Chapter Text
The day Jeon Jungkook’s life turned completely upside down, he was running late for class. He had no thoughts in his head beyond his pounding feet on the concrete streets of Seoul. He turned down an alleyway, hoping that it would cut through the rows of buildings faster. The scene he stumbled upon froze him in his tracks.
It should have made Jungkook run, it should make him scream in fear. The sight of blood should at least make him a bit queasy, but he feels none of these things. He barely feels any surprise as the towering man glares at him over his whimpering victim.
He was late, bloody knuckles and whimpering cries be damned, he was late.
“May I pass?” He asked, gesturing to the street just beyond the dark alley. “I’m late for class.”
The glaring man’s face twists in confusion, he stares down at Jungkook for a moment, probably taking in his paint splattered jeans, rumpled t-shirt, and beaten black backpack. Jungkook doesn’t shift on his feet as the man’s dark eyes scrutinize him. He simply waits to see if he will be free to attend his photography class today or if he’ll be joining the whimpering man on the cold asphalt.
“Why aren’t you wearing a jacket?”
Jungkook jerks at the man’s question, his voice is much deeper than he had expected.
“Ah.. forgot, I was in a rush.” He explains, feeling thoroughly chastised when the man clicks his tongue in response.
The man tosses his victim to the ground and takes two long, sure strides towards Jungkook. In one swoop he takes off his large leather jacket and places it around Jungkook’s shoulders.
“But you’ll get cold,” Jungkook protests, as the man zips the jacket up for him. This seems to amuse the man because he simply chuckles as he backs away.
“Don’t worry about me, little one, I won’t be out for much longer. Run along to class now.” He says in a low tone, before giving a swift kick to his crawling victim before he gets too far.
Jungkook gives a hasty bow and quiet ‘thank you’ before continuing his way through the alley, slipping his arms through the jacket as he walks. It’s still warm from the man’s body heat and there’s a scent to it that makes Jungkook want to burrow into the collar. He denies himself the pleasure and keeps his steady pace towards the main road leaving the groaning sounds behind him.
Once his feet hit the sun kissed pavement, his mind returns to the urgency of getting to class. He frantically looks for a familiar street before choosing the right direction to head in. The university campus is only five blocks away and he books it, taking no notice of the passing cars or pedestrians until he’s huffing up the steps towards the Visual Arts wing.
Jimin is typing furiously on his phone at the entrance and glares at Jungkook when he throws the doors open.
“You almost made me late! Why weren’t you answering your phone?” He demands as he huffs to catch up to Jungkook’s steady stride towards their class.
“Forgot to charge it last night.” Jungkook answers as they slide into the room and take their seats. The bell rings for attendance and Jungkook gives a great sigh of relief to have made it in time.
“Where did you get that jacket? I’ve never seen you wear that one.” Jimin whispers to him as assignments are passed out by the TA and the professor starts his lecture on camera lighting.
Jungkook is so deep in his frantic notes that he barely registers Jimin’s question, he blinks in thought for a moment before replying, “Ran into a dude on my way to class, I forgot my jacket and he gave me his. Said he didn’t want me to be cold.”
“Oooohhh,” Jimin whistles lowly, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. “Was he hot? Did you get his number?”
Jungkook’s mind fills with the man’s tall build. The way his broad shoulders had filled the black turtleneck he had been wearing. His handsome face that Jungkok could only glimpse in the shadowed alleyway and his dark alluring dragon-like eyes.
The unbidden image of the man he had under him; beaten, bruised, and bleeding, comes to the forefront of his mind. He tries to shake the image as he replies to Jimin’s question, “Couldn’t really tell, it was kinda dark and happened so fast. So no, I didn’t get his number.”
“Shame,” Jimin sighs and thankfully drops the subject.
Jungkook has less success driving the mysterious man out of his head for the remainder of class. When the bell rings he jolts in his seat in surprise making Jimin cackle in delight.
“Come on, lover boy, let’s go bother Hobi-hyung at his dance studio.” Jimin teases as he drags him from his chair, ignoring his groans of protest.
“Why are you making me third wheel your flirting attempts with hyung?” Jungkook moaned but was ignored as Jimin kept his fast pace towards the dance studio across campus. He sighed in resignation and mentally hoped he wouldn’t miss his evening class because of Jimin-hyung’s dick.
Hoseok and Jimin were so wrapped up in their flirting that they didn’t even notice Jungkook slip out the door. He sat in his mandatory BioChem lecture wondering for the millionth time why it was a required credit for a Visual Arts major.
After an hour and a half of droning on and on, Professor Chan finally released them into the night. The stars twinkled above Jungkook’s head as he walked across the empty campus green. His breath fluttered in front of him as he digs his hands into the borrowed jacket. It keeps him warm for the entirety of his walk to his apartment.
Jungkook glances down the alleyway as he passes, not surprised to find it empty under the lamplight. He shuffles away still reeling slightly from the scene he had stumbled upon that morning. He bounds up the stone steps of his complex and tries not to cough at the strong smells of cigarettes and weed as he makes his way down the hallways to his apartment door.
The dingy room flutters under the harsh yellow lighting, the aging building quakes under his feet with the movement of the nearby subway. Jungkook barely takes notice of either of these, a common occurrence in the single room apartment he could afford near the campus. He places his backpack on the lone chair and fishes around in his cupboard for anything that resembles food.
A single packet of Jin Ramen is all that's left and he bemoans the lack of funds in his bank account for a grocery run. He prepares the ramen with practice ease then sits down at his shaky table with it. With the hot ramen set on the table, he begins working on the loads of homework between mouthfuls of noodles. Taking more care than usual as he ate to avoid any drops getting on the leather jacket.
The apartment is cold, almost as cold as the outside streets, he reasoned that’s why he kept the jacket on even now. But with his bed calling to him hours later he couldn’t put it off any longer. He slips the jacket off, shivering as the cold air hits his bare skin, and places it on the back of his chair.
He quells the urge to poke around through the jacket as he gets ready for bed, even though there’s no place in the tiny apartment that he can’t see it dangling. It seemed to mock him as he slipped on a long sleeve shirt and thick sweatpants from his portable wardrobe and as he stood in his half bathroom brushing his teeth. It’s only when he’s sitting on his mattress, the only decent piece of furniture in his whole apartment, that he gives into the curiosity and pulls it onto his lap.
Even though he knows the front two pockets are empty, he checks them anyway. There’s not even a hint of lint in them. Opening the jacket up he checks the inside pockets, expecting them to also be empty, but is pleasantly surprised to find a small notebook in the right side pocket. Setting it aside he checks for any other clues to the owner of it. Other than a little ‘RM’ in delicate white stitching on the inner neck of the jacket there’s nothing.
He sets the jacket back on his chair and picks up the small notebook, it’s also black leather and frayed around the edges. Taking a deep breath Jungkook tries to mentally prepare himself for the possible contents inside as he opens it. And it’s nothing that he’s expecting.
The handwriting is neat, if a bit scratchy and rushed as if the man was hurrying to write the words that came to his mind. At first Jungkook thinks they’re small poems, but the more he reads, he realizes that they’re song lyrics. Beautiful songs, full of emotions and meaning. There’s vague scratches throughout the pages to take or add words.
When Jungkook finally reaches the blank pages, it’s nearly completely full, he’s left feeling very confused about its owner. Of this mysterious RM. The man he met in that alley this morning and the man who wrote these words seemed to be worlds apart.
Jungkook has a hard time meshing the two together as he sets the notebook safely back inside of its pocket and tries to go to sleep. But the ghost of the man haunts him in his tossing and turning, his soft deep voice chases him into his dreams.