Chapter Text
Tags: pre debut era
"None of this is a coincidence
I'm just going with the flow
The world is different from yesterday
Just with your joy
[...]
The universe has moved for us
Without missing a single thing
Because our happiness has been planned
'Cause you love me,
And I love you
[...]"
- Serendipity, BTS
For the nth time since he'd accepted he was bisexual and there was no changing that, Jungkook wished he hadn't been such a stupid kid back in 2014.
It wasn't exactly Jungkook's fault that he didn't know his preference when he was just a dumb teenager trying to find himself in a city as big as Seoul. Not to mention the cameras following him around ever since BTS's debut. However, it did make his life harder in the present year, as in 2019.
Jungkook sighed. He was lying down in his bed – well, the hotel’s bed – reminiscing about the day Jimin had confessed to him like a loser.
(‘Cause that's what he was.
A damn loser.)
His tiny hyung had been overwhelming in the first couple of years Jungkook had known him. He had liked Jimin – platonically speaking – back then. He just hadn't known how to act around him, a guy who seemed bigger than life at the time. Jungkook hadn't known about Jimin's initial insecurities and shyness back then, so the guy had seemed pretty outgoing.
Things had been awkward for awhile after Jimin confessed, but they'd gotten over it. In fact, Jimin had gotten over it so well that by the time Jungkook accepted himself as bisexual about a year and a half, give it or take, later, his hyung didn't treat him as a love interest anymore.
That wasn't to say they didn't have a special bond. Jungkook liked to think that even though he wasn’t Jimin's freaking ‘soulmate’, they'd become even closer after their trip to Tokyo.
Which, ah, could go down in history as the first big failure to get Jimin’s attention again.
The most recent fail was called Rose Bowl.
Jungkook thought he couldn't get any more clear. He’d sucked his hyung's ear in front of thousands of people, for God's sake, how much louder could he get? Twitter as a whole was collapsing, but Jimin seemed none the wiser. He had hugged Jungkook after the concert, thanked him for his support while he'd been crying, and that was it.
No I love you or I've got a crush on you again.
Just gratitude for the one he viewed as a little brother.
A little brother.
Jungkook had seemingly missed his chance back in 2014.
It would be easier if he could go back to before his giant mistake, even though he really, really shouldn't blame himself for not having his shit together so early on.
Actually, it would be so much easier if Jimin would stop treating him like a little brother. Jungkook was his dongsaeng, sure, but not his little brother. Jungkook was a little brat sometimes, speaking informally towards his hyung and everything, but that was it. He couldn't treat Jimin like they were the same age in public or around anyone except their group without seeming disrespectful, which unconsciously affected their relationship.
Jungkook just wished he could do anything that wouldn't end up being Big Failure #17.
The hotel bed was digging into his back as much as his thoughts were drilling into his head, but Jungkook somehow managed to fall asleep at one point.
As soon as Jungkook woke up, he knew something was wrong.
First of all, his bed was way narrower than it had been when he fell asleep.
Clue number two: Jungkook was in a different room. It wasn't unfamiliar, weirdly enough. It was their old, old, old dorm’s bedroom.
Last of all, Taehyung was shaking him awake and his face was that of a baby's.
“Jungkook,” Taehyung was saying. “Wake up, we've gotta go to practice.”
Jungkook blinked, dazed. He felt as if he had a massive hangover and his dream wasn't over yet. How could Taehyung look so young?
Taehyung threw himself on top of Jungkook’s back, who gave a small grunt. Thank God his hyung was still skinny as a noodle or he'd have back pain later for sure. Taehyung had really grown into his shoulders the last couple of years.
Wait.
… had grown?
“I know it's Sunday and we thought at least that day of the week is sacred,” Taehyung was saying, oblivious to his dongsaeng's inner turmoil. “But apparently our new and last member is going to arrive today and the hyungs want to see him in action. You know, to see how he's gonna fit with us.”
Wait, what? This hadn't gone like that when Jungkook was a trainee. Jimin had already known Taehyung for a month before he officially entered their band. In fact, Taehyung had talked their ears off so much about this friend he had made in school - and was a trainee at the same company as theirs, but trained with another batch - that none of the hyungs felt the need to “see Jimin in action", as his hyung had put. It felt like they already knew Jimin enough.
What was going on?
Taehyung still hadn't stopped talking.
“… Namjoon-hyung said he's a year younger than you, so there's that too, and sorry for losing your maknae position, I guess—"
“Wait, what?” Jungkook felt as if this was the only thing he knew how to pronounce. It as if his entire world had spun too quickly on its axis.
“Yeah, he's a ’97 liner, but don't worry, you're still gonna be our baby—"
And Jungkook knew it wasn't polite to interrupt his elder for the second time in a row, but he couldn't help it.
“What do you mean he's younger? He…—"
Jungkook stopped. He'd been about to say that he was a ’97 liner too, what the hell, Taehyung-hyung, but he realized that wasn't true. There was a set of memories inside his head that ran parallel to his other set, but they weren't the same. He could remember memories of a life in which he was born in 1996.
(What the hell is going on?)
Even so, why was the new member born in 1997 if their last member was Jimin and he'd been a ’95 liner. Unless… Oh, God, was Jimin never going to come to their company in this crazy dream?
“Taehyung-hyung, what's the name of our new member?”
His hyung, who had been humming under his breath as if his dongsaeng wasn't having an existential crisis under him, perked up at being spoken to once again.
“Namjoon-hyung said he's called Jimin. Cute, right?”
Jungkook didn't answer. He was numb.
That was when Jin entered their bedroom, shouting at them to hurry up and get ready, scaring Taehyung into falling to the ground and hitting his flailing hands into Jungkook’s right eye.
Conveniently, that was also when Jungkook realized he wasn't dreaming.
“Sorry, Jungkook,” Taehyung apologized for what seemed the hundredth time while they stretched in the practice studio.
Even though his right eye was throbbing after the older had poked his index finger inside, Jungkook forced himself to say no problem and smile reassuringly. He didn't want his hyung to feel bad. Not to mention the fact that Taehyung had, unknowingly, helped him realize he wasn't dreaming – through the painful method, but oh well.
The group was stretching in relative silence while waiting for their new member to arrive. It gave time to Jungkook to sort himself out.
This new set of memories didn't seem fake. It was – it felt – as real as the one in which he was born in 1997. Some things, small details really, were different: his brother was only a year older than him since he was now born in 1996; he wasn't as shy around his hyungs as he had been in 2012 as he'd had one year more to mature before he met them last year.
Jungkook wondered how different Jimin would be, since he was actually two years younger than his (alternative universe? Future/past?) counterpart now.
“Hey, guys,” greeted Hoseok as he entered the studio with the new member following behind him. He'd been the one responsible for fetching him at the bus station.
Everybody stood up quickly to greet their new bandmate.
When Jimin stepped sideways from behind Hoseok's back, Jungkook felt as if his eyes were about to fall off their sockets.
If he thought 18-year-old Jimin didn't look his age, 16-year-old Jimin was a child. His hyung had been chubby-cheeked when Jungkook met him and seemingly younger, but this Jimin was a full-on teenager.
First of all, his cheeks. Still full of baby fat and looking more pinchable than ever. His hair was sporting that horrible Justin Bieber cut that most of them had in 2012, to be honest, but that only made his face seem smaller. Wide eyes - probably wearing contact lenses, as his square glasses were nowhere in sight - and full lips in a pout made his feature even younger.
He's as short as ever, Jungkook couldn't help but think to himself, snickering quietly. Their small height difference had always been an endless source of amusement to Jungkook.
“Uh, hello,” Jimin said and his voice was higher than it would be in the next couple of years, if only slightly. “My name is Park Jimin. Nice to meet you.”
A brief silence and then—
“He's so cute!” Taehyung exclaimed, not holding back in the slightest and going forward to pinch Jimin's cheek.
To the new maknae's credit, he bore it with only a light blush.
“Right? That's what I said when I saw him,” Hoseok agreed, his lips twisting into his signature sunshine smile.
They went around introducing themselves, saying some snippets of information about themselves, but not so much as not to overwhelm the new member in one sitting. When it was Jungkook's turn, he tried to keep it simple, even though he wanted to blurt out so many things to his hyung – well, dongsaeng now. He'd better get used to it.
“I'm Jeon Jungkook. I'm a '96 liner and from Busan.”
Jimin seemed excited at that, saying, “I am from Busan too!”
Jungkook knew damn well that Jimin didn't need to be younger than him to be cute, but damn if dongsaeng Jimin wasn't a cutie.
“Well,” Hoseok clapped, taking charge as he was the one most experienced in dancing, even though as of then their group had no official positions and he was to become the dance leader. “Let's stretch for a few minutes and start practicing.”
Everyone nodded and went back to the stretches they'd been doing before. Jimin went and left his bag and suitcase in a corner of the room. He tentatively sat down beside Taehyung when the older patted the space beside him.
Jungkook had forgotten how shy Jimin had been in the beginning. He knew his hyung was timid around strangers, but he'd entered this role of charms of the group so early on, so well, that the Jimin from 2012 to about 2016 was branded in his mind as an outgoing person. Not to mention how extroverted and open he was around people he was familiar with.
“So,” Namjoon began, quite casually. “I heard from Bang PD-nim that you're a dancer?”
Everyone perked up at that. Their group had a distinct lack of dancer dancers. Like, Jungkook was quite good, yes, but he'd only been learning dance for less than a couple years. Taehyung and Yoongi could get a pass grade if this were a test, but they weren't star students. Namjoon and Jin, well, they worked hard, but they weren't dancers, they were learners for now. Hoseok was the only who could dance on their team at this point in time.
(Would this younger body even obey the way he wanted to? Jungkook was used to being stronger in the arms and thighs, not to mention about three centimeters taller. These things could mess with his perception of space if he wasn't careful.)
Jimin smiled hesitantly.
“I-I guess I am? I mean, they for sure didn't choose me because of my rap.”
Taehyung and Jin gave a small laugh at the confession.
“So you're gonna be part of the vocal line with me, Jin-hyung and Jungkook? Nice!” Taehyung commented.
“I mean, if I do debut,” Jimin shrugged. He was trying to look nonchalant, not one to share his feelings even then, but Jungkook simply knew him well enough to recognize it as a mask not to seem too anxious. “I just entered the team, right? And I'm not exactly hip-hop material.”
Yoongi raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean?”
“Ah. Hmm.”
A pause. Jungkook could see Jimin’s expression from where he was sitting. It was the face he made when he was about to talk about his talents and accomplishments – a mix of proud but also hesitant, as he was too worried about sounding arrogant.
“Well, I can dance, but I'm not sure if idol dancing is something I'm going to be good at, since I've been doing mostly contemporary stuff in the last couple of years.”
Hoseok seemed impressed at that, “Woah, contemporary, really? That's hard. Where did you learn?”
Jungkook perked up at that, curious. His Jimin-hyung had learnt in high school, but this Jimin was what? Sixteen in Korean age? He was probably still in his last year of middle school, there was no way he could've gone to Busan School of Arts yet.
(And, wow, this Jimin was as young as Jungkook had been when he met his Jimin, which meant that he was about 14 years old in international age as his birthday had yet to come. No wonder he looked like a baby.)
“I went to a studio called Just Dance Academy*. They are mostly known because of their hip-hop classes, so I did take some last year before I decided to audition. I actually took popping classes there during elementary school, but then I switched to contemporary after, so it's been awhile, I guess.”
Hoseok wasn't one to get disappointed just because his fellow dancer wasn't exactly in the same branch as him.
“Anyway, you must be a crazy good dancer if you did contemporary stuff. From what I've seen, you need to be flexible and strong.”
Taehyung’s eyes were shining in excitement. His hyung used to be like a bouncing puppy in their earlier years before settling down into a more mature version of himself.
“Woah! Contemporary sounds cool! I've never seen it before. How flexible and strong are we talking?”
Jimin seemed slightly overwhelmed at the attention his dance history was getting from the members.
“Uh, I can do the splits, I guess?”
And much more, Jungkook completed in his head, not surprised that Jimin wasn't bragging about his abilities. Jimin didn't have an arrogant bone in his body. He was born humble.
Namjoon twisted his face in a painful expression, “Oooh, that must hurt.”
Jimin shook his head, fluffy (never bleached before, Jungkook thought) hair flying around like a halo, “Not really. Here, let me show you.” And, like it was nothing, he entered a straddle split.
Jungkook choked a little bit. Thank God nobody noticed. It's not that he was attracted that way to this Jimin – he was practically a child, for fuck's sake – but he was suddenly reminded of how flexible his Jimin still was in the future (past?).
(Was this another universe? It wasn't even his past. How confusing.)
The members seemed quite impressed over their new member.
“Oooh, our new maknae is good!” Taehyung exclaimed, once again sounding impressed.
Jungkook was reminded of how innocent this Taehyung was, years away from the seniority in the industry he would have in 2019. This Taehyung hadn't seem much in terms of dancing and singing apart from their training room and Youtube videos.
“New maknae?” Jimin asked, his eyebrows going up in confusion, puppy eyes wide open.
Oh, yeah, he does that, Jungkook remembered. Good to know that alternative universe or not, younger or not, his Jimin was still there in the little details.
“Jungkook here was the youngest until you arrived,” Seokjin explained, putting an arm around Jungkook's shoulders and squeezing.
“Oh, I'm sorry,” said Jimin, genuinely looking uncomfortable for taking his place. Not that he had. Well, technically speaking, he had, but Jungkook didn't mind, since he'd kind of asked for it.
“I don't mind. It's nice not to be the youngest anymore.”
Hoseok made an impressed expression, saying, “Our Jungkook has grown up, guys. Jungkook-ah of last year would be seething in jealousy at not being the baby anymore.”
In a way – even if Jungkook wouldn't admit out loud – Hoseok was right. He loved being the maknae because it meant being spoiled by everyone all the time, though he had to endure being babied too.
In this place, however, he could treat Jimin as the younger one while still being the second youngest. It was perfect in spite of being the weirdest situation he'd ever found himself in.
“As if,” Seokjin proclaimed. “He's just happy he has someone to lord over after being a brat to us for months.”
Jungkook didn't think he was as much of a brat in the beginning as he would be in 2019, but then again, this timeline ran a little bit different. This Jungkook born in 1996 was a little more open to his hyungs and didn't shy away from interactions as much as Jungkook born in 1997 did at this point in time.
(Which was a relief, by the way. There was no way in hell he could manage to act as shy as he did when he first arrived. He almost wasn't chosen to be on the team, just because Jungkook had been too shy.)
“Ah, well, please take care of me, then, Jungkook-ssi.”
Jimin cutely bowing to him in respect was too much.
“A-ah, no need to use -ssi, you can just call me hyung.”
“Okay, then, Jungkook-hyung.”
Jungkook thanked all the deities above that no one seemed to pay attention to him after Jimin called him that, going back to getting to know their new member better and making small talk, because he was sure his entire face was burning hot.
Jungkook discreetly pinched himself. For good measure. Just to be sure.
He had asked for a chance to right his mistake of not paying attention to Jimin's feelings in 2014 or for a chance to be taken as an equal, instead of a little brother, in Jimin's eyes. Somehow, the universe had given him both – and if he was stuck in this crazy alternative universe for good, there was no way he was wasting any chances.