talented didn't mean he could treat others like they were below him. Oh, this boy was in for the ride of his life, he would make sure of that. He was sure this tall boy was the embodiment of everything he hated about society. Not for a second did he consider, that maybe, despite being polar opposites at first glance, he wasn't as different from the new kid as he thought.
---
Jungkook felt his whole body flinch when a boot loudly made contact with the locker's hard metal right next to his knee. The shorter one of the intimidating duo had strode right over after spotting him, the kick both serving as intimidation tactic as well as a means of cutting off his escape route. Where his way wasn't blocked by the scowling dark haired boy's leg, the lankier lilac haired guy was looming, a weird boxy grin on his face; the two of them successfully caging the frightened brunette. The taller of two spoke first, his cheerful voice a stark contrast to the icy daggers his companion was glaring into Jungkook's side, sending shivers down his spine.
“Hey there, new kid! I'm Taehyung, nice to meet you!”
Jungkook wanted to respond, but his throat was so dry, he couldn't bring out a sound. He could already feel the cold sweat prick at the back of his neck; even if he knew he was being pathetic. This situation was crucial. Not only what he said, but also the way he said it would probably determine if he would survive this school year unscathed or if it would turn into a living hell. He knew as much. He had heard on documentaries that school hierarchies and bullying at schools in Seoul was at a much larger scale than back in Busan, and he had already had trouble dealing with the bullies there. These two guys were probably at the top of the food chain, so if he somehow managed to piss them off he was done for. Shit, too much time had passed already, he needed to answer now, before they thought he was being defiant. Just as simple 'Hey, I'm Jungkook, nice to meet you too!' would do. Not too cheerful, or he would sound arrogant. Maybe add a 'I'll be in your care' for safety measures?
“H-Hey...'m...ung..kook..”
Oh god, his voice was way to soft, and he was mumbling. “Sorry, what was that?” the one named Taehyung asked, leaning in closer to catch Jungkook's words.
“I..I'm..name..is..Jung..kook..”
Jungkook hated the tremble in his voice that was obscuring his words, and his face was once again flushed in embarrassment. Why did he have to be like that? A small startled sound escaped the brunette's throat when his jaw was grabbed harshly all of sudden and his head was yanked around to face the scary shorty.
“Yah! He just asked you a question. Speak up a little, would you?” the boy snarled haughtily, lips curled in a smirk as he somehow managed to stare down at Jungkook, despite being almost a head shorter. Must be the power of aura, the brunette guessed.
“Y-Yes! Sorry!” he managed to squeak out, despite his cheeks being squished in the other's death grip. He was even better looking up close, seeming almost otherwordly to Jungkook, with his whole being just oozing dominance and self confidence. The brunette couldn't help being impressed, even though he was still scared out of his damned mind. His knees were shaking by now and the cold metal of the lockers against his back was his only support that prevented him from slumping down in pitiful heap on the floor at the other male's feet, where he felt he belonged. He felt more insignificant by the second as he stood frozen while the dark haired boy scrutinized his features; the glare was slowly melting from his dark brown orbs and replaced by something akin to curiosity as they scanned his face. Being watched so closely, Jungkook did his best fighting back the tears in his eyes, stilling the trembling of his lip by biting down on it hard, in a desperate attempt to save at least a bit of his dignity.
“Oh my.”
He recognized the voice as the one who introduced himself as Taehyung, and as he flitted his eyes to the side briefly he realized the other had started studying his face intently too, an expression on his face as if he was examining a rare species in a zoo. Was something wrong with his face? Were they gonna make fun of him?
“He looks so..” the shorter one muttered, sounding amazed.
Jungkook swallowed hard, preparing himself mentally for the hurtful words surely being hauled at him any second. Yet he never would have expected the two of them suddenly cooing loudly at him in unison.
“CUTE!!”
The brunette blinked rapidly in confusion. What?
The duo happily continued their conversation, not minding him.
“He looks like a frightened little bunny!”
“Look at those big eyes, he looks like he's about to cry...I can't believe you almost made this poor baby cry, Jiminie! You monster!”
“Shut up, Tae! Hey you, what's your name again? Don't worry, we won't hurt you.”
“Hey Chim, can we keep him? I always wanted a pet!”
“Now you are the one scaring him!”
And that's how Jungkook suddenly got adopted by the school's most infamous delinquents.