Chapter Text
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Sweat rolls down the side of Jungkook’s neck, soaking into the collar of his white cotton t-shirt. He tried to beat the heat by wearing light colors and thin five-inch inseam athletic shorts, but the weather seems out to get him regardless. The conditions aren’t ideal for moving into his new dormitory, but Jungkook is too excited to let a little sweat ruin the day. Even the heavy box straining his muscles as he carries it up two flights of stairs to his room can’t dampen the pep in his step.
Stepping into the air-conditioned building feels good. The main hallway is stuffy and smells oddly like stale beer and burnt popcorn, but Jungkook’s dorm room smells clean and citrusy. Yoongi’s scent was the first thing Jungkook noticed about him. Scents are important to Jungkook, who has always been sensitive to smells.
“Shit, Jungkook, you’re a lot stronger than you look,” Yoongi remarks with his eyes zeroed in on Jungkook’s biceps. It takes him a moment to get out of the way, sidestepping so Jungkook can squeeze through the front door of their dorm room.
“There was this gym–” Jungkook grunts as he sets the box on top of a small stack of other cardboard boxes, “–that I used to train at back at my old college, doing kickboxing!”
Yoongi shuffles around to stand on the opposite side of the boxes with his hands on his hips. Wearing an oversized black t-shirt and loose black basketball shorts, he looks adorably small. Although they’re both prey hybrids, there is something incredibly gentle about Jungkook’s new roommate. He’s got older brother vibes. They’ve only known each other for a few hours, but Jungkook already trusts Yoongi with his life.
“They let prey hybrids kickbox with predators?” Yoongi’s feline eyes follow Jungkook’s movements as he starts unpacking. His long, orange tail swishes behind him with curiosity, and his cat ears occasionally flick.
“No,” Jungkook twists around to scrunch his nose at Yoongi. What a silly question. “There weren’t any predators at our university. They weren’t allowed.”
“Shit, I keep forgetting you said your old school was prey-only.” Yoongi whistles and shakes his shaggy black hair. “I can’t even imagine what that was like.”
“Growing up, all the schools I went to were prey-only. My neighborhood was only for prey hybrids, too. I guess I never thought about it much…”
Jungkook wants to tell Yoongi that being in such homogeneous spaces is boring, but he keeps the comment to himself as he works on unpacking. It would be weird to talk about it. He has already received slight comments from other students during new prey student orientation, most of them calling him privileged and sheltered for never having interacted with predators before. It’s a bit disheartening because Jungkook has been so excited to move to a new city and transfer to a new college. For months, he’s seen this as an opportunity to figure out himself – to live independently, away from his overly-protective parents, and have a real college experience. Independence is important to Jungkook, especially now that he’s attending a college of his choosing rather than staying at the one his parents picked for him – the safer one.
With a drive to prove his parents wrong, Jungkook is determined to take care of himself. He’s twenty-one years old. It’s about time he got some freedom.
Besides, what does it matter that Jungkook has supposedly been sheltered from the world? Everyone knows there’s a social hierarchy, and hybrids like Jungkook certainly aren’t at the top. He can’t honestly blame his parents for wanting to protect him from an unequal society for as long as they could. Rabbits aren’t known for being well-respected, even amongst other prey hybrids.
Luckily, Yoongi seems kind and accepting, even for a tabby cat hybrid. So Jungkook steers the conversation toward a more comfortable topic while he sets up his half of the bedroom. Their dorm is an upperclassman dorm with a small living room, kitchen, and private bathroom for the two of them to share. They also have to share a bedroom, but Jungkook doesn’t mind.
Yoongi’s half of the room is tidy. His slate grey comforter is oversized and fluffy, neatly tucked in at the sides of the bed. His laptop sits open on his desk, quietly playing a lo-fi playlist in the background. If the minimalism of Yoongi’s half of the room is indicative of the kind of roommate he’ll be, Jungkook doesn’t have any concerns about living with Yoongi.
“Do you need any help?” Yoongi hovers at Jungkook’s side. “I feel bad; I didn’t even do anything.”
“No, no, it’s okay! It really wasn’t much.”
Jungkook is nearly finished organizing his laundry in his closet, sorting the clothing first by season and then by color. He waves off Yoongi’s concern, suddenly feeling shy.
“Are you sure?”
Jungkook nods hard enough that his fuzzy black bunny ears sway with his hair. “I’ve got some decorations I want to put up, but that might be a whole process, so I’ll deal with it later.” Turning around, he gives Yoongi a shy smile and brushes his sweaty bangs off his forehead. “But, maybe after I take a shower, you could show me around? I never got a chance to tour campus.”
Yoongi makes a strange sound, something in between a hiss and a scoff. “They didn’t show you around campus during new student orientation? Ridiculous. The predators get a whole fucking ceremony, and what do we get?”
“A free water bottle,” Jungkook pipes in, shaking the cheap plastic bottle at Yoongi.
“Ridiculous!” Yoongi eyes the water bottle as if it has personally offended him. “Go get ready. I’ll show you everything you need to know.”
Still grumbling, Yoongi meanders into the living room. Jungkook watches him plop onto the couch with a scowl and tries to hold in his giggles. Despite a somewhat shakey start to the day, Jungkook feels good about his transfer decision. He ended up with an awesome roommate in a decent dorm. He already logged into his online student portal to view his class schedule and got all the classes he wanted as a junior computer science major. What more could a guy want?
Jungkook's stomach rumbles as he grabs clean clothes that are a replica of what he's already wearing and realizes the thing that would make this day better is probably ramen or fried chicken. Or both. Definitely both. He's pretty confident that Yoongi will know somewhere good to eat on campus or in the surrounding neighborhood.
Hunger makes Jungkook fly through showering. Rubbing his head with a towel to quickly sop up his wet hair and ears, Jungkook slams his elbow into the wall. The yelp torn from his chest is rather unbecoming, and the clatter of his toiletries bag exploding onto the floor doesn't help.
"Are you okay, Jungkook-ah?" Yoongi calls from the living room, further embarrassing Jungkook without meaning to.
"Yeah, hyung! I'm okay!"
Jungkook must also mention how cutely the two men engage with each other, with Yoongi speaking to him in diminutives and letting Jungkook call him hyung already. What was Jungkook's parents' fuss about attending a large university? So far, Jungkook is loving it.
In his excitement, Jungkook doesn't bother organizing his toiletries and hopes Yoongi is okay with the temporary mess, making a mental note to work on the bathroom next when he gets home. For now, a tour and food are his top priorities. Socializing and moving all day can make a person ravenous.
"Okay, I'm done. Can we eat?"
"Shit, kid, yeah, we can eat," Yoongi grunts after being jostled around when Jungkook practically launches himself onto the couch. "What kind of food do you like? Salad?"
"That is not funny." Jungkook's pout earns him a hearty chuckle deep inside Yoongi's chest. "I like meat."
Yoongi snorts. "Good to know, kid. Let's get outta here."
-
The university campus is relatively large, but Jungkook quickly discovers that half of it is off-limits to him, much to his surprise. He'd been under the assumption that, as a university that serves all hybrids, the entire campus would be open to everyone. The thing is, Jungkook still has to learn about inhabiting a world with predator hybrids - and Yoongi is determined to teach him.
"So, the east half of campus is the predator side. All their dorms are over there, along with their gym and dining hall," Yoongi gestures down the sidewalk where the path goes through an archway between the stone walls that border the east side of campus. "Super gothic architecture and shit. It's because they're pretentious. Our side of campus is more modern because we're ahead of the times."
Yoongi continues rambling about the differences between the two halves of campus and how the library is the only genuinely coed space as he travels down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. Still, Jungkook finds himself staring past the stone archway.
A group of predator hybrids crosses through the archway, their voices echoing against the stone walls as they pass. They're boisterous and animated as they talk, occasionally all bursting into laughter when one of them says something. Jungkook has good hearing but is too caught up in watching the group to pay attention to what they're saying.
"Jungkook-ah, come on. Aren't you hungry?" Yoongi gripes, suddenly at Jungkook's side again. "Close your mouth, aish. You act like you've never seen a predator hybrid before."
"I haven't..."
"What?" Yoongi looks at him incredulously.
"I've never seen a predator before. Well, not in real life."
The group heads down the same sidewalk Jungkook and Yoongi stand on, slowly approaching the pair. Jungkook can't take his eyes off of them. There are four of them of various species, but one in particular steals Jungkook's attention. He's taller than the other three, with broad shoulders and long legs. Despite the chiseled look of his high cheekbones and sharp jawline, there's something boyish about how he laughs with a box-shaped mouth and how the breeze ruffles the unruly mess of coppery curls resting atop his head.
Always attentive to scents, Jungkook takes a deep breath of petrichor as the breeze carries the hybrid's scent to him - the deep, earthy smell of fresh rain falling on parched soil. There's something strangely nostalgic about the scent. It envelopes Jungkook, wrapping him in a comforting blanket that feels like childhood memories of playing in the creek that runs along the edge of the forest behind his neighborhood.
Jungkook opens his eyes, not having realized he'd ever closed them. When he does, he finds a pair of sharp, feline eyes staring back at him. They're critical, deftly slicing into every inch of Jungkook's soul because he can't look away.
"Hello," the hybrid greets with a deceivingly soft voice.
Jungkook has heard horror stories about predator hybrids all his life, and today, he thinks he finally understands. The hybrid is mere inches from Jungkook, close enough that he could easily snatch him up. How had he gotten so close? Jungkook feels as though he blinked, and suddenly, the other hybrid was there, having quietly crept up on him. It's Jungkook's overactive imagination, considering he quite literally watched the group approach him, but he's still intrigued.
The hybrid stands with an air of nonchalance, but Jungkook isn't stupid. He may not have any experience with predators, but he can sense the power in this one, even if his outward demeanor is relaxed. Jungkook's instincts are speaking to him.
This hybrid is dangerous.
When the breeze ruffles his hair again, Jungkook notices the pair of striped ears poking out from between his curls. If he'd been paying attention earlier, he would have noticed the striped tail, too, but he is too busy admiring the tiger's asymmetrical eyes and the little beauty mark artfully placed along his waterline.
"H-h-hi-"
"Sorry, he's new here," Yoongi interrupts and grabs Jungkook's wrist, pulling him to one side of the walkway to allow the group to walk past them.
"Oh really? I could show him around," one of the other predators says with a snicker. He licks his lips as he looks over Jungkook's body, but Jungkook misses it because he's still locking eyes with the tiger hybrid.
"Yeah, show him around a knot," another says with a snort and reaches up to high-five the fourth predator, who throws his head back and starts howling. Or maybe laughing - Jungkook isn't sure. Whatever the sound, it stops abruptly when the tiger hybrid raises his hand.
"Shut up," he says, glaring at the other three sharply. "You're acting like animals."
The tiger's gaze slides back to Jungkook. He knows his usual floral scent is spiking with anxiety, but it isn't because he's afraid of the men in front of him. If anything, he's exceptionally curious and afraid of looking like an idiot by doing the wrong thing. Not that he's doing anything aside from standing with an awed look on his face.
"Jungkook," Yoongi hisses and yanks on his wrist harder than the first time. "Ramen. Fried chicken. Let's go."
Reluctantly, Jungkook lets Yoongi drag him away from the group of predators who have now started up again with their obnoxious laughter, though this time Jungkook is sure that he's the butt of whatever jokes they're telling. It makes his face feel hot, but he mostly can't stop thinking about how pretty that tiger hybrid was. From what Jungkook was taught as a child, predator hybrids are big and scary - which is undoubtedly true of the predator hybrids he just met. But the tiger hybrid had a certain aura to him that Jungkook can't quite name.
"You're ridiculous," Yoongi grumbles his favorite word. "Stuttering and ogling like that. They're gonna eat you alive and pick at your bones if you're not careful."
Once they're a decent distance from the group of predators, Yoongi slows down his speedwalking to a casual saunter toward the prey dining hall. Maybe Jungkook should be a little bit more concerned about what Yoongi means, but instead he asks,
"What's a knot?"
Yoongi nearly chokes on his next inhale.
"I'm not gonna be the one to tell you that," Yoongi sputters, "You can fucking look it up. Wait! Just not right now! Oh god."
With a furrowed brow, Jungkook slides his phone back into his pocket. All he wanted to do was understand the joke. He supposes he'll just have to look it up later like Yoongi said.
"Do you know him?" Jungkook finally asks.
"Who?" Yoongi gives Jungkook a suspicious look, but Jungkook's head is floating in the handful of clouds barely working to give them much needed reprieve from the sun.
"The pretty one," he sighs, "The tiger hybrid."
Rolling his eyes, Yoongi opens the door to the dining hall. It's fairly crowded since they're nearing the lunch hour. Jungkook sticks close to Yoongi's side to avoid getting lost or doing something incorrectly.
"Don't even go there, kid," Yoongi says with a shake of his head. "There's a reason we're on this side of campus, and they're on the other."
Jungkook looks around at the other prey hybrids in their dining hall and doesn't find anyone as interesting as the tall boy with coppery curls and dangerous eyes.