Chapter Text
The apartment was considerably livelier when Seokjin and Jungkook returned from their shopping trip later that morning.
“You’re back!” said Taehyung, sitting up straight on the couch in the living room. Next to him was a somewhat less awake Jimin, eyes bleary as he tore his eyes away from the TV to watch the pair walk through the front door. Jimin gave both Seokjin and Jungkook a sleepy smile in greeting, making Seokjin feel a little bit lighter.
"We are, indeed," said Seokjin, taking his shoes and coat off and waiting for Jungkook to remove his own as they made their way over to them. “And what are you two up to this morning?”
“Today’s Saturday, remember?” said Jimin. “Our favorite show airs in the morning.”
“Ah, right,” Seokjin responded. Taehyung and Jimin always got into new shows together to the point of making it into a pastime. Seokjin had seen them blow through cooking shows, singing competitions, and romcoms. Now these days, they woke up early every Saturday morning without fail to catch some true-crime docuseries. “Did they catch the killer yet?”
“Nah, the killer caught onto the investigation and fled town. The episode ended on a cliffhanger. What’d you buy?”
“These,” said Seokjin, putting the bags down on the floor “are all Jungkook’s things. We went shopping to get him some clothes and toiletries.”
Interest piqued, Jimin and Taehyung vacated the couch and shifted closer, peering into the multitude of shopping bags. While they were busy with that, Seokjin heard a rustling from the kitchen and turned just in time to catch Namjoon poking his head out of the kitchen.
“Oh, you’re back, hyung.”
“Hey, Namjoon,” said Seokjin. “Rummaging through the kitchen by yourself?”
“Hoseok and Yoongi-hyung are here too, they just woke up,” said Namjoon. On cue, the duo in question appeared behind Namjoon, Hoseok smiling when he saw Seokjin and Jungkook.
“Morning, Seokjin-hyung! Morning, Jungkook!” Hoseok said cheerily.
Jungkook gave a timid bow in response. “Good morning.”
“Taehyung told us you went out with Jin-hyung to get some shopping done,” said Namjoon. “I take it you found everything you needed?”
Jungkook nodded. “I did,” he said. “I should be okay for now.”
Namjoon smiled. “That’s good to hear.”
As the conversation continued and Namjoon and Hoseok began asking Jungkook if he slept well, Seokjin shifted his gaze away and his eyes locked onto Yoongi, who was staring intensely at the boy from where he stood, brows furrowed deeply. He looked…puzzled. And after a few moments of deliberating, Seokjin realized why. Amidst all the chaos, he totally forgot to tell Yoongi what was going on with Jungkook’s living situation.
Seokjin sighed. It seemed like a conversation was in order.
“You know what? Jungkook, why don’t you go put your stuff away?” Seokjin gently suggested. “I’m sure Taehyung and Jimin would love to help, wouldn’t you guys?”
The two of them looked over at Seokjin, but when they saw him give a pointed look, they took the hint and stood up from the floor, taking Jungkook’s bags and shepherding the boy towards their bedroom to help him start organizing his things. Only when the three youngest were gone and a door closed in the distance did Yoongi finally speak up.
“Did I…miss something?” he asked hesitantly, eyes flitting back and forth between Seokjin and the entrance to the kitchen as if he was expecting Jungkook to still be standing there, listening in. “Is Jungkook permanently living here?”
“No—well, yes. I don’t know,” Seokjin fumbled. “It’s complicated.”
Yoongi looked over at Namjoon and Hoseok. “Did you two know about this?”
“Uh, kinda?” said Hoseok, scratching his head in uncertainty. “I mean, Seokjin-hyung told us last night that he and Taehyung found Jungkook on the streets and took him in, but nothing else.”
“Wait, the streets?” said Yoongi, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “I thought he was Jimin and Taehyung’s friend and that he was here for a sleepover.”
"That's what we thought too," said Namjoon. "But it seems that's not the case. And apparently, he was in worse condition when they first found him."
“What do you mean?” said Hoseok. “You’re telling me something bad happened to him?”
“Well, that’s what Jin-hyung told me.”
Seokjin watched as Yoongi, Hoseok, and Namjoon all turned their heads to look at him in question. In retrospect, he probably shouldn’t have told them all different bits and pieces of the story. But now that all of them were awake and Jungkook was in a different room, it was the perfect time to explain the full details to all of them. So he led the three of them back into the kitchen to sit down at the dining table. Only when everyone was settled did he begin to speak.
“I know this is all unexpected,” Seokjin began. “Believe me, I didn’t plan to suddenly house a teenage kid either, but our encounter with him yesterday was a strange one. For starters, when we first found him in an alleyway, he wasn’t even a human, he was a dog.”
“A dog?” Hoseok repeated, exchanging a confused look with Namjoon. “How is that possible?”
“It’s—”
“It’s because his power is shape-shifting, right?” Yoongi interjected.
Seokjin turned to Yoongi, taken aback. “How did you…?”
“Jungkook told me himself,” said Yoongi. “While I was sitting on the couch with him last night, he told me about how he could shape-shift and that his second power hasn’t come in yet. So it totally makes sense that he can turn into animals.”
“But what are the odds of finding someone with powers?” said Namjoon. “All of us in this apartment are special cases, but out there? It’s damn near impossible.”
“Well, after meeting all of you, I’ve begun to believe a bit more in the impossible,” Seokjin replied, giving them all a knowing look. “But because of Jungkook’s appearance as a dog, Taehyung wanted to help him, and so we took him home. But when we brought him home, Jungkook woke up, saw he was in an unfamiliar place, freaked out, and transformed back into a human. We eventually got him to trust us enough to let Jimin heal him.”
“Heal him from what?” Yoongi asked.
“There was this cut all across the back of his hand,” Seokjin explained. “It seemed to have been there for a while, but it was still pretty gnarly-looking. I personally have a theory that someone had cut him with a knife because last night when I asked him if he wanted to help me cut vegetables, he saw the knife in my hand and began to shake. So I told him he didn't have to help me if he wasn't comfortable and sent him to wait for us in the living room."
“That’s why he was on the couch,” Yoongi muttered in realization, finally putting all the pieces of the story together. “And here I thought it was because you didn’t want to make a guest do any work in the kitchen. I would’ve never guessed it was because of that.”
“Is there anything else you know about him?” Hoseok prompted.
Seokjin shook his head. “No. That’s pretty much it. He told me he has nowhere to go and so that’s why I let him stay. And if he’s going to be staying for a while, I wanted him to at least have things of his own, hence the shopping trip this morning.” He slumped slightly in his chair, feeling slightly guilty. “I’m sorry I didn’t let you guys know sooner.”
“You don’t need to say sorry to us, hyung,” said Yoongi. “It’s your family’s apartment and ultimately your decision to house whoever you want. Nobody’s mad at you for that.”
“Besides,” said Namjoon. “Jungkook seems like a sweet kid. I don’t think anybody will have a problem with him living here.”
“I second that,” Hoseok concurred. “God knows Taehyung and Jimin have practically adopted him anyway. It’ll take a lot to separate those three now.”
Seokjin smiled at them. "Thanks, guys. Really. I was worried about what you all might think of him, but I'm glad we're all on the same page about helping him out. Honestly, though, the hardest part is gonna be telling my parents."
“So what’s the plan?” asked Hoseok.
“I’m not sure,” Seokjin sighed. “Sooner or later they’re gonna find out. I just wish I knew more about Jungkook that I could tell them. I don’t want them to distrust him because I don’t have enough information on where he comes from or how he ended up in his situation.”
“The poor kid hasn't even been here for up to twenty-four hours. Of course, he's not going to be comfortable right away,” said Yoongi. “Just give it a few days and he’ll start to open up. For now, let’s do what we can to help him settle. The questions can come later if or when he’s ready to talk to us.”
Looking around at everyone at the dining table, Seokjin could see that they were all nodding in silent agreement. While he was concerned that his parents may have a hard time accepting Jungkook, it wasn’t fair to squeeze information out of Jungkook before he even had time to get used to the six of them. For now, he would put his parents at the back of his mind and worry about building a relationship with Jungkook instead.
“Yeah,” said Seokjin. “Let’s help him settle in.”
…
Jungkook let out a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the bathtub. After coming back with Seokjin, he was whisked away to his shared room with Taehyung and Jimin as the two helped him organize his things and put them away. Once they were done, Jungkook felt he had time to indulge himself with a shower, so he hopped away into the bathroom.
It was nice talking to Jimin and Taehyung when he was putting his things away. When he was in their room, they would engage in small talk about the things he brought home from the shopping department and the like, and Jungkook even felt comfortable enough to ask them about their own clothing preferences and things like favorite colors. But his social battery runs out quite quickly, so excusing himself to take a shower was the perfect way to recharge.
And now that he had used their bathroom once before to wash himself, he felt like he couldn’t get enough of getting clean. It had been so long since he hadn’t felt grimy and disgusting, but now that he had the opportunity to properly scrub himself, use soap, and rinse the dirt off his body (with warm water, at that!), it felt like a dream come true to be comfortable in his own skin. He didn’t feel like he had to hide anymore. Jungkook wanted to feel this way all the time.
He quickly toweled himself off and went to grab his clothes—his clothes, not anybody else’s—from the edge of the counter when he caught his reflection in the mirror. He paused, staring his body down.
It had been a while since he had seen himself. He had been living as a dog for so long that the last time he had properly looked at himself in a mirror was when…was when… When was the last time he roamed the streets as a human?
He was slimmer than he remembered. And his hair was much longer. He usually liked his hair long, but, in the past, by this point, someone would have suggested cutting it soon (Scissors. Sharp. NO CUTTING, his brain suddenly contested). He did, however, look clean, and that was what mattered most to Jungkook for now. He slipped on a pair of underwear, put on a long-sleeved shirt, a pair of sweatpants, and a pair of blue fuzzy socks with stars on them that Taehyung had found in the shopping bags and had encouraged him to wear. Then he looked at himself in the mirror once more and, when he liked what he saw, smiled. Not a small smile, or a fake one, but a big easy smile that he may have had practice making a long, long time ago, but was so unfamiliar to him now.
It was nice.
It felt…nice.
Jungkook liked that.
~O~
By the time Jungkook exited the bathroom fully dressed, the older residents of the apartment had already gone back to their rooms. All that was left was Taehyung and Jimin, who were both sitting in front of the TV tinkering with a machine that Jungkook wasn't sure that he recognized. Jimin was the first to spot him emerging from the hallway, smiling in greeting.
“Hey, Jungkook. Nice shower?”
“Yeah,” said Jungkook. “What are you guys doing?”
“We’re playing a video game.” Jimin held something up that was connected to the machine. It had buttons, just like the remote control he had used the night before. There was also a stick protruding from it. For what, Jungkook did not know. “Wanna join us?”
Jungkook sat down next to him and grabbed it with some uncertainty, examining the thing from all angles. He pressed one of the buttons and waited for something to happen, but nothing did. He frowned.
“Jimin-ssi…what is this supposed to do?”
Jimin looked between the item in Jungkook’s hands and then Jungkook before his eyes widened slightly, looking abashed at his mistake.
“I keep assuming you know how to use certain things. I’m really sorry about that.”
“It’s okay, you couldn’t have known,” said Jungkook, starting to feel quite abashed himself at his own incompetence with technology.
“No, it’s not okay. I was being insensitive,” said Jimin. “Honestly, I’ll try to remember for next time. Let me teach you.”
Jungkook sat through an extensive tutorial on what they called a gaming console. He listened attentively as Jimin explained what the game controllers did, how to navigate the home screen on the TV, and what kind of games they had. Jungkook was enthralled by it all. Most of his life was spent out in the middle of nowhere, away from any civilization. The weeks up to his discovery by Seokjin and Taehyung that he spent living outside were his first exposure to a modern city. It was a lot, having to navigate through the tall buildings, advanced technology, and big crowds, but he had no choice but to figure it out on his own. It was the only way to survive. It had been very overwhelming so far to come to this city and feel like he had jumped fifty years into the future, but he had tried his best to take it all in stride and learn as much as he could. He still had a lot to learn, but, at the very least, he picked things up rather quickly.
After the crash course, Jimin and Taehyung picked a racing game to play and handed Jungkook a controller to join in.
“We’ll start off by doing some easy tracks,” said Jimin. “Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, we’ll go to the harder ones. And since you’re new to video games, we promise not to tease you if you lose.”
“But we make no promises for the future,” Taehyung added, giggling as Jimin lightly slapped him on the arm in reprimand. “Also, if you end up not liking this game we can play a different one. I have one in mind that I think you might like.”
“If you’re thinking of getting him to play that horror game that Seokjin-hyung got you last week, then you can count me out of watching. It’s too creepy.”
“Aw, you’re no fun.”
“Seokjin-hyung buys you stuff too?” Jungkook asked. He knew it was an abrupt question, but that was the only part of the sentence he could focus on.
Taehyung and Jimin were only taken off guard for a short moment before responding.
“Yeah,” said Jimin. “He likes giving gifts, usually at random.”
“Or if you help him out with something,” Taehyung added. “He got me the game as thanks for helping him find his phone. It was in the pantry. No one knows how it got there.”
Jungkook was lost. He assumed that he was the only person Seokjin bought things for because Jungkook quite literally had nothing to his name, but to hear that he buys gifts for others in the house when they have their own money? He knew all of them must be close somehow, but frequent gift-giving seemed like a lot considering that Seokjin was giving so much to them already by letting everyone live in this apartment.
Seokjin was definitely an interesting character, and Jungkook was starting to think that he should learn more about him to understand why he was the way he was. And since he was too nervous to confront Seokjin himself, asking the others seemed to be the next best thing.
“Seokjin-hyung seems like a generous person,” Jungkook said carefully, hoping to use this comment to test the waters and see how many positive things Taehyung and Jimin had to say about him. It was apparently a lot given the way they both enthusiastically nodded.
“Yeah, he’s the best. We owe a lot to him for taking us in,” said Taehyung. “And I know it wasn’t easy. Six—now seven—guys from different walks of life under one roof, it’s a lot to handle.”
Jimin nodded in agreement. “And not too long ago, we were nothing more than strangers to him. Despite that, he put trust in us and took us in, regardless of the risks.”
Jungkook blinked.
Huh. He never thought of it like that.
When he first woke up in Seokjin’s apartment, he was so focused on himself that he didn’t realize how he could have easily been just as much of a threat as he originally assumed Seokjin was to him. This wasn’t just seven regular people in an apartment. This was seven people with powers—powers that even they didn’t know the extent of. He vaguely remembered in the back of his head the way that Seokjin had pushed Taehyung and Jimin behind him the night before when they saw Jungkook transform.
Instinctive protectiveness.
And even after that horrible introduction, even though Jungkook was deliberately withholding information about his past from all of them, Seokjin still cared for him all the same. He gave him food, a place to sleep, and clothes of his own. Most importantly, he treated Jungkook like he was something, and that was more than Jungkook had received from anyone else in his life. Perhaps he wasn’t giving Seokjin enough credit where it was due.
“Yeah…he did take a lot of risks. Especially with me.” Jungkook briefly glanced over at the pair of them before looking down at the floor. "And so did you guys too, I guess."
“None of which we regret, though!” said Jimin. He shifted closer, putting a warm hand on Jungkook’s shoulder. “We’re glad you’re here. And for as long as you’re with us, you’re family.”
‘Family’. That word again.
First, it was Taehyung last night, and now Jimin was saying it. What did it mean to be family, exactly? Jungkook wasn’t entirely sure. But given the way he’d seen everyone else in the apartment treat each other with such kindness and respect, he had a feeling that it must be something meaningful. Something that Jungkook never had the luxury of experiencing before. For however many days he would be staying in Seokjin’s apartment, he hoped they would show him the answer to his question.
He looked up at Jimin with a hopeful expression. “Will you guys teach me how to play the game now?”
Jimin perked up, a smile blossoming on his face. “Sure.”