Chapter Text
Unhappiness is omnipresent wherever you go. It’s a part of life to be unhappy, and quite normal at that. But there are those who comfort those in need, who offer themselves for their friends… and those who take advantage of their feelings of jealousy, sadness, anger, and everything else.
Who would do such a thing, people may wonder. Those who have their own problems in their life like to manipulate those who feel just as horrible as them for their personal gain. It’s every man for himself… or, well, that’s an outlook they often have.
Hoseok’s never been one to be pessimistic, but he did have his moments. There was times where he was unsure of himself or saddened at the fact that his best efforts weren’t enough. He did try to keep his head up and out of water. He didn’t want to drown in those feelings and plummet into the ground like others he’s met.
The society he lives in looks down at people who do bad things, which is far from absurd. Bad people do bad things, he often hears his family say. He can’t help but shrug at this, almost feeling some sort of sympathy. People who are unhappy with their lives do things that they wouldn’t do if they were okay. Hoseok feels bad for them and feels some sort of way when they have to do things that give them a sort of adrenaline to give them more light in their life.
There’s been an outbreak of crime in the area of his home. He doesn’t think much of it, considering that crime is rampant wherever people go. It doesn’t mean he’s comfortable with it, but it’s also apart of life, right? His family is rather worried about it, though.
Hoseok slips on an unbuttoned white shirt and begins to attach it. Over the button-up, he pulls on a rather fuzzy, pastel green sweater that his grandmother gave him. It keeps him warm in his rather chilly classroom. He zips up his jeans and shoves his sock-clad feet into his white sneakers and jogs downstairs.
“Good morning, mom,” He greets to the short woman in his home. He bends down and presses a chaste kiss to her cheek. He walks to the kitchen table and begins to eat what she’s prepared for him.
“Good morning,” She replies, a small smile on her features. She washes her hands off in the sink, running her tongue over her bottom lip. “Are you ready for your first day of being a second-year?” She then asks, drying off her hands and sauntering over to the fridge.
“I guess so,” He shrugs, taking a bite of his Belgian waffles. He makes a noise of appreciation at the back of his throat at how wonderful the breakfast tastes. “I don’t want to deal with certain people, though…”
His mom hums in response and walks behind him. He flinches and almost chokes on his food when she squeezes the area where neck meets shoulder.
“Don’t be so negative, Hoseokie!” She scolds him, to which he pouts and continues to eat. “I know you hate to see big ol’ mean Seungho because he has nothing better to do than to criticize you.” She puffs one of her cheeks out and taps him on the head. “Maybe he’s sad on the inside, you know? You do have some sympathy for people who do have bad things.”
“I guess I do. I just wish he would find some better way to let that aggression out. Maybe therapy,” He sighs, shaking his head in response.
“Don’t we all?” His mother asks him, a bit of a sad tone in her voice. She squeezes his shoulders once more, promising, “Today will be better, okay?”
“Okay…”
He stands up when he’s finished with his food and places his plate and fork inside the sink. “Today will be better…” He repeats what his mother told him, and runs a hand through his hair. He slings his backpack over his shoulder and is about to head out, until a familiar body of his father blocks him. He blinks up at him and in return, he is handed a box of lunch. “Oh, thank you,” He smiles and holds it close to his chest.
After he says his goodbyes, he jogs outside. The warm air hits his sun-kissed skin and he doesn’t seem to mind the fact that his skin isn’t considered that of a “true Korean.” No matter how much you can whitewash a picture, the true him is that of a melanin-filled boy, and he loves it. No one can tell him any different.
He comes to a stoplight, where a good majority of older people wait to cross to their nine to five office jobs. He bounces on the balls of his feet, waiting for the light to change. More people come his way, and soon the light will change… but he grows rather worried. There’s a car speeding toward an older gentleman and he cannot walk fast enough. He doesn’t even look worried!
A knot grows in Hoseok’s stomach and he hurries to push through the small crowd. He hurries over and the breath gets knocked out of his lungs when he grabs the old man’s hand and pulls him into the safe area of the sidewalk. The car speeds across the intersection.
“Oh… thank you so much, young man,” The gentleman looks up at him with a grateful smile. He stands up as straight as he can and he adjusts his cane into his palm. He has a little black, octagon box in his hand. Hoseok thinks it’s a present for his wife. Maybe they’re having a cafe date and he’s giving her some earrings. He’s about to inquire about this, but flinches when the bell from his school rings out.
“S-Sorry, sir! I have to go, my classes are starting soon!” He stammers and takes no time to run off from the sidewalk and toward his place of education. The man watches him go, a small smile on his face, and turns in the other direction, mumbling something about how sweet of a kid he is.
The boy runs into his classroom, letting out a breath of relief when he realizes that he isn’t late at all. There’s still about five minutes left to spare! He holds his palpitating heart as he goes up the mini stairs and sits in the second booth from the bottom. He sets his backpack to the side, letting out a small hum.
A hand slams onto his desk, to which he lets out a small squeak and almost jumps out of his seat. He looks up to meet the eyes of the person he cannot stand most; Choi Seungho. Seungho has always had a problem with him, for a reason he’s not sure of. His family chalks it up to the fact that he’s jealous of his intelligence and talent with dancing. Hoseok never considered this a jealousy, but rather a hatred. Seungho, he’s sure, wants to see Hoseok’s life burn before his eyes.
“Move over, wannabe, I’ll be sitting here,” He orders the boy with a growl. Hoseok huffs at this, but doesn’t move. He rests his cheek on his hand with a raise of the eyebrow.
“I’ve always sat here, Seungho. Why don’t you sit with your other popular friends instead of taking my seat?” He inquires, his eyebrow twitching in slight annoyance.
“‘Cause Yoongi will be sitting there. Why don’t you go sit with that new pretty boy over there?” He points out a boy with broad shoulders sitting alone, on his phone. Upon hearing Seungho, he glares over. He most definitely is a pretty boy, with plump, pink lips and a tall nose. But he says nothing.
“Who are you talking about? There’s no Yoongi in this class,” Hoseok protests, attempting to wave him off. It doesn’t work; it only makes the taller kid more annoyed and angry than before.
“Tch, Yoongi is coming soon! He’s only the best underground rapper,” The taller of the two answers, sass everywhere in his voice. He takes Hoseok’s arms in attempt to pull him out of his seat. The boy fights back. The new boy allows himself to scoot out of his booth. He walks up and presses his hand on Seungho’s shoulder, with a grip enough to crush his shoulder.
“Who said you could treat people like that? What makes you so much better than the rest of us?” The broad-shouldered one reprimands him. “People who treat others like their slaves are disgusting.”
“Oh, now this new guy is going to lecture me? I’m only the most--”
“You’re the most egotistical, pretentious, and narcissistic person in this school. No one actually likes you, you know. Bye bye now,” He finishes, and takes Hoseok’s hand in a gingerly manner. He tugs him towards his booth in the front. They sit down together.
“I… I’m sorry about that,” Hoseok apologizes and gives a quick thirty-five degree angle bow. “I don’t want him to start targeting you, too. He’s like this even to his best friend… You seem nice and all, but he--”
“Don’t worry about me,” The boy smiles in return. “I hate people who treat others badly. I’m sure whoever that Yoongi guy is will hate him just as much as everyone in this class does.”
“You could tell?”
“Honey, I’ve been in here for five minutes and I’ve heard at least ten people say that they dislike him,” He laughs and goes into his backpack. He takes out a rice ball and splits it into two. He holds out the right side of it to his newfound friend. “Seokjin, but call me Jin.”
Hoseok’s eyes sparkle at his offering and he takes it with both hands before taking big bites of it. “Hoseok!” He offers his name as well before complimenting the boy’s wonderful cooking. Who knew a rice ball could be this good?
“Hoseok… you know, for the future, I think it’ll be great for you to get your confidence up so you can come at him like I did,” Seokjin advises him with a pat on the back.
“I sure hope so…” The boy sighs, rubbing the back of his neck.
The two look up when the teacher begins to speak. She writes her name on the chalkboard. “For those of you who don’t know, my name is Mrs. Ahn,” She introduces herself. Hoseok notices that her handwriting is very nice, beautiful, even. He wished all of his teachers had such handwriting. His ears seem to perk up when he hears a begrudged mutter of, “He should have been here by now,” by Seungho. Hoseok half-smiles in spite.
The lesson ends and the people of the classroom stand up. Some stretch their arms above their head and others rush to get their backpacks and out of the class. Hoseok waits for Jin to get up, balancing on his tiptoes. He flinches, though, when an angry boy takes hold of another student’s shirt in his hand, ready to punch him out. Hoseok spots a paper in his hand.
“That guy must have gave him an offensive note,” Jin points out, slinging his backpack on his shoulder with a small sigh.
“How sad. I wish we could all get along.”
“Jimin, what is the meaning of this? You know there’s no fighting! Go to the principal’s office now!” Mrs. Ahn orders him, smacking her hands down on the speech podium. The boy, Jimin, growls and crumples up the note. He throws his bag on and stomps out of class. Hoseok frowns, watching him go. His new friend takes his wrist, attempting to calm him as they walk out. Despite this, Hoseok continues to think about what was on the note that he received. Who would want to be rude to such a quiet guy?
They get to the library for a small break. Jin shows Hoseok the many games he has on his phone and a ton of cute selfies. The smaller boy feels a bit overwhelmed with all of this. He’s never been so confident with his looks like his new friend is. Sure, it’d be nice, but he’s always been made fun of for his longer face by Korean standards. He envies his friend for that.
He drops onto the ground, though, when a big, earthquake-like shutter goes through the ground. It’s loud and sends everyone to a panic. He holds his wrist at the slight pain goes from the joint to the top of his arm. Jin hurries and helps him up, running with him toward the direction of security cameras. Hoseok almost drops onto his knees at the sight of a stone-like creature growling and stomping his feet. He’s never seen anything like this, let alone in real life! Why is this thing real and why here, why now?! His eyes widen when the creature lets out an angry yell and retreats to find its victim.
“W-Why did that sound like Jimin?!” Hoseok holds his heart, but Jin doesn’t seem to hear him. He holds his phone close to his chest and hurries towards the exit. “Jin?! Where are you going?!”
“Wherever there’s a villain, there will be a superhero and I can’t miss that!” The boy chirps and runs out. Hoseok watches him go, feeling rather worried. He directs his attention back to the surveillance cameras, where she watches the villain pick up an occupied car and throw it at one of the lenses. He winces, holding his ears at the awful noises of a car smashing against mostly glass. This is too dangerous! He packs up as quick as he can and runs home. He slams the door open and hurries upstairs and into his room. He throws off his shoes and shakily points his remote to his TV.
“I’m asking all people to stay home until this situation is all under control!”
“As incredible as it sounds, it’s been confirmed that Gwangju is being attacked by some sort of supervillain! The police are trying their best to keep this under control!”
“This is the worst first day back of my life,” Hoseok whines, rubbing at his eyes to block the coming tears from spilling. Sure, first days are always tough on the boy, but this is nothing like what he’s used to. Yoongi? Jimin fighting? Now Jimin is a big monster out for revenge?!
He looks down for a moment, and blinks a couple of times at the realization that the same box he saw the older man holding is on his desk. He furrows his brow and takes it. “What is this doing here? I thought this was for…” He trails off, which no one can hear anyway. Almost like he’s a bit nervous, he opens the box rather slow. The box snaps open and a bright light flies out of it; at this, he lets out a sharp yell as the force of the sun practically shoots itself into his eyes and drops the box.
He opens his eyes once more, lowering his hand away from his face and comes face to face with a rather big ladybug with the biggest eyes he’s ever seen. He stands up rather abruptly, knocking his chair on its side and retreats to the other side of his room. “Bug! Giant bug! S-Shoo, shoo!” He begs of it, but it only comes closer.
“I-It’s okay! Don’t be scared!” The giant ladybug tries to soothe him, but practically screeches when Hoseok begins to throw his notebooks at him. “Listen, Hoseok! I know this might be a bit strange for you,” He begins, dodging the items being thrown his way. Hoseok shoves him into a cup, lid down to keep him in. “Well, okay, if that makes you feel better…”
“What are you, and how do you know my name?” The boy shakily asks the bug and stares him down, furrowing his brows in confusion.
“I’m a Kwami and my name is Mickey! Now, can I explain for a moment?” This thing, Mickey, asks of him. Hoseok frowns and shift around, swinging his door open. He opens his mouth, about to shout for his mother and father, but is stopped. “Please, no, Hoseok! No one can know about this! You’re the only one to stop Jimin’s heart of stone!”
“This… This has to be a mistake,” Hoseok runs both of his hands through his hair, stammering like a fool. “The only superpower I could have is… I don’t know, something like super kindness! But that’s useless! Oh, wait, I know! Jin would know-- he’s my friend, I think he’d know more about these superhero things than me… Maybe talk to--”
“Hoseok! You’re the chosen one! Please, help me out!” Mickey interrupts him, presenting the box of earrings. “You have ear piercings, yes?” Hoseok stares down at them, biting his bottom lip.
“Earrings? But I’m a guy,” He protests, to which his little friend grabs them and pierces them through the lobes of his ears. “Ow!! I don’t have any piercing holes, that hurt!”
“You have them now,” The ladybug smiles, and directs him to his mirror. The boy sighs at the sight of red and black dotted earrings on his person. He’s going to be made fun of for sure. “You will transform, okay? And you have to break the object that the villain has in order to save them from the akuma!”
“Akuma? That’s Japanese, shouldn’t it be called Agma?” He sighs, to which his companion mentions that it doesn’t matter right that moment.
“Your superpower is your lucky charm, okay? That will help you the most,” Mickey explains to him, placing his stubby hands together like he’s excited for the events to come.
“I don’t think I can do this, Mickey. This is something that isn’t for me!”
“Trust yourself, Hoseokie! Do something for me, will you? Say ‘Spots on’!” Mickey instructs him and floats away from the boy. He sits on his desk, looking at him expectantly.
“Spots… on?” He repeats, to which a gleam rings loud in his ears. Mickey seems to disappear as a gust of wind blows right into his face, exposing his forehead. “What is happening?!” He exclaims, feeling lots of sensations on his body that he’s never felt before. Something morphs on his face and covers half of it, over his nose but he can still see. The feeling of spandex replaces his flowy sweater and jeans and grows tight on his defined thighs and backside. The transformation comes to an end and he runs his hands along his sides and other areas of his body.
He stares at himself in the mirror and turns to his side, wincing at how big his butt looks. “Ugh, how does this thing even come off? This is so tight…” He looks up and begins to call out. “Mickey, if you can hear me I want my normal clothes back! I-I’m not going anywhere!” But there’s no answer from his Kwami. With a sigh, he steps forward and watches the TV for a moment, only to find Jin riding his bike after the villain. “Jin?!”
“Hoseokie, did you get home okay?” He hears his mother from outside of his room. The boy winces and hurries out the window and onto the roof, shouting back that he’s fine. He walks out onto the roof of his home.
“Okay… special powers… And I have this?” He huffs to no one in particular, rolling his yoyo a bit. He presses his tongue to the inside of his cheek and steps forward and throws his yoyo across the way, near the big buildings where he saw the villain on the TV. The never-ending string wraps around one of the many pillars. Out of curiosity, he pulls it, and it sends him flying.
He drops down, screaming, on some sort of staff with someone standing and walking on it. He bodyslams the metal, sending both of them plummeting to the ground. The yoyo string wraps both of them and around the staff, however, and keeps them afloat. Hoseok is met with a boy around his age, with striking green colored eyes both in his pupils and irises covered in a black mask. They’re chest to chest and nose to nose, something that embarrassed him to the core. He’s never been this close with anyone before.
As the two are swinging, the platinum-haired boy grins at her with his rather sharp canine teeth. “Well, hey there! Glad to see you drop in.” The boy jokes, his voice holding some sort of flirty tone along with his teasing smile.
“S-Sorry, I didn’t do this on purpose,” Hoseok apologizes. The other chuckles and drops down from the confines of the yoyo string. He stands up straight, as does Hoseok.
“I bet you’re the person my Kwami told me about, right? My new partner? I’m, uh… Chat Noir. Yeah, Chat Noir sounds cool,” He hums and places his hands on his hips, looking rather proud of himself. “And you?”
Hoseok continues to tug and pull on his yoyo, grunting here and there until it drops from the staff and the hard ball part clunks Chat Noir in the head. He winces at this. “I’m so sorry! I’m so clumsy!” He stammers, embarrassment filled in his entire body, and especially in his blushing face.
“Well, it’s okay, clumsy guy, I’m learning the ropes too,” The boy answers in a modest matter, retrieving his staff when it comes off of the edges of the building. The two gasp when a loud bang comes through the town and an office building topples over, most likely hurting many people. Chat Noir takes a running start and uses his long staff like he’s in the olympics for pole vaulting. He sends himself in the direction of a rather tall building and lands it.
“Where are you going?!” Hoseok calls after the boy, cupping his hands around his mouth.
“To save Gwangju, what else?” The blonde boy laughs and jumps from building to building to save the town from the villain Jimin. The other pouts at this and throws the yoyo in the direction that Chat Noir went and flies off, screaming once again.
The blonde boy lands in a big field where the stone-cold Jimin chases after the bully from before. He holds his staff out to block him. “It’s not nice to pick on people that are smaller than you,” He reminds him, a smirk playing on his lips.
Jimin growls and tries to grab him multiple times, but he can’t seem to catch up. Chat Noir is much too fast, even when he throws his stone fist down in attempt to crush him. He runs up his arm and jumps up high enough, holding his weapon above his head and cracking it right in the middle of his skull. His plan backfires, though, when the hurting boy only grows bigger and stronger in response to his attack. He continues to throw his fists down and stomp on the ground, aiming directly for the boy.
Hoseok arrives, standing on the wall of the stadium, holding his hands over his mouth. “What am I going to do, I can’t do this!” He cries out, watching as the villain rips a soccer goal out of the ground and throws it. Time seems to slow down as it heads in Jin’s direction, who was recording all this time. Chat Noir sees this, throwing his staff and watching it elongate and protect the boy from the goal. He’s grabbed in the fist of the angry, stone Jimin, ready to be crushed any second.
“What are you waiting for, red bug, the world is waiting for you!” Jin shouts out to him, not recognizing who he is. He winces at being called out, but buckles down. He throws his yoyo down, wrapping it around his legs and sliding under and between Jimin’s villainous exterior and onto the grass beneath them.
“Animal cruelty, is this animal cruelty?” He asks to no one that can even hear him and pulls the string, allowing for Jimin’s legs to come together and for him to fall over, leaving a big thud in the air. He hurries to Chat Noir, helping him up. “Sorry I took so long!”
“It’s all good, let’s just kick his rocky butt, right?” The boy suggests and is about to run along until Hoseok takes hold on the tail attached to the lower back of his suit.
“We can’t! Haven’t you noticed that he gets stronger with every attack? We have to do something different,” He explains.
“Well, what do you think we should do?”
“I… I’m not sure yet--” Hoseok begins, but the other stands up rather proudly and holds his hands in a fist, harnessing his power into his ring.
“All right, let’s use our powers then!” He lifts his hand, shouting a power name, Cataclysm, if Hoseok heard right. A black aura surrounds his palm as he presents it. “I guess I have the power to destroy. Pretty cool, right?”
“Yeah, it’s super cool to destroy everything you touch,” Hoseok rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. He looks up in worry when his partner presses his hand to the soccer goal that isn’t destroyed. It disintegrates when he touches it. He lets out a hoot at how awesome the power was. He runs back into battle, ignoring Hoseok’s warnings. He presses his hand onto the foot of Jimin, to which it doesn’t do anything.
“Ah… I guess I only get one shot,” He mumbles, and it causes him to be kicked into oblivion. His body slides on the grass, which makes him have to spit out tufts of grass that collected in his mouth.
“Didn’t your Kwami explain anything to you?” Hoseok sighs, rubbing his temples.
“Well, I guess I was a bit excited…” The boy admits, scratching the back of his neck in mock embarrassment. Hoseok steps forward, deciding that it was his turn.
“Lucky charm!” He yells and throws his yoyo up into the air. A bright light surrounds the circular object and out comes some sort of suit, also punctuated with black dots of a ladybug.
“Some superpower,” Chat Noir teases him, and the other puffs his cheeks out in slight annoyance.
“My Kwami told me I had to break the Akuma thing, wherever it’s hiding…” He glances upward and notices that the stone-covered classmate of his held a particular object in his hand… or rather, clenched in his fist. “Oh, his hand! It’s still closed… I’ll have to get it out of there somehow!”
Chat Noir inquires about his plan, and the brown eyes of Hoseok creep around until he hatches up a plan. Hand… Jin… Nozzle… Hose… Upon seeing a hose just below them, he grabs it and attaches it to the head of the suit his yoyo created. He uses the strings of his weapon to wrap around his partner’s calves and swings him in circles.
“T-This guy’s crazy!” Chat Noir cries out, already starting to feel sick to his stomach from the quick swinging. He tosses him into the unoccupied hand of Stone Jimin. Hoseok jumps high enough, holding the suit and hose combo, calling out the boy so he can be caught as well. Jimin lets go of the evil item and takes hold of him as well.
“Jin! The nozzle!” He calls out to the still-recording boy. His friend leaps into action and hurries to the cap of the hose. He turns it as quick as he can until the suit becomes too big to hold. Hoseok leaps out of his confines and hurries to the Akuma, stomping on it. A purple butterfly comes out of it, and before it flies away, Hoseok captures it in his yoyo. He then releases it, now a color of white and it soars into the air and sky, never to be seen again.
There left is Jimin, rubbing at his head like it’s throbbing. Chat Noir comes to his feet, watching the hurting boy. “What… happened?” Jimin muses aloud, looking around him and not remembering a thing.
“This guy is awesome-- crazy awesome!” Hoseok hears his partner, causing him to let out a giggle. In his hand, the note his classmate received shows itself in the purest form. He smiles down at it.
“Why am I here?” Jimin sits up, groaning in the slight pain crackling through his whole body. The two heros look at each other with a mutual look of concern.
“You did it, Ladybug!” The boy chirps and holds his hand up for a high five. Hoseok smiles at him and high fives him, reminding him that he wasn’t alone. He raises his eyebrows when he hears the blinking noise of his partner’s ring.
“You should get going, Chat. Our identities can’t be known to each other,” Hoseok nods at him, feeling a bit saddened that he had to go.
“Goodbye, then! Let’s do this again soon, yeah?” Chat Noir grins and winks before he runs off. Hoseok holds his heart, heat rushing to the tips of his ears. Off Noir goes, to a place that he isn’t familiar with yet.
“Not too soon, I hope…” The boy sighs and turns his head to see the saddened expression of Jimin. He’s in a criss-cross position. His eyes are fixated on his shoes. Hoseok frowns at seeing this and opens the balled up piece of paper to read what the contents held.
“You haven’t even got the guts to check yourself into a gym. Fatty,” He reads off, to which he frowns. “Aw…” He groans, covering half of his face with his hand. He walks toward the saddened boy and squats down to rub his arm rather soothingly.
“Hyunsuk wrote it. He’s always making fun of me,” Jimin tells him, looking down in shame. Hoseok holds up the paper, a small smile on his face.
“You shouldn’t be so worried about something like that. There’s no shame in being whoever you wish to be, no matter what weight you are, Jimin,” Hoseok explains to him, smiling like a mother to her child.
“Hey… how do you know my name, Mr.?” He asks him, to which Hoseok tenses and rubs the back of his neck in nervousness. Did he slip up? “U-Um…” Saved by the bell, Jin lets out a cheer, holding his phone towards them with the cutest grin on his face, like he’s proud.
“Uncanny, fantastic! Are you going to be protecting Gwangju from now on? How did you get your powers? Did you get stung by a radioactive ladybug? Oh, I have so much questions, Mr… um…”
Hoseok stands up and places his hands on his hips despite feeling rather awkward. He gives a slight bow. “Um… Ladybug. Call me ladybug!” He tells his friend before rushing off and flying into the distance.
“So thanks to this amateur footage, the people of Gwangju now know the identities of their heros!” The news anchor speaks, a pleasant beam on her face while the video that Jin took is in the background.
“I did it… I really did it!” Hoseok grins, to which Mickey floats up near his face and settles in his hair, reminding him that he told him so.
“Hoseok! Time for dinner!” His mother calls from the kitchen. He gets up from his desk chair and runs downstairs, only to find their living room TV on the news station as well.
“I am pleased to announce that we will having a huge celebration for our town’s new protectors, Ladybug and Chat Noir!” The mayor declares on “Chat Noir”’s television as well.
“Ladybug… his name is ladybug,” The boy sighs, redness crawling up his neck as he marvels at how beautiful the boy looks on camera, let alone in person. “I think I’ll really like working with him…”