Chapter Text
“Jungkook!” Ms. Jeon called, “Youth Star is playing, you’re going to miss it!”
Light footsteps padded against the floorboards above before heavier steps descended down the stairs. A small boy with doe eyes and fluffy onyx hair came rushing onto the couch. Ms. Jeon chuckled at the excitement thrumming through her son. “Alright enjoy Kookie.”
Jungkook hummed, eyes staying locked on the television, it was a show he found himself addicted to. Youth Star was a dance competition for young talent, the age ranging from ten to fifteen. At first Jungkook wasn’t too interested in the show, as he wasn’t a big fan of dancing. But he happened to flip the channel while one kid was auditioning.
Something about the kid’s smile made Jungkook stay, it’s radiance captivating him completely. When the kid started to move, the young ravenhead was hooked. This kid, who later was named Jung Hoseok, moved something in him he never knew was there. He wanted to watch him dance forever. The urge to move his body– to be like Hoseok– was so great it surprised Jungkook himself.
So Jungkook kept watching, begging his mom to make sure he watched it live. She found his enthusiasm cute, and agreed easily. That was 11 weeks ago. The final episode was today and Jungkook was watching in anticipation. Hoseok was in the Top 2, and Jungkook wanted him to win. He even asked his mom to vote for Hoseok on the phone every week the show broadcasted.
The nine year old boy watched in utter amazement as Hoseok moved around stage for his last performances, ignored the other contestant, and waited with baited breath as the host went to announce the winner of Youth Star.
His anticipation was shattered though when Hoseok wasn’t named the winner. Honestly, it hurt, so much he wanted to cry for the older boy. But surprisingly Hoseok didn’t look upset nor did he cry. He smiled brightly at the winner, gave her a big hug, and congratulated her. Jungkook watched as the host asked Hoseok to say a few parting words.
Hoseok grinned to the camera, “Thank you for letting me be on this show and to everyone who voted for me! I love dancing and I’m going to keep doing it and get even better!!!! I won’t stop! You’ll see me again!”
I love dancing.
That moment changed Jungkook’s life. The boy called out to his mom, “Mom!”
Ms. Jeon walked over to him, “What is it Kookie?”
His eyes were sparkling with complete finality. This is what he wanted to do, he just knew it .
“Mommy, I want to dance!”
---
Finally! I’m here!
Stepping onto the campus grounds was exhilarating for Jungkook. He worked his ass for so long, overcame his own scrutiny, and at the age of eighteen, was accepted into the best arts school. It wasn’t possible if it wasn’t for his nine year idol.
Jungkook never forgot Jung Hoseok. The boy was Jungkook’s whole reason for dancing. He was so thankfully his parents let him pursue dancing after Youth Star finished, let him chase a dream Hoseok had instilled in him. Jungkook never heard news about Hoseok after that, but he still had all the videos of Hoseok dancing on the show and clips of the words Hoseok said that encouraged him. And he watched them— a lot. Whenever Jungkook doubted himself he would go back to those videos, the root to his passion, and it kept him going. Now he was in the best dance department, full of pride in himself. And he was going to keep pushing until he was a professional dancer like he knew Jung Hoseok had to be now.
After he finally moved all his boxes into his new dorm room and said goodbye to his parents, the new chapter in his life began.
His roommate’s side of the dorm was already settled in, but he wasn’t there so Jungkook decided to set up his side of the room to pass the time. An hour had passed and by that time, Jungkook only had his posters left to hang. He was putting one up when the door opened.
“Oh you’re already here!”
Jungkook looked over and saw a male with brunette hair, full lips, and strong but small stature enter the room. Jungkook gave a small smile to the other, “Hi. Uh, are you my roommate?”
That made the other male chuckle, “No I just happen to have the key— of course I am!”
The ravenhead flushed in embarrassment. Jungkook honestly what the fuck . “Oh god I’m an idiot.”
“Oh no don’t beat yourself up I was only teasing!” The brunette walked over, extending his hand out with a wide smile, “Let’s start over. My name is Jimin, Park Jimin.”
With a smile as friendly as that, it was impossible for Jungkook to not return it. “Jungkook, Jeon Jungkook.”
Jimin’s smile only seemed to get bigger, “What year are you?”
“It’s my first one.”
“Ah!” Jimin shook his hand in excitement, “I’m your hyung then! I’m a third year.”
“O-Oh!” That surprised him a little, considering Jimin was quite small, but Jungkook kept that to himself. He bowed slightly, “Please take care of me.”
The brunette gave him a pat on the shoulder, “You don’t have to do that. I’m pretty ok with being comfortable, since we’ll be living together. Fair warning, I have a best friend who likes to come over a lot, so I’m sorry in advance.”
Jungkook smiled, shaking his head, “I don’t mind. Honestly the more people I meet the better. I’m… kinda shy with crowds.”
Jimin cooed, “Oh well Taehyung is definitely a social butterfly so you guys will be good friends. And if you ever need help, hyung will be here!” He looked over at the younger’s desk. “Do you have your schedule? Maybe I can give you some pointers.”
“Oh that would be great!” The ravenhead moved to the desk, grabbing a folder. He walked back to Jimin while pulling out a paper. He handed it over and waited for the older to read it.
Jimin skimmed through it before his eyes shined in recognition, “Oh you have Contemporary 1000 with Professor Lee!”
“Is that good?”
Jimin glanced at him with a smile, “Yeah actually, Professor Lee is great. And you’re super lucky because you’re having Hobi hyung as your TA.”
TA? “Huh?”
Jimin looked at him puzzled, “Yeah, all the dance studios have Teacher Assistants in them. You have my friend as your TA which is great.” He pouted, “I wish he was my TA again.”
“Oh I didn’t know we had TA’s here.”
“Yeah you can actually be one if you’re a senior or doing internships after you graduate. Hobi hyung is a fourth year now but he got to become a TA earlier since the professors recommended him.”
“So he’s really nice?”
“ Super nice. This is the class you’ll actually want to go to.” Jimin handed Jungkook back the schedule. The younger looked at the class on his schedule, “Right,” he smiled at Jimin, “Thanks hyung.”
“Aish, you’re cute,” Jimin playfully smacked his arm. “Let me help you finish unpacking everything. I’ll tell you everything you need to know about campus life.”
Jungkook held his arm sheepish, “Okay.”
The rest of the night Jimin filled in all the holes and secrets for surviving university and Jungkook sat there absorbing it all. The older male was so kind, so willing to help him that Jungkook was grateful they were roommates. He had a feeling this year was going to be a good one.
---
Campus life for the past two days had been pretty okay. All of his general classes he’d attended so far seemed to be okay. Well, except math but Jungkook decided to cross that bridge later.
His hiphop class was also fun and he managed to make friends with other first years after their professor encouraged them with icebreakers. They somehow had a group chat now, courtesy of a kid nicknamed Bambam. “We’re 97’z now! The best crew of friends!” The chat was lively the same day, making Jungkook laugh. He liked them already.
He met Taehyung yesterday and the redhead was quite the character. It seemed that because Jungkook was Jimin’s roommate, they were now a trio and his new nickname was Kookie. The redhead liked Overwatch and anime as much as he did (Taehyung demanded they dress up as My Hero Academia characters for Halloween and while Jimin whined about it, Jungkook was completely down).
Taehyung was also an artist so it was intriguing to hear him ramble about his favorite painters even though Jimin chided him for it. Jungkook honestly didn’t mind the rambling. He actually liked Taehyung a lot and looked forward to seeing him throughout college now.
Today he only had Contemporary 1000 and to be honest, he anticipated it a lot. After Jimin mentioned how he had “Hobi hyung” as his TA, Taehyung got super excited as well and now Jungkook just had to know who this person was. They painted their Hobi hyung as “The most angelic person ever.” “The best dancer of the century” or as Taehyung said “If I wasn’t dating Yoongi hyung, my ultimate fucking crush.”
So yes, Jungkook had high expectations. The expectations were going to be challenged today.
When he walked to the studio for class, only a few people were there. He stepped inside toward the back. Checking his phone he realized class didn’t start for another 15 minutes. He contemplated what he wanted to do to by time when he heard someone call out to him, “Jungkook-ah!”
He looked up and saw his new friend from Hip hop class, Yugyeom. He grinned at the brunette jogging over to him. “Hey Yugyeom! I didn’t think we would be in another class together.”
“Me either! I didn’t know you liked Contemporary.”
He only liked it because he watched Hoseok perform the style of dance during Youth Star’s challenge week— but Yugyeom didn’t need to know that. “Yeah I actually love it. It’s probably my second favorite style.”
“Oh thank god. Then you’re gonna have to help me,” Yugyeom chuckled, “I’m super stiff since I only do Hip hop but I wanted to try something different, so I joined this class.”
Jungkook laughed at the younger. He patted his back comfortingly, “Yeah I’ll be glad to help you Yugyeom-ah.”
“Awesome!” Yugyeom set his bag next to Jungkook’s, “Do you want to stretch before class starts?”
“Yeah sure!”
They did partner stretches while more students flooded in the studio. The professor made himself known as soon as he walked in. “Morning students, I’m Professor Lee!”
Jungkook separated from Yugyeom, grinning when his gaze lifted—
Only for it to drop the moment he saw the male next to his professor. OH shit.
The male may have looked older, may have slimmed out and had a lean body, may have soft looking blonde hair now, but Jungkook would know that face anywhere. Jungkook could be in a crowd of over a thousand people, and still point out that face, that smile. What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck WHAT— The air was knocked out of him when the professor asked the male to introduce himself.
“Hello everyone,” The blonde’s smile was blinding , “My name is Jung Hoseok and I’ll be your Teacher Assistant for the semester!”
WHAT THE FUCK.
Jungkook barely heard the professor talking to the class over his mind screeching in panic. To say the ravenhead was shook was an understatement. His mind was going a thousand miles per hour trying to put all the pieces together.
Jung Hoseok was his TA...
Jung Hoseok… the same Jung Hoseok who has been Jungkook’s idol for nine years… was is TA.
Oh my fucking god.
Jungkook thought he was about to faint. Full on faceplant on to the ground. Yugyeom seemed to notice, glancing at him in concern, “Hey Jungkook,” He whispered, “Are you okay?”
The ravenhead swallowed his panic, now wasn’t the time to freak out. He could do that later when he was under the safety of his sheets in his room. He smiled shakily at the younger, “Yeah, I’m okay.”
But god was that the biggest lie of his life.
---
The moment Jungkook slipped into his bed, the reality of the situation hit him like a shit ton of bricks. Hit him so hard all he could do was wiggle around in the sheets, the noises he made sounding like a dying whale. Which was accurate because well, Jungkook was dying. From feels and disbelief. He finally stopped rolling around and gazed at the ceiling.
Okay so what’s the game plan what the hell am I doing?
He could definitely keep his nine year boy crush a secret, that’s step one in his plan to survive the semester. Step two, avoid as much interaction as possible, because knowing him he would make a fool out of himself and he just didn’t need that . The rest he could figure out as time went on. Hoseok was only his mentor for the semester so he just had to survive for like five months. He could do that, he could do that.
It was quiet after he finished his internal speaking, everything in the room still. An urge kept itching but Jungkook kept trying to ignore it, until it was too strong to resist. He grabbed his laptop off the desk near his bed, turning it on, and clicking the video on his desk top titled “Inspo.”
It was a compilation video of Hoseok’s on Youth Star, the same video Jungkook had been watching for years. As he watch the boy in the video smile, laugh, and dance, it was hard to connect that boy, the same one he watched for years, as the man he saw today. It was the same person though. Their eyes both glistened with this inner happiness, something you couldn’t fake. Their smile was wide and their laugh was basically the same, just one was deeper now.
After the fifth time of watching the video the door was unlocked, Jimin walking in. The two made eye contact, “Hey Jungkook! How was class?”
Jungkook closed the video and shut his laptop, “It was good. Professor Lee was nice…”
Jimin grinned at him, “And Hobi hyung?”
Right. Hobi hyung was Jung Hoseok. The ravenhead gulped, “He was nice too.”
Jimin hummed out, dropping his bag next to his bed, “His smile was beautiful right?”
That made the younger blushed. He coughed, “It was okay.”
The older chuckled, “You don’t have to be embarrassed. I was pretty enthralled by him myself.”
“I-I’m not embarrassed. I just—”
A knock on the door stopped Jungkook from continuing. Jimin who was still standing walked over and opened the door, a wide grin appearing. “Speak of the devil!”
Huh?
Jungkook almost choked seeing Hoseok walk into the room. He sat up quickly, hoping he didn’t look like a mess as the two friends hugged each other.
“What are you doing here hyung?”
“I wanted to see you since the semester started!” Hoseok pulled away before gazing upon Jungkook. The blonde smiled in recognition, “Oh! You’re in my class!”
Jungkook’s smile was wobbly as he waved lightly at Hoseok. “H-Hi.”
“Hi! Uh… Jungkook right?”
Oh fuck he knows me. “T-That’s right.”
Jimin whistled impressed, “Hyung you’re usually bad with names.”
Hoseok chuckled, “Well he looks like that BT21 character, Cooky, and their names are close so it was easy for me to remember.” He grinned at Jungkook, “So you’re Jiminie’s roommate? I’m sorry in advance.”
Jimin smacked the older male’s arm, “Hyung!”
Ok, Hoseok’s laugh was even more pretty in person Jungkook realized and he was two seconds from dying. He suddenly felt unworthy to be in the other’s presence. His eyes fell to the floor. He muttered quietly, “I-It’s okay. Jimin hyung is nice…”
The blonde cocked his head to the side, another smile raising easily, “Cute. You’re a shy one aren’t you?”
The ravenhead blushed, “No! It’s just I don’t know how I should interact with you. Since you’re my TA…” That was such a lie.
“Yeah Jungkookie here has manners unlike you, hyung.” Jimin lifted his chin indignantly.
Hoseok opted to ignore Jimin’s jab, completely focused on Jungkook instead. He walked over to the younger with a soft smile, “You don’t have to be nervous. We can still be friends even though I’m your TA.”
“F-Friends?!”
“Yeah, you’re adorable and I like my friends that way so how about it?” Hoseok stretched out his hand and all Jungkook could do was stare at it.
This wasn’t a part of Jungkook’s plan. He was supposed to avoid him, not be his friend. But shit Hoseok’s smile was so inviting and Jungkook would feel like an asshole if he said no. Especially since he would see Hoseok two times a week for five months. Well at least Jungkook could still execute Step One of his plan… He gazed at Hoseok with a nervous smile, taking his hand (and they were soft might he add).
“Ok, friends.”
Hoseok grinned at him. “Friends.”