Chapter Text
Chapter one: JK
JK didn’t know why he couldn’t let it go. Maybe it was the fact Yugyeom was his best friend. Maybe he was just having a bad day. But he knew, if Donghyun didn’t shut up, he would have a mouthful of the dirt from the filthy school floor.
“It makes you weak.” No, you’re weak for thinking that way.
“No one will really be friends with you.” No, I am his friend. It is you who has no friends.
“You’ll just be left behind.”
Now, JK prided himself for staying out of trouble up to this point. He tends to mind his own business and not wanting to have everyone fear him or act like they like for his power. But he was no stranger to bullies.
He couldn’t be silent for his friend.
“Why does it matter?” He blurted out.
All attention was on him now. Donghyun smirked at JK, as if he had the upper hand in this situation.
“So, you’re on the powerless freak’s side,” the bully taunted.
JK raised an eyebrow, “Why. Does. It matter?” He ignored Yugyeom trying to signal him to stop picking a fight, to just let it go. JK couldn’t watch his friend get hurt by a couple thugs.
“Without power, there’s no point to live,” Donghyun then had the audacity to laugh at his own comment. “I’m just trying to warn him of his lifetime of life alone. It’s wrong.”
“Wrong?” Don’t say it.
“Being a meaningless, empty shell,” he said it slowly, like trying to point out the obvious. All JK could feel was disgust and anger towards his fellow classmate.
Yang Donghyun was very open about his distaste for powerless people. He picked on many kids in the school for their “ disadvantage ” and “ flaw .” He talked about people who didn’t have powers like they were dirt on the underside of his shoe. JK felt embarrassed to be in the same room as him.
“I don’t need a power to beat you.”
Donghyun smirked wider, “Oh yeah?” He took a slow step towards JK, silently accepting his challenge.
JK only smiled, “Yeah.” Then, without any warning or hesitation, he sent a large right hook straight into Donghyun’s cheek, successfully stunning him off his feet. The small crowd that gathered before gasped and took steps back to avoid the boy’s potential swings. JK stomped forward and, without letting the fallen boy up, kept swinging.
JK was a lot bigger than Donghyun, and took boxing. So, it’s safe to say Donghyun couldn’t do much in this situation but react verbally to the swings.
The seniors were paying no attention to anyone around them who were either egging them on or calling out for teachers to stop the fight. Yugyeom was losing his voice trying to yell over everyone.
“You boys stop this!” It was the English teacher rushing towards the scene. He eventually got there and wrapped his arms around JK’s small waist, struggling to pull the boy off. When he felt the teacher, JK stopped all assault. He only smirked at the beaten boy on the floor.
“I told you,” JK made sure to get the last word.
“Stop provoking him, Kim,” Mr. Choi scolded.
The younger let himself be dragged away, but scoffed. “It’s Jeon.”
“Yeah, whatever. Let’s go.”
The next thing he knew, he was slouching in the principal's office, his father right beside him. His father did not look surprised to be there.
Kim Daeshim sighed, “What did he burn?” The principal raised a brow in question. “Whatever it was, I’m sure he didn’t mean to destroy. He’s a teenager, they get emotional.” JK wasn’t sure if that was offensive or not.
“Nothing is burned, Mr. Kim,” Mr. Gwan responded. Now, Daeshim looked surprised.
He turned to his slouching son with a gaped mouth, JK gave a grimace smile. “... Then what happened?”
“He got into a fight-” Mr. Gwan was cut off by Daeshim’s surprised head shake.
“My son doesn’t get into fights, sir. If he was involved in one, it was purely self-defense,” Daeshim flailed his arms around in a way to stress his point, but JK knew his father would probably be disappointed in a few seconds.
“Well, your son was definitely defending someone, sure, but it was not himself,” the principal was as calm as a light breeze, never once raising his voice or pointing any fingers. “He gave Yang Donghyun a badly bruised face and a fractured nose, Mr. Kim.”
JK didn’t know about the nose part. He wasn’t trying to actually break the other boy, he was just stuck in a fit of rage.
Daeshim got out of his shock for a moment to insist he pay for whatever damage JK did to the Yang boy, then the two were free to go. They got into Daeshim’s car and the older man sighed as he started the car.
“Say something, please,” JK pleaded his silent father, not liking it one bit. “Yell at me for being an idiot. Tell me I’m nothing like Seo-”
“What happened?” Daeshim interrupted. JK looked at him with shock at the question, it being not one of the many JK was ready to answer. “Who were you defending? What made you snap, Jungguk?”
It took JK a few moments to answer. But eventually he just looked at his hands where they rested on his lap. “He called Yugyeom weak for being powerless.”
Daeshim smiled fondly at his unharmed, selfless son. “You’ve always wanted to be a hero, Gguk,” he teased, making JK chuckle and smile up at his amused father. “Don’t think I love you any less than Seokjin because you get into a little fight,” Daeshim pulled out of the school while still trying to reassure his son. “Sure, he wouldn’t have thrown the first punch, but he would’ve finished that fight the same way.” Because he’s just as protective of his friends as you, Gguk . “You are not your brother because if you were, I’d be very upset about losing my youngest son,” he smiled at his shell-shocked son, knowing his rare words of love were appreciated, even if JK said nothing.
‘ Don’t cry ,’ JK had to repeat to keep those pesky tears at bay. “Dad-”
“Now, let’s go get lunch, since that pointless meeting took away from mine.” The father took his eyes off the road for a second to smile a bright smile at his son. “And I know you’re always hungry, so you can’t get out of this.”
“Hey!”
“You and Seokjin get your appetite from me, so don’t act so innocent!”
----
After a great lunch, the two got home to find Kim Minjung sitting on the light blue couch with her arms crossed across her chest and an unamused look on her face.
“Do any of you want to explain why I got a voicemail from the school telling me Jungguk fractured a kid’s nose?” The men of the house were still frozen at the door, not knowing quite what to say. The woman raised a perfectly structured eyebrow, “Well, don’t all answer at once.”
Daeshim took the initiative to answer his wife, “That kid called Gguk’s friend names for not having any powers. He was just defending his friend.”
“What ever happened to teaching our boys violence is never the answer,” Minjung got up from her spot, walking up to the boys. “What happened to speaking out our differences, huh?”
“I did try to speak to him,” Jungguk spoke up, hesitantly. “But if you had to talk to someone like Yang Donghyun, you’d beat him up, too, Mom.” Minjung raised her eyebrow once more at her son’s bold statement, then let a confused look take over.
“Yang Donghyun? Yang - as in, Yang Beomseok ? The owner of that really bad noodle place by my office? His son?” The other two tried not to laugh at her questions.
Daeshim smiled slightly, “Now you see why Gguk knocking a little sense into him wasn’t so bad?”
The mother let a beautiful smile play on her lips, not all too happy, but amused at her strange family. “Well, I don’t see why you didn’t wait just a week long for you to graduate first before beating the boy,” she laughed, her giggle almost leaving sparkles with how lovely the noise was.
The comment made them laugh and follow her into the kitchen, where they watched her get ingredients out for dinner.
“I know you both just ate,” she playfully glared at them, “But I’ll make sure to make something that will take a little bit more time so you’ll be hungry by then.”
JK’s heart swelled with love for his parents. Yeah, they weren’t perfect, but they cared.
“You and Seokjin always make feasts at times that most people take away dinner privileges,” Daeshim teased his wife, to which she threw a slice of green bell pepper at him, causing the man to yelp.
Jungguk laughed, “Speaking of Seokjin, he’s still coming to my graduation, right?” Sure, he had called his older brother yesterday to confirm as well, but he was just so excited.
Minjung answered while continuing with dinner prep, “You’ve asked this morning and called him yesterday, as well. You know he wouldn’t miss this for the world, Ggukkie.” She smiled her bunny smile he inherited widely at him, which reassured him greatly.
“I know, I just miss him,” Jungguk shrugged. Daeshim slapped him on the shoulder with a hearty laugh, making Jungguk lose balance for a moment with the strength.
“Stop overthinking so much, Gguk! He’ll be here this weekend! How about you go call him and see what he’s up to for us, huh?” Daeshim knew how close the two brothers were and always reeled in the fact he and his wife raised such good sons.
Jungguk took that as his cue to leave and made his way to his room. The room him and Seokjin shared before the eldest went to college. The walls were changed from their original white to a maroon, but was mostly covered in posters of his favorite movies and artists. A whole wall on the opposite of his door was covered in photos he was most proud of, or really, that Seokjin openly praised him for taking. Ninety percent of them were of either of his older brother or his best friend.
Once Jungguk closed his door, he hopped in his desk chair, plugged his phone in and opened up FaceTime on his Mac.
The call was answered by none other than Kim Seokjin, his older brother.
“JK!”
end of chapter one...