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Jeon Jungkook had been your rival as soon as he decided in the 3rd grade to put gum in your hair.
It was a tragic event for you. You had been bragging to your class about how you were going to a fancy wedding that following weekend, and telling them about the make-up artist who was going to pretty you all up
Maybe you were being a bit annoying with the bragging, but Jeon Jungkook did not have to stick his slimy, green, mint gum on your scalp. As a result, you had to attend that wedding partially bald, since the gum was stuck right on your head, and merely cutting it off would've looked worse.
The wedding went awfully; you were hella insecure the entire time, and of course blamed it on Jungkook The next week, you placed a tack on his seat for revenge, and he fell for it easily--yelping and almost crying in shock when he sat down.
Those two exchanges marked the beginning of a long, and petty war between you and the soon-to-be high school heartthrob.
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
"We will be expecting severe thunderstorms all throughout next week, so make sure to bring your umbrellas to school and to work!"
The TV was loud and annoying as you ate your breakfast, silently distressed over the weather report this week. You're not sure when, or how it happened, but you always had an intense phobia of thunderstorms.
In the presence of one, your hands would shake, sweat would perspire, and tears would be shed. The only people who knew about this were your parents and closest friends. They knew it helped you to hold a stuffed animal, or to hug someone. It's gotten better over the years, as you've learned how to control yourself as long as there was something to hold.
You used to cling onto your mom for dear life, but after puberty, you found it hurt your pride a lot less to hug a stuffed animal instead--although human warmth always helped more.
Nevertheless, you've kept this one of your top secrets for forever, since it was especially embarrassing for the reputation you had at school.
At school, you were renowned to be stoic. You never bat an eye at the resident cat callers, nor the school "hotties", one of which is Jungkook (though it was hard to remain stone-faced at his unbearable remarks) You remained indifferent to almost anyone other than your friends--who also had a reputation for being cold. Similar people tend to stick together. Aside from that, you were also known to the school as Jungkook's rival, though you wish you were known for your work as the president of the student council.
Because of all this, no one, and you mean absolutely no one should know about your fear of thunderstorms.
Especially Jungkook.
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
It's Friday, and luckily you've been able to remain panic-attack free throughout the week, despite the abundance of thunderstorms. Luck doesn't seem to be on your side for one thing, however, and that's the Chemistry project you are now doing with your favorite person in the world.
Yep, Jeon Jungkook himself.
"So, what's your excuse this time? I'll have you know I did my part already in this project, so if we get a failing grade, that's on you," you sneered.
"Nah, no excuses, I just didn't do it to get on your nerves. You care about your grades too much. Relax a bit," he taunted, yawning and stretching his arms up.
You slam your hands on the kitchen table, sliding the project papers to him, "Just hurry up and do it already, I don't want to stay at your house for much longer."
He sighs and reluctantly gets to work, while you touch up some of the parts of your work. You would do anything but to be here right now, but Jungkook claimed he didn't understand some of it and needed his precious partner's help.
Since this project is a major grade, you couldn't say no.
"Balance this equation for me." He pushed the papers to you and crossed his arms like a demanding little brat.
"Ask nicely." You rolled your eyes.
"What will you do if I don't?" He leaned in, placing his hands on the table.
"Shave your head,” you replied plainly, pushing his head away harshly with your finger.
"Not unless I get you to shave yours first--oh wait, I already did."
You scoffed, "Yeah right, at least that was in 3rd grade when my social life didn't matter as much, but now, I wonder what would happen if people hear that the school's heartthrob is already balding..."
"Balance the damn equation,” he huffed, and your grin grew wider.
You balanced the equation for him since his work affected your grades too, otherwise you would've left him to suffer alone.
"Is einsteinium an element?"
You sighed exasperatedly before replying "Yeah. It is."
"Oh that's good. I was wondering if I made it up in my head or not. This is right, right?" He handed you a paper and you stared at all the wrong answers.
"Jungkook, don't be surprised if you fail this class. Everything is wrong." You said casually, taking a red pen and marking areas that he had to go fix.
"Wha-- how -- you know what, whatever." Jungkook snatched the paper from you and you internally smirked at his struggling.
If there’s one thing that you always had over Jungkook, it would be the smarts. Sadly, Jungkook was superior in sports and extracurriculars, though.
"I marked the parts you need to fix. Just redo them and don't forget to use significant figures in your final answer. I'll check it later anyways."
You pulled out your laptop to do some work on a presentation you had to do for student council to make better use of time. Silence covered the room, you and Jungkook working in a somewhat peaceful atmosphere. It was strangely nice. Probably because he shut his mouth.
"Y'know, you're actually pretty smart,” he commented after a while, still focused on the paper.
You furrowed your brows, since it's not like him to compliment you. The only things you were used to hearing out of his mouth were dumb, petty insults.
"Okay... and you just realized that?"
He shot you a look of exasperation, "No, I'm trying to start a civil conversation with you."
You and Jungkook? Civil conversation? Conversations that weren't purely throwing shade at each other?
Huh?
"Why?" You used your indifferent voice, though slightly suspicious.
He leaned back in his chair and sighed dramatically, "Because! We've been nothing but bitches to each other ever since I ruined your hair in 3rd grade, like I get it, at the time it was a dick move but honestly I'm too tired to waste my energy trying to one-up you with these pranks anymore." Jungkook waves his hands in a frustrated manner, "We're juniors in high school now, so I don't know why we're still keeping up with this. I mean, do you have any reason to hate me other than the pranks we pull on each other?" He rants.
You blinked a few times, and then thought about it for a moment.
From tacks on chairs to cockroaches in backpacks, the endless trolling between you and Jungkook was basically the only reason you guys ever interacted. Sometimes, it would be once or twice a semester that these kiddish pranks would occur, and other times, you were fighting each other to the death on a daily basis.
One time, you cut a hole in his backpack and had to pay him $70 for a new one. More recently, he sabotaged your speech for student council by corrupting the file that had your presentation, and got detention for two weeks.
So what was the point of these pranks anyways? No one really gets any benefit from it other than momentary satisfaction.
And he's right; aside from the pranks, you didn't really have much other reason to hate him. Yes he's rude, but that's exclusively to you--he's nice to other people. Kind of. He’s still a little playboy-ish but with those looks, it would be hard not to be. You don't know how to feel about that, but the same could be said about you. You remain apathetic to most people, but get especially riled up when it comes to Jungkook.
Maybe it was time for that to change.
"From what I'm hearing, we're stopping the pranks and pretending like we never met each other?"
Jungkook stared at you for a moment, expression unreadable, "Sure. Whatever, Ice Queen."
You ignored the nickname and internally sighed with happiness. Maybe the pranks would actually stop this time.
Your happiness was short-lived when the rumbling of thunder caught you off guard. The sound made you flinch, and much to your dismay, Jungkook noticed.
"You good there?"
Your indifferent facade broke for only a moment before you composed yourself again, "Yep." Rushing to pack your stuff, you prayed to get home before the storm got worse.
Jungkook cannot see you cry over a thunderstorm, whether or not you guys decided to be civil with each other at the moment.
"Where are you going?"
"Home."
"Okay, but why? We aren't done yet." He gestured to the table where unfinished worksheets remained.
"Uh, we can do it later. If you don't get anything just dm me on instagram or something. I have to go." You tried not to show the panic that washed over you as rain started to pour harder.
He tilted his head, "Alright, but it's raining though? I won't stop you, but you might wanna wait for the storm to die out before leaving."
You dart your eyes between the window and Jungkook. If you leave now, it'll be hell to get stuck outside; you'd probably end up on the streets crying and shivering, since being unable to move was a common symptom of your thunderstorm-induced panics. But then again, staying here doesn't seem much better. Unless you found a way to hide for a bit.
"Girl, if you wanna get wet, all you gotta do is say the word,” he remarked cheekily to break the silence.
"Where's your bathroom?" you questioned hastily, ignoring his earlier comment.
"Oh, um, over there,” he said, pointing to the end of a nearby hallway. You didn’t hesitate to march over there.
Unfortunately, you failed to see his backpack on the floor and tripped on it in your haste. You caught yourself in time to not faceplant completely, but in your already distressed state, the additional roar of thunder that occured right after caused you to yelp like a tiny kitten. Hands over your ears, you attempted to blink back the tears that threatened to spill out.
Shit.
"Oops! I tripped. Um, right, bathroom!"
You stood up stiffly and disregarded Jungkook's flabbergasted expression, making your way to the bathroom again, before promptly screaming and crouching back onto the ground when another rumble of thunder caught you off guard. A single sob escaped you even though you tried hard to conceal it.
Jungkook meekly walks to stand in front of you.
"You're scared of thunderstorms."
It wasn't a question. Your ultimate rival stared at your crouched, shaking form in bewilderment.
You remained silent, averting your eyes to the floor and trying to get up.
But another crack of thunder and you're back on the floor, ears covered and body trembling. This was humiliating for you. Tears pricked your eyes again but this time you allowed them to fall. An incredulous laugh escaped from Jungkook.
Oh great, now he was laughing at you.
You only sunk into yourself further, accepting your fate. He would never let you live this down.
"Yeah, laugh all you want I--"You yelped again, unable to finish your sentence..
His expression softened, "No, I'm not laughing at you. I'm... surprised, to say the least," he mumbled.
You were going to say something back but decided to seek safety first, "You know what, I'm just gonna chill here for a while."
You crawled under the kitchen table and shut your eyes, tears still spilling out.
After a moment, you heard some ruffling.
Then, a warm body emerged beside you and pressed up against your side. Jungkook's arm draped over your shoulder, urging your head to his collarbone with his hand. You tried to push him away, but he was stronger, and in your weakened state, you let him hold you. You would never say it out loud, but it was nice.
He was warm.
"I wasn't expecting this. Who knew that the cold, icy president of the student council would be trembling in my arms under my kitchen table?" he commented, but not teasingly or mockingly. He was genuinely shocked.
You sobbed a bit more, involuntarily clutching his body at another roll of thunder. He patted your head softly in response.
"Shh... it's gonna be okay,” he cooed.
Who was he and what had he done with Jungkook?
"I'm probably surprising you too, right? This doesn't really seem... like me,” he said, as if reading your mind.
"Yeah.” Your voice quieted down into barely a mumble, anxiously waiting for the next clap to strike.
"Well, let me surprise you one more time, in case it'll get your mind distracted from the storm."
He smiled a bit from the corner of your eye and you felt heat rising to your cheeks. The next boom made you bury yourself in his arms even more, and he continued with the head patting. And yeah, okay fine, it was pretty nice. You felt like a kid again.
"You know that thing they say about little boys? How if they have a crush on someone they'll be mean to them?"
You remembered hearing that at some point in elementary school, so you nodded against his chest, finding the drumming of his heart comforting.
Jungkook took a deep breath, "Well, I think I've been in that phase since third grade."